Awakening (Promiscus Guardians Book 1)

by Brianna West

  My body surged with the creature's presence, but instead of running, I readied myself for a fight. I had no weapons on my person, but I had that ball of destruction and other powers trained for this very reason. I harnessed the energy around me, taking care to hide away my mind and gifts from the creature.

  It finally surfaced, growing up from the ground like a pool of sludge. It morphed into a man that was as tall as he was wide, eyes flashing an eerie lime-green and teeth as sharp as knives. His pudgy body moved towards me slowly, taking my smell in from the air like some animal. His steps were leisurely taken as though he assumed I was just some helpless little woman lost out in the woods.

  Good. I'd give him hell.

  “I'm afraid that I wasn't on the menu today,” I said smoothly as I forced the pulse of energy from my body just like Adan had trained me to.

  The beast staggered against it, falling backwards and into a tree with a loud thump before it was snaking around it and disappearing from view. He melted back into existence just behind me; I knew this only by the quick pulse his body gave way to as he did. I turned, my sphere held in my palms.

  “Too bad for you, I'm lunch that can fight back,” I said with a smug grin.

  I threw the ball into him, driving it as hard as I could into his chest, before doing my best to teleport myself backwards.

  It didn't work.

  I was hit with the blast dead on and sent hurdling into a tree. My head connected with the wood, cracking it hard and knocking me unconscious.

  Chapter Seven

  I could hear voices like I was submerged in water. They were faint, and I could barely make out anything they said as they were spoken quickly and harshly. I did my best to focus on them, hoping to tune them better to my ears. I was starting to make out bits and pieces, but most of it made little to no sense.

  “...found her,” one said, “...forest.”

  “...happened?”

  Hell, I couldn't make out a damn thing.

  I groaned in frustration, and the voices hushed before I felt the faintest touch to my cheek. It grounded me. I was slowly starting to feel the weight of my body, heavy and painful. I tried to move my arm and was surprised when something grasped my hand roughly.

  “Izzy,” the voice called.

  But before I could answer, I faded back into the darkness.

  --

  When I resurfaced, my head was pounding. I groaned, forcing my eyes open.

  It was way too damn bright! I shut them tightly in an effort to ward against the brightness. Who the hell turned up the sun?! As if the sun wasn't bright enough.

  “Izzy,” the gruff baritone called repeatedly. “Izzy, can you hear me?”

  I was starting to recognize it, but a part of me believed if I was hearing his voice, I must be either dreaming or dead.

  Speaking of which...what the hell happened?

  I wracked my brain for the memories, but I was coming up with zilch. I remember talking to Lucas—or rather, breaking up with Lucas if you could even call our relationship something you could break off. Regardless, I remembered speaking to him. However, everything afterward felt fuzzy and insignificant in comparison.

  Did I really break it off with Lucas?

  “Can you hear me, Izzy?” I heard him ask again.

  Well, duh. You keep calling out to me like a broken record.

  “Yes,” I rasped despite the pounding in my head. “I still recognize my own name.”

  The hand clasping mine tightened momentarily before releasing it. “That certainly is good news,” he said with relief.

  You are the only one who thinks so.

  I once more attempted opening my eyes. Despite the brightness, I kept them open and allowed them to adjust. Lucas came into view beside me. He was dressed in his usual dark and pristine clothing, but his face was a mess; he had a five o'clock shadow, and his eyes looked sallow.

  It was as if...

  “Have you not eaten lately?” I asked in a hoarse voice I barely recognized.

  Lucas ignored me as he turned and grabbed a glass of water near the bedside. He offered it to me, which I gratefully accepted. It felt like my throat was attempting to morph into a desert. I quickly drank down the water, relishing the way it soothed my dry throat and rejuvenated my voice.

  “Lucas,” I demanded.

  “No,” he replied reluctantly. “You have been unconscious for several days.”

  “For days?” I asked in astonishment.

