Inception (The Reaping Chronicles, 1) (52 page)

He looked at her longer, and she didn’t say a thing. She just let the words linger in the air between them, losing herself in the slow swirl of blue and violet in his eyes.

“I know, now, what you told me was true. Nate told me about you coming to find me at the gym, not long after Javan tricked me into going with him. And I already asked Amaziah about some things he knew that happened that evening. He told me you were trying everything you could to figure out where Javan had taken me. It fits with what Nate said—I’m sorry, love.” He looked at her, then kissed her lips gently, stopping again to whisper in her ear. “Will you please forgive me?”

She put her hands on his face and moved him to look in her eyes again. She answered with a long kiss of her own before answering with words.

“I love you, too, Lucas. Never doubt that again.”

They lay there for a long time, mostly with their eyes closed, holding each other like they never had before—like it was the last time they ever would again. When Gabrielle finally broke their embrace to stand, she turned to see a slightly puzzled look on Lucas’s face.

“What is it, Gabby?” he asked.

She didn’t want to tell Lucas she’d just seen Javan, but she was already keeping so much information from Lucas.

“I just spoke with Javan.”

Lucas remained seated for a moment, expressionless, but his eyes became a darker shade than Gabrielle had seen. It unnerved her. Lucas walked to the window of his room, looking out into the day that was slipping into night as he spoke.

“What happened?”

“Just a conversation. I can’t do anything to him unless he attacks me or someone else in my presence.” Gabrielle moved behind Lucas and wrapped her arms around him. “He didn’t know you survived. He does now.”

Lucas was quiet, but Gabrielle could feel the negative energy coming off him. She hugged him tighter, wishing it would make his anger stop surging. Lucas seemed to sense that she was trying to calm him, and he pulled her around to face him.

“I’m okay, love.”

His words weren’t convincing, not when she saw Darkness was still in his eyes. Lucas smiled, an attempt at further reassurance.

“I can’t say that things will be so easy for Javan when I finally have him in front of me since I’m not bound by your rules, but I
am
okay.”

He leaned in to kiss her, pulling back slightly after he did to look in her eyes. Gabrielle was pleased to see the shade of his eyes returning to what was their new normal. She kissed him again, then let him just hold her, feeling his energy lighten as anger slipped further away.

Gabrielle allowed a happier mood to settle on her in spite of not knowing what the future held for Lucas, for her, or for any who made Heaven or Earth their home. He pulled her closer, kissing her head, and she let herself melt into him.

This wouldn’t be such a bad way to be together as long as I can keep him from Darkness.

“Is there anything else you need to tell me, love? I’ve felt like there has been since before Halloween.”

She flinched inside. There was a lot she still needed to tell him, things that could steal him from her and make him her mortal enemy. She held him tighter, not wanting to look him in the eye.

“No. There’s nothing I need to tell you.”

She had to lie. Though the bite would be felt deeply once it was discovered. She was torn between two worlds, now. Her divine one that she had been fighting for over thousands of years, and this new one that belonged to her and Lucas that she would also fight for—caught between a mortal and immortal world. It seemed she was being pushed toward a decision, betraying one if she protected the other. She had to do her best to protect them both for as long as she could.

While Gabrielle and Lucas lost themselves in their thoughts, in their love, there was movement outside.

In the shadows of dusk, a flock of crows descended and quietly perched on the low branches of the tree by Lucas’s window. They all turned toward the soft glow of light spilling from Lucas’s room onto the darkening lawn. The only thing they seemed interested in was the silhouette of a young man and woman in an embrace.

There were nine total, but just as the sun’s last rays disappeared below the horizon, snuffing the light and sending the day into murky night, another crow joined the voyeuristic flock.

Bringing their numbers to ten.

Acknowledgements

So much time and effort goes into writing a book, and without the love, support, and help from the following people, it would not have been such a fulfilling and wonderful experience. I truly appreciate each and every one of you. You are my heroes.

