Excerpt:
“It’s a Celtic double spiral,” he began, starting with the basics. “It stands for eternal life.”
“There’s more to it then that.”
He smirked at her. “It also stands for the balance of the worlds, the give and take that makes up the universe. The equinox’s; when day and night last the same amount of time. Light and dark. Life and death. These things move on eternally. The only way to stop them is by destroying the balance, but without balance, everything would crumble. The realms would cease to exit, caving in on each other, ultimately destroying one another.”
“Why did you choose it as your mark?”
“I’m half witch, Lily,” he told her, “and half fey. Balance is all I know. It’s the single most important fact. Why do you think I believe so strongly that you’re my soul mate? Because you are the light to my darkness. The good to my evil. You and I will live for eternity, and we can do it together. Two halves forming one soul.” He flashed her a devilish grin. “Lily and Ronan.”
She’d never heard their names together like that before, and more tingles shot up her spine. A part of her tried to tell her that it was right, but the rest of her—clearly the more sane parts—knew that it was wrong.
“This is crazy,” she said, glancing towards the window. “We aren’t soul mates. Being soul mates is all about a give and take. There’s nothing you can give me but darkness, and if that’s all I’m getting, how is that balance? You’re evil, and what’s more, you like being evil.”
She could see his reflection through the glass, but she pretended to be looking at the dark waves crashing against the shore outside instead. He was frowning, the gesture creating a dip between his brows. His hands were resting on his knees once more, and he still leaned forward in his seat as if trying to get closer to her without actually moving from his perch.
“After my parents were killed I lost sight of the world. All I know is the darkness, Dreamer. The pain. I look at people and I sense their ability for malice, and spite. Hatred and vindictiveness practically ooze out of their pores. You might not recall what people are truly capable of, but I do. It’s something I can never forget. My entire family was taken from me in one brutal night.”
“You’ve got to see the sun sometimes, Ronan,” she told him quietly. “Plenty of people lose their loved ones and don’t turn into murderers. Not everyone is bad, there’s still good in the world.”
When he stood her head snapped back around and she braced herself. This was all new territory, speaking to him in this room, talking about his past. Up until today she’d never known anything personal about him. Hell, she still didn’t even know the actual color of his eyes.
He stepped closer, moving slowly as if stalking prey, holding her gaze locked with his own the entire time. Once he was standing directly next to the window seat he stopped, his tall frame hovering over hers. The light overhead cast shadows dancing on his face. He dropped to a crutch so fast that she jumped a little, and when he took her hands in his she swore her heart stopped.
“I see the beauty of the world through your eyes, Lily,” he whispered. “I can’t see it through my own.”
Amid the Roar coming soon! And if you haven't already read the first two books, you can click the links to the right and go do so now! :)
