"I love the characters Angie has created--their struggle, their growth, their strength. I'm ready for more!"
"Rogue Unbroken did not disappoint. It's very unique, intriguing, and full of plot twists."
"This book had me on the edge of my seat from the first page. I can't wait to see how this ends."
Energy blazed in my body, begging me to move, to use it. If you see her, kill her on sight.
Kate had survived. She had lived through pain and torment and now she was on the other side, where all the happiness was supposed to be. But with Alec’s vengeful punishment for escaping him, she can’t touch anyone without hurting them.
Alec still wants to create a Level Five and he’s dangerously close. That power under his control would mean unraveling the world as it stands. The world Kate has not yet started to enjoy. She won’t be able to rest until her body, her mind is fixed, and Alec won’t get his beloved power without her help.
The two warring sides of Rogues and Shadows will have to meet. Kate will have to confront Alec and his cruel ambition once again. But every moment with the Shadows is detrimental to those she loves, especially Kylan. So she must find a way to outsmart the person who taught her everything she knows, the most feared Shadow in the world.
Kate is strong. She survived once. But even the strongest people can break with the right pressure, and Alec is ready to tear her life apart.
EXCLUSIVE SNEAK PEEK...
My hands were shaky as I rode up the elevator. Enclosed spaces reminded me of the small cage I had been held in.
The beige ceiling was plain and soft, nothing like the lab. No harsh fluorescent lights. No thick smell of salty sweat or dried blood assaulted my nose.
I was at my old office building. Safe. Warm. Free.
If I repeated those words often enough, maybe I’d believe them. It helped to have Kylan at my side, staring at the carpeted floor. Lisa was in front of us, clutching three letters to her chest.
“I still think this is a bad idea,” Kylan whispered in my ear as his hand touched my lower back.
I smiled and shoved his shoulder, only touching his shirt. Kylan cracked a smile, barely enough for me to see.
I kept walking, carefully following Lisa down the main hallway off the elevator doors.
“Well, I think she deserves to say good-bye to her human life. And, it’s a Saturday so no one’s going to be here,” I whispered back.
Kylan kept his wide eyes forward, watching Lisa’s every move. She held a resignation letter for each of us. Well, really an explanation letter. We had all worked at this company together, back when Kylan and I were pretending to be human, but Lisa was the only one who cared to officially explain.
“I think us not showing up to work and not responding to Mr. Lyle’s calls explained enough,” Kylan said quietly.
“We did respond to some of them. Well, you did mostly,” I answered, throwing him a look.
He didn’t catch it and continued his protest. “To let him know we weren’t dead and keep him from asking more questions.”
“I can hear you,” Lisa muttered, then she mumbled quietly to herself. “Huh, I actually heard that.”
I glanced at Kylan and smiled. He rolled his eyes, but the corner of his lips pulled up anyway.
Her voice still sounded surprised at her own ability. She was a Legend now, like us. Recently changed by Alec as a form of torment and manipulation to get me to open my locket for him.
The necklace turned out to be as useless to him as I had claimed it would be. But he hadn’t listened then. And now I had to explain to Lisa about her new life and help her end her old one. Every step of it was a painful reminder.
I remembered the cell. The needles. The white coats. I remembered wanting nothing more than the pain to cease. Sometimes it felt like it never had.
Kylan noticed the shift in my steps, the slip in my mood. He slid his hand automatically to mine. I sucked in a breath, waiting for the touch of his skin.
The energy wouldn’t stop if he touched me, even if I wanted it to. Not after what Alec had done. My entire mind lit up in red, blaring lights when the tip of his fingers finally grazed my skin.
A flush of power circled my hand despite me mentally screaming to stop it. Kylan winced and pulled his hand away again too quickly. He shook his hand out, flexing his muscles against the pain.
I didn’t apologize. No amount of apologies would overcome the pain of Alec’s insurance plan. The lack of physical contact was killing me. Kylan understood, even if he hated it too.
He put his arm over my shoulder and pressed a kiss to my hair, safe from my exposed skin.
“We get in, drop the letters off, and then we are out of here,” Kylan announced louder.
