Scarred Protector (Midworlder Trilogy Book 2)

by Mundy, Maggie

  She grabbed on tight around his neck and his whole body tingled in the same way it had when they had been in the middle of the lightning. He needed to concentrate on making the connection with Pergor, but instead he found he was thinking more about how Evie smelt as she held her face close to his. She had the aroma of lemon and vanilla, and he closed his eyes as he drew her scent in, and she pressed close to his chest. It had been a long time since he had felt anything more than the general need to protect. He wanted to make things right for this human as he sent his thoughts out to the post on Pergor. He could feel himself harden, which often happened when a Midworlder’s wings came out; the difference was he felt it was the closeness of this woman affecting him. He never let such basic instincts take over, and yet again wondered what was happening with this particular female.

  He concentrated on the link and expected to see the tunnel of light with its beautiful colors. Instead all he saw was darkness. He flapped his wings but didn’t feel like he was making any progress. He persevered, but it was akin to hitting a brick wall. Reaching out with his mind there was no contact with Pergor, and yet he was sure they were not alone in this place. Something slithered around his legs and then was gone. He was not the sort to panic but could feel Evie clutch on tighter as she wrapped her legs around his hips, like she was clinging on for her life.

  “Shit, you’re hard. You’re as bad as that other asshole. Can’t you guys concentrate on anything else other than sex? So much for trying to save me. He said he was going to rape me. At least I had a chance to get away from him.”

  Evie tried to move away, but Heath pulled her closer. He didn’t know what was out there and wasn’t letting her go now.

  “I’m sorry. I’ve no such intentions of that kind toward you or any other woman. It’s a side effect sometimes when the wings come out. I’ve never accosted a lady or taken her against her will in my long life. I’m here to save you no matter how things may seem to the contrary.”

  She let her legs drop and tried to arch away from him, but her arms still clutched tight around his neck.

  “Okay, let’s say I believe you for now, considering I don’t have much choice. Is this your other world? Because it wasn’t what I was expecting. So far it’s just darkness, slithery things, and you with a hard-on.”

  Her face was near his, and he could feel her breath on his cheek. He couldn’t concentrate with her so close. This didn’t happen to him. His men told him he had ice in his veins, and yet he wanted to pull Evie closer. He wanted to press his lips against hers so that she wanted to open hers to him. She screamed and broke into his thoughts. He was supposed to be protecting her and all he was thinking about was her body pressed against his. This had to stop.

  “What the hell? Something touched my leg again.”

  “It’s all right,” Heath said the words but didn’t have any idea how he would protect her against something he didn’t understand. He didn’t like being in this situation. He stretched out with his mind again, and this time he did feel something. If hate had a physical form, it was there in the darkness with them. It was like a big black cloud of loathing around them. Then there was pain. His body stiffened as if a thousand shards of glass were being pushed through his skin. He clenched his teeth as he held on to Evie. He would not drop her, he had an inkling he would never find her again if he did. He would not let whatever was out there take her . . . Or was it him it was after?

  The pain grew more intense, he wouldn’t last much longer. The shards now felt as if they were heating up, and his skin was burning. He sniffed and could smell the wingtips of his feathers smoldering.

  “Heath? I can smell burning.”

  “It will be all right. I’ll get us through.”

  “Oh, hell. It’s you burning. I’m sorry. I don’t care what I said before, just get us out of here,” Evie screamed.

  He could feel her whole body trembling against his. Damn whatever was out there, he would not give in to it. He could be dark, too, and would fight it. There was a power building up around them and he couldn’t stop it. At the moment, he could hardly breathe through the pain. He tried one last time to get through to Pergor. His thoughts went out and hit the dark wall of heat absorbing his thoughts. Then the explosion hit, and he wrapped his wings about them. It was all he had left to protect Evie. If his people found her alive with their protection that would be enough for him. If he could not reach Pergor, then he would send her back to them.

  Then, in a split second, everything changed and the heat was gone, and he could feel the cold air and rain on his skin. It was glorious, and he took in a deep breath to fill his lungs. They ached, but they expanded. If he had believed in a god or a deity, he would have thanked them. Lightning cracked around them as he unfurled his wings. He was back in the human world. His exhilaration ceased when he realized he was moving too fast. Evie screamed again as they headed at tremendous speed toward the ground. He couldn’t stop them. All he could hope was that he would be able to protect them. He wrapped his wings tight around them as they headed back toward the car-park roof they had left only moments before.

  He prepared himself for the pain that would come when he hit the ground. He could only hope he was not incapacitated and that Charles was not still around. Heath knew his wounds would heal, but he didn’t think his mind would ever be the same again after what had just happened. Being the fool he was, he had underestimated the pain of hitting the concrete. The impact hit and he was splayed out on his back as pain reached out to every part of his body. He tried to lift his head, but it felt like it was wobbling on his shoulders as he blacked out.

