Cover Copy
An ancient warrior. A timeless battle.
Haven Killian needs help. As the heiress of an ancient organization called the Black Rose, she is charged with keeping alive the line of succession. When she vows to protect a young boy tormented by magic, all she has to go on are rumors of an immortal with the power to save him.
As Battle King of the Undying, Quinn Donovan has the most powerful magic on the planet. Yet, he has waited an eternity to find his lifebond: the one woman destined to be his mate. The moment he meets Haven, he senses she is his. His instincts scream to protect the woman and the boy she guards, and to claim her as his own. But Haven is mortal, and for them to be united, she must become one of the Undying.
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Books by Emma Welyin
Undying Hope
Published by Kensington Publishing Corporation
Undying Hope
Emma Weylin
LYRICAL PRESS
Kensington Publishing Corp.
www.kensingtonbooks.com
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Lyrical Press books are published by
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Copyright © 2015 by Emma Weylin
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First Electronic Edition: August 2015
eISBN-13: 978-1-61650-771-8
eISBN-10: 1-61650-771-3
First Print Edition: August 2015
ISBN-13: 978-1-61650-772-5
ISBN-10: 1-61650-772-1
Printed in the United States of America
Prologue
Atlantis
Roaring power rumbled through Atlantis. Clear, shimmering pools sloshed out of their banks. Crystalline rock fragmented from under perfect mountain waterfalls. Magic of Theron’s caliber, bellowing with anger in the water realm, was a rare occurrence.
“Laila!”
She fought the instinct to wilt. Like all pixies of the Avalon realm, her powers had limits. She’d just moved the Undying people on the Gaia realm two thousand years into the future at the behest of Oberon. Destroying one realm while saving another would hinder her cause.
“Laila!” The anguished roar again shook the snowcapped mountains.
She balled her miniature fists, but she knew better than to aggravate Theron further. His power had grown more than even Oberon had predicted. The move had saved many lives, even if the needed action angered Theron.
The next bellow shook the air surrounding her. This time the tip of the eastern mountains started to crumble. Laila blanched. She kept forgetting Theron and his human had reached full maturity.
Laila spread her dragonfly wings, beating them with a blur of speed to carry her up the mountain pass at a rapid pace. It seemed like only yesterday Theron had been a tiny blip of light in the dark pool that had created the essence of the first Undying power source. Fifty-five hundred Gaia, or Earth years, did go by rather quickly when one wasn’t watching.
“Do stop,” Laila said in soft tones as she came upon Theron, who stood next to the Pool of Sight amidst glistening rainbow grotto crystals. “You’ll sink Atlantis.”
A deep animal growl emanating from the altered human trembled the ground as the man housing Theron turned on her. Mercury orbs of glowing light were in place of his irises. His lip curled into a snarl. His large, perfect body was strung tight as if prepared for battle. “What did you do?”
Many millennia had passed since Laila feared for her life. Maybe making a creature so strong hadn’t been the smartest of ideas… but necessity often had one taking risks they normally wouldn’t. Theron was first. His loyalty to her had been unbreakable, but did not extend beyond a mass time teleportation of his people.
“Protected them,” she proclaimed.
He pointed at the Pool of Sight, shimmering inside a pure white marble basin. Images of his people flicked across the water as time on Gaia flashed by. Minutes in Atlantis moved like hours on Gaia. “They are lost! They cannot perform their duty. What have you done?”
“Now, Theron.” Laila flapped her wings to move her wee size up to eye level with the great power in front of her. “My sister tried to pull a fast one. I had to react, or they’d all be dead.”
The mercury swirl of Theron’s eyes burned hot. “Send us back!”
“I can’t,” she said. “Cadeyrn turned out better than either of us hoped. Have faith. I put him where he should find his reward. He will be stronger.”
Theron’s eyes flicked to the pool. An image of a young woman flashed across the water. Soft elven features graced the woman’s face. Her hair was a rich auburn, hanging in loose waves down to her hips. His eyes narrowed on the image in the water. She was worried. There was a boy of his kind with her. Theron’s mighty essence stretched beyond barriers he should not have been able to cross to get a feel on the woman—Cadeyrn’s lifebond.
His glowing eyes returned to Laila. “I cannot complete my task without Cadeyrn. Pray he comes successfully to his bond to life.”
Laila shrank down in size under Theron’s angry stare. His eyes bore into her as if he could already have her diminutive heart in his hand. If anything happened to Cadeyrn, no matter how tiny she was, she knew Theron would find a way to bathe in her blood.
Chapter 1
Gaia Realm, Chicago Illinois
Haven Killian paced the emergency exam room. Once again, Bastian had another of his debilitating headaches. The headaches always came after a fight with another boy. She paused by the bed where he lay in a blissful drug-induced sleep. Pain medication had given needed relief fifteen minutes ago, leaving her to wait for the doctor. She leaned down, touched a kiss to his brow, and lightly cupped the side of his face.
“Oh, my Bastian,” she murmured. “How are we ever going to survive this?”
Part