Awakening (Promiscus Guardians Book 1)

by Brianna West

  Lucas quickly pressed his hand to a panel outside another unassuming door, before that door, too, opened and allowed us entry. Light bled into the passage, causing my eyes to blink against the attack and leave me partially blind as I followed everyone inside.

  Sounds filled the space behind the door. Soft voices echoed until we entered, then there was a long silence as we filed into the room.

  I pressed a hand to my eyes, rubbing them and hoping it would help with adjusting to the sudden brightness.

  The room expanded beyond what I could see. There were temporary walls erected all around us, appearing much like cubicles in an office. There were electronics unlike any I had ever seen; holographic maps and surfaces, panels featuring alphabets that were unrecognizable to me, and light-infused towers that blinked like a well-lit Christmas tree scattered across both walls and tables within the room. Many of these panels that feature holographic images were accompanied by several persons of all ethnicities, genders, and shapes.

  Most of those shapes, however, were fit and ready for action, to my chagrin.

  I looked down at my own sad excuse of a body, reminded once more of my lack of physique in comparison to my compadres.

  Dammit.

  A man came forward, smiling and sticking a hand out to Lucas who stood just slightly ahead of our group. The man had dark brown locks of beautifully wavy hair that was brushed over to one side and away from his eyes. The light offered a glimpse into aqua-green eyes that sparked with unmasked glee.

  Another Lucas admirer, no doubt.

  “Lucas,” the man greeted, shaking Lucas’ hand without further hesitation. “A true honor to have you here.”

  Lucas looked less than enthused at the welcome. He shook the man’s hand briefly before stealing his hand back and wiping it offensively against his outer coat. Definitely not a normal Lucas move, but with the sheer enthusiasm this new guy exuded, not surprising at all.

  “Edward,” Lucas greeted bitterly.

  Edward reminded me of a sad, undeterred puppy with his large, round eyes, beautifully brushed mane, and unrivaled optimism—or was it obliviousness?

  Little Eddy-Weddy was so hopelessly enamored with Lucas that he didn’t see the way that Lucas had taken half a step back to avoid the close proximity, or the fact that Lucas was now scowling deeper than any time—other than when he was put out with Pavel—before this.

  Edward moved to greet the rest of the group, appearing just as obnoxiously happy as he had been with Lucas.

  I actually quite liked his undeterred happiness. So when it was my turn, I offered him a hand and smile of my own.

  Edward stopped, focusing rather hard on my face, before smiling so brilliantly that I nearly had to turn away from it—lest I be blinded.

  “Isabelle,” he started with a slightly breathless voice.

  “Izzy,” I corrected. “Hello, Eddy-Weddy.” Everyone around me either snickered or coughed loudly at my little slip. Dammit. “I mean, Edward, sir.”

  Eddy gave me a slightly bemused grin. “Eddy-Weddy?”

  “I have a thing for nicknames. Sorry,” I explained before internally hitting myself.

  Eddy seemed to contemplate this bit of information for a moment—a very unnaturally and uncomfortably long moment—before nodding with some sort of internal conclusion. “Been a Bizzy-Izzy, have you?”

  Oh jesus.

  I shook my head with an exhausted sigh while the rest of the groups’ shoulder’s hunched up and faces went red with held back laughter. I could see Pavel’s eyes glistening with tears as he attempted to hold in his laughter but was failing miserably to.

  Bastard.

  “Well, no matter,” Eddy proclaimed, overstepping my spatial bounds, and hugging me to himself.

  I could hear—no—feel Lucas’ professional exterior crack. The entire group was barely holding the snarling beast (aka Lucas) back as Eddy embraced me so tightly that I nearly lost all sensation in my arms.

  “You are most welcome—and safe—here. I shall see to it myself,” he promised, oblivious to the chaos ensuing just behind him.

  “Uh, Ed,” Bernie warned when Eddy made no move to remove himself from me. “Better cowboy up, or let the girlie go.”

