Embrace the Desire Read Online Free Page A

her life to the academy, making sure it was stocked, staffed, and protected at all times. The children there were orphans in one way or another and needed the protection the academy offered. With her dying breath, she would see to it that those children were not harmed.
    With the profits from her diner, After Midnight, she managed to stay afloat and one step ahead of her bills. Quietly nestled in the hubbub of the city, the diner offered her an escape from the academy. The paychecks she received from the academy were safely nestled away in a fund to help support the children she cared about so very much.
    If she could make a single difference in any of the One Race children’s lives, she would do it, no matter how much she had to give.
    Groaning rather loudly, Chanta reached for an old tattered and yellow stained book, the only thing that had survived her childhood, other than the emotional scars. How she had managed to keep it was beyond her. Being tossed from one human home to the next, from one orphanage to the next, it was simply a miracle it had not been lost.
    She vaguely wondered about her parents. Were they dead? Why did they leave her at a human orphanage? She had so many questions and not nearly enough answers.
    Slowly, she opened the cover and for the millionth time, she read the words written by the mother she had never known.
    “To my precious daughter, my heart, my soul, and the light of all things good—in your possession I leave this book. One day it will lead you to your destiny and all will be as it should be. With love, your blood-born mother, Elena.”
    She stared with steel gray eyes at the words for a long time before turning the page and taking a deep, ragged breath. The title page was empty, save one inscription in ancient Sanskrit. “As Above so it will be Below. Herein reads the
Book of Light
.”
    Her Sanskrit was not the best, but she read it anyway.
    “All life sprouted forth from the hands of the eight gods of creation. This is the telling of one of these accounts, written and sealed for all time by the eyes of Isten, the eldest and most grand of the eight gods.”
    Her phone rang stirring her from the familiar trance the words seemed to always put her in. Numbly, she reached for the phone, her eyes falling to the next paragraph and her mind burning the words hard into her heart
. “Isten saw what would come, saw man stepping out from the ground and procreating. He saw the race grow, spread. But they were unprotected. Holding his hand out, he manifested a ball of white light. Within the light, a being grew. And that being was called an Angel. Henceforth, Angels became guardians of mankind.”
    “Hello?”
    “Chanta?” The familiar velvet male voice made her smile. “What troubles you child?”
    She snorted. “These research papers! I’m telling you Gyth, they’re going to be the death of me.”
    He laughed. “Nonsense. Your teaching skills are excellent. I’m sure you’ll get them graded before the weekend is over.”
    “Well, one thing is for sure, next time I’m going to be a little more specific about the subject.” Wondering why he had called, she gently laid her book on the couch behind her. “Is there something wrong?”
    “It’s time.” His voice sent a cold chill down her spine. “In less than six months, your Burning will begin.”
    She swallowed hard. “I know.”
    “For your benefit, I have hand-picked a Destroyer for you.” He paused. “He’s strong and his powers are exceptional. I chose him because I believe he’ll successfully take you through the Burning.”
    “But . . .” Her voice faltered. Destroyers were demons. Cold, calculating demons who killed without mercy and without pause.
    “Chanta, when I found you, I swore to you that I would do everything in my power to make sure you would survive and others like you would have more than a fighting chance.”
    “I know. And you’ve helped me so much.” Memories of the day she had met Gyth swamped