by I. T. Lucas
Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Anandur
Chapter 2: Callie
Chapter 3: Brundar
Chapter 4: Callie
Chapter 5: Callie
Chapter 6: Tessa
Chapter 7: Jackson
Chapter 8: Anandur
Chapter 9: Brundar
Chapter 10: Callie
Chapter 11: Brundar
Chapter 12: Anandur
Chapter 13: Callie
Chapter 14: Brundar
Chapter 15: Roni
Chapter 16: Anandur
Chapter 17: Amanda
Chapter 18: Callie
Chapter 19: Brundar
Chapter 20: Losham
Chapter 21: Brundar
Chapter 22: Callie
Chapter 23: Brundar
Chapter 24: Roni
Chapter 25: Kian
Chapter 26: Brundar
Chapter 27: Callie
Chapter 28: Roni
Chapter 29: Callie
Chapter 30: Brundar
Chapter 31: Callie
Chapter 32: Kian
Chapter 33: Brundar
Chapter 34: Roni
Chapter 35: Jackson
Chapter 36: Tessa
Chapter 37: Jackson
Chapter 38: Tessa
Chapter 39: Kian
Chapter 40: Anandur
Chapter 41: Callie
Chapter 42: Brundar
Chapter 43: Callie
Chapter 44: Brundar
Chapter 45: Tessa
Chapter 46: Jackson
Chapter 47: Kian
Chapter 48: Losham
Chapter 49: Callie
Chapter 50: Brundar
Chapter 51: Jackson
Chapter 52: Brundar
Chapter 53: Callie
Chapter 54: Brundar
Chapter 55: Callie
Chapter 56: Brundar
Chapter 57: Jackson
Chapter 58: Brundar
Chapter 59: Callie
Chapter 60: Brundar
Chapter 61: Callie
Chapter 62: Brundar
Chapter 63: Callie
Chapter 64: Brundar
Chapter 65: Turner
Dark Angel's Surrender
The Children Of The Gods Book 16
I. T. Lucas
FOLLOW I. T. LUCAS ON AMAZON
Copyright © 2017 I. T. Lucas
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR:
This is a work of fiction!
Names, characters, places and incidents are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any similarity to actual persons, organizations and/or events is purely coincidental.
Contents
Chapter 1: Anandur
Chapter 2: Callie
Chapter 3: Brundar
Chapter 4: Callie
Chapter 5: Callie
Chapter 6: Tessa
Chapter 7: Jackson
Chapter 8: Anandur
Chapter 9: Brundar
Chapter 10: Callie
Chapter 11: Brundar
Chapter 12: Anandur
Chapter 13: Callie
Chapter 14: Brundar
Chapter 15: Roni
Chapter 16: Anandur
Chapter 17: Amanda
Chapter 18: Callie
Chapter 19: Brundar
Chapter 20: Losham
Chapter 21: Brundar
Chapter 22: Callie
Chapter 23: Brundar
Chapter 24: Roni
Chapter 25: Kian
Chapter 26: Brundar
Chapter 27: Callie
Chapter 28: Roni
Chapter 29: Callie
Chapter 30: Brundar
Chapter 31: Callie
Chapter 32: Kian
Chapter 33: Brundar
Chapter 34: Roni
Chapter 35: Jackson
Chapter 36: Tessa
Chapter 37: Jackson
Chapter 38: Tessa
Chapter 39: Kian
Chapter 40: Anandur
Chapter 41: Callie
Chapter 42: Brundar
Chapter 43: Callie
Chapter 44: Brundar
Chapter 45: Tessa
Chapter 46: Jackson
Chapter 47: Kian
Chapter 48: Losham
Chapter 49: Callie
Chapter 50: Brundar
Chapter 51: Jackson
Chapter 52: Brundar
Chapter 53: Callie
Chapter 54: Brundar
Chapter 55: Callie
Chapter 56: Brundar
Chapter 57: Jackson
Chapter 58: Brundar
Chapter 59: Callie
Chapter 60: Brundar
Chapter 61: Callie
Chapter 62: Brundar
Chapter 63: Callie
Chapter 64: Brundar
Chapter 65: Turner
Series reading order
Other books in the series
Sneak Peek at my next book
Chapter 1: Anandur
Sometimes, the best of things happened at the worst of times, Anandur mused as he hoisted the body up, looping the noose fashioned from the guy’s leather belt around the corpse’s neck.
Mortal danger had a way of bringing out the worst or the best in people.
Love could flourish even when surrounded by pain, blood, and death. But then this was no news to him. Anandur had always been a romantic, and today’s events had just proven what he’d already known.
