by Elise Marion
He gave a curt nod, not bothering to spare Jack a glance or respond. Silence stretched between them, the tension growing thicker by the second.
Finally, Jack spoke again. “She would have been safe with us, if you hadn’t screwed everything up.”
The back of his neck grew hot, and his hands clenched into fists in his lap. “You threw the first punch.”
“You screwed my girl!” Jack bellowed, rounding the truck until they faced each other. “You’re damn right I threw the first punch!”
Dropping to the ground, Micah braced his hands on his hips to keep from wrapping them around Jack’s throat.
“You were dead. For four months! She had a right to move on with her life, to have somethin’ goin’ for her that didn’t revolve around the Seal or you!”
“And you were all too happy to step up and give it to her, weren’t you?”
“Because I was here!” he bellowed. “Who do you think picked her up off the ground when she lay there crying in a pool of your blood? Who do you think propped her up, and kicked her ass every step of the way so she could be strong enough to fight? Who do you think reminded her to think of you when she needed to find her inner light?”
Jack started, seeming taken aback by his last statement. “You did that?”
Micah nodded, his jaw clenched. “Yeah. I did it for you as much as for her. But things happen, Jack. I let my guard down so I could be there for her, and she got to me. I tried to fight it … hell, so did she. In the end, it happened. We couldn’t have known you would come back from the God-dang dead. Don’t blame her.”
Narrowing his eyes, Jack shook his head. “I don’t blame her one bit. I blame you. It’s the one line you’re not supposed to cross … you don’t mess with your friend’s girl. Ever. You took advantage of her, and you crossed the line.”
Micah shrugged one shoulder. “Well, it’s like you said … it’s what I do. The fact is, if you think me capable of bangin’ your girlfriend just for shits and giggles, you never thought too highly of me in the first place. Now I know where I’ve always stood with you.”
Before Jack could reply, the unmistakable sound of an angel’s wings warned them of Reniel’s approach. The angel swooped down over them, circling once before coming in for a landing. A massive cloud of dust billowed up under his feet as they touched the ground, causing the earth to shake a bit beneath them. Standing twelve feet tall with skin that shimmered like brilliant gold, the Angel of War made a bizarre sight in the bright light of day. Dressed in gold-plated armor, he possessed long, coiling locks of white-blond hair that fell from beneath his gleaming helmet. His pristine white wings folded behind him as the dust cleared and he set the woman he carried in his arms on her feet.
While the angel shrank, morphing into his human disguise, Micah studied the woman walking toward them with a confident gait. His eyebrows shot up as he realized she stood taller than Jack, who came in at a tad south of six feet. Her swarthy, sienna skin, sharp features, and thick head of black hair hinted at Creole heritage. Lush curves burst with femininity, while lithe muscles in her arms and legs proclaimed physical strength.
As she breezed past them without a word, the hem of her dress fluttering around her legs, she seemed focused on something beyond them.
“Well, howdy to you, too,” he muttered, watching as she sashayed toward the house.
Halting, she turned and fixed him with a sharp stare.
“Hush, boy,” she chided, the many bracelets on her arm clanking together as she waved a dismissive hand in his direction.
Micah scowled, his hackles rising faster than he could control. “Boy?”
“Yes … boy,” she murmured, inclining her head and giving him an assessing glance. “I see through you … and deep down, you’re just a hurt little boy. Now, I said hush!”
After a few more steps, she paused again, turning in circles as if looking for something.
Her assessment had left him on edge, and he shivered despite the warmth of the afternoon. Oracles had insight that no one else did, and he couldn’t stand the way they often looked at him—as if privy to his deepest fears and secrets.
“Where did you find this chick, Ren?” he muttered as the fully transformed angel came up beside him.
In his human form, Reniel bore a strong resemblance to the film depiction of Thor. When he was around, Micah ceased to be the biggest, strongest guy in the room. It was a humbling experience.
Reniel chuckled. “Zerilda is one of the best, but tapping into power that strong necessitates a great deal of skill and concentration. She requires stillness and silence.”
