He leans back, his eyes wide. I think he’s going to say something but he doesn’t. Instead, he leans in and kisses me. One of his hands continues to caress me everywhere while the other hand wraps around the nape of my neck. He kisses me passionately, making sure that I feel every ounce of what he has to offer.
“Like. I. Said,” he whispers, planting a kiss on my neck between each word. I catch a grip on the back of his suit to pull him in closer. He feels so good, tastes so lovely. He’s wonderful with his lips. The feel of them is satisfying—a huge turn on. “I would never flirt with anyone in your face—or at all while we are seeing each other.” He pulls away but he is still close and the heat of his lips is right above mine. “And she has nothing on you, Alexandria. You’re beyond beautiful. I’m sorry if you felt that I was flirting. It won’t happen again.”
I grin then wrap my arms around his neck, pulling him in and clinging onto him as much as I can. He strokes his fingers through my hair while I rake mine through his. His masculine scent fills my lungs, every part of him is longing for me and I want him. Here. Now.
No! What is wrong with you, Alexandria! You would never do it in a public place! My conscious screams at me.
Or would I.
This part of me loves this and this lustful part of me doesn’t care about anything else at the moment. Felix pulls away and I gasp, still clinging onto him. “Alexandria,” he breathes.
“Hmm,” I mumble.
“I’m as hard as a rock,” he chuckles. My face burns as I look at him under my lashes shyly. He pulls away to spin around quickly. He sighs and I wait for him to say something or do something but he doesn’t. We’re standing in the men’s restroom, just had an intense make-out session, but he seems bothered. What man wouldn’t want that? Isn’t this any man’s dream? “Alright. I’m alright now.”
He spins around and I burst out laughing. That’s what he was doing? Trying to calm himself down. “I’m glad you’re okay,” I tease.
“I’m better than okay. Come on,” he says reaching for my hand. “We don’t want to be late. And I do believe that there will be more from where that came from later on tonight.” He raises a sensual brow as I grip his hand and he leads us out of the bathroom. As we barge out, a man from down the hall spots us coming out together. He immediately grins but I flush, embarrassed.
“Art always brings out the wildest in us,” the man says casually. I flush even more. Felix chuckles. “It truly does,” he agrees. We proceed down the hall and around the corner. We hear people clapping and Felix speeds up. It’s starting but we were just in the men’s room destroying my simple make up that Stacy applied for me. He swings the door open but my heart fails to pump as we step inside, hand-in-hand. My eyes widen as I cringe at the sight of him. The beat of my heart quickens as everyone applauds for Jules again while he finishes up with his introduction. The spotlight is on him and he looks beyond the word “hot” tonight. Words can’t even explain how good he looks right now. His curly black hair is slick and gelled back, his facial hair is trimmed, and he has on a three piece suit with a tie that is aligned against the center of his chest perfectly.
And as Nancy steps up to Jules’ side to say something to the crowd, his eyes drift from her and land directly on mine. He spots Felix standing by my side and frowns quickly. His face hardens and as he spots our hands that are still stuck together, I quickly pull away, even though I know that it’s already too late.
Damn it!
“Well, tonight should to be interesting,” Felix murmurs, pressing his lips together as we step in to grab a seat.
“Did you know he was here?” I hiss in a whisper, whipping my head to glare at Felix.
He shrugs.
I scowl and as much as I want to say something, I don’t. At the moment, I’m not worried about Felix. I’m worried about what Jules will say afterwards. If I would have known that he was going to be a part of the exhibition, I wouldn’t have come—especially after that bond between us last night. I knew he had an art showing and now that I think about it, I didn’t even realize what this particular art museum was called. I didn’t even bother to take a look or to ask. We just showed up.
Ugh, I can already feel his wrath waiting to happen. It’s definitely going to be a long night.
