Awakening (Promiscus Guardians Book 1)

by Brianna West

  “I'm pretty awesome,” I said with a sideways grin. It was sarcasm, but it earned me a laugh, so I figured that it was acceptable to get a little cocky about it.

  Where Lucas was serious, Pavel was playful. They made a perfect comedy duo. As a third wheel to their godliness, I used what little talents I possessed to make it seem like I belonged. After a few days of staying with the two of them, you start to get a bit self-conscious. I already suffered from low self-esteem, and they certainly weren't helping.

  My phone rang. “Barbie Girl” played so I knew immediately before looking that it was Nattie. I hadn't called her in a few days—I had been busy—so I figured she was worried. I glanced at Lucas, and he permitted me to answer with the nod of his head. And what a beautiful nod it was. I ignored the stir in my girly regions and answered.

  “Hey, Nattie,” I said, smiling.

  “Where the hell have you been? I just got to your place, and it looks like you haven't been here in days. You left our pizza out,” her worried voice filtered through the receiver.

  Goddammit. I meant to clean up before we went. My delicious four meat and extra cheese pizza!

  “I've been busy,” I replied vaguely. “You know, chasing hot guys.” It wasn't exactly untrue, but they had been chasing me—and had successful kidnapped me.

  “OHMYGOD,” she said loud enough to get a smile out of Lucas. “Did you meet someone?! Is he hot?! Okay, scale of one to ten?”

  Jesus.

  I felt the blush creeping into my cheeks as I turned my body to try to hide away my sure to be strawberry face from Lucas.

  “Code red,” I whispered urgently.

  “Oh!” she said.

  Code red was our term for 'you've said to much you hussie.' In this case, she would figure that I meant he was in the room.

  “Well, anyway,” she said flying to the next conversation topic, “I'm going to 'The Bar' tonight and wanted to see if you'd come, but as you are probably busy, so I'll rent a movie and call it a night.”

  Thank god she wasn't going to come out on her own. I'm not sure I wanted to introduce her so soon, especially not on the night that I was doing my first undercover mission. I mean, I was going to be in work mode in hooker heels, and I doubt I could concentrate with her in the room baiting me for information on Lucas.

  “Yeah, sorry about that,” I said, trying to sound as disappointed as possible. Hey, I told you I wasn’t an actress, so it came out more as if I was winded. “I'll go with you another night.”

  “Promise? Okay,” she said with an eagerness that would run over anyone in her path. “You’ll have to give me all the details when we see each other.”

  “Yeah.” Totally looking forward to it. Ugh. “Bye.”

  Lucas was acting as if he hadn't been listening, but I know he had by the small upturn in his lips. I would see that smile from a mile away.

  “That was Nattie, my best friend.” And wing man.

  “I concluded as much,” he replied with a barely concealed smirk.

  “Anyway,” I said, doing my best to veer the conversation. “I'll get going.”

  I started to open the door before I felt a cool touch to my forearm. I glanced back at Lucas, whose eyes shown brilliantly despite the low light.

  “Do not put yourself in any unnecessary danger. If you locate the possible suspect, leave the bar with an excuse. If he follows, we will be at the ready. Take the alleyway towards the parking lot,” Lucas said firmly.

  “Okay.” Not scary at all.

  My hands felt clammy, and I was sure this wouldn't really work, but with a quick backwards glance at the beautiful man behind me, I headed towards the building.

  It was incredible as I walked along feeling the pulsing of creatures near and far. I located one in the bar and another on the roof which I suspected was Pavel. The pulses felt different from humans. While humans had a faint steady pulse, creatures that possessed abilities felt like beacons in the night. Their heavy pulses carried a feeling of lightness or a feeling of darkness. It was really hard to explain, but somehow I could discern their intentions.

  The steady pulses became faded into the background as I entered and saw my favorite bartender, Andy. Now I could feel him; I could feel his power as if it was solid, and all I had to do was reach out and touch it. He was surrounded by a soothing warmth, a lightness, in which I now identified as good intentions.

