by Brianna West
“What if you were paid?” Lucas asked.
That stalled me. “Beg your pardon?”
“You would not be working for free,” Lucas elaborated next to Blondie who seemed less than happy with the idea. “I could offer you a very sufficient income.”
“Um,” I said, feeling a bit off-kilter by the sudden change in conversational direction. “I still really don't believe half the crap you're spouting, Captain Lucas.”
Now the newest appointed captain, as he obviously ran the ship here and seemed every bit the part and filled his breeches well enough.
I bit my lip in attempt to not let loose of the laughter bubbling within me. Partly because the name didn't seem so crazy considering what they had just told me, and partly because Lucas looked as if I had spoken to him in another language.
At least one of us was amused by the sudden shaking of Blondie's shoulders and a deep rumbling of his chuckles as he did his best to keep quiet beside the suddenly confused Lucas.
“You might be a saucy minx,” Pavel said through bursts of laughter, “but I could definitely see us getting along better.”
Lucas seemed less than enthused at the prospects of Blondie and my possible partnership. I can't say that I was enthused either considering Blondie had left me with a less than a friendship-inducing first impression, but it mattered little as Lucas immediately sobered me to just what he was offering.
“Would a thousand per week seem suitable enough?” he inquired as if the statement itself wasn’t abnormal.
I, however, could only hear the sound of cha-ching in my head.
“What are you asking?” I finally asked once I had retrieved my jaw from the floor. “If you don't remember, I still don't believe any of this.”
“Pavel,” Lucas said simply.
Suddenly, a ball of light formed within Pavel's open palms. It danced just above them, swirls of colors dancing and combining. It soon formed a small sphere, pulsating with small flashes of light as if a beating heart held within a Russian's palms. It surged before exploding, the room filling with a brilliant light that forced my eyes closed.
I could feel something within me responding.
As if drawn upwards by a rope, my body angled up and away from the bed and then jolted with an intense heat. I could feel every nerve reacting as if my entire body had been consumed with flames. An urge within me grew steadily greater, and as if answering it, I felt a responding pulse within my body. Incredible beams of light shot from me into the world. It seemed to last forever, and at its conclusion, I felt weak.
I collapsed backwards, but before I could hurdle towards the floor, strong arms captured me and deposited me onto the bed safely.
My eyes were lazy as I gazed at Captain Lucas. “What was that?”
“Your awakening,” he said softly, covering my body once more with the throw. “You have an amazing gift.”
“I bet you say that to all the girls,” I slurred over the haze that was now causing my vision to swim.
A deep chuckle responded to my statement which caused my goofy grin to widen. I was more than likely going to regret this, but I was all about ignoring my own impending doom for the sake of momentary bliss. So instead, I succumbed to unconsciousness.
When I finally woke from my deep sleep, it felt like my body was lighter than the air around me. I thrusted upwards from the bed and searched for the men I knew had to be nearby.
Wouldn't want to leave your unconscious captive unattended for long.
Pavel was sitting beside the bed in an armchair that had not previously been there with his arms crossed lax against his chest and a frown deep on his brow. His pale hair framed his soft features. He had a beautiful masculine quality to his face.
If he wasn't an asshole, I might find him absurdly attractive and ask him to marry me. As was not the case—thank god for that—he was very much an asshole, and my heart would not flutter.
His eyes slowly opened, and goddammit, my heart did flutter. Damn him for being, for all intents and purposes, every woman's bad boy fantasy.
Clear, blue eyes regarded me before the small smirk, I easily concluded was from mocking, formed on his beautiful mug as he rose stiffly from his chair. “Good morning, moya solnishka.”
“Blondie,” I acknowledged. “I see that I did not, in fact, dream my kidnapping.”
He didn't reply, merely grinned sexily which caused my treacherous heart to once more flutter like some love-sick teenager. But damned if I did not find this Russian bad boy sexy.
