Unleash the Storm by Annette Marie Read Free Book Online Page A

passed through his eyes, a ghostly remnant of fear. “I wasn’t sure if you were still in there, or if you’d been lost entirely to the Sahar.”
    “But you still had to stop me,” she mumbled, “or I might have gone on to kill everyone in the city.”
    That shadow slid through his eyes again and he looked away from her. “If the only way to stop you had been to take your life with my own hands … I would have let you kill them all.”
    She gasped. “But Ash, what’s my life compared to an entire city of innocent people?”
    He shrugged, gazing across the pool to avoid her eyes.
    He would have stood back and watched her slaughter thousands? But … maybe she shouldn’t be surprised. His honor was important to him, but his absolute, unbending loyalty trumped all else, a loyalty that belonged only to a small, select number of people: as far as she knew, just her, Seiya, and Lyre. That loyalty was the reason he’d been willing to leave the other draconians behind to save Seiya, even though saving them all was the more honorable goal. Loyalty over honor.
    It amazed her that she, somehow, had earned his steadfast loyalty.
    Pulling her hand from the water, she touched his jaw, turning his eyes back to hers. Slowly, she traced the scales across the top of one cheekbone and down to the design in the hollow of his cheek. Leaning down, she brushed her lips over his. His arms slid around her. Closing her eyes, she kissed him again, tasting him, losing herself in him.
    When they were together, forgetting everything else was so easy—where they were, the dangers, their responsibilities. She wished they lived in a world where they could run away together and leave it all behind, but as much as it was a pleasant fantasy, neither of them would be willing to do that. Ash had left the draconians behind once already and he was determined to make up for what he saw as a past sin—or maybe what Raum considered to be Ash’s past sin. And she wasn’t ready to abandon her father and uncle, the only family she had left, along with the Consulates and Earth to whatever the Hades and Ra families were planning next.
    But for now, all she cared about was Ash’s arms around her and his mouth on hers.
    A shriek erupted somewhere above them. Piper jumped, half pulling free from Ash as he twisted to look behind them. Another shriek: the call of the hunting birds she’d heard earlier—only much closer. She craned her neck but couldn’t see anything through the steam.
    Ash stood, pulling her up with him. “We should head back down.”
    Disappointment squeezed her; she didn’t want their time alone to end so soon. “Because of a bird?”
    “Because of a very big bird. And I doubt it’s just one.”
    He pulled her toward the gazebo.
    “Wait, one more thing.” She tilted her head. “How long is an Underworld season?”
    He raised his eyebrows at the random new subject. “It’s similar to an Earth year. We have a long warm season and an equally long cold season.”
    “Oh. And how many seasons old are you?”
    Amusement touched his eyes. “Why do you ask?”
    “I was talking with Coby and Mahala and it came up.”
    “And did they tell you that daemons don’t record or celebrate birthdays?”
    “Well … yes, but …” She looked into those gray eyes that could see right down to her soul and realized it didn’t matter. Mahala was right. Age was a number that only mattered to humans. She shook her head. “Never mind.”
    He smiled briefly and slid his arm around her waist, drawing her close. Before he could speak, another hunting cry pierced her eardrums.
    “Um,” she said, “maybe we should go now.”
    They hurried up the steps and into the gazebo. The cold breeze sliced over her wet skin as they rushed out the other side and onto the winding stairs going down the slope.
    “The blanket!” She stopped, detaching from his arm. “We forgot it. I’ll grab it.”
    His eyes flashed toward the sky and his wings twitched with