Awakening (Promiscus Guardians Book 1)

by Brianna West

  “You are performing incredibly, Izzy. Just a little longer,” Lucas reassured me. I merely nodded in response, fearing that my focus would be lost if I were to utter a reply. “As soon as you see the others, release the concealment barrier.”

  What I would give for an invisibility cloak like good ol' Harry Potter right about now.

  Why did this have to be so goddamn hard? I hadn't even started fighting and already I was covered head to toe in perspiration.

  “There,” Lucas said as he helped me off his back but kept me close to his side. “Release it.”

  I breathed out heavily as I let the barrier disappear. My hand clenched at Lucas to keep my body steady. I had the sudden feeling of vertigo before it faded.

  Twenty. I counted the heavy pulses of Dark mixed energy. There were twenty enemies hidden within a small building, scattered out randomly. I focused, closing my eyes and searching for the feather-light feelings of our comrades.

  There.

  “They are in the farthest room at the back,” I supplied, “currently guarded by...one...two....three, four, five”—six, seven, eight—“nine. Nine enemies.”

  I was horrible at counting and having a hard time grasping depth of the bodies. The excursion in New York City was to thank for my increased ability at feeling and identifying pulses.

  “On my signal,” Lucas said deeply. He silently listened for a moment before signaling to start.

  The building looked like any normal office structure with the exception that most of the windows were blackened. The doors were metal and sporadic along the outside. We easily found one of them and positioned ourselves. Surprisingly, there was no one guarding the door.

  Lucas pulled the door from its hinges, easily discarding it like it weighed nothing to the side. He lifted me deftly, swinging me to straddle his back once more. I smoothly positioned myself before clinging to him. We moved with little effort through the hallway before we were facing a line of enemies.

  Fire blazed towards us, but Lucas dodged it gracefully as if anticipating the attack. There were several of them coming towards us at once while two of them strayed at the back.

  Magic users.

  I was able to somehow manage a barrier of sorts around Lucas and I so that their attacks bounced right off the shield. However, I didn't want to exert too much power. There were a lot more to fight in the building, and we still needed to get to Cecile and Gustave.

  Their pulses were invigorating. While most carried a sense of lightness, there was darkness bleeding into it. Their essences were so confused that I could barely discern to what degree they were good or bad.

  I wasn't allowed to think too deeply on it, however. Their continued attacks were effortlessly avoided by Lucas, but we were getting nowhere with his hesitation to fight.

  In an instant, the Cowboy Twins were at our side. They fought their way through the collecting enemies, easily taking down one after the other. Their speed and grace was inspiring as they partnered to take down a few, and then split off to attack the remaining ones.

  Pavel was beside us, manifesting several orbs before sending them towards the enemies. The five of us made quick work of the opposition.

  “Wow,” I whispered. “You guys are really incredible.”

  They had made taking down twenty enemies look like it was nothing. And as a result, they made me being there superfluous. I was doing my best not to feel bitter about it.

  These guys were good at their job to an extent that they could have done it without the partnership of any of the others. I was incredibly envious of their abilities. Though, I probably shouldn't been overly impressed, considering that they were practiced Guardians of so many years.

  There were bodies of enemies scattered throughout the halls that we had not taken ourselves, which meant that these were from Cecile and Gustave's infiltration.

  I was slightly curious as to how the two of them were captured. I had seen the way Cecile fought and knew to what degree Gustave was powerful.

  How had they been captured so easily?

  We found them bound and unconscious in the room I had sought out when we first arrived. It was such a relief to see them that without thinking, I ran to them. Lucas was immediately halting me, his hand grabbing me mid-stride and pulling me roughly into him.

  “Pavel,” he said simply.

  A deep glow filled the room and instantly, the floor began to collapse beneath us. The Cowboy Twins swiftly navigated the maze of disintegrating floor and grabbed the two unconscious Guardians.

  There were bursts of energy around us to which the walls began to crack and split, the sounds of it startling me.

  “You take care of them,” Lucas ordered the twins before turning towards Pavel. “Make sure to get them to our hideout safely. I will take care of things here.”

  The building around us shifted, deep groans alerting us to its impeding collapse. I focused my energy to repairing the walls; I could only do as much as to prolong their falling though. The entire building was collapsing, and we only had a little time before it fell around us.

  When the four disappeared, we were left to escape on our own.

  Lucas shifted towards me, offering his hand with a smile. “Shall we leave?”

  Uh, yeah. That would be nice.

  I smiled, but before I could take his hand, there was a profound rumbling and the floor shifted beneath me, sending me backwards. My body pulsed before I could fall and cushioned me from the impact of the floor. I groaned when the floor beneath me still managed to knock the air out of me. My head hung over a cratered portion of floor, causing me to scramble for solid ground.

  There was a deep pulse and a heaviness immediately afterward that instilled dread into my very core. I knew the one from our previous battle was there before he appeared, but there was little I could do in the confusion to alert Lucas to it.

  The sound of a body hitting concrete was instantly followed by Lucas' carnal growling. “Izzy, put up a barrier and stay there.”

