Eternally Yours Read online

  Eternally Yours

  A Novel by Anastasia Dangerfield

  Kindle Edition

  Copyright 2012 Anastasia Dangerfield

  Cover by Anastasia Dangerfield

  ISBN: 9781476367873

  This book is a work of fiction. Name's, characters, businesses, organizations, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any manner whatsoever without the author's consent, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

  I want to thank you for reading my first young adult novel and I hope you enjoy it! I have so many crazy ideas and love stories in my head and my only outlet is to share them with the world. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

  A special thanks to my husband (my handsome husband, wink, wink) for pushing me to finish this and always believing in me. If it weren’t for you, this would have never gotten finished. I love you.

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1-The Fight

  Chapter 2-Saying Goodbye

  Chapter 3-Leaving

  Chapter 4-The Boys

  Chapter 5-Shadow

  Chapter 6-The Island

  Chapter 7-Flying Lessons

  Chapter 8-Secrets of the Past

  Chapter 9-The Vows

  Chapter 10-Living Together

  Chapter 11-The Prophecy

  Chapter 12-Arguing

  Chapter 13-His Wings

  Chapter 14-All Dressed Up

  Chapter 15-The Costume Ball

  Chapter 16-The Message

  Chapter 17-Deadline

  Chapter 18-Wait For Me

  Chapter 19-We Had A Deal

  Chapter 20-Torn Apart

  Chapter 21-Depression

  About the Author

  For Shadow,

  “For it was not into my ear you whispered, but into my heart. It was not my lips you kissed, but my soul."

  --Judy Garland

  *~*Chapter 1-The Fight*~*

  Present Day:

  My traitorous heart explodes with the force of an atomic bomb inside my chest, or at least that’s the only way I can describe it. I force myself to take slow, deep breaths, hoping I don’t pass out. It’s funny how things are linked together: your eyes, your mind, your heart. For example: you watching two guys fight, your mind registering those two guys as your best friends, the guilt that it’s your fault that they are fighting, the fear that one might die, and the loss thereof. It’s an onslaught of emotions that I’m apparently not strong enough to overcome. I realize now that I should never have snuck out to meet Shadow today, because Gabriel has been so suspicious lately. I should have trusted my instincts, but I was too anxious to get out of here. To fly over the walls with Shadow and never look back, to be with the one I love. The one I'm forbidden to love.

  My mom always told me that there was a cause and effect. She said to make wise decisions or deal with bad consequences. Only two months of being away from her and I've already forgotten her smartest advice. Now, it's all come down to this: me standing on the edge of the city, watching my fiancé and the love of my life fight. Wanting to leave, but needing to stay. I'm caught between duty and devotion, how cliché.

  The sky is growing darker with rain clouds and the wind is becoming more forceful, stirring up the dirt from the ground so that I have to shield my eyes.

  “You don't know your place, you freak! You don't cross me; I'm the Overlord's son!” Gabriel’s voice echoes off the wall that traps us in here and he lands a nasty looking right hook to Shadow's nose. I hear a loud bone-crunching sound. Shadow is so focused on the fight that he barely grunts. He ducks to avoid Gabriel's next blow and jabs him in the stomach instead, causing Gabriel to sail backwards through the air a few feet and land on his back.

  “And you don't know who you're messing with! I don't care who you are; you and your father mean nothing to me. Do you hear me? You're the only thing that stands between me and everything I want.”

  Shadow straddles Gabriel, throwing alternating punches to his ribs. I have to do something before he kills him. I run towards them as fast as I can I throw my hand up screaming, “Stop! Stop!” Neither of them listens to me. Suddenly, with a determined look, Gabriel reaches up and grabs Shadow's throat, the muscles and veins in his arm bulge as he squeezes. Luckily, Shadow grabs his wrist and jabs his locked arm before Gabriel can strangle him. Another bone-crunching sound renders the air and Gabriel's agonizing wail rattles my soul.

  I fight the panic that's surging through my body, but it's no use. I can't take it anymore. I don’t want either one of them to get hurt. I shove Shadow off Gabriel as I finally descend upon them and Shadow frowns at me when he lands, looking hurt and confused, and a bit crazy with the blood pouring down his broken nose and a few other places.

  Gabriel gives me a small smile before turning his attention back to Shadow. “Is everything you want my mate?” he growls in a deep voice through gritted teeth.

  “She is not yours. You think everything belongs to you! That it's all yours for the taking, you spoiled bastard! Did you know that she loves me? That we've been meeting to be together since before your stupid vows?” Shadow stands up spitting dirt out of his mouth and wiping his bloody nose with his forearm. It must hurt because he grimaces. He looks at me with an apologetic expression and I just stand here frozen and shocked. I don’t know what to say.

  Gabriel pauses at the admission. His shocked expression doesn't hide the horror I see so plainly in his searching eyes. He seems to realize some things finally adding up but that make no since but it’s so totally absurd.

  I sigh and let my shoulder slump a little. I didn't want Gabriel to find out this way; I didn't want to hurt him. Guilt burns through me like acid.

