Chosen: The Skyborne Legacy, #2

By Cheney Leigh Scott

Cody Raine is an outcast. As a Nephilim, half-angel, Half-human, she's spent her life running from the Angels intent on catching her and tossing her sweet ass into the Abyss. When she's captured by the Skyborne, the ultimate bad-ass race that was created to police Other begins like herself, things get hairy but one thing Cody can't overlook is Jamie McTavish. The A-hole captured and imprisoned her and forced her to literally go to hell to save his friend. She should hate him but the truth is, the gorgeous Skyborne Warrior is hot as heck and when you're a woman with nothing to lose, giving in to the attraction is sort of a must. But will Jamie fall for Cody and save her from certain doom when the chips are down? Now that's a question this naughty half-angel can't answer. Guess she's gonna have to gamble. And pray to the Creator that her handsome gaoler is moe than just a killer.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Cheney Leigh Scott
• Release date: Apr 12, 2024
• ISBN: 9798224939633

Cheney Leigh Scott

I'm a struggling author and freelancer but I love romance so when I can take some time to write, I burn the midnight oil and pray that you guys will appreciate my efforts enough to read my books. If you do, please leave a review and maybe post on social. Every effort is a great help. Love you all.

Book preview

Dedication

Moral support is harder to accept sometimes than out and out criticism. You do both so well, I abso have to give you a shout out. You’re my Gemma; the voice of reason and scathing annoyance. I should start calling you Stones instead, ‘cause you do have a rather big pair. For a chick. Thanks ‘Hut’, ya know who ya is.

Glossary

The Fated Prophecy : the foretelling of the fall of the Skyborne race. According to the prophecy, the Skyborne’s only chance lies in the acquisition of the four vessels.

Lesser gods: those created by the one true God in heaven. The first beings ever to grace the earth. The lesser gods abandoned their chosen when they realised that their creations were corrupt and created the Skyborne as a precautionary measure against the extinction of human kind.

Demi: offspring or child of a lesser god. They are fickle, mercenary and live for the destruction of the races. Humans most of all.

Skyborne clans: a race jointly created by the lesser gods. Unlike the other lore races created, the Skyborne are not immortal, having only a life span of two hundred years at most.

Warrior class: those males born to the Skyborne destined to police the races and keep order. They are identified for the angel like wings they possess and are stronger than any other races created.

Elves (Fae): a race of cold beings created by a lesser god. They are renowned for their beauty but have a ruthless nature.

Were: a creature born with the appearance of a human, with the special ability to transform into the animals of their clan; werewolves etc.

Golem: the result of an Elf/Fae being bitten by a were. The Golems resemble werewolves and appear rabid but they retain the calculating nature of the elves they once were.

Oracles: seers born within any of the races with the ability to see the past, present and future. Oracles can also be born with any of the talents that the races claim.

Witches: females born with power. They are a reclusive, elitist race but have been known to ally themselves with any race that would further their standing.

Prince: natural born ruler of any class, called so because the only being to hold the title of king is the one true God.

Immortal curse: the lesser gods attribute the failing of their creations to the curse of immortality, believing that their very natures are corrupted by the passage of time.

Nephilim: the offspring from the mating of an angel and any other race. They are feared by many as a result of their unequalled strength and rumoured to be without moral limitations.

Blood Rite Fever: the biological imperative suffered by the female mates of a Skyborne male. The females, after mating and sealing the blood rite, experience terrible sexual hunger and pain if they are not serviced by their mate. Lasts between three and five days, resulting in menstruation if conception does not occur.

Sirens: a race so beautiful that they are almost irresistible. Their song has the power to enslave, giving them control of anyone unfortunate enough to be caught by their melody.

Shifter: a race with the ability to shift their physical appearance to any living being. Fierce in combat due to their ability to grow horns, claws and muzzles.

The untamed: female warriors from the races who have banded together to help fight the war. Though their stories are told in hushed whispers of awe some are hunted as their races have outlawed females fighting. Led by Storm, a shifter female.

The dark ones/dark factions: those of the races moving against the Skyborne. Led by Garwin and others holding seats on the council.

Prologue

Blue Tempest paced the confines of the room she had been given weeks ago, after her mother Alyssa, Queen of the covens had bartered to the Skyborne. While the Skyborne believed her motives were to seal the alliance they had just formed, Blue knew differently.

Her mother had wanted to be rid of her and this was as easy a way to do it as any. Especially because she had stipulated Blue be mated to Lucian Kincaid, a Skyborne warrior notorious in coven circles as the Slayer.

He hated all witches and wouldn’t hesitate to kill one for breathing on him. She couldn’t say she blamed him for his attitude. If a witch had torched her mother-well if her mother was anyone other than Alyssa-and thereby driven her father to suicide, she herself would probably have turned into a serial witch killer too.

Maybe.

Probably not, she thought, chuckling at her own stupidity. She wasn’t stupid enough to blame and hunt an entire race for the actions of one witch.

But it was all moot anyway. She was betrothed to the lunatic and she would be forced to mate him soon, no matter how terrified she was of him. Or how much he hated her.

No one knew this, and if she told them, they probably wouldn’t believe her, but Lucian had warned her to call off the betrothal under threat of a mating night massacre.