  Eddy turned towards Bernie, who was smiling smugly, quite enjoying the enraged Lucas, and smiled with a small nod. “She is quite the small thing, isn’t she?”

  Pavel shook his head as he stood between the space of Lucas and Eddy. “Hey, Ed,” he started, glancing at me with mischief. “Do you have a death wish? Lucas doesn’t share.”

  This was emphasized with a pointed look towards Lucas, who had successfully broke the hold of both Carl and Spanish.

  Eddy finally let me go—I could breathe again!—and stared at Lucas who was immediately clamoring over and maneuvering me behind his back.

  Obviously, Eddy was one tool short in that toolbox of his. He never really seemed to catch on.

  Another man stepped forward and placed a stern hand on Edward’s shoulder. “Edward, it is clear that you have overstepped your bounds. The lady, as you might deduce, is with this gentleman,” the other man said pointedly towards Lucas.

  Eddy’s wheels were turning. And click. There we go.

  His eyes glistened with understanding before he was offering his sincerest apologies. Pavel and Bernie were having a gay ol’ time at my side as they talked amongst themselves while Eddy continued to apologize to an enraged Lucas.

  Cecile was obviously finished with niceties as she stepped forward and addressed the man that was still beside Eddy, looking on with superior eyes the color of chocolate.

  “Fallon,” she started with a bewitching smile, “might you advise us on your current situation. We were requested, were we not, to aide you on a difficult case?”

  Apparently Fallon, the man that stood a little too straight, was the man to greet when it came to all things important—unlike the chief Eddy-Weddy.

  Eddy and Lucas were still in a sort of heated eye match, to which the supposed English-Indian ignored as he replied to Cecile.

  “Yes,” he stated. “It would seem that our current operatives tasked with the explicit duty of ridding Britain of a certain terrorist group on the Dark side have somehow managed to land in a bit of heated water. As such, it is imperative that you send only a few and seek their whereabouts tout suite.”

  “How long ago was your last communication?” Lucas asked, finally reentering the conversation.

  Eddy glanced at Fallon and then Lucas. “A week ago.”

  Lucas mused over the information. “Then we haven’t much time.”

  “Indeed,” Fallon stated impassively. “I fear that they are already compromised. I will need your best to see if they can be located. Otherwise, we’ll execute the following plan and wipe the known compounds.”

  It was all very spy-movie.

  I could comprehend some of the jargon, but most of it sounded like nonsense to me. I understood that there were two people, possibly dead or otherwise, and that this was a sort of Dark terrorist group, but that was about it.

  Lucas and the others though fully comprehended how dire the circumstances were, however, by their similarly grim, solemn faces.

  Lucas pondered over the information, finger tracing the line of his jaw. “Cecile, Gustave,” he started, “and Pavel will go in.”

  Cecile, Gustave, and Pavel stepped forward. The trio looked at each other with sideways nods and followed Fallon deeper into the compound. I watched the three of them disappear before turning towards Lucas.

  “Are you sure you want to send them? They barely—“ I whispered urgently.

  “Together they will be fine,” Lucas responded firmly. He then turned towards Spanish and Bernie, who were standing beside Carl. “Bernard and Adan will scout the compounds known and seek information on unknown compounds. Carl, Izzy, and I will remain here for intelligence collection.”

  No fighting?

  My lips thinned as I directed an angry glare towards Lu
cas. I knew he would seek to cage me while we were here. No wonder he had paired off the others in such a way. My hands once more found their place on my hips.

  “Very good,” Eddy stated with sparkling eyes. Obviously, his previous mishap did not detracting a bit from his admiration of Lucas.

  Poor puppy.

  Carl stepped up beside me and leaned toward my ear.

  His height was a big problem when he wanted to be perceived as inconspicuous because his leaning nearly a foot down was conspicuous all on its own.

  “Don’t fret, little lady, we’ll see our action soon enough,” he promised sweetly.

  I scoffed. “Not if Lucas has a say in it; well, not for me at least.”

  Carl shrugged with a handsome grin. “Even Lucas can’t keep you in a cage.”

