Exclusive First Look at Violet Dawn- Book 2 In The Aetherial Embrace Trilogy
EXCLUSIVE FIRST LOOK
GENEVIEVE
The sunlight hits frost laden branches of the blurring pines with sharp indifference, rebounding and blinding me as I glance out the side of Lucien’s sleigh, a beautiful yew bow clutched in my bare fist. My knuckles are white, my fingertips flushed pink with the cold, eyes hawklike as they scan the surrounding forest for any glimpse of the prize we so hungrily give chase.
Lucien is on the reins, his pale hair blown back from his angular jaw with the speed of our endless forward motion, his dark scaled wings blending in with his attire. He looks regal in a black leather tunic made thick with furs that bunch around his throat, the many buckles which fasten the garment around his muscular torso catching the too-bright light and flashing wildly as I gaze upon the tension in his upper bicep.
The dogs are silent but for a cacophony of heavy panting and the crackle of paws compacting snow, the air clear and fragrant as it wakes my mind more fully than it has been in weeks. I continue to watch for signs of the animal we are trailing, a rare white doe that has been eluding us now for miles.
I wonder if its hypocrisy that I should warrant the death of an animal just for my own amusement, but then, suddenly I am reminded that keeping the doe population in check isn’t quite the same as slaughtering a dragon in cold blood. The sleigh continues to race over the snow, dogs toiling endlessly beneath the cloudless aquamarine of the sky.
And yet, I am still uneasy.
I look to Lucien, who catches me staring at him. His eyes are kind in their cerulean intensity as he returns my interest with a fleeting glance, his expression softening from steel to silk as he returns his eyes to the road.
I find him straightening slightly, and then his attentions are drawn from me entirely as the heart-shaped snowy rump of the doe comes into our view once again. I feel my heart wilt, though whether it is for the fate of the creature, or the fact that my spell over Lucien seems to have broken, I can’t quite tell.
The dogs, picking up the intensifying scent, run harder without command, and my braided hair is whipped back from my face as we slide around a copse of trees, trying to head the doe off as she takes refuge within its pearly white cover, exhausted.
It’s hardly surprising, considering that we’ve been chasing her for almost five miles, or so I’d estimate.
Lucien gives a silent pullback on the reins, and the sleigh slows to a gradual halt.
Hopping down from the cushioned bench, I give a hand signal to Lucien, indicating he should take the left side of the copse while I make sure the creature doesn’t turn back the way we’ve come.
I draw the yew sheath of an arrow between my fingers from the ornate quiver at my spine, loading it into my bow so I am ready to shoot on the fly.
Sometimes when hunting, if the tree cover is thick enough, I have been able to get an aerial advantage by stalking my prey from the skies. This copse, however, isn’t luxuriously thick, but instead far barer than usual. This being the case, I tread with whisper-ish steps across the white blanket of snow, peering in through the meandering branches of trees dripping with icicles that hang like jagged teeth.
As I quietly pace around the circumference of the area, I find her. The doe. Nestled among the cover of the ivory foliage, ears pricked and her odd blue eyes wide as saucers.
I’ve seen those eyes before… that mortal look of terror, but I think not of it as I draw back my arrow, so my knuckles graze my cheek, take a deep and steady inhale, and then release.
The arrow pierces the air, flying between several branches without brushing a single one. Then, faster than I can blink, the arrow has reached its target, striking the doe through the eye.
I hear the creature collapse, it’s labored breathing from the chase dissolving entirely as a hint of rust hits my flaring nostrils.
Moving to go and claim my prize, I am stopped suddenly by something, another pair of eyes on me.
Lucien peers at me through a gap that runs the length of the copse, his expression strange and dreamlike. I cannot help but smile, proud of my kill as warm blood rushes to my cheeks.
After a moment, Lucien disappears, and just as quickly I hear his tread approaching.
“That was a breath-taking shot, Gen,” he compliments me, a little breathless as he closes the distance between us.
I flex my wings, straightening and feeling the quiver, cold and metallic, pinched between them.
“Why thank you.” I smile, smug as I brush a loose lock of snowy hair behind my ear.
“I mean it. You’re just, incredible.” Lucien comes close all of a sudden, closer than he ever has before, I find myself panicking.
He’s taller than me, but only by an inch or so, and as our eyes meet I see something there I’ve never noticed before.
Appreciation, not only for me as a fighter, as a High Lady, but for me as a woman.
My heart races, and I wonder momentarily if this is how the doe must have felt, being chased.
“Lucien what are you…” I whisper, my voice caught in my throat. I’m suddenly paralyzed on the spot, my feet welded to the snow.
“Just, be quiet. I want to… I want to try something…” he implores me.
Removing his gloves, he shoves them in his pockets, placing one hand on my lower back, and the other on my jawline.
He doesn’t say anything more, but instead acts without hesitancy, and yet with more gentleness than I’ve ever known.
His lips meet mine, and it’s like I melt into his body entirely. I have never been truly kissed before, not like this. I’ve been pawed at and hungrily devoured, but I have never before felt such gentle coolness, felt so safe.
I return his kiss with soft but eager lips, the taste of him quelling a burning in my chest I hadn’t realized was there.
We stand among the snow, the landscape around us pure white, inhaling one another as our arms twine around the other. I anchor myself to him in this way, letting my warm fingertips run in elegant swirls across the smooth marble of his skin as his tongue explores the inside of my mouth.
I groan a little, wanting more than anything to stay stood on this spot, exposed but also more secure than I’ve ever felt, desire pooling in an entirely foreign manner in my stomach like molten rock.
The kiss ends, and we stand, staring at one another, before both breaking out into wide toothy grins as our hearts collectively flutter like caged dragons having been at last set free into the night.
The blue, heaven-eyed doe who had so enraptured Lucien at first lies dead among the trees, forgotten.
EXCLUSIVE EXCERPT COPYRIGHT OF KRISTY NICOLLE 2020
Thanks For Reading!
RE.LEASE DATE AND COVER TBA 2021
Enjoy this?
Check out book One- Indigo Dusk!
Book One:
When Kairi Freemont happens upon a winged man on her parents’ Tennessee Ranch, she’s given what she’s wanted ever since the day she was diagnosed with Ehlers Danlos Syndrome: An escape from the pain of her chronic, invisible illness.
Through the power of the Aetherial Sun, Aro shows her there’s not only a place where her pain disappears but that she can live in a fairytale world of Unicorns, Fae, and magic she’s always wished was real. But when Kairi discovers that meeting Aro was no accident, that she may have lived a whole past life at Aro’s side before being stolen away by the monstrous Draconians, things start to spin out of control.
Are the Draconians, a race of banished dragon riders who have long since lost their precious reptilian steeds, as monstrous as the rest of Aetheria believes? And what lies at the heart of Aro’s motivation behind sweeping Kairi off her feet? Is it simply flirtation and his desire to give her a better life, or is the truth far more malicious than she could have ever expected?
You can also find free poetry and flash fiction by me @
Discover London during the Blitz through the eyes of a young girl who has lost everything…