The Book of Azrael (Gods & Monsters, #1)

by Amber V. Nicole

We were forbidden.

“I mean, how could you ever be with a monster?” “You are not a monster,”

I couldn’t stand to see him in such distress.

Okay, now let’s hold hands.”

The silence was getting on my nerves, so I did what I did best: I talked.

His withdrawal made me feel lost.

“He attacked you.”

He was a gorgeous man, but he did nothing for me—not like a certain annoying and rude god.

That last part sent bile to my throat, because in my heart, I felt like we were close. I had a more intimate connection with him than I’d had with any man I’d slept with.

“Not when she sounds distressed.”

My stomach fluttered at the sight of him. What was wrong with me?

“How do you know he doesn’t have my permission?” The lights flickered once more as Liam followed me. “Does he?”

“You do not do that to me.”

“Do I not hold you every night to keep your nightmares at bay?”

The dress was breathtaking—and he’d made it for me.

Liam appeared behind me, and my pulse quickened at the image we made. I felt like a goddess, especially with him in his sharp suit and freshly styled hair standing at my back.

“Let him be.”

He always watched me, especially when he thought I wasn’t looking.

They were truly beautiful … and so are you. You are a queen and should be draped in the finest fabrics, not the cheap faux material he chose.”

“Thank you. For the dress. It’s beautiful.” He smiled, realized what he had done, and stepped back. “You’re welcome.”

“Oh, yes. No, I only said that so he would leave.” “Liam.” My eyes widened as I snickered. “That’s so rude.”

You seem to be the only one I can stand to be around.”

“I am not mean to you.”

“If I upset you, I did not mean to. I promise it was not my intention,” Liam said, the sincerity in his voice clear.

I just thought we were friends and had moved past the whole mean part.” “We are.” He shifted to face me fully, as if I’d said something that upset him.

Liam grew quiet once more, and I wished he would let me help him.

He held his hand out, his pinkie extended. “Promise?” My chest tightened. “I thought you didn’t want to promise anymore?” “I am allowed to change my mind,” he said, nodding toward my hand.

Liam was everything we were taught to fear. Yet I looked at him, and I saw the man who trembled at night over the world, family, and friends he had lost. I saw the man who asked questions over the most basic things and thought he was saving me when we first started this trip. Liam was my friend.

“Dianna is different. I have seen evil. I’ve seen it born, what it craves, and how it acts. She may be stubborn and erratic. At times, she is rude or crass, even violent or dangerous, but not evil—not even a little bit.”

He looked at me, and his eyes softened as he held my gaze. He released a breath, and the room stilled.

I glanced at him and nearly stumbled, the male beauty of him taking my breath away. The moonlight cast his features in silver and set his eyes aglow.

“I promise not to let you turn to stone,” I said, smiling reassuringly.

“I worry about you.”

“You surprise me, Dianna.” “So you have said.”

He angled the stem of the flower toward me, offering it to me. I felt my heart skip as I reached out to accept it.

Liam had given me a flower. A simple fucking flower, and my world tilted. It was the first time any man had given me flowers. It was the stupidest thing for me to obsess over, but this tiny yellow plant suddenly meant the world to me. I hated the way my stomach flipped as I glanced at it in my hand. Gabby got flowers, not me—never me.

He grinned at me, and my breath caught. With the glow of the small lights and the moon shining down, casting a shadow across his features, he was absolutely and painfully gorgeous.

“I’m sure I do, Mister Invincible.” “So many names for me, and I have very few for you. I shall fix that.”

“You worry so much for others, but not for yourself. Why?”

“You are just not what I expected.”

Time passed, yet it had no meaning when I was with him—and that terrified me.

I noticed the yellow flower in the small glass of water she had set on her bedside table. A smile tugged at my lips. It was such a small gesture, yet she’d held it as if it meant something. An unknown feeling pulled at my gut, and I thought about where I had gotten it from, knowing I could find her a thousand more that were even better.

My chest had tightened when Drake grabbed her into a hug.

When I’d seen her distress and his hand on her, I’d known I would make his death slow and painful.

I needed Dianna.

I ached to go in, desperate to feel her body against mine. She had become a balm to my soul,

“Don’t be the one to make her fall if you have no intention of catching her.”

and knew the woman beyond it was more precious to me than I wanted to admit to a...

and I did not know how to tell her that all my dreams were about her.

I didn’t want to hurt her, but she couldn’t help me. No one could.