Kindred of the Fallen Read Online Free PDF

auburn hair, pulled into a low ponytail that fell to her mid-back, set off her green eyes. The barely legal nymph was tall, thin and flawless.
    “I need ten minutes. Ensure I’m undisturbed,” Cyrus said, as if giving an order.
    Serenity stepped back, eyeing them.
    “Forgive me. Serenity, this is Talus.”
    He nudged the young woman, and she gave a reserved nod of her head.
    Serenity tensed, bracing for a searing flux in the vibrations of her core at meeting the girl. The equilibrium of the current flowing through her didn’t waver, but a sharp, new emotion she couldn’t pinpoint percolated. “It was nice to learn your name and to meet your date. I should go back inside.”
    “Please wait.” Cyrus placed his hand gently on her shoulder. “Talus, leave us.” He spoke to the girl, but his eyes were fixed on Serenity.
    Talus bowed her head and withdrew.
    “She’s not my date. She works for me,” he said.
    He kept disarming her with his bulldozer confidence as if she were a foregone conclusion. Well, she wasn’t about to roll on her back and become the plaything of a rich womanizer. “Do you really expect me to believe that? Is she even old enough to vote?”
    Cyrus clutched her shoulder tighter. “There’s no reason for a phoenix to be jealous of a sparrow.”
    “Jealous?” How presumptuous, and how deplorably true. “You misread the situation. I’d have to be interested to be jealous.”  
    No need for him to know the truth. This was going nowhere.
    A deep chuckle rumbled in his chest like she’d just told a charming joke. “I’d love to show you that country sky at night. I have a home in Valhalla, not far from here. We could have dinner one evening and do a little stargazing. Would you like that?”
    Uncertainty crashed into her and her willpower faltered. Evan, she reminded herself. He was her anchor.
     
    Cyrus stroked Serenity’s arm, his heart tight as a fist and throbbing. His pool of energy gushed and swelled inside of him. Exhilarating jolts, unlike anything he’d ever felt, set his skin aflame. His nerve endings tingled like bare wires.
    He’d watched her for the last ten days from a distance, waiting for the perfect opportunity to meet her. After his reckless disaster earlier in her office, he needed this to go the way he’d planned. For more than two hundred years, he had imagined this, when he’d finally meet his kabashem , the other half of his soul. If he ever found her, his mission was clear.
    Claim her at any cost and put an end to the curse.
    “My house outside the city offers a spectacular view. It’s the perfect place to appreciate the stars. And I promise you’ll enjoy a meal you’ll never forget.”  
    Was he being too forward? His impulsive, less aggressive tactic at her studio had backfired.
    Sweat slicked his palms and his pulse raced. Ten days should have been long enough to prepare. What was wrong with him? He’d never been nervous going into battle, not even the first time he held a sword ready to kill. But having her within reach threw him off kilter worse than taking a fist to the head.
    “I can’t have dinner with you,” she said in a solemn voice that wavered.
    “We both have to eat. Why not do it together?”
    She raised her left hand with the ring facing him. “I’m engaged.”
    “Happily?”
    Her eyes grew wide for a moment. From shock or anger?
    “You’re used to getting what you want, aren’t you?” Her gaze slipped from his face. “Women probably throw themselves at you all the time, tossing away their morals along with their panties, eager to get into your bed. I hate to disappoint you twice in one day, but I’m not that type of woman.”
    He sucked in a breath, smooth and slow. “You’re right, I am used to getting what I want, but you’re wrong about the women. Casual sex is for the undisciplined, and none of the pursuits in my life are casual.” He leaned closer. “I didn’t mean to offend you with my invitation. I admire your moral