A Shadow in the Reaping (The Shadow Realm, #1)

by Brynne Weaver

Are you serious? Andy Cartwright? You're asking if Andy Cartwright is my ‘mate’? “Yes, the human. The police detective. The one that gave you the unsightly rubber plant.” It's a Japanese peace lily. “It's still unsightly. It looks like it belongs in a dentist's office.”

“I won't let anything hurt you, Lu,” he says. His voice sounds like a promise. He sounds like a warrior. He sounds like he will burn the world to keep his word.

Even the sight of Ashen's sick body isn't enough to take the chorus of ‘shit’ from my brain. It's now a proper Mariah Carey melody up in there. All I Want For Christmas is shit, apparently.

“If you're trapped in the Realm of Light, I will still find you,” Ashen says.

“You are like the wind or the sea, like an elemental force of nature. You feared me and yet I'm the one who is left defenseless as you dismantle my walls, stone by stone.”

“Libbu isriq, ekimmu,” he whispers into my skin. You have stolen my heart, vampire.

Every touch still feels stolen. So, I'll be the greatest thief of all time. I will take every last one that I have a chance to steal.

“Have fun. Don't hiss too loud,” he says. He gives me a wicked smile as he turns away. And fuck me if I don't realize that very instant that I've fallen head over heels in love.

I realize for the first time that a lifetime can be measured in millennia, or it can be counted in the weight of a few days. Even mere moments can cause a tectonic shift, propelling you from who you were to who you are now. Tearing you down. Building you up into something new.

“That is for touching what does not belong to you.”