by Janie Marie
He stopped breathing as another part of their conversation played out. “What do you desire most regarding your demon, Jane?” he had asked.
“To be free of her,” she had said. “Always.”
The roaring within him had ceased, and he had made his decision. “I will not force myself on you, my queen.”
Her smile had reminded him of home. “Thank you, Luc.”
As the memory from that morning faded, Lucifer looked into the dark eyes starting at him now and searched for gold. “I love you, Jane.”
The demon looked back, unaffected. Unloving.
He sighed and kissed her lips again. She tried to deepen the kiss, but he stopped her and kissed down to the base of her neck. “Please forgive me, my queen,” he murmured against her skin before letting his teeth sharpen and biting down softly into her neck.
She moaned, writhing in ecstasy while he drank her sweet blood. He felt his wickedness, the blood he had poured into her unconscious lips months ago, and when he didn’t stop sucking, she finally panicked as something darker was torn away. Something he commanded his light to capture as it uncovered a tiny gold flame it had been shielding.
The demon gasped, thrashing under him, feeling her life draining away, but he held her down with his inhuman strength. Only he held the right to overpower her. It was part of the pact that made him High King. The bargain that made Jane his prize, a wager that put her soul in his hands.
Fragments of their short time together began flashing through his mind again, and tiny conversations between them screamed in his ears.
Eventually, though, Jane’s sweet voice faded in his mind, and her demon’s frantic efforts to free herself weakened until she finally stopped moving.
She was gone. The darkness that had been born inside Jane at the moment of her creation—her demon—was imprisoned inside him now, trapped in the same prison as his soul. The prison only he had marked on his body.
A soft gasp drew his attention, and he stopped drinking the moment sweet, untainted blood touched his tongue.
Looking down at her, he touched Jane’s—his queen’s—cheek, smiling when hazel eyes fluttered open.
She gave him a weak, peaceful smile. “I told you there was good in you.” She took harsher breaths, her tiny body jolting each time, but she didn’t seem to be in pain. “Your hair changed . . . I like the gray color.”
He had felt it happen, but he could faintly make out his reflection in her eyes. “You were right about her. She does burn.” Lucifer pressed his lips against hers, breathing in her scent as much as he could before whispering against her mouth, “Death.”
The immediate power radiating off the Angel of Death filled the cave, and Jane smiled wider as she struggled to keep her eyes open. Death’s heated gaze on his back almost hurt, but Lucifer pulled himself up, gathering the blanket on the bed to cover her naked body. He stood, casting a quick glance back at Death before bending down to lift her into his arms.
As she kept trying to suck in precious air, Lucifer glanced up at the furious angel. “I know,” he said, carefully placing her in Death’s arms. “Fight me another time, little brother. She needs you right now.”
Death remained quiet when Lucifer caressed her cheek. She smiled lovingly at him before crying at the sight of her angel.
“I’m here, baby girl,” Death said, his gaze heartbroken as he inhaled her scent.
“You came back.” She gasped, sobbing. “The end.”
“Not yet,” Death said, but she didn’t seem to hear him.
A thunderous roar sounded from outside the cave, bringing the rocks down from the ceiling.
Lucifer sighed, pressing a kiss on her forehead before nodding to Death. “Take her. I will hold him.”
They both looked down when Jane’s mumble reached their ears. “Home.”
Death pulled her tight and leaned down, brushing his lips against hers. A bright green light flowed between them, casting a beautiful emerald glow across their faces as they both sighed.
Lucifer smiled. She was getting that magic she spoke of. She was reuniting with her angel.
“Yes, Jane,” Death said, kissing her lips as the light returned to him. “My moon.” He kissed her again, closing his eyes when she touched his cheek. “It’s time to go home. To David.”
Jane smiled and whispered, “My David.”
Death brushed his lips over hers. “Sleep, Sweet Jane. When you wake, you will be with your knight.” As Death straightened, he glanced at the opening of the cave. “Pray you do not face me in this war, Luc. The only reason you are alive is because she needs me, but I will not let you forget your betrayal, or what you have done to her.”
“As if anyone could, little brother. Go. You got what you wanted—she is free.”
Death glanced at Jane. “No, she is not.”
