“But…” Her lips felt heavy as she spoke, “you got into the academy. You’re a Hawk.”
His lips curled. “You really think I did all of that on my own? As smart as you think you are, you’re not. They’re the ones that got me here, not you. I can have a future that should only be the stuff of dreams. All it’s going to cost me is you.”
She felt tears gather in the corners of her eyes. No! William is my friend. He wouldn’t really do this.
“I’m sorry,” he said, but his words lacked all sincerity. “I don’t know what they’re going to do to you, but I don’t think it’s going to be good.”
He reached for her, trying to wrap his arms around her.
Using all her strength, she bit into the flesh of his arm as hard as she possibly could.
He screamed and drew back from her.
She spit out the blood and flesh that filled her mouth.
“Bitch!”He struck her across the face, so hard her head spun.
Then, he hit her again. And again. And again.
Her vision blackened.
She couldn’t move, not a muscle. All she could taste was the coppery blood that laced her tongue, but whether it was all his or some of hers, she wasn’t sure.
He dragged her. For how long she wasn’t sure.
But when he stopped, her head fell to the side. She found herself staring at dirt around a large hole beneath the fence.
A slimy voice came from somewhere she couldn’t see. “Very good, William. Very good.”
Chapter Six
Liam awoke with an odd sense of déjà vu. His ship trembled around him, reflecting the way his heart pounded. He rose and threw on his clothes. Where is my female? And why do I have the awful feeling she is in trouble, yet again?
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1
Gillian
"So, how is your day looking? Do you think I could meet you for lunch?" Doug’s voice comes through the door of the bathroom, and I can tell he's standing right outside.
I close the door of the medicine cabinet and look at myself in the mirror. There is something wrong with Doug these days, but I can't put my finger on it. It should be okay for a guy I’m seeing occasionally to ask about my job, right? The only thing is, he never took an interest in it until about a month ago.
And the last time he met me at my office he'd been a little too snoopy for my liking.
"Uh, no." I try to sound reluctant. “I have to meet my boss for lunch today."
I open the door and step out, and he puts his arms around me. It used to make me feel special, but now I just feel…worried. On the outside he’s the same man, green button-down shirt and black slacks, raven hair parted on the side. But now I look up into his piercing blue eyes and wonder what’s going on in his head.
“That’s too bad, Gillian.” His familiar grin is missing its warmth. “Dinner tomorrow, then?”
“Yeah, sounds great.” Maybe. I don’t think I’ll be seeing Doug again, but I’ll cancel by phone. It’s been a great few months, but I don’t have time to deal with his weirdness. My work comes first. Especially now. I’m pretty close to a breakthrough that could completely change my career forever.
Better get to it, hadn’t I?
2
Brion
Gillian works too hard. The errant thought startles me.
I’ve never cared about what the person I’m protecting does before. But there’s something special about Gillian. Something that draws me to her in a way I can’t explain. Maybe it’s her passion for her work. Or maybe she’s just the hottest thing you’ve seen in a long, long time.
Whatever it is, it makes being assigned to her rather difficult. And keeping my mind on my work is usually not a problem for me.
She’s finally leaving her lab at 7:00 p.m. As she crosses the street to meet her roommate for coffee at their usual café, I’m struck again by how beautiful she is. Faded blue jeans and a T-shirt, eyes so blue they’re almost purple, shiny blond hair back in a ponytail. I wonder what it feels like to run my fingers through it. She’s natural. No makeup required. And she’s a scientist.
Brains and beauty.
Next to her, I’m a beast.
My story is different. I skipped out on school, did my time in the service, and then built a security company and made a living protecting low-life scumbags from other low-life scumbags. Until I was shot point-blank by someone I’d trusted.
How I became an angel when I died I’ll never know. I guess Michael just needed people who could fight. Because I sure as hell can fight.
And I’ve got an instinct when one is coming up. Like right now. Something’s wrong, but I can’t put my finger on it. I knew when Michael assigned me to her that there might be trouble. But he wasn’t very specific on what that trouble might be. Hell. Maybe he doesn’t even know what it is.
I jump off the rooftop, extending my wings to float down to the ground. It’s a busy downtown metropolitan day, but I’m not worried. Most humans can’t see me when I do miraculous things like extend my wings or fly. There is the occasional exception, but other humans tend to think they’re crazy. Most see me only when I make a real effort to show myself.
I land in front of the coffee shop window, blocking the view of her from the street.