HELLIONS
I take a sip of wine as Felix chats with a few people that I find too elegant and too formal to speak with myself. He’s being casual but I can tell that they are talking about him and his plans for business. I can’t do it. I can’t have people in my face, constantly asking about my work or what I have planned next. It’s annoying. Stacy giggles with Braxton in the corner as they glance at a few of the paintings on display. They’re such a happy couple. I wonder how they met because they are both complete opposites. Braxton is bubbly, witty, and a very outspoken person while Stacy is simple, likes taking control, and hardly speaks unless she’s spoken to.
“Alexandria. A word with you, please?”
I spin around quickly and luckily for me my wine stays inside of the glass. I turn to face Jules whose face is solid, along with his brown eyes. Goodness, he looks so lean in that suit. So sexy—even while his face is aggravated. I turn around and spot Felix who is still with a group of people but his eyes are now on me. He looks from me to Jules and Jules raises an eyebrow, most likely daring Felix to interfere. Felix’s jaw clenches before he turns to face the group again. He murmurs something to them, smiles politely, and then immediately makes his way for us.
“Hello, Jules,” Felix acknowledges, stepping to my side. I press my lips together with a slight tilt of my head.
“Felix,” Jules says through his teeth. “This is between me and Alexandria. You could have stayed over there with your fancy group since they please you more than she does.”
Felix gives a bland chuckle. “Anything that you have to say to her, I’m sure it can be shared with me. After all, I’m the one that told her how valuable she really is. You never would have been able to tell her without me.”
“Felix,” I butt in while stepping forward. “I can speak with him alone. It’s fine.”
His eyebrows rise as his face fossilizes. His eyes are telling me that he wants to say something but one thing that I’ve learned about Felix is that he never takes me away from my free will. “Fine,” he mutters then twists on his heels to make his way back to the fancy group. I sigh as I watch him stop and purposely keep his back towards us.
Jules clutches my arm and drags me towards the door. The heels of my boots clank against the marble floors as he pushes against the door and it slams behind us. He continues to march through the halls, dragging me from one turn to another until he comes to a sudden halt and pushes me against one of the walls. But it isn’t a hard push, a frightening one, or a dangerous one. It is actually much gentler than I thought it would be.
“Are you trying to make me jealous?” he asks, his hands curling around my forearms. He lifts my arms and pins them above my head, moving in closer. He eyes me, examines me as his warm breath caresses my lips. He still smells like winter and Axe. “You must really want me to fight for what I love, huh?” He tilts his head down to gently brush the tip of his nose against my cheek. My heart begins to beat rapidly again and my breathing becomes uncontrollable. I’m panting and it is embarrassing but I don’t care enough to stop it.
“I didn’t know that you were going to be here,” I whisper.
“I told you about my art showing, Alexandria.”
“I didn’t know that it would be at the same place as Braxton’s.”
He brings his head back just a little to look into my eyes. His remain dark and wide. He releases my arms from above me then pulls away. “I don’t like to see you with him.”
“I promised to come . . . for Braxton,” I respond, quickly. Although I did come for Braxton, a part of me wanted to see Felix as well.
“You’re torn and it isn’t healthy.” His eyes land on mine as he pushes his gelled hair back. I don’t think
anything can tame those curls of his. “I received a warning this morning,” he sighs.
“About what?”
“About you. The Leaders found out about your memory loss and about me telling you . . . about us.” My pulse pauses, only slightly. “Felix can’t show you how to reveal your wings because he isn’t your mate, but I can. And if I don’t show you anything soon, I have to be sent to London for damnation.”
“Jules,” I gasp. “Show me now then! Tell me what to do!”
He folds his arms. “It isn’t that simple, Alexandria. In order for it to happen, you have to come with me to see the Leader of our generation of Guardian Angels.”
“Well, come on then. Let’s go,” I say, stepping towards him.
He shakes his head then lowers his arms. “He lives in London as well, Alexandria.” Damn it. I knew there was going to be a catch to it.
“Then what are we supposed to do, Jules?”
“You come with me.” His face lifts as he steps in closer, letting his body gently push me back against the wall again. “I’ve already bought plane tickets for a flight in two months. You come with me, we make an escape. You won’t have to worry about falling for Felix anymore and you won’t have to worry about being torn. This will help you.”
