“Thank you,” I said. “I’ve never had a boyfriend, so this is all new to me.”
“Holy shit, that’s right. You’re a virgin.”
“Yep, and I’m proud of it.”
“Being a virgin is overrated.”
“So says the son of Satan,” I smirked, and he let out a bellowed laugh.
“And you shall soon be his daughter-in-law.”
“Don’t remind me,” I huffed.
“Well, you shall find out when we seal the bond, what real pleasure is. You will never want for anything else.”
“Oh, really?” I narrowed my eyes at him, and he winked.
Dammit. That was sexy.
“Alright, princess, I think it’s time for us to go. If we wait any longer, I might have to keep you here and there will be nothing to hold me back from sealing our bond.”
“Yes,” I said dusting myself off a little rougher than I normally would, trying to snap myself out of this cloud of lust. “Alaine will be up soon, and I still have to sneak into the house.”
“Well then, let’s get you back.”
He stood and extended his large, beautiful black wings out to his sides.
I still wasn’t used to those magical hidden wings. It took my breath away every single time, no matter who it was, but especially being from the one I was bonded too.
He held his arms open to me, so I stepped into him.
“Ready?”
“Ready.”
He then shot up into the sky, my stomach twisted and turned as he rolled and maneuvered through the portal, and again we went from light to pure darkness. As soon as we exited something crashed into us. I screamed as we plummeted to the ground, but Ethon wrapped his wings around us as we hit.
“Shit,” he cursed.
“What happened?” I screamed, still shaken and a little disoriented.
Grabbing my hand, he led me behind a large tree. “If you can become invisible, now is a good time.”
I closed my eyes, concentrating, and felt a warm tingle through my body. As soon as I opened them, the world around me was a haze and my body was gone. I placed my hand on Ethon’s shoulder.
“What is it?” I asked.
He sniffed the air and then paused. “What the hell?”
“What?” I pressed.
“It smells like Hellhounds.”
“Hellhounds? Why would there be Hellhounds here?”
“They were probably raised by Lucian,” he said. “I will need to disconnect from you.”
“No, wait,” I said, holding on tightly. “I don’t want you to go. What if we did the same thing we did to the Fallen?”
“I knew I could kill the Fallen, but there are more than one of those creatures out there, and I will not risk your life.” He held me in his arms and with a flap of his wings we flew upward. He placed me on a branch of a large spruce tree, where I instantly clung for my life. As he turned I held on.
“Ethon.” He turned back to me. “Please be safe.”
“I will,” he answered and kissed me. He then let go and dropped back down to the ground, blending into the darkness.
Deep, evil, guttural growls and six sets of blazing eyes glowed in the darkness below, bringing back horrifying memories of the Underworld. My heart thrust itself against the walls of my chest, beating so hard I thought I was going to faint. But it wasn’t only the creatures I was terrified about. It was knowing that if these creatures were here, the ones who sent them weren’t too far away.
The tree shook, almost releasing my grip and knocking me down from my perch.
I held my breath.
A few branches down, a Fallen had landed. He was huge and muscular. I watched him sniff the air, and then raise his head as if he were looking at me. I froze. Every cell in my body was weighted, then I felt a tingle in my right arm as it released from the tree and grasped the handle of my dagger. I didn’t want to unsheathe it because I feared it was glowing and would give away my location.
He knew I was here though. He could smell me, and he was only about ten feet below. He crawled around the branches like he weighed nothing, using his wings to balance. Then he stopped directly below me, and his head snapped back. His evil black eyes locked onto me, but I knew he couldn’t see me. Could he?
He sniffed again, and before I could unsheathe the dagger, he reached up and grabbed my leg. I screamed and tried to kick away, but when he realized he had me, he tightened his grip. I couldn’t let go of the branch because if I did, I would go crashing to the ground, or into his unwelcoming arms. So I held on, struggling to stay on the branch.
“Ethon!” I screamed.
“You’re mine, bitch,” the Fallen threatened. There was nothing I could do, and I could hear Ethon in a fight for his life against the Hellhounds.