The Sight

by Savannah J. Frierson

  They fell back to earth with a thud.

  Orion coughed. “I certainly hope your angelic seed stays potent enough inside Amie to get us back out.”

  “Right now, at this moment, I truly do not like you,” Jaie groused, but he didn’t wait for a response as he ran up to Aminata’s body. He sat on the ground and drew her into his arms, cradling her. Her body immediately stopped twitching and she released a breath that reminded him of a sigh. The frothing had stopped and he used an edge of her robe to wipe away the mess. Her scars had returned.

  Jaie?

  “I am here, little one,” he said, pressing a kiss to her temple. Her skin was cold and it made him shudder.

  Jaie! Jaie! Are you okay? You’re really here?

  The tears in her voice made his eyes spring with them as well. This time he didn’t bother stopping them, letting his fear and grief slide down his cheeks into the soft, short coils of her dark hair.

  “I am here, Aminata. I will not leave you.”

  Thank you, she said. Thank you for being here with me during my last moments. I’m afraid it’s for real this time.

  Jaie shook his head. “I cannot believe that. I refuse to. You have never Seen this version of your demise, have you?”

  Not this version, but everything did go dark for me and you held me as it did.

  Jaie shook his head emphatically. “No.”

  He’s taking my soul.

  Everything inside of Jaie stilled and horrified eyes met Orion’s. The other man frowned in confusion. He wasn’t privy to the conversation and Jaie couldn’t make his lips form around the words.

  “He cannot take your soul,” Jaie said with a confidence he didn’t actually feel. “Not without great risk to himself.”

  At this, Aminata gave a faint laugh in his mind. Gonna open a can of whoop-ass on him?

  He had to laugh despite himself and he pressed another kiss to her temple. “The vow he made?” Jaie reminded her. “Why are we all even here in the first place? He promised not to destroy me.”

  Loophole: He’ll destroy me and my loss will destroy you.

  Jaie grunted. That much was true. He ignored the rising dread in his gut and rocked her prone body. “Think, Aminata. You are clever, cleverer than that daemon who thinks he has outsmarted you. You are the original djinni. He is a bastardized version of you. Without you, he would be nothing! You must—”

  That’s it! Amie cried in his mind. I’m the originator! Without me, he has no djinni Gifts at all! When I get back, I’m planting the biggest kiss on you.

  Jaie let her joy fill him. “Why wait?” he asked, and he pressed his lips to hers.

  Initially, her mouth was cold and unyielding, sending spikes of terror throughout Jaie’s body. But after a moment, she became warm and pliant underneath him, and he breathed into her mouth as he spoke a prayer.

  “Come back to me,” he whispered. Jaie might not be an angel anymore, but he’d be damned if he let Donas take Aminata away from him.

  Suddenly, Aminata’s body shuddered so violently that Jaie almost lost his hold on her. Her black eyes popped open and Jaie thought he could see the cosmos inside of them. A bright explosion had Jaie covering Aminata’s body with his and a loud hiss of pain made him snap his head toward the source.

  Donas.

  Orion had the daemon in a headlock, his fangs extended and ready for a bite. Donas didn’t appear frightened or dismayed by his current predicament even as his body began to shrivel and smoke. In fact, he seemed delighted.

  “You cannot kill me,” Donas said and chuckled roughly at Jaie’s glower. “Daemon, remember?”

  “You could not kill me, either,” Jaie reminded him. “Angel, remember?”

  “But you are no longer,” Donas said and sneered. “Just could not keep it in your pants, could you, Jaie?”

  He refused to be baited. “How are you even here?”

  For once, Donas’s cockiness faded and true confusion filled his expression. He remained tight-lipped, which made Jaie smirk. Donas had no idea, meaning Aminata held the reins right now.

  “In the end, it will not matter,” Donas said with a shrug. Orion’s lip curled at the man’s lackadaisical mien. “Perhaps there is a bit of poetry about taking your and Aminata’s soul on the angels’ sacred grounds. It is not the Peak, but it will do in a pinch.”

