Angel Of Fate
By L.J. Kentowski
TABLE OF CONTENTS
COPYRIGHT
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
CHAPTER NINETEEN
CHAPTER TWENTY
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Copyright 2015 by L.J. Kentowski
Book 3 of the Fate Trilogy
Copyright @ 2015 L.J. Kentowski
Printed in the United States of America
First Printing, 2015
ISBN 978-0-692-56470-7
L.J. Kentowski
[email protected]
www.ljkentowski.com
Editing: Kathy Lapeyre at Indie Editing by Kathy
(http://www.indiepublications.com)
All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
To my loyal fans: Oh my god. You guys are amazing! I’ve made you wait so long for this final installment of the Fate Trilogy, but you stuck by me, and I am eternally thankful for you. You are the ones who kept me writing. You are the ones who brought my dreams to reality. There are no words for how you’ve shaped my world. Books are about dreams and fantasy worlds. You’ve brought mine to life.
To my wonderful husband: I can’t even find the words to tell you how much your support of this journey means to me. Without it, the color in my life wouldn’t be as brilliant. Thank you for pushing me to continue and realize my dreams aren’t as far away as I believed. We got this.
To my friends and family: All of the support, belief, and motivation you’ve given me have pushed me beyond what I ever thought I could accomplish. You’re confidence in me is amazing and inspiring. Darcy, you’ve been my rock when I didn’t think I’d be solid enough. I love you, sassy girlfriend. Keep pushing me, and I’ll keep your glass full and your reading hot ;) Loni, you’ve been by me through this whole journey, and I’ll always be thankful. Rainbows are ahead, always ahead, never behind, making the future bright and colorful. If we look that way, we’ll always see the sun shining on our path.
To my editor, Kathy Lapeyre: It was by chance we met, but I feel like an angel granted you to me. You’ve taught me so much already, and made this novel shine for me. I’m so grateful we connected, because I know this book wouldn’t be half of what it’s become without you. I can’t wait to tell more stories with you.
To my beta readers (Tif Thordal, Sherry Lynn Wolfe, Kathleen Bergeron, & Holly Elizabeth): You guys freaking rock! I can’t thank you enough for your help making Angel Of Fate the best it can be. You’ve gone above and beyond for my story, and me. I couldn’t ask for better friends than you.
CHAPTER ONE
“I have a surprise for you,” I whispered into Hunter’s ear as I lay over his naked torso.
A rumbling moan echoed from deep within his throat, and he hardened even more beneath me.
“Do you, now?” his low, seductive voice purred back.
Straddling him, I sat up on my knees and grinned as his mouth lifted on one side in a sexy smile, blue eyes glowing with passion. Sweat glistened on his muscled chest from heat radiating within, causing his scent to invade me like a pheromone.
So many times before, my insides would have melted from a mere glance at him like this. Even without looking, the energy pulsating from him would have drawn me in.
Not this time.
“Stay right there,” I told him, meeting his sexy smile with one of my own.
I reached over the side of the bed, my hip movement causing him to moan again. Knowing the effect I had on him always brought a smile to my face.
Complete control.
Reaching between the mattress and box springs, my fingers slid across until I felt metal brush against my fingertips. I leaned over the edge of the bed, grasped the hilt of the Sword, and pulled it out.
Energy hit me like a jolt of electricity, sending currents up my arms, around my shoulders and into my chest, where they zoned in on my heart, deadening it with every shock. Completely transfixed by the beauty of the Sword in my hands, I sat for a moment, reveling in the fact it was a part of me, the source of my whole being.
And now together, the Sword and I would clear the way for absolute power and domination.
The man before me who thought himself my soul mate for the last year had given up the very essence of his being to stay with me, to save me from my own evil fate. But Fate couldn’t be molded or shaped. It was unyielding, fixed. I had become who I was meant to be, and there was nothing or no one who could change that.
I had no soul mate because I no longer had a soul.
Hunter would never concede to Fate, so this would be his.
Raising the Sword and tilting the tip forward, I aimed it for Hunter’s heart. Our gazes locked over the shiny steel of the blade. His eyes narrowed, no longer blazed with passion. A muscle twitched near his jaw, but the rest of his gorgeous body remained motionless. Surely he was fighting every instinct to defend himself. Or did he know he didn’t stand a chance? That was the beauty of Hunter—his demeanor never gave him away. His enemies never noticed him coming. It was a valuable lesson I’d learned from him.
I gripped the Sword tighter and inched it closer to his skin. Hunter’s eyes never wavered from mine.
“Fight it, Cassandra.”
“You can’t fight destiny,” I told him.
“Your destiny is with me.”
Stilling the Sword above him, I said, “My destiny is where you should have left me.”
His gaze intensified as if it were trying to penetrate my soul even though he no longer had that luxury. Time stood still and what might have been hours was only a few moments. In lazy defiance, he added, “I have no regrets.”
One edge of my upper lip eased into a grin. My eyes burned with new luminosity, flares of light reaching out like sparks spitting from an open wire. I was in my true form.
