“I want you.” He tipped her chin up and brushed a kiss over her lips. “Your love found me.”
Tension drained from her slender frame as she relaxed against him. “Welcome home, Jaden.”
Chapter Twenty
Siri gritted her teeth, but could not hold back the low grunt of pain as she dragged herself out of her canopied bed. Three weeks had passed since Elsker had injured her. She was grateful that, either in carelessness or pity, Elsker had not actually killed her, but she paid for each moment of being alive.
Her immortal icrathari body had not healed with the flawless precision she had expected. Her throat still burned as if scalded with acid. The stabbing ache that endlessly pulsed from her stomach sent tremors through her slender body. Human technology and medicine offered no relief. Each day was a torment.
At least she was alive, though her gratitude faded with each passing day. An immortality of pain was more than she could contemplate.
The pale glow of the moon danced through her open windows to pool upon the floor. A full moon. Perhaps her last.
She had to conceal the pain—conceal the truth—from Tera and Ashra until she found the courage to end her life.
It would be simple. Aeternae Noctis traveled through both day and night, mimicking the Earth’s phases. It would be easy to leave the city during the blazing heat of noon and fly out from under the shadow of the dome.
The sun would do the rest.
First, she had to ensure that her duties at Aeternae Noctis would be attended to when she was gone. Lucas and Xanthia were well trained, and they would maintain the infirmary and the engines. The ark, however, needed attention, and Phillip was gone.
Siri closed her eyes. To still the trembling, she clenched her hands into fists.
She would have to train Phillip’s replacements. When they were ready, when they were capable, she could take her leave and end her pain.
The full moon bathed Aeternae Noctis in silver. Malum Turris stood guard over the city, the eternal light of its uppermost floor a benediction of grace and blessing. Through day and night, it was a lighthouse, a beacon of salvation and hope.
Michael glanced out of the window of his cottage; his brow furrowed as a slight figure carried aloft by bat wings soared across the arc of the moon.
“Are they coming soon, Papa?” a small voice asked.
He pressed a hand against his son’s tousled head. His strong voice trembled. “Yes, soon.” He sat down and drew his son into his arms.
The child reached up and touched his face. “There’s nothing to be afraid of, right, Papa?”
“Nothing at all, my son.”
He had spent the past week anticipating the knock on the door, and when it came, it relieved the burden he had been carrying though it ushered in sorrow.
With tears in her eyes, his wife opened the door.
Jaden stepped in, his green eyes downcast. “I’m sorry, Michael.”
Michael swallowed through his tears. “You will take good care of him. He will be safe.” It was a statement, not a question. He knew now, as did everyone else in Aeternae Noctis. The city was a burden jointly borne for the sake of the survival of all.
“Yes.”
Michael kissed his son one last time. The boy hugged him and then slipped off his lap to embrace his mother. With a smile brimming with confidence and faith, the boy slid his small hand into Jaden’s and looked up at the elder vampire. “I’m ready.”
Ashra landed on soundless feet at the entrance of the ark and folded her wings behind her. The infant daeva she cradled in her arms sighed, a happy sound, and snuggled deeper into her embrace. Its tiny face pressed against the curve of her breast, and its eyes closed as it fell back asleep.
She knew Jaden had sensed her arrival; he turned his head in acknowledgment as she entered. She walked forward, slipped an arm around his waist, and leaned against his chest. She did not need to look up into his face to know that his bleak gaze rested on the cluster of children prepared for cryogenic hibernation.
“That’s Andrew.” He tipped his chin at a small child who turned to wave at him before stepping into a pod. “Michael’s son. He and Khiarra were friends.”
“I’m sorry. I know this is difficult for you.”
Jaden inhaled deeply. He glanced down. With a tender finger, he stroked the cheek of the sleeping daeva. “Aeternae Noctis isn’t the answer,” he said, his voice pitched low. He shook his head. “It can’t be the answer. There must be some other way to live, not constrained by the limited resources of the city. There must be some place on Earth that is ready for us.”
She tilted her head back to look up at him. His sensual lips were set in a grim line, and his eyes were narrowed with a gleam that she had come to recognize as stubborn determination. Many vampires had been killed in the daevas’ assault on Aeternae Noctis. The ranks would be rebuilt in time, but in the interim, teams of vampires and humans stood ready to manage and defend the city. In the ark, Siri coached three humans, a man and two women, through administering the cryogenic process. In the city square, humans sparred with Talon and Yuri under Tera’s watchful eye, while Lucas sorted through the seemingly inexhaustible list of humans volunteering to be transformed into vampires.
The prophecy had come to pass. Khiarra had shredded the veil of deception and ended the eternal dark.
Ashra turned to Jaden. “Have you decided to lead the scouts?”
Jaden nodded. “Yes, I’ll lead them. Siri and I can plot a course for the city that will allow us to search out new areas for habitation. We’ll find something, Ashra. I know we will.”
“And the daevas?”
He inhaled deeply. “Do you think Elsker was right, that with access to our technology, the daevas might be able to restore life on Earth?”
