Table of Contents
Also By Elysabeth Grace
Copyright © 2020 by Margo Hendricks | All rights reserved. | This is a work of fiction. Characters, places, and incidents, are the production of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is coincidental. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review. | Cover design by Dreams2Media
GLOSSARY
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Epilogue
Acknowledgements
About the Author | Elysabeth Grace (pen name) writes paranormal, contemporary, and historical romances where love and HEAs accept no impediments. Her stories and characters are diverse, sensual, and occasionally wicked. A native Californian and Professor emerita of English literature, she currently resides in Nevada where she remains an unrepentant academic scholar of Shakespeare and other things. In addition to her four-book paranormal series Daughters of Saria, she is working on a contemporary series, Midsummer Sisters, and a romance novel set in the age of Elizabeth I. | For information on new releases, contests, and giveaways, please visit her website: www.elysabethgrace.com
Also By Elysabeth Grace
Daughters of Saria Series
Fate’s Match
Fate’s Kiss
Midsummer Sisters Series
Your Heart Only
Copyright © 2020 by Margo Hendricks
All rights reserved.
This is a work of fiction. Characters, places, and incidents, are the production of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is coincidental. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Cover design by Dreams2Media
GLOSSARY
Demons – Offspring of the fallen angel Mephistopheles and human females. Demons possess minor telepathic abilities, mostly illusion-making and limited mental control over humans, and teleportation.
Djellaba – Linen or woolen outer robe worn by male Imohag to protect against the harsh climate of the desert. The djellaba is worn over shirt and trousers and designed to allow quick access to a sword or dagger.
Enclave – Birthplace of and home to all angels. When Satan is expelled, he attempts to replicate the Enclave on Earth.
Fallen – Archangels and angels who rebelled with Satan and initiated the first angelic civil war. Like Satan, these angels were expelled from the Enclave.
Fate – Guardian of all life and the genesis of life threads. All life possesses a life thread; the path a living being’s existence will follow from beginning to end. Fate’s decision to never interfere with a life thread is tested with the birth of angelic twins Lucifer and Satan.
Guardians – The elite group of archangels chosen to protect Seraphim. Lucifer’s Guardians are Gabriel, Raphael, Saraquel, Michael, and, until her incarnation as the human Saria, the archangel Lilith. Before and after the expulsion, Satan’s guardians are Uriel, brother to Gabriel, Mephistopheles, Azazel, Abaddon, Belial, and Beelzebub.
Hierarchy – The elite group of Seraphim who establish and oversee angelic laws, customs, and social life. Membership in the Hierarchy is based on primogeniture. The group is led by the First Seraphim who is always of the bloodline Deiani.
Imohag – A proper noun used to refer to the male Amazigh (also known as The People). The Amazigh are a semi-nomadic Saharan people living primarily in Algeria, Mali, and eastern Morocco. The name Imohag was chosen by Lilith’s second human mate (whom she freed from demonic captivity) to describe himself and his male descendants.
Life thread – The living essence in all creatures that governs the beginning and end of life. For human beings and angels, the life thread responds to free will and choices, Fate’s gift to both races. At birth, all angelic and human life threads are uniquely colored and unmarked. Changes in color are gradual and most take place over a lifetime except for life mates.
Lilith – Archangel in love with Satan. Lilith believes she and Satan are destined life mates until the Hierarchy names her Lucifer’s Consort. Fate reveals to Lilith her destiny and what will happen if she chooses Satan. Lilith accepts the Hierarchy’s decision.
Lucifer – Firstborn twin son of Seraphim Ser and Rapha. When Ser chooses to step down as First Seraphim, Lucifer will assume the role. Like all Seraphim, Lucifer’s Consort is chosen for him. Lucifer does not challenge the Hierarchy’s decision and accepts Lilith as his Consort despite knowledge that she and his twin are life mates.
Order of Angels – Seraphim, archangels, and angels. Angelic social order is hierarchal, birth-determined and immutable.
Rapha – Consort to Ser and Keeper of the Archives. Mother to Lucifer and Satan. Lucifer and Satan’s birth is an anomaly within the angelic race. Until Rapha gives birth to the siblings, no twins existed.
Satan – second-born twin son of Ser and Rapha. Satan’s life thread is the first one to come into existence flawed. As Satan matures, his thread darkens. When Lilith is named Lucifer’s Consort, Satan challenges the Hierarchy’s decision and claims her as his life mate. The group’s unanimous refusal to retract their decision infuriates Satan and he incites a rebellion to overthrow the Hierarchy’s rule. For the first time in angelic history, there is civil war.
Ser – First Seraphim and father to Lucifer and Satan. Fate reveals Satan’s potential darkness and the civil war he will cause to Ser in a dream. Fate also reveals what Ser must do to ensure the safety and well-being of the angelic race.
