Page 101 of The Book Reader
Suddenly, the ground shakes under my feet, the grains of sand dancing on the surface. Houses shudder from the movement, and cracks form on the walls from the force of it. Leah stumbles to the ground, and a few of my other men clutch onto the nearby buildings. A crack appears on the ground before splitting into a vast crater. Sand pours into it like a waterfall.
We don’t have earthquakes in the underworld; this is something else. Rex stands and moves over to me, his body doubling in size. His fur spikes out like a porcupine, his eyes blaze bright red, and razor-sharp teeth lower in his mouth as he growls.
A gold beam shoots out of the gap, high into the sky, lighting it brighter than the sun. I roll my shoulders, ready to jump down into the hole, when something fires out of it like a cannon. My eyes track whatever it is as it stops abruptly in the air. “Rose?” I whisper, unable to believe my eyes.
Ari is floating high in the sky, her eyes closed, head thrown back, arms stretched out to the side. She has a gold hue enveloping her body, causing her to spin and twist in the air.
“My lord?” I hear Leah next to me. I know what she is thinking;this is new. I have never seen this happen to Ari before, even when she found the book. Something is different in the smell of roses; it’s stronger, and something so sweet and tempting has been added. It fills the air, making my body pulsate with need.
One of my guards growls low, then shimmers into the air. I watch completely baffled as he tries to grab Ari like he is grabbing prey he just hunted down, hunger hard in his eyes. The gold beam wraps around him, shoving him hard to the ground. It then slithers around his neck, pulls tight, and rips his head off before chucking it to the side.
Leah takes a step forward, her red eyes now burning white from power. She fists her hands and grits out. “Permission to leave my lord, I—” she pauses, sniffs the air, her whole body shudders, and breath exhales hard from her nostrils like she is seconds away from pleasure. She licks her lips with a groan, “—I want her.”
Placing my hand on her shoulder, I push her back slightly to break her out of the trance. Leah blinks up at me, then pales, realizing what she has said.
“Yes, take the others with you,” I answer. She gulps hard to calm herself, then shimmers over to the guards; they talk for a moment, then shimmer out.
I move closer to the gold beam and look up at my Rose, her eyes are open now, glowing the brightest gold I have ever seen. She smiles at me, then tilts her head to the side as if sensing something.
Daemons start to shimmer all over the land, too many to count. Her powers and scent must be calling to them, just as they did to Leah. I fist my hands, shimmer in my twin blades. I will fight to the death if I must. Trelor simmers under my skin; he is ready to take over as soon as I let him. His thirst to kill these daemons is clouding my mind, making me want blood.
Some of the daemons turn to me, growling, snapping their teeth, and they begin to charge toward me. Wind picks up, swirling in the air like a hurricane ready to decimate anything in its path. A pins-and-needles sensation covers my skin, making me look up. Ari spins in the air to face us, the daemons stumble as their bodies contort.
Gold spikes from Ari’s body fly out, hitting each of them. Slicing their bodies in half. They blink hard for a few seconds, a look of bewilderment on the faces of each daemon, before they turn to dust. Ari unleashes another deadly burst of gold. A stronger force shakes the earth, and the wind intensifies, creating a sandstorm that encircles and traps us. The gold lights whip around, slicing into each daemon, cutting them in half, hundreds of them slaughtered where they stand, leaving little piles of dust that get sucked up into the sand encircling us. Rex rushes over to me, and we both look up at Ari, amazed.
I have seen her ascension many times in my life, but I have never seen this much power come from her. She lowers herself, floating down as if she were a light feather on a hot summer breeze. Her body was still bathed in gold. When her feet touch the ground, her eyes lock with mine, I swear I fall in love with her all over again.. Gold scroll writing covers her, like someone has taken a quill and used gold ink to tattoo her skin. The lettering is delicate, and the power coming from her pulses over my body.
She turns slowly, and the laugh that leaves her lips sends a shiver down my spine.
She sounds a little manic with a dash of evil. Ari starts to speak, but it’s not just her voice. The sound coming from her lips echoes with the voices of many. The voices of all the Book Readers before her.
“You should not be here.” She threatens.
Frowning, I sidestep, my eyes widening at the sight of Macy and her men; worry etched her face for the first time.
“Book Reader, you are to come with me,” Macy snarls, making my Rose laugh again.
“You don’t own me; you will never own me.” Ari forces out through gritted teeth.
Lifting her hands, a gold beam shoots from her palms, moving lightning fast through the air, instantly ensnaring Macy’s men. It squeezes them tight like rubber bands around a melon, an experiment I’ve seen many times. The effects of this on the body. Deadly.. Each male screams out in excruciating pain. They fight for their lives against something so great, a force to be reckoned with.
The gold lifts them high up into the air and spins them around fast before tightening further. Their cries get louder, and the sound of their skin splitting open is like the zipper being pulled down on one of my evening coats when it getscaught. They finally break open with a loud bang, like a drum being smacked with a tambourine. Blood bursts from them, covering Macy. Macy shakes as she screams out in rage, and she shimmers her sword in her hand. Ari steps closer to her, the power emanating from her body vibrating in the air like static electricity on a stormy day. My body is so in tune with hers through our mating bond; I can feel all of her—that feeling—worrying and exciting me.
“One last chance, witch, come with me now, or I kill them all.” Macy’s words are filled with malice.
Ari smiles; her voice takes on a new tone. It’s not paired with the whispers of others like before; this time, it’s her own, more confident, with an edge to it.Dangerous. “You seem to think you still control what happens in my life. But you don’t.” Ari deadpans.
Ari raises her hand again, but Macy is faster. She throws a dagger in the air and fades from sight. My back bows with pain when I feel the blade slice into my spine. I hear Macy behind me whispering. “Maybe this time you die.”
I can’t help the smirk that graces my lips at her words. The only person who can ever come close to killing me is staring into my eyes right now, burning with her love for me. I am immortal.
Jerking my head back quick, I feel the back of my head connect with Macy’s forehead, and the crack of our skulls reverberates through my head. Rose's fist, her hands, and a bolt of power punch the air, sending Macy tumbling backward. With the flick of her wrist, Ari lifts Macy up into the sky. My Rose scream’s hits the atmosphere like a sound wave rippling, “You don’t touch my mate!” A gold ribbon of power circles slowly around Macy's waist. The Hell Princess is quicker through; she shimmers, vanishing from sight.
Falling to the ground with a thud, blood fills my mouth. Macy always comes with some kind of fucking poison. Myhands lift, my fingers touch the blood leaking from my wound. Breathing and shaking, an agonizing scream is ripped from my mouth when red-hot pain shoots up my spine, making me bow backward.
A golden glow permeates around my body, and seconds later, the deadly pain has gone. My wound is healed. Still panting, my eyes flicker up, my relief reflected in the eyes of my Rose as she stares at me. She healed me without using water, another new power she has never had before. She steps forward, her legs wobbling as the gold beams shrink back into her body, vanishing like the day does when the moon is ready to come out. Her eyes fade from the burning bright gold to her beautiful amber. Her hand reaches for me as she stumbles forward. I move quickly, catching her and pulling her to me before she hits the ground. I look down into her eyes, concern etched on my face.
“Rose?” I whisper.
