by G. K. DeRosa
His words resonated in my head like a ping-pong ball. Seeing Declan with his father was hard. I could see how painful it was for him. There was a thin line between hatred and love. I knew that well. What if Britton was right and Declan really wouldn’t be able to kill his own father if it came down to it?
I quickly quashed the jumbled thoughts bouncing around in my mind. It didn’t matter. We’d figure out the rest later. Right now, I needed Britton to believe we were all on the same side.
“He’s already turned against Nathanael. He’s pumping him for information and will share that with you—with Linc. Just let him prove himself.”
Declan stepped forward seeing his opening. “My father and two of his generals are going to New York City to meet with the king of the vampires in two weeks time.”
“We already knew that.”
“You don’t know the specifics. You don’t know how many soldiers are going and how many are remaining to guard the tower. You also don’t know that the king of the vampires is my uncle.”
Britt’s clenched jaw went slack.
“And that they are planning to start another war,” I added. “If we have any hope of surviving, we need to join forces. If you can free the prisoners from Arx before the second battle erupts we may stand a chance.”
I didn’t know how much Parker had told Linc about the shield and my powers. Hopefully not much. The longer I was kept a secret, the safer it was for all of us.
“I don’t know.” Britton wrapped his good arm around the bad one.
“Maybe this will help you change your mind.” Declan approached him, and he immediately recoiled.
“Let him help you,” I murmured as I rolled back the sleeve of his khaki jumpsuit.
Declan’s palm lit up, bathing the dim space in a golden glory. Britt’s brows shot up as Declan lowered his hand to his forearm. The moment the light touched Britt’s skin, all the tension in his forehead melted away.
A peaceful silence blanketed the shed as warmth bathed my skin. Even I was powerless against the soothing rays of Declan’s healing power.
After a few minutes, Declan backed up and the light extinguished. His shoulders slumped forward, and he inhaled a long breath. I always forgot how much healing took out of him. I snaked my arm around his waist, hoping he’d use me as a crutch without making it too obvious.
I knew he wouldn’t want to appear weak in front of Britt.
Britt sucked in a breath as he pulled his arm out of the sling. He slowly twisted his wrist from side to side. “That was incredible.”
“Take it easy at first. In another day or so, it should be back to normal,” Declan said.
“Thank you.” Britt extended his good hand. “I’m not saying I trust you yet, but that was pretty monumental.” A small smile tugged at his lips as he paused, rubbing his scruffy chin. He glanced at me, then back at Declan. “Okay, let’s do this.”
I grinned and pulled Declan into my side, forcing him to lean some of his weight on me. “In the words of Sammarah: let’s save the world.”
Copyright © 2018 G.K. DeRosa LLC
All Rights Reserved. This book may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system known or hereafter invented, without written permission from the publisher, G.K. DeRosa LLC.
Print ISBN: 9781791616977
Cover Designer: Sanja Gombar www.fantasybookcoverdesign.com
Published in 2018 by G.K. DeRosa LLC
Palm Beach, Florida
www.gkderosa.com
Created with Vellum
Thank you to all my wonderful readers!
~ G.K.
Chapter 1
“Britt, Liv, you have to get out now!” Redson whisper-yelled from the doorway.
My already racing heart kicked up a notch, and I wiped my clammy palms against my jeans. The memories of this cold white room made it hard enough to be in here.
“I need another minute,” Britt hissed, a screwdriver clenched between his teeth, muddying his words. Tiny beads of sweat lined his scrunched brow as he clipped a blue wire. “There.”
“You’re done?” I stared at Britt crouched down next to the colossal augmentation ray. The sleek white device looked like it came straight out of a sci-fi movie.
“Almost.” He pulled out a bundle of wires and carefully separated them.
My foot tapped nervously on the tile floor as I stared at the clock on the wall. The next batch of human soldiers was scheduled for augmentation in ten minutes. The second hand ticked ominously. The tick-tock echoed in my head, almost drowning out my thundering pulse. Britt had succeeded in dismantling the other two rays yesterday—or so we hoped. We’d find out today if it had worked.
That was how the past week had gone, finding ways to sabotage the angels any way we could without drawing too much attention.
“Done.” Britt snapped the back panel into place and secured it with the small screws. Jumping up, he grabbed my hand and yanked me toward the door.
I opened it a crack and peered through. Redson was on the other side, a sheen of sweat dampening his forehead. “It’s about damn time,” he muttered. “Wait for my signal.” His anxious eyes followed the camera mounted on the corner wall as we remained safely hidden behind the door. “Okay, now.” We slipped through the opening and into the quiet corridor. Redson turned back and flicked on the cameras in the augmentation room before he rejoined us halfway down the floor.
We crept along the white hallway with our heads down, like good little human soldiers. Redson walked a few steps behind us in his crisp white uniform, playing his role of military escort. Since I was a guest, I’d lucked out and not been required to wear the khaki jumpsuits forced upon new human recruits. The angels and nephilim had gotten used to seeing me around by now, but Nathanael had made it clear I was not to wander around alone.
