Awakening (Promiscus Guardians Book 1)

by Brianna West

  Crap.

  “I envision you will be an incredible Guardian,” Victor offered smoothly. “Lucas fears for you because of the great degree of your power. He worries that you will be taken by the Dark and used to do their bidding.”

  “Yeah,” I agreed lamely.

  Damn brain, start working!

  “He is not wrong,” Victor said seriously. “Should the Dark capture you, you will be used and tortured. That is the risk that we take with you; a risk we all acknowledge as Guardians.”

  “I'm not afraid,” I lied, which caused Victor to smile.

  “Fear takes hold of us all at some time or another,” Victor offered gravely. “However, it is how we proceed with that fear that makes us courageous. I see a lot of courage inside you. I believe you will do great things as a Guardian. Lucas fears the worst and thus has learned little in his seven hundred years. He still fears the inevitability that our world brings, but I believe you will teach him many of those fears are unfounded.”

  Okay, Buddha.

  Deep, rich laughter echoed through my small apartment. “Forgive me. I forget that sometimes these things should not be said out loud. I find myself eager to see you smile,” Victor admitted before returning to the couch.

  I finished making the coffee and joined him, handing him his cup that ironically said 'I think my guardian angel drinks.' He chuckled as he read it, forcing a smile from me, before he settled himself back into the couch.

  Halfway into the movie, and about the part where the two characters make out, Victor's phone began ringing. He pulled the phone from his pocket and smiled when he saw the name on the screen.

  Answering, he greeted, “Hello, Lucas.” I immediately stiffened at the sound of his name. “Yes, I have accompanied her home. She would like to stay here a few days it would seem. Yes...yes, I understand. She is quite safe with me. No...Lucas, I hardly think that wise. The entire reason her leaving was to ensure...yes, I understand as much.” Victor glanced over to me smiling which unnerved me somehow. I wasn't really happy that he was getting a kick out of this. Then, he was holding out the phone to me. “He wishes to speak with you,” he said evenly.

  “Why?” I asked angrily. “I'll be back in a few days and you're here. There is nothing to be said.” Instead of replying, Victor merely pressed the phone into my hand. Grumbling, I put it to my ear. “What is it, Lucas?”

  “Why did you leave without speaking with me first?” his voice sounded angry, but I would be damned if he made me feel guilty.

  I sighed before replying, “I did. After you left the way you did, I decided there was nothing more to be said and left with Victor.”

  “I would like you to return so we can discuss this,” he demanded.

  Well, I would like a pony, but that wasn't happening anytime soon.

  I switched the phone to the other ear. “You weren't ready to listen to me earlier, and I won't be coming over to be ignored again. I'll see you in a few days.” Before he could answer, I ended the call and handed it back to Victor.

  He regarded me for a moment before his arm encircled the back of the couch and pulled me into him. My heart started in my chest as he said, “It will be a rough couple of days, but I shall be here to help you in any way I can.”

  –

  The yearning started about three hours later. I was in my bed after deciding to let Victor honorably take the couch. He had insisted, which I didn't have the energy to argue against.

  I was fast asleep in la-la land when the feeling crept over me. It prickled my senses out of my dream world into a world I could also describe as an alternate reality.

  I gasped and sat up from the bed. I needed him, needed him as badly as I needed air to breath. I threw the comforter from myself, walking from the bed and room clad only in a nightshirt I had picked up for a fair price at Victoria's Secret semi-annual sale.

  Victor was no longer asleep on the couch and moved with a speed my eyes could not follow to stop me as I reached for the door. His arms encircled me, subduing me as I whimpered in desperation.

  “I need him,” I whispered as I fought the hold.

  Victor did not budge, barely moved, as he held me against him. “You are not yourself, little one.”

  My hands pressed urgently against him, pushing in an effort to move him. It did nothing, and I growled in frustration.

  “Victor, let me go,” I demanded in frustration.

