Romancing the Guardians Series: Part One (Romancing the Guardians Box Set Book 1)

by Lyn Horner

  Unfortunately, the house was dark and silent except for the squeak of rats as he walked the perimeter. He saw no loosened boards on the windows and doors or any other sign of human occupants. Disappointed, he returned to his car and drove up and down the neighborhood streets, stopping to investigate several other abandoned houses, always with the same frustrating outcome.

  After the last place, Dev headed back to his SUV, steps dragging and worried sick for Michaela. Hearing footsteps and recalling Russ’s warning, he whipped around and saw three dark forms sneaking up on him. Shit! He didn’t have time for this.

  “Stop right there!” he shouted, halting them in their tracks. Automatically, he stepped into a wide stance on the balls of his feet, ready for an attack. He hoped he wouldn’t need the gun tucked in his waistband at his back.

  “Who you think you are tellin’ us what to do?” one of them jeered. “This here’s our turf. You a damn fool for comin’ round here at night.”

  “I’ve got business here that doesn’t concern you,” he said, suspecting they were members of some local teenage gang. “And you don’t want to mess with me. I’m ex Special Forces.”

  “Oooh, I’m so scared, ain’t you boys?” The speaker and his pals laughed scornfully and, as if on cue, charged him.

  Dev pivoted aside, at the same time delivering a karate chop to the throat of his nearest assailant. The punk dropped to his knees, clasping his throat and wheezing for air. The other two paused briefly; then they came at him again. He felled one with a straight-legged kick to his knee, not hard enough to cripple him, but the kid screamed and tumbled to the ground. Dev wasn’t quick enough to take out the third attacker before a blade slashed his left side. Clenching his teeth at the sharp pain, he grabbed the kid’s knife arm to prevent him from striking again and landed a haymaker to his jaw, knocking him senseless.

  Digging a handkerchief from his back pocket, Dev pressed it to his side to slow the bleeding. As he strode to the Range Rover he spotted a squad car approaching up the street, lights flashing but siren quiet, called in by the cop back at Michaela’s house, he assumed. Let them deal with the three young idiots who’d attacked him, he thought, opening his car door. He was about to climb in when Michaela screamed his name.

  He whirled around, wildly looking for her in the dark. Then he realized her voice was in his head. She was crying out to him for help!

  An image suddenly burst into his mind. It took only a split second to recognize the boarded-up house they’d seen during their drive west across the island. She was telling him where to find her. Thank God!

  “I’m coming, Goldie!” he cried, jumping into the car and starting the engine.

  CHAPTER NINE

  Michaela’s gaze locked on the knife as Andrew drew circles in the air with it, coming closer and closer until the menacing point was barely an inch from her eyes. When he nicked her chin, she jumped and tried to turn her face away, but he grasped her jaw and forced her to face forward.

  “No, no, you can’t look away, my pretty. I want to see your pain.”

  She shuddered uncontrollably, dreading the next kiss of the blade. Stomach clenched, she tasted fear at the back of her throat. It was like the stink of dead fish. Desperate to hold him off, she did the only thing she could do. She closed her eyes and dove into his mind. A flood of hideous thoughts swamped her, making her gag and break the link with him. Hearing him scream, she knew her attack worked.

  Opening her eyes, she watched him stumble backward, drop the knife and clutch his head. Eyes squeezed shut and mouth twisted in an ugly grimace, he fell to his knees and rocked back and forth, keening in pain. Michaela breathed a shaky sigh, knowing this was only a temporary reprieve. He would recover and when he did, she expected him to viciously pay her back for striking out at him. Unless he didn’t realize she had caused that sudden pain in his head. It was possible since she hadn’t told him about her gift, but she feared he would deduce she was somehow to blame.

  Within minutes, he recovered enough to stand. From his pale face and furrowed brow, she could tell he was still experiencing pain, but that didn’t keep him from glaring at her and confirming her fear.

  “You! You did that to me, didn’t you!” he growled. Rushing at her, he slapped her on both cheeks, knocking her head from side to side, making her ears ring. When she screamed, he cut off her breath with another punch to her stomach.

  “If I didn’t need to know where the scroll is, I’d kill you right now, bitch!” he snarled.