  His stare bores into me, begging me to deny it. He's always wanted me to love him, and I have always wanted to, so badly. We're the perfect couple after all. We’re supposed to be the leaders. I should choose Gabriel, I'm supposed to choose him, but for some reason it was never my decision. It was always out of my hands. Love chose and conquered me in the name of Shadow. If I can’t be with him then I don’t want to be at all. Like light and dark, there can’t be one without the other.

  “Well that isn’t what she told me last night,” Gabriel yells at Shadow and then spits defiantly. “Because what she said last night sounded a lot like “I love you, Gabe” and it sounded like that right before we bonded.” He fixes that smoldering gaze back on me again. I can tell he doesn’t want to believe it and feels proud of himself for turning the argument around a little and making Shadow feel like crap.

  Shadow stands up, leaving Gabe still lying in the dirt. I glance at Shadow and can tell that hurt his feelings and at the same time made him madder than hell.

  But poor Gabriel just lies in the dirt. He has always treated me so perfect and he doesn’t deserve this. He deserves the truth. And maybe at the same time I can free him of some guilt, after all, I’ve only got myself to blame. The silence has grown uncomfortable and I can’t take that beseeching gaze one second longer. I nod my head in confirmation. Yes, I am a terrible person. Hate me if you want to. I am scum. Lying there on his back, head in the dirt, his pained expression is too much for me to bare. He sighs and closes his eyes as raindrops lightly start to fall. He clutches his broken arm as if to comfort himself.

  The rain increases and a sob escapes my tightly sealed lips. My composure fails and I let loose tears as if a dam has burst. I can’t tell the difference in the rain and the tears running down my face, and
it's an adequate description of the pain that I feel. That there is no rain, it's just all my tears and soon I will drown in them.

  Gabriel's booming yell startles me as he jumps up and shoves Shadow in one powerful motion. Shadow, caught off guard as well, flies backwards through the air while Gabriel gets to his feet and releases his wings. Shadow hits the wall so forcefully that the concrete crumbles around him. Gabriel and his majestic white wings run towards him delivering a battle cry that will probably echo through my mind for the rest of my days, just as it echoes off these walls.

  Shadow is an excellent fighter; I've seen him train in hand to hand with the weapons that I made him. One of the main characteristics of all Demons is that they're naturally born fighters. However, I know Gabriel has trained with the Guard since he was a toddler and I’m worried. But before I can panic even more, Shadow is on his feet in the blink of an eye, black wings spread and fangs bared.

  “You will pay for this, you abomination. I will enjoy nothing more than cutting your ugly head from your disgusting body!” Gabriel's voice sounds chilling and utterly evil. For some reason, I don't think I'll ever see the sweet, caring boy he was again.

  And it's all because of me, I berate myself.

  They rise into the air together, a blur of white and black feathers and sun-kissed skin slicked with water sloshing off of it. Rain droplets fly everywhere as their wings beat the air to stay up. I wonder if I should hate myself for thinking how beautiful it looks, and wonder if they could ever be friends in the future. They would get along so well if I was never in the picture. But then again, they would never even speak to each other if I wasn’t in the picture. A gleam of silver interrupts my twisted musings and I wonder what it’s from. The realization hits me like a ton of bricks and my eyes widen in horror. Gabriel has a knife in his hands and Shadow has no idea.

  “Stop!” I yell. “Gabriel, no!” My throat is scratchy and a little hoarse and I am not even sure if he hears me.

  Gabriel's still so in tune to me. He still loves me, and I've hurt him so much. I can see it in his eyes as he glances at me, to decide if killing Shadow is worth it. It is cause and effect. I think he knows he will lose me forever if he kills Shadow. Still, he pauses to weigh the consequences.

  “Halt!” a deep voice commands, and the earth rumbles with the movement of feet as the Guard arrives just in time. “Cease immediately and separate!”

  I drown in relief as they both land beside each other a few feet away from me. A beautiful shower of black and white feathers dances toward the ground all around us and my eyes follow the black ones to the dirt and watch the rain pound it into the ground without remorse. It’s pretty though.

  They’re both breathing hard, chests rising and falling with force. Gabriel clutches the knife so hard his knuckles are white and Shadow’s black spiky hair is plastered to his face. A mixture of dirt, rain and blood runs from down his face and she tosses his head to the side to flip it off. He’s so beautiful.

  I look toward the approaching Guard and see Wraith and Kaia in the front next to the conniving Overlord. Kaia looks at me questioningly; she never knew of my love for Shadow. She wouldn't have approved, even though she's my best friend.

  “Captain,” Wraith looks at Gabriel, “what's going on here?”

  Gabriel clears his throat and glances at me, most likely deciding whether or not to sell me out for being with another kind behind his back. I'm fed up with it all anyways: the rules, the laws, the way everything is decided for us and we're forced to act like pawns to the authorities. I have no doubt he's going to have them take Shadow, and probably have him killed for being a half-ling. They’ll make an example out of him just like they did his parents. The injustice is flowing rampant through my mind and I know I don’t want to live without him in this unfair society.