  “I will not,” he declined firmly. His arms tightened around me as if affirming his point, and I fought them.

  A deep growling echoed from behind the door, but I had already felt him before I had heard him. My body trembled in relief.

  “Victor,” Lucas warned in a low, ominous voice from outside the door. “Open this door before I break it down.”

  Victor sighed deeply before he held me behind himself and opened the door to a seething, growling vampire. I barely followed their movements as they became mere shadows, and I was thrust aside towards my bedroom. Victor held Lucas to the floor an instant later, trapping him beneath the weight of his body and the hold he had on his the back of his throat. While Lucas was breathing in short pants, Victor seemed unfazed by the battle.

  “You understand that I only protect her,” Victor spoke softly as if lecturing a small child. “I would never harm her, and you know that she came with me freely.”

  “She needs me,” Lucas breathed as his eyes captured my own.

  I moved towards him as if drawn like a magnet to metal. Victor thrust his arm out, and I flew backwards slowly and became immobilized against the wall.

  “Let her go,” Lucas warned with a low growl.

  Victor held fast to Lucas, the effort now showing as Lucas fought against him. “She is safe,” he stated firmly.

  If I had been in my right mind, which I very much wasn't, I would have been incredibly fascinated by the battle ensuing before my very eyes.

  My very own WWE special.

  Lucas broke free of the hold, their bodies becoming blurred the next moment with their movements. My living room suffered in their battle. The couch was broken as Lucas threw Victor into it, causing it to buckled and break into two. My collection of DVDs was thrown to the ground, scattering out over the carpet as footfalls broke some while others remained untouched. One of my walls dented inwards when Lucas' body was thrust into it. Everything happened within seconds, before Lucas had Victor pinned to the floor.

  “Lucas,” his mentor warned firmly. “You do not mean to do this. You are not yourself.”

  “You touched her,” Lucas hissed. I whimpered, my body craving his touch as I watched the two men from my spot against the wall. “You kidnapped her...” his voice was growing lower and deeper with every spoken word.

  “I was keeping her safe at her request,” Victor argued amiably. “You must fight this urge inside you, or she will suffer.” And as if knowing the words would subdue him, Victor repeated them, “She will suffer, Lucas, should you continue this.”

  This caused Lucas to relinquish his hold on Victor, who stood with little effort and seemed to be breathing a bit more roughly than before. There were long minutes before Lucas finally glanced towards me, his eyes filling with an emotion I could not recognize.

  I was more concerned with having him touch me, bite me, and you know the rest.

  He left without saying a word to me. I groaned in frustration when I realized that not only did I not get what I needed, but now my apartment was destroyed. Victor released me from my hold against the wall, and I collapsed.

  “I apologize for your apartment,” he said while helping me to my feet. “We will relocate for the time being, and I will have a team in here tomorrow to repair what has been destroyed.”

  And probably wipe the memories of all those who might have overheard the battle; it probably scared the living daylights out of most of them.

  I was still fighting the urge to seek Lucas but nodded my assertion.

  He continued as he led me back to the bedroom, “Wh
ile the first night is always the worst, I suspect his was also due to the heightened emotions that drinking from someone of your...caliber can invoke. The emotions and feelings he had before are tripled by the blood,” Victor explained as he helped me into bed and then settled beside me. “He can feel your emotions as if they were his own. Since he was protective before the event of drinking from you, it is now much greater. So despite his attachment to me, he would have protected you if he thought I might do you harm.”

  “And he would have succeeded,” he added. “Your blood increased his abilities unlike I have ever seen. It is my suggestion that you do not allow him to drink from you again unless you have no other option.” These words carried much more meaning than what was on the surface, but I figured that he decided to leave that for another day.

  My mind felt hazy, and I was fighting the onset of exhaustion that was now rearing its ugly head. Victor seemed to notice because he said nothing more, and before I knew it, I had fallen asleep.