Shifters – A category of human beings believed to be capable of assuming animal form. A very small percentage of those classified as shifters are true shifters. These humans trace their descent to the original Saria (the archangel Lilith) and her human mate Imohag. True shifters live in the Ahaggar Mountains of Algeria.
Supernaturals – The first supernaturals to appear on Earth were demons. Over time, other forms of demonic supernaturals come into being as a result of planned breeding programs created by the Fallen.
Tagelmust – A length of dyed cloth, usually cotton or linen, used to protect an Imohag male’s head and face against the harsh climate of the desert. Traditionally, the tagelmust is a symbol of adult masculinity and therefore not worn by male children.
Tahaggart – The language of the Tamahaq and Imohag.
Takoubas – Traditional Imohag sword.
Tamahaq – A proper noun used to refer to women who are direct human descendants of the archangel Lilith. Repudiated by her first human mate, Lilith becomes the human Saria and chooses the name Tamahaq for her female descendants. In each successive generation of Tamahaq, one female is destined as the Guardian of Fate’s gifts.
Undead – The of
fspring of a demon and a witch. The number of undead is extremely small since very few survive the birth process, most often killed by their mothers. The undead are capable of mating, although to reproduce they must be mated to a descendant of Lilith. The undead require human blood to survive.
Witches – The offspring of female fallen angels and human males. These births are extremely rare since there are very few females among the Fallen. Witches are the only females capable of producing the undead.
Prologue
It didn’t matter he came to her with the same sensuous gait, the same heated gaze in his eyes. Every night she watched him stride across the sand, and every night it was like she saw him for the first time. And every night, for two years, it was as if they’d made love for the first time. He was her Dream Candy.
Angelic Dream Candy.
Analise’s mind lurched at the second description. There was nothing angelic about the dream sex between them. Why did the word angelic make her nervous? Make her want to hide?
She continued to stare at him. A thin scar bisected his right lower jaw, shoulder-length platinum hair swung seductively with each step. Strands that were a pure, unblemished color unlike any she’d seen, nearly translucent and resting against the ivory color of his skin.
His eyes did her heart in every time. Those stunning tanzanite blue eyes melted every argument she created to end the telepathic connection. The moment she gazed into their depths, her soul declared he belonged to her and she to him.
Life mates.
Words important to her racial history. Life mates. An antiquated phrase reeking of paranormal or fantasy romance. Definitely not one she’d apply to a lover, especially one she’d never met except in a telepathically-induced dream. Yet in her dreams, he was always her life mate. Another dream irony: Analise Saria Willoughby, aka Analise Drake, stopped dating white men after Jason Alton, the date from hell. Clearly, dream Analise Saria never got the text.
I am no dream, Consort.
He always called her Consort or Analise Saria, never Analise. She shifted on her bed and shook her head. “It’s time to end this fantasy since it’s unlikely we’ll meet in real life.”
He stood inches from her, his dark blue eyes studying her face. His head dipped as if he was about to kiss her. Instead, a slow smile formed on his lips. Our bond cannot be broken.
She moaned softly, it was almost a purr. His mouth was a temptation beyond all temptations. The prospect of kissing him, her tongue tracing the unsmiling curves of his lips, made her clit twitch. Dream Candy’s smile deepened as did the warmth between her legs.
Damn, he knew her so well.
Because you are my life mate, Analise Saria.
“Listen, we’ve engaged in a telepathic link with some wild and satisfying dream sex. Now you want to make more of it? I don’t think it’s a good idea.”
Analise wasn’t sure who created the link, or how it even came into existence, but it was time to break it. Two years of her life, kneaded like dough into nightly visitations, was enough to give to a sexual fantasy. She was thirty-one years old. It was time to pursue a real-life relationship, preferably with a man whose full name she knew.
The telepathic feel of his tongue tracing her jawline sent shivers through her. Then his soft whisper sounded in her head. Do you believe you will ever have such passion with another? I doubt it, Analise Saria.
Dream Candy’s voice moved through her body as smooth as her favorite tequila. The liquid sensuality of his tone pushed the words into her mind and accelerated the ache between her thighs.
Tequila? Isn’t that a clear liquid made from the agave plant? Why would you compare my voice to a beverage?
She caught his confusion and giggled. “You’ve never tasted tequila? Where do you live in a cave?”
Actually, I am in a cave.
“I was joking. Did you just admit you live in a cave?”
She cursed inwardly. It was like her pathetic self to find a cave-dwelling, imaginary loser to hook up with.
Analise Saria, I am not imagined.
She heard the smugness in his voice, which pissed her off. “Well, what if I’m not real, Dream boy,” she snapped. “Which means you don’t exist either, especially since you live in a cave. I assume you know the story of Schrodinger’s Cat.”
The peculiar inhumanity to a hapless feline placed in a container along with radiation and poison—yes, I know the account. I can assure you my present situation bears no resemblance to the misused cat. I’m possessed of flesh, bones, blood, and internal organs. Unlike the cat, I exist. The cat died because no one provided food while he sat in the box.