In short, he would kill her, painfully and throw her body into the fire.

Did it matter that she had sorta liked him the first time she’d seen him and recognized him as her intended? Not one wit considering she refused to have the hots for a psycho. At least, the sane part of her thought that way.

The other part, the one that recognized him as her true consort, wanted him with a lusty intensity that scared her more than he did.

What sane female lusted after a male who wanted to peel her and torture her to death?

A knock sounded at the door and she abandoned her scrying crystals, hesitating at the door long enough to ascertain that Lucian wasn’t on the other side.

Ye in there lass? 

She released a breath and opened the door, smiling softly at the blonde, amber-eyed warrior leaning against the jamb. Sin was so easy on the eyes and easier to be around that she wished like hell she could have been sworn to mate him instead of his friend Luc.

He was the nicest male she had ever met and despite the threat to his lifelong friendship with Lucian he had taken her under his wing and was her best friend.

They spent hours together, talking, laughing, sparring as he endeavored to teach her hand-to-hand combat and she loved him for it. If not for him...well the other females-Violet mostly-were her friends too, but with Violet being so busy and Cara taking up residence in the library as another Keeper, they were too busy to hang around with her often.

No, Sin was her pal of choice and she kinda liked having a male as her bosom bud.

Yer doing that strange thing where yer fair purple eyes start glittering. He mused, pushing away from the door as she pulled her door closed and followed him down the corridor. Must mean yer thinking of ways to kill Luc again. Tell me how ye’d do it this time. He urged eagerly, making her laugh.

Since Lucian had accosted her that first night-he’d snuck into her room while she lay silently weeping-she had thought of many inventive ways of killing the beast. Sin loved her gruesome recounting and sometimes offered her advice on how to add more pain to the experience.

Best. Friend. Ever.

Nope, sorry, I was just thinking about which part of the keep I want to work on today. She said, walking towards the ruins of the east wing.

Since a dark faction of her own coven had attacked and ruined half of the castle she had taken it upon herself to repair the damage. A sort of apology on her part.

It was slow going trying to piece it back together as she had more dust to work with than actual stone, but she was managing fine. In another week the place would be good as new and they could move the warriors that had been transplanted here into the rebuilt wing.

Mayhap ye should skip the rebuild today lass, Sin murmured, eyeing the dark circles beneath her eyes. Ye look fatigued. Havena been sleeping well?

Hmm, I got three hours last night. I’m good. It’s just weird getting used to the lack of...I had to turn off my empathic abilities ‘cause Lucian makes me so mad, and it’s taking a little getting used to is all.

More like she’d been forced to do it before Lucian’s plans for her drove her so crazy she’d be a blabbering mess before the week was out. That male had some inventive ideas about killing and sleeping at night while traces of his dreams reached her was just not possible.

Sin nodded gravely and kept walking, pulling her to the stairs when she would have taken the next corridor to the east wing.

Nay lassy, breakfast first. He insisted, linking their arms. 

She really didn’t want to go down to breakfast and risk running into tall dark and murderous, but Sin was right, she’d been skipping too many meals lately and she had to stop that. She was strong enough to withstand a few hate-filled glares from the asshat, long enough to enjoy a meal and get the down low on Violet’s research.

Oh, there you are. I was just going to send Ben to get you. Violet said the minute they walked into the breakfast room. I want you to give the box another try, this time with a spell I found in The Book of Ancients.

Blue stifled a smile and took the seat to Narissa’s right, opposite Violet and her hunky mate Ben. The male smiled at her and pushed a chocolate croissant her way with a wink.

Leave the poor lass be long enough for her to eat beauty. He chided, slinging an arm behind her chair.

Violet grimaced and rubbed at her huge belly, obviously impatient but trying not to show it. Blue hid a smirk behind a bight of chocolaty goodness and opened her empathy up just enough to feel what was going on in the female’s belly.

Yup. Two of the buggers were in there.

That was why she had increased so rapidly but was almost passed the Skyborne gestational period without labor in sight. Violet didn’t yet know it, but she wasn’t giving birth anytime soon and she had more to look forward to than a blue-eyed little warrior like Ben.

Closing herself off wasn’t easy. Her empathy wanted free rein and after two days of being leashed, it was harder to put back into the box than usual.

A blast of pure malice hit her from the left, almost toppling her from her seat and she looked up, paling as the grey gaze of her intended drilled into her.

Blue, female? Are ye alright? Ben asked as his troubled gaze took in her sudden pallor.

Uh, yeah, sorry. Just got a sugar rush from the chocolate. She lied. So, the box? she asked Violet, changing the subject as she shrugged uneasily beneath Lucian’s dark stare. I’ll give it another go sure, but I can’t promise anything. It seems to be sealed by more than witch magic.

She’d been testing the thing for three days now and she kept getting traces of Druid magic from the thing. That specific voodoo was pretty strong as it focused on nature more than anything else and she hoped she could achieve the right balance of her power to the magic the Druids employed to crack it.

If not...well she didn’t know any witch as capable as she was of getting it open and if she couldn’t, it was safe to say no one else would.

"As The Book of Ancients alluded to, many of the old spells were a combination of mixed methods. I found a reference to oak and I was thinking that