Protector

by Messenger, Tressa

  “My father and I scouted out the buildings you told us about,” Alessandro says remembering that night. “We saw five Rogues go into a building so we came back here to tell the rest of you. Father wanted me to go get Anna-Marie and bring her back here because it was too dangerous for her right now.

  “While I was at her apartment, I could smell that putrid smell of a Rogue, so I looked out the window and saw one running from the fire escape across from her building. I knew it had to have followed me, so we left as fast as we could.

  “A few blocks up the road, we saw a Rogue standing in the middle of the road and another one behind us. There was nowhere to go but straight.”

  Michael clinches his fists and starts to pace back and forth through the small space.

  “I tried to outrun them.” Alessandro looks at Michael pacing back and forth with anger radiating off of him. “But even I knew it was pointless.

  “One of them jumped on the car and smashed through my window, so I ran into a light pole to get him off. Looking back now that was a pretty lame move, but I had to do something.

  “Anna-Marie was thrown through the windshield and knocked unconscious. I couldn’t get to her because I was going in and out of consciousness as well. One of them pulled me out of the car and I tried to fight. I swear I tried, but I had no strength. I thought for sure I was a goner. All I wanted to do was look at her one last time, but she wasn’t there anymore.”

  Alessandro stops talking and closes his eyes as the last memory of the night comes back to him. His voice is gone and his throat is burning from holding back his emotions.

  Michael notices the quietness and stops pacing and looks at his brother. Alessandro is so pained it’s hard for him to look at him. Michael has never seen him so defeated before, except when his mom died. This time is different. Alessandro already felt what a loss of this magnitude feels like, now he has to feel it all over again. Never in his life has he ever felt like he needed to worry about Alessandro. Not until now. The raw emotion is vibrating off of him and smashing into every object in the room, including Michael. Alessandro opens his red eyes and sits up.

  “Man, they took her because of me. I knew better, but I didn’t listen to my brain screaming at me about how damn stupid it is to fall for a human.”

  “Dude, you couldn’t have known.”

  “Seriously, with our lives and from what we have seen in the past, yes, I most definitely should have known. Had I not been such a selfish prick, she would be in her apartment right now, probably still miserable and hating life, but at least she’d be alive.”

  “You don’t know that she is dead.”

  “Whatever, man! I know better than to believe that shit,” Alessandro says and lays back down and closes his eyes again.

  Michael knows he’s right. Rogues are vicious animals. They are deadly and uncontrollable. There’s no way a puny little human woman can take care of herself against even one of them, let alone a nest.

  Let’s just pray they kill her after the rounds of rape she will most likely endure, as to not have to live through birthing a bastard Mixed Breed, Michael thinks to himself.

  “Man, I really just want to be alone right now.”

  “Alright Ales, but when you’re ready, get your ass up and let’s go teach some Rogues a lesson about what happens when they mess with us.”

  As soon as Michael closes the door, Alessandro breaks down.

  “Please, Ameretat, I beg you. I need you now more than ever before,” he begs through sobs. “Please, goddess, don’t let this be my fate.”

  Tears flow deep and hard from the very pit of his stomach in a never ending stream of pain. Pain so torturous he can feel it convulsing in nerve in his body.

  He curls up into the fetal position like a child and lets the emotions devour him until he passes out once again.

  ***

  Anna-Marie has been going in and out of consciousness since the accident. Each time she awakes she doesn’t know what time or day it is. Her body hurts all over from the accident and she feels as if she is paralyzed. Opening her eyes has been next to impossible.

  “When’s she going to wake up?” Anna-Marie hears someone ask.

  “I don’t know, hopefully soon,” says another voice.

  “I wonder if he’ll be mad if I take a little nibble. The smell of her blood is making me hungry again,” says the first voice.

  Anna-Marie blinks her eyes open, just slightly, through the throbbing pain, to find herself laying on what seems to be a bed in a dark room. It’s the first time she has been able to open her eyes. She’s not in a room she recognizes as far as she can tell and the smell of this place is horrible. The god-awful stench burns her nose.

  She tries to lift her hand to rub the throbbing from her temples, but finds she is unable to move her arms. Bravely, she bites back the torturous pain and lifts up her head to see that both of her hands are tied down.

  What the heck?

  She hears talking again and she slowly turns her head towards the sounds and sees some light coming in through the cracks in the door. She decides to take her chances and yells, “Help! Someone!”

  “Shh…listen, she’s finally awake now,” says the second voice again, “I’ll go tell him.” There’s a pause. “On second thought, you can’t be trusted so why don’t you go tell him.”

  She hears the first man grunt and hard footsteps follow.

  Anna-Marie closes her mouth as quickly as she can to stop anymore sound from coming out. It’s apparent they aren’t the good guys.

  He? Who is he talking about? she asks herself.

  She lays there silently, waiting to hear more talking to give her some kind of clue where she is and who these mystery men are. The last thing she can remember is being with Alessandro in his Porsche. He held her tear-streaked stare and told her to trust him and she did. The rest is a blank.

  Alessandro? Where are you and where am I? Why can’t I remember?