“Jules, I—” I whip my head to look away. I can’t just leave. What will I tell Felix? What will I tell Liam? He would never approve. He doesn’t like Jules at all. He might even come after me if he has to.
“We can do this, Alexandria.” I frown and fix my mouth to speak but as I do, the lights shut off. The halls turn pitch-black and the only sign of light is from the high square windows above us. Jules presses in closer as he scans the area, as if he can spot why they’ve went off. “What the hell is going on?” he mutters then grabs my hand. We march back towards the gallery room but as we get closer, loads of agonized screams echo through the halls. I shudder as we both stop and Jules squeezes my hand. “Oh no,” he mumbles worriedly, shaking his head. There are a few more screams and I want to run away and get the hell out of here but instead Jules drags me towards it.
“No! Why are we going towards it?! What are they doing?” I panic. “What’s happening?”
“Hellions.”
My heart drops. I grip onto Jules’ hand and pull back with all of the strength that is within me, trying my hardest to stop him but he doesn’t bother. He continues to drag me along without looking at me. “I’m not going in there, Jules!” I scream as someone else in the gallery room screams too.
“We have to! I have to!” Jules roars, his jaw tightening. He continues to grip my hand while rushing for the door. He bursts in and as he does, my breath hitches. They are everywhere. There has to be over a dozen of them. It’s dark and the only sign of light is coming from the long, rectangular windows and the glow of their fierce, red eyes. They are all built and bulky with muscle on top of muscle and all black on. One of the Hellion’s with a young female in his arms spot Jules and I standing at the door and growls violently before tossing her to the side. Some people that are lucky flood past us to get out of the room, all of them screaming and not risking the chance to look back. I want to do the same thing because this can’t be real. My eyes have to be playing tricks on me.
The Hellion rushes for us but Jules grunts as he rips his suit jacket off while running to meet him. Jules’ eyes spark a bright glowing topaz and his wings rip through the back of his white shirt to lift him in the air. His wings spark with gold and his glow cascades across the entire room, shining brightly and revealing all of the action. The Hellion meets in the air with Jules but Jules is higher and just as Jules passes above him, he twists the Hellion’s neck, slams his body on the ground with a deep grunt, and the marble floors thud and crack from the impact.
Another Hellion rushes for me but before I can react or even run, a long pair of arms wrap around me to place me behind them. From the height and scent of him, I know it’s Felix. He growls as the Hellion continues to charge for us but what I hadn’t notice before is that Felix’s suit jacket is gone and his shirt is ripped in the back because of his massive wings. But unlike Jules’ gold wings, Felix’s are glowing a shimmery silver.
“Get out of the room, Alexandria!” Felix growls before rushing forward to tackle the Hellion. I want to run, I want to run like hell . . . but I can’t. I’m paralyzed. Stuck. I have to be in shock. Felix grips the head of the Hellion and twists it hard, showing no remorse. His eyes are a fierce, sparkling hazel and I realize now that his eyes are blazing bright and fiercely, just like Jules’.
“Alexandria! What are you still doing in here?” A familiar accent yells at me from behind. I spin around to face Braxton but as I face him, I gasp. He has bright blue wings and blood on his white shirt. His eyes are a bright sapphire blue and beside him is Stacy, shining all over with a burning fuchsia. Her bright pink eyes stare at me with concern but as a crash comes from behind me, I flinch and turn around to face it.
But I have no time to react to the sight of Jules being pinned down by one of the Hellions and Braxton dashing away to help him because Stacy has grabbed my hand and is yelling, “They’re here for us! We have to get out of here!”
Her grip is strong and I have no strength to pull away from her. My eyes are still wide, still confused about what is going on. “What about them? Do we help?” I manage to ask.
