Ethereal Underground (Ethereal Underground Trilogy) Read Online Free

fiddled with the hem of her dress. Her form was small, thin, tanned with the light from the sky, stark white wings settled softly at her back, small enough for outside forces to harm her. Her blonde hair fell in waves down her back, tangled most of the time, except for when Leon would insist she sit down and let him brush it.  Water was her affinity, not something to utilize in battle and barely enough to keep herself safe. To others she appeared fragile, making her the perfect target for an attack. Although Leon was strong, appearing tough and slightly ragged, the thought made her worry about him while he was gone.  She kept her eyes low to the ground, trying not to show him her worry. Fallen were being seen more often lately, too close to home. More and more seraphs were disappearing every day. She knew that the missing seraphs were the result of the fallen hunting them down, and she did not want to see Leon be ambushed by those evil creatures. Worried, she forced the words out, “How was your journey?”
    “Eventful, to say the least,” he started as he walked ahead in front of her and through the opening of the round stone residence, “My charge was drunk and heading towards a horde of fallen.”
    He continued to speak, deep voice resonating through the home. Frowning to herself, she all but tuned him out, not wanting to know if or how he had fought a fallen. They were despicable creatures, once seraphs who now thrived on destroying her kind, devouring them to absorb their power. Annalise shivered at the thought of her partner battling such forces. She had never seen one, but she heard the stories: evil, deformed creatures who lurked in the dark of the night and sought out seraphs to sink their teeth into, or tempt them to change their ways and fall as well.
    Letting her eyes trail up to the clear glass roof of the home, she was thankful to see the sky, thankful it was still its purest blue, and it made her feel like things would be okay, even if the fallen decided to attack. Leon was here and they were safe, Finlay’s home not too far away. Their home was built of a speckled cream stone, shaped into a large igloo with an additional circular room in the back where they could rest. The floor was soft and plush, a technology only known to the seraphs. No furniture was in the main room, only pure wood shelves that jutted out from the stone for them to use as they needed. All cooking was done outside in the fire pit and the tools for that were found there. They were a simple race, relying on nature to every extent they could, all of their clothing and bedding made in their town center. All was purchased at the market and could be requested to be made there as well. They would trade goods and services there, and each seraph helped out with what they could.
    The sound of buzzing caught her attention and made Leon’s story come to a halt. She walked over to the center of the room and stepped over several pillows scattered around the large round globe in the center of the room.  It was made of magical glass and stood several feet off the ground on its wooden stand. The wood curved around the bottom of the sphere and either seraph could look into it and see what they wished, including any mortal that she felt like watching that day. She could call her reapings by name if she knew them, and Leon could call his charges. Once they knew a mortal’s name and it was attached to them for duty purposes, they could call upon them again. Sometimes though, Annalise would find a random human to watch when Leon was not around. They fascinated her, the way they would let their emotions run them, working as she did but not letting that dictate who they were and what they did. She did not understand that. Seraphs were made with emotions, even though they were not felt as deeply as mortals could feel. With their emotions not being as strong, relying on them could cause a seraph to become a fallen. They were never taught to use those