  I didn't have time to comprehend what he ordered because there was another impact that shook the floor beneath me. My body was weaker than I first thought as I tried to put up a barrier, but it flickered in and out of existence.

  Shit.

  “Izzy,” Lucas growled, “put up a bloody barrier.”

  “A barrier isn't going to save her,” another voice drawled, causing my blood to run cold.

  Lifting myself as best I could from the floor, arms shaking violently, I saw the man from before harboring the bleeding star mask. White-feathered but slightly tattered wings spread out from his back, exposing his true identity. This man was an angel and that mere fact caused my stomach to drop heavily.

  Lucas was pinned to the wall, his body imprisoned by an invisible binding. I wanted to go to him, but I could see that his eyes were pleading me to flee.

  “I will relish immensely in your inability to do much more than watch me take your precious woman from you,” the man in the mask stated with unmasked glee.

  I knew that voice but couldn't think of who it belong to at the moment.

  Lucas was hissing as he fought the hold on him. “You will have to kill me first.”

  “Hardly,” came the scoffing reply. “I will have your precious little treasure, and you will be left bound and alive to wallow in your regret for having not rescued her.”

  I turned towards the enemy, who was easily finding his way towards me at a leisure pace.

  This dude thought I was easy pickings.

  My eyes narrowed, and I pulled myself upright with a little effort.

  Well, damned if I would flee; not that I would probably be able to at this point. I was going to show this smug bastard why Isabelle Harper was a force to be reckoned with.

  I started speaking with a small upturn of my lips, “I'm not some damsel in distress here, you crazy angel bastard. By the way, you should probably have those wings looked at. They're looking a little under the weather. Anyway, come at me! I've got lot
s of fight left in me.”

  “Izzy,” Lucas warned, but I was already preparing myself to face off with everything left in me.

  I pulsed once and then again, the streams of light flaring through the air and sending the enemy backwards. He recovered, flapping his wings to hold himself against the strength of my pulses. I pulsed again, pulling more power from his essence and sending it back at him. He faltered, his body struggling against the power that hit him. My palms hid away the growing sphere of energy I was building with anything I could possibly siphon from him.

  Light, unlike anything I had ever seen, save Victor's, surrounded me. I fought it with my own, sending as many pulses from my core as I could. The two energies crashed with a profound impact that shook the air around us.

  Come on, Izzy. It's time you showed this bastard that you aren't so easily defeated. I was only easy when it came to Lucas.

  I giggled to myself, probably looking just the tiniest bit crazy; thankfully, there was a crazier person in the room, so I could get away with the fleeting moment of insanity.

  Pulling from everything I had inside me, I broke through the attack of light and sent my sphere sailing towards the enemy. He built a wall around himself, attempting to shield his body from the assault, but his efforts were thwarted as my sphere easily penetrated the barrier and slammed home into his abdomen. His body flew backwards and took him through a partition and outside of the building.

  Lucas was immediately released from his imprisonment and was instantly gathering me up and fleeing the building through another wall. His speed was incredible and almost made me lose my stomach contents with the locomotion of it, but I was begrudgingly holding onto him despite wanting to finish the masked angel bastard off. I may have been able to if Lucas hadn't gathered me up and stole me away all in one instance.

  I clung angrily to Lucas as he soared across the ocean.

  Yeah, he could walk on water with the speed he was going. It was an incredible ability to run like the Flash and no amount of land or water could hinder you.

  I hoped that my last attack had finished the angel off, but I doubt it could. It would seem from what Lucas described, the Sword of Judgment was the only way to kill off an angel with a Dark heart.

  Still, I hoped that the attack at least put him out long enough that we could get away. I remembered that Victor had easily overtaken Lucas in speed. If this was an angel capable of a similar ability, then we were not going to get far.

  To my relief, we made it to the house in London and immediately inside the concealing barrier. Lucas had mentioned that the place was guarded with heavy concealment magic that Victor had put in place to provide a safe haven for us to hide in. I wasn't sure how it all worked—it seemed like it would be complicated and boring if I felt the inclination to ask—but I was glad for it when we finally made our way inside.

  Lucas held me closely to him as though he never intended to let me go. It was slowly eating away at my feelings of bitterness and replacing them with relief that we were alive, and even more so that we had recovered Cecile and Gustave.

  “Lucas,” Pavel called as we entered. “Where—you look like hell.”

  “We were ambushed as soon as you departed,” Lucas admitted as I led him towards the kitchen.

  He was injured, to what degree I wasn't sure, but he needed sustenance and now. I was so weak myself that I was stumbling nearly the entire way.

  “Izzy, go rest,” Lucas commanded.

  “No,” I rejected immediately. “I need to make sure you're okay first.”

  “I am fine,” Lucas declared firmly.

  I snorted in disbelief. “Yeah, yeah. Sure you are.”

  Followed by Pavel, we entered the kitchen where the Cowboy Twins were bantering eagerly back and forth about how many enemies they defeated. Guess the two shared an ongoing bet about who could defeat more.

  Men.

  I pulled a blood bag from the refrigerator compartment specialized for them and handed it to Lucas, grabbing a few others after I had. Fighting against an angel especially one that had gone Dark was probably more difficult than he let on, so I knew his injury would require more than just one bag worth.