  Gabriel stands taller and puts his shoulders back acknowledging his second in command, Wraith. “Commander, this demon,” he spits the word, “has broken one of our most sacred laws. He has hidden his true nature from us and deluded us all for eighteen years. He's a demon-angel half-ling!” He lets disgust drip off that last word.

  Gasps fill the air all around us as everyone looks to their friends with horror.

  “Furthermore,” Gabriel adds taking control of the audience’s attention, “he has deceived my bride and attacked me personally in doing so.”

  I catch Wraith glancing at me to see my reaction. “What would you have us do, Captain?” He glances back to his best friend.

  Gabriel has a happy gleam to his eyes. “As is our law, he's to be taken into custody, interrogated, and tried for death, Commander.”

  “Shadow,” the Commander asks, “do you have anything to say?”

  Shadow sends me an apologetic look and then shakes his head at Wraith.

  What? No! I panic. Why doesn't he tell them that it's not his fault? It's his parents! It's mine, it's everyone's fault but his! I almost admit the truth, spill it all right here and now, but if we're both taken then our chance of escape is almost nonexistent. No, I have to stay because I’m the one that’s going to save him.

  It hurts knowing that he is protecting me. He doesn’t want them to know I planned on escaping because I would be punished, probably killed. He’s always sacrificing himself for me.

  “Alright then,” Wraith motions for Shadow to join him by nodding his head once to the side. He turns toward the Guard, “take this Demon to the dungeon.” He commands the Guards.

  This very moment, everything I have come to love is being yanked right out of my grasp and stolen from me. My hearts explodes into an infinite number of tiny pieces inside my hollow chest. I'm not sure why they call it heartbreak when it feels like every other part of my body is broken too.

  Out of nowhere, pain blasts through my chest like fire and I stumble backwards. Someone yells my name off in the distance but all I can hear is the pounding of my heart and inhalation of my breath. Darkness bleeds into my vision but I catch something out the blurry corner of my eye when I look down, but someone yells my name again as I hit the ground and it distracts me.

  “Alexia!”

  That sounds like Gabriel’s worried scream…

  Slowly, with my pulse pounding loudly inside my head, I look down to see what they’re all so petrified about. Why they're all looking at me like this.

  A red arrow?

  One of those poisonous arrows is sticking out of my chest.

  I don't know if it's because I finally see it, or because the poison finally reaches my heart, but everything starts spinning into a spiral of colors just before it all goes dark.

  *~*Chapter 2-Saying Goodbye*~*

  Two months earlier:

  My parents used to tell me stories about the world before the plague hit. They said it was full of life and splendor, magic and wonder. It was lush with green trees and bushes, bright and colorful with flowers in bloom. There was plenty of water flowing in rivers and lakes throughout the lands, sparkling in the sun.

  In their stories, the different kinds lived in harmony with each other. They were even friends with humans, faeries, wizards, and wraiths. Those four species are now completely extinct.

  Once, when I was younger, and our desert was suffering from a drought, I asked my parents why the rivers and lakes disappeared outside the walls. They said the war between the kinds destroyed them, dried them all up.

  They told me about the creatures hallucinating and talking crazy, spitting up blood. They turned hateful and mindless. The infected ones no longer had a conscience and didn't think coherently. More than one third of us died from the plague, and those that didn't get the disease ended up fighting against each other, making the dwindling numbers scarce at best.

  Now, we have what is a poor excuse for a planet, with burned down trees, empty lakes, and dead corpses lying throughout the lands. It's all a dead, deserted, life-less memory of what once was. At least that's what they tell us.

  Sometimes, I wonder what's beyond the walls that sur
round our desert, the walls that surround the whole domain. I look out my window, into the vast expanse of the dry desert, with its blistering heat and fiery sun. There are no trees out there, no water...everything is just brown and dry. It’s nothing more than dust and dirt.

  I close my eyes and let the wind caress my skin and sail through my hair. I imagine that the world beyond these walls is free from arranged marriages and authorities, unlike the world of rules and laws that I was born into without choice.

  Often, I have thought of escaping these walls when I get my wings. It would be so easy to just fly right over them. Soon I may have that chance because I turned eighteen today and am now a fully matured Angel, capable of releasing my wings for the first time. I have longed to fly for as long as I can remember. Day after day, I’ve watched my parents and the adult Angels soaring through the sky as graceful as ever.

  A knock at my door distracts me from my thoughts. “Come in.”

  “Oh my gods, Alexia! I am so excited!” My best friend exclaims as she barges in my room. “You better tell me you’re all packed because I can't wait any longer!” She claps her hands excitedly as her big grin reaches her eyes.

  Kaia and I have grown up together; she lives in the suite next door to mine. Our parents have also been friends since before we were born. We are the same age, same height. We have the same interests. However, where I am reserved she is wide open. I am shy, she is outgoing. Like they say, opposites attract, and we have been together for eighteen years like conjoined twins.

  “Yeah, I'm excited.” I say, unenthusiastically. “I'm almost finished packing, just a few more things.”

  “Seriously, Alexia? You know that you can't lie to me. I know you too well. We've been waiting to meet our future husband our whole lives, and you're going to be all depressed when that day is finally here? Where is my best friend, and what have you done with her?”