He comes upon me with yellow glowing eyes. His dark hood drips to the ground. His face is merged with the shadows. He pulls the hood back and gives a wicked grin.
“Logan!” I lunge into him, bury my face in his neck, and take in his familiar scent.
Relief a mile wide swells through me, and I pull back, soaking in his regal beauty.
“Are you OK?” he pants. “We thought he took you.” His chest rises and falls in spasms.
I give a quick nod as he pulls me into an electrifying kiss. I can feel the sizzle of movement coursing through his veins. I try to push him away, but he overpowers me until I can’t move my arms.
Logan pulls back and examines me. I want to scold him and remind him I’m with Gage, but more than that I just want him to get me home.
It’s a meeting, Skyla. He darts a glance over his shoulder.
I see them now clearly, the faces of men and women—oh God—Nat and Pierce! I bet Pierce has an entire bag of kittens ready to sacrifice.
It is a sacrifice, Logan says, rubbing his thumb against my cheek, a blood bonding.
“Creepy.” I strain to make out the faces of those milling around in flowing black robes.
I shift my gaze to Logan. The purple velvet lining the inside of his cloak gives off a sickly hue upon his skin.
He looks from me, to the gathering, then back again with the glint of an idea.
I interlace our fingers and try to pull him in my direction, but he’s quick to release my grip and clasp me by the wrist instead.
The crowd turns towards us.
“It’s OK. I’ve got you.” He pulls me out into the clearing.
“No,” I pant.
Logan pulls me forward in large gaping strides, brings me tripping right into their midst.
“What the hell are you doing?” I struggle to break free from his grip.
His eyes light up like golden embers, his face cold as stone.
The crowd examines us with blank dead stares. I lock in on a pair of familiar faces, take in a breath and forget to let go.
Chloe—and Brielle. She knows. She’s always known.
I can’t breathe.
My entire body trembles with hatred. I have to get away. I have to run. My fingers pat around as I ease my way backwards. I accidentally tap the stone and it shoots off the intense sting of an electrical current.
Shit!
I snatch back my hand and look up at Logan the boy I thought I knew.
“Help,” I whisper.
His features sharpen, hard as marble. He says nothing in return.
Feels like a bad dream.
They pull their hoods on one by one—except Chloe. She makes her way over with a smug look of satisfaction.
“We’ve been waiting for you,” she says with a sterile look that goes beyond hate and jealousy—something entirely foreign to me. Her fingers thread through my hair as she unhooks the clasp on my necklace and places the protective hedge back around her neck, swift as a magician.
Chloe resumes her position next to Brielle and the circle closes in as they take one another’s hands.
“Demetri,” Logan says, tipping his hand above his shoulder as a dark figure from behind, lays a dagger on his palm.
My entire person freezes. It’s him—the man who initiated the death of my father—my family. I try to make out his features, but the cloak has him locked in shadows.
Logan grips the handle of the knife, never breaking our gaze, and gives it a light swing in my direction.
Seeing him like this, in all of his Countenance nobility paralyzes me. Thoughts of what he plans to do with that blade gleaming pridefully in his hand suffocates me.
“This will only hurt for a moment.” Logan voice is layered with savage ambition.
It was all an act right from the beginning.
I have never known him.
“We’ll need you to lie down for us,” Demetri says, stepping out from the
shadows.
Logan’s lips curve into the slightest impression of a smile.
“Welcome to the sacrifice, Skyla.”
Look for VEX, book 5 in the Celestra Series COMING SOON!
Addison Moore is a graduate from the University of Southern California who writes young adult paranormal romance. She resides on the West Coast with her family and two dogs. Feel free to visit her blog at http://addisonmoorewrites.blogspot.com/
Table of Contents
Preface
Chapter One — The Gift
Chapter Two — Chaos
Chapter Three — The Promise
Chapter Four — Don’t You Forget About Me
Chapter Five—Far Away From Here
Chapter Six — Stranger Danger
Chapter Seven — Love Me Tender
Chapter Eight — There’s No Place Like Home
Chapter Nine — Dinner with the Devil
Chapter Ten — If I Fall
Chapter Eleven — A Walk in the Night
Chapter Twelve — Terminal
Chapter Thirteen — The Air up There
Chapter Fourteen — My Boyfriend’s Back
Chapter Fifteen — The Surprise
Chapter Sixteen — Off To Work I Go
Chapter Seventeen — The Deal
Chapter Eighteen — Give Thanks
Chapter Nineteen — All For Nothing
Chapter Twenty — Light Drive
Chapter Twenty-One — Out of This World
Chapter Twenty-Two — Give a Little
Chapter Twenty-Three — Count Me In
Chapter Twenty-Four — Debt Threats
Chapter Twenty-Five — Odd but True
Chapter Twenty-Six — The Budding Artist
Chapter Twenty-Seven — The Kill Zone
Chapter Twenty-Eight — The Dark Rose
Chapter Twenty-Nine — A Stitch in Time
Chapter Thirty — Meet the Parents
Chapter Thirty-One — Roll Over
Chapter Thirty-Two — What in the Hell
Chapter Thirty-Three — Here
Chapter Thirty-Four — Now
Chapter Thirty-Five — Tonight
Chapter Thirty-Six — We Belong
Chapter Thirty-Seven — Dirty Little Secret
Chapter Thirty-Eight — Rome if You Want To
Chapter Thirty-Nine — Gone Wrong
Chapter Forty — Ink
Chapter Forty-One — The Art of War
Chapter Forty-Two — Wild Abandon
Chapter Forty-Three — The Muse
Chapter Forty-Four—I’ve Got a Feeling
Chapter Forty-Five — Fierce
Chapter Forty-Six — Run
Chapter Forty-Seven — Lost
Chapter Forty-Eight — Somebody’s Watching Me
Chapter Forty-Nine — Baby You Can Drive My Car