  Almost past caring if he did, Michaela found enough air to spit in his face.

  *

  Dev called Russ McKinney as he drove like a madman across town, running lights, winding in and out of sparse late-night traffic, not caring about anything but getting to Michaela. Telling Russ he’d gotten a tip on where she was being held, he gave directions to the abandoned house and asked for the brothers to meet him there. He might yet need their help if the bastard who’d taken her – his gut told him it was Kohler – had backup.

  Leaving the city behind, he streaked along the westbound road, virtually deserted at this hour. He was so driven to reach the boarded-up house that he nearly missed it in the dark. Spotting it just in time, he braked and dimmed his lights as he pulled onto the shoulder, not wanting to alert his quarry. Coasting to a stop, he cut power, stepped out of the car and quietly closed the door.

  The house stood on its crooked stilts maybe forty yards from the road. Running toward it, he ignored the pain from his wounded side. He nearly fell once on the uneven ground but didn’t slow his pace. As he neared the battered dwelling he saw slivers of light seeping out around the boarded-over windows and made out the dark bulk of a car parked on the far side of the place. He skirted the outside, finding a ladder around back. It led up to a doorway. The stairs that had once stood there were gone, no doubt swept away by the storm surge from Hurricane Ike.

  Practicing stealth skills acquired in the Special Forces, he started climbing. He was halfway up the ladder when he heard a man’s enraged voice followed by the sound of a slap and Michaela’s cry of pain. Blood boiling, he raced up the rest of the way and butted open the door with his shoulder. At the sound, Kohler whirled to face him, mouth open in shock.

  “You!” he blurted as Dev heaved himself inside and rolled to his feet.

  Dev saw Michaela tied to a chair, her blood-spattered nightgown torn open, revealing her breasts. Head swaying like a bobblehead doll, she stared at him with glazed eyes. Her face was bruised, her lips bloody, but awareness appeared in her gaze. She recognized him and managed a pained smile.

  “Dev! You got … my message.” she said brokenly.

  “Yeah. Sorry I let this happen to you, Goldie.” His hate-filled gaze locked on the animal who had hurt her.

  “You’re bleeding!” she cried.

  Kohler darted a glance at her. “Shut up, you stupid cow!” Then he aimed a malevolent glare at Dev. “And you! You think you’re going to save her? Not likely.”

  “You’re a dead man,” Dev growled, starting for him. He didn’t notice the knife lying on the floor until Kohler lunged for it, coming up in a crouch with the long switchblade in his grip. Dev paused, eyeing the deadly stiletto blade.

  “We’ll see about that,” the snake jeered. Brandishing his knife, he pointed at Dev’s bloody shirt. “I’m going to enjoy finishing the job somebody started.”

  Dev almost reached for his gun, but shooting the bastard right away would be too good for him. First, he was going to suffer for what he’d done to Michaela. He bent into a defensive posture and crooked his fingers with a malicious grin. “Try it.”

  Kohler circled him, looking for a vulnerable place to strike. Pivoting with his every move, Dev never exposed his back to the threatening knife. Suddenly, the mongrel growled and sprang at him. Dev met him with a headbutt to his nose. Cartilage crunched and Kohler screamed. He stumbled backward, slapping a hand over his bloody nose. Closing in, Dev grabbed his knife arm and twisted, trying
to make him drop the weapon. It didn’t work.

  Switching tactics, he tripped his adversary and fell on top of him, driving a whoosh of air from Kohler’s lungs. He banged the man’s wrist on the wood floor until he finally released the knife. Cursing, the Minnesotan caught him off guard with a knee to his groin. Dev cried out at the paralyzing pain as Kohler threw him off and scrambled to his feet. He snatched up the knife and came at Dev.

  “Dev, watch out!” Michaela yelled.

  Managing to roll out of the way, he narrowly escaped the blade. Thrown off balance, Kohler nearly fell. He shrieked like a madman and swung out with his knife. Fresh pain ripped across Dev’s upper arm. He grunted, struggled to his feet and leaned against the wall at his back. Never taking his eyes off the other man, who had backed off to catch his breath, he pressed a hand over the wound. This had to end soon. Between his arm and his side, he was losing blood fast.

