Free Ethereal Knights by Addison Moore

so rare and beautiful that a part of me is afraid for her—of her.
    I press my lips over hers, and every cell in my body sings. Her tongue swipes softly over mine, and I reciprocate the effort. Then something in her shifts, and she’s hungry for me in an all new way. Skyla dives down over me with a passion that lets me know Gage is far removed from the picture. Her mouth can’t get enough as she pours out all her affection for me.
    We kiss for weeks while the cemetery flashes its approval, lighting up like the Las Vegas strip at midnight as the markers of those long departed spasm in the sun.
    This is bliss. This is ordained from above. I can feel it.
    Gage was right. Skyla and I most definitely have a future with one another. We’re going to live to a ripe old age, together.
    Happily ever after starts right here, right now.
     
     

 
    Gage
     
     
    In the late afternoon, the bowling alley has a rhythm all its own—the whir of the balls rushing the lanes, the whack of the pins, the measured laughter sprinkled in like a chorus. Logan struts by, emanating my least favorite sound on the planet, his happy-go-lucky-I’ve-got-Skyla-under-my-thumb whistle.
    He leans in, snatches the glass cleaner from between my legs, and pops up beside me with that shrill sound still flying from his lips.
    “You mind?” I say, slamming the register shut.
    “Sorry about that. Next time, I’ll just knock you out of the way. But it’s more action than you’ve had in a year, right? So you should probably thank me.” He smears it with a loose shit-eating grin.
    “Yeah, right.” I fold my arms across my chest. I suppose he’s quantifying Chloe as action, although nothing ever happened there.
    Logan tries to circle around me, but I block his path.
    “So how’s she taking it? The fact she might be a Celestra.” I whisper in the event someone hears. Just mentioning the word Celestra is like grabbing a tiger by the tail. The Counts love to smear Celestra blood around with the bottom of their shoes.
    Logan darts a quick glance past my shoulder.
    “She’s confused,” he whispers. “Results aren’t in yet but I still feel the need to take her down that road slowly. You know—keep her on a need-to-know basis or her head might explode. So don’t go blabbing anything off. I need to keep her safe.”
    “So what’s the plan?” I’m pretty damn sure I’m not a part of it, but I’m willing to listen to how “he” plans to protect her and which body part might be involved.
    “The plan is to keep her busy with the task at hand.” He taps his chest while that signature lewd grin takes over.
    Figures—condoms are his first line of defense.
    I cast a glance at the floor.
    School starts in a few weeks, and by then, Logan and Skyla will have more than cemented their social standing as a couple. The door is quickly closing on any chance I might have with her. I should just tell him she’s the girl from my visions and mention the fact he might want to back the hell off, but something isn’t sitting right with me.
    “Hey, you okay?” He rattles my shoulder like he’s trying to wake me from a bad dream. Little does he know, he’s the one who’s morphed into my worst nightmare.
    “I’m great—just did one too many push-ups today gearing up for the big season. I think first games against East.”
    “We’ll kill ‘em.” He looks past my shoulder. “Bree better show soon. She was supposed to start fifteen minutes ago. I’ll cover the shoes until she gets here.”
    “You do that. I’m off the clock, boss. I’m out of here.”
    “Go for it.” He socks me in the arm just enough to make it hurt. “Don’t worry about the game. We’re destined to win. Remember—when the Olivers go after what they want, they always get it.”
    Logan jumps over the counter with a whistle on his lips, and I shake my head at how quickly everything’s falling to shit.
    I wanted to say, what happens when two Oliver’s want the very same