  “Who were you ambushed by?” Pavel questioned seriously.

  “The leader it would seem,” Lucas responded as he easily finished the first bag and started on the second.

  I was momentarily brainless as I watched with rapture as he quickly sucked down the second one. I shivered inadvertently. The things that this man did to me.

  Dear lord, it was agonizing how much he affected me with any and every action he took.

  “The leader?” Pavel inquired with the crossing of his large arms, bulging out his biceps, and pondered the response. “Who do you think it could be?”

  “Well, he was an angel,” I offered, “and his wings were deteriorating.”

  “Deteriorating?” Pavel questioned.

  I nodded and continued, “They looked to be slightly tattered and some of them had blackened. His essence was more Dark than Light. It's as if he is being slowly corrupted within but still has a bit of his goodness. Kind of hard to describe.”

  “He seems to have some sort of vendetta towards myself,” Lucas added gravely.

  “Who did you piss off?” Carl asked.

  Pavel quickly chimed in. “Oh, there are a great many people that fit that list. Lucas, believe it or not, is as brazen as he is handsome. He speaks his thoughts freely despite how it might make another person feel.”

  Pavel thought Lucas was handsome? That's so gay.

  I giggled as a result earning me a sideways grin from Pavel.

  “Hey, Blondie,” I quickly called, “do you have something to tell us? Just get it off your chest and come right out of that closet.”

  Pavel's smile faded. That's what I thought. I smiled in triumph.

  Carl was laughing deeply, nodding his head in approval.

  “Boss happens to be a much desired bachelor. Maybe you stole the heart of some maiden with a husband or brother,” Bernie offered with a grin. “Your ever-growing fan base will be so sad once they find out you've been wooed.”

  I would have probably blushed at this statement if it wasn't already making me laugh. Unfortunately, it fit a little too well. I had seen for myself just how desirable Lucas was and how easily he made them fall.

  Poor women didn't stand a chance to remaining unaffected by his handsome. I was drowning even still.

  “Yeah, that makes a little too much sense,” I agreed with Bernie for probably the first time since I had met him

  Lucas was grunting in disapproval. “Hardly. I have never once returned their affections.”

  “Which is why you're so hot, boss. You're the unattainable bachelor. Women just eat that shit right up,” Bernie added simply.

  They really did. Lucas was all business and no play. There was something extremely desirable about making someone with that level of solemnity redirect their focus to you instead. It was rather flattering actually that it had, in fact, happened to myself.

  I was still questioning much of those feelings because it felt unrealistic that it would happen to me.

  I mean, I was just some girl from a small town with no real world experience that had fallen into their laps with some kind of hidden power that could, you know, destroy the world's balance and even start an all-out war. I was hardly some gem.

  I was sarcastic and headstrong with very little ability to follow instructions. I wasn't someone deserving of this vampire-angel, who could easily have any woman on this earth.

  “She's fantasizing again,” Bernie pointed out. “Her face is really impressive. The amount of work it does just in the minutes she's thinking is fascinating.”

  “I was once privy to her line of thinking,” Pavel begun with a slap to Bernie's shoulder, “and let me tell you, she is one saucy minx. Her mind is almost as perverse as any man I've met. It could even rival our own. Isn't that right, moya solnishka?”

  “Shut
it,” I growled as I took a seat at the table.

  Lucas followed quickly after, reminding me sadly of a puppy trailing after its master in hopes of treats. A very big puppy that could easily break through any bone I might throw him.

  “There are serious ballerina inspired consequences to teasing me. Isn't that right, Blondie? Shall I show them the picture I just managed to save to my laptop of how amazing you look in pink?” I asked with a little eyebrow waggle of my own.

  “Oh, I have to see this,” Bernie and Carl responded simultaneously.

  I guess their twin only came out at the expense of others. I could dig that.

  I smiled devilishly with the promise of torture before Pavel was leaping and bounding to hide the laptop from me.

  You have to admire how fast this big man moved when he had something to accomplish, despite it reminding me of some kind of troll bounding clumsily through the forest.

  He scooped up my laptop and disappeared from the room.

  “Now if you'll excuse me, gentlemen,” I said as I stood from the table and tried to ignore the shaking of my legs as they fought to keep me upright, “I need to check on Cecile and Gustave.”

  After leaving the room, I got in contact with Victor and updated him on everything that had transpired that evening. He had promised to come soon to help with any possible injuries the two might harbor but expressed his gratitude with our having rescued them.

  The two Guardians would stay with us for the time being. Since the group was aware of their helping us, it was probably for the best to group up at this point.

  Cecile was gorgeous even despite her injuries. I could feel her essence strongly pulsing around me, so I knew she was okay. I pressed a kiss to her cheek before checking Gustave in much of the same way.

  He was snoring rather loudly, sleeping with his arms and legs comfortably spread out. Laughing softly to myself, I checked him for any possible injuries. I'm not really sure what I expected I might be able to do should I find any, but it was a relief to know that despite the group they had been captured by, they were hardly injured.

  I was sure that the Bleeding Stars might torture them for information, but it would seem that was not the case. At least from what I could tell.