Craved: A Chosen Ones Novel Read Online Free PDF

gathering area was a winding wooden staircase lined on both sides with a wrought-iron bannister. I took its steps two at a time to the second level of the house. It was always an awkward adjustment for the soles of my feet whenever they transitioned from walking on the dark cherry wood that covered the first floor and the stairs to the carpet lining the second floor that was so plush I had to fight the urge to lie down on it and take a nap every time I walked on it.
    The super comfy carpet was only one of the things that made the second floor of the house much more akin to the actual inside of a home than the floor beneath it. The hung curtains, cherry blossom and cinnamon scent, and family portraits that decorated the walls also made it feel lived in. It served as the personal residence of the Atlanta sect’s leader, who was required to live at the city’s headquarters, and his family.  
    Bennett’s wife was named Charissa. Like him, she was a Nephilim. They also had two kids, a boy and a girl, both of whom would follow in their parents’ footsteps because it was their destiny from birth to do so.  
    The intimate second floor landing was a place most of the sect’s members never dared to venture.   Our Sect Leader was by all standards fair in his dealings with the individuals he led, but he was also a hardened, ornery sonofabitch when it came to getting his way and did not lightly abide his authority being questioned. He would accept your input on drafting the rules and deciding where the lines in the sand were drawn, but once they’d been agreed upon, that word became law and he’d see to it that it was upheld. If you even toed the line that had been drawn in the sand, he would rip into you, and if you smooth crossed the line, he would not hesitate to literally rip you a new one.  
    For that reason, all   sect members respected and trusted Bennett as their leader, but his presence was too intimidating for most of them to remain in it longer than necessary. Which was why not too many people ever became close to Bennett Dubose or his family.  
    The second floor was their private sanctuary and the only reason for a person to be on it was if they intimately knew the Duboses. Not many did, but it wasn’t because they were ugly, or pretentiously snobby about their lofty position within the Society. They were quite the opposite in fact. Perhaps the most welcoming, down to earth people I’d ever met. Most Society members just never gave themselves the chance to see that side of them because they were too intimidated by the rigidly stern air Bennett had about himself.  
    In truth, Bennett was mostly bark and little bite. Underneath all the layers of scariness was a curly, soft teddy bear. I smiled, amused by what Bennett’s reaction to that description of him would be if I ever said it to his face. He would probably look at me in outrage, then snarl and beat his chest just to make a point.  
    Bennett, Charissa and their children were like family to me. They’d both been childhood friends with my father and though he’d broken with the Society when I was born, the three had remained close. They’d even inducted my mother into their trio, turning it into a quartet. When my parents died, Bennett and Charissa made it a point help fill the void that they left, becoming a second, and very, very cool, set of parents to me. And when they eventually had kids of their own, they still didn’t push me to the sidelines. They would have even tried convincing my grandparents to let them adopt me, but Bennett knew that growing up in The Society was something my dad did not want for me.  
    He left The Society when I was barely a few hours old, but I was never ignorant of its existence, my lineage, or his past involvement in it.
    At thirteen, the age that children who grew up in The Society start training to hunt down daemons, I’d gone to Bennett and told him that I wanted to start training too. He’d said no, Dad wouldn’t