Free Demon Storm: Belador book 5 by Dianna Love Page A

sat out of the way on the sofa, determined not to fidget. But two minutes later Nicole was still staring into the barren fireplace. Evalle lost her battle with impatience and stood up.
    Nicole spun around, surprised.
    Evalle held her hands up. “Sorry. I have to do something.”
    “There’s nothing you can do to help me, except remain very quiet.”
    “I can do a better job of that out of here.”  Evalle strode down the hallway, slowing when she reached the bedroom and stepping into it without turning the lights on. The bed was still rumpled from the most amazing night of her life.
    She walked over and lifted the pillow to her face, inhaling deeply. His scent sparked the memory of being touched and held. Of Storm hovering over her, hunger burning in his eyes as he slid inside her.
    Her knees gave way and she dropped to the floor, kneeling next to the bed where she laid her head down, clutching the pillow. Forty hours since she left Treoir and not a word from him or any sign that he was alive.
    Tzader had to be frantic, which Evalle could appreciate since she was no longer as confident as she’d been when she arrived in Atlanta.
    Where are you, Storm?
    She closed her eyes, as exhausted from worry as she was from being on her feet for so long without rest. She wanted to be near Storm so much that his face finally filled her mind’s eye. He was smiling, then he kissed her the way a man did when he wanted a woman to know she belonged to him. Evalle hugged him to her, loving the feel of his long fingers on her skin. She whispered, “I miss you.”  His hands turned cold on her skin and she pulled back to see his face.
    His eyes were open, but not seeing.
    His body was a bluish-gray color and it floated in a haze that made her skin pebble with chill. His eyes continued to stare straight ahead at nothing. So deathly still. Then his lips moved with sounds too low for her to hear them. She moved toward him, swimming through the air.
    Swimming? That’s what it felt like.
    When she got within an inch of his lips, he said, “I am not coming back.”
    “No!” She reached for him and he drifted backwards out of her reach. He turned yellow eyes on her. “ Go!”
    She jerked awake, searching the room.
    “Hello?” Nicole called from the living room. “Where are you?”
    Evalle pushed up on shaky knees and dropped the pillow on Storm’s bed. The nightmare had been so real.
    “Evalle?”  Wheels rolled toward the bedroom. Nicole appeared in the open doorway. “Are you okay? You’re pale.”
    “I’m fine. Battle nap. Was I out long?”
    “Maybe a half hour.”
    Evalle walked toward Nicole who turned around and led the way back to the living room. On the way, Nicole said, “I’m sorry, but I haven’t been able to reach his spirit guide or anyone else.”
    Over two days were gone. Brina might only have one more. Two at the most.
    Evalle asked, “What else can I do?”
    Nicole didn’t answer right away, maneuvering her chair back in front of the fireplace while Evalle stopped to lean against the wall. When Nicole turned back to her, she suggested, “I can use something of Storm’s and try to find him through astral travel.”
    “No! You’re not doing that out of body thing where a witch or something worse might grab you and never let you come back.” In that moment, Evalle finally admitted the one thing she’d been avoiding.
    Storm might be somewhere he couldn’t escape.
    Leaning back in her chair, Nicole sighed. “I have another idea, but you aren’t going to like my suggestion.”
    “Then I’ll get over it. I have to find Storm.” Yes, Brina was important and so was her Belador tribe, but Evalle couldn’t face a world without Storm.
    “It might be difficult–”
    Someone knocked at the front door.
    “I don’t care, Nicole. Whatever it takes,” Evalle said on her way to the door. She checked the peephole to see a familiar head of blonde hair.
    “Are you kidding me?” she muttered, opening the door