Torn Between Two Worlds (Guardians Series Book 1)

by Lexi Ostrow

  Only her pulling back ended the kiss. “Stryder, no, you need to leave.” She looked like she was focusing for a minute and then she cursed. “No. Damn this fucking cell! No!” She was shaking, her body moving so hard he was amazed she was standing. He pulled her into him.

  “Shh, sweetheart. Shh. If the cell is the issue then let's go. Trap or not I'm taking you home.” He scooped her up and approached the cell door. Seeing the lock wasn't latched he frowned. This really was a fucking trap. Pushing the door open he walked cautiously through the cavern. He couldn't hear much, but occasionally he felt a demon's presence.

  “Stryder.” She stirred in his arms and pointed to the left of them. She'd managed to open a doorway, but it was to his house. Within seconds his brothers had pushed their way through and stood next to them, the demons visibly waiting on the other side.

  “Where the fuck did you go?” Fasheem's voice a growl. The doorway sparked out of existence taking out their escape option with it.

  “Right here, dummy. She can't control the doorways sometimes so shut the fuck up about it and let's go.”

  The brothers fell in line and they continued to walk through what was clearly an underground tunnel system. No one talked, Ciara continued to cry softly and he felt like an ass. But he wasn't leaving her here another minute and once he was sure she was safe he was going to leave someone guarding her and come back here and take the whole fucking group down one by one for daring to touch her.

  Stopping at what appeared to be an intersection of some sorts, he felt Demarcus's hand on his shoulder. “See if she can open another. This is too easy, Stryder. Something is coming and I would feel a hell of a lot better if all those demons we signed up were in here to help.” Ciara stiffened in his arms and he didn't know which from, the idea of opening a doorway or that they were teaming up with demons.

  “Sweetheart? Demarcus is right, can you do it?”

  She nodded and he could see revulsion in her eyes. But she did it. In front of them the doorway opened and he called out to those in wait. “Come my brothers. War is coming and your Horsemen and their seconds request your help!” His voice boomed in the cavern and the answering cry from the demons was loud and hearty as they began to race through the open doorway.

  Hundreds of them joined them and he was tired of waiting. “Open a doorway to your room please. Do not fight me on this, Ciara. This needs to end today. Now, and if you're here I'll be distracted.”

  “Hell no, Stryder. Do you know how many people I had to kill while you were gone? I'm not leaving.”

  He couldn't help but smile. It was the most conviction he'd heard from her in the last hour since he found her. “Sweetheart either you're going to do it or I'm going to do what Fasheem helped me figure out. I can flash you there, only you'll probably land on your cute ass or even smash your face into something because the landing sucks. So your choice. You open it or I will.” His eyes flashed black and she twitched in his arms.

  Without warning she straightened up in his arms and kissed him. Briefly but just enough to kindle a fire of lust inside him again. Damn their situation because all he could think about was apologizing for being an ass to her and now he had to deal with this first.

  Fire seemed to glow from her eyes. She was still pissed at him and probably more so for this. But she essentially jumped from his arms and nodded at his brothers. “Thank you. I am sorry you're doing this because of me. Sorry all your stories may be shot to hell. But thank you.” The shimmering to her room opened just behind them. Right as he heard the footsteps pounding from the tunnel in front of them.

  “Shit.” He wasn't sure who said it. But he sure as hell didn't disagree.

  Jameson laughed. “So much for the element of surprise.”

  Chapter 30

  He snarled at the sight rushing them toward them. These fuckers would surely only be the first round. They'd probably set off some damn alarm and he couldn't be happier to let the killing begin. Without a thought against it he pressed his lips to Ciara's, savoring the taste of her and praying it would not be the last time he got to do as much. His voice was almost inaudible over the shouting. "I love you. Run, leave!" She nodded and began to walk to the doorway. He turned back to the mess of demons and humans that approached them, ready to end it.

  Jameson, Demarcus and Fasheem were next to him. Horsemen all in control now he welcomed War. He growled low at the advancing trail of Initiative members. But it was Demarcus's booming voice that filled the dank cavern.

