Ethereal: An Illumine Series Novella (The Illumine Series) Read Free Page A

away, but it was too late. A fresh, strawberry red blush tinted the upper half of her cheeks. The shakes riddling her body stopped, replaced by a new kind of jittering that swallowed her stomach and rattled her heart. Memories of his lips, brief and strong as he kissed her lips and palms, only made the quivering worse. Against all odds, she kept her cool. “Hey, you never know. Maybe that’s where my true love is at. You know, true love’s kiss can take form in a variety of ways.”
    A knowing, come-on-now look settled in his eyes. “So can a chicken’s egg. Scrambled, sunny side up, hard-boiled, deviled, the list goes on. Just picture freshly made deviled eggs, laid out on your naked-”
    “Jake Mathews, you finish that sentence, and I’ll-”
    “You’ll what?” He pressed his body closer, stealing the space she had been keeping between them instinctively. Heat flamed her cheeks brighter, a twisting sensation in her gut making her brain go hay-wire. She could feel the beginning of her control unwinding, stripping away like paint to a wall. Or clothes to a body.
    “What happened, Rinae? What happened to us?” His breath tickled the side of her neck, teeth grazing the edge of her earlobe. Hands found themselves on her hips, holding her tightly in place. “Tell me, Slayer, tell me you miss it. Tell me you miss us like I do.”
    Rinae could feel her jaw forcing itself to lock. Her tongue rammed into the roof of her mouth. Sure, she could have told him she missed being together, missed it like a flame misses wood when it burns to ashes. But that would have been a lie. A beautiful, hopeless, damning lie.
    He couldn’t be with her, just as she couldn’t be with him. For more reasons than he’d ever know.
    Seconds ticked by, slow and silent. Each moment felt like a painful gunshots to the chest. It sealed her fate. Jake’s hands, having moved up and wrapping in her hair, withdrew carefully until they hung to the sides of his body in defeat.
    She sighed. “Jake...”
    “Be safe.” Red tinged the white in his eyes, hurt wavering inside them. He quickly blinked both eyes, the hurt dissolving with each blink. She could hear the faint wavering of his voice as he fought to keep himself in check. “I’d hate to break someone’s face if you didn’t come home in one piece.”
    Inwardly, she ached to reach out to him, to soothe him. She knew enough to know she had ever been the only one to crack Jake’s diamond-tough shell, to expose the raw and vulnerable side he kept under lock and key. Her throat tightened. Rinae wanted to love him, love him to ruins. But their falling out had nothing to do with a lack of love. And that’s what made their break-up hurt that much more.
    “I’ll be good,” she assured him with a wry smile. “It’s everyone else you’ll need to look out for.”

CHAPTER TWO
    LOST SOULS
    Sweat, booze, and hormone-driven teenagers; three things Rinae could always guarantee to see in any club shaking the underground masses of New York City.
    By the time Rinae had shut the metal door to her hidden home, New York City had transformed. The sky had turned dark; ribbons of navy and charcoal dashed the celestial heavens like a pristine canvas, sprinkled in glittering bursts of starlight. Like flipping a switch, the city went from a posh and clean home, to a dark and seductive realm.
    Making her way across several back streets, Rinae kept the hems of her sleeves low. This time, she was no fool. Each hand carried a petite blade, ready for the fight should any boys decide to make a move on her. It was rare, especially once she hit the streets lined with underground clubs and drug detox hideouts, but one could never be too sure. And at this point, if anyone was going to try and take her freedom, Rinae was prepared to unleash a can of whoop-ass worthy of a gold medal.
    When it came to leaving the hidden underground she called home, it was usually only for a few things, clubbing being one of them. Clubbing was