His confidence was exaggerated and extremely obvious with the way he gazed at me. I would be damned if I let him know it, however.
“You are certainly an intriguing one, moya solnishka, since you so easily shut out your thoughts and memories from me,” Pavel said with a sort of perplexed expression.
Good, he couldn't read my mind then. I breathed a sigh of relief. Instead of acknowledging him further, I stood and made my way to the door.
“I assume I'm allowed to eat,” I remarked disdainfully, “as I am now your partner rather than your captive.”
Even I couldn't ignore what I felt upon waking. There was this subtle hum of power within me, and I knew with little effort I could manipulate the world around me. Whatever had happened yesterday, it was clearly working.
I felt more aware of everything around me. I discovered I could feel energy from every living thing, and it surged through me like a beacon. I could easily locate Lucas before I even entered the room. It was a weird feeling to say the least. I was starting to wonder if I was one of the X-Men.
Maybe Iceman and I could start a thing. I would melt his heart and consequently become Mrs. Iceman. Okay, that was lame even for me.
Sighing, I opened the door to the dining room, its creaking alerting everyone (aka Lucas) to my arrival.
Lucas glanced upwards as I entered the room, his eyes regarding me with interest before they raked down my body. I shivered at the subtle upturn of his lip before he returned to his reading. “Good morning, Izzy. How do you feel?”
“Starved,” I replied nonchalantly, ignoring the undertone in question. I knew he was inquiring after the power I felt inside me, but after everything, I wanted to remain ignorant. “Please tell me you two eat human food because I do.”
And I really needed a donut and a large pot of coffee for that matter…and very possibly a psychiatrist.
“I do not, but Pavel does,” he replied just as nonchalantly.
I had a grip on the refrigerator door, and I stalled at his answer.
Why would Pavel eat food and not Lucas?
I sent him a backwards glance, but he was still gazing at his newspaper. Light burst through the window, illuminating his large body. He wore a deep red sweater over black trousers that hugged every contour of his body.
I'm pretty sure that he bought his clothes to expose the pure strength of his body to others. I would too if I had muscles like those.
I would not drool. Okay, I was drooling, but only for like a second. I turned back towards the refrigerator which seemed to mock me like everything else in the room. He was clearly rich and I very much poor. No one offered a thousand weekly easily, so I assumed he had money to burn anyway.
Back to the topic at hand, “Why don’t you eat?”
“I require sustenance that is not fulfilled by human food,” Lucas replied evenly.
“And that sustenance would be?”
“Blood,” said also nonchalantly.
Holy hell! Lucas was a freaking vampire!
My hand slipped from the refrigerator handle as I processed the information. No, he was pulling my leg.
“Uh-huh,” I breathed.
Captain Lucas was a vampire. I guess he fit the brooding, dark vampire better than a hard-but-soft-in-the-middle pirate captain but still...
“Does that bother you?” My mouth went dry as I turned towards him, looking every bit as incredulous as the statement had been.
“You mean that you consume bl
ood? Why would that bother me?” It's not as if I'm a walking blood bag or anything.
He stood from his chair while his dark sapphire eyes studied me as if I was a specimen pinned to a wall. Not scary at all. My hands came in contact with the cool touch of the refrigerator as he stalked towards me.
Yesterday, I would have laughed in his face at the mention of his being a vampire. Today, well, that was another story.
“Do you fear me?” he asked, leaving very little space between us. “You should be. Most vampires feed on the living and often leave death in their wake.”
My body was responding, and before he could say anything further, a pulse that started from deep within my belly shattered the windows and sent his body hurdling towards the far wall. He hit it with a resounding thud before the plaster cracked inward, and he fell onto the floor with portions of the wall that he had broken falling with him. I stared lamely onwards in astonishment.
Pavel appeared in the doorway, his eyes searching before finding Lucas on the floor. The vampire stood with little effort and brushed the wall bits from his clothing.