  “For eight days, to be precise,” another voice said from beyond. I turned towards it and caught sight of Tristan in the doorway. “I found you unconscious in the forest next to a demon, which was surprisingly all over the place. I concluded you had no doubt stumbled upon it on your afternoon jog. Might I remind you that you were not to leave the house?”

  He looked every bit as angry as Lucas did when I was stubborn and stupid.

  Scary.

  “Sorry about that,” I responded sheepishly, ignoring the dull, pounding ache in my head.

  “It was my fault,” Lucas interjected. “I should have been more sensitive to your situation. I was uncouth and ignorant. I had only heard a part of it and came to my own conclusions as a result.”

  “I did not say you were without blame, Lucas,” Tristan scolded. “However, all that matters is that she is safe, and for the most part, uninjured. If you would be so kind...”

  With no further prompting needed, Lucas quickly began to ease the pressure in my head, which was very much welcomed. I let out a relieved sigh when the pounding ceased, and I was finally able to fully focus on everything around me.

  “Where are your blood bags?” I demanded as I threw the comforter from myself and stood promptly from the bed.

  Lucas was hesitating, which was never good. It infuriated me. I turned towards him, my hands firmly placed on my hips, glaring at him as if I might read his thoughts if I just concentrated hard enough. Surprisingly enough, he adverted his gaze as if a child caught doing something they shouldn't.

  “I came here with none to speak of,” he replied.

  “Dammit Lucas! What about that ample supply you mentioned?!” I growled. Tristan gathered that this was his cue to leave because he was gone from the doorway as if he had not been there moments before. “How the hell are you supposed to survive without eating?!”

  “My supply was emptied during a battle the day I spoke to you. After Tristan called, I rushed to be at your side. I feared that you would wake while I was away should I replenish my stock,” he responded sheepishly. “I wanted to be the first you spoke with when you woke, and I would be able to properly apologize for my brash behavior.”

  Stubborn bastard.

  “Why not ask Tristan to go?” He was momentarily silent before his eyes dropped. “Please don't tell me you were somehow punishing yourself? For the love of...” Rolling up my sleeve, I exposed the flesh of my arm. “Take some of mine,” I offered without hesitation.

  I extended my wrist towards him, causing his eyes to glance downwards with interest.

  Interest slowly turned to refusal. I could see it in the tightening of his body and jaw. It was then that I realized the reason.

  Shit. I was part demon!

  I quickly jerked my wrist back towards my body as if I had been burned.

  “Shit,” I gasped. “Sorry. That's probably a horrible idea.”

  “No,” he said with the small shake of his head. The dark locks that my fingers had been itching to touch swayed over his shoulders. Navy blue eyes regarded me silently before he was standing and closing the distance between us. “You have nothing to be ashamed of. You are not a demon; you are quite the opposite, in fact. We are unsure of just how it is possible, but you are as much Light as any angel. I was wrong to make you feel otherwise.”

  “I don't need to be placated, Lucas,” I stated angrily. “I know that they believe I'm nothing to be feared but I...” I swallowed around the growing lump in my throat. “It doesn't matter,” I finished qu
ickly. “All that matters is that I am the reason that all hell could literally break loose on Earth.”

  “Izzy.”

  I shook my head in refusal. “I'm not stupid, Lucas. I can see the way you are looking at me,” I stated as my eyes mapped his every twitch and clench as he watched me. “You're here out of guilt, but I know that what I am scares you, scares everyone. Hell, it scares me.”

  He was moving towards me, but I stepped backwards in reaction. I summoned the energy inside of me and was surprised when I felt the blood bag in my hand. The heaviness was alarming, but instead of focusing on it, I tossed it towards Lucas.

  “Eat,” I commanded before leaving the room to find Tristan.

  Tristan had taken a seat at the dining room table, playing with his fingers as though he had not a care in the world.

  “Where is Victor?” I asked quickly.

  Tristan gazed up from his fingers while saying, “Out in battle.”