The three looked on as Zerilda turned in another circle, her wide eyes darting back and forth.
“I feel a dark energy here,” she murmured. “A supernatural event occurred in this spot … demon-orchestrated.”
“Which demon?” Jack asked.
The oracle speared him with a withering glare, and Micah clearly read irritation there.
“Well, I don’t know,” she said, one hand on an ample hip. “But, if you give me more than thirty seconds, I’ll figure it out.”
With that, she turned her back to them once more, dropping to her rear on the ground. Sitting cross-legged, she removed something from the pocket of her dress—a vial, which she opened and emptied in a circle around herself.
Micah stood with Reniel and Jack in silence for what felt like hours as Zerilda rocked back and forth, murmuring low under her breath in what Micah recognized as Haitian Creole. While impatience continued to plague him, he didn’t dare move or speak, not when an Oracle sat nearby in a trance. If she’d sat facing them, her eyes would appear white and unseeing—allowing her to explore the spiritual plane.
Suddenly, she came to her feet, whirling to face them. Micah found himself struck dumb by her eyes—still glowing white in her dark face. They went wide, as if with fear, and her lips parted as her jaw dropped.
“The Ring Bearer was taken,” she said, her voice taking on an eerie quality seeming to cause it to echo around them. “By Lilith.”
“Goddamn it,” Micah spat.
Zerilda held one hand up to silence him. “She was taken, but not to an earthly location.”
His blood ran cold, and the heavy weight of dread settled in his gut like a stone. If Addison was nowhere on Earth, and Lilith had taken her, there was only one place she could be.
He turned to Reniel. “You gotta get us to her.”
The angel shook his head. “No. It is out of the question. Addison shouldn’t even be down there.”
Jack’s expression hardened, his jaw tightening, hands clenching at his sides. “They break the rules, so do we. I’m not just going to sit here and do nothing.”
For the first time since Jack had risen from the dead, he and Micah agreed.
“You heard him, Ren,” Micah growled. “Take us down to Hell.”
Book 3 in The Guardians series, The Nephilim
Now available!
Click to download
The daughter of a demon, Addison Monroe has a close relationship with darkness. However, none of what she’s been through in the past could have prepared her to descend into the darkest place of all … Hell. Aside from her current assignment of using the Seal of Solomon to destroy ten of the most powerful demons in existence, she also finds herself facing all-out war between her father, the demon Eligos, and Lucifer himself. A war between two dark lords of the underworld shouldn’t concern her, but the balance of the entire spiritual world could be at stake.
Her mission is clear: recruit her Nephilim siblings to help her fight on the side of good against evil. But with demons out for her blood and tensions running high between the half-demon Nephilim and the Guardians, Addison will find herself straddling two different sides of the spirit world—dark and light.
With war on the horizon and the fate of the world resting on her shoulders, Addison shouldn’t have time to think about her love life. But, with best friends Jack and Micah both afte
r her heart, she will face an impossible choice—choose one, and risk hurting the other while destroying a brotherhood. Even when she makes her decision, Addison will be met with a startling truth; whomever she chooses will be in constant danger because of her involvement in Hell’s war. Can she save the world and still follow her heart, making a life with the man she loves?
More by Elise Marion
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Enter a world of scandal, intrigue, and passion, all set against the backdrop of Cardenas’ royal court.
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The Guardians (Paranormal/Urban Fantasy)
A spin-off of the ‘Angels Among Us’ series. Jack Bennett is a Guardian, sworn to protect the sacred balance between the realms of Heaven and Earth. When he is tasked with protecting a half-demon stripper and help her fulfill her destiny, duty may become something more …
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About the Author
Elise Marion is a lover books and has a special place in her heart for sweet and sensual romance. Writing about love across all walks of life is her passion, as is reaching people through the written word. The Army wife and stay-at-home mother of three spends most of her time taking care of her children. Her second job includes writing stories about characters that people can fall in love with. When the Texas native isn’t caring for her family or writing, you can usually find her with her nose in a book, singing loudly, or cooking up something new in the kitchen.
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