Beguiled (Book 2 Immortal Essence series) (21 page)

Ith and Aetha’s lives
descended
into my memories like they were my own. Many hundreds of years ago, Ith and Aetha battled Ramien for the souls he’d stolen and kept in his Room of Souls. Ith and Aetha freed them, and after making a deal with Ramien,
gave
the freed souls new bodies. Was
doing such a thing
still
an option
?
Could I g
ive those whose bodies were killed new ones? I remembered what Palamina said after she slayed Zaren.
‘Only his body.
Consider that.’

My
mind raced at the idea. Could Zaren
’s body be restored
? What about the king and queen of Alayeah, Palmo, and my irrihunter, Sadraden? I thought about Chev, and her baby, even Dervinias, and . . .

“Amberlee!”

My sister pushed open the heavy double doors
at the far end of the room, and sauntered forward.
Ith
and Aetha moved to
one
side
of me
, and Michael took my hand
on the other side
.

Halfway up the aisle, she stopped.
“Venus,” she said bitterly.
She stiffly bowed to the gods.

I recognized
her
tone as jealousy.
She was
back to
looking the way she normally did. Short, spiky white hair, gobs of black eyeliner, and a barely there black dress. No longer
a ferrikat, the thing Ramien
changed her into for his own sick purposes
. Thanks
to my godly gift,
I now
knew what happened to
Amberlee
. I
discerned
why Ramien made her a ferrikat. She hadn’t been dead, but had
promised
to play her part in my
torturous
game if
Ramien
agreed to allow Palmo to live.
Of course Ramien hadn’t kept his end of the bargain.

Amberlee was
a fool, but she was
also
young, and I sensed her heart w
anted to do the right thing. The leader of The Order was Palmo’s father.
Amberlee
and Palmo were in love with each other, and the king of
Canaru
had used their love as a weapon. King Antyon would
be punished for his betrayals. But
,
he’d been right about one thing. Amberlee and I weren’t siblings by blood. The throne of Alayeah didn’t belong to me, b
ut to her. If—

“
Alayeah is at war with
Canaru
and the country to the south,
E
loyinia
,” Amberlee sp
at, but I
detected
fear
. She wanted my acceptance more than anything else.
And she wanted my help.
I realized with a heavy sadness I
hadn’t ever
g
iven her a
reason to believe I had her
back
, loved her.
I would
work hard to alter that
.

“Go on,” I urged.

She cleared her throat. “
It’s believed
all the countries will take sides. We’re on t
he brink of another world war
.
What will be your first
order
as a
god
? Save us, or destroy us all?
”

Afterword

I appreciate you reading “Beguiled,” book 2 in the Immortal Essence series. A lot has happened to Venus since her sixteenth birthday. More than most any of us would want to deal with. She loved, watched those she loved most die, and witnessed the rebirth that comes with change. I hope you enjoyed the time spent in Venus’s world, and
will
continue
reading her story.

If you enjoyed “Beguiled,” do me a favor, go back to
Amazon
and leave an honest review. It only takes two minutes, and will help me out immensely.

Thank you!

Sincerely,

RaShelle
Workman

Additional Works by
RaShelle
Workman

Aligned: An Immortal Essence Short Story

A half-Eternal boy and an Eternal girl must free millions of tortured souls from a creature who’s been feasting on their pain and suffering.
If you’d like to purchase “Aligned,” click
Aligned: An Immortal Essence Short Story
.

Exiled

World’s divided them. Chance brought them together. Only love will save them. If you’d like to purchase “Exiled,” book 1 in the Immortal Essence series, click
HERE
.

Blood and Snow

“Lips red as rubies, hair dark as night. Drink your true love’s blood, become the Vampire, Snow White.” Every thousand years the Vampire Queen selects a new body, always the fairest in the land, and this time she’s chosen Snow White. If you’d like to purchase “Blood and Snow,” click
Blood and Snow
.

Revenant in Training (Blood and Snow #2)