  Jaie watched the Donas’s eyes slide beyond him and his pointed smile turned feral. “Ah, the last woman who tried to save your life. She looks good for a fallen angel.”

  Jaie didn’t look back to Ariella but he smiled. “You were not able to destroy all her Faith. You did not win then and you will not win now.”

  “I will not win?” Donas asked with amused incredulity. “As if I have not won already! You are no longer an angel! My biggest obstacle to victory has been defeated! I have won!”

  Raspy laughter undercut Donas’s crowing. Three pairs of eyes fell on Aminata, who was finally rousing and snuggling deeper into Jaie’s hold. A beatific smile was on her face and Jaie infinitely preferred her body shaking with laughter rather than the throes of her demise. Jaie rested his chin against her shoulder and held her close. Her soft warmth steadied his spirit, as did the ending peals of her laughter.

  “Uh,” Orion asked, frowning. “What’s so funny?”

  “The comedian you’re holdin’,” Aminata said, her voice becoming stronger with each word. “The victory’s not yours and it never will be,” Aminata declared, then she smiled. “And you can See that as well as I.”

  Donas scowled. “That cannot possibly be true!”

  “And yet I don’t lie,” Aminata said. “Curious, that.”

  Donas’s jaw worked, clearly aggravated he couldn’t dispute her. “I cannot believe you.”

  Cannot. A curious word choice, one that made hope bloom inside Jaie.

  “I thought you knew everything; Saw everything,” Aminata said with a shrug. “Does this not look familiar?” Donas pursed his lips, clearly refusing to answer, and Aminata chuckled again. “It does.”

  “Your soul was mine!” Donas cried.

  “It was, and had you been a full daemon, you could’ve taken it, but you’re not.”

  Donas’s eyes widened as the true meaning of her words sunk in. A smile of triumph curved Jaie’s own mouth.

  “No!” Donas cried.

  “You asked for my abilities and I gave them to you, but you never asked how.”

  “NO!”

  “We’re linked, you and I,” Aminata said. “That we’d discovered already, but had you known you couldn’t take souls anymore because of it?”

  Donas vibrated with rage and even Orion had to throw back his head and laugh. In his anger, Donas managed to break Orion’s hold, throwing the vampire high in the sky. Jaie’s breath caught in his throat, fearing Orion would hit the barrier just like the daemons had, but he managed to right himself and return to earth in a controlled fall.

  “I will kill you!” Donas screamed, advancing, but Orion was there to block him from them. “I will kill you dead!”

  “You can’t,” Aminata said, shrugging. “Not as long as we’re linked.”

  “Then I wish to go back!” Donas said, hysteria coloring his voice. “To how everything was before!”

  Now, Aminata looked at Jaie, brushing her knuckles against his jaw. She smiled softly at him and he could see the gold starting to glow around her. But he shook his head and grasped her hand in his, kissing her fingers.

  “No,” Jaie said. “I do not wish to lose you.”

  Her smile widened and her golden glow faded. “Okay.”

  Growling, Donas tried to advance again but this time Orion gave him a hard right hook, dazing the daemon. Donas staggered, black blood dripping from his mouth. Pure evil blazed in his eyes.

  “I have a wish for you,” Aminata said instead, lifting her chin. “I wish to be free of you.”

  Donas’s eyes widened as a gray hue overtook his body as if against his will. Aminata began to glow gold a
s well, and the two lights barreled into each other and crashed, causing the ground to shake and Jaie’s ears to ring. Aminata writhed wildly in his arms and he held her tight, whispering soothing, nonsense words. When the light faded, both she and Donas were still and unmoving.

  “Let’s go,” Orion said, and Jaie didn’t need to be told twice. Still weak, Jaie handed Aminata to Orion and they ran for the barrier. A growl rumbled from behind them. Jaie turned back to see Donas rising to his feet, black eyes intent on them, a large fireball growing in his hands. Jaie whispered a prayer. The barrier flickered and fell, then Donas and the two daemons were blasted by another bright light from behind him. All three soared into the air, flung far from the training grounds to parts unknown.

