Embrace The Shadows
Shadows Ascending Trilogy Book Three
Jenn D. Young
Published by Jenn D. Young
This is a work of fiction, Names, characters places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imaginations or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
If you purchased this book without a cover you should be aware that this book is stolen property. It was reported as “unsold and destroyed” to the publisher and neither the author nor the publisher has received any payment for this “stripped book.”
Copyright © 2020 by Jenn D. Young
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All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the written permission of the Publisher, except where permitted by law.
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Dedication
To my amazing girls who have been with me since the very beginning. Your messages, notes, reviews and support me the world to me. Love you Sherry, Laura, and Tammy. Keep being amazing.
Playlist
When Angels Fall - Beyond The Black
The Path to Decay - Sirenia
Ruins - Lord of the Lost
I’m Not Afraid - Lacuna Coil
On Course - OOMPH!
I’m Armageddon - Scarlet Dorn
Dark Night of the Soul - Xandria
Outnumbered - Our Last Night
Control The Storm - Delain
White Skies - Moonspell
Nachtbringer - Blutengel
My Immortal - Kobra and the Lotus
Raining Stars - Lord of the Lost
Never Let You Go - Lord of the Lost
Till Death Us Do Part (2019) - Lord of the Lost
Contents
Prologue
1. Vincent
2. Lorelei
3. Vincent
4. Vincent
5. Lorelei
6. Vincent
7. Vincent
8. Lorelei
9. Vincent
10. Lorelei
11. Vincent
12. Lorelei
13. Vincent
14. Lorelei
15. Vincent
16. Lorelei
17. Vincent
18. Lorelei
19. Vincent
20. Lorelei
21. Lorelei
22. Vincent
23. Lorelei
24. Vincent
25. Lorelei
26. Vincent
27. Lorelei
28. Vincent
29. Lorelei
30. Vincent
31. Lorelei
32. Lorelei
33. Vincent
Epilogue
About the Author
Also by Jenn D. Young
Prologue
Vincent
Age Seventeen
“Today is finally going to be the day that I’ll kick your ass, Damius,” I growled at my mentor and leader of the council. He was also the first vampire ever created by the Archangels in their quest to fight a war amongst themselves. A war that had spilled over onto Earth many years before I was born. A war that was responsible for the death of my parents.
My leg swept out as I tried to hook it around his ankle to trip him, but he moved too fast for me. Damn it. He was always one step ahead of me.
With an arm wrapped around my throat from behind, the vampire whispered, “Never leave yourself that vulnerable. Don’t get too cocky, Vincent.”
Fuck this vampire and his life lessons. I was getting tired of dragging my feet. Learning about politics and sparring. I wanted to fight for real. I wanted to spill the blood of my enemies. To kill The Syndicate and make them pay for killing my parents.
Damius sighed and took a step away from me. He pinched the bridge of his nose as he shook his head slowly back and forth. “Vincent, how many times do I have to tell you that life is not about vengeance? You must learn. Bide your time and strike when the moment is right.” His crimson eyes sparkled with a barely contained fury as he stared down at me.
I growled, baring my lengthened fangs in frustration. “I want to make them pay Damius. They need to pay for what they’ve done. To me. To Nicolae. To everyone in our world.”
Seven long years since the death of my parents. So much death and destruction in such a short amount of time. I closed my eyes as I thought of Nicolae and what the small Nightmare demon had endured at the hands of his stepmother, Adrianna. Damius and I had rescued Nicolae from Adrianna’s clutches several months before. At only nine years old, the budding Nightmare demon was powerful, but half-dead and crazed from starvation and psychological torture. It had taken time, coaxing, and therapy to get him back into a proper frame of mind.
No nine-year-old deserved to be treated that way.
Adrianna was another story. Just thinking about that vile succubus made my blood boil inside my veins. How anyone—be they demon, vampire, or human—could treat a child as she had treated Nicolae, was beyond my comprehension. We may be demons, but we were not evil. At least that was the way that my parents had raised me.
The thought of my parents gave me pause. I still could hardly believe that it had been seven years since The Syndicate—a radical sect of vampires and demons— came in, attacked our home, and killed them. I remembered that day like it was yesterday. The stench of blood as it invaded my nostrils. Holding my mother’s hand as she took in her last breath.
It had been seven long years of training and fighting with Damius and the council to hone my skills. Train my powers. Become worthy to take up my father’s mantle. I may only be seventeen, but I had spent my entire life observing and learning from my father. Then, seven years ago, when he died, I learned from Damius. I was more than prepared to take over as the leader of the demonic horde.
I shook my head to clear my mind of such depressing musings. It wouldn’t do any good to dwell on the past.
