Craved: A Chosen Ones Novel by Nia Davenport Page A

certainly did not sound good. His threat had been noted, but instead of nodding in acquiescence I clenched my teeth together and simply stared into the flames. I didn’t take well to demands being made of me or threats, no matter how capable the person making them was of backing them up. My body temperature ratcheted up another notch and I started feeling something more than discomfort. A tingling, then a slow burn caressed the surface of my skin. Sweat broke out along my brow line, but I held my position, refusing to offer any words of agreement or even a nod. A growl reverberated throughout the room so loud it left behind ringing in my ears. I felt a wet, sticky fluid prickle down my left lobe. I wiped my fingers across it and they came away stained red.  
    “You have been warned,” the voice boomed then it and the fire disappeared.  
    My knees buckled, but Chase caught me before I hit the ground.
    “Are you alright?”
    “No, but I will be. I guess Supernatural got the part about Archangels being dicks right. Are they all like that?”
    “I don’t know. I’ve only ever had the pleasure of meeting the one. But he is definitely a bastard.” Chase circled one arm around my waist, guiding me into a sitting position on the couch.  
    “I think I’ll take that drink now,” I said with a shaky laugh. “But I’m going to need something much stronger than a beer.”
    Chase walked to the kitchen and returned with a bottle of Jack Daniels and two shot glasses. “Is this strong enough?”
    I nodded my head because words had slipped away from me.  
    He sat down on the couch beside me and filled the shot glasses to the brim with the dark amber liquor. I threw mine back at the same time he threw his. My chest burned as it went down. I wasn’t usually a dark spirits kind of girl. Silver tequila and white rums were more my speed. But beggars couldn’t be choosy. Chase refilled our glasses and we emptied them a second time.  
    We sat in silence for a minute. My mind was trying to wrap itself around a million and one thoughts and even more questions. After the alcohol had had time to settle into my bloodstream, slowing down my racing mind and fooling it into a state of relaxation, my brain was finally able to string together words into a complete sentence.
    “How was M-“
    Chase pressed against my side, clasping one hand over my mouth, cutting off the words I’d just barely found.  
    My eyes glittered into his with outrage.
    He held my stare. “Don’t say his name. Saying it is the equivalent of providing him a one-way link into your mind.”
    I nodded my head in understanding and he removed his hand. My lips tingled where his strong, lithe fingers had touched them.
    “So he can still hear my thoughts?”
    “No. Too much time has passed now. I’ve figured out, from testing his patience over the years, that the window into your mind saying his name provides him only last for a few minutes at most.”
    “That’s scary and kind of freaky and entirely too much power for one being to have.”
    “Agreed,” Chase responded dryly.  
    There was definitely history that existed between him and the Archangel. I curiously wondered at what it was, but then decided that it wasn’t my business to ask. Whatever it was, it wasn’t good.  
    “So, he’s like..good? Because he didn’t seem very angelic.”
    “That’s because the Archangels are anything but if he is the standard to go by. They’re ruthless, self-important, manipulative assholes who use threats and force to make others bow to their will. I’m more than curious about why he is so adamant about you not telling me the details of the prophecy.”
    “That makes two of us. I would think that it pertains to you in some way as well, but from what Bennett told me the Archangel told him, it doesn’t sound like it does.”
    Chase looked at me in the same way he’d done earlier. Again, the calculating movement within his eyes told me the wheels behind them were