A blinding pain slices through my side. My eyes search for the thrower as my hand closes around the hilt of the dagger.
This is going to hurt.
I grit my teeth as I pull it out, but a muffled “Fuck!” comes out anyway. That burns like hell. I never said I was a fucking hero. I just said I could fight.
Another dagger comes flying, this time toward my chest. I block it with my wing. And my eyes have found the culprit.
It’s a demon. None of the pedestrians react—to them he looks human. But I can see him for who he is. Demons are slightly larger than humans, with grayish skin, horns, and long, thin whiplike tails. Beware the tails. The daggers on the ends of those little bastards hurt.
I raise my eyebrows in surprise, but don’t have time to wonder why the demons are here. Did I attract them, or is it the woman I’m protecting? The mystery deepens as two more appear out of nowhere.
I throw up a shield of protection around the window where she sits, then turn back just as the first demon jumps from the roof of a bus and lands on me. I toss him into the air and he flies into the side of the bus. I backhand the other demon that comes from the opposite direction. Two well-placed kicks throw him into the windshield of a taxi, which spidercracks while the occupants inside scream incoherently.
The third demon has reached me now. I grapple with him, throwing him into the shielded window. I punch him in the stomach with quick jabs, his head banging repeatedly against the glass. I peer inside the coffee shop over his shoulder briefly to make sure the shield is still working.
Sure enough, Gillian notices nothing. Her roommate is making her laugh with his crazy facial expressions. So innocent.
Unlike this demon.
I finally get a stranglehold around his throat.
“Why are you here?” I use my angelic voice, deep and powerful.
He splutters and I realize he can’t speak. I loosen my fist. Slightly.
“You don’t know?” He laughs. “The biggest news in the underworld and you boys upstairs know nothing. Typical.”
I tighten my other fist. I really want to put it through his jaw. But then he won’t be able to talk at all. “Are you after me?”
He shakes his head and his eyes burn with hatred. “Sometimes your arrogance astounds even me.”
“Who are you after?”
His eyes inadvertently roll toward Gillian. Then he snaps out of it. “I’m not telling you anything.” He gasps. “Giving us a fighting ch
ance.”
Then the body slumps and I realize he’s just a walk-in. The real owner of this corpse is gone.
“Shit.” The body crumbles to dust at my feet. Long gone.
I hear a scream and see that the first demon has awakened and is attacking a random woman on the sidewalk. My stomach lurches. If he bites the back of her neck by her spine, then he’ll be able to walk in to her. And that’s the last thing I need.
They struggle and end up in the street. I look between my charge and the woman. It’s not my responsibility to protect every human on the street, but I know between the demon and the speeding cars, she doesn’t have a chance of walking away alive.
“Shit!” Sometimes duty is a bitch. I force myself between them and use the dagger I pulled out of my abdomen to stab him through the heart. He crumbles to dust at my feet. The woman runs off.
“You’re welcome,” I grumble.
Just then, I hear Gillian’s voice. Spinning around, I’m shocked to find her on the sidewalk right behind me. I’ve never been this close to her before. The late evening sun breaks through in the space between two high-rise buildings, framing her face perfectly. An expression of fear comes over her and she outstretches her hand toward me. I notice the flecks of darker blue in her eyes for the very first time.
For a moment, she glows.
I haven’t had feelings this strong since before I died. I step toward her in a trance.
Hooooonk!
I look to the left, and the last thing I see is the windshield of a bus.
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About the Author
Immortal Angel has lived a hundred lifetimes all in one. She's a mother, a sister, a daughter, a wife, and a best friend. She's traveled the real world, enjoying what our three-dimensional reality has to offer. She's hiked the stairs inside the Eiffel Tower. She's watched a Shakespearean play in a grassy clearing outside of Cambridge, and she's ridden a ferry to Ireland. In Australia, she cuddled koalas, in China, she cuddled pandas, and in the Middle East, she cuddled camels. And every time she opened a book, she entered a world beyond this one, one where the only limits are the imagination.
So many lifetimes of adventures have inspired her to reach beyond this planet to the stars above and to worlds rooted in fantasy. Her romances in space are meant to take her readers on their own adventures, imagining new and exciting place. With hot men. And maybe a few sexy aliens too.
You can follow Immortal Angel on Facebook, Twitter @ImmortalAngel22, and her blog here.
To Trust a Warrior: An Alien Rogue Romance (Starflight Academy Book 4) Page 4