  She looks around the dark room again, hoping her eyes will adjust soon. As she lifts her throbbing head once again, a flash like lightening jolts through her brain.

  A picture becomes clear of a dark street with a creature standing in the middle of the road and another behind them. She hears Alessandro tell her to “hold on tight” before she closes her eyes. The only thing she remembers after that is complete darkness.

  She closes her eyes again hoping for more memories to come to her.

  Instantly, she opens her eyes again to a nightmare come true, as her brain finally begins to work.

  “Rogue!” she says in a barely audible whisper. She starts tugging and pulling on her restraints not even feeling or caring about the pain any longer.

  She knows if the Rogues have her, she has to find a way to get off this bed if she has any hopes of surviving.

  “Oh, my God! How is this possible?” she yells in frustration and fear.

  She freezes and her breath catches in her throat, “No! That’s not possible. It can’t be!” she says to herself.

  Fresh tears start to form in her eyes. She believed Alessandro when he said he would stand in front of her to protect her if he had to. If he’s not here now the conclusion can only mean one thing. Alessandro is dead.

  “No, it can’t be!” She screams and cries deep torturous tears.

  She doesn’t care anymore about being heard. Everything in her life has been taken from her once again by these monsters. What else could they do to her?

  “Let them come and do whatever it is they want. You hear me! I don’t care anymore!”

  She barely lived through losing Dylan and now she has lost Alessandro, too. What’s the point of going on when life is so painful?

  “Screw you, you bastards!” she screams at all who might be able to hear her.

  Defeated, she curls up as much as she can with her arms stretched out wide and cries out her heartache.

  She cries for the loss of Dylan to these callous beasts. A man so unbelievably amazing and unlike
any other, a man who had been her best friend her whole life, a man that had every right in the universe to live a long and happy life.

  Then she cries for Alessandro, her otherworldly, guarded, mysterious protector, the man who brought her out of the darkness to all new possibilities, a man who lived his life so unselfishly to protect others and gave his life to protect her, a man who found a way to battle his own demons to fall in love with her. She thinks of him now and the torment she feels at the thought of never seeing him again.

  “I’m so sorry. I love you, too,” she cries to herself, wishing she had told him how she felt.

  Shocking herself with those words, she begins to cry even harder. The same raw panicked desperation is beginning to set in, just like after Dylan died. Her heart feels as if someone is reaching into her chest and is grabbing it on both sides and pulling it apart.

  Then she cries for herself and the life she has lost. A year ago she had everything in the world she could ever want. She lived in the town she has loved her whole life, she had her dream job and she was with a man who she adored above all else and who felt the same about her. There was nothing else she’d dare ask for. Now all of it is gone.

  Her life has been so painful and dark for the past year. She never once thought it could be possible that she would ever be normal again. Even though her eyes have been opened up to a whole new world, one in which consists of angels and evil creatures, she has felt more normal in the past few weeks than she has in a long time.

  All of that has been taken away from her once again. She cries for herself because she knows she can’t and won’t live through this again.

  15

  Marquis stares down at his sleeping son curled up on the tiny hospital bed as if he were a child. Even asleep he looks so tortured. Marquis has never seen him so distraught in all his life, except for when it came to the loss of his mother, although this seems different.

  He knows Alessandro has always blamed himself for his mother’s death. But as easy as it would be to do so also, Marquis never has. They both lost a lot that day. His son is all he has left of his beautiful Gemma, and now it has happened again. Such misfortune should never be experienced once, let alone twice.

  It’s hard for him to watch his beloved son going through the same torment he himself went through so many years ago. He knows the anguish and pain he is feeling and knows it will haunt him for the rest of his life. Feeling helpless is not an emotion a warrior experiences often in their lives, but if they ever do, it can be intense and sometimes even life changing.

  Marquis sits on the side of the bed and moves the black hair from his son’s angelic face. Alessandro looks so much like his mother it’s uncanny. How could Marquis not treasure him?

  Alessandro’s eyes flutter open slightly, “Father?”

  “Yes, Alessandro, I’m here.”

  “I’m sorry that I let you down.”

  Marquis frowns, “Son, you have never let me down.”

  “But it was my fault with mom and now again with Anna-Marie. They are both dead because they were damned for loving me.” There are no more tears left for Alessandro to cry, despite his utter sadness.

  “I don’t know where you ever got that your mom’s death was your fault.”

  “She was out there to get me,” Alessandro says in a small voice.

  “Son, I knew your mother very well. Yes, she was there to get you, but it’s because she loved you so much. She was very strong-willed when it came to you. No one could have stopped her, not that day or any other. Anna-Marie isn’t your fault either, fate stepped in and completely took over. The two of you were just bystanders. You could have kept fighting it, but as you have seen, the universe just kept pushing the two of you together.”

  “Yeah, I guess.”

  “Come on, why don’t you get out of this bed? You don’t need to be in the medical ward any longer. You have been in here for three days now. Your wounds have long since healed.”

  Marquis stands up and holds out clean clothes to his son.

  Reluctantly, Alessandro takes the clothes.