  –

  After relocating to a bed and breakfast, and receiving a few envious gazes from women all over town, I was finally starting to feel like myself again. Lucas had since not contacted neither Victor nor I. I didn't expect him to after nearly destroying my apartment.

  Victor had been interesting company and even started my training to keep me occupied.

  After three days, he finally deemed me sane enough to return to the house. I was a little hesitant to return after the mixture of feelings the last few days had given me. I mean, I basically demanded that Lucas bite me and take me at that house.

  Talk about embarrassing.

  Suffice to say, I didn't have much choice in the matter as Victor drove us into the driveway of Lucas' house.

  Pavel was standing outside the door, his face lit up with his usual grin. He quickly made his way to my side of the car to open the door and literally pull me bodily from it. He lifted me into his arms and bear hugged me, stealing away any air I had in my lungs.

  “Moya solnishka!” he cried as he set me back down.

  I pushed away from him, glaring as best I could at the smiling oaf of a man. I could hardly be angry though. Despite my grudge towards him, I was just the tiniest bit happy to see him.

  “Blondie,” I greeted. “I see you remain unchanged.”

  He laughed heartily before glancing towards Victor. “She's back to normal then?”

  “Indeed,” Victor replied. “And Lucas?”

  “As miserable as ever,” came his quick reply.

  Well, fabulous.

  “Well,” Victor said with a clap of his hands. “Shall we go inside?”

  Eager to start nonsense? Yes, yes I was.

  I followed after the two giants, my shoulders slouched and eyes at my feet. I did not want to see Lucas after he nearly killed his mentor in an effort to “protect me” from him.

  That's not something that anyone easily gets over especially someone of his brooding caliber. It would be hard to forgive someone you only met a little over a week ago that made you nearly kill the father-figure you had known your entire seven hundred years. I got it. I wasn't about to argue if he turned me away at the door.

  The house seemed empty without Lucas stalking around it. I searched for him but was disappointed. I could feel him in his bedroom upstairs, but figured it was for the best if I didn’t go greet him.

  Instead, I went to the kitchen in hopes of busying myself with coffee. Victor followed after me who was trailed by Pavel.

  “You should go see Lucas,” Victor suggested as he took a seat at the table.

  Pavel bypassed his boss to come stand beside me as I worked the Mr. Coffee to my liking. “I think you should give him time, moya solnishka. He seemed a bit out of sorts when he returned after...”

  “Nearly killing Victor,” I supplied with a small glare his direction. “I know. I don't blame him.”

  Thanks for reminding me, you Russian bastard.

  Pavel shrugged, leaning against the counter and tucking some of the stray hair that had fallen into my face behind my ear and letting his hand linger at my cheek a second too long. “He was not himself.”

  “Yeah,” I sighed in frustration, swatting his hand away. “So everyone keeps telling me.” I slammed the coffee grounds into the counter and turned on Pavel. “Look, I get it. It's my fault he's even in this predicament. He would have never drank from anyone if it hadn't been for me, so I'm not about to hold anything against him.”

  “He made a choice,” Pavel responded seriously. “You cannot blame yourself in this.”

  Every bastard in this house was starting to sound the same.

  Thankful that Victor taught me how to keep my thoughts locked up, I sighed and left the room, leaving the blonde macho men behind me. I stalked towards my room and was immediately stalled mid-step as a very large and recognizable man obstructed my path. I swallowed as my throat had suddenly gone dry.

  “Izzy,” he started, but I held a hand up to silence him.

  Speaking with a voice I didn't recognize, I said, “I'm fine. I just want to forget this all happened and get back to what we were here for.” I looked up at him finally and found his face as cool as ice, betraying nothing of his emotions. “Deal?”He gave me a curt nod before walking past me and into the kitchen. My heart dropped into my stomach, and I had the sudden urge to cry, but I wouldn't. No amount of tears would change the fact that whatever had occurred over the last few days had ruined anything that might bring Lucas and me closer.