  “Then Lucas...” I started.

  “Decided to remain here,” he replied nonchalantly. “With you.”

  Shit. Now I was definitely the bad guy.

  “Can he go back?” I asked.

  “He will not be going back,” a deep voice said from behind me. I jerked at the electric air of anger that came with him. “I will remain here to ensure your safety. I have received Victor's approval. I made the mistake of leaving your care to another,” this caused Tristan's face to morph with sudden insult, “and I have already suffered the consequence of that decision. You will remain in my care until I deem you capable of protecting yourself without it.”

  When will that be?

  Tristan was smiling, thoroughly entertained, while stating, “Someone is a little overly protective.”

  I didn't need to turn around to know that there was sure to be one hell of a scary face on Lucas in response to this.

  Tristan continued without hesitation. “She defeated a trained Sicarius without aide,” Tristan argued. “Most of the Guardians would require at least several years of training and a partner to accomplish such a feat. She destroyed him with one sphere of her energy,” he said simply. “That Sicarius was sent to kidnap her and would have if she were a lesser Guardian. She is not. While I am not happy that she inadvertently caused her own injury in the process, she did defeat him on her own power alone.”

  “What's a Sicarius?” I interrupted.

  Lucas spoke first. “A Sicarius is a highly trained demon used often for assassinations or kidnappings. They are especially hard to detect, most often poisonous, and move at speeds unmatched by any Guardian. Each carries its own set of weapons and powers much like us, but theirs are directly related to quick killing and immobilization. There is only a small number at an arch-demon's disposal, so they are reserved for missions of high importance. Suffice to say, you should have never been able to defeat a demon of that caliber with as little training as you have and definitely not alone.”

  I almost felt proud, but it was quickly shot down by Lucas' next admission.

  “However,” he stated, “you also managed to injure yourself in the process which could have led to your kidnapping as a result, if not for Tristan quickly locating you. You still have much to learn in order to have a better control of your gifts. Powerful or not, you are untrained and ignorant to many of the creatures you will face when you step out of my protection.”

  “Our protection,” Tristan corrected.

  Lucas merely crossed his arms against his chest and widened his stance at these words, clearly not in agreement.

  “How did they find me?” I asked curiously.

  Tristan, who had allowed Lucas to answer until now, began to answer. “I suspect the very same way they anticipated you in Arcata.”

  Well, that wasn't cryptic or anything. Why did all of these people talk like the main characters in some mystery-drama?

  Sighing, I asked, “And that would be?”

  “A double agent,” Tristan replied shortly.

  Like a spy? Someone working for both sides but feeding information to one. Basically, it meant that there was someone in the Guardians that was not truly on our side.

  Well, how lovely.

  Lucas smiled gently at me, touching the top of my shoulder in what I could only surmise as an effort to comfort me.

  “We will find whoever it is,” he stated confidently. “However, in the meantime, it's important that you remain in my care. Whoever it is, they are most likely very good at infiltration and concealing their true identity. Tristan will be searching through those in our confidence to see if he can find them.”

  “Sounds like fun,” I replied sarcastically. “If you haven't found them yet, why do you think you will now?”

  Doesn't undetectable usually mean that no one can, you know, detect you?

  If I learned anything from the spy movies I had seen, which were mostly Bond movies, then spies were amazing at keeping themselves hidden in plain sight. I was actually sort of amazed that I had thought everything through. I guess Lucas was starting to rub off on me.

  “We suspect that they knew what you were before we discovered it,” Tristan interjected. “Since we were unaware that there might be something to be obtained by infiltration, we were not as vigilant. That will change. I am now confident that we have someone close in our confidence because this place is heavily warded and difficult, if not impossible to find if you do not know where or what you are looking for.”

  “Meaning,” Lucas explained. “Whoever sent the Sicarius knew that you would be here and that you would be vulnerable. It was not coincidence that they attacked while Tristan was away.”

