If this is my final moment,” she says, “then I can die happy.” “Is that why you’re saying all this? Because you think we’re going to die?” “I don’t know,” she admits. “Dammit, Summer.” He clings to her waist, grip desperate, e...
She waits for his reprimand or words of disapproval. He kisses her instead. Hard. Lips demanding, fingers tightening on her chin. He consumes her with this single act.
I’m sorry,” he says. No two words were ever truer. Still, she says nothing. Once a shield, now her taciturnity is brandished like a blade, carving away his sanity. She’s the flaw in the paragon of life—the reason angels choose to dive to thei...
Dreams deny her the freedom she truly seeks. Darkness consumes. Leg muscles burn. She runs away, even while lost in the paradise of sleep. Gravity is a crushing force bearing down on her chest, shattering wings and refusing her flight. A whisper in h...
Why won’t you look at me?” she murmurs. He doesn’t speak, seemingly at a loss for words. “It’s my scars.” It comes out as barely a whisper. Horror spasms across his face. “What? No,” he says, a bit breathless. “You’re beautiful. A...
She feels him scoot closer, the heat of him radiating off his chest and absorbing into her skin. His legs straddle her from behind, and he places delicate kisses along her shoulder, her back, the very center of her spine. Each time is like an electri...
Struggling transforms her captor into a Chinese finger trap. She’s suffocating. Sucking in air without relief. Her lungs expand. Contract. Expand. They fill with lies and broken promises. With despair and lost hope. Each inhale is empty. Invisible ...
Avery slides on his glasses and opens his eyes again. “Dammit!” he says again with more feeling. “Why does stuff like this keep happening?” “You say that as if it’s a bad thing,” Rob says, smirking.
A glacial chill rushes through Gage. He whips around just in time to see arms clutch Summer around the middle and drag her into the dark. Panic seizes him, and he takes off after her, regardless of the chaos brewing behind him. Her cry of surprise ec...
When I see your scars, do I want to erase them? Absolutely. But not your physical scars. The real ones, beneath the surface. The ones that compel you to stay silent or force you to cringe. Those are the scars I want to obliterate.” His finger circl...
I can’t—won’t do that to him,” Summer says sharply. “Or to myself. Besides, your feelings for me aren’t real. The Society did this to you. And if they did it to you, they probably scrambled my brain too. I can’t trust that any of this i...
I thought it was just him,” she says, ignoring him. “But then I found out I had the same effect, which means the Society did something to my head too.” Gage’s eyes close, horror washing over him. “You really do love him.” “Yes. No. I do...
The night surrounds, breathes across her skin. They’re lost in the shadows of the moon.
You didn’t tell Summer about it, did you?” “What?” Gage scoffs. “Yeah, telling your girlfriend the Angel of Death might visit her if some switch is flipped is normal pillow talk.
Maybe the Society was right all along. From the very beginning, that’s what they called her. A time bomb. Tick, tick, tick.
You should’ve told me,” she repeats. “Because here’s a news flash: You might’ve wanted to shelter me, but there’s nowhere you can hide me that’ll keep me safe from what’s inside my head.
Just in case you’re wondering,” Gage says, breaking the silence, “this alliance of ours doesn’t mean I like you.” “Feeling’s mutual.” Julian tosses him a disdainful look.
Seconds ebb and wane. She’s not afraid of her voice anymore, but she’s not entirely sure she trusts it. She’s seen the damage caused with a single word. Right now, each one is a weapon, a conduit of war, and she won’t just throw them out ther...