My deepest thanks go to my mom, Dixie Schoolman, for always believing in me even when I didn’t believe in myself. You have been there though it all and loved and supported me no matter what. You are my rock as well as my guiding light. Thank you to my daughter, Piper Haviland, for making me want to follow my own dreams so you could learn through my example to follow your own. To Frank Haviland for doing everything you could to support me through this process, I appreciate it … all of it. And to all my family and friends who have supported my little adventure … you all rock. Oodles of thanks to you.

To my first readers who had to schlep through a very rough first draft, to my latter beta readers who still suffered through my unedited manuscript, thank you, thank you, thank you. The feedback you
all
offered was so incredibly helpful. I would especially like to thank Mekisha Elias, Wendy Felber, Karen Hollis, Beth Lehman, and Bethany Cotton for their early insight and suggestions, and for making me believe that The Reaping Chronicles was worthy of completing.

To two my two priceless editors, Crystal Bryant and Wendy Felber, you ladies exceeded my expectations and have helped tame the beast that was the unedited version of Inception. I couldn’t have done this without you, and I have enormous gratitude for all you have done for me.

To KP Simmon of InkSlinger PR, I am so very pleased to have you on my side. Thank you for believing in my book and taking on this author who is a nobody.

My amazing cover designer, Damon of Damonza.com, and my formatter/interior designer, Benjamin of Damonza’s Awesome Book Layout, thank you for making my vision for my cover and interior become a reality. You both rocked it! And, of course, without the contributions of photographer Cathleen Tarawhiti, model Emerald Reid, and artist Dana Mubarak M, I would not have the original image that captured the feel of The Reaping Chronicles ~ Inception so well. Thank you, ladies!

A special thanks to all of my friends who are writers, bloggers, the Nashville Writer’s Meetup Group, and for the admins for book promotion pages on that big ol’ social networking site, thank you so, so much for all you have done to cheer me on and for the guidance I have received from many. In particular, I would like to thank Brittany Carrigan, Paul Brown, M.R. Polish, Jamie Anderson, Janet Wallace, Willow Cross, Carol Kohnert Kunz, Alan Lewis, Amy Sun, Erin Fitzpatrick, Bella Belikov Colella, Jessie Peacock, KB Miller, Madison Daniel, and my-oh-my so many others that this list could go on for a very long time. Please know if I didn’t include your name here, it is no reflection on my gratitude.

And, last but not least, to the One who gave me my desire and talent to write and fills my imagination with stories, I am forever grateful and humbled for all you have done, and will continue to do, for me. I hope what I do with your gift makes you smile.

Author Note

I did not create the counting rhyme about crows. As of the publication date of this book, I have still been unable to find out who the original author is. It appears to be a very old nursery rhyme by an unknown author and there are various versions to be found. This one is the version I felt fit the purpose of my book best.

Abouth The Author

Teal Haviland lives in Tennessee with her daughter and her four-legged friends. She enjoys photography, travel, reading, music, cooking, daydreaming, writing (of course), and above all spending time with her family and friends.

Teal grew up with a love for anything fantastical or outrageous. After years of dreaming of worlds where fairies, angels, demons, and shape shifters (to name a few) exist, she finally decided to begin writing her stories down. Inception, book one in her series The Reaping Chronicles, is her first published novel.

Visit and talk to Teal online at: www.tealhaviland.com, or find her on Facebook www.facebook.com/thereapingchronicles
www.facebook.com/authortealhaviland and
Twitter www.twitter.com/tealhaviland

For further information about any of the wonderful people who helped in putting together The Reaping Chronicles ~ Inception, please use the following links:

~ For Cathleen Tarawhiti:

 
http://cathleentarawhiti.deviantart.com/

~ For Dana Mubarak M:

 
http://pure-poison89.deviantart.com/

~ For Damon and Benjamin Carrancho:

 
http://damonza.com/