Authors: Addison Moore
Table of Contents
The Day Before
Pleased to Meet You
My Happily Ever After, My Forever
One and the Same
Secrets and Soulmates
The Bloody Party
My Girl
Poetry in Motion
Revelation
Picking up Steam
Too Hot to Handle
Love Hurts
The Truth in Pieces
The Battle Standard
A Kiss for You, A Kiss for Me
Set My Heart on Fire
Butterfly Kisses
Light Drive
A Single Strand of Silver
Lock Down
See You in My Dreams
Pushing Through
It’s Only the Beginning
A point of view novel: Ethereal rewritten through Logan and Gage’s perspective.
Copyright
©
2013 by Addison Moore
Editor: Jess Moore
This novel is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to peoples either living or deceased is purely coincidental. Names, places, and characters are figments of the author’s imagination. The author holds all rights to this work. It is illegal to reproduce this novel without written expressed consent from the author.
Books by Addison Moore
Ethereal
(Celestra Series Book 1)
Tremble
(Celestra Series Book 2)
Burn
(Celestra Series Book 3)
Wicked
(Celestra Series Book 4)
Vex
(Celestra Series Book 5)
Expel
(Celestra Series Book 6)
Toxic Part One
(Celestra Series Book 7)
Toxic Part Two
(Celestra Series Book 7.5)
Ethereal Knights
(Celestra Knights)
Ephemeral
(The Countenance 1)
To my wonderful readers.
Thank you for loving the Olivers as much as I do.
This one’s for you.
Prologue
Gage
The Day Before
Summer storm.
The house lights flicker as I make my way downstairs where I find Logan, leaning against the fridge, downing milk straight from the carton.
“Morning.” I gravel it out. The window above the sink quivers as it takes a beating from the driving rain. A bolt of lightning crackles through the sky, spraying its tendrils out across Paragon in one terrifying fit of glory. I glance back at Logan with his blonde hair slicked back, his sleepy smile. “I dreamed about your ugly ass last night.”
“Did you get hard-on? Because if you did, I’ll have to knife your balls off.”
“It was a vision.” I stamp it out and watch as his eyes widen. His demeanor grows all too serious on a dime.
“What’s going to happen?” Gone is the sarcastic bastard I know and love, replaced with a vulnerable boy locked in a trancelike state, waiting on pins and needles to see if there’s good news on the horizon.
I haven’t shared a vision in ages, especially not one that concerns Logan. It’s no wonder the idea sobered him up.
“It was more informative than visual.” I try to sound casual while popping a slice of bread into the toaster. The truth is, there was something about that prophecy that felt more like a night terror. It jarred me. “It was dark.” I shrug. “I saw you and the shadow of this girl.” I glance over at him as his eyebrows twitch with curiosity. “She was Celestra, like you.” It would be a miracle to meet another Celestra, let alone an estrogen carrying card member. The last Celestra we knew of the female persuasion was Chloe, and that ended with Logan’s heart slashed and hung from a tree. Unfortunately, not long after that, and for far more mysterious reasons, Chloe ended up dead in a ditch.
He steps in close with his chest pumping like he’s just run a marathon.
“Was she hot?” Logan doesn’t take those dark saffron eyes off me.
The hint of a smile plays on my face, but I refuse to give it.
“From what I could see, I think she was hot. Again, it was dark. But apparently you two have some kind of future together according to the last tidbit of information that was revealed.”
“Which is?” Logan doesn’t blink or breathe because he knows this could damn well mean life or death. Most Celestra are killed before they can procreate, and for good reason—they hold too much value in the Nephilim world.
“You’re going to live.” I say it low as if it weren’t good news at all. “Both you and she will live to a ripe old age.” I press out a congratulatory smile.
Logan doesn’t move a muscle, just continues his stony gaze, trying to drink it all down. “Is she going to love me?” The whites of his eyes ignite in an explosion of crimson. His heavyhearted reaction startles me. Logan has no shortage of girls who “love” him, but I know where he’s going with this. I’ve dreamed for years of the girl I’m meant to be with. I’ve mentioned her on one too many occasions, and he’s busted my balls enough about it. But now it’s his turn, and he wants the clues to his future—to this mysterious Celestra that’s most likely going to age right alongside him.
“I’d bet money that’s the plan.” I nod into him and unleash a satisfied smile.
He lets out a breath that sails past me like a hurricane.
“Did you dream about your girl last night?” He slaps me on the shoulder, relieved from his reaper reprieve.
“Nope. Not in a while.” And oddly, I miss this girl I’ve yet to meet. She haunts my dreams, my waking hours, and I long to know her once and for all in the flesh.
He broadens his chest while looking out at the blurred world beyond the window.
“A ripe old age, huh?
And
a girl?” He shakes his head as if he just won the lottery and, in a way, he has. “Dude, I’m giving you the whole fucking day off.”
“Nah, I need the hours.” I head to the fridge and pull out a soda.
Logan taps the top of the doorframe with his rocketing elation as he heads out of the kitchen. “Hey, Gage?”
“What?”
“Wouldn’t it be funny if your dream girl and mine were one in the same?”
A dull laugh rattles through my chest. “You’d have a war on your hands like you wouldn’t believe.” I raise my drink toward him. “You’d be going down, buddy.”
Logan barks out a laugh as he snaps his keys off the table.
“I always win, Gage.” He opens the front door, and a gust of wind blows my father’s periodicals right off the table. “See you at the bowling alley.”
I always win.
I stifle a laugh. Not if my dream girl were on the line.
He wouldn’t win then—that’s a promise.
1
Logan
Pleased to Meet You
Gage strides into the bowling alley right on time, even though I told him he didn’t have to show.
I glance over at the old, dilapidated kitchen where the floor is splitting in three places just shy of the walk-in fridge. This place is due for an overhaul. The bowling alley is the one last relic that remains of my parents, but in the end, it’s a mixed blessing to have it.
Outside the window, the puddles in the parking lot are starting to dry up. It rained three days straight—then, like some kind of miracle, it finally let off.
I toss the coins into the register, steady as a metallic waterfall.
Pennies. That’s all I’ll have to show for this place if business doesn’t pick up.
A chattering whirlwind bursts through the entry. I glance up to find Brielle buzzing her way over. Looks like she’s brought company, so I guess I’m supplying free shoes, ten rounds, and probably a well-catered lunch, all on my dime. Brielle has a running tab six years in the making. In addition to that, I pay her to hang out and talk on the phone. I don’t mind, though. I’ve known Bree since preschool. I’d trust her with every dollar I’ve got, which isn’t many. Not to mention, at this point, I’d pay half the town to patronize this place if I could, just so it doesn’t feel like the ghost town it is half the time.
My eyes shift over to the girl chatting with Brielle. Long blonde hair, a banging body—perfect face—eyes as bright as diamonds.
A hot bite of perspiration cuts through me.
Holy shit.
I’ve been around plenty of girls, and not one of them has ever made me sweat. But this one—she’s got me shaking before we ever exchange hellos.