The Mortal Falls by Anna Durand

Author:Anna Durand
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: paranormal romance, fantasy romance
Publisher: Anna Durand
Published: 2017-03-24T04:00:00+00:00

15

The chattering of squirrels roused me at sunrise. Eyes closed, I luxuriated in the softness of my sheets, the fluffiness of my pillow, and the whooshing of cool air through the vents. Thank heavens I'd found an apartment with central air. This heatwave would've killed me without a retreat.

Safe in Nevan's arms last night, I'd fallen into a dreamless sleep and not woken until morning. He'd said I was exhausted, and man, was he right. Soul-baring could really tax a girl. My long night's rest had recharged me for the day ahead and whatever new surprises it might bring.

I was alone in the bed this morning. The chair by the window sat empty. Nevan must've popped out to check on my family. I silently thanked him, stretching my arms above my head as I yawned.

Unease crept into me. My gaze migrated past the curtains to the gloom in the corner near the foot of the bed. I shivered at the unearthly sensation of invisible fingers probing my skin, and tugged the blanket up to my chin.

The darkness shifted.

Something is there.

I pushed up onto one elbow. "Nevan?"

Tentacles of energy, unseen and oily, stretched out to me, licking at my body as if testing the flavor. Whenever I sensed Nevan, his presence aroused and yet calmed me. This energy slithered over my skin. It seeped into my pores, infesting my psyche.

I heaved my body up into sitting position. The blanket slumped down to puddle around my hips. The tentacles fused to my flesh, to my bones, to my soul. Not Nevan. His presence activated my senses, nothing like this engulfing blackness.

"Who are you?" My voice came out strained, my throat was parched and tight.

The curtains billowed. An icy draft churned through the room.

My clammy hands dampened the sheet. The window was shut.

"Show yourself." As if I held any sway over supernatural beings. If Nevan refused to obey me, why should this entity? Still, I couldn't huddle on the bed praying the thing might vacate the premises. "What do you want?"

The darkness seethed. It siphoned fragments of light from the shaft of sunshine that warmed my skin. The bright and the black coiled, spun, coalesced into a tall figure.

A man.

I clutched the blanket to my breast, abruptly aware of the my nightie's low-cut neckline.

He moved away from the wall. His knee-length white toga swished around his thighs and the curtains fluttered behind him. Blades of sunlight scraped away the shadows enshrouding him to unmask his tall, muscle-bound frame. The light coated his olive skin with a golden sheen. His platinum-blond hair blazed as if set afire by the sunshine. Energy spun out from his body to entwine me in its frigid, slick embrace.

The being eyed me with detached interest, like a scientist examining a petri dish full of multiplying bacteria.

My ears rang. Darkness invaded my vision. I realized I'd stopped breathing and hauled in a lungful of air tainted with the sharp odor of something vile and indefinable. This was the man I'd met in the shop two days ago, the one who warned me the guardian was bound to him.

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