An Immortal's Song
Page 1
Table of Contents
Author Highlights
Dedication
Acknowledgements
An Immortal’s Song
Chapter One
Chapter Two
MALIK
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
ELIANA
Epilogue
A Note from Carrie Ann
About Carrie Ann and her Books
Excerpt: Wicked Wolf
Tattered Loyalties
Delicate Ink
Dust of My Wings
An Immortal’s Song
A Dante’s Circle Novel
By
Carrie Ann Ryan
An Immortal’s Song
A Dante’s Circle Novel
By: Carrie Ann Ryan
© 2016 Carrie Ann Ryan
ISBN: 978-1-943123-09-4
Cover Art by Charity Hendry
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person or use proper retail channels to lend a copy. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return it and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
All characters in this book are fiction and figments of the author’s imagination.
For more information, please join Carrie Ann Ryan’s MAILING LIST.
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Author Highlights
Praise for Carrie Ann Ryan….
“Carrie Ann Ryan knows how to pull your heartstrings and make your pulse pound! Her wonderful Redwood Pack series will draw you in and keep you reading long into the night. I can’t wait to see what comes next with the new generation, the Talons. Keep them coming, Carrie Ann!” –Lara Adrian, New York Times bestselling author of CRAVE THE NIGHT
“Carrie Ann Ryan never fails to draw readers in with passion, raw sensuality, and characters that pop off the page. Any book by Carrie Ann is an absolute treat.” – New York Times Bestselling Author J. Kenner
"With snarky humor, sizzling love scenes, and brilliant, imaginative worldbuilding, The Dante's Circle series reads as if Carrie Ann Ryan peeked at my personal wish list!" – NYT Bestselling Author, Larissa Ione
"Carrie Ann Ryan writes sexy shifters in a world full of passionate happily-ever-afters." – New York Times Bestselling Author Vivian Arend
“Carrie Ann’s books are sexy with characters you can’t help but love from page one. They are heat and heart blended to perfection.” New York Times Bestselling Author Jayne Rylon
Carrie Ann Ryan's books are wickedly funny and deliciously hot, with plenty of twists to keep you guessing. They'll keep you up all night!” USA Today Bestselling Author Cari Quinn
"Once again, Carrie Ann Ryan knocks the Dante's Circle series out of the park. The queen of hot, sexy, enthralling paranormal romance, Carrie Ann is an author not to miss!" New York Times bestselling Author Marie Harte
Praise for the Redwood Pack Series…
“You will not be disappointed in the Redwood Pack.” Books-n-Kisses
“I was so completely immersed in this story that I felt what the characters felt. BLOWN AWAY.” Delphina’s Book Reviews.
“I love all the wolves in the Redwood Pack and eagerly anticipate all the brothers’ stories.” The Book Vixen
“Shifter romances are a dime a dozen, but good ones aren’t as plentiful as one would think. This is one of the goods one.” Book Binge
“With the hints of things to come for the Redwoods, I can’t wait to read the next book!” Scorching Book Reviews
“Ryan outdid herself on this book.” The Romance Reviews
Praise for the Dante’s Circle Series…
“This author better write the next books quickly or I will Occupy Her Lawn until she releases more! Pure romance enjoyment here. Now go put this on your TBR pile—shoo!” The Book Vixen
“I, for one, will definitely be following the series to see what happens to the seven.” Cocktails & Books
“The world of Dante’s Circle series is enthralling and with each book gets deeper and deeper as does Carrie Ann’s writing.” Literal Addiction
Praise for the Montgomery Ink Series…
“Shea and Shep are so cute together and really offset each other in a brilliant way. “ Literal Addiction
“This was a very quick and spicy read. I really enjoyed reading about Sassy, Rafe & Ian. I really hope there will be more of these three in the future.” Books n Kisses
Praise for the Holiday, Montana Series…
“Charmed Spirits was a solid first book in this new series and I’m looking forward to seeing where it goes.” RR@H Novel Thoughts & Book Thoughts
“If you’re looking for a light book full of magic, love and hot little scenes on various objects, then this book is for you! You’ll soon find that tables are no longer for eating meals of the food variety … Bon appétit!” Under the Covers
“The book was well written and had the perfect setting the steamy bits where really really hot and the story one of sweet romance. Well done Carrie” Bitten by Love Reviews
Dedication
To Kennedy.
Thank you for holding my hand.
Acknowledgements
The Dante’s Circle series is about to come to a close and I still can’t believe we made it this far. I know I couldn’t have done it without so many people.
Thank you Chelle for being my sounding board and for doing my edits. You help make each book better and I adore how your mind works.
Thank you Kennedy for being with me each step of the way and being my motivation.
Thank you to my husband for listening to me gripe and helping me figure out how to live again once my deadlines are over. I love you so freaking much.
Thank you Charity H. for not only doing this cover, but for helping me with so much each and every day.
