Novels by Alicia Garrett

We ended up landing in a small clearing just outside the camp and walking in. It seemed just like any other camp on the outside, but the second we walked in, they all started looking all of us over like we were their next meal. All of them were dressed casually, with no armor or weapons in sight. It was a little odd considering the only other camp I had been to had been the complete opposite, well, other than them looking at me like I was a juicy steak on their plate.Xavier wrapped his arm around my waist, drawing me in close to his side as we made our way to the center of the camp to check in, and I gladly tucked myself in against his side. I was happy for it, especially as the prince started flirting with any female who walked by. I just followed Xavier into the commander's tent. This was technically my mission, so I had to be there. Although I wasn't prepared for the sight that met us the second we opened the flaps of his tent. My whole face flushed red as I took in the several

I was jostled awake when I was jerked hard against what felt like a stone wall. Blinking my eyes open, I looked up at Xavier, who had plastered me to his chest as those sharp eyes were focused on something directly behind me. The arm that had been previously draped over my waist was now held up, away from me, as his other held me firmly against his chest. "You're extremely sensitive for a Celestial." A masculine voice said from behind me, and I instantly had a fairly good idea of why I was in this current position. Slowly, Xavier's grip on me eased as he moved. "Stay put, Ari." He whispered to me as he moved into a crouch before standing to face the man who had been talking. I looked up to see that Xavier had a knife to the man's throat, holding it steady as he got to his feet. "What do you want?" Xavier demanded as I took the moment to quickly look the man over. He was covered in black from head to toe, with a matching black mask covering most of his face."The girls, of course. Do

We both went quiet after that, too caught up in our own thoughts to even talk. Although the further we flew without complaint from the others, the more comfortable I got. When we stopped in a clearing to let the familiars drink, the prince asked about it, and Xavier explained that the camp would not only be out of the worst parts of the forest, but also be nicer for the familiars, considering it would give everyone a comfortable amount of space to land. Luckily, even with Genie's knowledge of these woods, she completely backed Xavier, saying that it would be our best bet to actually not have to be on guard tonight, so in the end the prince hadn't even put up any sort of fight.By the time we landed, Xavier had actually relaxed once more, and I was really glad to see it. We landed in a large open field of thick lush grass. Rather than the starved strands at the edge of the forest, this grass was a dark lush green, and while it was still about waist-high, it didn't grip o

After Xavier had tied all of our bags down onto Bane, he gently unstrapped my swords from my shoulders before removing his own to stash on top of the bags for easy access, while still allowing us to be comfortable on the long flight. Then he held his hand out to me to take, pulling me to my feet for just a moment. He turned me to face him before sitting back down with me on his lap now. I was more than happy to lean in against his chest as he slowly looked over my face, gently brushing his thumb over my cheek as he carefully inspected every inch of my exposed skin. "Did any of those rocks hit you?" I couldn't help but to smile as I leaned into him a little further. "I'm fine, Xavier." As much as I wanted to tell him that he already damn well knew I was fine, considering he had shielded me from the worst of it. I loved the fact that he still checked. It made me feel like he actually, genuinely cared. "Good, then try to get some more rest while you can, princess." He whispered to me,

I hadn't even so much as twitched until Genie gently shook me awake early that next morning. I just blinked up at her for a moment as she yawned. It was still dark out, but the moon was hanging very low in the sky now, telling me that dawn wasn't far off."Go back to bed, Genie. It's going to take me a minute to get up." I whispered to her, trying my hardest not to wake Xavier up, and she just nodded to me with a tired smile before standing up to head back over to her bedroll as I went about the task of attempting to remove myself from Xavier's hold. It took me a minute, but I managed to slip out of his grasp, keeping his cloak as I wrapped it around myself further to keep a barrier between me and the frigid morning air. My breath came out in frozen little puffs as I went about piling a couple more logs onto the fire and slowly took everyone in as I sat there stoking the flames. The prince was absolutely passed out with a small puddle of drool under his cheek as he snored softly. His

It wasn't long before the prince came all but running back to camp with his tail now firmly tucked between his legs as Xavier just leisurely strode along behind him, hands in the pockets of his sleep pants with his muscular chest on full display. I couldn't help but to grin as I watched the two of them from where I had curled up under the covers in front of the fire. It wasn't cold, but it was definitely far cooler now that the sun had fully set. Nova was happily curled up by my feet under the covers as Bane came running up, burrowing his way under the covers behind her to curl in around her small frame. I just smiled as, not long after, I felt the blanket shift behind me as Xavier slipped under it with me. "We should be safe here for the night. There isn't much of a point in posting guards tonight. Just try to get as much sleep as possible tonight. It's probably the only time we won't have to post guards until we get to the camp." Xavier said to the whole group before lying down be