  Jaie, Aminata, and Orion looked toward the source of the blast. There Ariella stood, Jaie’s scepter smoking from use.

  “Well done,” Jaie praised.

  Looking slightly shaken, Ariella managed a smile, setting the deployed scepter down heavily but carefully.

  Micah ran up to them to help. He took Jaie’s weight while Orion continued to carry Aminata. They both were settled gently in the back seat, Aminata between Ariella and Jaie. Aminata blinked her eyes open and looked to him first. She smiled and he returned it. Then she looked to Ariella. She grasped the young angel’s hand.

  “Thank you for savin’ us,” Aminata whispered. “I had Faith in you.”

  “I wasn’t sure I could,” Ariella said. “But I knew I had to do something to help!”

  “Good,” Aminata replied, squeezing Ariella’s hand. “Then let that guide you as you find Faith in yourself too.” Aminata then cuddled into Jaie and closed her eyes. Jaie did the same.

  Never had he been so tired.

  EPILOGUE

  There was no kissing away her boo-boos anymore; but as long as Jaie was here to kiss them at all, Amie didn’t mind.

  “Be careful not to go overboard, my dearest one,” Jaie warned, his lips soft and moist as they grazed her right flank. His fingers were no less busy, kneading her hips and thighs in a way that made her feel like jelly.

  She missed the sight of him, the ability to see his gorgeous, burnished-gold face and stare into his sunlit brown eyes, but she could touch him whenever she wanted now…everywhere…and that was certainly no hardship to endure.

  “I’ll do enough and no more,” Amie promised, her eyelids fluttering as she sank her pudgy fingers into Jaie’s thick, silky hair. He’d become more hirsute in the weeks since his fall but Amie didn’t mind that, either. The sensation of his bearded cheek against her breasts, belly, and inner thighs would always make her shudder with pleasure.

  “You were comatose for a week after doing ‘enough,’” Jaie countered, censure stark in his voice. “I cannot believe you granted that wish.”

  Amie snorted and tugged gently on his hair. “You can’t?”

  Jaie grunted, his nose drawing a line in the crease of her hip and thigh that his tongue followed. “Perhaps…”

  “Clarity with Amie” was broadcasting again, but this time they were in a brand-new facility built into the cavern where Amie had decided to stay until Donas had been defeated once and for all. Orion had contacted Teya, the Dragons Fraction leader, to help them power the underground space. Amie felt more relaxed than when she’d been high from the ground both in La Cascade and on the Peak. Here, she had easy access to her pool, especially necessary now since Jaie couldn’t just fly her to an ocean.

  Her return to the airwaves had been a ratings boon for her, Melody, and Orion, who retained a percentage of the show’s profits. She’d granted so many wishes and accepted those on behalf of her health. But the last wish she’d granted that day had been on behalf of the surviving casualties from New Year’s Eve. A caller had wished for their full recoveries.

  How could Amie not grant that one?

  “I don’t regret it,” Amie said, coming back to the present. She tilted her chin up so Jaie could press his bearded kisses along her neck.

  “I do not doubt it,” Jaie murmured. He was as naked as she, the length of him hard and ready to go. Amie cradled it in her palm, grinning at his responding hiss. His lips found her smiling ones.

  “I do not regret my choices, either, dearest one,” Jaie murmured and eased his hardness inside her. Amie’s eyelids fluttered at the breach and her inner muscles clenched around him, not wanting Jaie to move.

  They’d become very skilled at lovemaking since his fall as well. They favored slow and steady to faster forays. Jaie’s sense of time was still vast, which meant he made love as if he had all the time in the world. And as much as Amie wished she did, that was one wish she knew even her Sire couldn’t grant.

  Nevertheless, she adored the slide of his skin upon hers, how his heavy weight made her feel protected and safe. The scent of him made her heady—he still managed to smell like stardust even now—and his mouth tasted like the amreeta Ariella would smuggle to them every now and again.

