Creche (Book II of Paranormal Fallen Angels/Vampires Series) Read Online Free PDF Page B

ahead of me.
    “Or bat,” came her thought as she stopped again and examined the treetops and the sky above.
    Occasionally, I caught her up and followed closely for a time, mesmerized by the swing of her hair as she passed through the trees. After another hour, we came to a rocky rise that bristled with pines.
    “Come,” she said again and rose into the air. “You have had time to recover, and we are almost there. You are too weak, too vulnerable if we met with enemies. When we arrive, you may rest.”
    I cursed her again, but she was already high above me, winging on towards mountains in the distance. With little choice, I followed on aching wings.
    When charcoal smokestacks of mountains jutted up around us, she flew on with increased vigor. My wings railed against the flight, but I followed her ever upwards, past monasteries perched on the cliffside, until we came to a stack distant enough from the stilted chapels to allow some privacy. Skylar fluttered down into a bare patch amid a swatch of forest.
    As soon as my feet touched the ground behind her, she turned back to me. “Amedeo...”
    For the first time, I detected something other than calm in her voice.
    Her brow furrowed. “This may not be what you expect.”
    “Do not trouble yourself. The riddle you promised me is all I expect from you. You have given me little reason to expect more. It is lucky for you that life has taught me to expect little.” Grief quickly reminded me it was a lie: I had expected everything of Joslyn and Sabine, everything and more. I had expected them to share my love.
    “I will never do that.”
    Her thought surprised me. When she spun quickly on her heel, I knew she had not anticipated that I would hear it.
    “Perhaps you should expect more from me .” I willed her to hear me. She did not answer for some time as I followed her up the rocky hillside.
    Finally, she said aloud with a touch of coldness, “I expect nothing.”
    “And everything.” Her thoughts followed.
    I caught myself wondering on it for a moment, and then my thoughts, and my mouth, fell silent.

CHAPTER SIX
    T he hill sloped away into a boulder-studded glade. Skylar glanced back, reassuring herself we were not being followed, and made her way down to where plains met a horizon ringed by mountains. Soon, a cavern yawned from the intersection of the largest boulders, and Skylar slipped through it into the inky coolness. Something prickled my skin, some fear or foreboding, but I heard her voice in my head: “Do not be afraid. Silvenhall is home to me.”
    Again, I followed.
    Glimmering phosphorescence ran like a vein through the rock, highlighting Skylar’s shining hair and her shape, willow slender, moving through the gloom. I followed her through the darkness toward a bright light at the cavern’s end.
    When she stepped out into daylight, the light of her skin and hair was blinding, brighter than electrum. Her radiance was enhanced by the glow emanating from hundreds of other ethereal beings.
    Cruxim, all—like myself. My guts spooled at the thought.
    The Maker had been right: I was never alone. But the way they all stopped and stared made me feel more alone than ever. How had it been that I had not known about them? How had I wandered solitary for so long?
    Most were in formation—some kind of battle training—marching in columns of twelve, men and women together, their arms linked, each gripping the forearm of the Cruxim to their right. Their diamantine effect was amplified by beaten silver mail beneath embroidered cloaks. Metal guards shone at shin and wrist, and an embossed shield slung over each left forearm enabled them to form a phalanx of impenetrable, armored argent. They moved toward me, fixing eyes that resembled slivers of gray-green glass upon me. All radiated beauty, but only one stepped forward to greet Skylar.
    “Skylar, what have you done?”
    The Cruxim’s voice was sharp in my head, like a blade through my brain.
    “He is not welcome