The Four Horsemen_Guardians

by LJ Swallow

  I hold him tight, refusing to take my mouth from his, as if he's the air I need to breathe, desperate and yielding. I dizzy to a new high as his tongue explores my mouth and his taste intoxicates me further.

  But Ewan pulls away. My heart twists in pain as he holds me at arms’ length, hands gripping my shoulders. I’m on the verge of launching myself at him, at showing him how strong I am, and convincing him this is what we need to do, but one thing stops me. His expression. I don’t want Ewan to look at me with this wariness; I don’t want us to only be driven by my need to unite our powers.

  I want Ewan to look at me with eyes filled with passion and love, not this shut-down guy whose response would only be primal lust. I want this to be about us, about showing him I’m Vee and giving ourselves to each other.

  I’ve fooled myself that Xander is the one who resists me; I broke through his barriers much quicker than Ewan’s.

  "You're the heart of us all, Vee. Don't destroy who we are."

  His heart races beneath my palm when I rest it on his shirt, as it betrays the feelings he unleashed. We stand, locked in a moment a world away from the last time we were here. A moment where I know I’ll need to fight harder for Ewan than anyone else.

  "I need time out.” Ewan grabs his leather jacket from the chair. I watch in shock, as the thread linking my heart to his pulls tight, then snaps as he walks out of the door without saying goodbye.

  I slump onto a kitchen chair and hold my head in my hands, hair falling forward to brush the table. Ewan’s bike rumbles to life, and the roar distances as he drives away, echoing through the day. My cheek smarts from our kisses, his taste on my lips, and I fight the welling tears. My head’s a mess. A complete fucking mess.

  I thought I knew who I was, and what I needed, but I don’t at all. If I lose my emotions, I will also lose who I am to them. Ewan’s words and behaviour made this clear. In my heart, I know I want to keep the ability to love and care. So why is there another Vee inside demanding I sacrifice this to become who I need to be?

  Will she consume me?

  22

  JOSS

  The sense something follows me grows as the hours pass. Sometimes I catch a glimpse in the corner of my eye, a shadow moving, but when I blink or look around there’s nothing in the room. This could be my tired eyesight, but I'm terrified something will overcome me again.

  I don't want to go to that place a second time.

  Worse, each time I remember, the fear grows and my mind fogs. Now when the gripping anxiety leaves, I feel less. A lack of anything. Even around Vee, I don't have the same desire for her. It’s as if I’m still trapped in the cage, suffocating.

  Ewan and I spoke to Xander and Heath about what happened, and I mentioned to Vee how I'm exhausted and about the encounter I don't understand. When I downplayed how I'm feeling, she seemed confident I'd be okay.

  I wish I was.

  Our visit to the Collector barely registers with me. We went, retrieved information, and left. Usually I'd question someone a lot more than I did, but I didn't care. Couldn't be bothered. All I want to do is sleep; an exhaustion I haven't felt before. I don't care. I'm tired and just want a break from this shit. I told Vee and Ewan I wanted to lie down, and that's exactly my intention.

  I prop my hands above my head and stare at the lampshade above, fighting the drowsiness. The shadows intensify each time I doze off, as does my fear the vision will return with them.

  But I’m so fucking tired. My eyelids flutter as I attempt to stay awake. In my semi-conscious state, I dream the shadow grows and drifts around my room. As I’m dragged deeper into unconsciousness, the darkness grows.

  The shadow is here and morphs into a tall figure, and the last of my energy drains away.

  VEE

  I wander from the kitchen towards the lounge room, confusion following me. What do I do now? My intention to lie on the sofa and lick my wounds dissipates as I reach the bottom of the stairs.

  I can’t pass.

  A dread grips, washing over me, and paralyses every muscle. Demon? No, but something is wrong, a discomfort running through I haven’t felt since the day Ewan was attacked. My heart races and breathing shortens as if I’m about to have a panic attack, and I have to fight the instinct to run from the house. I stare at the steps leading upstairs in front of me.

  Joss is up there.

  I curl my hand around the stair rail and focus on breathing and channelling out the fear, forcing my power through to squeeze the dread away. What the hell is happening? I slump to the bottom step and struggle to stand again.

  Joss.

  Pushing away the paralysis as concern for him overtakes the fear for myself, I run up the stairs, two at a time. Joss’s bedroom door is shut, and his room silent. Whatever presence is causing my weird reaction grows as the dread shivers further through me, dragging the paralysis down my spine again. I reach out, but the door handle won’t move. Stepping back, I summon the strength from the War fighting through and smack my shoulder into the hard wood.