  “Come on, son, we have some Rogue to hunt.” Marquis smiles. “Trust me, it is grand therapy. I’ll be waiting for you upstairs.”

  Marquis walks out of the room, leaving Alessandro staring after him. He knows his father is right. He fought as hard as he could against the pull to Anna-Marie but it never worked. He knew even then there was something mystical at play.

  Anna-Marie is the only woman he has ever loved or will ever love again. He’s knows that with every fiber in his body.

  “Okay, Alessandro, you got to get your stuff together, man,” he says to himself. As if the words gave him the strength he needed, he throws the blanket aside and sits up. “There is hell to pay in the Rogue world just as soon as you get your ass out of this bed,” Alessandro scolds himself.

  He also knows he has a job to do. His job has been his life since he was old enough to join the Protectors and this will make it even sweeter.

  He had learned a lot from Anna-Marie in the past month, even though he didn’t know it at the time. He saw what real strength really is. He learned that even though it feels like your world is falling apart, you have to push the pain down and live your life as much as you can, because as much as you want to stand still and feel sorry for yourself, the world will keep turning with or without you.

  She was deeply wounded by the loss of Dylan, but she was still able to put her pain aside to help him through his, even if his was a deception.

  He has cried and felt sorry for himself long enough. There is vengeance to be had. He will kill every Rogue and Mixed Breed he finds until his pain is gone.

  He gets out of bed and puts the clothes on that his father brought him. Not even caring about looking himself over, he heads for the elevators to go to the main sitting room where he knows the whole house is waiting for him to start their war.

  Alessandro takes a deep breath before getting off the elevator. He’s sure everyone in the house knows what had happened, which also means they know that he has lain in the med ward for three days tormented by it. How pathetic they must think he is.

  “Okay, Ales, put on your game face. It’s show time,” he tells himself and pushes the button to open the door.

  As he steps out of the elevator, he takes a deep breath and turns toward the main sitting area where everyone has gathered.

  Damn, the wives are even here. I wonder how long they have been gathered here waiting, he thinks to himself.

  The first person who looks up in his direction is Michael, his loyal friend to the end. Michael smiles a devious smile. He knows its game time, which is what he lives for as well.

  Marquis notices Michael’s expression and turns to see what he is smiling at.

  “Ahh . . . Alessandro, how are you feeling on your feet?”

  “I feel much better, thank you.”

  “Good,” says Marquis. “So we have all been waiting, some of us impatiently-” He looks in Michael’s direction and frowns, “-for you to heal so we can take care of this Rogue problem once and for all.” He smiles and winks at his son. “I wouldn’t let anyone go out until you were with us. Not even the Protectors.”

  “Thank you, father. I appreciate that. So what’s the plan?”

  “Well, since no one has been out, we don’t know if they have moved from the old waterfront district. I think a party needs to go out and check it out before we can begin anything.”

  “Actually they haven’t,” Michael says speaking up.

  Marquis looks at Michael not even that surprised that he has been out staking out the warehouse. He nods his head then turns his attention back to the others. He looks around at his brothers, then back at Alessandro.

  “Alessandro, with everything that has happened, I think it would not be wise for you to go on this first mission.”

  Alessandro knows better than to argue with his father, especially in front of the others, so he just nods his head.

 
; “James and Noah can go out tonight.” He looks at both brothers and they both nod their heads in agreement.

  “This is not a raid, only a stake-out. Maybe we’ll get lucky and those mutt bastards will still be there. When it is time, we will form a group and take care of this devilish nest. Don’t linger either,” he says, looking both men in the eyes. “It’s apparent they followed Alessandro that night, so they have eyes out there watching. Be safe and quick.”

  James walks up to Alessandro and holds out his hand. Alessandro looks down at the outstretched hand and looks up at the most piercing blue eyes he has ever seen.

  “Alessandro, I will watch their every movement and if by the miracle of Ameretat we happen to see the girl, we will come back right away to plan our strike,” James says in a heavy New Jersey accent.

  A lump forms in Alessandro’s throat at the thought of her still being alive. It would definitely be a blessing in itself. He has dreamed and prayed of nothing but that for the past three days but he knows it is impossible. The Rogue has never kept a human alive this long, as far as anyone knows.

  “Thank you,” is all he can manage to get out through clinched teeth and the fiery feel of sandpaper in his throat.

  Slowly people wander out of the room to prepare for their night, leaving only him and Michael in the sitting room. The only people going out tonight are James and Noah, so the house will be busy with anticipation until they return.

  Michael stares at him from across the room with a calculating look. Alessandro rolls his eyes and heads for the stairs to go to his quarters.

  “Hey, Ales?” Michael calls.

  “Yeah?” he asks and turns around and comes face to face with Michael.

  “Are you ready to stop feeling sorry for yourself?”

  “Screw you Michael! You see me out here, don’t you?”

  “Oh, I see you alright, but I also see you still feeling sorry for yourself.”

  Alessandro growls deep and fierce and his already dark eyes turn even darker.

  “That’s right, get angry!” Michael yells back. “Remember what happened. Remember the hurt and anger you feel and go kill some shit! But don’t sit around here feeling sorry for yourself.”