“You caused a wrong to make a right,” I whispered.
I felt him nod.
“We’re more than we appear, aren’t we, Fischer? You sent me those memories. We share visions. There’s more here, something we don’t understand.”
“I think we are. I don’t think we’re alone, either. I think there’s more to us and more of us.”
“Does that scare you?”
“As long as you’re with me? No. Not at all.” He was quiet for a moment. “Do you hate me, Wren?”
I shook my head. “Not even a little.”
“You can live with what I’ve done?”
“I would have helped.”
He shook his head. “No. It had to be me alone. I had to do this for you and Ellie.” He kissed down my spine slowly.
“Fischer,” I whispered.
“Yes, little bird?”
“I love you.”
His lips were at my ear. “I love you, too.”
Outside in the strange late fall storm, bright blue lightning split the sky.
Lily
I heard the thunder crash as I pushed the door to the basement open. It was advantageous. No one needed to know this place was a place.
I descended the stairs and hurried to the storage room at the other side of the apartment building. Six apartments, seven storage areas. Everyone assumed the last was just equipment.
It wasn’t.
Waving my hand over the lock, it popped open and I ducked in, locking it behind me. The door on the other side seemed to go into the foundation and lead nowhere.
I walked into the wall—it was nothing of the sort. Merely a curtain that made it look like a wall.
Hurrying down the stairs, I didn’t have much time. It grew darker and darker as I spiral down until halfway when the light from below filtered up, casting an orange glow in the stairwell. Supernatural light, comforting.
Finally the door appeared, and I pulled it open. The massive entry of stone was just beyond, and the fire that always burned in the pit there glowed happily.
Home.
I missed this place terribly. I missed everything it was once.
That was the exact reason both my husband and I avoided it. For the past two centuries, we’d found other places to hide and work and think. The massive palace had no life in it—all of that was stolen from us in just one year.
We didn’t know who had destroyed what we had built. I spent my time away from here, two hundred and thirty years all told, looking for those who were stolen. He had spent the same time looking for those who had stolen them.
“Luce?” I called, walking deeper into the palace. I didn’t have to raise my voice much at all to get it to echo loudly. “Luce, are you here?”
The tall, imposing figure of my immortal husband stepped out from the sitting room near the kitchen. “I am here, Lilith.”
There was no pretense with me, I ran into his open arms and wrapped myself around him. He was warm, always so warm, and I loved that about him. His darkened skin had its usual ruddy hue, and his hair had grown long. I played with the ends. I barely reached his shoulders, but we fit perfectly.
“I missed you so much, my love,” he whispered into the crown of my head.
“Missed you too, my dear heart.” I sighed. “Any news?”
He shook his head. “None.” He was so sad, and I didn’t blame him. I wanted our lives back.
“I found her,” I whispered.
He stepped back and held me carefully by my shoulders. “You did.”
“I did.” There was no containing my grin. “We were looking for amnesia. It never occurred to me they might be recycling her and all the others. She has had a whole life to now.”
“Oh... Why didn’t I think of that?”
I could tell he wanted to curse himself, but I reached up and pulled him down and kissed him hard. “No. No regrets. Because this gets better. She’s found one. Her alpha.”
“She did...” His black eyes sparkled with the first glint of hope I had seen in them in years.
I nodded. “And even more still?”
Luce nodded his head in anticipation.
“She has the guardians.”
“Do they know?”
“No, none of them know...though I think she and the alpha suspect.”
“Bring her here—”
My hand landed over his heart. “No. Not yet. Not now. I know, I know how that kills you to hear it. But trust me. I really believe they will figure all of this out, and through that they will help us figure out what happened and who the bastards are that took our lives away from us.”
“Lily—”
“I know, my love. I know. She’s part of you, part of us. But give this time. Whoever thought they could punish the Prince of Hell needs to be found and punished. And we need all of that evidence for El and the Court.”
His mouth landed on mine and possessed me, his delicious flavor flooding my senses and making me wish this was all over so we could spend days just fucking each other.
“My brilliant wife,” he whispered against my lips. “Come to bed. We have more to do, but for now, you are mine and I am yours.”
Tomorrow, I would go back and play the part of Lily Haden. But for tonight, I was Lilith of Hades, the Princess of Hell.
...Sloth has found his Temperance...
The Sins are beginning to gather.
EXCHANGE
Saints and Sinners 2
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Armed with a pen name, Katherine Rhodes has gird her loins and set her mind to writing erotic romances which are kinky, dirty, and fun. As a lackadaisical laundry goddess, and an expert in the profundities of bad music and awful literature-thanks to her husband-Katherine strives to find balance in the universe and time to cook dinner. An East Coast dweller, currently located in the Philadelphia Tristate area, she is the proud servants of three cats and would take a vacation in Prague over a day at the beach any time…
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PARANORMAL ROMANCE
VAMPIRE CROWN
Queen of Gods
King of Gods
Death of Gods
Blood of Gods
THE JUNEAU PACKS
Taming Alaska
Frozen Alaska
Exploring Alaska
Uncovering Alaska
SAINTS AND SINNERS
Sleeper
Exchange
THE COMPLEX
Balance Point
One Thousand Wishes, One Thousand Stars
THE NIGHTSHIFT IN NEW YORK
Moonlight Calling
THE DEMON SLAYERS
Passion Flames
THE ELEMENTAL DRAGONS (Pine Valley)
Darkwater
Skydance
Fireborn (coming 2020)
CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE
CLUB IMPERIAL
Consensual
Broken Bonds
Knots
Untied
Lessons
Now. Forever.
Inevitable
SILVER SOUL
Not Quite Juliet
CITY OF STEEL
Innuendo
Double Entendre
THE REALM
Half-Soul
THE CLUB SERIES
The Darkest Corners
Anything for Her
Teach Me To Sin
Come Fly with Me
with Isobelle Cate
Sweet Pain
with Emily Walker and Jenni Moen
THE DA SILVA HEIRS
; All the King’s Horses
Princess of the Plains
Empire of Dirt
STANDALONES
Captain
Acts of Contrition
Obsidian Escape
Discover Katherine’s Other books under
J. Rose Alexander
Chatter box, compulsive writer, bon vivant, stunt commuter, and a ninja in her dreams, J. Rose enjoys losing herself in the capes and masks of her superheroes, finding new trouble for her witches and werewolves-- and is always on the look-out for a new adventure, on the page or in real life. J. Rose write sweet, clean(ish) stories that are suited to readers 13 and up, unless she warns you otherwise...
www.jrosealexander.com
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THE ORIGIN STORIES
Penumbra: Equinox
Penumbra: Solstice
The Art of Dying
The Art of Living
Second Moon (Coming 2020)
THE FACTION STORIES
Apathetic Avengers
The Natural Order of Things
Better Living Through Chemistry (Coming 2020)
THE ROYALS OF GRAND ISLAND
Shadow in Glass
Family Portraits (coming 2020)
SKELETON KEY
Eunica
STANDALONES
Zenko (Woodland Creek)
Slip the Waves
Sleeper Page 18