A Kiss of Ashen Twilight (Ashen Twilight Series #1) (52 page)

“Oh Jace, I didn’t want to leave you but I had to help Julian.” She pulled away from him and leaned up to kiss him deeply. He moaned in the kiss, pulling her body closer to his.

“They landed in the Avondale desert. I doubt they’ll stay there for long though.”

He gently caressed her face as he looked deep into her eyes. “Don’t ever frighten me like that again, I don’t know what would happen if I lost you again.
Gràdh mo chrìdh.
”

Love of my heart.

All of their lives were forever changed and he had no idea what would happen once they found Julian, Michael and Daoine.

A knock at the door alerted them. Jace gripped Ariya’s waist holding her close to him. “They’ve been doing that all day. I would’ve thought they would stop by now.”

“Jace, open up it’s Gael!”

Jace breathed a sigh of relief and kissed Ariya on her forehead. Clasping her hand in his, he walked over and unlocked the door. Gael stood leaning with one arm propped against the doorway. “The houses have moved out of
Phoenix
. Daoine didn’t think it was safe to stay here with all the commotion.” He stepped inside and waited for Jace to close the door behind him before he spoke again. “My car is downstairs ready to take you both.”

“Wait, where?” Ariya looked from Jace then to Gael. “Where is the house moving?”

Gael smiled. “
Los Angeles
,
California
. Summer’s coming and we’d all die in the heat if we stayed here long enough. Might as well bask in the beach and sun.” He looked at Jace. “Well some of us anyway.”

Jace scoffed and waved his hand away. “Right. Hey, what happened to Avery?”

Gael looked at Ariya and then at Jace. “He’s gone. Slipped away before any of us could figure out where he’s heading.”

Noting Gael and Ariya exchanging glances, Jace turned to look down at her and she met him with a promise that she would explain everything later—as long as he dropped it for now.

“You should probably grab everything you can,” Gael said. “We don’t have much time.”

Jace turned on his heels and headed toward his bedroom while Ariya stayed behind.

“What do the mortals know?” she asked, folding her arms.

“They know there is definitely some paranormal activity right here in the valley of the sun. Good thing no one saw any Shapeshifters or bloodsucking Nightwalkers. At least that I know.”

Ariya nodded as she turned to the bedroom. “Good thing.”

“Hey, you two don’t take too long!” Gael yelled from the living room.

Ariya stepped into Jace’s bedroom where he was stuffing some clothes and items into his back. He gently took his sword off the wall and gathered his artifacts which he slipped into the smaller pockets. “You may want to grab some of the clothes. I don’t know how long we’ll be on the road. Unless Gael offers to fly us there.”

She stifled a chuckle as she stood behind him. She wrapped her arms around him, crushing her body against his back. “What is it?”

“Am I that transparent?”

“Mmm, when I can read your mind and emotions—yeah, pretty much.” She giggled and moved back as he turned around in her arms. He slipped his arms around her and held her. Nothing in the world felt more right than holding her at that moment and he didn’t want to feel anything else for the rest of his life.

“A lot happened in this apartment. A lot of memories were made.”

Ariya shrugged. “That doesn’t mean we can’t form new memories. After all, we have our whole life ahead of us right?”

He couldn’t argue with her there. Leaning down to claim her lips with his own, he kissed her deeply in answer. Whatever came in the future didn’t matter. Nor where they ended up as long as he had Ariya by his side, and the Ashen Twilight House to call their home.

About the Author

Romance-Adventure-Mystery is Rae Lori’s motto as she strives to write stories that are romantic yet adventurous no matter what time period and setting. With a love for film, vampires and visual storytelling she couples the visual with art of the written word to tell her stories.  

She is an avid reader and viewer of science fiction, romance and fantasy since she was young. Throughout her writing career, she has garnered credits writing movie reviews, fiction and articles on the comic book and film industry. Under various pen names, she has written books, novellas and short stories that run the genre gamut of science fiction, fantasy, short roman noir and paranormal romance and many more waiting to drip onto the page. 

Rae makes her home in
Phoenix
,
Arizona
where she pens her stories and works as a graphic designer.

Learn more about her work at:
http://www.raelori.com

From the Night, the Prince Rises
An Ashen Twilight Prequel Story

Highlands,
Scotland
1465

Liam Blakedon stared down at the loch, watching the thick leather bound journal slip under the rippling black water. Years had passed since he started the first entry. Much had changed in the lands during the course of time. Now it was time to let the past sink into the river while they focus on the future.

