Authors: Ashley Robertson
UnGuarded (22 page)
Luke attempted to say something, but I shot
him a single, lasered glance that thankfully silenced his words.
Then I returned my attention to Cole. “I love you”—my voice soft
and sincere. “Please let me help Caitlyn and then we can talk about
everything. And hopefully”—I shrugged my shoulders and took a deep
breath—“hopefully, we can work this out.”
His hard features softened, brows smoothing
back to an even line. “Fine,” he said in defeat. “But we have a lot
to talk about, so you better come get me when you’re finished here.
I love you, Selene. We’re going to find a way to work this
out.”
I nodded, swallowing hard, feeling a
tightness in my chest that wouldn’t budge.
Cole stroked my cheek with his thumb. “I’m
sorry about my behavior before. I’m grateful for everything you did
for me, even the parts I can’t stand to know about.” Then his lips
covered mine, his tongue sliding between them, seductive and
teasing. A fire ignited inside my chest and I threw my arms around
his neck, pulling him closer. The kiss deepened, my heart racing,
tingles spreading all over my skin like static waves. From across
the room, Luke coughed loudly, and even though I tried to ignore
his jealous attempt to stop us, Cole and I slowly broke apart. His
lips moved to my ear, a chilling breath tickling my lobe. “Even
though I can still taste his blood through your skin,” he
whispered, so faintly I could barely hear him, “I still need you.
Always.” With that he was gone, and I couldn’t help feeling choked
up with guilt.
I looked at Luke, still feeling a little
stunned from that kiss. He watched me with a hard, penetrating
gaze. “What the hell was that?” he spat, venom dripping from each
word.
“Don’t start!” I warned. “Now is not the
time!”
“But I’m helping you!” he shot back. “It’s
because of
me
that you’re even able to help your charge in
the first place.”
Anger erupted through every pore on my body.
“Then I don’t need any more of
your
help! Get out of
here!”
He gaped at me for a moment, eyes full of
jealousy, confusion, and pain. Then at last he said, “Okay. I’ll
go. But not without this.” In a whoosh he was holding me, slightly
tilting me back, devouring my mouth with a kiss before I could say
anything. It was needy, urgent, and left me breathless when he
finally stopped, releasing me with a gentle flick of his arm. I
pressed my hand against my mouth, my eyes widening. Then without
another word, Luke flashed away.
It took me several minutes to collect my
thoughts and pull myself together. My emotions were raw, my human
hands shaky. Even shifting back to my angel form didn’t seem to
help. But I shook it off the best I could and returned to Caitlyn’s
side. This moment was about her—not me and all my relationship
drama.
Scooping up her hand, I retrieved the
scrolls, then read aloud, my voice shaking but confident, “For this
life, precious child of Christ.” My face lowered closer to hers.
“My life for your death, I bestow upon you my…
breath
.” As I
said the final word, since her mouth was filled with tubes I
exhaled deep into her nose, not stopping until every last inch of
air was out of my body. Quickly, I rushed to inhale, but instead of
finding air, it felt like my lungs were collapsing. In a panic, I
grabbed my chest, pressing down as if that would help me breathe.
It didn’t.
Suddenly, my light flashed on, radiating
throughout the room. Then, as quick as it turned on it faded,
leaving me depressed and lost. There was a tight twist inside my
stomach, making me fall to my knees. My body lit again, then faded,
then lit up again. This pattern kept repeating while I was still
gasping for air. My lungs were burning; my throat constricting. As
I crawled toward the window, I realized that I was now in my human
form, not remembering when I’d shifted.
The machines attached to Caitlyn started
beeping faster and louder. Lights began flickering like the room
was plagued with poltergeists. I got to the window, pulling myself
up by the edge of the sill. Somehow I was coherent enough to sense
the dozen plus people rushing toward this room. I couldn’t risk
being seen—especially in the condition I was in. Using the last bit
of strength I could muster, I slid the pane open and crawled
through the window. Hospital staff rushed into the room just as I
jumped off the ledge, swallowed by the night as I fell toward the
street below.