“Neither do I.” My words echoed with finality.
Before his eyes closed, he inhaled, cutting off the connection between us as if he were already at peace with his Final Death. That’s when I plunged the blade straight into his heart.
***
I jolted up in bed from a resounding scream that had penetrated my sleep. As I scanned the room, images from my nightmare returned in waves. The scream had been my own, and my body shook, but it wasn’t enough to rid the dread of what had happened and how it consumed my thoughts.
Past experience told me my recurring nightmares weren’t like everyone else’s. It wasn’t merely my mind’s way of playing creative genius with random pieces of my day while I slept. No, mine were warnings. Premonitions.
Fingers lightly brushed my arm, and I quivered from the touch. Gentle lips kissed my bare shoulder, and I exhaled the breath I didn’t realize I was holding. The combination released tension throughout my body, urging it to relax. Everything appeared as it should be. Hunter was ther
e… alive… and I loved him. These thoughts had become routine every time I woke from the nightmare. Groping at scattered beliefs to confirm it could never happen, no matter what the past had taught me, I told myself, not this time, not this one. This time, I wouldn’t let it happen.
“Another one?” he asked, still at my shoulder.
I couldn’t look at him. Not yet. Dreams or not, it was too difficult to meet his eyes knowing I’d just killed him. Instead, I simply nodded.
He kissed my shoulder again, this time with more tenderness than usual, but I still couldn’t shake the imprint from my mind. Lately, more kisses were required to provide enough relief for me to completely warm back up. We’d played out this same scene too many times during the last month. Each time the emotions from my nightmare appeared closer to the surface, more powerful, lingering longer.
And still, I wouldn’t tell him the truth.
“Do you remember anything more?”
I shook my head. “No. They’re just more… intense.”
“It’s going to take time, Cassandra. Your mind is only trying to deal with what you’ve been through. Who knows what that monster did to you down there. But you’re safe now. I’m here.”
Hunter thought my dreams were about Nergal holding me captive in Hell. I’d blacked out during most of that ordeal, losing all track of the time, but almost wished the nightmares were about that. It might make looking him in the eye each morning much easier. I continued letting him believe I was reliving that nightmare, choosing my own secret hell instead.
How could I tell him I dreamt about killing him every night? He understood my dreams always ended up being some whacked out form of a prophecy, so what would I say? “I think I’m going to kill you soon because every night I stab you through the heart with the Sword of Final Death”? No way. We were finally able to be together. Together, really together. No one blocking our path. Neither of us chained to something in Hell. Free to sleep every night in each other’s arms. It was wonderful, except for the terrifying nightmares that invaded the bliss while I slept, or when the occasional image popped into my head when we were together. But my time with him was precious, and I wasn’t about to change that.
I finally got the nerve to look back at him over my shoulder. Our gazes locked instantly as if they were connected to an invisible beam magnetically drawing them to one another. We stayed that way, taking each other in.
God, he was beautiful. This man, who to everyone else was a feral predator, a lion who only needed to look at you to cause you to unravel, was a pussycat when it came to me. But it hadn’t always been that way with us. First, he wanted to kill me, and then he wanted to claim me. Now, he only wanted to love and protect me.
I’d been as bad in the beginning, trying to fight the draw between us, afraid of what he was and what he might make me. But eventually we both realized when it came to the heart, there were no sides. Black and white, good and evil, they all melded together until neither of us cared what it was anymore as long as it was by our side at night.
Of course, I understood I was riding a thin line lying to him, and eventually it would reach a breaking point. Most of the time, Hunter was able to read my mind, but so far, there were no telltale signs he knew. That meant he was either playing along or his telepathic abilities were on the fritz. More than likely, his mind-reading skills were temporarily down. Based on my previous experience with him, Hunter didn’t play along with anything or anyone. He was a blatant kind of guy, and by blatant, I mean unrepentant, audacious, cocky, fearless, pretty much in-your-face. Hunter got what he wanted, no matter the cost or consequences. Heaven help me if he thought for a minute I was lying to him.
I wondered why he didn’t have all his powers, though, but assumed it was because he was a demon living under the roof of the angels. Maybe Hadraniel snuffed out Hunter’s power to avoid a war every time an angel had bad thoughts about us, which was pretty much every time they set eyes on us.
Lying wasn’t my strong suit. Avoiding was another story. Avoiding, I did well.
“I just want all this over with because I hate living here. The way they look at me every time I enter a room, I feel like I need to check my shoes for shit.” By they, I meant the angels… but he knew that.
“You know, I’d be more than happy to take care of that for you,” he said with a sparkle in his eyes. “Just say the word. I’m only here for you, you know. If it were up to me, I’d take you away from all of this, somewhere where it’s just you and me.” He brought his lips to my shoulder again and proceeded to trail a luscious line of kisses across it and then up my neck. A new kind of shiver overtook me. “Where I’d ravish you all day.” He gave me a solitary kiss. “Every day.” Wow. Another mind-blowing kiss.
A moan escaped my lips. Hunter also had a delectable way of taking my mind off everything—nightmares, monsters—the world.