  “Not so tough now, are you big boy,” Kohler scoffed.

  “You got lucky. Now it’s my turn.” Dev felt a little lightheaded, but that wasn’t going to stop him from meting out justice to this jackal.

  “Yeah? Prove it.”

  He answered by stepping away from the wall and feinting swiftly to his right. As Kohler started to swing in that direction, Dev leaned sideways and kicked out. He didn’t hold back the way he’d done with that young street punk earlier. This time he drove his boot full force into his target’s right arm. Bones snapped. Kohler shrieked and staggered. The switchblade dropped from his useless fingers. Clutching his busted arm, he stumbled away, sniveling like a little kid.

  Stalking him, Dev swung his leg out again and struck the back of his knees. Kohler screamed when he hit the floor. Dev threw himself on top of him, the impact shaking the rickety house.

  “Filthy woman beater! Now you’re gonna pay!” With that, he proceeded to pound Kohler’s face to a bloody pulp.

  Michaela watched with mixed feelings as Dev pummeled Andrew into unconsciousness. Part of her took satisfaction in her torturer’s pain, but another part hated seeing Dev inflict such brutal damage.

  “Dev, stop! You’ll kill him! You’re better than that,” she pleaded, with no effect. Suddenly, the house made an awful groaning noise and the floor tilted. The chair she was tied to slid sideways a few inches.

  “Oh Goddess! The house is moving!” she shouted, heart hammering against her ribcage.

  Snapping his head up, Dev glanced at her over his shoulder. The house groaned again and her chair slid in the opposite direction. She cried out in fright. Dev rolled off Andrew’s motionless body and bounded to his feet. He swayed unsteadily, whether due to the house wobbling or to loss of blood, Michaela didn’t know. Snatching up Andrew’s knife, he rushed to her side.

  “Hold on, honey. I’ll have you free in a minute,” he said. He slashed through the plastic tie binding her wrists.

  She sighed in relief and rubbed her sore wrists with numb hands while he freed her ankles. Then he helped her to her feet and drew her into a tight hug “I was afraid I’d lost you, Goldie.”

  “So was I, Dev.” Fighting off tears of gratitude and an emotion she was afraid to name, she pushed away. “Let’s get out of here before the place falls down.”

  “You took the words out of my mouth.” With his arm around her, he hustled her to the doorway, but he seemed to lean on her, clearly feeling the effects of blood loss. Even so, he said, “The stairs are gone but there’s a ladder. Climb on my back and I’ll carry you down.”

  She smiled, or tried to with her swollen lips, and shook her head. “Don’t play macho man, Dev Medina. You’re weak from loss of blood. I can get myself down just fine.”

  “I’m not weak!” he snapped, apparently insulted, but then he shrugged. “If you want to try it on your own, fine. Only I go first so I can catch you if you slip.”

  She glanced at Andrew. “What about him? We can’t leave him here to die if the house collapses.”

  “Why not? He would have killed you.” Dev’s voice rang with hatred for her attacker.

  “I know but it’s not right. I … I couldn’t live with myself.”

  He sighed impatiently. “All right, I’ll get him out, but not until you’re safe.”

  She gave him another puffy smile. “Thank you.”

  “Mmm. Watch me now and do what I do.” Dropping to his knees, he backed out, gripping the doorframe until his feet found purchase on the ladder. He let himself down a few steps, disappearing from view. “Your turn,” he called up to her. “Grab the doorframe like I did and kind of slide down until your feet connect with the ladder.”

  She gulped, not nearly as confident as she’d pretended and hurting from the beating she’d endured. But the house was groaning louder and moving more and more. She mustn’t turn coward. Don’t think, just do it!

  Lying down on her belly, bare breasts brushing the chilly floor, she maneuvered backward through the dark opening. Her fingers dug into the partially rotten doorframe. Frightened half out of her mind, she dropped over the side, sought and found a rung of the ladder with her foot. With her mouth dry as dust and stomach churning, she hung there as the ladder shifted side-to-side with the house.

  “You’re doing good,” Dev said encouragingly, one hand on the back of her cold, bare leg. “Come on down now, one step at a time.”