  "Time to die, ass wipes. Just like every other fucking time. Don't you get it yet- we might not be your ideal, but you're just plain dip shits." Demarcus grabbed the scythe off his back and began to swing. Death using his merciful weapon and severing heads left and right.

  The demons that fought at their side showed no mercy, they didn't know how to. The cries of the losers were a music to Stryder's ears. His daggers sliced through flesh, his claws following and making quick work out of anyone else that got to close. His eyes saw a flash of light and a trail of fire and he cursed before swinging his head. There she was. Gods be damned that crazy female of his was still there, hands launching her blessedly controlled power left and right. He whistled low as the light slammed into a soldier and exploded him.

  "Damn! I better not piss her off." Distracted, he didn't feel the bullet that slammed into his left shoulder, but he sure as fuck felt the poison begin to course through his system. He reached and tried to pull the bullet out to no avail. If it wasn't out soon he wasn't going to make it out of this.

  He heard Ciara scream and figured she would drop her guard to rush around the doorway to him. Perfect. Forcing himself to walk forward he grabbed onto her as she ran toward him. He could see her lips moving, but couldn't hear the answer. He closed his eyes and breathed in her scent and the sounds of the battle washed away. Just this once. He should've told her. Should've mentioned the poison. But someone else could tell her, someone else would guard her.

  She looked at him and he realized he growled at the thought of someone touching his woman. And then he pushed her.

  Stryder pushed her straight into the shimmering portal he had all but tricked her into standing in front of. The look on her face as her backside connected with the carpet on her apartment floor would haunt him forever, or however much longer he had.

  The shimmering grew smaller, acknowledging that it's safety target was indeed inside. He was thankful that she wasn't always in control of it and assumed at times, that the mysterious man in the trench coat was. "I love you."

  "Love you too, bro, but really, not the time for that shit." Jameson slapped a hand onto this shoulder and pulled back. "Fuck. Bloody fuck, Stryder. Hold still." Jameson used his dagger to dig into the flesh around the bullet.

  His fangs punched into his lower lip at the pain and he grabbed his gun from his pocket and shot the pack of three advancing on them. Head shots, nothing less for for the Horseman of War. He could feel the warm ooze of his own blood down his back and the pressure release as the bullet was yanked out.

  “Son of a bitch, Jameson!" he roared and turned to see his brother wiping his dagger free of blood, onto his bloodied clothes. He shook his head and his eyes looked over the scene before them. Hundreds dead, humans and demon alike. And yet hundreds more filling into the cavern on either side. He walked forward after pulling his sword free and stumbled, almost fell, but Jameson caught him. "I don't think we got it in time. Just promise me you'll tell her. Tell her I love her," he shouted and raced into the thick of battle. If he was going to die he was damn sure going to take down as many as he could to protect her from them when he was gone.

  His mind was a blank wash as he fought his way through the sea of bloodied and broken bodies, he didn't connect with anything. He was war, he was death and he was the nightmare they had all been told the horsemen were by the angels. Stryder took no mercy as he crossed the cavern slicing, shooting and stabbing everyone, even a few demons on their side that were stupid enough to g
et in his path. He went through weapon after weapon and snarled as one gun ran out of bullets and he realized he had none left to load it with, which left only the small handgun to deal with Jonathan, with one lousy bullet because he never used the piece of shit weapon. Throwing the gun to the floor he used his claws and the daggers to continue walking to his goal. He would save the handgun in case he only got one shot at Jonathan.

  When he reached the other side, he found his target with ease, trying to hide behind a column. Stupid shit was clear as day since reinforcements from both sides had stopped flooding in. Jonathan was his, he should've killed him months ago for trying shit then. But he'd had no way of knowing the annoying twit had risen to command an entire section of the Initiative. And now it was time to kill him.

  His feet pounded into the cavern floor as he raced after the man. Damn it, of the course he'd been spotted, why would anything be easy? His movements were hindered as the poison raced it's way through his body and he knew he would need to drink and soon or it would kill him even if he won this war. He felt footsteps pounding behind him and without looking back turned his gun hand and shot.