He brushed a dark strand of hair away from his face. The biting cold air hit his face, sending a shiver despite the amount of heavy armor he wore over his tunic. He rested his arm on the sword sheathed at his side, hearing the soft neigh of the horse behind him. He was lost in his memories at that moment. Remembering the way his wife looked in the last days before she gave birth to their son. Her dark wavy hair fell over her damp, tired face in the birth. He waited outside until it was time. The large thick door wasn’t thick enough as he heard the name that still haunted him to this day.

Julian Archane. That name.

Blakedon balled up his fists. She didn’t need to fret over him, even if he was her first husband and their son’s true father. It didn’t matter that he left them behind. He
felt
him. And with his own eyes, he watched as his former laird’s wife cried in his arms over his death. How could he tell her the truth? It was his duty, as first guard, to step up and continue the protection of the people in
Inverness
and raise the child as his own so he can one day take over the lands.

Yet things had changed over time.

The new wife he took to protect from the English invaders—and had fallen in love with years prior— was his main priority. Julian appointed him as first guard to watch over the castle in case the English’s hold would stretch to their lands. As much as his heart belonged to her and as much as he gave her, she never looked upon him like she had Julian Archane. Her warm eyes never sparkled with passion nor did her touch feel as warm. Her heart still belonged to that man and it made him angry with a passion to destroy him if he ever were to see him again.

Even as she died in the birth of the son Archane had created with her, the very man that had left her, she still uttered his vile name.

‘I wish you could have seen our son,’ she had said.

A scream had erupted throughout the room and Blakedon rushed in to see the warm light leave her eyes as she said those words. He scooped her up into his arms, held her close to him as he felt her heartbeat slow to a quiet rhythm before it died to silence. Then she was gone. He heard her chamber maids talking amongst themselves.

‘She died of a broken heart she did,’ they had said. ‘The poor dear.’

Blakedon dared them to say those words in front of him. After he had stepped up to take over what Julian Archane had left behind, Blakedon was repaid with a piece of her heart. He should have been the one to have it all. Ever since she arrived from
France
and he saw her on the hand of her father Baron Henri Germaine, he loved her. He loved the way her regal beauty was accentuated by the soft velvet gowns draped over her body. He loved her long dark hair pulled in intricate braids framing the crown of her head to cascade down her back. He desired her even then but she wasn’t his to have. She belonged in Julian’s station and he knew his laird would care for her. Now he regretted not taking her for himself at that very moment. For, even as she lay dying, she still thought of the selfish husband that left her.

No matter now, though. They will focus on the future and the destiny that stood before them.

The sound of horse hooves against the soft damp grass invaded his thoughts. The horse sighed and a thump followed by the crunch of boots against the ground alerted him that one of his men made their way over to him.

“The men are ready to start the travel,
mo fathair
.”

The guard turned and looked into the eyes of his son, Avery. He was young, about mid-twenties with wavy dark hair and bright blue eyes that sometimes reminded him too much of his true father. A man he would never know if Blakedon had anything to do with it. The boy leaned on his sword with one arm and looked ahead at the river.

“I shall miss this river,” he said softly. “We had many good memories. Many nights I looked o’er the water and dreamt of mother. How proud she must be.”

“An’ she shall be proud of ye, boy,” he said, patting his son’s shoulder. “I promise that. She looks down upon us now from above. I can feel her.”

His son looked down at the ground, shuffling his feet as he thought his words over before speaking. “What will become of me? The man hasn’t returned since…since what happened at the inn.”

“I know.” Liam Blakedon thought about the stranger he had come across. The very same that had changed his boy into something more than human. Alexandru Drago, he thought someone had called him but he couldn’t be sure.

The stranger gave him more strength and a promise of a longer life in exchange for helping him to combat a larger threat. Immortals he had called them. Soon a prince would rise and be able to use these immortals to help give them all life. He saw the effects that the change had on his son. The boy seemed to die one night before awaking the next thirsting for blood. He couldn’t feel the boy’s heartbeat or any sign that said he was alive. Yet there he was, just like the stranger said. And he would remain with the thirst for blood as long as the moon rises each night. Avery told him he felt alive whenever he fed and he was like his old self.

Perhaps this was for the best. Blakedon needed to become immortal to bring down his former laird. He knew he was out there somewhere. He could feel his presence like a black cloud over the lands.

Blakedon turned his back on the river and led his son back to their pack of horses just as the other guards rode up. They had until morning before they left
Inverness
and their past behind and soon his son would need to sleep again when the sun rose. In the light of the sunlit day, his body was literally dead with no movement or sign of his life until night. As long as his skin didn’t touch the sun’s rays, as the stranger warned, he would be well.