Unknown Protector

by Maggie Mundy

  “Don’t move, honey. Trust me on this,” he whispered, as he touched her ear again.

  Nicole angled her head away to avoid him. He needed to stop doing his mind tricks on her and get on with the job. “You’re digging into me.” She tried to move away from him before there was a permanent indentation in her back from his dick.

  “Sorry, darling. It sometimes happens when my wings come out.”

  “There’re not out now,” Nicole whispered back.

  “True. Must be something else. Maybe cause you’re a woman with your butt pressed against me. Plus you’re sending out some hot thoughts, honey. Like to say I’m only human, but you’ve already guessed I’m not. Pity this ain’t the right moment for us, but I find half-chewed bodies don’t do it for me. Once you’ve a new guardian angel we could always catch up.”

  What Ridge said and the smell of burnt meat and smoldering cloth made her stomach churn. The tiny snakes were eating Sayell. His body was whole but pieces of his expensive suit dripped onto her floor like wax. The mouths of the snakes steamed as they cooked what they ate to their own satisfaction. Nicole swore she would never eat rare steak again. She’d seen plenty of stuff in the police force, but she could taste the bitter tang of bile in her throat at she gaped at the scene before her. She tried to wriggle but Ridge gripped her tighter.

  “Don’t move. That ain’t a request, it’s an order.”

  He spoke softly but it came out as a low rumble and certainly got her attention. The snakes stopped eating, they saw fresh meat, and the fresh meat was her. Ridge’s wings could fly him out the window if he wanted, but she needed to make a run for the door.

  “I need to get out of here,” she shouted. Okay, she was panicking, but she didn’t care anymore.

  “Fine by me. I tried to save your butt, but if you want to go get yourself eaten, go ahead. Pity though, from what I’ve seen of it you’ve a nice ass,” he chuckled.

  Nicole wriggled free, stood up and tried to ignore the fact her legs were like jelly, and the room was hazy and out of focus. The apartment door was probably ten feet away, but the wriggling snakes and the steaming body were in the way. She took one step and the snakes all turned their heads and focused their eyes on her. She ran for the door. They moved away from Sayell’s body. One of them buried its fangs in her ankle and a pain shot up her leg like it was being plunged into fire.

  A scream was ripped from her throat. She gripped the edge of her counter so she wouldn’t fall to the floor amongst the little serpents. They all stopped, even the one on her ankle let go. She peered at them.

  She couldn’t take anymore. “That’s it. My life’s been hell, but it didn’t involve being turned to dust, losing my guardian angel, or flesh-eating snakes. So get the hell out of my apartment.”

  For a moment there was silence, then snakes started exploding, not one at a time. They were going up like New Year’s Eve fireworks. Her fingers tingled. She held them up in front of her and saw they were white and glowing. Somehow she was doing this, not Ridge. She was responsible for what was happening. What the hell? One snake rose off the floor in front of her face. Sayell’s flesh sizzled on its fangs. It hissed at her, and went poof. Its ripped-apart body landed on her face and made her flinch. Up close it smelt like old blood and rotten meat, and her hand automatically covered her mouth. Her bravado suddenly left as she stood there shaking in fear. This was her home and it gave the impression of being a cross between an abattoir and Pompeii after the ash fell.

  Another sound filled the air.

  Laughter—not a little snicker, but a raucous belly laugh. Nicole spun around to see Ridge eyeing her again. Her knight in shining armor wore an ACDC T-shirt pulled tight across his chest, and his black leather jeans firmly encased muscular thighs. She couldn’t see any sign of those off-white wings from earlier, and thankfully there was no longer a bulge in his pants. He stopped laughing, raised an eyebrow, and shook his head. His face wasn’t Calvin Klein perfect like Sayell’s, but somehow alluring, and his gaze held a promise of wickedness. They were eyeing each other up. A smoldering body and blown up snakes were on the floor, but at this moment muscles and blue eyes held her attention.

  “What the hell are you, little lady? Cause I ain’t seen anyone do that before. You killed my scripsits, and those little snakes are hard to come by. They would’ve gone back in a new ball once they’d eaten their fill. Guess you weren’t to know. They never took to the taste of Sayell much, but when they’re hungry they’ll eat anything.”

  “He’s not dead?” This was more than she could take. She collapsed to her knees, grabbed the waste bin, and vomited what she had been trying to hold down. Ridge held back her hair and rubbed her back. It was a gesture not lost on her as calm spread through her body and her racing heart slowed. She considered herself tough, she’d seen mutilated and burnt bodies over the years, but they were dead. Sayell twitched. She moved closer to Ridge, who definitely appeared to be the better option at the moment.

  “Thanks,” she said, and wiped her mouth.

  “Takes lots more than scripsits to kill a Midworlder. We can get messed up though. It’ll take pretty boy a while to get back to his former glory. He’ll be pissed off when he comes around but he’s done worse to me.” Ridge offered a half-smile.

  The room filled with the sound of Highway to Hell. He took his cell phone from his jeans and talked for a few minutes. When his call finished he thumped the wall.