“It was an unnecessarily cruel way to determine a theory...” Analise’s voice trailed off. “What the hell am I doing? I don’t even know your name and I’ve spent two years of my life on you.”
For now, shall we agree on Luc?
“No, we won’t agree on anything. You don’t get it. My romantic life is nonexistent, I’m a virgin because of you. . . well, not just because of you. Anyway, I’m done.”
“It is too late.”
Analise’s eyelashes flew up. His voice was coming from somewhere in her bedroom. She frantically searched the shadowy corners, too terrified to move from her bed. “Please tell me you’re not in here.”
“Of course not,” he said smugly. “Circumstances require me to remain in a cave some distance from you, Consort.”
“Then why do I hear your voice in my bedroom? Never mind, don’t answer, I want you gone.” She slammed her palms over her ears.
“Your stubbornness forces me to provide non-telepathic evidence I am real, Analise Saria.”
“I don’t date and I hear voices,” she mumbled. “I need a social life and a real-life love interest, preferably a non-white man living in San Francisco.”
You do not need to find another, and I am Seraphim, not a white man. Do not impose your racial categories on my kind. You are my Consort, Analise Saria Willoughby. Nothing can alter or break our bond.
She inhaled and broke the link. Pain whipped across her forehead and his outrage thundered in her ears. Her hands squeezed her head as she drew her body into a tight fetal position. “I won’t do this anymore.”
Analise breathed slowly to calm down, numbering each breath until the quaking stopped. Despair took hold despite her efforts, fracturing her determination. She couldn’t figure out what was happening to her.
We are not done, Analise Saria. You are my life as I am yours.
She tried to push him out of her mind then stopped when a flash of color caught her attention. Searching for it, she discovered a slender cobalt thread curled in her heart. Analise telepathically touched it and her awareness jerked.
“Who are you? What have you done to me?”
Your soul knows who I am. Say my name, Consort.
Whatever just happened, Analise swore it wasn’t going to change her decision. She wasn’t going to let Dream Candy or Fate control her destiny. Digging her fingernails into the fleshiest part of her thighs, she whispered. “I. Am. Done.”
Chapter 1
Analise dragged herself out of bed and staggered over to her closet, swearing this would be her last sleepless night because of him. She stared at her lingerie shelves, trying to decipher her mood and choose the right color for her day. The color-coordinated shelves were sorted according to fabric because, while mixing colors didn’t bother her, the idea of a silk bra and cotton panties sent shivers across her skin. Instinctively, she vigorously rubbed the back of her hand at the thought. Her gaze finally settled on a matching silk panty and bra set that reminded her of his eyes.
Pushing the thought from her mind, she took the underwear set, grabbed a pair of Levi 501 jeans and a black silk T-shirt, and headed to her bathroom.
Coffee.
A quick U-turn took her back to her bed to grab her phone from the nightstand. She tapped an icon, uttered a command for her favorite app to start her coffee, then retraced her steps to the bathroo
m. Lights came on as she walked in and silently thanked Sydney Elgin, her decorator. Not just for her design brilliance but also Sydney’s willingness to listen. The only source of contention was the smooth black stone used for the double sink and counter. The imported hematite and granite stones came from the Ahaggar Mountains of Algeria. Even though Sydney complained about the expense, she was proud of the sanctuary she created.
Analise stripped and tossed her clothes into the large hamper before walking into the open shower. The weight of her foot on an ocean blue tile sent warm water cascading from the showerheads. Another brilliant idea. This one came via her executive assistant Mark. He persuaded Sydney to let one of his geek friends design the mechanics of the plumbing system. After her first time in the shower, Analise had given Mark a substantial bonus.
Lathering her body, she decided to focus on the problem at hand. First, she needed to end to her telepathic connection with Dream Candy. She had to admit what they had went beyond mind-blowing sex and into a kind of relationship since her dating game was negative Pi despite the rare blind date.
However, something shifted a month ago. Images of the last place on earth she wanted to be, Chaco Canyon, surfaced. Then there was her.
Hearing voices was a telepathic hazard. Most often it was the conversations of people in close proximity. She wasn’t one of those random voices; she was always there, inside Analise’s head and believed it was her right to interfere whenever she chose. At six, Analise had given her a name, Fate. As she grew older and stopped believing in Fate, Analise referred to the voice as she. It was easier.
As the images of Chaco surfaced, she became more intrusive and pushy. Analise couldn’t silence her voice or block it the way she did with mental intrusions. For some reason, her shields never worked with her.
Analise stepped out of the shower, grabbed a towel, and dried herself. The attempt to break up with Dream Candy was more visceral and painful than she expected. While she could block him from her mind, she discovered there was nothing she could do about the cobalt life thread coiled inside her. She knew what it meant to her Tamahaq history, but that didn’t mean she had to embrace its control over her destiny. Whoever Dream Candy was, he wasn’t the only alternative to celibacy.
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