Craved: A Chosen Ones Novel (35 page)

 
“He has. They’re all sending what members they can spare.” I didn’t miss the acid that dripped from her tone.

Chase nodded his head in understanding. “I’ll see to it that the others like me are on their way.”

“Where’s Ari and Cole?” I forced the words out, asking for the information she didn’t volunteer.

A gut-wrenching pain flashed in Charissa’s grey eyes that had my knees buckling and Chase wrapping ams around me to catch me from falling.
 

“They’re fine. Now,” Charissa rushed to inform me. “Bennett got to them in time and was able to heal them. He’s somewhere on the first floor coordinating clean up and what our next move should be. The kids are in their room, frightened but asleep for the moment. We’re putting them on a private plane to South Dakota in an hour where my parents will meet them. We’ve made arrangements for them all to remain there until this is dealt with.”

I let out a huge breath. “Good.” The farther Ari and Cole were from the shit that was about to go down the better. The Brethren revealing their presence to the world made it clear that last night was only the beginning.
 

 
From love will cometh death. The consequences of choice cannot be undone. Hell will reign indefinitely on Earth and the usurper will sit on the throne.
Those specific three lines from the prophecy slithered across my mind, leaving a trail of undiluted, cold dread behind them. The fight the prophecy and the Archangel had said I would die in was unquestionably upon us. But what scared me most of all were five paralyzing words:
From love will cometh death.
I loved Chase. He loved me. And regardless of what he said, what he made me want to believe, I knew with every fiber of my being that he would die because of it. I felt the truth of that sear itself into every cell of my body. Regardless of what I said, how hard I tried to convince him to do the sensible thing he would never see reason. And if I tried to walk away, like he kept doing as we lay in bed next to each other, he would only reach out and pull me back.
 

If Chase was a normal guy and I was a normal girl and the paths we were born to walk were normal too then our story would have contained those words with a normal happily ever after ending. This story would be ending with my antebellum house, my picket fence and our two kids and dog on the horizon. But we’re not and our story is only beginning. Death, destruction, and hell on Earth loomed in front of us instead of warmth, laughter and cherished memories. I prayed that the feeling that had settled to the bottom of my stomach like lead was wrong. I prayed that I would die before Chase’s love for me got him killed too. And even as I prayed I knew how pointless it was to do so.

Other Works by Nia Davenport

Two-Faced
(Assassin at Court Series, Book 1): YA Fantasy

Chaos
(Assassin at Court Series, Book 2): YA Fantasy

Born in Blood (
Born Hunter Series): Paranormal Romance

Fire and Ash
: YA Paranormal/ Urban Fantasy

Coming Soon

Ascension
(Assassin at Court Series, Book 3): YA Fantasy

Jinn:
New Adult Fantasy

Book 2 in the Chosen Ones Series

Nia lives in Texas with her husband, two daughters and a dog named Bruno...he was named after both the singer and the dog from Cinderella. When she is not writing paranormal romance or young adult fiction, she is reading it.

Follow me on twitter @Nia_Davenport, or Instagram @ Nia.Davenport for exclusive content, updates, and sneak peeks.
 

You can also find me on Goodreads or visit my blog at
niadavenport.blogspot.com