“I don’t know, but we can’t dismiss the possibility. Four icrathari refused to enter Aeternae Noctis; Megun was one of them. There may be three others, still alive. I want you to locate them.”
She would have to negotiate a peace with the ancient daevas without sacrificing the humans and vampires under her protection. The infant daeva, raised with care, was a token of goodwill, a step forward in the search for common ground.
Jaden nodded. “I’ll find them. First, I’ll identify a safe place to set down the city. We’ll expand our settlements and establish our defenses. Whatever happens, we’ll keep Aeternae Noctis secure.”
He drew her close, wrapping his arms around her and the infant daeva they had named Megun. Safe in the arms of her lover, Ashra closed her eyes and smiled.
By building the city, Rohkeus had saved humanity. Jaden would save humanity by leading them out of it.
Hope burned, a steady flame, anchored by love that transcended time and even death.
* * *
The End
* * *
Continue the award-winning Aeternae Noctis series with Eternal Dawn
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* * *
www.jadekerrion.com
About the Author
Jade Kerrion defied (or leveraged, depending on your point of view) her undergraduate degrees in Biology and Philosophy, as well as her MBA, to embark on her second (and concurrent) career as an award-winning science fiction, fantasy, and contemporary romance author.
Her debut novel, Perfection Unleashed, published in 2012, won six literary awards and launched her best-selling futuristic thriller series, Double Helix, which blends cutting-edge genetic engineering and high-octane action with an unforgettable romance between an alpha empath and an assassin.
Earth-Sim and Eternal Night won first place Royal Palm Literary Awards in the Young Adult and Fantasy categories respectively. Readers have clamored for sequels, and Jade will get around to them when her To Do list opens up (sometime after 2020.) Life Shocks Romances features Jade’s sweet and sexy contemporary romance series, which proves that, at the very least, she knows how to alphabetize books.
If she sounds busy, that’s because she is. Jade writ
es at 3 a.m., when her husband and three sons are asleep, and aspires to make her readers as sleep-deprived as she is.
Read more by Jade Kerrion:
www.amazon.com/author/jadekerrion
www.jadekerrion.com
Black Beauty
An Everleaf Series Prequel
Contance Burris
Copyright © 2015 by Constance Burris
Example Copyright notice: All rights reserved under the International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. 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 permission in writing from the publisher.
This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, organizations, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
Warning: the unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in prison and a fine of $250,000.
Black Beauty
What Price Would You Pay For Beauty?
At Vista Apartment Complex, life drastically changes for four of its residents when they decide to do business with Crazy Jade—the supposed voodoo witch that can grant your wish for a price.
Shemeya wants the confidence to stand up against the girls bullying her at school, but she soon has to choose between keeping her dreadlocs or living a normal life. After catching her boyfriend cheating, Latreece just wants to have the same curves as all the other girls. Ashley will do whatever she can to have “White Girl Flow,” but takes her pursuit too far when she steals from Crazy Jade.
Everyone who comes into contact with Crazy Jade soon learns the true price of her magic—and how horribly wrong it can go.
1
Shemeya
A woman who cuts her hair is about to change her life. - Coco Chanel
Shemeya jumped out of the green pleather seat, ignoring the bus driver's grunt of annoyance as he pulled the lever and opened the doors. As soon as she could, she squeezed through the opening and hopped off the crowded bus.
While she walked through the maze of cracked concrete sidewalks, the hot Oklahoma wind thrashed her face and sweat prickled her skin. Vista Apartments, unlike the two apartment complexes flanking it, had green siding that was well maintained and the parking lots only had a few potholes.
"What's wrong with you, girl?"
Surprised, Shemeya stopped. The question had come from Crazy Jade. She'd popped up two years ago out of nowhere. There were a dozen rumors about her circulating through the apartments, including one about her being a voodoo priestess.
Jade stood a few feet away in the open doorway of her apartment. Shemeya's mom would have killed her if she'd done that - flies and air conditioning and money not growing on trees and all. Shemeya wanted to keep walking, but she didn't want to be rude. Jade was the only parent who didn't pay for babysitting with food stamps.
"Why are you in such a hurry?" Jade asked. With her light skin and brown freckles, she didn't look anything like her dark-skinned five-year-old son, Coal, who stood nearby bouncing a basketball.
"I have homework to do," Shemeya lied, trying to focus her attention on Jade instead of the three girls walking from the bus stop. Latreece, Benita, and Aaliyah were cousins and protected each other like sisters. If one of the girls hated you, all three hated you. And right now Shemeya was number one on Latreece's crap list.
"Move, Medusa," Latreece said, hitting Shemeya's shoulder as she walked by. As if on cue, Benita and Aaliyah followed suit, almost knocking Shemeya to the ground.
"What's that about?" Jade stepped onto the sidewalk, standing next to Shemeya. "Why did they call you Medusa?"
Shemeya blinked the sun out of her eyes and pulled her shirt away from her moist armpits. "No, reason. Just stupid girls saying stupid things." Medusa had been her nickname after she'd started growing dreads her freshman year. The constant teasing almost made her cut them out.
