Her Guardian Series Box Set

by G. Bailey

  "Latus vero regi," he says, his words deep, and I see the waitress drop a mug on the floor and run out of the shop. Yep, this freaked her out.

  Dabriel gets up and places his hand on Lucifer’s head. Lucifer raises his head and nods at me before he leaves. I watch him go outside the shop and just fly into the air. A few people passing by stop what they are doing, looking shocked.

  "Does he not care if humans know about him?" I ask Dabriel who is pulling money out of his wallet and putting it on the table. It's a hell of a lot more than our drinks cost, but I don't say anything.

  "Angels don’t like humans, nor care if they see us. Not all are like that, but most are," he says. I hold his hand as we walk out of the café.

  “What did he say to you? What happened back there?” I ask him.

  “An old magic-filled promise. I will explain one day, my little wildfire,” he says. The street is quiet, as it’s Friday and in the middle of the day. I spot the bowling alley across the street, and I look back at Dabriel.

  "Let’s go bowling," I say suddenly.

  "The human sport of throwing balls at non-moving objects?" Dabriel asks with a slight frown.

  "Yep. Scared I'm going to beat you?" I ask him, and he laughs.

  "No, let’s go," he answers and starts walking towards the bowling alley. Guys can't stand their ego being threatened, supernatural or not.

  I catch up and slip my hand in his.

  "We are safe for a short amount of time, right?" I ask him.

  "You are always safe next to me, I would fly you away if there's a problem," he says like there isn’t an issue.

  I don't reply. I just squeeze his hand as we walk across the road to the bowling alley. The male attendant looks half asleep as Dabriel pays for our games and shoes to rent.

  "What size?" the man asks with a yawn.

  "Seven," I say.

  Dabriel says, "Thirteen."

  The man nods and looks under the counter at the rack full of shoes.

  "Those are big feet, dude; I’ll have to go check in the back room. Two minutes," the man shouts, and I look at Dabriel.

  "What?" he asks when he sees my big smile.

  "Just thinking of all the big feet jokes Alex and Atti would come up with if they were here," I laugh.

  "I don't get it," he says looking at me like I’m strange. I forget that he didn’t grow up around humans.

  "Oh, it's a human rumour that if you have big feet, you have a big–” I stop talking when the man walks back up with the shoes.

  "Big what?" Dabriel asks as he takes the shoes.

  I grab mine and shake my head. "Never mind," I laugh. I’m not answering that.

  He tilts my chin up with his hand and smiles down at me.

  "I know the saying, and one day you will know if the rumour is true," he says in a deeply seductive tone. I blink in shock, and he laughs as he walks over to the benches to change his shoes. Did Dabriel just trick me? I didn’t know he had it in him. It’s damn sexy, I think as I watch him bend over to put his shoes on, and I get a good view of his sexy butt in those jeans he wears when he’s acting human. I like him dressed like this: he has a baseball cap on backwards, and a white shirt and boots that he just took off. I only move when he looks back at me, snapping me out of my staring contest with his ass.

  I go first when we start bowling, and I knock all the pins down. I completely forgot about my perfect aim thing. There is no way I can lose this.

  Dabriel is just as good as I am, and we both end with perfect scores. The place is empty other than the staff and us.

  "We didn't think this through," Dabriel laughs.

  "Nope, but it was fun, normal. I feel like I don't get enough of that anymore," I say, and he pulls me to his chest.

  “How about I buy you lunch? I might treat you to one of those massive milkshakes I saw a photo of on the wall,” he says. I can’t see anything other than his chest, but I hear the smile.

  “That sounds very boyfriend-like.”

  “Being the good boyfriend that I am, I'll find out if they have a chocolate-flavoured milkshake,” he says, and I laugh.

  “You are a good boyfriend, no, an awesome one,” I say and lean back to look up at him. He presses his lips to mine gently before he increases the pressure. My mouth parts, and Dabriel takes over the kiss.