  “Hey, Izzy,” he said with a smile as he quickly did up my favorite drink. “You look hot.”

  “Uh, thanks.” If hooker was your type which apparently it was Andy's by the way he ate me up with his eyes. He had a gorgeous smile. I swear I'm not a hussie, but I loved me some eye-candy.

  I sat opposite of him, having already visualized the wall. After watching him for any change in his usual attitude, I concluded that it was working. I'm sure he would have realized by now that I was no longer human. It still felt weird to identify myself as such.

  I sighed as I took a ginger sip of my whiskey sour. Must be careful not to become a drunk hooker considering I had work do.

  I gave the room a look about. The usual regulars were here. Old Tom sat in his usual corner drinking his scotch on the rocks and talking to himself. Jerry was chatting up some woman wearing way too much eyeshadow and not enough shirt. Lola, the Cougar, as we liked to call her since she was prone to flirting with twenty-somethings despite being well into her fifties, was sitting near me batting her eyelashes at Andy in hopes of wooing him.

  You had to give her an A for effort. She had never stopped trying in the last three years he had been a bartender at “The Bar” despite the fact that Andy couldn't be any less interested if he tried.

  I had not felt anything quite powerful enough to alert me to danger until ten minutes after I'd arrived. The pulse felt heavy as soon as the man walked into the bar. And he was one hell of a man. His looks were nearly on par with Lucas and Pavel; those meant little when your entire being exuded ominous, serial-killer intentions, however.

  If I had to describe it, it would have been equivalent to the feeling of drowning in shark invested waters.

  His short, well-groomed black hair framed over a long, straight nose and puckered mouth just ripe for the kissing.

  I only mean it was kissable, and not that I had any intention of sampling.

  His dark eyes were an abyss in which I'm sure many women had fallen victim to. His strong physique and pale skin were barely covered leaving nothing for the imagination. He was clearly proud of his body from the way he strutted about the room wearing next to nothing in October.

  All-in-all, he was definitely eye-candy of the bad boy sort.

  However, his dark intentions were so heavy that I had to lean against the bar top in an effort not to buckle beneath them.

  Not even minutes following his arrival, his eyes were upon me. I guess the hooker heels paid off. He was giving me a head to toe assessment, and apparently, I passed because the next instance he was beside me in the chair Lola had occupied moments before.

  Where was good old Lola?

  “Whiskey sour? You are a woman after my own heart. Andy,” he said flagging down Andy with his hand, “another for the lady.”

  Oh, come on. Lines like that meant you had no dedication to your craft because they were lame. So lame, in fact, that I had to force another smile to keep myself from physically gagging. I guess my approval of his looks was short-lived as the heaviness and discontent his energy expelled began to cripple me. It was like I was swimming through a vat of sludge.

  “I was just leaving,” I said a little too eagerly. “I've got an early day tomorrow.”

  I stood up from my chair, losing a bit of my bravado with the increasing feeling of dread that this man—rather, creature—caused inside me. I nearly stumbled but quickly recovered myself as his hand attempted to stabilize me. However, it felt as if his hand were searing my skin, and it took all of my willpower not to jerk my arm away, lest I give myself away.

  “Thanks. I think I
drank a little too much,” I managed through tight lips, shivering when I felt his hand fall away. I breathed in relief and continued stumbling towards the door.

  Dear lord, it felt like my body was made of stone. What was this feeling?

  I made it to the door and escaped to the alley just to my right. Now outside, I could feel the heaviness lifting but only slightly. My vision was swimming.

  What was going on?

  I could barely make out the path with the deep, impenetrable darkness around me. Instead, I used the energy of Lucas to guide me. I could make it out like a flame in the dark. And after my previous ordeal, it comforted me.

  Moments before reaching the end of the alley, I could feel the creature's pulse. He had followed me. However, I also felt something amiss near the rooftop. Dread was seeping like a dark cloud from it.