INSATIABLE HEAT PRESSED AGAINST my skin as
if I were wearing a slick, rubber suit. Sweat weaved down my
forehead, curving over my brows as I opened my eyes. I cast a
sideways glance at hills and dunes coated in red-colored
sand—stretching out for miles, an orange hazy mountain range lining
the horizon. I’d been lying on my stomach, my face twisted to the
side with one of my cheeks pressed against the grainy surface, the
other feeling sunburnt from its exposure to the blazing heat.
Sitting up, I made a futile attempt to brush away the sand that
stuck to me everywhere. Sweating? A strange feeling slithered up my
spine, cold and sharp, as I gaped down at my body. How was it that
I was sweating while in my angel form? Then I swung a cautious look
at my surroundings, wondering the other pertinent question: Where
in all the worlds was I?
This desolate place reminded me of Mars—or
at least what I’d seen of Mars while watching many documentaries
with Caitlyn since I’d never personally visited the planet. I stood
up and started walking, my bare feet sinking a few inches with each
step. Oh my goodness…the ritual! Was Caitlyn okay? Did she awaken?
And what about the scrolls? My stomach turned as I frantically dug
into my bosom, then relief flushed through me when I felt the
scrolls tucked safely inside. Being in this place was making me
crazy. It was time to go. I let out a deep sigh and closed my eyes,
concentrating on my charge.
But all I saw when I opened my eyes was this
Mars-like place.
Why couldn’t I orb?
Feeling a renewed
determination, I tried again…and again…and again. But each time was
a letdown once I discovered I’d never gone anywhere. Fear was
building inside me to the point where I really did think I’d lose
my mind. “Raphael!” I screamed, frantically looking around as if
he’d appear any moment. But he didn’t. I fell to my knees, struck
by trembling waves of nausea. I called for my archangel several
more times, my voice growing weaker with each attempt. Moments
later, I was struck with panic, my breathing shallow, my heart
threatening to burst from my chest.
Since time didn’t seem to exist here, I had
no idea how much had passed or how long I’d even been here. After
walking for what felt like miles, I’d arrived at a small fissure in
the side of a rocky hill. At least I’d been lucid enough to duck in
there and take cover from the blistering heat. Sitting with my
knees hugged up against my chest, I stared out at the hazy redness.
The winds had picked up, creating a howling sandstorm, grains of
sand smacking the stone as if they were tiny shards of ice, and
though I couldn’t see beyond the mouth of the cave, at least I was
deep enough inside that the swirling sand couldn’t reach me. It
seemed to be getting darker, which meant nightfall would be
approaching soon. Since I couldn’t get any of my angelic powers to
work (and trust me, I’d tried everything—countless times!), I
guessed I’d be spending the night in this lovely place after
all.
Perhaps I should at least be thankful for
having those strange
vibes
I’d inherited after drinking
Luke’s blood. Everything smelled, well, stale. And the scent was
incredibly strong. There was also an alertness to my mind that
almost gave me a wired-high type of feeling—including the tingles
on my skin and the tiny hairs raised on the back of my neck.
A
whole lot of good those senses are going to give me
, I thought
while immersing myself in my doom-and-gloom mood.
All of a sudden, I picked up a scent of
something between mildew and mud. I wrinkled my nose, covering it
with my hand. The smell grew stronger, morphing into something more
like roadkill—mildewed roadkill. Yuck! Then there was a deafening
screech and the ground started shaking. As much as I’d prefer this
to be an earthquake, I knew it wasn’t. Something was coming. I
could sense it and the harm it meant to cause me. But I didn’t have
another second to think about it, since something big, hairy, and
solid sucked me right out of my makeshift shelter.
I was airborne, flying aimlessly through the
sandstorm, then crashing hands-first on a blanket of fresh sand.
Another harrowing screech sounded and I swung around to face my
attacker. Sharp sand needled against my face, arms, and everywhere
else my skin was exposed, keeping my ability to see at a minimum. A
blast struck my shoulder, knocking me forward, but I caught my
balance and jumped around, fist swinging. My hand collided against
something soft, but rock-hard just beneath it like cushioned stone.
