Total pages in book: 138
Estimated words: 131708 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 659(@200wpm)___ 527(@250wpm)___ 439(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 131708 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 659(@200wpm)___ 527(@250wpm)___ 439(@300wpm)
Their bond transcends lifetimes, but there’s nothing their enemies won’t do to keep them apart.
“You will be chained to him forever, and you cannot imagine what that will mean for you.”
Ella has been walking close to danger her whole life. As an incantor she uses her powers to protect innocents, often putting herself in harm’s way. But she’s never felt anything like the way her skin electrifies when a certain gang member – one rumoured to be a fallen archangel – locks eyes with her across a crowded bar. She can’t help but feel like maybe he’s been in her life before…
Viper, president of the Black Saints’ motorcycle club, carries heavy secrets. He has been searching for his mate across lifetimes. Now he’s finally got her in his sights he’ll do anything to keep her, even if that means destroying himself in the process. They took her from him once, he’s not going to let it happen again.
But as foes old and new close in, Ella and Viper’s bond will be pushed to the limit. Will their love endure, or will they reach breaking point?
*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************
PROLOGUE
New Zealand, 1994
Breathing hard, Everleigh struggled against the sheer power pinning her hands to the wall behind her. She twisted. Pulled. Arched.
Nothing happened.
Similarly, her inner demon writhed and squirmed and fought to surface. It was trapped inside her, unable to be of any aid.
Feeling a flush of anger heat her face, Everleigh glared at the strangers fanned out in front of her. “What the fuck is this shit?”
One male took a step toward her—tall, lean, imposing, his hair so blond it was almost white. “There’s no need to panic. You need not fear us.”
Was he serious? “You kidnapped me.” She’d been in the middle of a wickedly hot kiss when … it was as if her senses had shut down. She’d been conscious, but she hadn’t been able to see, hear, smell, or feel a thing.
She’d been distantly aware that she was being moved. Taken. When her senses had rushed back to her, it could have been minutes or hours later. And she’d found herself here, in what appeared to be some kind of abandoned warehouse.
The only other people present were the six males who were evenly staring back at her, their eyes twin blue gems—striking eyes she’d only ever seen in one other person.
Everleigh swallowed. “Where is he?” She had the distinct feeling that they’d taken him, too.
“That isn’t important,” Blondie told her.
She felt her nostrils flare. “It is to me.”
“He is nowhere near here. We have plenty of privacy for what we’re about to do.”
Everleigh’s heart stuttered. “What does that mean? What have you done to him?” And why couldn’t she telepath anyone? Whenever she tried, she hit some kind of psychic wall.
“He is safe. Unconscious for the moment, but safe.”
Her instincts stirred. “You’re members of the Seven archangels.” Powerful beings who could, in fact, collectively do something as difficult as knock the seventh of their unit out cold. Few would manage such a feat.
A dark-haired, clean-shaven celestial inclined his head in confirmation. “Be assured that our intention isn’t to make you suffer. We will simply put you to sleep. That is all.”
Everleigh tensed, her heart banging against her ribcage. The word ‘sleep’ sounded so very final. “Why do I get the feeling that you don’t intend for me to wake up?”
“Your body will not wake up, but your soul will,” Mr. Clean-shaven told her. “Your life will start anew in another body, just as it has many times before.”
Her gut twisted. He’d said it like it was nothing. Like she’d merely be changing outfits. “In other words, you’re going to kill me. Let’s just call it what it is.” They could dress it up all they wanted, but it was murder.
“You could view it that way. We all see it as saving you both.”
She felt her face scrunch up. “From what?”
He observed her like she was clueless. “From what will become of him if he falls.”
“He has not told you?” Blondie pursed his lips. “He probably fears you would otherwise reject him. I doubt those fears are senseless, to be fair.”
“No one would care if you were just a toy to him,” cut in a dark-skinned, brawny male. “But you’ve become an obsession. He is prepared to fall from our realm to stay with you.”
Everleigh knew that much. She’d been shocked when he offered to fall—it wasn’t a small thing, and it meant leaving his life behind. She’d even objected at first, not wanting him to give up so much for her; not wanting him to suffer the consequences. But then he’d told her a little about his life, about how the darkness of it weighed heavily on him, and she could see how it was eating at his soul. So she’d ceased protesting—and no, it wasn’t at all a selfless decision. The fact was that she loved him and didn’t want to be without him.
He had wished to first say his goodbyes to these archangels he’d considered family. Falling meant leaving them behind. Going by their reaction, that had been a mistake.
“An archangel should never fall,” Brawny added. “One of the Seven? That cannot happen. If you knew what it would do to him, you would agree with us.”
She licked her lips. “I know about the curse. I know what he’d have to do to survive.”
“For one of the Seven, that is only the tip of the iceberg,” said Brawny sadly. “He would change. We cannot bear the thought of him becoming that. We care for him too much.”
“Care for him? You really see killing someone he loves as ‘caring’?” Everleigh ran her gaze along the line of archangels. “He spoke of you. Each of you. You’re all important to him. How shitty for him that it doesn’t go both ways.”
Mr. Clean-shaven’s brow pinched. “This is not a betrayal on our part. We look out for him as he does us. This is for his own good.”