Kiss (The Conclusion): Kiss

By Willow Nonea Rae

Following her instincts has led Lela into the deep of the wood with Dagan in a severely weakened state after his time with the rogues' leech spirits. Can she revive him with the fruits surrounding the den they take sanctuary in, and will they be safe from the rogues roaming the forest collecting 'others' for their gallery?

the 66 page conclusion to 'Kiss,' a paranormal romance serial-novel set in the world of 'In the Arms of the Dark Elf'

(Part 2 of 2 )

• Language: English
• Publisher: WNR Media
• Release date: May 17, 2014
• ISBN: 9781498966221

Book preview

Kiss

(Part 2)

Lela

Dagan was the first to notice the trap in the road up ahead of us. I saw it in the way his nostrils flared. The darkness clouding his eyes made it clear danger was waiting for us if we continued on our current path. The mind-clouded BrickleSlash's dripping maw waited mere beats away.

My hand touched my belly before I realized my psyche had already entered into the instinct of the mother fending danger off from her child. It was surreal, but current circumstances didn't allow for much in the way of emotional adjustment.

Everyone in the group would no doubt engage in an extended conversation about my current condition, and just how Pao knew it before either Dagan or I, but we had to find a way out of the rogues' gathering paths first.

My eyes flicked to Pao, and he raised a warning finger to his lips, his own nostrils flaring. His lack of ease was obvious - a visible stiffening in his limbs. It sent a ripple of disquiet through me. We were all other-blooded, and ripe for the picking if the rogues were in possession of paralytic magiks.

Change of plans, Pao whispered keenly.

His words were barely audible, but I caught them easily, maybe even telepathically.

We followed him in the next instant, all of us without argument, when he dipped through the trees like a deft-footed creature of the forest would: soundlessly. Under the same veil of silence, we traveled for hours, winding around our desired path, all until a charismatic, if intrusive, presence called out to my insofar cryptic relative

Looking for something, Pao?

A frown touched the edge of Pao's mouth, and he rose from his crouch over the dirt and well-obscured  and emptied box, brushing the dust from his hands with a leisurely grace. Our eyes followed his to what was surely one of the fey hybrid mixes of other-bloods. They'd come to form their own distinct family of magikal beings. I'd seen a few at the edges of Little Blink, overheard the rumblings of the rogues who knew they couldn't touch them. Something in their unpredictable mix of lineage and the resulting talents made it difficult to strategize ways to overtake them.

It always kept the fey one step ahead.

The fey met Pao's eyes then, his gaze dark with mischief, a confident smile curving up his cheek.

He raised a hand with an Noon key in his grip.

You need to guard your access passes better than that, old boy.

Pao's frown deepened.

Give it here. We don't have time to play with you right now, Rel.

A soft tsk escape the fey's lips, and the ink trailing his arms in exquisite artworks deepened reactively in color.

You think they aren't searching every nook and cranny for every one of us they can find?

The fey tossed the key over to Pao, like it was little more than a trinket.

Knock yourself out. It's useless.

Catching the key in his palm, Pao's gaze returned to the fey's stilling expression, and he looked to the key with a relenting regard, like he knew instinctually that the fey wasn't tricking him.

He was telling Pao the truth.

I was sure we all saw that.

Looks to me like you could use a guide through the hidden paths though, Slim.

The fey tilted his pretty head, a cocky affect clear in his stance. He was a cocky, gaunt bodied thing, his face all sharp angles and expressive features that almost seemed to light up with the animation of his character. The rogues didn't trust fey, and it had always struck me like they held a kind of fear, or an awe where the artful-bodied folk were concerned.

I'm not fool enough to enter into an agreement with you, Pao informed the fey, his tone making it clear that he knew where such things led.

But the decorated other before us was undeterred by Pao's advanced refusal.

I wouldn't offer you one, of course. But you don't need it. Inky would pay you for what you've already got your hands on.

I touched a hand to Dagan when he made to move forward, cautioning him, but his eyes told me to trust him, and he moved quickly ahead of me