Page 37 of Into the Abyss
I couldn’t deny his protectiveness gave me asmall thrill of pleasure, but this argument was pointless andwasting time.
“I’m close to my immortality. It’s rightthere.” Like a shadow, I could sense it there before me, butI couldn’t grasp it yet; I would soon. “And I’m safer here than Iam in the human world. I don’t know if you’ve noticed this or not,but the jinn aren’t exactly welcomed with open arms. Many wouldkill me before they ever got the chance to learn anything aboutme.”
A muscle in his eye twitched as frustrationrolled off him. “I knew you were young, but I didn’t know you werethisyoung.”
“I’m twenty-three. I may not be some ancientdemon or anywhere near as old as the other jinn, but I’m not achild. How old are you?”
“I celebrated my nine hundredth birthdaythis year.”
“You’re a babe compared to the rest of thejinn.”
A small smile curved his lips, and his eyesturned silver again. “I suppose I am.”
“You’re still old,” I teased, and hereleased me. I missed the feel of his flesh against mine the secondit was gone.
“Not too old to please you though,” hereplied with a wink.
“Maybe, one day, I’ll be the judge ofthat.”
His smile slid away, and he leaned closer torest his lips against my ear. A shiver ran through me, and anyprogress I’d made toward getting my body under control vanished ashe spoke. “Oh, you will be, and I guarantee you’ll judge me veryfavorably while screaming my name.”
“Arrogant demon,” I huffed, but I couldn’tstop my toes from curling. “We should go.”
“Yes,” he agreed, but his lips lingeredagainst me for a little longer before he moved away.
CHAPTER 16
Magnus
“What was Hell like?” Amalia asked as we traversedwhat was becoming an increasingly twisted pathway through theAbyss.
From this angle, and with the walls closingin on us, I couldn’t see the monolith. Being unable to see anythingbeyond ten feet of our surrounding area had me contemplatingclimbing the rocks to take a look from above. I could cloak myselfwhile I was up there, but I doubted the view would reveal much morethan what I saw from the top of the hill when we first entered theAbyss.
“Magnus,” she prodded.
“It was Hell,” I said when I recalled herquestion.
When her delectable mouth pursed, and hereyes slid sideways to meet mine, an increasingly familiartightening started in my groin. Had there ever been a woman Idesired as much as her? I tried to think of the answer, but Icouldn’t recall anyone before she walked into my life.
I could only remember what it felt like tohave her lips against mine and her flesh beneath my hands. And outof all the women I’d been with, she was the first demon I kissed.Some of the humans insisted on kissing during sex, and I obligedwhen I had to, but I’d never felt the compulsion to taste a womanas I did with her.
And I would taste her again as soon as I gother out of this place, alive.
She’s still mortal.
The reminder caused my teeth to clench. Shewas right, she was safer here than I was, but I hated thisvulnerability in her that I hadn’t known she possessed untilrecently. No matter what happened, I would make sure she attainedher immortality. My protective feelings toward her had mequestioning just what she was to me.
Is she my Chosen?
The more I pondered that, the more it madesome sense. I experienced a draw toward her from the beginning. Iwanted her, badly; I felt more protective of her than any other,but I’d never wanted a Chosen and wasn’t sure how to deal with thepossibility of having found mine. I’d seen the loss of a Chosendestroy demons before, and I’d vowed not to be one of them.
I was not a demon to fall in love, butdiscovering a Chosen didn’t guarantee love between them. However,all the mated demons I’d encountered loved each other deeply.
The Chosen bond made demons inherentlystronger. It also gave them a weakness they’d never experiencedbefore as they now had someone else walking around whose deathwould equal theirs.
Lucifer killed my parents, but I’d learnedlater in life that my father’s death propelled my mother into goingafter Lucifer without any concern for herself. She’d handed me overto Kobal. Then, she went to hunt Lucifer and died. Her love for myfather drove her to such reckless behavior, and because of that,I’d always seen love as a weakness.
Amalia could be my Chosen, we could one daycomplete the bond between us, and I could keep myself from fallingin love with her. If she were my Chosen, I would welcome thestrength the bond would bring me, but if I kept from loving her, Imight also be able to live without her should she perish. The ideaof her death caused my teeth to clamp together; it wouldnothappen.
