Cast From Heaven: A Paranormal Fantasy Romance (Lili Kazana Book 1)

by Leigh Kelsey

  Lili did turn then, her mouth falling open as she stared at her father. This was real—it had to be.

  If Gabriel was burnished gold, Michael was pewter: grey hair in a ponytail, an aged but well-groomed face, and a frame that showed signs of training and fighting too. But his brown eyes—her eyes—flickered emotion, Gabriel’s opposite. Frustration and anger and sadness regarded her.

  “You didn’t come to help him take me?” Lili breathed, staring at her father’s face for any signs of him lying.

  “I did not,” Michael rumbled, anger flashing. At her, or at Gabriel?

  Lili’s bottom lip wobbled as she said, “He took my wings, Father. He sent me to Hell.”

  Distaste showed through the anger but the rage won out, devouring his expression. “He’ll be punished for that, daughter.” It was what he’d promised in the delusion Nygoya had accidentally given her. Lili shouldn’t have trusted this Michael but she couldn’t help herself; her heart ached with the strength of her longing. “We need to act now—our time runs out. Will you come home?”

  “Will you give me a choice?” Lili dared to ask, her heart beating so, so fast. No anger flashed across his face at her bold words, nothing but resignation and a deep, heavy sadness.

  “I will,” he said, his eyes lingering on where Lili slid her hand over Cerberus’s side, their muscles twitching beneath velvet fur, even unconscious. “But if you return to Hell, I have no reason to heal this beast.”

  A lump formed in Lili’s throat. Her conviction that this wasn’t real was fraying with every second she looked at her father. Deep down, she knew this wasn’t a delusion. “And if I come home…”

  “Gabriel’s damage will be undone.”

  Her lungs pinched as she took a breath, then another. It wasn’t really a choice. Even as she hated to make it, even as Heaven felt more like a hell to her these days, she’d go home if it would save her friends, her men. “Will they die? If I don’t?”

  Michael nodded, and the sadness in his gaze almost undid Lili. “Gabriel has ruptured the beast’s brains. Every second we discuss it, more blood fills their skulls.”

  “Okay,” she rasped, not brave enough to look at Cerberus or at the breach to see if Gabriel was close to returning. “Do it. Heal them. And I’ll come home.”

  She wanted to lay a kiss on each of their heads, wanted to write a note explaining what she’d done and ask them to forgive her, to not hate her for going back to Heaven when she’d all but promised to stay in Hell. But instead she just stepped away, a tight cramp in her belly as she peeled her hand off their shoulder.

  A silver-blue light filled her father’s hands, lining the feathers of his fine silver wings and his serious face as he bent over Cerberus, gently laying his healing hands on their body.

  Lili’s breath scraped her throat, her hands shaking so badly she folded her arms over her chest and jammed them under her elbows. After an infinite moment, Michael stepped back, his wings ruffling and the healing glow vanishing. “They’ll live. I’ve healed all the damage I can; the rest is down to their own body. Or bodies, I suppose.”

  The hand he held out to her—to return to the skies, to Heaven—felt at once like a gift and a curse.

  “I know you want to go to Hell with them, Liliana,” he said, gentler than she remembered him ever speaking. There was sympathy in his deep eyes, as if he knew how much this separation would hurt her. “I know this pain more than you can imagine. But I need you to come home with me. War is rife in Heaven, and here on Earth.” He gestured at the crater, the burnt-out houses beyond it. “Our Makers foresaw this; they sent us a weapon to end the war before it can wipe out all civilisation as it has done twice before.”

  Once, in the event the humans called the Big Bang, where the previous world was destroyed and this one exploded from the ashes. And again, in the ice age that ended nearly as much life. A third event … Lili went cold to imagine it.

  “They called this weapon the Balance, and called upon me and another to help create it.”

  Lili had never heard of a weapon like that. “And you want me to help you find it?” she breathed, trying to wrap her head around the task, wondering if she was even capable of it. But she had wings now, and demonic and angelic magic in her veins. She would try. She’d gone to Hell to help stop the demon invasion pushing Heaven and Hell closer to war. She could go home for the same reason.

  But Lili stopped breathing as Michael shook his head and, so, so gently said, “No, Liliana. You are that weapon. And your place is in Heaven, no matter how badly you want to go to Iarlon.”