Lucifer watched her lips tremble. He knew Death was right. A new war had begun. “She is still my queen. I will protect her against them. Now, take her. I will buy us time.”
As Death held her closer, Jane slid her hand to rest over the angel’s heart and smiled. She smiled for Death. Not for him.
“Goodbye, my queen,” he said, staring where Death had been standing. “For now.”
Concluded in
THE LIGHT BRINGER
Book Three of the Gods & Monsters trilogy
THE EPIC FINALE OF
THE GODS & MONSTERS TRILOGY.
Some souls should never be parted. Do so, and there are only two outcomes: they wither and die or they lay waste to the world.
With the Final Battle drawing near, the love, honor, and duty of all will be tested. Rules will be broken and alliances will shift as the lines between Heaven and Hell are blurred, crossed, and ignored. Discovering one's true loyalty will no longer be as simple as it once seemed.
Every secret will be told, every lie will be uncovered and every question that could possibly be asked will come to light in the wake of blood and death.
LOVE, JEALOUSY AND PRIDE IS WHERE THIS STORY TRULY BEGAN . . . WHAT WILL HAPPEN WHEN IT ENDS WHERE IT ALL STARTED?
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Acknowledgments
Thank you to my husband Josiah and our kiddos, Tristan, Keira, and Evangeline. I know it’s hard to have me so absorbed with my writing. I’m so grateful you understand how much it means to me to achieve my goals. Thank you for sharing me with my boys and my readers.
I love you.
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I’d like to say a huge thank you to my beta team: The Captain Queen’s Dreaded Beta Team: Ashley Claudy(Author, Bestie, therapist), Zeyba Haider, Katie Foley, Emily Vaughan (Also awesome proofreader), Kaitlyn Zantello, Dinah Jellema, Desiree Grana Feliu, Kelly Mahmud, Laura Rincon, Leah Blundell, Jéssica Reis, Fabia Ali, Uness Denniston, Maria Reyes, Shane Rana Sadhbh Ni Fhlaithbheartaigh, Aisha GK, Zahlé Eloff, Elaine Stipe—and temp betas: Emily Croft, Sheila Krieger, Éabha Puirséil, I love each and every one of you. You are really the All-Stars of readers and friends. It has been such a wonderful experience to get to know you. You have gone above and beyond my expectations, and I will always be grateful for the support you have given as beta readers and friends. Thank you for helping me transform this story into what I always wanted it to be.
Thank you for being on this journey with me.
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Huge thanks to the members of all my Facebook groups: the main group “Gods & Monsters vs Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf”, the “I Survived Gods & Monsters” group, the “Team Jane” group. Also a big thank you to my Instagram and Wattpad followers. Having all of you there every single day, pushing me, supporting me, laughing and crying with me—I’m just so grateful. You have no idea how much it means when I’m doubting myself there’s always one or a hundred of you, telling me to keep going. And that’s the bestest feeling.
You guys are awesome!
Kisses from your Captain Queen,<
br />
Janie Marie
About the Author
Janie Marie is a wife and mother of three. She devotes her time to her family and her characters. Her decision to allow readers to know she’s placed so much of herself in her characters has often been met with harsh criticism, but she refuses to change them or herself. They are her, and she is them. She wrote to grieve, and she cannot abandon her saviors.
She prefers readers think for themselves when they are in her worlds. She’ll leave bread crumbs, but she’ll only let readers put the pieces together when she’s ready for them to see. You will find Janie likes to bring certain character souls, as she calls them, to life in the other worlds she makes. She does this for many reasons, and she hopes it enhances the reading experience for those who follow her on every adventure she’s prepared to share.
Her wish is simply that readers who manage to make it to the end of her stories take something away, and they keep it with them always.
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Follow Janie Marie
www.janiemariebooks.com
[email protected]
COMING SOON
WHO’S AFRAID OF THE
BIG BAD WOLF?
A Novel
Coming 2018
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THE WOLF PRINCE
A Gods & Monsters Novel
Coming 2018
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Visit www.janiemariebooks.com or sign up for her MAILING LIST to receive publishing updates and exclusive bonus chapters.
Facebook @JanieMarie.author
Instagram & Twitter @janiemarie1617
www.janiemariebooks.com
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