  Hoping that Pavel didn't take his sweet time—the bastard—I sped forward, as fast as one could in hooker heels, to the safety that only Lucas could offer. I almost made it too. Just as I was reaching the end of the alley, rough hands clenched violently on my naked biceps, burning me as if I touched an open flame, and halted my forward progression.

  Evil was seeping from his every pore as if he were sweating the damn stuff. And despite my great efforts to be unaffected, it frightened me unlike anything I had experienced before.

  He intended to kill me. He knew what I was.

  Hard stone met my backside. My head lolled forward after the impact nearly drove me to unconsciousness. Red eyes glowered at me from the darkness, inspecting me with a dangerous curiosity.

  Well, I'll be damned if Pavel's lack of action got me killed.

  “What are you?” it asked, licking its lips as if savoring the taste in the air around me.

  Creep to the max.

  I glared as best I could through the vertigo the head trauma had caused. “Your worst nightmare,” I responded despite the fear creeping steadily within me.

  I visualized flames suffusing my body, my body pulsed instantly, and I heard the creature hissing with sudden pain. It quickly scuttled backwards but was immediately taken to the floor by a large body. It cried out, a shrill cry that lasted seconds before it was silenced with the sound of flesh tearing and bones breaking. My eyes closed instinctively to the sound. I was close to vomiting partly due to the sound and also partly because of my head injury.

  Why was it that everyone went after my head first? It hurt like a bitch!

  “Izzy,” Blondie called as I slid down the wall, brick biting into my back as I went. My head was pounding. The effort it had taken to stay upright had caused my legs to become shaky. So much for being a strong and powerful being.

  Pavel knelt beside me as Lucas made quick work of the creature's lifeless form. It was no longer the visage of a man, but instead, a sharp-toothed, scaly beast that nearly caused my stomach to lose its contents.

  I wasn't so sure what I was looking at as Lucas heaved the large body over his shoulder, as if it weighed nothing and quickly departed into the shadows of the alley. The lifeless body parts swayed with his footfalls, causing my stomach to once more lurch.

  That thing had just hit on me, and I was incredibly glad that I hadn't taken the proffered drink before leaving. Not that I could have if I felt so inclined to.

  Fingers cupped my chin, startling me slightly, and tilted my face upwards. Clear, blue eyes gazed into mine with an intensity that caused my body to tense and tremble for an entirely different reason than fear.

  Dear lord, he was beautiful. If he weren't such a bastard, I might have become smitten that very moment.

  “Heya, Blondie,” I said, smiling lazily at the bastard. “You're late.”

  “You are hurt, moya solnishka,” stating the obvious.

  “Would you look at that? I am. You're a genius,” I replied sarcastically.

  He inspected my head, hands cradling my neck gently as if I would break at any moment and turning it this way and that. I was too weak to throw my usual quips at the irony of the situation especially considering he had, only a few nights before, given me a similar injury. Instead, I merely allowed my head to be manipulated by the brute in hopes that he might give me something to stop the horrible throbbing.

  Vicodin, perhaps?

  “What took you so goddamn long, Pavel?!” Lucas barked from behind him as Pavel continued his inspection. “She could have been killed if not for her little energy burst.”

  “I was caught with another problem on the roof,” Pavel jerked his head towards the roof to emphasize his point. “We have bigger problems than some trouble with a low demon.”

  This gave Lucas pause, halting him mid-lecture to glance upwards and subsequently disappear, leaving me to ponder where he just made off to.

  I was recently informed that both Pavel and Lucas were capable of teleporting short distances. Lucas had assured me that I was also capable of a similar ability, but that it took a lot of concentration and training to be able to at a moment's notice.

  I would teleport, surely, when pigs flew. Although, pigs flying seemed very plausible lately.

  Pavel had finished his deep inspection of my face. Any longer and I was sure to throw myself at him. Close proximity with hotties was not something I was used to. The deep heat in my cheeks proved it as such when he finally pulled away.

  “You don’t have a concussion,” he stated matter-of-factly, “but we will need to dress the wound at the back of your head, or Lucas could heal it. How do you feel?”

