Rowtag Aktoon is about to die. He doesn’t know how, and he doesn’t know when. All he knows is it’s coming.
“What
aren’t you telling me, Ev?” Dominic clutched her by the elbow and tugged her
toward the back of the room.
The
worry in her chest manifested in her eyes as they pooled with tears. She
struggled to contain them as she shook her head. “No, if I tell you, it makes
it real. I can’t deal with this right now.”
She’d
done just fine for ten years on her own, managing to not endanger anyone else,
hurt anyone else, drive anyone else away. No, she had to keep to her path. She
couldn’t let him talk her into this.
“Ev,”
Dominic choked out. “Let me in. I can help you. You know I won’t leave your
side if you need me. Are you in trouble? Did something happen? Do I need to put
Beck’s head on a stick and sell it at the carnival downstairs?”
Ev
rolled her eyes, forcing back a snort at his continued disdain for Beck. If he
only knew. Beck was just a sweet, misguided kid with a teenage crush. He was
the least of her worries.
“Don’t,
Dom. Just don’t. You don’t want to know, and I can’t get you involved. You’re
safer if you just leave.”
“This isn’t your fight, Dom. I don’t want you here. Any of you! You don’t understand.” She shirked from his grasp and gripped the table behind her for support.
“Then
make me understand, Ev!” Dominic shot his hands in the air. Clenching her jaw,
she forced the words back down her throat. She loathed when Dom pulled Alpha on
her, forcing her to do things against her will. She didn’t even know if he knew
he was doing it, but when he got in one of his moods, it happened naturally
just because of who he was.
“Ev,”
he said, inching closer to her, his voice lowering and pushing against her skin
like a vice. She gripped the sides of her head, battling his command, using
everything in her—short of magic—to keep him from forcing the truth out of her.
She swore she would never use magic again—on anyone.
She’d
nearly killed him when her powers first awakened. Not even realizing she was
doing it, he pulled Alpha on her and the energy inside her forced itself to protect
her, defend her. The scar above his eyebrow reminded her what happened when she
lost control. If her brother’s friend, Zax, hadn’t been there to pull him away,
she would have killed him. Dom may wear a physical scar, but she would never
lose the mental one in her heart from that night. Everleigh was a walking time
bomb, not safe for anyone or anywhere. Until the coven had taken her in and
taught her how to control her powers.
Unable
to keep up the fight, she whipped around and shot to her tiptoes to glare at
him eye to eye. “He’s my fucking mate!” she hissed, snapping her head up as the
realization of those words hit her.
There
was no going back now. Saying it out loud intensified the aching need her body
demanded she quench. The desire to go to Tag, to bond with him, felt like a
palpable, tangible string being pulled taut between them every time she looked
at him. Forcing herself to look away took every ounce of strength she had.
“Are
you happy now? Does that make things all better to know I’ll be risking his
life if I do this? This could very well be how he dies! If she or dad finds out
I have a mate…they’ll use him against me.”
Dominic
hitched back, his jaw dropping as he looked from Everleigh to Tag across the
room. “You’re shitting me.”
She
narrowed her eyes and all but shot lasers out of them at him.
“Holy
shit!” He dragged a hand through his tousled hair and huffed out a breath. “Are
you sure?” He looked back at his sister.
“Are
you seriously asking me that? Did you question it when you saw Nodin for the
first time?” She thrust her hands to her hips.
He
pursed his lips and shot a glance to Nodin. “No. I knew instantly.”
“Exactly.”
She folded her arms and leaned against the table, staring across the room at
the huddle of testosterone, doing her best not to search the group for Tag.
“Shit,”
Dominic said with a visible, hard swallow. “How do I tell Nodin?”
She
launched a punch to his shoulder. “Oh, so glad that’s where your concern lies.”
“What?
I get it. I’m just saying.” He thrust his arms toward Nodin. “Now I have to
tell the love of my life that his brother is mated to my sister, who is a
walking amalgamation being hunted by our father and a batshit crazy immortal
witch, on top of him being prophesied to die at any moment. This just gets
better and better.”
Everleigh
tossed her hands in the air, grunting in frustration, and stalked to another
corner of the room, far away from her dipshit brother. And hopefully far enough
away from Tag that she could breathe, release the desire from her body building
inside her at the thought of him. She had to get a hold of herself.
“Ev,”
he said with a sigh. “We’ll figure this out. I promise. I’ve kept you safe for
almost ten years. I won’t lose you now. Plus, we have help.” He motioned to the
other side of the room.
“Oh, yes, a big flock of birds is going to solve all my problems.” She rolled her eyes.
great cover, congrats on the release
ReplyDeletea good title and a promising blurb...
ReplyDelete