  I guess I shouldn't be surprised; I knew it was wasted energy to try to be closer to him. I should have known better. Lucas could never feel anything for me, not with his past hanging over his head like a dark cloud.

  Straightening my back, I headed into my room and locked myself inside.

  –

  Lucas and I stayed, for the most part, away from each other over the next few days.

  Victor looked into the demon house as I liked to call it with a team of other Guardians. The team consisted of three Guardians: two men and one woman just as striking and just as lethal as Pavel and Lucas.

  After insisting that they stay—Lucas was hardly eager to allow more people into our now very crowded home—Victor designated my training to the three of them equally. Each had their own specialties that they were to impart on me, and I was eager to learn because any bit of training I received would make me less of a burden to Lucas.

  Not that I cared or anything.

  One of the men was covered in tattoos of all makes and origins, twisting and winding over his arms and exposed legs. He had raven black hair cut short just above his ears with dark chocolate eyes. His strong face and body that were a slightly darker color in comparison with Lucas, and he stood at six feet—the same height as Pavel but with a bit more muscle to contend with. He came from Spain, his accent evidence of that after the long introduction he gave me that ended with a kiss to the top of my hand.

  Spicy.

  “Okay, Spanish,” I said as I crouched low after narrowly missing an attack. “No need to get touchy.”

  “Must I remind you that my name is not 'Spanish' but Adan,” he replied gruffly.

  He didn't like the nickname I had given him, but honestly, I did it out of love.

  “Awe, Spanish,” I replied, feigning insult. “I thought we were friends.”

  “He does not have friends,” a woman interjected as she appeared from a crowding of trees.

  This was Cecile. She was super French; so French in fact that the word was the only way I could describe her. She had long beautiful auburn hair that curled and rippled down her back. Her eyes were the color of emeralds and shimmered as if they carried their own light. She was about five-foot-ten with long arms and legs that had me green with envy.

  If that wasn't enough to make a girl jealous, she was a skilled fighter.

  Today, she fashioned herself in a tight black suit that indicated that she would also partake in my training.

  Out of respect and
a little fear, I called her by her name.

  “You injure me,” Adan replied with a small grin.

  Cecile gracefully weaved through the brush and stood beside me. “Vous êtes blessé facilement,” she replied to which Adan laughed.

  That was another thing about these Guardians; it seemed most of them were multilingual. I would often find myself watching obtusely on as they conversed in languages I couldn't even hope to understand.

  Another man appeared from the brush, and he was just as glorious in the early afternoon sun as the first day I had met him.

  Gustave was Cecile’s brother. He carried the same beauty, auburn hair and emerald eyes, but a masculinity that was his own. He wasn't as large as the other men, being five-foot-eleven and rather thin, but he was faster than any of them—save Lucas who was for a lack of a better way to put it inhuman in his speed—and could easily hold his own in a fight. He was quickly becoming my favorite.

  “Mon amour,” he greeted with his gorgeous smile. He flew at me, his body barely a whisper on the wind, and within seconds, stood before me. He took hold of me, twirling me and proceeding to dip me with his usual easy grace. “You are lovelier today than any day I have beheld you before this, mon ange.”

  “Um, thanks,” I breathed with a small giggle.

  French men really took the cake when wooing a girl's socks off.

  “We are not here to play,” Adan complained as Gustave whisked me about in a merry dance.

  I was dizzy as I tumbled out of his grasp. “Hey, Prince Charming,” I called to Gustave as I held to my knees to keep myself rooted to the floor and not falling into it. “You can't twirl me every time you see me.”

  “Oh, but I certainly will,” he promised with a disarming smile.

  Dear lord, that smile could melt snow.

  Adan had all but given up, his eyes oddly reminding me of Lucas as he glared towards us. Cecile had busied herself with her nails before they were all looking towards the crowding of tree, backs straightened. I searched the distance and immediately identified the cause for their alert.