Flame and Sparrow (Flame and Sparrow Duology Book 1)

by S.M. Gaither

The most stunning man I’d ever seen stood before me. So stunning that it took me a moment to realize I’d seen him before—it was the guard from my prison. I was certain of it. Yet, it wasn’t him at all. He’d looked imposing from the moment I’d met him in my dark and dingy cell, but in the suddenly bright, clear day, with his edges accented by the firelight walling us in, he looked…inhuman. His hair, dark blond with hints of red, was long enough to tie into a knot—and some effort had been made to do this, but several strands had pulled loose, presumably ruffled by the hood he’d been hiding beneath. It should have looked messy, especially combined with the bit of scruff along his jawline. And perhaps it would have if that jawline had not been so strong, so sharp, and the rest of him had not looked so disgustingly…perfect. As if nothing about him could ever truly look disheveled. His eyes were definitely silver, but I now saw hints of blueish-green in them as the day brightened around us, like pockets of calm water breaking up a grey and stormy sea. The cloak he’d worn had been cast aside, and beneath it he wore a finely-tailored shirt of white linen, its sleeves rolled up to reveal muscular forearms covered in strange markings—swirls of black edged in red. Like the godmark I’d seen on his wrist earlier, these red edges seemed to glow, making me think of molten rock cracking through charred earth. With each pulse of glowing light, the walls of flames surrounding us brightened ...