  We do eventually get to have milkshakes and lunch, but we spend a lot of time kissing first.

  Sixty-Two

  Winter

  "No one can get into Paris. Many people are questioning the government’s excuse that it is a chemical explosion, and they have sectioned off Paris to make sure the chemicals aren’t spread into the air. It all sounds made up," a middle-aged man in a suit tells the other anchor on some morning TV show. I know I shouldn’t be sitting here watching this, I should be training or doing anything else, but I can’t.

  "This is what we are being told, but what the people are speaking of is demons and an invisible ward," he says. The humans can’t see the red wall like we can, just a red blur.

  "Yet there is no proof. If demons did take over Paris, wouldn't they want to take over other cities? Demons do not exist, and what people are saying is just nonsense. There is no video evidence," the other man says. He’s much older, around sixty, with a bald head and a smart suit.

  "That's because everything electronic turns off when you get near. People are furious and want to hear from their families who are in the city," the man says in return.

  "The government will open the city when it is safe," the older man says.

  Dabriel turns Atti’s TV off and kneels in front of me.

  "What’s going through that mind, my little wildfire?" he asks me.

  I glance at him. Dabriel is dressed in a white top that stretches across his chest. His muscular arms are on display, and the huge, white wings rest against his sides. His hair is braided at both sides and pulled back to the bottom of his head, and his purple eyes watch me closely. He is very handsome, that I've always known. Dabriel could have anyone he wanted because he looks like he fell straight out of heaven.

  I'm sure that's out of a song somewhere. Or it should be. I’m glad I didn’t say that out loud, that would have been a cheesy line.

  "Winter?" he asks and cocks his head to the side.

  "Everything is being destroyed because of me. I opened that portal and let him out. The goddess died to stop him. Yet I still let him out. I feel like I have all this pressure from that prophecy and who my parents were. My mother believed I would save people. She actually said that to me when I was a baby, and yet, I’ve saved no one. Paris is literally gone, and I know my dear granddad is killing the people there, or he already has, I just–" I blurt out.

  Dabriel rests his finger against my lips to stop my rant. He stands and offers me a hand to get up. No words, just a hand.

  I slide my hand into his, and he moves us into the kitchen where Atti is cooking Mags and Jewels chicken breasts.

  "Take us to my town, to the pool, Atti," Dabriel says as he walks in. Atti takes one look at me and nods.

  "Be back in a second to sort your food out, guys," he tells them both. They both are in their normal cat forms, making me think they prefer their glamors. Atti links his hand with mine and presses a kiss to my forehead as he moves us to where he was asked. I have no idea where he means.

  We appear just outside a long pool inside a white building. The sun shines down on the glass skylight above the pool. The water is clear and brilliantly blue, blue enough that I know it’s not normal water. The tiles look like real gold and feel cold under my bare feet.

  "I’ll come back in a couple of hours for Winter's training," Atti says and kisses me gently before disappearing.

  "Where is this, and why did you bring me here?" I ask Dabriel, and I watch as he steps back and pulls his shirt off. I didn't see the slits before; they are down the sides of his shirt, and they come apart when he pulls. It makes it easy for the shirt to come off. I'm about to comment about how
cool that is when I see his chest. Men's chests can be works of art, but Dabriel’s is something else.

  He has hard pecs that lead to an eight pack that dips to his white trousers. There is also a long scar across his chest, it’s pale and looks old. I wonder how that happened.

  He undoes the top button on his trousers as I watch, and he turns around. My eyes widen when I see his firm ass as his trousers fall to the ground. He kicks them off with his shoes and jumps into the pool with one long dive. I move away when the water splashes me, but I come back close to the edge as he rises in the middle of the pool. His white hair comes around his shoulders as the band is loosened, and his wings are spread out, dripping sparkling water.