  Yep, still liked this cowboy.

  “Did I ever tell you that I love you?” I said with a flutter of my eyelashes.

  Carl winked before standing up straight. “Don’t let the boss-man catch wind of that, or I’ll lose my spot beside you.”

  ‘Nuff said.

  I nodded to say I understood as much with a smug grin before reassessing our surroundings.

  Several groups of men entirely made of muscle collected around holographic images near and far. Many of the women sat reviewing paperwork and trailing from group to group. Many of these women were dressed business-casual, which I concluded was because many of them didn’t work in the field like Cecile and I.

  Well, like I wanted to anyway.

  Lucas finally made his way beside me, immediately issuing an order to Carl. Carl nodded with understanding before following after Eddy to a small cubicle off to the side of us. When it was just the two of us, only then did Lucas finally speak.

  “You look upset,” he stated the obvious.

  Well said, Lucas, you bastard.

  “Whatever gave you that idea?” I snipped, crossing my arms tightly against my chest.

  “Do not be cross, Izzy. I did this only because you are in danger every time you are out there, exposed.”

  I sighed with bitter resolve. “I know. I just don’t like being inside while everyone else is fighting my fight.”

  Lucas wrapped an arm loosely around my shoulders. “It is not only your fight. It is all of ours. Right now, however, the group we seek here is believed to be associated with the Bleeding Stars. It would be too risky to keep you in the field.”

  I hated how logical his point was. “But it’s so boring inside! Besides, I have this incredible power that I can’t even use because you won’t let me!”

  I nearly growled but managed to keep my temper from flaring. This was neither the time nor the place. Unfortunately, Lucas had a way of grating on my nerves.

  “And still untrained. You require more training before I’m comfortable with sending you into the field without hesitation—especially now.” Lucas pressed a small kiss to my temple before pulling away, effectively ending the conversation as he walked off to join the other men.

  I still had more to say.

  Like how I would never been trained enough for Lucas. Or how Lucas would never put me on the field without hesitating because he is an overbearing brute of a vampire-angel incapable of compromising without a chorus to aide me.

  However, saying it all out loud would only piss off the large man that was now very publicly my beau, so I’d rather keep things civil—at least where others could hear.

  --

  Two days passed by quickly.

  I was literally of no help to the three men that made executive decisions with or without my input. I stood like some sort of statue most of the day, hovering over them in hopes of offering my two cents.

  Of course, I understood very little about battle operatives and intelligence collection initiatives. I was really just treading water here.

  Eddy had continued to be as lame as his puns.

  He was definitely man-crushing on Lucas; it was evident in his every action and glance towards Lucas, seeking his approval with every step. Poor puppy was lost without Lucas’ say so on every matter important—or not. It actually didn’t matter what it was about. Eddy wanted Lucas to lead on everything.

  Ironically, Eddy was supposedly the leader of the London Headquarters. Fallon was his second-in-command. Honestly, Fallon was much more capable, but it seemed Fallon was happier in the field than behind a desk.

  Fallon was trained in every martial art known to man. He also spoke over twelve languages. He was of Indian descent, which was easily identifiable with his dark complexion, exotic eyes and mouth, and beautiful, glorious hair that often led my eyes astray when he came for a debriefing.

  Lucas was much more forthcoming with information when Fallon was present. Not that I could blame him.

  Eddy was just sad, really. He seemed incapable of true decision-making without the pair of them—Lucas and Fallon.

  I was also just as sad. I knew next to nothing, and I was starting to feel like an office decoration as the boys talked shop. I watched them leaning over, speaking while drawing out possible battle scenarios, before I was losing interest and discovering a hang nail.

  “Izzy,” someone called out as I attempted to remove said hang nail.

  The procedure was very risky, so I all but ignored the voice. I pulled slowly, gritting against the pain, when the voice called at me a bit more urgently.

  “Izzy!” the voice called, more insistent this time.

  I tore the hang nail with a hiss.

  Dammit. I was nearly there!