  Trembling with cold and fear, she gathered the last of her courage and followed him down. When her feet finally touched ground, her legs were shaking so badly that she almost collapsed, but he caught her and hugged her tight again. Beneath her ear, she heard his heart pounding and she gloried in his warm, familiar scent. She also smelled the metallic odor of blood.

  “We have to stop your bleeding.” Stepping back, she yank up her ruined nightgown and tore a side seam open several inches, preparing to rip a strip off the bottom. “I’ll bandage your arm and –”

  “No! That can wait.” He grasped her arm. “Come on. I want you well away from this place.”

  She resisted the tug of his hand. “But you said you would –”

  A loud cracking noise cut her off. She glanced at the house and saw it tilt crazily at one back corner. Another ear-splitting crack sounded. The timbers supporting the structure were breaking, she realized in stunned silence. Then Dev scooped her up, drawing a startled cry from her throat, and ran.

  A thunderous rumble shattered the night behind them. Clinging to Dev’s neck, Michaela looked past his shoulder, watching the dark shape of the house – her torture chamber – break apart and crash to earth, almost certainly putting an end to Andrew Kohler’s wretched life. Far enough away now, Dev set her on her feet and they turned to watch the ghostly cloud of dust and debris settle to earth.

  “I couldn’t have gotten him out, Goldie,” he said, panting for breath and swaying much like the house had done.

  “And you would have been killed if you’d tried.” Choked with emotion, she wrapped her arms around him. “Oh, Dev, I’m so glad you weren’t in there.”

  “Yeah, me too,” he said, slurring his words and sagging against her, ready to collapse.

  “No!” she gasped, struggling to hold him up, but he was far too heavy for her. She cried out as he toppled over, taking her down with him. Somehow, he managed to land on his back instead of on top of her.

  “Sorry, baby,” he mumbled.

  “Dev!” she wailed, shaking his broad shoulders. He didn’t respond. Scooting off of him, she rose and glanced frantically around, searching for a house or business she could run to for help. She saw none. However, she did spot Dev’s SUV parked by the road. Thinking maybe she could drag him over there and somehow heft him into the car, she grabbed his arms and tugged. He didn’t move an inch. She tried again, with the same result. Feeling helpless to save him, she broke into tears.

  “Dear Goddess, please send help. Don’t let him die! I love him!” That admission brought a sense of new life to her soul, but if she lost this man it would be like losing Tara all over again. She couldn’t
go on, she wouldn’t want to without him.

  As if in answer to her prayer, headlights appeared seconds later in the direction of town. Oblivious to her half naked state, she ran stumbling into the middle of the road and waved her arms frantically. Whoever the oncoming driver was, he or she would either stop or run her down. To her immense relief, the car slowed and pulled over. Recalling her sad lack of attire then, she clutched the edges of her torn gown, attempting to cover herself.

  The car doors opened and two men stepped out. For a moment they just stood there staring at her. Then the driver walked slowly closer, causing her to back up a step.

  “P-please, I need your help,” she begged, teeth chattering with cold and a new wave of fear. Would they help or would they harm her and leave Dev bleeding to death?

  “Are you Michaela?” the man asked.

  Astonished, she caught her breath. “Y-y-yes. How do you know my name?”

  “I’m Russ, that’s my brother Bobby.” He hooked his thumb toward the tall, thin man standing farther away. “We’re friends of Dev’s. He called and asked us to meet him out here to help rescue you. Where is he?”

  “Oh, thank you!” She went weak with relief. Shaking violently, she pointed to where Dev lay. “H-he’s over there. He l-lost so much b-blood that he p-passed out. I c-couldn’t get him to the car and … .”

  Russ interrupted her babbling. “Okay, we’ll take care of him. Bobby, grab my jacket out of the car and bring it to the lady. She’s freezing.”

  Michaela closed her eyes and gave thanks to Danu for answering her prayer.

  CHAPTER TEN

  Dev came to with a pressure cuff squeezing his arm. Opening his eyes, he squinted at the bright overhead lights, turned his head and watched a matronly African American nurse read his blood pressure. Her nametag read ‘Louise’. Finished, she looked up and met his gaze.