Divine Merit (Divine Series Book 1)

Amira has been trained from birth to become the ruler of the Nephilim and their island sanctuary. She is the perfect princess, until her birthright and even her fundamental beliefs are ripped away. Does she have the inner strength needed to regain her kingdom and save her people?

As captain of the Royal Guard, Caeden’s priority is to protect the Royal Family. Sometimes that means protecting the naive princess from her own desires, even if he is tempted to give in. When a betrayer strikes from within their sanctuary, Caeden must defeat this enemy and restore Amira to her rightful place. He will not fail his princess again.

Excerpt:

Caeden grabbed her arm, stopping her, and turned her to face him. This was the first time he had ever touched her outside of her self-defense lessons. Amira was shocked. She was sure her mouth was hanging open.

“I guess this is a night for both of us to act out of character,” she said, almost amused.

“Are you ill? Or hurt?” he asked, ignoring her statement.

He held on to her arm as if he were afraid she’d run from the room before answering his questions. Her arm tingled from his touch, warming her. She had to remind herself of the conversation she had overheard earlier, before she melted into his touch and made an even bigger fool of herself.

“No, Captain, I am not,” she answered, straightening her back and shoulders.

“Why are you calling me that?” he asked, looking genuinely confused.

“Calling you what?”


“Captain. Why are you calling me Captain?” he asked in exasperation.

“It’s your title, is it not?”

“Yes, Princess,” he said, remembering his place.

Amira looked pointedly at where his hand connected with her arm. “Please release me. I’ve had enough unwanted hands grabbing me today.”

He dropped his hand as if she’d burned him, and Amira felt an immediate chill at the loss of contact. What was wrong with her? Why did only this one male affect her so strongly?

As what she said penetrated his mind, a look of fury crossed his face.

“Did he hurt you?” Caeden asked in a deadly calm tone that didn’t match the look in his now frigid blue eyes.

Amira’s heart began to race. “I have taken care of the problem,” she tried to reassure him.

His show of protectiveness caused excited butterflies to flutter uncontrollably in her stomach. He’s doing his job, she reminded herself in an attempt to kill them.

“Princess...” he began.

“Caeden,” she said on a sigh, “I’ve had a terrible day, and wish for nothing more than to go up to my rooms, climb into bed, and pretend this day never happened.” She should have left it at that, but she couldn’t seem to stop herself from adding, “I’m sure you’ll have no problem, with me out of the way, finding another female to naively follow you around and look at you like you are a gift straight from the angels. As for me, I just don’t have it in me right now.”

“Oh hell,” Caeden muttered to himself as he watched her race up the stairs and into her chambers.