  “What?!” I growled, looking up to see all three men watching me with barely concealed smiles. “I was in surgery,” I explained lamely.

  “Surgery?” Fallon asked in perplexity.

  “It is better not to ask,” came another voice from behind me.

  I recognized it immediately. Turning on my heels, I stared with unmasked glee as Pavel, Gustave, and Cecile strolled leisurely towards us.

  “Hello, moya solnishka,” Pavel greeted with a sexy grin. Dammit if I didn’t smile like a school girl in response. “You are still off in Wonderland it seems.”

  “Pavel,” Lucas growled. “You are early.”

  “Took us less time than we thought,” Pavel said with a shrug.

  Cecile eased around him before embracing me briefly. “You look positively bored.”

  “Me? No way,” I said mockingly. “It’s been basically an Izzy-harem since you left,” I lied with a teasing smile. “Yeah…I could barely keep these three off of me…”

  “I knew it!” came a cry from beyond.

  Bernie weaseled between Cecile and Pavel before gathering me up into a bear hug. I smacked him, laughing when he pretended to fall over in serious injury because of it.

  “Oh, girlie, you injury me so!” he rasped, closing his eyes tightly as if fighting the pain.

  “As she should, you brute,” Gustave said before pressing a swift kiss to the top of my hand. “I have missed gazing upon the beauty of your face, mon amour.”

  “Hands off, pretty boy. I saw her first,” Bernie exclaimed, pushing Gustave out of the away.

  “How about you do us all a favor and shower instead. You smell heavily of body odor,” Gustave said while pinching his nose for affect.

  Well played.

  “The circus is back in town,” I heard Carl say.

  “Enough,” came Lucas’ sharp voice. “Report to Fallon, and then we will meet in the first conference room.” Lucas eased forward, grabbing me before he led us out of the group towards a hallway that led to several doors. “You and I need to have a talk,” he stated before opening one of the doors and leading me inside.

  I was suddenly very uncomfortable without my buffer around me. Lucas took a seat and pointed for me to take the seat beside him. I stood for a moment, contemplating whether or not to flee, but decided that dealing with an angry Lucas was much worse when I gave him chase.

  “Izzy,” he started, taking one of my hands in his.

  I didn�
��t like the way this was already going. I could see that Lucas’ eyes had become very serious, and I knew that none of my usual nonsense would be tolerated.

  So, bucking up for a serious conversation, I regarded him with a serious gaze of my own.

  “Tristan knows you are here,” he said, his hand squeezing mine momentarily. “He intends to infiltrate these very headquarters. We intercepted information as such. The rest are going to create a diversion while you and I return to your hometown.”

  “You mean…” I started in surprise.

  “Yes, we will part ways here,” Lucas confirmed with a curt nod.

  “But…” I was suddenly having a very hard time breathing. “What will happen to everyone here? Won’t they have to face them? I can’t leave them!”

  “You can, and you will. This is what they are trained for, Izzy. Tristan is a formidable foe; however, he lacks the training and facilities that the Guardians’ have. They are already putting measures in place to defeat him before he can truly penetrate this compound,” he explained.

  Tristan, the dark angel bastard.

  I knew what Lucas was saying was the truth, but I also knew that Tristan had a network and was becoming increasingly more daring.

  Could I really risk all their lives so that I could live? Was I worth it? I was starting to wonder.

  “We will leave shortly. Fallon will be speaking with them collectively. We cannot stay,” he said quickly.

  Lucas stood from the chair and hit a button on the wall. The wall shook before it slid away revealing a dark passage where the wall had come away. Suddenly, I was very interested in why we initially came to London.

  Was this the true purpose? It all seemed very well planned out to me.

  I took a step back, eyeing Lucas. “You planned this.”

  “Yes,” Lucas stated without hesitation.

  “From the moment we got here,” I continued. He nodded, and it made my blood boil. “Why?”

  “For the same reason we continue to relocate,” Lucas answered evenly.

  “Diversion?” I asked.

  “Yes,” Lucas concurred before gesturing towards the hidden passage. “We need to leave.”