Remember Me (Storm Lords Book 1) by Nina Croft

behind her closed lids, she saw a vision of Cade. He stood on a rooftop and called her name.
    Her eyes flew open.
    Go back.
    This time the words screamed through her mind.
    There w as something important she needed to do. She had to see Cade.
    Now.
    Soon it would be too late.
    Phoebe cast one last glance at her father. He slept peacefully, and she leaned over kissed him, then hurried from the room. She raced down the corridors, some inn er voice driving her on.
    She slammed into something. A solid wall of muscle.
    Looking up, she stared into crimson eyes. She opened her mouth to scream, and everything went black.
    ***
    Cade stood poised on the edge of the rooftop, gazing down at the city far below, trying to fight the despair threatening to overwhelm him. Was it only two days ago that he had stood here with Phoebe? It seemed like a lifetime.
    Time was nearly over.
    He flexed his wings. Maybe he should take off, just head upward, and keep going. Or maybe he should go find her, force her to stay with him. At the thought, the dark powers that slumbered inside him stirred.
    A door slammed, and he turned slowly. Torr stood facing him and Cade couldn’t bear to look into his face and see the pity. Instead, he spoke into the night. “I’m going to go get her. She’s mine, and I’ll make her remember.”
    “You’ll damn your soul for eternity.”
    “I don’t care about my soul.”
    “You care about hers, though. Will you drag her down with you?”
    Something broke inside him, as he finally acknowledged the fact that he had lost her. He slammed his fist into the concrete wall, then collapsed to his knees.
    “You need to be strong,” Torr said.
    Cade peered up and shook his head. How many times had they said those same words to Bryce? Had it done any good? But he could pretend. He rose to his feet. Torr held out a hand but he ignored it. He stood for a moment. “If things go wrong, you’ll kill me. Promise.”
    “I’ll give you the same offer I made Bryce,” Torr said, then turned and wa lked away.
    Cade knew he would continue—what choice did he have? He suspected redemption was beyond him, and he would never atone for the things he had done. But he could try, and one day maybe his soul would be released, and he would find her again.
    Her be autiful face flashed before his eyes and pain rolled over him.
    “Phoebe!” he screamed her name to the night.
    In the deep corners of his mind, he heard her answer. Heard her panicked cry.
    Torr had paused in the doorway to answer his phone. Now he turned bac k to Cade, his expression grim. “That was Finn. They’ve lost Phoebe. He thinks Lilith has her.”
    It took a moment for the words to sink in. Then Cade roared with rage. Without thinking, he smashed open a portal and hurled himself into the Abyss. His wings f ormed as he fell, ripping his shirt, and he wrenched off the tattered remains.
    Far below him, flames flickered in the darkness. Cade headed toward them, instinct telling him that was where he would find Lilith and Phoebe. He prayed he wouldn’t be too late.
    He landed hard and rolled, coming up on his feet. At first, all he could see was fire, and panic and fury raged inside him. But he’d know if she were already dead, and for the first time since Torr had spoken, he forced his mind to function.
    Lilith wouldn ’t kill her, at least not before the time was up, and there were minutes remaining.
    He stood on the sandy bank where he’d brought Phoebe that first time. To his right a huge bonfire blazed, blue and orange tongues of flames intertwined. The crackle and roa r of the fire filled his ears, but when he breathed in the air was fresh.
    No smoke. This was spell fire. Magic.
    “Cade!”
    The panicked scream came from inside the flames. He stepped closer, so the heat seared his skin, and looked beyond the conflagration. Ph oebe stood very still at the center of a ring of fire. Her arms wrapped around her middle, her eyes wide with fear. He reached out to