by Kim Faulks
“Both of you okay?” Ace took a step, glancing from me to the woman at my side.
It took me a long time to answer, part of me expected guns, part of me expected bombs. The fact we’d gotten out alive was a damn miracle. I gave him a faint nod.
The rest was a blur as we were hustled outside and into the waiting car. Alpha and Gunny disappeared into one four wheel drive with Clark, leaving the rest of us to pile into the other.
Doors were slammed shut, and the Explorer pulled away. I sat rigid, one hand still holding Annabelle’s and the other on the grip of my holstered gun.
“What the Hell happened in there?” Ace’s question hung heavy in the air as he worked the wheel.
“I don’t know,” I whispered and stared out the windshield. “I honestly don’t know.”
“We met the players,” Annabelle whispered beside me. “That’s what happened. We met the players.”
Ace’s phone beeped once. He snatched the cell from the compartment beside him and stared at the screen. “We’re all headed for the Guardians’. Relax, Commander.” He lowered the phone, and stared at me through the rearview mirror. “You’re okay now.”
I didn’t think I’d ever be okay…not from this night…not ever again.
Cold fingers entwined with mine as I leaned into the plush leather seat. Her touch was more than comfort, more than protection. It was an anchor, holding me here, and keeping me here.
The Shadow Government had exposed themselves.
They gave me an ultimatum.
They gave me a warning.
One I’d heard loud and clear.
“You want to say that again?” Lucas growled and took a step forward.
I stared at the growing crowd, tried to lick my lips and find the words to repeat. The room seemed to quiver with unleashed rage. My throat worked, swallowing the hard ball of air.
An ache flared, bruising as I forced the air down. “He said…‘You tell her, one way or another, I’m putting a baby in her belly, and this time there’ll be no goddamn Guardian to stand in my way.’”
“Baby in her belly?” Dark eyes sparkled with violence. “Baby in her belly?”
“That’s not going to happen,” Eva murmured, reaching for her mate. “Listen to me, Lucas. That’s not going to happen.”
“I’ll kill him…I’ll wash myself in his blood before I let him put a hand on you again.”
He wasn’t alone. His words echoed in every pair of eyes, Guardian, Wolf, mortal, or Marine.
“It’s an empty threat,” Marcus snarled. “They knew that. The question is, why? Why now…why to you, that’s the real reason.”
I stared at the eldest Guardian and shook my head. “I wish I knew.”
Xael growled, and the others turned toward her. We waited…waited for her to speak her mind—or kill someone.
I swallowed hard and shuffled back a step.
“You’re safe, Annabelle’s safe, and Alpha’s dad’s alive. That’s all that matters,” Marcus muttered. “I’m sure we’ll understand everything when they want us to. For now, rest, plan, and prepare. Sleep here, we’ll talk in the morning.”
The command was given. The Wolves slipped away from the edges, moving toward the shattered makeshift door. I followed the movement, staring into the darkness as the plywood swung upwards, and they slipped away.
There was too much out there. Too many memories, too many smells. The phantom Wolf moved under my skin, hungry in a way that spirit was always hungry.
He wanted to run. He wanted to hunt. He wanted to be free, like the other Wolves were free.
Cool fingers curled around mine.
But no one was free. Not Wolf, not man…not immortal.
There were chains that bound us—I clenched Annabelle’s hand tight—chains we wanted, chains we didn’t. Still, we picked up those heavy links and carried on.
“I’ll meet you upstairs,” she murmured. “They have a room for us.”
I gave her a nod and felt my heavy heart flutter. The others disappeared, leaving Marcus standing there, watching me with interest.
“You handled yourself well, Commander,” he moved close and growled. “And I see you’ve found yourself a mate.”
“You’re worried, Guardian,” I answered. “There’s no need to be. My men are at your command. You need us here, then we’re here. The day I bow down to threats and intimidation will be the day I eat my own gun.”
He gave a nod, and the thick jaw bulged with a smile. “I was hoping you were going to say that. Welcome to the family, Samson,” he held out his hand. “It’s good to have you here.”
I grasped his hand in mine, and met his gaze.
I searched for the monster. I searched for the beast.
But I found a man, no more, and no less. Force would meet force, no matter the threat, no matter the pain, and what shone in his eyes echoed in me.
He dropped his hand, gave a nod. “I’ll let you get back to it, then.”
I watched the Guardian as he turned and walked away.
I wanted a family. I wanted a platoon.
What I’d found was a pack, one I would fight to defend, just as they fought to defend me. I made for the stairs and climbed them slowly. Burnt bits of railing came away in my palm as I stepped clear and headed down the hallway. My mind was racing, replaying the events of tonight.
I didn’t hear a door open, didn’t register the heavy thud of steps.
But I felt the deathly grip around my arm as I was spun and slammed to the wall.
Sweat shone against a sickly gray skin. The dark circles around his eyes were hideous and sunken. He was sicker than the last time I saw him. At death’s door…if death had a door.
“You,” he wheezed, and leaned against me as he swayed. Bastian…the Guardian’s name surfaced. “You need to help me.”
I glanced to the hand slapped against his side. The blood was no longer bright red and fresh. It was darkening, seeping through the fabric to stain black and brown.
I reached for him as his knee buckled, gripping massive arms. “What do you need?”
He wrenched his head upwards, eyes imploring. “I need you to get a car. I need you to drive me, and not say a fucking word to anyone.”
My heart sped. Slick hands slipped against his arm. “Where do you need to go?”
“Hell’s Gate,” he snarled. Bloodless lips curled against blood-tinged teeth. “I’ve got a goddamn Hellhound to kill.”
Bastian is the sixth of twelve Guardians. Dragon-born in the sign of Pisces, he carries all the traits of his sign—the good and the bad.
He's sensitive and loyal, but still waters run deep.
Cross him once, and you're dead to him, but come for his soul and he'll go to the ends of the earth to hunt you down.
So when he's bitten by a Hellhound he comes as close to death a Guardian can.
He's sick, desperate, and in need of help, so he turns to a mortal who's touched the darkness Bastian is racing towards…Commander Samson Marks.
Only when he gets to Hell Gate, he's far too late.
The Hellhound he's searching for is already dead--and time for Bastian is running out.
Until he meets an unlikely saviour.
The leader of the Hellhound Rebellion, Amaris Knox.
She's on a mission to bring down the new Royal line--Blaze Trigg. She'll lie, cheat, she'll sleep with the enemy for a chance to slip a knife between Blaze's ribs, and she doesn’t have time for a Guardian, especially one so close to death.
But there's something about this stranger, something other than the violet flames that dance in his eyes. Something that calls to the darkness in her--to the desperation that wells inside. Heal him and leave him behind, she whispers.
Only it isn’t so easy to rid the smell of his body from her sheets, or from her heart.
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