  “Aminata,” Jaie murmured, his hand cradling her cheek. His thrusts remained slow, but they became more powerful as well. Her entire body quaked every time he entered her. She squeezed him tightly with her inner muscles, making him earn every exit from her body.

  “Yeah, baby?” Amie asked, nipping his jaw. He groaned and her body tingled from the sound.

  “I should like to create life with you,” he whispered, linking their fingers together and bringing their hands up over her head. He lowered himself until every stretch of her skin touched him. “Is that something you can See us doing?”

  Instead of answering, Amie kissed him and twisted her hips in a way that he let the matter drop entirely. As her Sire had warned her, the future was never fixed, but she’d had so many dreams recently of a smiling Jaie holding a swaddled baby that she couldn’t help but hope. Nevertheless, she refused to confirm or deny.

  Amie didn’t want to jinx anything.

  Preorder Now! Available November 28, 2017

  The final book in the City of Sin Collection!

  Rekindled Faith: City of Sin

  Taabia Dupree

  Waiting for the right moment until the hospital wing was quiet, she slipped away. She found in the jean pockets she wore a small note in an envelope with a bank card and a necklace. The necklace was engraved with a name, Ariella. The note said her money was safe. It included a pin number to withdraw from an ATM.

  What was the connection between her dreams and the note? It all confused her except the name and age. Ariella had to be her name, it felt right. She thought she looked older than seventeen but she wouldn’t tell anyone her age anyway. The dreams pointed her in the direction of Las Vegas. There she was to meet someone, but who?

  In order to figure out who she was, Ariella had to first figure out who she could trust.

  What will happen when she gets her memory back and finds out, she’s an angel?

  Missed the beginning of Amie and Jaie’s story?

  Check out Savannah’s titles in the City of Sin Collection

  The Light and The Fight: City of Sin

  Savannah J. Frierson

  Aminata “Amie” Fisher has been living in the dark for years. But a chance encounter with an angel has her seeing the light.

  Purchase THE LIGHT: CITY OF SIN

  As Jaie and Aminata “Amie” Fisher fight an increasingly powerful foe, they also fight a future where a win for humanity means the loss of each other.

  Purchase THE FIGHT: CITY OF SIN

  Read all 12 books in the City of Sin Collection to discover how everything unfolds!

  Website: http://bit.ly/cityofsinworld

  About the Author

  Originally from Blythewood, South Carolina, Savannah J. Frierson has been writing since she was twelve years old, releasing her debut novel Being Plumville in March 2007 with iUniverse, Inc. She has released more publications since then, and they are available at all online book retailers or by request at brick and mortar bookstores. For more information about other titles, plea
se visit Savannah’s Web site at http://www.sjfbooks.com or contact Savannah by e-mail at me@sjfbooks.com.

  Join the SJF Books Mailing List to stay up to date with everything Savannah is doing and get a bonus free short story!

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  Selected Bibliography

  Being Plumville

  Go with Your Heart

  Reconstructing Jada Channing

  Manna Tree

  The Beauty Within

  Trust Fall

  For more on City of Sin and other SJF Books projects, please consider supporting Savannah’s Patreon at http://www.patreon.com/sjfbooks.

  Did you love The Sight? Then you should read The Fight by Savannah J. Frierson and C.O. Sin!

  Dominion angel Jaie has never been in a fight like this. In all the millennia he's lived, never once has he been conflicted about his role as an angel. Yet even as he knows he must focus all his attention on defeating an ever-powerful foe, his growing love for one woman threatens to jeopardize a very necessary victory.

  Aminata “Amie” Fisher is growing into her new djinni Gifts, determined to aid in the fight for Las Vegas any way she can. And though she may be blind, even she can see Jaie struggle between his duty and his feelings for her. However, he doesn't know he won't have to struggle for much longer. She just hopes he forgives her when the time comes.

  In this fight Jaie and Amie must win, the cost of victory may be too high, but it is a price that must be paid.

  Also by Savannah J. Frierson

  City of Sin

  The Light

  The Fight

  The Sight