  "The reason I brought you here is because this is my favourite place, and it’s mine. Growing up, I was alone a lot. I had a lot of pressure on me at a young age, and I hated that," he tells me. I watch in wonder as white symbols appear all over his body, there isn’t a space that doesn’t have one. They’re hard to look at, to see what they are other than the outline shape. They look like a mixture of lines–some are like crosses, and others look like swirls. I wonder what they mean.

  "My mother went into early labour. I wasn't expected for a month, and she was out in the human world. She was helping a young, human child with cancer and had just healed him. She had me in a park in the middle of Indiana, and she didn't survive it. Angel births are difficult, and mothers rarely survive," he says gently.

  "I'm so sorry," I say.

  "No one was around, but I started glowing. Glowing so brightly that the angels couldn't help but come to me. They all had a vision and had to come to me, no matter what, and..." he says.

  "They found you," I finish his sentence.

  "Yes, and my body was covered in white symbols as my dead mother held onto me. My father never truly cared for her. The bastard had gotten someone else pregnant, while my mother was still pregnant with me. I knew he never cared for my mother growing up, but I learnt how much he despised me with every glance he gave me. I don’t remember him much as he died when I was very young, but what I do remember is being ignored," he says and takes a breath.

  "The angels took me home, and when the news came that the other princes were born, they worshipped me: the prince that was so strong that the goddess had sent him. Then my two younger brothers were born, and my father was devoted to them. I think I threatened his power even as a baby," he says.

  "Do your people like your brothers like your father did?" I ask.

  "Yes. They are cruel and don't hesitate in killing someone,” Dabriel says, his symbols glowing brighter. “I always let my opponent go. I won't kill without reason, or prove myself to anyone," Dabriel says softly. I just nod.

  "You don't have to prove yourself to anyone because of a prophecy. What happened was not your fault, and what we do in our future is up to us," he tells me.

  "Still, many people have died," I say, thinking of Paris. I was there with Atti and Dabriel recently, enjoying Disneyland with all the other normal people. I wonder what’s left of the place where I shared my first kiss with Atti.

  "And many more will, that is just the way things are. But if we fight–if you fight–we can make a future worth living in," he says.

  "Together?" I ask him.

  "Yes, because I love you, Winter. I will love you until I take my last breath and even after my life ends," Dabriel says, and my breath catches.

  I don't say anything as I pull my shirt off. I slowly take all my clothes off as he watches me. Both of us are silent, and he swims close to the edge in front of me. When all my clothes are gone, I sit down on the edge, and his warm hands go to my hips. He lifts me into the warm water, our bodies pressed together and our lips seconds apart.

  "Cor meum tibi, quod tuum est meum in sempiternum,” he whispers. Before I can ask what he means, he kisses me. My back is pushed carefully against the pool wall as I hook my legs around his waist. Dabriel takes his time, stroking my body with his hands until I can't think straight. When I stroke him and guide him inside me, he starts glowing brighter. White symbols cover every part of his body as he pushes himself fully inside me. He kisses my lips before grabbing hold of my hips and drawing out every thrust, making me scream out in pleasure with every movement. He glows so brightly, all I can see is white.

  "Dabriel, I love you," I whisper again and again as we both find our finish. A slight burning fills the middle of the top of my back where my shoulder blades meet making me wince.

  "My mark," Dabriel says and kisses my forehead. He pulls me lower in the pool until the water stops the burning.

  "That feels great," I say, and he laughs.

  "I hope so, my little wildfire."

  "Why do you call me that?" I ask him.

  "Because you have the power to destroy everything in your path. Even if it’s taking their hearts or making them bow to you. It's who you are, you stole every part of me from the first moment we met," he says. I don’t know how he does it, but his words make me fall in love with him a little bit more.

  "When you took my seat in the restaurant," I mumble.

  He laughs, "Yes."

  "What were the words you said to me? I didn't recognise the language," I mumble. I also wonder what the new mark looks like.

  "The ancient mating words in Latin," Dabriel says and kisses me before he tells me the sweetest and truest words he has ever said to me.