Thank you to the Sprint Loop for rocking my days! Meredith, Shayla, Lexi, Carly, Kennedy, Angel, Stacey and anyone that I’ve missed, thank you!
And thank you readers for joining me on this journey with a human, a merman, and a fae. Because why not, right?
An Immortal’s Song
Humans aren’t as alone as they choose to believe. Every human possesses a trait of supernatural that lays dormant within their genetic make-up. Centuries of diluting and breeding have allowed humans to think they are alone and untouched by magic. But what happens when something changes?
Amara Young has always been on the outside looking in. She’s the one lightning-struck woman out of her group who has never felt as if she’s belonged. She lost a year of her life caring for her dying friend, but now it’s her turn to find out who she is. Only when the time comes, two men stand in her way—two men who claim her as theirs.
Tristan Archer, fae royalty and Conclave member, has waited over nine hundred years for his fate. And now he has two chances. While one knows his path, the other seems blind to what they could have. It will take more than a simple risk for Tristan to finally have what he desires…that is if Amara and Seth can overcome their own uncertainties.
While the other two in his life are fighting themselves and their futures, Seth Oceanus knows exactly what he wants. The younger brother of a Conclave member and relatively young in his realm, he knows he’ll have to prove himself so others see him for who he truly is.
As the triad succumbs to their cravings, they will have to fight more than their
overwhelming feelings in order to survive.
Warning: Contains an innocent merman, a very talented fae, and a human woman who can outpace them both.
Chapter One
Sitting in a bar for hours on end wouldn’t help matters, but Tristan Archer figured he might as well try it out. It may take him far longer to get drunk than it would if he were human, yet he figured he’d give it a go. After the hellish few months he’d had, he would try anything at this point.
He ran a hand through his short, auburn hair that tended to look brown in the bar’s lighting and sighed. He shouldn’t have accepted his friend Levi’s invitation to dinner and drinks at Dante’s Circle in the human realm. He should have rejected the offer and gone back to the thousand other things he had to do within the fae realm and inside the Conclave.
Tristan wasn’t just any fae. He was a nine-hundred-year-old fae prince with responsibilities that lay heavily on his shoulders. He was also a Conclave member, where he helped govern every paranormal realm in existence with another fae member and two others from each race. That was how he’d become friends with Levi, a wizard and prince in his own right.
So here he was, in Dante’s Circle, a bar owned and named after a royal blue dragon; the meeting place of seven women and their mates with a history he couldn’t immediately comprehend.
Of course, it was because one of those women that he’d rather be in the fae realm instead of the dark bar with oak paneling and photos on the walls that spoke of generations of memories and connections. He’d been here a few times in the past, always on the outside of the circle of lightning-struck woman and their mates, but never fully excluded.
They’d welcomed Tristan into their fold, even if they didn’t understand why it hurt him so to be that close to what he couldn’t have.
Or maybe they understood all too well. After all, one of their own was the reason for his confusion, his torture. The object of his desire.
“If you keep glowering at her over in the corner, you’ll end up scaring her more than she already is,” Seth said from his side.
Tristan closed his eyes and took a deep breath, immediately regretting the action as soon as he did. The man next to him smelled of the sea. And hope. His heart ached and his dick filled.
Seth Oceanus was a merman, a friend, and his mate.
His true half.
Or at least one of them.
Not that he or Seth could do anything about it when the other part of their triad didn’t feel the same way.
“I’m not glowering,” he bit out, his voice a growl.
Seth leaned into his shoulder, and Tristan sucked in a breath, opening his eyes as he looked over at the younger man. While Tristan had seen nine centuries come and go, Seth was only in his mid-thirties. He was a pup compared to Tristan, yet he was still a man, a warrior…and sexy as hell. He was a good two inches taller than Tristan and had spiky brown hair that looked as if he’d rolled out of bed and ran his hands through the strands. He had a decent upper body, but it tapered off to a slender waist and hips. His legs were thick, though not as muscular as Tristan’s. Tristan had dreamt of what Seth’s tail would look like, but he’d never seen the man in his other form. Though Seth had never seen Tristan in his other form either, as he’d hidden his pointed ears with a cloaking spell. And since he wasn’t using his powers, his skin didn’t put off the faint glow that usually came with that.
Seth had his hands in his pockets and a frown on his face. Though his eyes wore the wide look of innocence, Tristan knew that was just a bluff. There was nothing innocent about a warrior of any realm. Seth just hadn’t been out of his realm much, and he was taking everything in. That much Tristan knew. If he could get his head out of his ass, Tristan knew he’d be able to help the younger man learn all about the new realms and explore their deep secrets.
Only he wasn’t sure he could do that and not lean close, not want to touch or find out every secret the merman held in his own right.
Tristan let out a breath. “Let’s head to the table and get this over with.”
Seth just shook his head. “That kind of attitude won’t help the situation.”