  Heath took a deep breath as consciousness returned. His lungs hurt, and he could taste blood in his mouth. His ribs were probably broken, and it wouldn’t be the first time. The rain poured down on his face as he lay flat on his back on the roof of the car park. He opened his mouth and took in the moisture to wet his throat that was parched from the explosion. His body had just gone through a landslide and felt as if it had been flattened. Then he realized his arms were empty. It brought everything back. He was a good Midworlder, but there had been one other time when he had let someone down. Tears came to his eyes at the thought he had failed again. He should go to Homeworld now and die. No, that was not the way he did things as the smoldering anger rose in him again. He would kill whoever had taken Evie.

  “What the fuck is going on?”

  Heath breathed a sigh of relief as he heard Evie yell her complaint. She really did use a lot of swear words, but then he considered she was justified at the moment and even smiled. It was probably better if she did not see his amusement at their situation right now though. He had to be honest and say her profanity was one of the most reassuring sounds he had heard in a long time. He tried to get his head to lift off the ground and look around. Unfortunately, it didn’t seem to be working too well at the moment. After much effort, he managed to glance to the side.

  “Damn this world and any others with their bloody angels and weird creepy guys. Like I didn’t have enough going on in my life without all this weird shit.” Evie had a hand on either side of her head as she shook it, as if trying to get what was happening to disappear.

  Heath wished he could chuckle, but his body was incapable at the moment. The muscles in his neck protested as if they were being pulled apart. There was a tingling in his fingers and toes, and all he could hope was that he was getting back control of his body. He turned his head again to see Evie, on all fours, scrambling around in the rain to pick up her bag, keys, and cell phone. He thought she would make a run for it once she had them, but instead she came back. Kneeling down next to him with rain dripping down her face, he thought she was the most beautiful sight he had seen in a long time. He still wasn’t sure how they were alive. She wiped off her face on her sleeve as she peered at him.

  “Can you move?”

  He nodd
ed his head and tried to get up, eventually managing to sit up with her help. Standing was another matter. As she helped him up, his legs gave out and he slumped to his knees, and pain shot up into his hips.

  “Stay there, I’ll move the car. You’re too bloody big for me to carry anyway.”

  She ran over to her car, and he could not do anything other than watch as agony coursed through his body and he thought he would pass out again. He glanced down at his wings to see they were singed and brown on the tips, but the rain had prevented further damage. He closed his eyes and reabsorbed them into his body. Normally, the sensation felt like nothing more than blinking, but tonight his back ached unbearably when he reabsorbed them. They would heal now he was back on Earth, but it would be a while before he could fight or fly again.

  Her car pulled up next to him, sending a spray of water over his body. He chuckled as he considered he had never felt so pathetic in his life before, as he sat there soaked. Evie jumped out of the car and crouched down on the ground next to him and shook her head.

  “Are you laughing? I fail to see what’s so bloody amusing. You need to get your act together if that other creep Charles is coming back. I need you back to your bloody superpowers or whatever they are, and quick.”

  She was right, but he couldn’t stop the giggles from escaping his throat. He needed to keep control so no more humor or anger could escape. Evie grabbed his arm, placed it around her shoulder, and heaved him up. He managed to stand but had a feeling his legs would give out at any moment. He didn’t like feeling weak one little bit. This was not the way he dealt with things. He shook his head as his thoughts and vision became fuzzy.

  The world around him seemed unfamiliar. Where were the horses? He was a good horseman, but must have fallen, as his body ached. This didn’t make sense. Elizabeth was gentle, and yet she was helping him and seemed to be taking him in some contraction that made ridiculous noises. Where was his groom?

  His body flopped on the backseat of a car as he took in a deep breath. What the hell had happened? He could have sworn he was back with his beloved Elizabeth two hundred years before. She had been beside him helping him into the car. It was impossible. His only true love had died long ago and the thought of her brought back images of her death. He could see her laying pale against her bed sheets in a white nightgown. The only color, the red of her blood soaked into the sheets from the cuts on her wrists.

  He had never been able to save her from the voices tormenting her brain, and had lived all these years with the guilt. Was he going to be made to suffer it all again? The streetlights passed by, and he tried to put together in his mind what was happening. All he could think was that he was blaming himself with pointless guilt for what was happening now. Evie was mumbling under her breath while she drove, but he couldn’t make out the words. He couldn’t blame her. He was supposed to be saving her, and he was the one incapacitated. Closing his eyes, he sent out thoughts to the other members of his enclave. They would have expected him back by now but would not know where to find him. No response came.

  His thoughts hit a wall of heat and darkness and bounced back sending him into oblivion. He yelled out but didn’t even know what he had said. All he could think was that he had brought back with him whatever had been hiding in the conduit between worlds. His head thumped as he returned to consciousness. There was a light in front of the car, and he could hear the motor of a garage door opening. He had failed Evie again by passing out while she drove them to her home. How much time had passed, he could only guess. She opened the car door and frowned at him. Heath lifted himself up onto his elbows, but that was all he could do before the dizziness hit again and he fell back.