A menacing groan pierced my ears as the dark silhouette of a giant
worm materialized inside the flying sea of sand. I panicked,
jumping back, but still took the brunt of the sucker punch this
thing just landed in my gut.
“What do you want?” I screamed, fighting the
urge to hunch over and cradle my stomach. Then I closed my eyes,
felt its approach, and swung my clenched fist with everything I
had. Contact. My hand reverberated against the creature’s body as
it wailed and recoiled back. And I didn’t wait to see what would
happen next. I turned around and hauled ass.
My speed was fast, even with the sand
sucking my feet like suction cups. I seemed to be moving nearly as
quick as a vampire, and it wasn’t long before I found another place
to take cover. This opening on the side of a taller hill—a
mini-mountain—was deeper and more cave-like than the one I’d been
in before. Once I was far enough inside, I fell to the ground, my
body weak and exhausted. The last thing I remembered was gasping
for air, before the darkness took me.
The night covered my surroundings like a
velvety black blanket. Trees were everywhere, providing an
excellent cover for the one I was chasing. A few animals scurried
away, fearful of my presence. My feet scrambled to keep up so I
used a little angel magic to float over the ground, enabling me to
speed up. “Cole?” I sensed he wasn’t far, but I still couldn’t
physically see him.
“This way,” a deep voice called from up
ahead.
I shimmered a little closer, but then he
sped up, stretching the distance between us. “Quit doing that!” I
snapped as I made another attempt to reach him.
Laughter rumbled through the silence. “Am I
that much better than you?”
His taunting was starting to piss me off. I
closed my eyes and orbed, trying to land on top of him. Only I
didn’t end up where I’d planned.
Salty fumes assaulted my nose before
crashing waves hit my ears. Even though it was just past
twilight—the orange hue of the sun stained the bottom of the
purplish sky—I could still see a man standing about twenty yards
away. I rushed for him, but he seemed to be moving away. “Cole,
wait!” I called out, picking up my pace.
“I thought you liked playing chase,” came
his taunting reply, his voice close enough to feel the caress of it
against my skin.
Then I was sideswiped and tackled to the
ground. We rolled a few times in the sand before his lips pressed
against mine. My arms wrapped around his neck, pulling us closer.
His tongue stroked around the edges of my lips leaving a musky
lavender aftertaste and a few speckles of salty sand. Water rushed
underneath us, and I realized I was the one on the bottom. My hair
drifted in the current before the sea reclaimed the wave. My dress
stuck to my skin like plastic wrap.
I tried to twist on top but was thrust back
down, my hands held over my head while his lips slicked across my
cheek, descending down my neck and coming to stop right on top of
my vein. A low growl vibrated against my chest, rumbled in my ear
as his body pressed harder on top of me. Then twin sharp points
pricked my sensitive skin. Chills raced down my arms, up my spine,
and my head felt like it was flying in the clouds. I arched my
back, raising my chin, and he reciprocated, bringing his open mouth
tighter against my neck. “Do it,” I breathed, unable to say
anything else.
“I’ve wanted this since the day I met
you”—his words breathless. Then he bit down hard and I screamed out
in ecstasy.
My body grew weightless, and the feeling of
euphoria coated every cell inside me. “Yes, yes,” I mumbled, when I
used words at all.
The slurping stopped just enough for him to
mutter indistinctly, “Angel.”
That word jolted me back to reality. “What?”
I demanded, pushing up against his shoulders.
His body moved with my direction, bringing
his face inches away from mine. “Angel, what’s wrong?”
“Luke! What are you doing?” I shuffled out
from under him just as another wave rushed by. “What happened to
Cole?”
“Cole?” he spat, cocking his head to the
side. “Cole was never here!”
“You’re lying!” I rose and marched off, away
from the beach.
“Where do you think you’re going?” Luke
grabbed my arm, swinging me around to face him. “We need to
talk!”
“Where I’m going, is to find COLE!” Anger
seared out of me as I pulled free of Luke’s hold. But then he just
grabbed me again.
“Stop acting like this!”—his voice somewhere
between pleading and demanding. Then his lips were on mine, filled
with longing and need. I pushed back but his hold on me tightened.