  "My heart is yours forever."

  Sixty-Three

  Jaxson

  "Freddy, turn that music down!" I shout across the hall of the castle. Freddy’s room is at the very end of the corridor which has the guys’ rooms and Winter’s in the middle. I want him close to us.

  "He is acting like a teenager already," Wyatt says, coming to stand next to me.

  "I'm just glad Anna has taken Marie to visit her parents for the day on the other side of the castle," I tell him. I did offer Anna a room in this corridor, but she decided to stay in the block of rooms the wolves are taking over. She says it’s nice to have the help all the time. Marie looks so much like Fergus, it’s haunting. I wish I could have saved him.

  "Winter is coming soon," Wyatt replies, and I nod, swallowing my grief at both my brother and sister being gone.

  "She has mated to Dabriel," I tell Wyatt. I'm not surprised he felt the change, too, yesterday. I felt when she mated to Wyatt as well. It’s like Winter is a link between us all. There has always been a link, a reason we all got along, but it’s stronger now. I would die for any of them, to protect them.

  "So, you think I should tell him?" Wyatt asks me. I know what he’s referring to.

  "Yes. We both had shit fathers. Freddy deserves to know he has a good fucking one," I say, and Wyatt pats me on the shoulder.

  "Thank you. Come train with me. I’ve missed kicking your ass," he says, and I laugh.

  "I could do with some sword training," I say and walk out the door. We go to the training room, which is outside the castle and actually just a huge room inside a stone building. The room is full of wolves and a few vampires. None of them are fighting together, and there’s a clear divide. Every one of them bows when they see us both. At least they do that together. The amount of fucking fights we’ve had is unreal. I know they hate each other, but all of them are hiding here. Many of the wolves look at Wyatt with distrust. I feel their worry in my bond, and I try to send calm to them.

  "A fight between the vampire king and wolf king. Should be interesting to watch," I shout, and a few wolves cheer. The vampires stop what they are doing to watch. I grab two heavy swords and chuck one at Wyatt, who catches it perfectly. The wolves move away to make a large circle in the middle of the room. I stand a distance away from Wyatt and hold my sword up.

  "Come on then, vampire," I grin, and he laughs before he charges with his own sword. I swerve to avoid him and swing around, but he is as quick as I am, and he meets my swing.

  We fight for ages, neither one of us giving up and both of us dripping with sweat.<
br />
  "Hey," Winter says, making me turn, and I feel the sword pressed against my neck a second later.

  "Unfair distraction," I say.

  "Never be distracted," Wyatt shrugs and drops his sword.

  "Fucker," I mutter and walk over to Winter who smiles.

  "Did Atti bring you?" I ask as I kiss her.

  "Yes, and Milo came too, but he went to hang out with Freddy," she says. She treats Milo like her own child and not a mini-demon. I'm thankful Milo is nothing like the rest of his alcoholic kind, but it’s still strange how well-trained she has him. They are way too alike; both of them eat my food and adore chocolate.

  "Hey, sweetheart," Wyatt says as he comes over, and he leans down to kiss her. I always hated the idea of sharing her. Fucking hated it, but I don't anymore. It seems right.

  "Hey, how’s everything going?" she asks us both.

  "Good, the castle isn't far from being done, and the wolves are settling a little better with the vampires. Freddy and his friend Mich have made friends with a vampire child their age. It’s a start," I tell her. Wyatt seems to like this information as he smirks a little.

  "That's great," she grins.

  "I have a present for Freddy," she holds up a paper bag.

  "Let’s go then," I say and link my hand with hers. Wyatt walks behind us as we go to the castle. The few wolves we cross bow to us, the vampires do the same. The music is still loud outside Freddy’s room, and I knock loudly.

  "A girl is about to come into that mess of a room you call a bedroom."

  I hear the music being turned off before Freddy opens the door. His hair is all over the place, and his crinkled clothes are the same he slept in.