“What happened?” Pavel questioned.
“Only what I had coming,” Lucas said as he stopped Pavel with a raised hand. “I caused Izzy discomfort and was thusly punished for it.”
With an ass kicking! Holy hell, I was awesome!
My triumphant grin was not lost on the other two in the room. They were both gazing at me severely while silently berating me. Suddenly feeling guilt belly, I gave Lucas my best apologetic shrug.
“Sorry about that, Captain Lucas,” I said, using his nickname by accident. “I guess the whole blood thing set me off.”
“You told her what you are,” Blondie inquired.
“No,” Lucas responded in a gruff voice as he continued to brush off the wall fragments from his clothing. “Merely that I drank blood.”
“Well, hell, of course she thought the worst.” The worst being vampire I am assuming.
“You mean he's not a vampire?” I asked
“Not entirely, no.” Blondie said, pivoting and making his way towards me. Despite my need to appear strong, I couldn't help the backwards step I took as he neared. “Lucas is a half-breed. Not truly a vampire, but not truly an angel either. We are referred to as Promiscus meaning mixed. We prefer to call ourselves Guardians, however.”
Hold up!
“Angel?” I asked incredulously. That was one odd mix. “How the hell did your parents meet?” I asked, doing my best not to laugh at the images of speed dating vampires and angels that were dancing in my head.
The shadow that crossed over Lucas' face must mean his parents were a sore subject. Duly noted.
Wait, Pavel referred to them as Guardians. What were Guardians?
“Are you also a Promiscus?” I asked.
“We all are,” Pavel responded.
“Dark mixed with Light,” Lucas said beside him, having recovered from his impact with the wall. “We fight our darker instincts to fight those who cannot.”
“You mean that you protect others?”
Lucas smiled for the first time today, and it was as brilliant as I remembered it. God he was gorgeous. “Not all Dark creatures give into darkness, just that they have a calling to. We simply protect against those who give in. Some are worse than others.”
“What are you mixed of?” I asked Blondie, curious.
He had his sexy grin on again, and I was doing my best not to swoon as a result.
“Well, moya solnishka, my parents were a warlock and faerie.”
“Holy hell,” I cursed. There were faeries, and apparently, they did the naughty with warlocks. Of course, faeries were supposedly a randy sort, so I guess I shouldn't be surprised. I couldn't help the next question, “Are faeries Russian?”
“No, my father was. He raised me since my mother had run off.”
Blondie didn't seem the least bit upset by this. Despite having his faerie mother run off on him, he was acting as if it were a normal occurrence. When I stole a glance Lucas's way, he seemed just as stoic to it as Blondie.
I guess it was a norm. My parents hadn't run off, but then again, they didn't seem like anything out of my paranormal books either. With my mother having passed away, and my father somewhere probably drunk and wallowing in his sorrows, I doubt that they were some sort of powerful beings.
“What am I?” I finally asked.
“We do not know,” Lucas responded, seemingly aggravated by this.
It left a question that I was too eager to ask.
Without holding back, I asked, “Why do you seem angry at that?”
“One of his abilities is knowing what a creature is and their abilities,” Blondie interjected as if Lucas had lost the ability to speak for himself. I turned to him with a spiteful glare, but he continued as if he hadn't noticed. “He can’t get a read on you no matter what he tries.”
“I sense your abilities but cannot define them entirely. I know you are powerful but not to what extent. I have never met a creature in which I could not read. You are quite a mystery, and therefore, excessively valuable at the moment.”
Lucas' deep eyes were pulling me once more as if I was stuck deep within the ocean. I wanted to swim for the surface, but it was as if I couldn't find the motivation to do so.
“So,” I started, trying to get a handle on all the information given to me over the last few days. “I'm like you guys, but you aren't sure what. Despite having a clue as to what I can do, you aren't completely sure. Am I getting this right so far?” Both men nodded their head which was oddly comical. I was so proud that I held back the giggles. I needed to get answers. “How do you know I'm a Guardian?”