  Lili opened her mouth to tell him he was mad when his final words rocked her. “You—you knew where I was? But—”

  But why hadn’t he told Gabriel and the other angels? Why hadn’t an archangel army swarmed her city to kill Lucifer?

  “Answers wait for you at home, daughter” Michael promised, his eyes dropping to the hand he held out.

  At least this answered one question: she could trust him. Refusing to accept she was a weapon meant to stop a war, merely doing what she owed Michael for healing Cerny, Bernard, and Russ, Lili slid her hand into her father’s.

  “Wise choice, daughter,” he praised.

  “What if Gabriel comes back and hurts them?” Lili asked, her eyes on the brothers.

  “They’re waking up,” Michael replied, his gaze yet again sad as he looked at her. “They’ll be gone before Gabriel returns.”

  Lili cast one final look at the men who had saved her, cared for her, and kept her safe. Now it was her turn to keep them safe, and going to Heaven was the only way she could do that.

  At once, the two angels kicked off the ground into the skies, pewter wings keeping pace with newborn wings the colour of brimstone as Lili flew higher and higher, Heaven bound. Whatever awaited her there, it was worth it for Cerberus to live.

  And if she did turn out to be a weapon meant to stop the war between Heaven and Hell, well … Lili glanced back once at the breach hovering in the sky. She could think of an archangel she’d love to unleash herself upon.

  END

  Thank you for reading Lili’s story, I hope you enjoyed Cast From Heaven! The next book in the series is out August 28th 2019!

  Want an email when new books releases? Join my mailing list for cover reveals, sales, and news.

  Do you want Moonlight Inn news before anyone else? Join my Facebook group Leigh Kelsey’s Paranormal Den where I’ll be posting updates about my books, reverse harem recommendations, and exclusive insights into how my stories come to life.

  Could you take a moment to recommend this book on the retail site you purchased from, or on Goodreads, social media, or your blog?

  Reviews are critical for my books to find readers, and they help me decide which book to write next, so even the smallest, one-line review has an impact. Thank you to everyone who’s already reviewed. Your words mean I can keep writing the books you love!

  CROWNED BY HELL

  LILI KAZANA BOOK TWO

  Hell is her home. Heaven is her duty. But both are her birthright.

  Lili’s magic should be impossible: a combination of angelic ice and infernal fire, it has the potential to save or damn every realm. Both Heaven and Hell see her as a saviour, but Lili’s convinced they’ve got the wrong person. She’s out of control with her angelic power, still not used to her demon magic, and worse, her father expects her to convince the heavenly council to abandon their war. The heavenly council that includes the ex-boyfriend who betrayed her and the two angels who helped him sever her wings.

  At least Lili isn’t alone, with an old acquaintance determined to protect her and her fierce as hell best friend storming back into her life. But will they be enough to save Lili when she’s faced with a secret that threatens to poison her relationship with her demons for good?

  Crowned By Hell is a medium burn romance, with a gentle but badass angel and the four demons—and one angel—devoted to her. This book is RH, which means Lili doesn’t have
to pick a favourite of her protectors - why choose when you can have all five?

  Contains some mature content. 90,000 words.

  Get it here!

  Leigh Kelsey is the author of sweet and steamy books for anyone with a soft spot for steely women and the tortured men who love them. No matter what stories she’s writing – vampires or shifters or rebels – they all share a common thread of romance, heart, and action. Leigh also writes new adult and young adult books under the name Saruuh Kelsey.

  Find these other books by Leigh Kelsey!

  All free on Kindle Unlimited

  Lili Kazana series

  Cast From Heaven

  Crowned By Hell

  Called By Gods (December 2019)

  Second Breath Academy series

  How To Raise The Dead (September 28th 2019)

  Vampire Game series

  (complete series)

  The Complete Series (w/ exclusive 75-page story!)

  Vampire Game

  Vampire Touch

  Vampire Legacy

  Vampire Love (Exclusively in Between The Sheets, Volume 2)

  Moonlight Inn series

  Books 1-3

  Mated (New and expanded)

  Empowered (New and expanded)

  Unlimited

  Ascended

  Book 5 (Coming soon!)

  Book 6 (Coming soon!)

  Seven Nights In Hell serial

  (unfinished series)

  Unbound

  Frozen

  Tainted

  Ruthless

  Other books/stand alones

  Heinous Crimes (exclusively in Saved Between The Sheets)

  Dead Space (Exclusively in Falling For Them, COMING SOON!)