  “We’ve gotta go, you might wanna dress before we leave. Not that I don’t like the view an all.” Ridge winked. “But we’re getting company.”

  Nicole’s head still swam from the retching as she made her way around Sayell’s body into her bedroom. She shut the door and sat on her bed with her knees drawn to her chest. This apartment was her place, her refuge, but it wasn’t safe anymore. She wanted to grab all of her clothes from her drawers and wrap them around her like a cocoon.

  Maybe this wasn’t happening and she was delusional. Maybe Mira never existed, and she was overreacting to the stress of Ben’s death. She would get dressed and walk back out to her living room, and it would be empty of a longhaired man with a southern accent and the remains of Mira. Plus a half-eaten whatever.

  She yanked on a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt. In the bathroom she splashed her face and rinsed her mouth out. Pulling the bedroom door open the dreadful smell of burnt flesh made her nostrils flare in disgust. Ridge was still there and a groan came from the chewed up body on the floor. She made her way around it as Ridge pulled back the drape on the window. Nicole peered into the street below. Two men and a woman in suits were getting out of another car parked opposite. A shiver ran through her body as they fixed their gaze on her window.

  “Will ya look at that? Can’t believe one of them waved at me. Where’s the respect from these new Midworlders? He probably ain’t even over a hundred. They dress in their fancy suits an’ think it makes ‘em more respectable.” He turned back to her. “You got a flat roof atop this place?”

  “Yes,” Nicole replied, as she made an effort to understand what he said.

  “I wanna check something before we go.” Ridge bent down and touched the side of Sayell’s face.

  Whatever he did caused Sayell to emit a hiss from swollen lips. She didn’t hesitate and followed Ridge out of what was left of her apartment. “Can’t you just make us appear on the roof like you appeared in my place?”

  “Only works for us Midworlders, and at close range,” he said, as they ran up the stairs to the roof.

  Ridge stood and stared at the stars. If the ones in the street were like Sayell, she didn’t want to hang around and meet them. She ran across and peered over the wall surrounding the roof to get a glimpse of anything happening below. The explosion hit and the building rumbled beneath her feet. The windows of her apartment blasted onto the sidewalk. Dust rose into the air and
Nicole coughed. When she turned back Ridge stood a few feet away. He closed his eyes and his wings appeared. They unfurled and she gasped at the sheer size of them. He opened his eyes and reached out his arm to take her hand in his.

  “You ready?”

  “No, but I’m coming anyway,” Nicole answered. What choice did she have? Go off with some winged man, or politely ask the strangers who blew up her flat what the hell they thought they were doing? At this point she didn’t think she could be more terrified.

  “They’ve found Sayell, and they’re none too happy. Can’t say I wanna stay here and talk.”

  The roof trembled again. She ran into his embrace and he enclosed her in the strength of his arms. She didn’t like being dependent on people and considered herself resilient, but she needed Ridge to find out why Mira had been killed. He said Sayell was still alive. It was a damn pity she hadn’t made him explode like the snakes. Only she didn’t have a clue how she had managed that particular party trick.

  Ridge flapped his wings and the wind rushed past and whistled in her ears. Goosebumps rose on her arms. She peered down and saw three people rush onto the roof. Dark wings sprouted from their backs and for the first time in a year she wanted help from another human being, only Ridge wasn’t human. He was a Midworlder, and somewhere in her befuddled mind she remembered him saying Sayell was one too. Who were the bad guys here? Mira was gone, but she had called to Ridge for help. It was all Nicole could judge by.

  Ridge glanced over his shoulder. “Don’t worry ‘bout them. We’re going to disappear before their eyes and they can’t do a thing. I kinda like it when they get pissed off. And I really like the fact; Sayell’s going to be in deep shit when he tries to explain how he lost you.”

  She clasped her hands behind Ridge’s neck and glimpsed down. She hated heights and couldn’t control the shaking rippling through her body. He pulled her close so the length of their bodies touched. The slow steady movement of his chest calming as his thoughts came out to her again.

  Everything will be fine, trust me.

  Along with the statement he oozed a raw masculinity that frightened her in its intensity. It drew out sensations she kept hidden. He was hard again, so maybe it was true about his erection and the wings. At least it made her forget how high they were until she took a peek down.

  “Please don’t drop me, please don’t drop me,” Nicole repeated as she closed her eyes. She didn’t like flying in planes, let alone being dragged through the night sky by an oversexed scruffy angel who was too hot for his own good. Or was it her own good.

  “I won’t let you fall. Look around before we go over. I reckon you’ve guessed the events of tonight aren’t the way we normally do things. Humans aren’t meant to be aware of our flying through the night sky, which means I can’t let you remember any of this.”

  She took a deep breath and opened her eyes. His face was close to hers as he gripped her tight around her waist. It was too dark to read what he might be thinking from his expression. His lips were so close and her own were parting at the thought he might kiss her. She trembled, but not from fear anymore and hoped he couldn’t read her mind. They were being hunted and she wanted a kiss, no she longed for it. He had to be putting the thoughts in her head.

