Wicked All Night (Night Rebel #3) - Jeaniene Frost Page 0,2
was still fighting. I could feel it in his power, simmering beneath the dark magic that was trying to destroy him. Some days, feeling the faint pulse of his power was the only thing that kept me from going insane.
I couldn’t say any of that to Ashael without worrying him more, so I said, “I’ll walk on the beach for a bit after you leave. I did that the other night, too, so I’m not only spending my time hovering over Ian.”
He smiled. “Good. I’ll see you when I return.”
I forced a smile in return. “Be safe, and I’ll see you then.”
He teleported away. My false smile dissolved the next instant.
Still, a few hours later, I went outside to fulfill my promise to him. The nearby ocean called to my celestial-born nature anyway. Waves grabbed at my ankles like frigid fingers when I reached the surf. I didn’t mind. The cold combined with the late hour meant that I was alone on the beach. The Hamptons’ other residents were either gone for the winter or safely inside their expensive beachfront homes.
When the next wave rushed over my ankles, I used my power to break it into spirals that twirled around me like mini waterspouts. Then, when the waves departed back into the ocean, I sent the spirals chasing after them. My ability to control water was more second nature than a learned skill. Very second nature, considering that it came from my other half.
When I was in my mid-twenties, Tenoch, my beloved sire, had turned me into a vampire, but I wasn’t human before that. I hadn’t known, of course. I’d been enslaved by Dagon since I was too young to remember anything except my first death. Dagon told me he raised me from that death, and from the hundreds—thousands?—of deaths after it. I believed him because Dagon was a powerful demon who could do many incredible things. I only found out decades later that Dagon had nothing to do with my resurrections. My biological father, the Warden of the Gateway to the Netherworld, was the one who’d repeatedly brought me back from the dead. The Warden was also the source of my powers, some of which had scared my sire, Tenoch, so much, I’d suppressed them to the point of forming an entirely separate identity.
For over four thousand years, no one except Tenoch had known what I really was, since being a mixed-species vampire was so illegal that it was punishable by death. No one even knew what I really looked like. I’d concealed my celestial side beneath my rigid, vampire Law Guardian persona, and I’d hidden my true, god-resembling appearance beneath glamour that showed a thin, blonde, young woman to anyone who looked at me. Both disguises had allowed me to lead a safe, solitary life . . . until Ian.
Somehow, Ian had sensed the real me even before we spoke a single word. Later, when circumstances forced me to show Ian what I was, he hadn’t been frightened or appalled like everyone else. He’d been intrigued, aroused, and then unstoppable in his pursuit of me. I’d done everything to guard my heart, but I’d failed. By then, I hadn’t cared. Falling for Ian might have ripped me in two—literally, considering the emergence of my other side—but it had also been the highlight of my very long life. I’d never known it was possible to be so happy, and now I couldn’t bear to lose him. Not again, and . . . what was wrong with the sand?
Seconds ago, it had been grayish. Now, it was every shade of gold. The air filled with golden beams, too, as if the brightest sun were shining instead of the wan streaks from the crescent moon. In the next instant, lights were suspended in the air like multitudes of tiny stars.
It was stunning, but I all I could think was Oh, shit!
I’d seen this before, and it had heralded the arrival of the very last person I wanted to see.
I flew toward the cottage, only to smack into a muscled chest before I’d made it two meters. Suddenly, I was held aloft by two burly arms framed by huge golden wings.
“My bride!” said my unwanted celestial fiancé.
Chapter 2
I looked down at Phanes. Black hair fell over his gold-colored eyes, his skin looked like gold-dusted bronze, and his features were so ridiculously beautiful, most people who saw him would be tempted to stop, drop, and worship.