  "Fucking hell, brother. I'm helping damn it!" Demarcus's voice got closer as he talked and he saw his brother surprise him.

  If that didn't take the cake. He was going to need help taking down the bastard who ruined his remaining life. He'd had to toss the gun to the floor to keep up, the poison making it harder for him to grip things, fighting sure was going to be a bitch. "Seriously, Demarcus, I have this. Go." He shoved Demarcus out of the way and continued to run toward what must have been the exit. He could hear Jonathan and a few others now, plus his jerk of a brother hadn't backed off. He knew it was going to be a mess if they didn't work together so he waited and motioned for his brother to stop as he got close.

  Nodding to him they split up and walked in different directions in the cavern to block in however many Initiative were making that sound, their eyes met when the tunnels looped back together. He would bet his shirt the wicked grin on Demarcus's face was on his too. With another nod, he took out clean daggers from his belt. Stryder bent over, holding his hands to his side as he ran, and he sliced clean through the stomach of the two men guarding the doorway to either an exit or a room where Jonathan was hiding. Either way he was going through. His fingers gripped into a ball as his knuckles turned white when he kicked the door open. More men waited inside and he could see Jonathan running up a staircase, to the real exit.

  Blocking in their prey at opposite ends, his diamond gaze locked with his brother’s, a wicked grin still on Demarcus's lips. With a nod he gripped his daggers as best as he could and saw the swing of the scythe as Demarcus sprang into action. His eyes flashed as a poison topped dagger sliced into his flesh, his stomach. His leg swept in front of him and the man slammed into the ground. Leaning down he dug his claws into his neck and whispered into his ear, “You picked the wrong Horseman, buddy. Didn't anyone ever tell you not to get involved with War?" The kill was quick and bloody. Wonderful and sexual; he was astonished his libido could work with the fight unfinished and the toxin slowly killing him. Retracting his claws he turned to see Jonathan halfway up the stairs and took off, leaving the remainder to Demarcus to finish off. His brother was the better fighter, the more lethal would always be death, the more violent war.

  Taking the steps two and three at a time he sucked in a deep breath to counter the pain. His blood spilled down from cuts and bullet holes he hadn't even felt himself get. Would the poison ooze out while he ran? He caught Jonathan at the top as he was scrambling to open some hidden lock. He cleared his throat and landed a punch to the face, and launched the man into the wall so his skull hit the rocky wall first. The crack of the hit made Jonathon delirious and his cry of pain was even better.

  His nails wrapped around Jonathan's shoulder and began to dig in until he picked the pathetic male off the ground. His scream tore from his throat and was music to Stryder's ears. His legs were stick straight and it pissed Stryder off. His nails dug in deeper and he shook Jonathan like a rag doll. His left hand lost its grip as the claws sliced clean through Jonathan's shoulder. Quickly slamming his claws into another section of his shoulder he clamped a hand over his prey's mouth. “No screaming too loud. I want your death to be better than flying down stairs. With your luck, you could survive, maybe be a paraplegic, but honestly, I need you dead because when I travel to hell, I want to be able to make your soul suffer for this.”

  His whimper shot adrenaline through Stryder and he dropped Jonathan to the ground. Jonathan's eyes grew wide and he tired to scramble away, his blood trickling quickly down his throat and cascading over his shoulders, matching Stryder's own bloody body.

  Stalking forward he bent over and grabbed the dagger off the belt hook on Jonathan's jeans. He ran it over his jeans to clean it. "How fucking poetic?" He stepped closer and Jonathan scrambled his ass right back into the cavern wall. "To die by your own knife of course."

  Smirking he thrust the knife into Jonathan's chest, right into his heart. Jonathan's scream wasn't muffled this time, and it sure as hell wasn't when he twisted the knife in deeper into his heart and bent down in front of him, hands on his knees. "Next time, stay the fuck away from my female and her world."