  “You look like shit, you know. I thought you were supposed to be saving me? Are you in a lot of pain?”

  Heath nodded as she grabbed both of his arms and pulled him out of the back seat of the car. His legs shuddered beneath him as he stood with one of his arms around her shoulder. Evie couldn’t be much more than five-foot-five and she grunted as she helped him along. He needed to get his bearings and glanced around in the dim light to see her old car surrounded by clutter: an old trailer, ladders, a wheelbarrow, and all the tools of a handyman covered in cobwebs. He wondered whether they had been her fathers. There was a door at the back of the garage, and she opened it to let them through to a darkened hallway. Evie reached to one side and turned on a switch. They continued to make their way up the corridor toward the back of the house. He could hear Evie huffing and puffing under the stress of carrying him. They should be at his home. He could do nothing here in his condition and without his people. He tried again to send out a message but to no avail.

  They stopped and entered another room. The light was flicked on, and Evie helped him over to a couch. She grunted as she dumped him onto it. He was glad to sit down, as his legs were about to give out. His head no longer seemed to have the capacity to hold his brain, which he thought would explode. Plus, he couldn’t stop the shivers going through his body.

  “I’m going to get changed, and I’ll see if I can find some of Dad’s old clothes for you since yours are drenched. I don’t suppose I need to tell you not to move.”

  Evie left and Heath looked about the room. He didn’t like the fact she was out of his sight, but she was right. They needed to get out of the wet clothes. There was a desk in the corner with two laptops on it. The couch and a coffee table were covered in books piled high. The curtains were drawn and something told him they had been that way for a long time. He needed to get control back. He took a deep breath and tried to sit up. For the first time in a while, he didn’t think he would pass out. He closed his eyes and looked into his body to see what the problem was. All he could sense was that something had attacked him in the darkness, but he still didn’t know what. Was it gone now? He hoped his body would now start repairing. Evie returned, dressed in jeans and a baggy zip up top. She rubbed her arms as if trying to get some heat back into them. Her hair was wrapped in a towel, and she had some clothes over her arms and chucked them down beside him.

  “Not sure if they’ll fit, and they're not as fancy as your suit, but beggars can’t be choosers.”

  Heath leaned forward and tried to take his jacket off, but struggled, he took a deep breath to stop himself from passing out.

  “I’ll help. Come on, you’ll catch your death in this wet stuff. Talking about death, can your lot die?”

  “Yes,” he croaked and found that even speaking was a strain. She pulled off his jacket and started to undo the buttons on his shirt. Heath reached up and touched her cheek with the palm of his hand. She moved back as though she had been burnt. He hadn’t meant to be so personal, but it had seemed the right thing to do at that moment.

  “Thank you. I came to help you, and yet you seem to be doing more to save me. I promise I’ll return the favor.”

  “Look, just get changed and back to your former glory so you can kill the prick that came after me. If you can do that, then I’d say we can call it quits.”

  “I will certainly try.” He stripped off his shirt and shoved on the jumper she provided.

  “I’m going to get us something hot to drink. I’ll be back in a minute.”

  She left the room as he changed into the baggy jeans that had belonged to her father. He rubbed his arms and finally managed to get some warmth back into them. Then, he pulled on some socks and old boots that were too big for his feet. Evie had not only saved him but even had to provide him with clean clothing. A moment later, she returned with a tray of steaming hot chocolate and cake. She had removed the towel from her head and pulled her wavy hair back in a ponytail.

  “Sorry I don’t have anything stronger.”

  He sipped on the drink and stared her in the face, knowing they needed to talk. He had failed her, so he should start. She needed to know what was going on.

  “I’m sorry
for what happened this evening. My kind is supposed to prevent humans from being aware of our presence.”

  “What exactly happened? For me, it all seems mad, but even you looked baffled. And I’ll tell you the truth, the fact you’re confused scares the hell out of me.” She sat there and bit her lower lip again.

  “I was supposed to be able to make contact with a place where I could get you a guardian. Something attacked me, and I would think it was the same thing that stopped me from making contact.”

  Evie glanced back up at him. “Has that ever happened before?”

  “No.” Heath wished he had something more comforting to say to her.

  “So it’s me then, isn’t it? Look, I can see you’ve been trying to do your best, but it’s not working. Please tell me you’ve got some more friends like you who can help?”

  “Yes, I’ve been trying to contact them telepathically, but something is blocking me. I tried calling them again when we got here, but no one is answering. I’ve sent them your coordinates and they should be here soon. Let me use your phone too. I need to get you to my home. My people and I will be able to protect you there. In my current state, I can’t do anything if we are attacked again.”

  She drank her chocolate in silence and then glanced around the room. This was her home, and she had brought him here because she assumed it was safe.

  “Can I ask you something?”

  “Of course. Anything, Evie.”

  “Who is Elizabeth? You called me that when I was trying to get you into my car. Then you yelled her name again while I was driving.”