“You are not a Guardian,” Lucas responded firmly.
Well, that was a buzz kill.
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“Guardians are protectors. You are not yet a protector,” he explained.
Okay, that was true enough. It still bugged me.
“What am I then?” I asked, prodding further.
“I am unsure. Victor will know better than I,” came his even reply.
I was getting tired of hearing this guy's name and not really knowing how he affiliated with these two men, or if he was just, if not more so if that were possible, eye-catching.
“Is Victor like...your boss?” I asked.
“He is an angel,” Lucas responded nonchalantly.
Of course he was. My eyes very nearly rolled, but I managed to subdue them.
“And what else?” I asked.
Pavel had grown tired of the conversation it seemed because he up and left the room as if he had never been involved. Bastard. I turned back to Lucas, but he didn't seem to mind Blondie's leaving the conversation.
“He is an angel only, Izzy. Angels are the most powerful beings in existence. They regulate and protect humans against demons and their kin. There are much more of the Dark creatures than Light, so Guardians were created to help regulate and protect with angels. Victor is one of the few angels that oversee us.”
“So, definitely your boss,” I concluded.
I did my best to absorb all the information, but it was just so damn hard to believe. Demons, angels, warlocks, and faeries. I could not for the life of me wrap myself around this. So instead, I wrapped myself around Victor. Well, not literally because I didn't even know the guy, and I would much rather wrap myself around Lucas.
“So would Victor know what I am?” I questioned.
“Yes,” Lucas responded simply. “He gave us permission to finish what we had begun here before taking you to him. My offer still stands.”
He must mean the moola he offered for my services. Well, I was poor and needed it, so who was I to refuse.
“Well, I guess I can't refuse a Guardian's request for help.” And I was curious of what I might be capable of. I may not believe most of this, but I couldn't discount what I had seen.
Chapter Two
Lucas had explained that they were i
nvestigating the disappearance of twelve humans—uh, I mean people—that had gone missing over the past month in my small town. They suspected that there was a creature loose in my little town but were not yet sure what or where it was.
He had been on the trail when they stepped into “The Bar” and were sure that they could track it from there. I guess that's when I had found them all huddled up like football players in the alleyway.
Blondie and I share the ability to track essence, or so I'm told. We can feel the energy of every living creature in an area around us. I had yet to hone my ability, but since Blondie fit the bill, Lucas planned to use him tonight when we returned to “The Bar.”
I was dressed to the nines. I had chosen a short black skirt that hugged my thighs and probably made my ass look smoking, a tight fitting emerald top that didn’t shirk on cleavage exposure, and hooker heels that were already killing my feet to complete the assemble.
Lucas thought if it were a vampire, I would serve as enticing prey. Well, I wasn't about to argue, but I doubt my hoochie attire would fit the bill.
I had done my makeup which I often didn't bother myself with. I mean, I didn't want to look like I was asking for it, but apparently, tonight I was.
“Won't they sense I am not human?” I asked, attempting to resituate on the seat. My ass was nearly glued to it. Stupid leather.
“You have an ability unlike anyone I have met,” Lucas said as we pulled into a darkly lit parking lot.
Pavel had gone ahead to hide himself in order to track the comings and goings of possible targets.
I had learned that there were a lot of creatures that frequented our small town. One of them was the bartender. Andy was a warlock. He had certainly bewitched everyone in town. I laughed at my own lame joke. I was now curious on just what he actually used in his whiskey sours.
"One of your abilities,” Lucas continued as he turned off the engine and glanced towards me, “is that you can hide your true nature and create a barrier against gifts such as ours. I want you to envision that you are an impenetrable wall as you sit in the bar. Any gifts that might be used on you will be unsuccessful. They will not be aware of it as the only reason Pavel knew was due to the fact that you had become unreadable after having already used his gifts on you.”