Stacy pushes through the double doors then eyes me, preparing her lips to speak but instead she is yanked back by the shoulder. I stop running to face the Hellion that has her wrapped in his arms. I step back with a heavy heave, afraid to make a move. He breathes down on her as she squirms and tries her hardest to pull away. Her eyes become furious and spark up even more, blazing with intensity. She finally slips out of his arms, flaps her wings to get some height above him and as he tries to reach for her again, she grips his head with both hands to twist his neck. His body buckles and falls down with a heavy thud. His body then boils and crumbles with an eerie red before crumbling into dark, grey ashes.
She grimaces as she lands then rushes to me, the dazed idiot that still can’t believe any of this is really happening. As she grabs my hand and drags me down the hall, my heart bangs in my chest like an untamed monkey in a cage that wants to get out. My mind is spinning but right now, we’re all about actions. I am not in tune with my body that is running for its dear life and I’m not sure if I’m dreaming or if this is real. My mind is somewhere else, lost in all of this transition.
This is real, Alexandria, my conscious informs me. And usually, it is right. It always is.
Bursting through the glass doors belonging to the entrance of the museum, Stacy tucks her wings in while getting rid of the burning pink that was once surrounding around her. She rushes towards Felix’s car with his keys in hand, presses the button to unlock it, and opens the passenger door for me to get in. I climb in and as I settle in my seat, my body turns into stone. I feel numb . . . completely out of it. My hands tremble and I try to get them to stop but they won’t. My foot taps against the floor of the car, beating down as if it will stop my mind from thinking about what has just happened. Stacy runs to the driver’s side and scrambles in quickly, cranking the car and shutting the door at the same time.
“Are we going to wait for them?” I ask frantically.
“No. We can’t. We have to get out of here or they’ll trace our scents and our aura’s. The boys will handle it.” She screeches out of the parking lot and down the street, going way over the speed limit but I’m sure she could care less. And so can I. I don’t want them to trace my scent and now that I think about it, Stacy must be one of the few female Guardian Angels left. And Braxton must be her mate.
I have to be cursed or demented. This is all so horrendous and what I saw back there was beyond terrifying. Jules and Felix turned into killing machines—into two different men—angels—that I know nothing about. How in the hell can I be involved in something as crazy as this?
Fighting, roaring, grunting . . . tha
t isn’t me. I am far from a fighter. And I see now that Stacy is a fighter, too, because she killed that Hellion with hardly a struggle. She had to have trained for this. This only means that I will have to train, too. But I can’t face those things. Those monsters. They want to destroy me, kill me. How can anyone live when they know that they’re being chased by demons?
I groan and Stacy whips her head to eye me. “I know. It is all just a big confusing mess at first. You are in shock but it will pass by when you adapt. I will explain everything over tea when we get to the apartment.” I nod as we reach a red light. “Just breathe.”
I inhale as much as I can then exhale after three seconds. I do it again, trying to ease my mind, but I am still mortified. What if one of them dies?
I cringe at the thought of it.
I wouldn’t be able to live on happily knowing that they died because they fought for us and our safety. And I know now—after what I’ve witnessed tonight—that things are only going to continue to get worse. And I am always going to be the one that’s stuck in the middle of it.
SUICIDE
“Come with me,” Stacy says as she slams the front door of her apartment behind us. She drags me around the corner and into their bedroom and immediately yanks her coat off. “Take your clothes off.”
I look at her, puzzled as she continues to strip down to her undies. “W-why?”
She rushes to her closet, her slender body diving in like a snake to yank down any clothes that she can find. She tosses a T-shirt with a graphic pink heart and a pair of pink and green flannel pajama pants to me and luckily I catch it.
“Their energy and scent is still on us. It is strong. We have to burn the clothes before theirs tries to linger around.” She slides into a pair of grey yoga pants and a pink camisole. I nod as I start to undress. I have to admit that I’m kind of pissed because I just bought these boots and this scarf and now I have to burn them? What a complete waste of hard-earned money. “Meet me on the balcony,” she says before stepping out of the bedroom. Goodness, she is really on a mission to destroy these clothes. But I guess I should be, too. I don’t want those monsters to find us.
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