Hey everyone!
Can you believe we're finally just two weeks away from ENTWINED's release!?
HAHA! NEITHER CAN I!
It only took, what, like six years?
*snort*
Anyway, without further ado, here's your sneak peek at the final book in The Ever Trilogy.
I hope you enjoy it!
And if you haven't yet done so, please grab your copy now at the pre-order link below!
Just 99 cents for a limited time!
ENTWINED
The Ever Trilogy, Book 3
By Jessa Russo
Release Date: Thursday, February 14th, 2019
Pre-order on Amazon!
Add to your tbr on Goodreads!
Prologue
Toby
After years of collecting
souls without even a moment’s pause, I’d collected the one soul I swore I’d
never harvest. The one soul I’d promised to protect.
Against my will and
without my permission.
I’d learned at a very
young age that every action has a reaction, every choice a consequence.
Good or bad, I’d learned
to prepare. I’d made mistakes, sure, countless
mistakes. But every single one of them had an outcome.
Sometimes a consequence
is trivial, may even go unnoticed. You can skip a rock across the surface of a
lake, and though ripples may spread out over the water, very little is
disturbed beneath the surface. That same rock, however, if loosed from the top
of a snow-covered mountain, can cause an avalanche that decimates the town
below.
Ariadne Stone was my
avalanche.
I made a choice the day I
decided I’d follow Ariadne anywhere. In my desperation to get out of my
situation, logic clouded by my hunger for freedom, my need to escape the
confines of my childhood home and my dead-but-not-gone mother, I made a choice.
Mom couldn’t leave me,
but I could leave her.
I chose a vindictive,
soul-sucking Collector and her unspoken promise of freedom over the woman who
would have given her life for me. I chose Ari over my mom and my little brother
and that choice forever altered my course. I’d had no way of knowing at the
time, no way of seeing what lay on the other side of that decision, but it was
there, that outcome, waiting. My mother was sent on, my childhood home was
sold, my brother was forced to fend for himself, and my life as I knew it was
over.
As a Soul Collector, I
learned the ropes quickly. I also learned Ari was my kryptonite, and anything
she touched turned to ash, so I steered clear of her as much as I could.
Well, as much as I could while
working for her prick of a father.
Then Ever Van Ruysdael
came along and lit up my world, mending every broken piece of me until all that
was left was love. With Ever in my life, I’d let go of my hate for Ari and my
circumstances, released the regret that had darkened every day of my life since
my mother left this world. I chose to focus on Ever, on us, and then Ari came
back.
She made a choice the day
she Branded Ever’s soul. Be it out of spite or anger, or purely selfish
stupidity, that choice forever altered the outcome of Ever’s life. And in turn,
mine. In Ari’s jealousy, in her ignorance, she created the avalanche that tore
through our lives.
Ever made a choice the
day she decided to trust a Seeker more than her own boyfriend. She made a
choice, brashly and without much thought, when she transferred her soul into my
body.
I had yet to discover
what that choice meant for us, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that something
was headed for me. That awareness you get when someone is watching you, like a
sensation on your skin that has no explanation and can only be one thing: a
subconscious warning system. Mine was on high alert.
My body was the vessel
that now protected Ever’s soul, her very life, and it was only a matter
of time before someone came to collect. Transferring her Branded soul to my
body was a quick fix, nothing more, and though we’d been able to remain
somewhat cut off from the world at Louis and Cora’s place on Lake Washington,
the clock ticked swiftly by and we couldn’t remain here forever.
Although, staying at the
home of two of the remaining Original Soul Collectors did have its perks. At
the top of the list? Their house was protected, so Ever’s soul remained safe…
but we couldn’t stay inside indefinitely and, eventually, Samuel—the dude
responsible for telling my girl how to reverse-succubus her way into my
body—wouldn’t be the only hired henchman sent to find us. Each moment that
passed meant more time for word to spread about Ever’s Soul Brand, which meant
more hungry Collectors, Seekers, and Reapers would be after us. We’d be in a
world of flaming-hot dog shit any day now.
Chapter One
Toby
After the longest and
strangest week of our lives, we were no closer to figuring a way out of the
mess we were in than the day it happened.