  “Did you tell anyone I would be coming to this place?” I asked Tristan.

  “Only those of which we thought we could trust,” Tristan said in reply. “But it would seem that someone very close to us is not really Light. I will find them, be assured.”

  There was a dark glint in Tristan's eyes, unfitting for an angel, that gave me the impression that when that person was found, they were going to wish they had slithered back to their master.

  Guess even guys like Tristan could have masculine moments. Although in the very next second, he was fixing his shirt and grumbling about wrinkles.

  Yeah, back to gay.

  All this heavy talk was making a girl hungry. Since I hadn't eaten in eight days, my stomach was probably already consuming itself. I excused myself and went in search of a cow. It may be eight in the morning, but dammit, I needed a burger after all that serious talk.

  Not to mention, I was pretty sure I was still pretty hung up on this demon thing.

  I'd like to believe I could handle anything that was thrown my way, especially lately, but being told that I was part demon had thrown me for a loop. So like any normal person, I was going to eat my feelings and ignore the real issue.

  Lucas had followed me into the kitchen—ever the vigilant watchdog. I was still digesting everything, and the last thing I needed was to deal with this awkward air between Lucas and I.

  Sure, the guy had starved himself for me—that was more than any other guy I had dated had done—but I wasn't about to believe that it was done entirely out of worry. Since Lucas seemed the type for self-punishment, I suspected he did most of that out of guilt for having said too much, or not enough in our case.

  He hovered nearby, busying himself as if he had something to do in the kitchen, but Lucas was part vampire and didn't eat or drink. Kitchens were generally useless to people that didn't need to cook their food, just take it straight from the refrigerator and suck it down, not even having the courtesy to put that shit in a cup and drink it like a normal person.

  That was beside the point.

  He may be seven hundred plus years old, but even he was no smooth operator when it came to these things.

  I wasn't surprised. Lucas believed that love was a curse of sorts. His dad, who was an angel, had given his life for Lucas' mother, who was a vampire. And then, in honor of that love, his mother aban
doned Lucas to return to the Dark.

  So let's just say that love is kind of a sore subject for Lucas, and he had avoided any and every possible path towards it.

  I'd like to believe we had a connection, but after discovering this other part of me, I was starting to wonder if that was bad idea.

  I continued to ponder this as I prepared the hamburger and then put it into a pan. I was a terrible cook, but I doubt that Lucas or Tristan would be down for me hitting up a nearby burger joint after what happened. I poked the burger, testing it as if I knew what I was doing.

  “Let me,” Lucas said after my patty started to burn. I was pushed aside while he expertly handled the burger.

  Why the hell would a vampire know how to cook?

  As if hearing my unvoiced question, Lucas supplied, “Pavel is a terrible cook. Being a warlock allows him to do things without the necessity of pots and pans. You will learn this soon enough.”

  I had learned it sure enough, hence the blood bag earlier, but remembering to do it was another thing entirely.

  “That still doesn't explain how you learned to cook,” I argued.

  Lucas grinned secretively towards me. My heart was starting to show signs of distress. His handsome was starting to affect me despite my attempts to ignore the way his rugged appearance was similar to the Captain Lucas I fantasized about.

  Now if only a random breeze would catch his hair, he'd be the real version of my pirate captain who sailed the seven seas during the day and explored my bed chambers at night.

  “There was a time,” he began, drawing me begrudgingly from my fantasies, “when I did things purely out of interest. Call it what you must, but it calms me.”

  “So, you, a vampire,” I surmised, “who, unable to taste your own creations, enjoys cooking as a hobby of sorts?”

  “Simply put, yes,” he agreed. He flipped the patty expertly before turning towards me. “Even I have hobbies, Izzy.”

  “Yeah,” I replied in bemusement. “But whoever would have thought it was something like cooking.”

  It was getting increasingly more difficult to ignore the elephant in the room, especially since said elephant was currently cooking my burger.