“Adrianna has been taken care of, correct?” I mused aloud after a moment of silence with my thoughts.
Damius nodded and crossed his arms over his impressive chest. “The Nephilim took care of her two days ago. She will not plague Nicolae or the demonic horde any longer.”
An evil smile spread across my face. “Good. Although I wish I could have tortured her myself.” I ran the tip of my tongue along the edge of one sharp fang at the thought of her pain. “I hope they didn’t make it too easy for her.”
The vampire rolled his eyes and stalked toward me again. “Of course not. Now, we need to get back to your training. You’re turning eighteen in a matter of weeks. You will ascend and take control of your birthright. You will need to prepare.” Damius arched his eyebrows expectantly.
He was correct. My birthday was just around the corner and while I had access to some of my powers, my ascension would take place on the day of my eighteenth birthday. My powers would hit full force and I would finally take my rightful place as the Demon Prince. The horde had been patient with the changes that had taken place since the death of my father seven years ago, but they were beginning to grow restless. So was I. I needed to take on my birthright. Shoulder the burden and take the throne that I was always destined to. I just never thought that it would be this early in my life. Nope, not going down that path again.
The devilish smile widened, and I resumed my fighting stance. “Bring it on, vampire.”
1
Vincent
> I gripped Lorelei tighter to me as I awoke from the memories of the past. Those early days before I came into my powers—when times were tumultuous at best—were days that I didn’t like to think about. She whimpered at the shift in position but rolled over and rested her head against my chest. A delicate hand was tucked beneath her chin, her small nails digging into my flesh. One leg was thrown over mine and her thigh pressed dangerously close to my rapidly growing erection.
“Mmm. What time is it?” Lorelei groaned sleepily, her breath fanning over the bare skin of my chest.
My palm settled over the back of her neck and squeezed, displaying my possession over her. “Still early,” I murmured, kissing the crown of her head before resting my chin against her soft hair.
“Why are you moving so much then?” she grumbled.
A wide smile split my lips at her frustrated words. Lorelei wasn’t what you would call a morning person—unless I was waking her up in more pleasurable ways. Today, after the haunting memories of the past plagued my thoughts, I needed to hold her tightly in my arms before anything… else. “Dreams,” I said quietly and drew the blanket back over her body.
Her brow furrowed as her sleepy mind tried to process my words. She reached out along our familiar mental connection and tentatively merged her mind with mine. Her bright blue eyes blinked up at me as she rose to lean against her elbow. “Vincent, talk to me. What is going on?”
“Just dreams, Theera. Nothing to be concerned about.” I forced a smile on my face and tucked a strand of her dark hair behind her ear. The pad of my thumb traced the line of her jaw, then upward to her cheekbone. She leaned into my touch, savoring the connection.
“That’s not nothing.” She snapped her eyes open and pulled away from my exploring hand. “And don’t try and distract me with your magic hands.”
I wrapped my arms around her waist and rolled our bodies until I settled over top of her. “If I really wanted to distract you, Theera, I would do it properly.” Her eyes narrowed as I bent my head to her neck and gave it a long lick. “Like this.” I gathered her wrists in one hand and with the other I jerked one of her knees over my hip to open her body to me. With one savage thrust I sunk myself deep into her body.
“Fuck,” I bit out through gritted teeth as she threw her head back and moaned in pleasure. My hips started a frantic rhythm. My fingers dug into the flesh of her thigh as we made frantic love. I murmured soft words against the soft skin of her neck, my fangs tracing along the wild pounding of her vein.
“Vincent,” she breathed my name and fought against the hold I had on her wrists. “I need to feed. I’m so hungry.”
Her words send a bolt of lightning down my spine and made my cock impossibly hard, my balls drawing up tight against my body. “Theera,” I groaned and released her arms. My hips drove against hers, the fierce thrusts not slowing as I angled my neck above her mouth. “Feed.”
Lorelei struck and threaded her fingers through my hair a moment before her fangs penetrated my flesh. Her body arched beneath me, a low strangled cry echoing from her throat as she swallowed my blood. Taking my essence inside of her body to make her whole again.
After the trauma of the past few weeks, Nicolae being captured and rescued, finding out Adrianna was alive, and Lorelei’s rapidly increasing powers, satisfying our hunger for each other was the only constant. I couldn’t get enough of her. I craved her constantly. My cock was always hard as a rock for her. Just for her. Only for my Lorelei.
She drank her fill, retracting her fangs on a harsh moan and cupped my ass in one hand to urge me to go faster. I stared down into those blue depths, drowning in her eyes. In the intensity of my love for her as I fucked her savagely. My hips drew back and forth in a brutal motion as her legs and arms wrapped around me to hold on, clutching me to anchor herself.