Everything warped around me and my surroundings looked strangely
fluid, and my bewildered mind raced, yet it remained blank…numb
even, as his kisses grew harder, the pressure of him molding into
my lips. The warping in my head sped up, everything swirling and
shaking. Then, the ground opened up under me and swallowed me
whole.
I woke up in the cave gulping for air. What
had felt like a memory had really only been a dream—or a nightmare.
The temperature had dropped about sixty degrees, and I lay on the
bare, rocky floor rubbing my arms for warmth since I’d never been
able to find any wood (or anything else that would burn) to build a
fire with. Even though it was completely dark out, I could tell the
sandstorm had stopped. An eerie calmness settled in my bones,
bringing forth a raw, penetrating fear.
The silence was pierced by a wailing
screech—similar to the one I’d heard before. In an effort
not
to get sucked out by the relentless, hairy creature, I
crawled deeper inside the cave. Again the shrieking sounded, a
little more distant this time. I twisted over, sitting on my butt,
my back against the stony wall for support. My dress—which I could
most likely credit my new vampireish senses for being able to see
it in the first place—was no longer white, but stained a hideous
orange from all the red sand, draped over my legs and I tucked the
muddied edges over my toes. My angel form had never had such human
qualities as it did here, in this God-forsaken place. At least I
hadn’t needed any food or water…yet. With my luck, that would
probably be the next issue—if the creature didn’t finish me
first.
It seemed like three days had
passed—blistering hot while the sun was up, freezing once it
descended and night claimed the sky. I’d been calling for Raphael
nonstop for hours on end; my throat was now raw and my voice had
grown hoarse. Sadly, it didn’t seem to be healing at all. Still,
occasionally I’d try saying his name aloud, hoping for different
results. So far, it was a big fat nothing. And my overactive mind
was really bringing me down. From wondering if Caitlyn survived the
ritual and what had happened to me in that hospital room, to
mentally registering if the reason I’d been cast here was because
I’d finally fallen, to reflecting on my relationship with Cole, to
pondering why I’d been dreaming about Luke. Sure, I’d assumed some
answers, but there was just no way to know for certain if anything
was true. But what scared me the most was the thought of being
trapped here forever, of never seeing anyone I loved again.
At last I shook away those tormenting
thoughts and laid my head on the cold, hard ground. It wasn’t long
before I was far away from this horrible place, smiling and
laughing once more.
Caitlyn and I were riding in her brand new,
cherry red Eclipse Spider convertible. It was a graduation gift
that Caitlyn got six months early, because her grades had been
straight A’s all through high school. Her parents had even
delivered it to her with a big, matching red bow strapped onto the
hood. And now we were driving it to the biggest, baddest party of
the year, the graduation ceremony being one week away.
We were giggling uncontrollably as we
bantered about our day at school, my cheeks becoming tender and
sore. “Do you think Ronnie will be there?” I said, my words broken
between various chuckles.
Her laughter became a gasp. “I don’t like
him!” she stated matter-of-factly.
“Are you sure about that?” I asked, my tone
arched.
She looked at me momentarily, eyes wide with
embarrassment, then returned her attention to the road. “Selene,
you can’t tell anyone,” she warned.
Now no longer laughing, I rubbed my cheeks.
“Who would I tell?”
“I don’t know, but you just can’t say
anything to anyone!”
We rounded a sharp corner just when a mother
deer and her fawn were crossing the road. Caitlyn shrieked,
twisting the wheel in a frantic attempt not to hit them. The car
instantly started spinning, tires screeching against the road. But
as it steadied, I knew if she didn’t turn that steering wheel a bit
more, we’d be colliding into the massive tree now looming straight
in front of us. I took advantage of her attention on the road and
shifted invisible, placing my hands on top of hers, guiding her to
move with the same motions I was. Her nerves were racing, but she
was able to bend her will to meet my instruction. And when the car
finally came to its final stop, we were several feet off the road,
just inches away from the tree.
In a flash I jumped in the passenger seat,
shifted back into my human form, and quickly leaned over, rubbing
Caitlyn’s back. “Are you okay?”
Both of her hands held the wheel in a death
grip. “I don’t…I don’t know” was her shaky response.
