Page 24 of Immortal Alliance

“It means you have feelings for Eilish, and it’s clear to anyone with eyes that she feels something for you, too.”

“She’s a succubus. All she knows is desire and sex. Feelings don’t enter into it.”

“Are you really so stupid?”

“Fuck you,” I start but he chuckles and interrupts me.

“You’ve conveniently forgotten she’s also angel. And Eilish knows her heart as well as any of us do. Yes, she feels lust and desire but which of us don’t?” He pauses for a few seconds and then looks at me with the expression of someone who knows something I don’t. “I’ve watched the two of you.” He takes a breath. “Have you ever considered that the feelings you have for her are intentional?”

“Intentional?”

“Fate, as you called it before, has brought you together because you need one another.”

“I need Eilish because I need to syphon this excessive dark energy and she’s the only one strong enough to tolerate it?”

“Yes, that’s one of the many reasons.” He pauses. “Feeding your darkness into Eilish will keep you from corruption.”

“And what does it do for her?”

Pyre shrugs one massive shoulder. “That should be obvious?”

“It isn’t.”

“Eilish needs darkness just as much as she needs light. You can feed her darkness with your own,” Pyre finishes. “You and Dragan are only part of the darkness she requires, however. It seems all of you have forgotten that our angel-succubus is alsoroyalty, which means she has her father’s appetite.”

“Her father’s appetite?”

“The appetite of an Incubus,” Pyre continues. “She’ll need Theren’s darkness, as well.”

“Bullshit,” I say as the word catches in my throat.

“I’m afraid not,” he replies dryly. “Have I ever misled you regarding the destinies you each must fulfill in order to restore the balance?”

I don’t answer his question because it requires no response. And I’m seething over the thought of Theren and Eilish. Theren’s a fucking backstabbing piece of shit and the idea of his cock inside my angel…

My angel.

Fuck. I do have it bad.

Pyre reaches into the lapels of his coat and pulls out the last thing I expect to see: the book of prophecies we thought was lost forever. Somehow, he’s managed to save the book of his former lover’s visions from the explosion at the cottage.

CHAPTER NINE

MORRIGAN

Jadyrar Sea

My pale fingers claw across the citrine sands of the beach. Baron was right in that the Jadyrar Sea looks like molten pearl swept along the shore. I hear it crashing on the jagged stone off to the east, but I’m unable to lift my head high enough to see its true beauty.

Tingles prickle my skin as I feel the spray of the sea, causing chill bumps to rise all over my arms and legs. Slowly, I crawl into the small cave along the coast and somehow manage to prop myself up against the wall. Something prowls along the beach, trying to sniff me out, but my scent is masked well beneath the aromatic fungi that clings to the cave walls.

Pressing myself into the deepest corner, I close my eyes. Hiding from Eilish and the others is much easier than avoiding the creatures of this world. I look down and gently peel back my makeshift bandage. Escaping the cottage during the battle was more difficult than I’d anticipated, for I had not expected to be ambushed by seven demons...

Now, there’s not enough strength left in my body to build a fire. The truth hits me with clear precision:I can’t stay here, or I will die.

The faint simmer of magic at the core of my soul is my only hope. I shut my eyes and reach for it, allowing it to engulf me in a faint light as I summon an astral manifestation of myself to the Castle in the Sky. Taking a vessel is dangerous if the match is incompatible. While feeders like vampires and succubae are able to absorb souls and magic, I possess the ability to sever my soul from my body and take possession of another body, a vessel.

As I creep through the thin membrane between the astral plane and reality, I search for a body to inhabit. I look for someone whose magical fingerprint is strong and similar to my own, someone with undiscovered potential. My search leads me to a Seelie woman. She’s beautiful and carries within her the ability to birth a child of magic, even if she doesn’t know it just yet.Perfect. Mothers are natural vessels.

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