AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Ness had dressed me in a moss green mermaid taffeta gown that accentuated the gentle flare of my hips with a jeweled belt around my high waist and a generous thin cutout down to the navel, displaying the swells of my cleavage. Ness had tied the sensuous look together with a heavier application of gold eyeshadow, black eyeliner, mascara, bronzer, and tinted lip gloss, meant to draw out the natural green in the murky depths of my eyes. Gold-colored bangles were ten wrapped around my wrists and upper arms, while my ashen hair had been curled and pulled up in a gold clip with green accenting crystals that matched my teardrop earrings. I didn’t want to know where Ness had procured all of this jewelry, hoping it hadn’t come from anyone present at the gathering. The last thing I needed was to draw more attention to myself for wearing pilfered prized possessions.
I had to hand it to my girl, though: she had class and style that I could never hope to replicate. I really should have taken more notes.
As I slunk to my seat, leaving Ness to draw attention to herself, I searched the room for the demonic temptation that had seared himself to the forefront of my psyche, only to find he wasn’t there.
As I was settling into my disappointment, a low whistle from my classmate Lisa, sitting next to me, brought my attention to the door. My heartbeat rapidly when my big bad Mr. Coppertone entered the hall with two other companions, their prominence impressive even amongst the elites. I vaguely registered a quiet “holy shit” from beside me.
But that was where she was wrong - nothing was holy about this. That said, I wasn’t about to comment, unable to tear my eyes from the three Gods entering the hall. No, Gods wasn’t the right word. Demons truly was a more apt description.
Mister Coppertone’s two companions were almost as tall as he was, filling out their slim-fitting custom Armani suits most deliciously. The man on the left wore fitted navy pinstripes with a white shirt covering a wide athletic frame that reminded me of a CFL linebacker. His chestnut hair was cut close to the sides of his head in a neat fade, leading to slicked-back strands that were all perfectly aligned. He wore a subdued expression on a face that held the youthful glow of a man in his late twenties or early thirties, capped with bright turquoise eyes that took in every detail of the room. Despite the clarity of his irises, locking him clearly in the deadly sin of sloth, he had a sensual air about him and a natural allure, which told me he likely had no small secondary affinity for lust.
The man in the center was an inch taller, although his frame was a bit leaner. He wore a classic fitted black sport coat and matching trousers over a relaxed white shirt and black tie, ending in matching leather oxfords so highly polished they sparkled against the marble. His determined face was alight with a smirk, drawing focus to the smattering of light tan freckles across his otherwise pale skin. He had a few days of stubble across his jaw that had begun to fill into a beard that matched the disheveled red curls on the top of his head. His shining emerald eyes bespelled power, but the tiny laugh lines at the corners of his bright auburn lashes said he had spent much of his time enjoying his thirty-something years on Earth.
He gave off a welcoming air that immediately drew the attention of many of my fellow graduates and the younger students sent to serve dinner that night.
The first two could not have been more different from my Demon. While they had come across as approachable, my Demon was intimidating as he wore an expression that could only be described as hungry. He wasn’t gentle as he allowed his gaze to travel deliberately through the crowd - his dominant presence bespoke his leadership, even though he took the enforcer position in the line. As if shoving aside the looks of everyone in the room, he found mine, his eyes now glowing with a wrath caster’s amber luminescence rather than copper. But still, they were more than determined, and he gazed at me just as a starving man would a steak. He focused solely on me as the redhead leaned into him to whisper something, wrenching a nod from my Demon before the redhead and the brunette went to find their seats not far from mine.
I pulled my gaze away from his, gripping tightly at the napkin in my lap while a flush crept up my neck in anticipation of the looks that traveled over my skin with rapturous intent.
I took a deep breath and raised my head, just in time to meet the studious gaze of the brunette, having been seated across and a few seats down the table. He gave me a soft half smile and raised his glass of white wine to me in salutation. I reached for the water goblet in front of me, intending to do the same, but did so in an all too flimsy manner which made clear why I had nearly become the appetized for a hell bear. My other neighbor chuckled and smoothly righted the wine glass I had nearly sent sprawling toward Lisa and her flirty blue cocktail dress.
I had been distracted - not even noticing the man who had squeezed into the chair beside me. He was…well, the only way to describe him was beautiful, with olive skin, a sharply defined buzz cut, and a face that reminded me of Greco-Roman statues of old. I could easily imagine sculptors would have salivated at the opportunity to use his likeness for Apollo.
I mumbled a soft thank you as he held out my wine for me, our fingertips briefly touching, eliciting a tiny burst of heat in my chest.
“It looks like you may need this.” I couldn’t place his thick, beguiling accent (somewhere in the Mediterranean, maybe?), but it cooled my flushed cheeks, allowing me to return his smile with one of my own.
“Is it that obvious?” I took a sip, debating, throwing the rest of it down in one gulp before deciding against it and very carefully placing it back on the table as preparatory students entered the hall to begin serving dinner.
“I believe I have seen Sentori candidates with fewer nerves.” His rich chuckle gave way to a warm smile on his far too handsome lips, his eyes crinkling at the corners to complete the soft look he gave me.
My eyes widened in excitement, and I turned in my seat, brushing my knee against his. He didn’t move away, which sent a flutter of butterflies through my stomach even as something in my mind made guilt flood to the forefront. “You’ve been to the Sentori trials?”
If possible, his eyes danced even more for me, making me notice the small dimple on his right cheek. “I was a Sentori. I spent a decade assigned to the main compound in Olympia, guarding the Guild Council and their libraries before being called back to serve my guild again. But I must say, sometimes I miss the simpler days of training.”
Ness would be losing her shit over this guy. To become a Sentori and guard all the ancient knowledge stores in Olympia under the control of the overarching Guild council was the ultimate objective of any Enforcer, and as Ness craved that more than anything in her life, I would bet she could quiz this guy all night and still have questions left.
The man seemed to remember himself suddenly, and a gentle flush crept to his high, sharp cheekbones even as his eyes continued to smile at me. Holding out his hand, he said, “I apologize for my rudeness in not introducing myself sooner. I am Corbin Valerius, Ambassador to Xynin. I take it from your profile that you are Aeryn Elpis Ryans?”
I returned his handshake, that beat of my heart rapidly climbing to my throat. “Good memory, yes. Can you tell me anything else you might remember?” The shy coyness I could weave into my voice wowed even me as his warm gaze sharpened with a hint of masculine fire.
“If I recall from earlier, you’re a healer, but it’s your other skills I am most interested in, which is why I submitted our slip.” He leaned a bit closer, placing his large palm down on the table in front of my plate, our knees rubbing even closer. “I find those who can gauge the energy of a room to be… most valuable.”
He lifted the hand he had placed down before me as if to push back the loose curl that had fallen over my face but withdrew it smoothly back onto the table when he noticed the creese forming between my brows. A new sense of wariness crept down my spine at the choice of words. Was there a possibility he could know that I could sense the essences around me?
My immediate fears were quickly satisfied, however.
“You are an empath, are you not?” he raised one perfect chestnut brow, and I squirmed my way into an awkward smile.
Our closeness was abruptly interrupted as two students placed our first course before us. Breaking eye contact with him had been difficult, and I forced myself to focus on selecting the correct fork for my salad.
“Yes, I’m sorry. Of course, I am.”
“And you speak seven languages fluently?”
“Soon to be eight.” I couldn’t help but boast. “I’ve been working on Italian, and it’s a joke when compared to learning Arabic. I plan to tackle Mandarin or Japanese next.”
“Might I suggest Turkish?”