No, this didn’t just happen;
that would imply neither of us had any control over the situation.
“I thought we were past
this,” Ever whispered inside my mind.
We were. I sighed, giving my head a quick shake. We are.
I was finally accustomed
to the inner dialogue we shared, though it hadn’t been the easiest thing to get
used to, having her voice in my head twenty-four-seven. But we didn’t really
have much of a choice, so we’d had to accept the weirdness of being so
connected to one another and my complete lack of privacy.
Complete lack of privacy.
Living inside me had
given Ever an All Access Pass to the Toby James show, and there was nothing she
didn’t know about me now. I was an open book. Every thought, every memory,
every embarrassing moment was on full display. She’d discovered every answer to
every question she’d ever wondered. She’d seen every secret, every lie, every
mistake I’d ever made. She’d been witness to every embarrassing moment, every
regret…
On the bright side, I
would never have to convince her of my love for her, as that too was on full
display.
Somehow, in spite of it
all, I didn’t totally hate having my girlfriend inside my head all the time. That’s
not to say I wasn’t beyond ready to figure this shit out and have my girlfriend
in my arms again instead.
But with the Seeker
missing in action since the night it all went down, wishing for Ever to be in
my arms again felt more and more futile with every passing moment.
“He’ll come back,” she said.
Right. I was way past
thinking the Seeker was even remotely on our side. And the worst part? He’d
never told her what the catch was or how to get out of this situation. What
would the outcome be? We knew a soul could be transferred into someone else’s body—obviously—but what would happen once that
soul was transferred back?
It was anyone’s guess.
Ever sighed loudly,
sending a wave of sensation across my chest. Warm, slightly tingly, and a bit
on the unpleasant side. Not as unpleasant as anger, or even in the same zip
code, but uncomfortable nonetheless. I grimaced as the feeling intensified.
You can be irritated with
me all you want, I told her, but I’m
not the one who leapt before I looked.
Ever
growled.
“Did you just growl at me?” I laughed,
sitting up straighter.
“Talking to yourself
again?” Trey popped his head up over the back of the couch to look at me.
I flipped him off and he
went back to gaming. He knew damn well I wasn’t talking to myself, but he got a
kick out of giving me shit every time I accidentally spoke to Ever out loud
instead of within the confines of our shared headspace.
The scent of freshly
brewed coffee teased my senses, luring me out of my makeshift bed on the futon against
the wall. I stepped into the bathroom, then closed the door behind me and
turned on the shower. Ever had managed to figure out a way to disappear during
the more, um, private moments, which was a check in the plus column, for sure.
Who wants to bring their chick into the bathroom with them? Not me, thanks.
I began to pull my shirt
over my head—
My chest heated so
rapidly that I had to pull in a breath… I’d forgotten to warn my girl. The
simple act of turning on the shower should have been a pretty good indication
of my plans, but she must have been lost in thought.
“Well, I’m not anymore.” She giggled.
You’re welcome to stick around, I teased.
“You’re
ridiculous.”
Consider
it a standing invitation.
The temperature in my
chest spiked, beginning to blur around the edges, almost becoming a soft
tickle—the distinct sensation of a blushing girlfriend. I loved that feeling,
so I pushed my luck any chance I could. I dropped
my shirt and turned toward the mirror to look myself over. Since she could see
everything I could, I made it a point to really appreciate my reflection as
often as possible.
“Toby, jeez.”
I grinned, winking at myself
in the mirror—at her—and my chest heated further. My breath caught in my
throat. I dropped my gaze to my chest, running my hand over my skin. It always
surprised me that a feeling this intense wasn’t a visible, glowing red orb.
I take that as a yes? I tried, knowing the answer without even asking.
“No, Toby. It feels…
super weird to even consider watching you
shower.”
But you have considered
it. I pressed my lips together and met my own gaze in the mirror,
cocking one eyebrow.
The warmth in my chest
became slightly tingly around the edges. Embarrassment.
My lips curled into a
smile. Suit yourself. I’m happy just knowing you consider it. I
stretched, then reached for my waistband. Better run off, babe; the pants
are dropping in three, two, one…