I walked ahead and put my arm around Lisa. She clutched the letters in her hand and kept her focus on the door ahead of us.
“Don’t listen to him. Take your time in there. Okay?” I pulled her closer to me.
She nodded and gulped nervously as we approached the door. Lisa slid her key into the door and I opened it for her. She stepped through carefully, as if the floor inside the office would shock her. To be honest, I felt the same worry.
I looked up at the familiar sight around me. I had spent nearly a year here, dabbling in a human profession and deciding what I wanted in life. I had found it.
Kylan walked far enough behind to give us some space. I smiled at him as all the happy memories surfaced of us flirting, discovering the other was a Legend, and starting to fall for each other.
All of it had started in this office.
It was so innocent and perfect, nothing like what my life was now. Now, I jumped at loud noises. I worried that anytime I looked over my shoulder that Alec would be standing there, smiling. I held my breath when I walked into a room.
It had been three days since we got back from the lab. I had spent an entire day and night sleeping. I think Lisa did too.
It was harder when I woke up. I would name every item in the room around me to make sure they were real. Every morning, I was convinced I was still in that glowing cell. Every first breath of the day was relief.
Lisa walked down the hallway to the head offices. I turned the other way and looked at the cubicles of desks, the receptionist area, and the windows that looked out into downtown Portland.
“Seems like a lifetime ago.” Kylan came up behind me and slipped his hands around my waist, careful not to touch any skin.
I couldn’t touch his hands. Not without hurting him.
“So much has changed since then,” I muttered as I played with the corner of his coat sleeve.
“I still love you.” Kylan turned me around. “That hasn’t changed.”
My eyes softened as I looked up at his beautiful, green gaze. As long as he looked at me like this, I knew I would be all right. My hands may shake slightly, and my nightmares may keep me from falling asleep, but I was going to be all right.
“Crazy to think this is where we met.” Kylan smiled and glanced at the offices behind me.
“Maybe it’s a good thing for us to be here. To say good-bye too.” I shrugged.
“You’re always one step ahead.” Kylan looked down at me and grinned.
“Not always. But most of the time—” I started.
“Kate? Kylan?” Chase’s voice called from behind Kylan.
I leaned my head to the side and saw him standing there in a t-shirt and jeans with a fist full of papers.
“What are you guys doing here? Where have you been?” Chase stepped forward, setting the papers down on the receptionist’s desk.
“Not good,” Kylan grumbled and sucked in a breath.
I glanced down the hallway for Lisa. She must have heard Chase’s voice, which meant we were in for a big problem.
“Is she with you?” Chase asked me, following my gaze.
Footsteps headed our way. I wasn’t sure if Chase could hear them yet, or if he only wondered. Either way, I needed to get him out of here. Lisa would lose control when she saw him.
And no one deserved to see their loved one hurting because of the energy you can’t stop taking. Especially Lisa.
I started again, trying to keep my voice down. “Chase, listen to me, you need to leav—”
“Chase?” Lisa’s voice came before I saw her walk around the corner.
“Definitely, not good,” Kylan said, louder this time.
He bolted over to Chase to block him from taking another step toward Lisa. I rushed to her and held up my hands.
“Now is not the time. You haven’t had energy since you got back from the lab. Your body is weak and you’re going to hurt him,” I rushed.
Lisa didn’t even glance at me. She probably wasn’t even following what I said. All of it would be foreign to her. She kept her eyes on Chase, her anxious fingers reached to push me aside to get to him.
I tried to yank my hands back in time, but she grabbed them anyway and moved to step around me. The energy from her body immediately flooded into mine.
I should have wanted to stop it, but the warm, intoxicating feeling was impossible to ignore. My breath stopped as the muscles in my hands and arms ignited.
“Lisa, let go!” Kylan shouted as he raced over to her and ripped her arms away from my grip.
The energy crashed to a halt and my body lurched forward, wanting more. I balled my hands into fists to keep me from reaching for her. I looked in her scared, drooping eyes and the warm brown color instantly reminded me that I didn’t want to hurt her.