  Standing he yanked the knife out and turned. His vision was spinning more than he had realized. His focus on his kill had been the driving need to continue. But now he couldn't do it anymore. He saw the shimmering doorway to his Ciara open just as his eyes closed and he faded into darkness one last time.

  Chapter 31

  Her hands flitted nervously in her lap, playing with the ring as she watched him sleep. It had been three days since the fight. Three days and he hadn't so much as twitched. “Stryder, please. Wake up.” Tears slipped and fell onto her hands and she sniffled, trying to reign them back.

  They'd found Stryder close to Jonathan's body. He'd been stabbed, shot, scratched and anything else possible with angel's blood. It was toxic to demons on lower levels of power and damn near fatal to the Horsemen, their seconds and Lucifer.

  Dizzy thinking about that night, the tears fell faster. She had sworn he was dead. The minute she couldn't tell, she had fought for control to open a doorway and had raced through the open doorway. Reaching him she had felt for a pulse and found it weak, barely a heartbeat. She'd fallen over his body, crying and cursing. Her powers had ricocheted over the cave so badly it had taken down any remaining Initiative soldiers. Not to mention kept his brothers from being able to feed him, the only cure.

  She'd run away, run home to her own world when she had learned she'd almost killed him. She'd wanted to get away from him. Let his brothers heal him and then never leave his side again. Jameson had other ideas. While Demarcus had fed Stryder, Fasheem had gone looking for any left alive from the fight and Jameson had gone after her. All three had been successful in their mission.

  Successful to the extent that after a hysterical breakdown over a doorway because he wasn't interested in stepping into her apartment and getting his ass kicked for it later, Jameson had convinced her to come back. Fasheem had sent about two dozen men to hell to be questioned and Demarcus had fed Stryder enough to ensure his safety. But he wouldn't wake up and to her that was a failure.

  So she'd sat there thinking. She knew she wanted to be with him. Now not later. But she wasn't certain how she would feel about his world. Her parents had been dead for a few years from an accident, one she never thought of so he didn't know she had no ties. There was a lot to know, but they had a lot of time. She'd finally finished Demarcus's book and learned that the mate business meant a tied life force.

  She'd wanted to come to this world. She couldn't bear asking him to leave his growing family. There might be danger here, but there was also that. Family which she couldn't help but love as well as she got to know them. She only hoped he wouldn't mind sharing his world with her after how many times she'd told him she didn't want his demon or his world in hers. She knew she
was being stupid, but still, anything to focus on him not being awake.

  “Hey chin up. We've all sat here, cursing the dumb sod he got so close to death, we had to miss his ass. Promise, he'll be up and probably fry my ass for sitting so close to you.” Jameson offered her a smile and a coffee before sitting on the couch next to her.

  They'd dragged it in so she could sleep. But she'd climbed into bed with him each night when everyone else had retired. “If only. But how long will it take?” Tears welled up in her eyes and she squeezed them shut. “I made him so mad, Jameson. So mad. What if I can't take it back?”

  His eyes were solemn for his playful personality, but he grabbed her hand and tugged it toward Stryder's still form. “Hey, ya big lug. There's an absolutely beautiful female sitting her crying over you. Seems to be wearing one gaudy little trinket on her finger too. So how bout you stop with the selfish act and wake up?”

  It did make her laugh and jostle the coffee, spilling the smallest amount onto Stryder's arm. “Jameson, you know that only works in the movies?”

  “Or books,” he said with a wicked grin and she laughed again, tucking some hair behind her ear.

  “He's right you know. Or books.” The voice was gravely and punctuated by coughs. But the tears that sprang to her eyes were of happiness.

  “Stryder!” She leapt up, throwing the coffee cup onto Jameson who cursed rather loudly before excusing himself. “Sorry.” She turned to look down at Stryder who was trying to push his way to sitting up. “Nope. Not a chance, demon. You stay laying down.”

  “Give me a minute, sweetheart. I have something I need to do.”

  She laughed thinking he surely meant the bathroom, but he surprised her by flipping them, his weight pressing into her before his mouth captured hers.