Title: Emblazed (The Elemental Prophecy #2)
Author: Nikki Narvaez
Release Date: September 20, 2013
Hosted by: Swoon Worthy Books
Synopsis
Three days. Three days seems like a lot of time, but not when you are racing to save the one you love. Not when time is against you.
Three days is all Jace has to save Brielle, to prevent both of their deaths. Both have more to battle than they ever imagined while they fight for their lives, their souls, and their love.
Will Jace be able to rescue Brielle, or will the fate of the world die with her?
Three days is all Jace has to save Brielle, to prevent both of their deaths. Both have more to battle than they ever imagined while they fight for their lives, their souls, and their love.
Will Jace be able to rescue Brielle, or will the fate of the world die with her?
Excerpt
Hades walked in with that stupid smirk on his face, which I couldn't wait to remove. When he reached me, he sneered as he said, “I'm going to give you one last chance to surrender your power to me. I shall spare you and you can go back home. If not, you can stay here while I continue to torture you until you beg me to take it.”
I snorted. “That will never happen. I would never give you my power, even if I knew how, which I don't.”
“Not even for the life of your flame?” Hades asked smugly.
I stiffened as fear spread over me. Had he found Jace? He couldn't have – Jace just got here. I could still feel him, and he wasn't in the building yet. Hades directed his attention to the door, which opened to two minotaurs dragging Jace between them. No. No, no, no!
I concentrated on talking to Jace in my mind, but he didn't respond. He still felt like he was somewhere else in the Underworld, not standing right in front of me. I knew our connection was having issues from being apart, but shouldn't it be back to normal since he was in front of me? He barely struggled against his captors, and he wouldn't even look at me. Jace, look at me! Look at me!
He still didn't respond. Something wasn't right. This couldn't be Jace – all my senses but my sight told me it wasn't, but how could I deny it when he stood before me? He looked like my Jace, and given I was probably delirious from everything I'd experienced down here, I didn't put much weight on not being able to hear or feel him. Our bond was probably all fucked up from being down here in another realm anyway.
“Last chance – submit your power to me or he will die,” Hades threatened.
“But, I don't know how. Please, don't,” I begged. Fuck, I didn't want to resort to begging, but this was Jace. I'd do anything for him, even damn humanity. I didn't care whether I was being selfish or not, Jace was my world, the only one that really mattered to me.
Then, my nightmare sprang to life before my eyes. The minotaurs moved away as the demons and skeletons from the walls converged on Jace. “Jace!!! Nooo!!!”
I pulled and fought against my bonds as tears blurred my sight. I couldn't feel anything that was happening to him, further confusing me as to what was transpiring with our bond. All I could focus on was Jace fighting off demons in front of me, and desperation and rage pulsed through me. I used it to empower my Akasha, but I was so consumed with emotion that I had no control over the tremendous power that streamed out of me. It erupted from my body, engulfing the room in light while wildly shooting in all directions, including upwards where the invisible bonds imprisoned me.
I fell to the floor in a heap, finally free. I looked up, frantically searching for Jace among the piles of charred bodies that had been in the path of my Akasha. Chandeliers sat in fragments in between the multitude of bodies and their strewn parts scattered across the floor. The thrones were on opposite sides of the room, embedded in the walls. Piles of ash smoked in various places throughout the room. Hades was nowhere in sight, and I hoped that I had obliterated him to one of those mounds of dust, even though he probably fled like coward when everything started happening.
I tried to stand, but I was too weak to support myself. Dots spotted my vision as I dragged myself down the stairs, praying that I could find Jace in the carnage in front of me before I blacked out. I was still alive, so that meant he was too, right? Our bond couldn't be that fractured, could it? I saw the red tips of his hair beneath a mass of blackened bodies.
I crawled over the smoking remains of the demons, the stench of which caused me to vomit on one of them. I continued crawling over bodies until I finally made it to Jace. I pushed the bodies on top of him weakly, but they wouldn't budge. I sobbed as I continued, only freeing his face and chest before I collapsed from my efforts. My head rested on his chest, which wasn't rising and falling with breath. I couldn't hear his heartbeat, my most cherished sound in the whole world. My heart shattered as I took in his charred face, his dead eyes staring back at me. Darkness crept in, and the last thought I had before I was pulled into nothing was that Jace couldn't be burned.
About the author...
My name is Nikki Narvaez. I was born and raised in San Antonio, TX, where I currently live with my husband, our two dogs, Bella and Oreo, and our cat, Cupcake. I have been teaching for four years, but I hope to become a full-time writer and stay at home mom one day. I am 27 years old, and have three older sisters who have blessed me with four nephews and one niece. In my free time, I love to write and play Texas Hold 'Em poker.
Author Links
ENVISIONED (Book #1) Buy Links
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