Soul Deep: Dark Souls, Book 2 (44 page)

Enjoy the following excerpt for
The Silverwing’s Sorceress:

Abbey glanced back and forth between Jaxon’s work boot smashing down the brake pedal and the pine trees flashing past the darkened passenger window. “Pump harder, Jaxon!”

Sparks shot from the side of the passenger door as the white Neon scraped against the metal railing separating them from the sheer drop of the cliff.

But rubbing the railing wasn’t enough to slow them down. Not when the mountain range they’d driven up for the past forty-five minutes finally crested, and the road began its steep downhill descent—a slope that on any other day would have them to her family’s cabin in just a few miles.

“Hold it down,” she urged. “Just press it to the floor!”

He speared her with a quick glance. “I know how to stop a car.”

Braking was something Abbey had taught him day one of his driving lessons, and she knew deep in her heart, no matter how much she wanted to deny it, that this wasn’t a simple problem of him not doing it right.

The brakes were out.

Jaxon slammed his foot onto the brake so hard that it looked as if the force buried the pedal in the floorboard. The vibrations from the car riding the railing were enough to make the speedometer a blur. It probably didn’t matter how fast they were going anyway. There was a vertical rock wall looming above them to their left and a drop off the side of the mountain to their right. They were going to die. And Abbey wasn’t ready.

“Put on your seatbelt, Abigail. Do it now,” Jaxon commanded.

When a realization broke through her panic, a sense of peace filled her like a cleansing breath of ocean air. Jaxon was Demiáre, and fallen angel hybrids like him could survive anything but total decapitation. Abbey, with her witch blood, wasn’t so lucky.

With the sound of metal shredding and sparks lighting the dark night, Abbey laid her hand on Jaxon’s shoulder. His skin was hot and damp through the thin white T-shirt he wore, and as he fought for control over the steering wheel, the car began to hop from its left tires to its right, threatening to tip.

“You were a true friend when I needed one, Jaxon. I’m so thankful for you.” She managed to say it calmly, even over the horrible screeching in her ears.

As though her words gave the battered railing permission to give up the fight, her old car gave a hard jerk and tore through the barricade. The impact flung her against the door for one terrible moment, then there was nothing.

The car quieted but for the soft hum of the engine as she fell against the roof, her hair covering her face and eyes as if to protect her from seeing the moonlit canyon floor rushing up at them. “Take…care…of Kara.”

“No!” Jaxon flung himself at Abbey, already willing the flash as his arms clamped around her.

The breath rushed from her lungs when they hit the seat then crashed to the roof again. They rolled together in the metal prison, her glorious red hair fanning across his cheeks as he willed them to dissolve.

But something was terribly wrong. He’d never felt a barrier of witch magic when he’d flashed before. Now it was like a strong wind snuffing out the fire of his will. He crushed Abbey to his chest, knowing he couldn’t protect her if he couldn’t flash.

When the car skimmed the side of the mountain with a bone-shattering jolt, Jaxon knew they were seconds from impact. He closed his eyes, centered his will and cast his thoughts out with more energy than he’d ever done before.

Not far
, he begged.
Not an old familiar place. Just there.
He visualized the top of the mountain, a place he’d visited seconds before, and he felt the blackness take him.

He grasped Abbey tighter, not caring if he was crushing her, and they dissolved together. He carried her through the Abyss in a flash outside of time, the endless depths not even having the chance to pull at their souls before they hit the asphalt—his back and head first, then Abbey coming to a crushing stop on his chest. The sky opened with the deafening sound of her beloved Neon compressing into an accordion on the granite rocks below.

Jaxon coughed as the air returned to his lungs. “Abbey?”

He blinked once then sat up and grasped Abbey by the shoulders to get a better look. The bandages wrapped around her abdomen had soaked through, and the light pink sundress she wore was spotted with blood. “Say something.”

Soul Deep

Anne Hope

Save her life…or save mankind. His choice could cost him his soul.

For nearly two centuries, Marcus has been the Watchers’ most faithful soldier. Sworn to protect humanity, driven by an unrelenting compulsion to atone for past sins, he has rarely found a compelling reason to question his mission, let alone defy his leader.

His partner, Regan, is his exact opposite, an enigma he longs to solve. A free spirit and reckless to a fault, Regan acts first and thinks later. Her smart mouth and tender heart have fascinated Marcus for decades, but the Watchers’ strict vow of celibacy has forced him to ignore the sizzling attraction between them. Until now.

When Regan goes rogue to protect a very special little boy, Marcus is forced to make an impossible choice—commit an act of treason or watch the woman he secretly loves die.
 

Hunted by enemies and allies alike, Regan and Marcus run for their lives, fighting to thwart an age-old prophecy and guard a boy whose destiny may very well be to destroy the world…or save it.
 

Warning: Contains violent battle scenes, angels with twisted agendas, nail-biting suspense, intense emotion, burning-hot sexual tension, and a sexy, stubborn hero who would rather face death than admit what’s in his heart.

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This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locale or organizations is entirely coincidental.

Samhain Publishing, Ltd.

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Soul Deep

Copyright © 2013 by Anne Hope

ISBN: 978-1-61921-250-3

Edited by Jennifer Miller

Cover by Kanaxa

All Rights Are Reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

First
Samhain Publishing, Ltd.
electronic publication: February 2013

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