“Maybe we should just head back home,” I
suggested, not really wanting to go to the party anyway.
“No! We can’t!” She sounded in a panic. “The
car. Did I wreck the car?”
After we both got out and assessed the
damage—or lack thereof since there wasn’t even a scratch on the
car—we headed off to the party. A long gravel driveway lined with
thick trees spilled into an expansive open field crowded with cars
and people. A two-story colonial-style house was sitting just
beyond, its lights aglow in the early evening hour. Caitlyn waved
at a few friends as we drove closer, coming to a stop between a
blue Toyota pickup and a black Jeep.
“Don’t tell anyone about our accident...I
mean the almost accident,” she mumbled just loud enough for me to
hear.
I cast a quick glance her way and assured
her there was nothing to worry about. We got out of the car, and
Caitlyn made a beeline for a small group of friends we’d seen when
we pulled in. I started to follow, but there was a man about thirty
yards away, standing next to a tree and waving a hand at me. Cole.
But how could that be? We hadn’t met yet. Still, my insides
instantly warmed up as I told Caitlyn I’d catch up with her later.
Then I darted off in the direction where I’d seen Cole. It was
strange how he ducked behind the trunk for cover as I got closer. I
chalked it up to him probably just being playful and kept moving.
As I rounded the tree, something firm and hard grabbed my arm, and
in the blink of an eye I was somewhere in the middle of the woods,
my back pressed against a branch, and Cole’s lips crushing
mine.
The kiss deepened, and I pressed my body
closer against his. Tingles spread along my skin and I grew
lightheaded. His arms wrapped around me, cushioning my back from
the tree branch as his lips trailed away from my face and down to
the tempting spot on my neck. My body burned with need, and moments
later it felt like wildfires were scattering all over me, and then
I realized he’d bitten me. “I’ve waited so long for this,” he said,
his breath both warm and cold on my skin.
I gasped and pushed him back, his words
echoing in my head like some kind of crazy déjà vu. And when our
eyes locked together, I knew I wasn’t with Cole. “How are you
here?” I demanded, feeling like all my past memories were being
stalked.
Luke shook his head, something smug filling
his eyes. “That’s what I was trying to tell you before.”
“What do you mean ‘before’?”
He flung a hand in the air. “I’m in your
dream!” He lowered his hand and swung an inquiring gaze at our
surroundings. “Where are we anyway?”
“How can you be in my dream?” I wondered
aloud, then shrugged. “How is that even possible?” I reached over
and grabbed Luke’s hand, squeezing. “You feel real,” I mumbled with
amazement.
“I tried to stop you last time,” he
explained. “But you took off in a huff and that woke you up, which
cut our connection.”
I bit my lip, processing everything he’d
just said. “But I’m dreaming of Cole…only when I get a better view,
it’s not Cole at all. It’s you”—that last part said with a little
vehemence.
“If you don’t mind, quit dreaming about that
jerk,” he said, his voice exasperated. “I can take on the identity
of anyone in your dream, maybe next time you’ll be thinking of
me.”
“But how can you do that? You know, become
someone else I’m thinking of?”
“It’s my blood flowing in you. I just…I just
never thought it would work.” He eyed me suspiciously, then added,
“With you not being human, and all.”
I folded my arms in front of my chest. “What
are you talking about?”
“It’s rare. I’ve only heard of a few cases
like this,” he stammered. “Drinking my blood has allowed us to
sleepwalk.”
“Sleepwalk?” I repeated, unsure exactly what
that meant.
His eyes gleamed with excitement. “Angel, it
means I can come to you in your dreams. I didn’t think it would
work with you being an angel, not sleeping and all. But then I
remembered your orbing issue and thought it was worth a shot to
reach you. So here I am.”
I gaped at him. “Why would you try to
contact me like this?”
“Because I haven’t heard or felt you in
almost two weeks. It made me worried and I thought I should at
least make sure you’re okay.”
Two weeks? A fresh wave of panic rolled
through my stomach, but I tried to keep positive about this new
discovery. I had a way to communicate with Luke, not that I knew
what good it would do me.