  The door slams open, hitting Joss’s bedroom wall with a crash.

  An incorporeal dark figure sits on Joss’s chest, what look like hands covering his face. Joss doesn’t struggle, or move, and the figure grows in size before my eyes, stretching upwards towards the ceiling, a swirling black mass darkening the room. An intense cold adds more chill to my blood and the dread feeling intensifies.

  I’m too stunned to move or speak, unable to form a plan what to do. At the noise, the apparition shifts away from Joss and toward me; the edges mist into an arm shape and reach out.

  Red eyes glow somewhere in the centre, but the spectre swirls in and out of shape. There’s no face. No expression. No clue where I should attack.

  The shape rushes at me before I can summon any power: I don’t know what would work. Where would I hit it if I took on War? Where’s its heart to target with Death's magic? How can I turn this incorporeal presence into dust using Famine? The options fly through my head, and I’m lost.

  I brace myself for an assault, prepared for whatever power will take hold. Instead, the darkness flies by my head and through the bedroom door and my face smarts as if an Arctic wind has hit me.

  I whirl around, but there’s nothing in the hallway. Should I hunt whatever it is? But what’s the point when I have no clue how to kill whatever it is? I cautiously approach Joss’s prone figure. His skin has a jaundiced yellow hue, eyes sunken into his sockets and surrounded by dark circles. I place a hand on his forehead, panic returning as I look at his blue lips and the sharp collarbones digging against his shirt and replacing the lean muscle.

  "Joss?” My voice is edged with panic, hoarse and tiny in the middle of the horror.

  He’s cold. Unmoving.

  I take his wrist, but already know the answer. I can’t sense anything from him—no fear, no pain, only emptiness. This tells me exactly what Joss’s non-existent pulse confirms.

  Whatever was in the room with us killed him.

  And Heath isn’t here.

  TO BE CONTINUED

  The Four Horsemen: Chaos is available for pre-order here:

  AMAZON US

  AMAZON UK

  AMAZON AU

  Also available for a LIMITED TIME :

  The Four Horsemen: Tricked

  This is a bonus Halloween story and is approximately 14,000 words. The book isn’t part of the main storyline and more of a ‘bonus episode’ so can be skipped if you don’t like short stories.

  Amazon US

  Amazon UK

  Amazon AU

  Thank you for reading. I hope you’re enjoying the series. Could I please ask you to take time to leave a review on Amazon? It would really help me out!

  I love to chat to readers so if you have any questions or comments you can contact me at lisa@lisaswallow.net

  OTHER BOOKS BY LJ SWALLOW

  The Four Horsemen Series

  Reverse Harem Urban Fantasy

  Legacy

 
Bound

  Hunted

  Guardians

  Chaos

  (Other books releasing 2018)

  The Soul Ties series

  New Adult Paranormal Romance/Urban Fantasy

  Fated Souls: A Prequel Novella

  Soul Ties

  Torn Souls

  Shattered Souls

  Touched By The Dark

  Paranormal romance/Urban fantasy

  Books by Lisa Swallow

  Like contemporary romance? I write those too!

  What would you prefer to read?

  British rock star romance?

  Try broody Dylan…

  Summer Sky

  Or bad boy Jax…

  Cadence

  College romance at an English university?

  Because of Lucy

  Hollywood romance?

  Unscripted

  A gamer romance?

  End Game

  And More….

  amazon.com/author/lisaswallow

  Acknowledgments

  A special thanks to those who continue to support me in this crazy writing world!

  A special thanks to Lou for her support, friendship and for your honesty and help.

  Thanks also to Chelle Whitaker for her pre-ARC read and advice. I promise I’ll destroy the room next time.

  Thanks also to all the lovely readers who are members of the Four Horsemen readers group and share my excitement for the series. And a thank you to my ARC team for spotting errors.

  Thank you to Krys Janae from TakeCover Designs for the beautiful cover art, and to Peggy for her editing excellence and friendship.

  And thank you all for taking a chance on The Four Horsemen and reading the series!

  About the Author

  LJ Swallow is a USA Today bestselling paranormal romance and urban fantasy author who is the alter-ego of USA Today bestselling contemporary romance author Lisa Swallow.

  Giving in to her dark side, LJ spends time creating worlds filled with supernatural creatures who don’t fit the norm, and heroines who are more likely to kick ass than sit on theirs.

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  For more information:

  ljswallow.com

  lisa@lisaswallow.net