  Lucas could heal it? Blondie’s nonchalance about this matter, and the fact that he steamed right on ahead with a question, made it difficult for me to pry further.

  “Like shit,” I said, hissing and attempting to recover my hair do. Although, blood was hardly fashionable these days. “But hey, at least I got to have a drink first.”

  Pavel's eyes flashed with amusement, lips quirking into a smirk before he stood and offered me a hand. “You are one saucy minx, moya solnishka.”

  “I can't disagree with that,” I replied as I took his hand, and with graceful ease, he lifted me from the floor.

  He had drawn me up so quickly, I nearly lost my balance, but he steadied me with one hand on my shoulder. I could feel the heat of his body through the thin layer of clothing I was wearing, and it drew me like a moth to a flame. I was freezing my ass off here.

  Why the hell did I wear so little in October?!

  Pavel seemed to take this as an invitation to wrap his arm around me, which if it were any other day, any other weather, I would have shrugged it off with a vehemence that would possibly send him into another wall. But luckily for him, I was almost a popsicle, and he was so very warm. I shifted closer before another hand on my shoulder jerked me backwards and out of his warm embrace.

  No! My human blanket!

  “Do not take advantage of her,” Lucas warned as he shifted me away from Pavel.

  The two men strutted their macho stuff for a few minutes. And honestly, if I wasn't injured and freezing, I might have laughed. As it was, I was, in fact, freezing and injured so I merely watched, teeth chattering, head pounding, hoping they would end their little macho battle, and we could be on our way.

  It looked as though they hashed out their differences because Pavel disappeared, probably to the roof, and Lucas began to lead me back to the parked truck.

  “Hey,” I started as we closed in on the vehicle. Seems our little scaly friend was neatly bundled in the back of the pickup. “Can I stay at my place tonight? I'm worried Nattie is probably already there by the sounds of it. She and I usually stay in for movies, or go out when we have an off night.”

  Really, Izzy, why don't you also mention that you have drunken pillow fights and talk about sex partners?

  Lucas turned towards me, regarding me with one of his signature looks. He had this way of looking at me when he was about to outright refuse me. I liked to call it his no-no face. I saw it coming from a mile away from the tautness in his jaw and slitting of his eyes.
r />   “It is too dangerous,” he replied firmly.

  Saw that coming. That’s my predictable and far-too-serious Captain Lucas.

  “Look,” I started once more, eager to argue my case. “I can't just live my life in fear. I know how to hide what I am now and have lived under the guise of humanity, as you plainly stated, for all of my years, so one day should be fine. I need to sleep in my own room.”

  Men would never understand a woman's need for her own space. I hated how out of my element I was living in Lucas' house, which had proven every bit as ancient as his ethics.

  Lucas was a man of honor. He was dedicated to his job, killing any creature that brought harm to others, especially innocent humans. I also noticed he had one very long, very big stick up his ass. He could never take a joke and was often too serious for his own good. In only a few days, he was starting to become my image of a modern day Darcy. If Darcy was a vampire and built like the Terminator.

  He opened the passenger door, holding it open so I could climb in. I didn't hate a man with manners, but I also didn't like one who ignored me either. I grumbled as I climbed in. He was immediately at his side door, jerking it open, and sliding gracefully into the driver seat. He started the car before pulling out to the dimly lit street.

  I immediately set to warming up the ice box that was his car. That was another thing about Lucas, he didn't feel the cold. Must be a vampire thing. He could be out in the worst blizzard of the century and say with his English arrogance 'nice weather we're having.'

  I finally felt the heat warming my numb limbs and redirected my gaze over to Lucas. “I need to gather a few things. Clothes. I don't want you buying clothes every day. I promise it will only be for one night, and then I'll tell Nattie I'm going out of town,” I pleaded shamelessly.

  Nattie would need a better excuse than that, but I planned to use the rouse of a new beau to convince her. Nattie once went to London with a man she'd met at a bar and came back three weeks later heart broken. I didn't blame her. She found out he had a two children and a wife there.