Three days. Three days since that rare moment of vulnerability. Three days since Elijah's shocking confession. Cinnia peeked around Denzel's shoulder, not even trying to hide her curiosity, as he tore open the envelope. She smirked when she saw Maverick tense on the other side of Denzel, from her peripheral vision. Denzel pulled out the document and scanned through it. Cinnia didn't understand much of the gibberish on the page so she waited for Denzel to explain. Judging from his crushing grip on the paper, she felt he must understand what was written. "He's our brother," Denzel announced. His words hit Cinnia like a hard slap. Silence reigned; loud and deafening that it made Cinnia cover her ears to escape from its overwhelming nature. It couldn't be. Is the Alpha of the Blood Demons Denzel's brother? That was impossible...and yet, it made perfect sense. The uncanny resemblance, the pale skin of Jerome, the green eyes, the aura around him, and the way he carried himself even whil
Cinnia missed Denzel terribly. It wasn't even up to two days since he traveled to Paris but the ache in her chest was strong and hard to let go of. Denzel had told her that this was what the marking would feel like but she didn't expect it to be so powerful and irrepressible. "Cinnia? Cinnia! Are you even listening?" Sophie waved her hand in Cinnia's face till she blinked back to reality. "Where's your head at? You need to perfect this spell. Come on.""Huh? Oh, right. I'm listening," Cinnia said. She patted the side of her hair which was slicked back into a low bun and scratched her brow. "I'm here. I was just...""Thinking about your mate. Of course." Sophie nodded. She spread her arms over the lit candles around them and with a flick of her wrists, she quenched the flames. "I see he has marked you." Sophie gestured to the small, dark purple bruise by the side of Cinnia's neck. Cinnia ran her fingers across it, a tiny smile playing at her lips as she recalled Denzel's confession
Cinnia forced out an exhale. "Sophie, how long have you been practicing magic?" "Well, I'm twenty-three now...and I started at 6...so it's been seventeen years. Why?" Cinnia scoffed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "You've been doing magic for sixteen years and I only started about two days ago. How do you expect me to know this and be proficient enough? I can't do more than this!" She groaned. Sophie folded her arms and gave Cinnia a pointed look. "I learned the fire summoning and cloaking spell within hours of each other," She paused. "When I was six. With my newly opened magic gate." Cinnia bit the inside of her cheek. "But still. I wasn't born into a coven. You told me that my mother blocked my abilities to protect me," She protested. "Cinnia. Manara was your mother. The most powerful witch of the Darah Haven coven was your mother. She may have been the best of all the witches. Though everyone spoke of her in hushes, nobody could deny her abilities." "So?" "Are you d
So far, Cinnia had learned three spells and her favorite was the cloaking spell. She made sure to use it at every opportunity. Sometimes, she felt sorry for Mya and Maverick because they had to constantly search for her since she was carrying the future of their pack. It was exciting to sneak around unnoticed though there were times she had to hold her breath as many of the werewolves had very good hearing. Denzel was to return that evening and she could not wait to receive him. It was as if there was a gaping hole in her that needed to be filled. Pun intended. "Cinnia, for the love of the goddess, please stop using that damn spell!" Mya pleaded as she looked for Cinnia in all the rooms of the pack house. "Fine..." Cinnia sighed as she materialized from the wall of the hallway in the upper right wing. "Fuck!" Mya shrieked and clutched her chest at the sound of Cinnia's voice. "Jeez. Don't give yourself an aneurysm." Cinnia chuckled and patted Mya's shoulder. An action that elici
"Why are you looking at me like that?" Mya asked while taking a careful step back. Cinnia's eyes flicked from Denzel's serious demeanor to Mya's skeptical one. Her eyebrows shot up, almost disappearing into her hairline as her mouth formed an 'Oh.' "Uh... I think he means that you..." Cinnia coughed into her palm. "Don't tell me... Brother! That's a risk," Maverick said in protest. Mya scratched the back of her neck, still lost in confusion. Everyone else knew what was going on except her. "Can someone just make a full sentence? This suspense is not necessary!" Mya threw her hands up in exasperation. Denzel took a step closer to her and squeezed her shoulder. "I will never force you to do something you don't consent to. If you're not comfortable with this arrangement, then I can always think of something else." "Tell me." Denzel gripped her chin with his thumb and index finger. "You'll have to become Cinnia." He paused to let that sink in before he went on. "I thought ab
Riding and hiking were on Cinnia's bucket list but she wasn't exactly an outdoors girl and only added them to her list for the experience. As she explored the trails and woods—the ones that she hadn't seen already—that enclosed the Nightfall pack territory, she was quite thankful that she was with Denzel, else she would have turned and left at the beginning of their trek. Cinnia still didn't understand just how wealthy Denzel was as she was still befuddled at how he managed to procure horses that she was sure were purebred and very expensive, on such short notice... Or maybe he had this planned for a long time like Maverick said. The horse ride around the pack house and the smoother parts of the woods were simultaneously pleasant and uncomfortable. There were horses in the Fae forests, so she was a fairly good rider but this time, she remembered why she didn't like it all that much. However, what made it pleasant was when Denzel jumped down from his horse and led hers by the re
"Damn," Cinnia whistled under her breath. New Orleans was beautiful when the sun was at its peak. That much she could tell from when she and Conall's flight landed at the Louis Armstrong Airport and hailed a cab to a hotel in the French Quarter. The city resonated through her as the cab sped by the highway, making her wish that she was there for other reasons-more entertaining and exciting reasons. The afternoon sun warmed her skin through the open windows of the cab as she stared at the narrow one-way roads filled with different cars and people once they entered the French Quarter neighborhood and drove through Bourbon Street. Cinnia sighed and leaned back in her seat. She felt fear grip her heart in a tight fist. She had been adamant in coming to New Orleans but now that she was there, she wasn't sure of what she would do exactly. "How are we to get weapons?" She whispered to Conall. "That's not an issue. I'll just have to ask the Reef pack. They aren't a very large pack bu
As Cinnia and Conall hid in the shadows of the hills surrounding the lone, ghoulish warehouse, the hairs on Cinnia's arm rose while her skin prickled. Her heart thumped loudly in her chest and she squeezed the gun tighter in her hands. "Breathe, Cinnia," Conall soothed as he laid his hand over her trembling ones. "What if something goes wrong? What if—" Cinnia's breathing sped up as a kaleidoscope of thoughts filtered through her mind. Conall gripped her chin and forced her to face him. "Nothing is going to happen. Look closely." He pointed to the distance where Cinnia could just make out the silhouettes of several people flanking the warehouse. "They are prepared. They'll transform soon and this will be over before you can blink. I believe they'll hold off on Elijah for a while, so you can go in." Cinnia breathed out slowly and nodded. "Okay." Just then, a very recognizable voice rang through her head. "For the love of everything good, Princess, please go back to West Volken."