The Fallen One (Sons of the Dark Mother, Book One)

CHAPTER ONE

  MIRA

  Mira sat back in her comfy overstuffed chair, letting its comfort hug her, watching Micah as he moved about the room—his bare chest covered in a sheen of sweat, his muscles flexing as he put himself through the moves. His dark hair shone in the midnight fire, and she swallowed under the intensity of her emotions. He sprang forward, and Lucius blocked with his forearm, leaving a trail in the sand in his wake.

  Mira swallowed. She almost forgot what she’d come out here to say to Micah, watching him move through his paces. The men had been quick to order this chair be brought out for her. They always pampered her this way. But still, an overstuffed chair—sitting by one of the Great Lakes. It made her smile. It was so sweet of them. Who would have thought such soldiers could be so sweet?

  Lucius had white hair, shot through with silver, clear to his waist, and a face that looked as if it were chiseled to perfection. He was taller than Micah, at least six-feet-four, and looked like he held a lot of muscle on his frame. He wore a white tunic like you might see in the movies. His eyes were violet, his skin nearly translucent it was so white. It had the look of alabaster.

  Lucius wasn’t human—he was Starborne. His looks often had other races mistaking him for the one who was the prophecy.

  Micah, on the other hand, had a look of an exotic, beautiful prince, with skin of deep chocolate and eyes so dark they were nearly ebony, fringed in dark, curly lashes. Sinfully beautiful, his face looked like something someone had taken great care to carve for him, with the deepest perfection.

  Both men had lived so long that they were often thought of as immortal. They weren’t. But they’d lived for thousands of years, so she could see how that idea would have got started.

  They’d spent much of that time—waiting for her.

  Mira still couldn’t believe how much her life had changed this past year since they’d brought her to them, again, in this lifetime. She’d lived through many lives with these two. But she’d also lived with several others. Yet, it was these two, plus Roman and Caesar, who waited for her, through several of her lifetimes. And the four of them hardly left her side since she’d returned to them in this one.

  She’d been Alexandra in her first life with Lucius, and that is how she always came to him, ever since. She shared her body with who she’d been to the others—in her past lives—as Lady Isabelle with Caesar—and Morrigana with Roman. She always appeared as one of these women, whenever one of them came out to love her man, in this lifetime. But even though she’d been Nadia, in her past life, with Micah, she always came to him as herself, whenever she was with Micah.

  Mira watched him with such longing she caused him to miss his step, and Lucius grinned as he took full advantage, laying Micah out flat. She covered her mouth to smother the laugh that threatened to bubble up as he got to his feet and came over to her. She grinned at him, and he hauled her out of the chair and into his arms, kissing her until she was breathless with desire.