We reached the elevator just as the shiny doors glided open. Two towering nephilim blocked the entryway, the golden gleam of their body armor nearly blinding me. I barely reached their massive chests, and I was not short.
They stepped off, revealing half a dozen human prisoners behind them. Like most of the slaves chosen for augmentation, they were whopping, burly guys, but their expressions told another story. Frightened, anxious eyes of every shape and color met mine. My chest tightened.
They marched past us, and the odor of unwashed bodies wafted over me. It wasn’t fair. I sent up a silent plea that Britt’s tampering worked. In the past week, I’d seen hundreds of human soldiers augmented and sent north. Everyone knew what was coming. Another war loomed on the horizon.
“Come on.” Redson nudged me forward, and I stepped onto the elevator. I wanted to stay and see what happened, but it would be too obvious. We all needed to be far away from this level if the ray malfunctioned.
The elevator dinged on the 52nd floor, and I nodded a quick goodbye to Britt and Redson. Being seen with both of them too often was risky. Which was exactly why I hadn’t told Declan I’d gone. Creeping down the corridor, I prayed he was still asleep in our room.
Declan’s relationship with his father was strained—at best. Neither trusted the other, but both put on a good show. It was wearing on Declan though. This was the third night in a row I’d awoken to find him wandering around the apartment. I kept my fingers crossed he’d been tired enough to sleep through my absence this morning.
Gently, I turned the knob and tiptoed inside.
“Where were you?”
I jumped as a pair of blazing maroon eyes locked onto mine from across the living room. No such luck.
I clasped my hands together and diverted my gaze to his chin. He was shirtless so I refused to let my eyes travel down any farther or my tongue would be completely useless. “I didn’t want to wake you so I went for a little walk.”
With two long purposeful strides, he closed the distance between us. His lips were inches from mine, his cool minty breath swi
rling too close. My hand itched to snake out and run my fingers over his defined abs. Why is he so perfect? I squeezed my hands into tight little fists to stop myself.
“Don’t lie to me, Liv. No poker face, remember?”
I snagged my lower lip between my teeth. Damn him for being able to read me so well. “I went to help Redson and Britt.”
Declan’s eyes widened to a pair of fiery crimson pits. “To sabotage the augmentation ray? Are you out of your mind?”
My eyes darted around the room to the broken security cameras. Declan had disabled them as soon as we moved in, but their presence still grated on my nerves.
I stubbornly set my jaw and faced him again. “It’s not fair that they’re the only ones taking risks. If we’re all in this together, we need to all be in this. That includes me.”
His fingers clenched around my upper arms. “No, it doesn’t include you. You are much too valuable.”
There was something in the tremor of his voice that convinced me he wasn’t only talking about my sacred bloodline. His warm fingertips seared into my skin, and as always I was powerless against his touch. “I’m sorry I worried you, but I refuse to stay locked up in this apartment and do nothing.”
“You’re not doing nothing. You’re staying safe. And alive. You’re our secret weapon, and we’d all be lost without you.” He moved closer and brushed my cheek with his thumb. “I’d be lost without you.” My breath caught in my throat. With all the time Declan and I had been spending together, keeping my just-friends rule was becoming nearly impossible. We hadn’t kissed since the night of our arrival at the tower, but I didn’t know how much longer I could hold out. Not when he looked at me like that—like I was the only person in the world that mattered.
I stepped back, hoping a little distance would snap me back to my senses. Declan dropped his hand and then shoved them both into his pockets.
“I’m sorry,” I muttered. “I just—”
He cut me off with a wave of his hand. “Don’t apologize. You have no idea what you do to me,” he growled and ran his hand over his face. “But, I promised you space, and I intend to keep my word. It’s just hard when we’re this close, and all I can think about is touching you.”
I drew in a sharp breath, his words like a heated caress. I’d been sleeping entangled in his limbs for the past week, and my resolve grew weaker by the day. To be honest I wasn’t even sure why I was still holding back. “I know,” I finally said. “It’s hard for me too.” I shot him a grin. “I don’t want your head to explode, but you are pretty irresistible.”
A surprised chuckle tumbled from his sexy lips. “Too late.” He brought his hands up, splaying his fingers and gestured his head exploding.
I couldn’t help but laugh. It felt good too.
Two light knocks at the door startled me. I whirled around toward the entrance. What if someone saw me come out of the augmentation room?
I took a breath to still my elevated pulse. No one saw us. Redson had made sure of it.
The pair of nephilim guards previously stationed at the door since we arrived at the tower had been dismissed last week. It was part of the attempt at friendly relations between Nathanael and his son. At least it gave us the illusion we were free to come and go as we pleased.
“Are you expecting someone?” I asked.
He shook his head and moved toward the door, motioning for me to stay put. Opening the door a crack, he peered through the opening.
I could just make out a tall figure in the doorway.
“I’ve got a message for Liv,” a male voice whispered.
Declan eyed the stranger for a long moment. “Are you here to harm Liv in any way?” His voice boomed with power. It took me a second to figure out what he was doing. It was the first time I’d seen Declan use compulsion. I’d recently realized he avoided using his vampire abilities as much as possible.