"Are they the reason you've stopped smiling?"
Shemeya arched an eyebrow. "Stopped smiling . . . What are you talking about?"
"You've always been full of joy. That's why I like it when you watch Coal. He always comes back happy." Jade stepped closer. "But now your smile is gone."
My smile? Shemeya thought. Who pays attention to someone's smile?
"There's nothing wrong with me."
Jade folded her arms across her chest. "I've been here for two years, and I've never seen you sad. Let me help you."
"There's nothing wrong with me, and I don't need help." Shemeya paused and lowered her voice. "So is it true, though? Are you a voodoo priestess?"
Jade laughed. Her eyes sparkled for a moment and seemed to turn from muddy brown to red. "I don't know nothing about voodoo, child," she said in a mocking, thick Cajun accent. "But I do admire their results."
Shemeya twirled a dread around her finger. "Anyways, I don't have any money."
"I don't need your money. You are one of the only people in Vista Apartments who dares to smile." Jade placed a hand on Shemeya's shoulder. "Let me help."
She stepped away from Jade's touch. "This conversation is getting too weird, Ms. Jade. I have to go. Call me this weekend if you need a babysitter."
Shaking her head, Shemeya turned to Coal. "Bye, Cutie." Good luck on having a normal life with that weird-ass mom of yours.
She walked the rest of the way to her apartment and up the concrete stairs. She forced herself not to look down, but once she got to the door, she couldn't help it. Jade stared at her from below. From this angle, the sun beamed on Jade's face and her muddy brown eyes appeared to glow red.
Shemeya stood in the hallway eating a bowl of cereal. Iris, her younger sister, squirmed as their mother ran a comb through the girl's kinky hair. The medicated scent of Blue Magic hair grease mingled oddly with the sweet smell of Frosted Flakes. The good thing about dreads: she never had to get another scalp burn from a relaxer, and she never had to comb her hair.
"Momma, since you don't work today can you take me to school? The bus has been late for the past three days." Shemeya had spent part of the morning practicing how to ask the question so it sounded casual, instead of like the desperate plea for help it was.
"Hell, no." Mary pulled the comb roughly through Iris's hair before she pointed it at Shemeya. "And if you miss that bus I'm gonna whoop your ass. I don't care if you are about to graduate. You ain't too old to get a beating."
"You could have just said no," Shemeya muttered.
"What did you say?"
Mary worked as a health care worker and traveled from house to house, cleaning crap and cooking crap, as she put it. When she got home, she'd always tell them, "I deal with too much crap at work to hear it from my kids."
"Nothing. Bye," Shemeya said hurriedly, placing the empty bowl on the kitchen counter. She grabbed her backpack and raced out of the apartment before her mother could deliver any more threats involving someone's ass getting beat.
She had known the chances of her mother taking her to school were slim so she headed out of the apartments and walked the three blocks to stand in line for the neighborhood bus.
The apartment kids were not allowed to ride the neighborhood's bus, and the neighborhood kids were not allowed to ride the apartment's bus. Separating them had been the school's half-assed attempt at keeping the well-off bougie kids from the poorer kids, but the yuppie kids had moved out of this area years ago. Everyone in this part of town either received welfare benefits or they were one paycheck away from living on the streets.
Once the neighborhood bus arrived, she lowered her head and followed the other students. She chose a seat in the middle of the bus away from the driver's line of sight. While she removed her ba
ckpack, she noticed a few stares, but no one said anything.
When the bus started moving, she closed her eyes and let out a sigh of relief.
"What are you doing on my bus?"
She swallowed the lump in her throat and looked up. Jason, her chemistry partner, stood in the aisle.
"It's a free world. I can ride this bus if I want to."
He sat down, put his arm around the back of the seat, and leaned towards her. He was so close she saw flecks of dry skin on his forehead. Jason's hair was shaved close at the sides, and his perfectly coifed box rose half a foot above his head. Jason and another guy, Andre, were in competition for who could grow the biggest box. Unfortunately, Jason was winning. "No, you can't. No Vista kids are allowed on this bus."
Shemeya scowled. "You gonna tell on me?"
Jason laughed. "No, I wouldn't do that to you. Anyway, our chemistry project is due soon. You want to meet up at my place today and work on it?"
"Sure." She took a deep breath. "I thought you were gonna snitch, and then I was gonna have to cut you."
He grabbed her arm and laughed, letting his hand linger. "You know I wouldn't do you like that. So why are you on this bus?"
She turned from him and slipped lower into the seat. "No, reason. I just wanted to change it up."
The twenty-minute ride through the outskirts of south west Oklahoma City took Shemeya past cow pastures and oversized warehouses. According to her sophomore history teacher, the Gene Autry school district was created to fight the desegregation of public schools in the 1950s. But forty years later, Blacks, Hispanics, and Vietnamese made up thirty percent of the school district as more minorities moved into the suburbs. As she entered the school, fliers requesting her vote for the next student president and posters daring her to say no to drugs littered the walls.
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