Between Worlds (Pendant Series Book 3) Read Free

moment, I so foolishly repeated those words to him. “I love you too.” I may have meant them. It felt like I meant them when I said it. But it didn’t change the fact that I also loved Ray. My heart was so screwed up.
    And Adrian had no idea.
    Closing my eyes as I rested my head on Adrian’s chest, I listened to the calming rhythm of his heart beating until sleep finally surrounded me.
     
     

 
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Chapter 3
     
     
    Attack
     
    When I opened my eyes I was in the place I’d often dreamt of many times before. I sat up and looked around. Somehow, it seemed different this time. As if everything was much clearer in vision and texture.
    It seemed as if I’d looked at the scene through a dirty mirror before and now the mirror was sparkling clean. For the first time, I could smell the beauty of it all and see every detail. I took an invigorating breath and laughed out loud when I realized I could actually smell the scent of sweet jasmine flowers. Before, I was nothing but a spectator in this other world, but now I was a part of it. I gazed up and admired the blue sky full of puffy white clouds. I felt the sun beating down on my bare arms, radiating its heat into my skin. It was like everything was in 3-D. It was exhilarating.
    The scenery seemed to stretch for miles; row upon row of corn and wheat fields with line after line of perfectly placed fruit trees. The untouched earth beneath me had all sorts of stunning wildflowers sprouting from the dirt. Deep back behind the cornfield was a wall of eucalyptus trees, their heavy leaves swaying back and forth in the wind.
    Golden hills swallowed up the entire valley, giving me a sense of serenity. The land reminded me of my childhood when I had been as free as a soaring eagle to explore the undeveloped areas of my neighborhood. That same sense of freedom was here with me now.
    Suddenly I saw a giant shadow cast upon my face as a figure stood in front of me and held out his oversized hand to me. I was baffled. In all the times I’d visited this place, no one had ever been able to see me.
    Until now.
    I took his hand without hesitation. It was warm and welcoming. The sun blazed behind him, darkening his figure and allowing the rays of sunlight to beam off his body. The bright light made it impossible for me to see the details of his face other than a shadow profile of a man, but I could feel his peaceful aura and knew he was here only to help me.
    As I stood up, the sun sank below him, and with the glare out of my eyes, I could now see him clearly, and I gasped at the sight.
    Immediately, I retracted my hand from his grip. “I know you. You’re Samael’s father.”
    His voice boomed, “I am. In a way, I am everyone’s Father. At least I like to look at myself in that eternal sense.”
    I snorted at his arrogance.
    He lowered his voice. “I’ve brought you here to warn you.”
    I folded my arms and looked at him in disbelief. “Warn me?”
    “He’s not as he appears, Sidney.”
    Didn’t my mother say the same thing?
    I was afraid to say his name. “S-Samael?”
    “You know him as Adrian,” said the shadow Father.
    I was stupefied, and suddenly scared. “They’re the same person? How is that even possible?”
    “The Devil wears many faces.”
    His answer was as shocking as a slap to my face. I may have not been the most religious person in the world, but I did know of the Devil and Adrian was far from the monstrous villain humanity had painted Satan out to be.
    Besides, the Devil existed as much as God did and I wasn’t sure I believed in either one. I sputtered out a response. “Why would you say that?”
    Samael’s father stood erect, arms folded as he gazed into the distance, staring at nothing in particular. Then he turned and his next words sent a chill through me. “He’s an evil one, that child of mine; both he and his sister. Death has followed them ever since they exited their mother’s womb only seconds apart.”
    My head was