Lisa gasped for air in Kylan’s arms. She stumbled against him, trying to understand the feeling of energy being torn from her body so quickly.
“Hey, hey, you’re okay. Your body is just adjusting to less energy. You’re so exhausted and it’s gonna take a second. Just breathe,” Kylan calmly coached her.
“Let me go,” she snapped at Kylan and stepped toward me.
“Lisa, I’m sorry.” I said and it hurt that even if she was scared of me, she was scared of Kylan more.
“What the…w-what are you?” Chase asked.
I looked at the human, who was still standing too close to a starving, newbie Legend and another Legend that couldn’t control her ability to steal energy.
Lisa straightened at the sound of his voice. She leaned away from us to get a better view of Chase. My blood raced with new energy and anticipation for how Lisa was going to handle this.
I wished I had advice to give her. A way to break the news that she now wanted to feed on humans by siphoning their energy, and that included the boyfriend for whom she was head over heels. I didn’t have anything to say that could make this easier.
“Lisa?” Chase asked, his light blue eyes on me as he walked toward her.
“She’s a Legend. Kylan is too,” Lisa answered before taking another step toward him.
Chase froze. He looked specifically at my hands that had just siphoned Lisa’s energy from her body. He changed his stare to Kylan, his mouth tightening. Kylan stared back as he moved to stand by me.
“You’re not serious.” Chase shook his head. “That’s impossible. Legends aren’t real.”
“Yes, they are.” Lisa nodded and walked toward Chase.
“They’ve just been Legends this whole time? That doesn’t make sense. We would’ve noticed if we had been working next to demons,” Chase fumed and put his hands on her clothed shoulders, trying to force her to look at him.
Lisa flinched at the word demon but she kept her eyes glued to the floor. I glanced at Kylan. We both knew what was going to happen next.
“Maybe this is their idea of a prank. Have you been with them all this time? Are you all right?” Chase asked, lifting his hand from her shoulder to her face.
“It’s not a prank,” Lisa answered just as Chase touched his finger under her chin.
I tensed my muscles and sucked in a breath. Kylan wrapped his hand around my clothed arm to keep me from jumping forward.
The second Chase’s hand touched her skin, a faint yellow light swirled from his skin to hers. Lisa stopped breathing as soon as she felt it.
“I’m one too,” Lisa managed to whisper as her eyes met Chase’s concerned gaze.
The light from the energy fused into her body. Her shoulders relaxed. She took in a deep breath, settling the worry on her forehead.
Chase yanked his hand away when he realized his energy was leaving. Lisa’s eyes popped open when the energy stopped. She looked at Chase like he was the source of relief to the ringing pain in her exhausted body.
For that one moment, I realized the person Lisa had turned into. No longer caring and selfless. She felt that raw desire all of us dealt with every day.
“What did you just do?” Chase pulled away from her.
He lifted his hands to defend himself. That seemed to snap Lisa back to reality, if only temporarily.
“I…I didn’t…I didn’t mean to do anything,” Lisa stammered.
“You’re a human. I know you’re a human.”
She winced. “I…I was.”
“She was just turned into a Legend a few days ago,” I interrupted.
Chase’s eyes fell on me and glared. I stepped away from Kylan and moved toward Lisa. I touched her back with my hand and stiffened.
“You did this to her?”
His eyes burned with rage and fear. He wasn’t the intimidated employee that needed a confidence boost to reach his potential. He was a man who just had his love ripped away from him and I was the reason for everything in his confused, blue eyes.
“No, she didn’t,” Lisa said.
“Yes. I’m the reason she was turned. She came to a lab in Louisiana to save me.” I hung my head.
“How could you do this to her?” Chase screamed at me.
“You need to calm down, right now.” Kylan stepped in between the two of us, holding up a warning hand.
“You’re monsters, both of you.” Chase clenched his jaw.
I moved to step forward, but stopped when a synchronized click sounded in the room. The computers behind us played a message. But the first words sent a spear of shock and anger through my chest.
“Please pay attention. The next few minutes could save your life,” Alec’s voice announced.