“Now, Lorelei,” I snarled as I felt her release start to build. My thumb reached down between our heaving bodies to circle roughly on her clit. Her pussy gripped me, the muscles clamping down as her body exploded with pleasure. She screamed my name and I roared as I spilled myself inside her in hot spurts. Aftershocks racked our bodies as we clung to each other.
My forehead pressed against hers, our breaths mingling together as I lightly traced my fingertips down her face. “I love you, my mate,” I whispered reverently.
“I love you too, Vincent.” A tear leaked from the corner of her eye to slide down her cheek. I traced the path with my tongue and pressed a kiss to each of her eyes.
“Don’t think that this will get you out of telling me about your dreams,” Lorelei added as I slid out of her body and went to my back against the mattress.
I chuckled as I drew her into my arms. “Wouldn’t even think of trying to deceive you, love.” I swept her damp hair away from her shoulder and savored the feel of her soft skin beneath my fingers.
“Yeah, right,” she snorted. “I know you just tried to fuck me into submission. While it works temporarily. I don’t forget.” A wicked grin spread over her face as she snuggled into my chest with a hand beneath her cheek.
“You never do, Theera. You never do.”
I was facing the mirror, buttoning my shirt when Lorelei exited the shower and wrapped herself in a plush towel. The sight of her body, with rivulets of water streaming down her pale skin, did little to tame the erection that was currently straining in my slacks. “Fuck, Theera. The things that your body does to me,” I growled as her eyes flickered to mine in the reflective glass.
She smiled innocently and sauntered toward me, her hips swaying with each step until she stood on her tiptoes and placed a chaste kiss on my cheek. “We shouldn’t be late,” she chided with her coy smile and a pat on my cheek before she turned her back to me to step into the closet.
My head fell back, and I groaned in frustration as she dropped the towel as she walked. “You are killing me, little minx.”
“That’s the point, my big bad Seraphim,” she shouted back with a chuckle.
Shaking my head, I finished dressing. Tonight was Drya’s party. A groan escaped my lips at the thought of having to endure the whole evening at the Succubae’s house. An evening that was sure to end in a very hedonistic orgy or two in her back rooms. I wasn’t looking forward to explaining that one to Lorelei.
Demons, especially the incubus and succubus were extremely sexual creatures. The different demonic factions fed primarily off various sources of energy. For Nightmare demons, it was dream energy and for incubus and succubus it was sexual energy. Demons of royal lines or Seraphim like myself, could feed from all types of energy equally. There wasn’t a difference in the level that it sustained me with.
“You just going to stand there looking in the mirror all night?” Lorelei roused me from my musings, and I whirled around to face her. I wanted to groan in appreciation. She wore an elegant dress that clung to her lush curves in all the right places. Made of red satin with a black lace overlay, it fell to the floor in soft waves. Thick straps held the dress up, just off her shoulders with a low sweeping neckline that left the tops of her glorious breasts bare to my gaze.
Fuck. She was perfection.
And, she was all mine.
Lorelei cocked her head to the side with a knowing smile and settled a hand on her hip. “Now you’re going to stare at me instead? Other people need to use the bathroom too, you know.”
Gods, I loved it when she gave me sass. My lip curled in a fake snarl and I stalked toward her, my long stride quickly eating up the distance between us. I took her hips in my hands and brought her body close to mine. Her breasts pressed into the solid wall of my chest. The fabric of her dress cool against my still half-buttoned shirt. “What else would you need to get ready, Theera?” I murmured against the shell of her ear.
She shuddered in my arms and her hands gripped the fabric of my shirt. “Makeup. Hair,” she said on a shaky exhale as my tongue slid up her exposed neck.
“Hmm,” I growled as my fingered tangled in her damp strands. “The h
air I can see needing to dry. But makeup…” I trailed off as my hands slid up to brush the undersides of her breasts. “You don’t need makeup.”
“Vincent,” she drew in a breath to steady herself. “Stop making us late all the time.” Her palms flattened against the wall of my chest and she pushed with all her might. I took a step back, giving her the illusion that she had succeeded in pressing me away.
Narrowing my eyes at her, I said, “You win this time, Theera.” I shot her a wink and separated our bodies fully.
She let out a pent-up breath and stepped up to the vanity. “You’re just too much sometimes.” Her eyes sought mine through the reflection in the mirror and couldn’t help the smile that spread across my face.
“And you just love it,” I winked and left her to finish getting ready.
2
Lorelei
My finger flexed around Vincent’s as he led me through the doorway. My heart leapt in my throat as my eyes took in the dozens of figures throughout the elaborate entryway. “This is a small gathering?” I muttered, barely sidestepping a scantily dressed man holding a tray of champagne flutes. He was wearing little more than a fancy jock strap.
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