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

by Amber V. Nicole

“You step onto this mat, and I’m fighting you, too.” Very well. I looked down and deliberately placed one foot on the mat.

“You’re mean.” Her voice was barely above a whisper. “I know.”

Dianna, you are already dangerous. Now let’s make you lethal.”

I had to will myself not to reach out and drag her back. I missed her playful swats and bumps. I just missed her.

He reeked of illicit activities layered with a hint of lavender. I didn’t care for either scent, but at least he didn’t smell of cinnamon.

The point is that Dianna does not deserve to be spoken to like that or treated as just a conquest. She is not an object for you and Kaden to haggle over.

“Don’t you know? Love is the purest form of destruction there is.”

I wish for her the same things she craves so desperately for Gabby: a life outside of monsters, blood, and fighting.”

One more comment, and I swore I would lose my grip on my more homicidal tendencies.

“And you are a dead man if you lay a hand on her.”

My heart skipped as the power brushed against mine and I got a taste of it. It damn near rivaled my own in intensity.

I had never felt the desire to shred a being with my bare hands. He would die screaming for what he’d done to her.

“She cares about you. You will need to remember that to make it through what Kaden has planned.”

“I’d find you.”

“Well, you look ridiculous always!” I called back to her, “Your rebuttal is that of a child.”

It was the most selfish desire in the world, but I wanted her more than a crown, more than a throne, more than air.

No, she couldn’t die, wouldn’t die. I would rip the very fabric of this world to atoms.

A flick of my ring, and silver armor erupted over my body, covering me from head to toe. I would go to war for her.

“Fuck,” I said with a weary sigh. Logan looked taken aback, his brow raising. “Where did you learn that word?”

“What are you doing?” “You told me to go to bed, so that’s what I am doing.” “Not here. You have your own.” “I don’t want my own.”

I had slain creatures the size of stars, yet this fiery, headstrong woman made me nervous.

The old ones spoke of absolute peace beyond worlds, beyond realms, and when I held Dianna, I felt it. It was a feeling I had spent centuries searching for.

“You came for me,” she said, looking up at me through her thick lashes. I swear, I melted.

I searched her hazel eyes, happy to see they were healed and no longer bloodshot. They were whole, pure, and perfect, just like her.

“Hey, look at me. You would have to be an ignorant fool not to think you are anything but extraordinary, Dianna.”

There were no words to describe how Dianna’s lips felt against mine, but with that first kiss, my gravity shifted. I may not have the words to do justice to her or what I was feeling, but I knew if she would let me, I would happily spend a millennium trying.

A part of my soul had been waiting for this woman, and one kiss from her had undone me. A voice I couldn’t ignore quietly insisted that she was what I had been missing.

She moaned against my mouth, her tongue dancing against mine, and I knew I would move planets to hear that sound over and over again.

So, that’s what my Dianna liked. She liked to hear the words. Very well.

“Is this all for me, Dianna?”

“Would you like to see what else I can do, Dianna?”

“Nothing will happen to you.” His smile dropped as the icy rage snuck back into his eyes. “Not again.”

“Dianna being nice. Have you grown ill?” “Shut up. I am always a delight,”

“That’s eight ways now, because when we leave here, I’m going to fuck the word friend out of your vocabulary.”

“My apologies, Ava. It’s just that we know nothing about you. Actually, we didn’t even know you existed until Liam stuck his tongue down a witch’s throat.”

I didn’t know when it had happened, but he was mine, and I would tear anyone who so much as touched him to pieces.

“I’m not leaving you.” I ran my hand over the sweat-drenched side of his face before I kissed him hard and quick. “Maybe in another life,”

“Dianna, I physically put your heart back into your chest with my bare hands,” Liam snapped. “Now, drink!”

“And what of yours, Dianna? You always do this! You willingly try to throw yours away as if it means nothing. As if you mean nothing.”

Then there was nothing. The world went completely silent without her.

She was powerful, but she refused her nature, which kept her at a disadvantage. Although, I might have had a solution for that, but it was not one I wished to share with him.

I hadn’t brought her back for the world, or even for her. I brought her back because I didn’t think I could exist without her.

His smile was gentle as he ran a hand across my forehead, his fingers gently combing my hair from my face. “It is already large. I doubt anyone would notice.”

“How do you feel about vortexes?”

“Never…” I paused as I felt my stomach lurch. “… do that again.”

“She is not a creature, and she is friendly.” He stopped and glanced at me over his shoulder. “Sometimes.”

“The prophecy remains. One falls, one rises, and the end begins. It was foretold and will remain. One carved from darkness, one carved from light. The world will shudder.”

“You do not get on my nerves all the time. Sometimes you are mildly amusing.”

The sound tore a fissure in the world. It was pure pain and rage, an echo of ruin.

But it was not this world. No, it was mine. It was Dianna.