“Hmmm… if Caleb doesn’t show up soon, I may take you up on tha—”
A loud knock on the door interrupted me. Hunter growled his distaste. I was about to get up, but he ignored whoever was there and started feasting on my neck again. Apparently, whoever was at the door didn’t warrant acknowledgment. With the pure pleasure he was dishing out, he left me no choice but to agree.
Two more loud knocks boomed, echoing through the room, but Hunter still couldn’t be distracted.
“Hunter, we should probably see who it is.”
His tongue started on my ear.
“Hunter… really,” I released on a breath.
He growled again, this time a long, low one, reminiscent of defeat instead of rebellion.
I silently cried over the loss of his lips on me as he shouted across the room, “I’ll be right there, Eric. Meet me in the foyer downstairs.”
“You knew who it was all along?”
He pulled me onto his lap to face him, a sexy smirk playing on his lips. “I know everything.”
“Oh yeah, smart guy?” I laughed. “Then when is Caleb going to show up so we can finally get on with our lives?”
I’d meant it to be playful, but Hunter’s smile quickly disappeared. He placed his finger underneath my chin, easing my face up so I’d look him in the eyes. “I’ll find Caleb,” he said, his tone leaving no doubt this was nothing more than fact. “I’m going to find him, and I’m going to kill him. And then we’ll go far away from all of this where I can fill your world with everything you’ve ever fantasized about, leaving no room for nightmares. I promise you, Cassandra.”
He melted me. He did. Hunter was the only one in the world who had the power to change my fate. My nightmares didn’t stand a chance as long as I had him. I loved him beyond words, beyond actions. It was a love that could only be experienced to be believed. The emotional side was so intense and sometimes it held me paralyzed, unable to move or utter a word. I could only gaze upon him and let the feelings pulse within me like a racing heartbeat trying to return to a steady tempo.
His thumb slid over my bottom lip, bringing my attention back. I kissed the tip of it.
“I believe you,” I whispered.
He smiled. “Too bad. I was hoping I needed to convince you.” His gaze raced down my neck to my bare chest. His finger followed.
My eyes closed of their own accord, and I moaned, leaning into his hand, as it cupped one of my breasts.
“Isn’t Eric waiting for you?” I said on a pant.
“Yes.” His lips were at my neck again. I could feel he was more than ready for me as I moved my hips against him.
“Is it important?”
“We have a lead on Caleb.”
It took a moment for the words to sink in since they were muffled against my neck. I snapped back, grabbing his busy hands at the same time.
“Hunter.”
While trying to make eye contact with him, his still heavy with passion and focused on my other body parts, I took his hands and shoved them hard against his chest. “Hunter.”
Finally, I got his attention. He read the l
ook on my face and sighed as he leaned his forehead against mine. “Caleb is going to experience pain like he’s never felt. Only then will I let him die,” he said, and then gently lifted me off his lap. As he got off the bed, I covered myself with a sheet.
Watching him dress, I asked, “What’s this lead?”
He sat on the bed to put his boots on. “Some rogue the angels captured. Supposedly, he worked with Caleb and knows where he is. Same shit, different demon. We’ll see if he’s legit.”
Word had made it out months ago the angels were looking for Caleb and would pay dearly to get him, something the demons banked on when they were captured. Every one of them claimed they knew where he was, but up to this point, none of the leads had panned out. The demons were merely using desperate attempts to escape their demise.
Hunter insisted that he, Eric, and a few other loyal demons were present when the angels questioned those captured. The angels had a tendency to be a little trigger-happy when it came to demons. Hadraniel refused to have his angels bring any demons back to the Sanctuary to be questioned, so Hunter and the group had to go out whenever one popped up.
“How long will you be gone?”
“Not long. I’ll be back by dinner.”
I almost laughed at the unintentional normalcy of his answer, as if we were some old married couple. He was going out for bowling and beers with the boys, instead of reading the mind of some demon from Hell who allegedly had knowledge of the self-proclaimed king of the Underworld. The truth was, I was getting tired of being the little woman stuck at home, waiting for the men of the house to get back from taking care of business.
“Let me go this time,” I said.
One look at his face and I immediately knew the answer. I’d seen it so many times in the last few months, words no longer needed to follow it. I rolled my eyes and turned away from him.
“We talked about this, Cassandra.”
“Yeah, yeah. I know. It could be a trap. They might be waiting for me… blah, blah, blah.” I faced him again, bracing myself on the bed with one hand while holding the sheet against me with the other. A tirade didn’t produce the desired results while body parts jiggled. And a rant was exactly what I was about to let loose on him. “Maybe that’s what we need. It’s probably the only way we are going to get to Caleb. Did you guys ever think of that? It’s obvious he’s not coming to the Sanctuary. He’s been gone three months. Ninety days that I’ve been cooped up in this godforsaken place to do nothing but sit here like some lamb roped up to a pole in the ground. It’s not fair, Hunter.” Yeah, I knew I sounded like a spoiled child, but if they were going to treat me like one, I might as well give them the full treatment.
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