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She’d sat at the river’s edge, tears strealow around her and she’d taken on a very angelic appearance Not at all the way she seemed in reality No, he’d witnessed from afar the raven-haired, blue-eyed spitfire in action when she was riled and he’d been as captivated with her fiery spirit as her eed one

He couldn’t explain why It was h cheekbones and full, luscious red lips She was also tall and curvy, enticing in a way that ht of her But Jade Deville was a peril best avoided because she not only stirred his senses, she brought out a protective side of him that contradicted his entire existence

She was hu outside his walls He was i of the land he’d conquered

And yet there was so about that very senti He’d never wanted the almost impossible to stop annihilation of humans He’d been a puppet A very effective one, because he clearly had the ability to command an innumerable force But his hands had been tied He’d done as was expected of him by his family

And perhaps therein lay the crux of his proble on a task he’d not agreed with from an ethical or a political standpoint, but which had been thrust upon hih an unrequited infatuation that could not possibly, in any capacity, be fulfilled

Or… locked in a hopeless situation was the key to his redeotten coood a ruler in the demonic world And he’d suffered the moral consequences

Was his torment meant to be the catalyst for some sort of restitution and restoration that went far beyond si the peace?

His hand dropped fro his back on his friend Perhaps what had been set into motion had a specific purpose in this neorld

He said, “It’s possible the die has already been cast Leave her be for now”

Jade was not followed hoht And while it carown used to the shadow It had never been a co about not being all alone in the woods of Ryleigh, given she’d felt alone the majority of her life A point Michael had easily

As she entered the cottage and slid the wide metal latch into place on the door, she wondered who’d been outside the tavern, watching her And why While she fanned the fla roo stalked, as she’d suspected, for the inevitable purpose of being preyed upon? Or had the De sent one of his wraiths to spy on her?

She would concede she had abilities thatBut Jade had never used any of her natural powers in front of another and had told no one of what she was capable Not even Lisette

Froirl, she could skillfully move objects with her mind Her psychokinesis had alar?

But then she’d witnessed her father, Liaetting out of his chair The “gift” they both possessed had been their shared secret Never to be revealed to anyone else Never to be used in front of another, including Jade’s mother