But it was no doubt shocking news to Brundar. Poor guy was completely out of his element. The love part, that was. Brundar was no stranger to blood, pain, or death.
Taking one last look at the body swinging from the noose, Anandur admired his handiwork. An excellent job if he said so himself. The angle was consistent with the way he’d snapped the ex-husband’s neck.
I wonder how long it will take until he’s found.
Did the psychopath have friends? A family that gave a shit?
Calypso should know.
To spare her the gory sight, Anandur had loaded the girl and his brother into Brundar’s Escalade. Later, he would drop Callie at her home, deposit Brundar into the capable hands of Doctor Bridget, and then take an Uber back to the scene of the crime for his Thunderbird.
The neighborhood seemed safe enough to leave a car overnight. Besides, he had one hell of an alarm system, and a tracker he’d installed himself on top of the LoJack. Whoever dared to steal his baby wouldn’t get far with her.
His next task was to clean the blood off the tiled floor. A roll of paper towels in hand, Anandur got down on his knees, not an easy feat given the protective suiting he was still wearing, and got to work. It was a good thing Brundar hadn’t made it past the entry and onto the carpet before getting shot. Nothing save torching the place would’ve eliminated all traces of his blood if any of it had gotten on the carpet.
He finished the job with a thorough wipe down, using up an entire container of bleach. When the cleaning was done, including the ex’s guns, Anandur put the empty bleach container into a large trash bag, then filled it with the wadded paper towels.
The guns went into a dresser drawer in the b
edroom.
Trash bag in hand, he walked out the door. The fireplace in his and Brundar’s apartment would finally be put to good use.
Dropping the bag in the trunk, Anandur glanced at the back seat, where Brundar was lying propped against the door with his legs resting in Calypso’s lap. Apparently, the girl wasn’t scared of a little blood. As badly bruised as she was, her main concern was to keep Brundar as comfortable as possible throughout the drive.
The thing was, after dropping her off at her apartment, Brundar would have to manage without her support for the rest of the ride.
“How are you holding up?” he asked his brother.
“I’ll live,” Brundar said. “The bleeding’s stopped.”
“That’s good. I don’t think you could’ve gone any paler.” Anandur turned to the girl. “I need your address, Callie.”
“What for?” She lifted her chin and threw him a challenging look. “I’m not going home. Wherever Brundar goes, I go.”
With a slight tilt of his head, Anandur signaled Brundar to take it from there and explain why it wasn’t possible.
Instead of doing the smart thing, Brundar did the opposite. “Bridget should take a look at her bruises.”
“I can take Calypso to a hum—” Anandur stopped himself in time “—hospital before I take you to Bridget.”
Brundar shook his head. “They will ask questions.”
“So what are you suggesting we do? If we bring an outsider in, Kian is going to tear us new asses.”
“I have clean strips of fabric in the glove compartment that I can use to blindfold her.”
Calypso snorted. “Aren’t you guys going a little overboard with this? I’m sure your cousin is not that mean.”
“He is,” Anandur and Brundar said simultaneously.
“Maybe we can sneak her in to see Bridget and then I’ll take her home.”
“I’m here, guys. Don’t talk about me as if I’m not.”
“Sorry,” Anandur said.
Brundar shifted, a pained groan escaping his throat. “Call Bridget and tell her we’re coming in.”
To make that sound, Brundar must’ve been in unbearable pain. Anandur punched the glove compartment open and pulled out one of the soft white cloths. “I don’t want to know why you keep this in your car.” He tossed the fabric to Brundar.
“To clean my weapons. What do you think I use it for?”
“Never mind.” Anandur turned the engine on and eased into the street, then called Bridget once he reached the freeway.
“What’s the emergency?” She sounded tired.
“I’m bringing Brundar and his lady friend in. He was shot in both knees, and his friend is badly bruised. They are both in the car with me, and you’re on speakerphone.”
“ETA?”
Smart woman. Not that he’d left much room for misinterpretation. “Fifteen minutes or less.”
“I’ll bring a gurney.”
“Much obliged.” He ended the call.
In the back, Calypso took the cloth from Brundar’s hands, folded it on the diagonal to fashion a blindfold, and then tied it loosely around her eyes.
“Everything hurts too much for me to tie it securely, but I promise not to peek.”
“It’s fine. I trust you.” Brundar took her hand and brought it to his lips for a kiss.
Anandur barely managed to stifle a shocked gasp, forcing himself to look at the road instead of spying on his brother in the rearview mirror. But what he’d just witnessed had been a fucking miracle. Brundar acting affectionate?
Anandur had thought he would never live to see the day.
The woman deserved sainthood for pulling that off.
It was imperative that he kept her safe from Kian and anyone else who might think to separate her from Brundar. Given what she’d accomplished, her humanity was almost irrelevant.