Denial: it was an easier place to live.
“No,” the man at the door answered coolly. “Like I said I have a message for Liv. I’m only following instructions.”
Declan yanked the guy in and quickly shut the door behind him.
A vaguely familiar, tall human pressed his back against the thick wood as his gaze traveled the room. He wore the telltale khaki jumpsuit of all new human recruits.
“Crowder?” I squeaked when I finally placed his face. Samson Crowder grew up on the farm next to Asher’s. He was a few years older than us and had been in college in South Carolina when everything went down. We all thought he was dead. Three years had changed a lanky seventeen-year-old boy into a finely sculpted man.
He stepped toward me, and a low growl vibrated in Declan’s throat, freezing him on the spot.
“Declan.” I shot him a good glare. “Crowder’s an old friend.”
My nephilim protector moved between us, and I could’ve sworn he puffed his chest out. “You don’t know if he’s the same. Not if he’s been augmented.”
Not him too.
“I’m scheduled for tomorrow,” he mumbled. “I got here yesterday.” He tucked his chin-length dirty-blonde hair behind his ears. Those long locks would be the first thing to go once the angels got a hold of him.
“You were captured?” I asked.
He shook his head. “You know, I’m not sure what happened. I was headed north with some buddies to join the rebels”—his voice dropped—“and a pack of stryx attacked us overnight.” He paused to scratch his scruffy chin. “Asher was with them.”
“Asher?” My voice went up a few notches. What was he doing in D.C.?
“I don’t remember much except him giving me this note and telling me I had to get it to you.” He held out a folded slip of paper.
Declan intercepted the note before I could close my fingers around it. His eyebrows nearly reached his hairline as he skimmed the page.
“What does it say?” I suppressed the urge to snatch it out of his hot little hands since he was already mad at me.
He frowned as he glanced up. “The vampires are coming.”
Chapter 2
I read over the familiar scrawled handwriting twice before pressing the note against my chest. Asher still cared enough to warn me. The old Ash was still in there somewhere. I didn’t know what to do with that information right now.
“Asher is a vampire?” Crowder sat on the edge of the couch, his hands clasped together.
Poor guy had no idea what he’d been sucked into. A little annoying voice in my head reminded me that Asher had gotten his old friend captured just to deliver this message.
“He’s a stryx, technically,” I answered.
Crowder took a sip of water and shook his head. “The world really has gone to sh—”
Declan cut him off with a loud clearing of his throat. “Excuse me a moment, Crowder, but I need to speak to Liv in private.” He pulled me into the bedroom and shut the door. “You need to get rid of him now. If Asher’s note is true, the vampires are plotting an attack on the tower at the same time the renegades are planning their break out. We need to warn them.”
“It could end up being a good distraction, right?”
Declan paced in front of the door, his shoulders so tense I thought they’d snap. “Possibly. Or it could turn into a blood bath.”
I slouched down onto the bed. If the vampires came before the humans got out, they’d be sitting ducks. “We need to get word to Parker and Linc.” I stood and rushed to the door. “I have to tell Crowder too.”
Declan grabbed my arm, spinning me around. “No. The more people find out, the worse it’ll be. The last thing we need is mass panic.”
“But—”
“Liv.” He shook my arm to stop me. “We tell Britton and Redson to get word to Linc—no one else. They’ll decide what needs to be done.”
“Fine,” I muttered through clenched teeth and stormed back into the living room.
Crowder sat on the couch with the sword of honor stretched across his lap. “What’s this thing?”
&n
bsp; Damn it. I needed to find a better hiding spot than under the sofa.
Declan shot past me and yanked it out of his hand. “A weapon—one that you never saw.” He narrowed his eyes and power seeped from his words. Crowder’s eyes glazed over, and a blank expression settled over his face.
So much for not using his vampire abilities.
“Come on. Let’s get him down to the barracks and find Britton.”
I nodded and led my old friend to the door. From the corner of my eye, a flash of light drew my attention and I whirled around. Declan’s civilian clothes had vanished, the golden armor of the nephilim taking their place.
My jaw dropped as my gaze ran over the smooth muscles on his exposed arms then descended down his chest. A part of me hated seeing Declan in full angel warrior attire, but I couldn’t deny the small part that loved it.
Declan cleared his throat, and I wiped the metaphorical drool from my chin. “I figured I’d be less conspicuous this way.”
Less conspicuous?
The brilliant sun demanded less attention. “Right…”
A lopsided smile crossed his face. “Whatever, let’s just go.”
I gave him my best salute and followed him and Crowder down the sterile corridor.
When we reached the barracks, I inhaled a breath of fresh air. The tightness in my chest immediately lessened. I’d barely left the tower in the past week, and being outside, even within the strict confines of the compound, was a much-needed relief.
After dropping off Crowder at the new recruit barracks, we resumed our search for Britton. A pair of human soldiers in pristine white uniforms passed us, their eyes narrowing for a second before casting toward the ground. I had become a legend around here—the human girl living with Nathanael’s son. Some looked at me in awe but most, like the ones passing us, glared at me with disgust. Like I was a traitor.