Hunt the Darkness (Guardians of Eternity #11)(106)

It was as if a tiny meadow had just appeared in the center of her room.

Even the attached bathroom was filled with fragrant blooms that surrounded the sunken bath where Sally quickly washed and pulled on a satin gown that had genuine emeralds sewn into the neckline.

She suspected the casual beauty of the rooms was a reflection of her half-sister who lacked the rigid decorum of the others.

Returning to the main living room, Sally briefly put aside her gnawing need to speak with Roke and studied the female who was her sister.

It was a given she was beautiful.

Her hair was the color of a sunrise; gold brushed with hints of pale rose. Her eyes were rich amber with flecks of emerald. And her ivory features were so perfect they didn’t look real.

But there was a genuine friendliness in her smile as she moved toward Sally and gently placed a delicate gold chain around her neck that held a flawless pendant.

“There,” she murmured in satisfaction, stepping back to inspect Sally’s appearance. “You look beautiful.”

Sally wrinkled her nose. “I appreciate the words, but we both know I’ll never make the ranks of beautiful. Especially not here.” She shook her head as she remembered the crowd of females who looked like they should have wings and halos. Only angels should be that gorgeous. “If I was vain, I would have slit my wrists the moment I arrived.”

A shadow darkened Fallon’s amber eyes. “Physical perfection is tedious.”

Sally snorted. “Says the female who can claim physical perfection.”

“You have captured far more attention than I have ever received.”

“Yeah.” Sally shuddered. That sort of attention she could do without. “Because I’m a freak.”

Fallon absently strolled toward the windows where the glow of the sun bathed her in a golden light. Sally frowned. Not out of envy, although she was female enough to feel a pang of regret that she would never be able to compete with such stunning beauty, but at the realization that time obviously moved differently here.

When they’d left Chicago it’d been ten o’clock in the evening.

So had they gone back in time or forward?

Or did the sun never set here?

She needed to find out.

Fallon slowly turned back to meet Sally’s curious gaze. “No, it’s because you’re . . . alive.”

Well that was true enough. She was most certainly alive, although it’d been a close call on more occasions than she wanted to remember.

“No thanks to my parents,” she agreed with a wry smile.

“No one’s more surprised than I am that I survived their separate efforts to get me killed.”

“Oh, it’s not that. We had no idea that Father had—”

“Created a mongrel?” she helpfully supplied.

“Created a sister for us.”

Sister. Sally tested the word in her mind. It felt . . . strange. But terrifyingly wonderful.

“Then I’m confused,” she said. “You said you were surprised I’m alive.”

“No, we’re fascinated by the life force that shimmers around you.”

Sally blinked. “Oh.”

“You’re a vivid burst of energy that is nearly blinding,” Fallon continued. “We have all become too complacent with our existence. We drift from day to day, barely noticing that we have forgotten to live.”

Sally tried to be sympathetic. Not easy when she’d spent most of her life being hunted like an animal.

“A peaceful existence can’t be all bad.”

“Peace is different from stasis,” Fallon pointed out, her calm demeanor not entirely disguising a bone-deep frustration that gnawed deep inside her. “We have forgotten the thrill of not knowing what will happen next. The breathless excitement of passion. The beauty of a future filled with endless possibilities.” She smiled with a wistful yearning. “For us, you are a breath of fresh air.”

Sally moved toward her sister. She might not fully understand how anyone could not be content growing up in a family that at least seemed to care for one another and surrounded by such beauty, but she better than anyone understood that outward appearances meant nothing.

“Fallon, are you not happy here?” she asked softly.

The young female heaved a faint sigh. “I will admit that I have longed for the opportunity to travel away from our homeland.”

That didn’t seem such an outrageous dream. Unless females weren’t allowed to travel away from their family?

Many demon societies were still obnoxiously dominated by males.

“Have you discussed this with your fiancé?” she cautiously probed. The last thing she wanted was to stir a mutiny between Fallon and the crimson-haired warrior who she’d introduced as her soon-to-be mate.

Fallon instantly shook her head. “He would not understand.”

“He would if he loves you.”

“Love?” Her sister looked baffled by the mere concept of a love match. “Our marriage will be the joining of two powerful houses. Nothing more. The Chatri no longer seek their true mates.”

Sally tried not to grimace.

She was beginning to understand her sister’s desire to travel away from paradise.

What woman wouldn’t want a fling before being forced into a loveless marriage that was destined to last an eternity?