  She needed to get her mind off him, so she gazed down at San Francisco. Her adopted city stretched out below with steep streets reaching down to the harbor, while the lights on the Golden Gate Bridge shone in the distance as they reflected on the water below. She smiled as a tear flowed down her cheek. She had never seen it this way before. For a moment she forgot others were after them, or after her in particular. She peeked over Ridge’s shoulder and glanced back over his wings as they glided through the sky. Three dark winged shapes were following, and could be seen against the light of the full moon. Maybe the full moon could explain why strange things were happening, because this was like staring at a scene from a horror movie, except it was real.

  The shapes of their pursuer’s bodies blurred. She turned back to the city but the lights of San Francisco were disappearing. In the moonlight she focused on the face next to her. Ridge smiled and touched her cheek with his.

  “It’s okay. I’m gonna get you a new guardian and all of this will go away. I won’t let anyone hurt you.”

  She didn’t want a new guardian; she wanted Mira back. It went dark and reminded her of when she went adventure-caving in Australia. The absolute darkness of underground where not even a trickle of light breaks through. She couldn’t see Ridge anymore, but the closeness of him and the darkness amplified the sound of his wings. For a moment they were all that existed in the universe. His lips touched hers and her mouth opened to him only to have him pull away. Did he mean to do that?

  “I suggest you close your eyes and give your mind over to me,” he whispered.

  Nicole shook her head and tried to get herself back to reality, whatever that was. “I’m not going anywhere with my eyes shut after tonight, and from what I’m picking up at times, your mind seems a bit murky to let you in again.”

  “Suit yourself, darling. Don’t blame me if you pass out though.”

  Pain sliced through her temple. She squeezed her eyes shut and instinctively hugged Ridge tighter. His thoughts were in her head again telling her to relax, but this time it wasn’t working. She tried to hold down the rising alarm of what would happen next. Somehow she had an inkling it wasn’t going to be good.

  Chapter 3

  A Door Between

  Ridge tried to focus as he flapped his wings and made his way through the darkness. He couldn’t deny it. The closeness of Nicole affected him a hell of a lot. Where she touched, his body prickled and little shocks ran through him, intensely pleasurable little shocks. Her breathing calmed now that he had taken the pain away. He had to give her credit though for not being a total wreck and blubbering mess with everything happening.

  He would continue to play the playboy so she wouldn’t pick up on the fact she was bringing out more than physical yearnings in him. He didn’t need to be connected to a human female again. It never ended well.

  What he needed to do was concentrate on making contact with the outpost on Pergor. What he wanted to do was ask her if they could rip each other’s clothes off and screw their brains out. He sensed her fear, but underneath he could also sense the same suppressed passion waiting to explode. None of this made sense. Not Sayell, not her powers, or the way she made him feel. From the moment she had fallen into his arms every nerve ending in his body simply fired up with the energy she threw out. He should have paid attention. Mira’s message forewarned him things weren’t going well. Demonics. Ridge, save my human. You alone, no other.

  He wanted to get in, get the job done, and get out. So much for that happening. He was finding it almost impossible to think with Nicole’s legs encircling his hips and her arms tight around his neck. His body responded, and it had nothing to do with his wings. He needed to get her a new guardian and relocated back on Earth, or he would be living with a permanent hard-on at this rate.

  Maybe coming to Pergor and getting some answers might be for the best, because this evening’s events changed things. Which also meant he wasn’t sure what their reception would be like. The rules on his kind were clear because they needed to be. It stopped the chaos. Only after tonight they appeared to be messed up.

  He thought back. Why would Mira insist on him? If he’d needed backup he would have called for some, no matter what. The thing was he’d known it was Sayell before he entered the room, and hadn’t intended taking any chances on losing a human in his area. It was bad enough with the other Angelic Midworlders in LA thinking they could expand. San Francisco was his city, and he would keep it that way. If there was going to be a change in the status quo between how many Demonics or Angelics were being attached to humans, it wasn’t going to happen on his patch.

&n
bsp; Nicole was muttering, “Please don’t let me die,” and her lips kept touching his neck. It sent shivers up and down his spine and a tickle right out to the end of his feathers. He needed single-mindedness so he could open the link, but it was hard to focus.

  “I ain’t gonna let that happen, darling.”

  The pain of connection with Pergor started in his right temple, just a nagging ache to begin with when he stretched his consciousness to its utmost capacity. The agony always brought back memories of the genetic alterations performed on his body to enable this link. The Elevated didn’t like the fact Midworlders could read their minds. The choice was death or a conversion to enable him to live on Earth. Ridge enjoyed his life of fighting and women, so for the most part it was worth it. He would clench his teeth and do what was needed.

  The tunnel of light opened in front of them and the pain intensified. He thought his brain would explode and he would arrive in Pergor with an empty skull. He managed to relax his jaw as the smarting eased and the connection was made. With his wings wrapped around both their bodies to protect them, he watched as they traveled down the space conduit. It was like all the stars were melting around them, and flowing past in an array of colors so splendid he wanted to stay and watch them. Even through the pain of the connection he always suspected he could be mesmerized by this and trapped forever.