“And what will?” Tristan bit out. “Hmm? She doesn’t feel what we do. She doesn’t have the connection to us that she should. You’ve seen the way she reacts when we’re in the room. She stiffens up and acts as if she can’t stand to be with us. She’s lightning-struck. Meaning she’s not a regular human, and she’ll turn into her paranormal counterpart once she mates with her true half. But before that, she should at least feel something. All of the other women have in the presence of their mates. Amara does nothing. She doesn’t even suck in a breath or lean toward us when we’re near. There’s no recognition in her eyes.”
“There’s something there,” Seth said softly, his voice firm. “If we just ask her…”
Tristan shook his head. “And what will that do? It’ll only show us what we already know. She doesn’t feel the start of the bond. It’ll hurt. She shouldn’t be forced to feel that.” He couldn’t be hurt like that, and frankly, he didn’t want to hurt Seth either.
Seth just snorted. “Seriously? You’re how old? And yet you don’t know that if you just talk to a woman, you’ll learn infinitely more than glaring from a corner and thinking you know better.”
Tristan raised a brow. “I’m not an idiot.” Just because he was acting like one at the moment didn’t make him an idiot. “I know that if we were to actually have a conversation about this, we’d know for sure that she doesn’t feel the same as us, but…”
“But you don’t want to know for sure,” Seth finished for him. “Because once you do, then it’s over. We’ll end up pining for a mate we never had in the first place. I get it. That’s why you and I haven’t…” Seth trailed off, and the top of his ears turned red.
Tristan let out a sigh then turned to the man who would be his other mate if things were different. While the two of them could form a bond and find happiness…it wouldn’t be the same without their third. Tristan didn’t want to hurt the other man by allowing him to think he wasn’t enough—even if technically that was true, at least in a sense.
Hence, why all of this sucked ass.
Tristan cupped Seth’s face and met the other man’s gaze. “I’m sorry,” he whispered. “So damn sorry.”
Seth gave him a sad grin and shrugged before pulling away. “I still think we should actually speak to her. In fact…” he paused. “I might do that without you. I was staying back because, well…because you’re older and more experienced. But I don’t want to risk losing something that could be it for us because we didn’t talk to her. Because we didn’t try.”
With that, Seth walked away from him and toward the large table in the back corner where the seven lightning-struck women and their mates resided. A few years ago, a few members of the Conclave had the bright idea to mess with the way some humans perceived the paranormal world. Tristan hadn’t been part of the decision, nor had Levi or Seth’s sister, Calypso.
Humans weren’t as “human” as they thought they were. In fact, thousands of years ago, when the residents of the realms mated within each other more frequently, their offspring had begun to have diluted paranormal DNA. Usually, the most dominant supernatural of the couple or triad would be the one to pass on their DNA, and the child would be of that race. However, as time moved on, some couplings had created non-paranormal children. Those children became the human race.
Millennia passed, and the humans forgot where they had truly come from and created their own civilization, separate from the realms. As such, the realms forbade telling the humans of magic or what lay beneath the surface of myth and wards. However, within each human lay a dormant strain or strains of DNA that, in the right circumstances, could be altered enough to force the change.
The Conclave had taken the energy of its past and peoples and created a lightning strike to forever change the lives of seven women. Those women had been friends through the years, though they ha
dn’t known of the supernatural world until it was too late.
Now, one by one, each woman found their mate or mates and, once they finalized the bond, changed into their paranormal self. So far, there was a brownie, a leprechaun, a pixie, and even a djinn. Oh, and he couldn’t forget the succubus. Sweet little Nadie didn’t appear the type to be a sex-driven paranormal, but since she had mated not only a grizzly bear shifter but also a dragon, she seemed to be in good hands.
Of the seven lightning-struck, there were only two left who hadn’t changed. Eliana and Amara.
And Amara was his.
Only he wasn’t sure he and Seth were hers.
Tristan shook his head and tried to clear the melancholy. He’d come to the bar because his friend Levi—who had mated the pixie, Faith—had invited him. He would do his damnedest to not mess up their evening.
“Hey, you made it,” Levi said as he stood from his chair. He gave Tristan a tight hug but had a brow raised. “You okay?” he mouthed. It made sense that the other man wouldn’t whisper it, as there were a few shifters in the room and even whispering wouldn’t keep the conversation private.
Tristan gave the other man a tight nod before taking the empty seat next to Eliana. The woman smiled at him and pushed over a mug of beer.
“Seth said you were on your way, so Becca got you a beer.”
Becca grinned and waved. “I technically don’t work here anymore, but Dante doesn’t mind if I go behind the bar.”
The dragon just raised his pierced brow and took a sip of his drink. “Sure, dear. Whatever you say.”
Hunter, Becca’s wolf mate, just let out a small growl, his gold eyes full of humor.
Levi marveled at how the group worked together and each had their own stories of war and mating. Yet they all fit together cohesively. He knew most of them had children, as well; though none of them were present at the moment. What he wouldn’t do for a taste of what they had.