Brundar needed her.
“Listen, Calypso. When we get there, don’t wander away from us. You stay glued to either Brundar or me, and you do exactly what we tell you. Understood?”
“Yeah. I got that. I have to hide from the big bad wolf.”
“You have no idea.”
Chapter 2: Callie
The blindfold kept sliding down Callie’s nose, and even though the fabric was incredibly soft, it hurt every time she had to move it back up. Pushing it into position one last time, she leaned against the headrest, hoping to anchor it in place.
The guys were most likely exaggerating their cousin’s hostile predisposition. Either that or he was indeed a terror of a man.
She couldn’t imagine those two cowering before anyone.
On the other hand, it might have not been fear. The brothers held their boss in the highest esteem, and breaking his rules didn’t sit well with them.
Whatever.
As long as she got to be with Brundar, she didn’t care what she had to do.
Besides, a blindfold was nothing new. Except, she associated it with hot sex and not clandestine operations. Callie was almost grateful for the all-consuming pain she was in, which prevented the Pavlov-like sexual response to the blindfold. Under the circumstances, getting horny would’ve been grossly inappropriate.
She wondered how come she was so calm. Everything hurt, from her bruised face to her scraped wrists to her arms and legs and everything in between. But she was alive and free, which less than an hour ago seemed like an impossible dream.
Oh God, Shawn was dead.
Callie still couldn’t wrap her head around it, nor could she summon even a smidgen of sorrow or regret. After all, she had some memories with him that weren’t horrible. She should’ve felt something. But there was nothing, not even shock. Not even horror at what had transpired over the last couple of hours.
Maybe it was a typical response for survivors—feeling euphoric for the simple reason that they were alive. Especially when that survival was nothing short of miraculous.
Brundar’s cold hand closed around hers, reminding her that they weren’t out of the woods yet. Her injuries were superficial, and the most she had to worry about was some scarring. But, despite his and Anandur’s reassurances, Brundar might never walk again.
If he ended up crippled because of her, she would never forgive herself for getting him involved in her crap.
“Are you okay, sweetling? Are you in pain?” Brundar asked.
Her injuries were nothing compared to his, and yet he was concerned about her. God, she loved this man. The thing was, if she told him that, he would run off, or crawl away as was the case.
Hey, maybe this was the perfect opportunity to spring it on him.
In his condition, he couldn’t get far.
“If you’re smiling, I assume it’s not so bad. Want to tell me about it? I could use a distraction.”
If he only knew.
“I’m worried about you. I would never forgive myself if your injuries crippled you. But as shameful as it is to admit, I smiled thinking that there is one advantage to you being in this state. You can’t run away from me. You can try crawling away, but I will have no problem catching you.”
He squeezed her hand. “I’m not going anywhere. I’m done running.”
Anandur sighed. “Oh, man. We are in a shitload of trouble.”
It made her angry to think that what she and Brundar shared could be considered a problem. It was like they were stuck in a story from a different age or place, where social status and other crap like that stood in the way of love. “Why do you work for a tyrant like that? You can quit and find better employment, where you are free to be with whomever you choose.”
“It's complicated,” Anandur said.
Evidently.
Did their cousin hold something over their heads? Or did they owe him a debt of gratitude? It had to be something huge to justify such sacrifice on their part.
She wondered what on earth could merit such loyalty to a guy who didn’t allow them to have a life. The thing that bothered her most, though, was that
Kian was happily married, meaning the rules against relationships didn’t apply to him. That wasn’t fair. If he demanded it from those in his employ, he should at least abide by the same rules.
The car slowed and turned, then went through a series of downward spirals until it stopped. Callie heard what sounded like the pneumatic hiss of a mechanism, then the screech of a heavy door sliding on rails. When the noise stopped, Anandur pulled forward, driving for a few feet before coming to a full stop.
Brundar patted her thigh. “You can remove the blindfold.”
“Thank God.” She untied the loose knot at the back of her head and let the cloth drop to her lap. A blindfold wasn’t fun when it had nothing to do with sex.
As she’d guessed, they were in an underground parking lot. It was dimly lit, and even though her eyes had been closed throughout the drive and therefore accustomed to the dark, it took Callie a moment to notice the small form standing next to the entry to the building proper.
The shadowy figure detached from the wall she’d been leaning against and headed their way, pushing a wheeled gurney in front of her. As she got closer, Callie saw more details. The woman was young, mid to late twenties at the most, and was dressed in jeans and a T-shirt. And yet, Callie had no doubt that the woman was the doctor Anandur had spoken to before. She had that unmistakable air of confidence and competence about her.