Sterling (23 page)

I didn’t hear anything in that second. One minute I was looking at this junkyard dog about to tear me up and the next all I saw were two bodies blocking my view.

Justus and Simon became a shield standing before me. Simon gripped my forearm as if I might fall off the earth.

“I would advise against moving another inch, juicer,” Simon warned.

“You have concealed from us,” Justus accused. “Introductions are no longer needed.”

“Something tells me that neither one of you is her maker which makes her…” he pointed, “fair game.”

Fingers were just a hair tighter on my arm.

“I am her Ghuardian so be watchful of your threats!” Justus roared.

I heard a low chuckle. “Everyone knows a Ghuardian doesn’t have the same rights to a Learner. You know as well as I do I can take her if I want. Guess what? I fucking want, and what I want…I take.”

Simon replied with exquisite restraint, “Why don’t you walk away while you still have your balls in tact?” Simon had a tongue on him and I wasn’t sure if he was trying to threaten or provoke.

Boots scraped on hard cement but I couldn’t see anything.

“Back. That. Shit. Up. You fucked with the wrong Mage!” he shouted.

The reaction was explosive.

Justus flashed and his vacant spot was filled with Simon moving to the side to guard me. The man with tats spun around in a blur as he lunged at Justus just a few feet ahead.

I heard the occasional bone crunching punches before Justus perched himself on top of a car. The man lunged with a growl, grabbed his ankle and Justus spun completely horizontal before he vanished.

He didn’t just flash, Justus literally vanished!

In a few quick motions, I lost sight of the both of them. Simon’s hand slid down my arm and I looked at him nervously. His head cocked to the left as if he heard something and he flashed away.

In the blink of an eye, I saw that Justus had been thrown against a car and his head was slammed violently against the door until he fell limp.

My heart froze, stricken with fear as blood ran down his face and soaked his shirt.

“Ghuardian!” I screamed.

Simon reared up from behind and punched him in the side below the ribs.

Their bodies moved so heartstoppingly fast that the occasional stillness of movement was eerie. The slicing sound of a knife made me think of my training with Justus, and here I was standing like a deer in the headlights.

“Hey!” I yelled walking towards the tattooed man who held the knife in his right hand. If I could distract him long enough for Simon to heal Justus, we would have a chance. I couldn’t risk doing the healing because I had never given my light and I could do more damage than good.

Simon’s gaze was punishment enough. “I have this, love,” he said in a low angry voice through clenched teeth.

Fuck him and his male bravado
.

I brushed my hair aside letting him know he could shove that bravado right up his ass.

“Isn’t it me you want?” I asked, coaxing him with a crooked finger.

Distracted eyes traveled down to my legs before turning his focus back on Simon with the blade aimed at his heart.

“If I tell him to back off he will. He has no claim on me. I go where I want.”

“Then tell him to back off.”

“Simon, this isn’t your fight. Take Justus home. You’re over your head on this one, it’s not worth it.” Simon’s mouth opened and snapped back shut.

Simon you idiot, swallow that pride and go heal Justus
.

“The thing is—you gotta catch me, if you can.” I gave a lazy smile and flashed back several feet. The dare incited the hunter out of him and he gave chase.

While I wouldn’t entirely recommend flashing while you are drunk, in my relaxed state of mind I had to admit I wasn’t overly thinking my moves. My thoughts were fluid—feeling, and reacting.

He moved and I moved, and the dance began. There were moments I thought he would catch me but I had enough defense tactics to slip free. I never continually flashed in any of my training sessions; Justus wanted me to learn maneuvers and not rely on my abilities. I was beginning to realize why as it was draining my energy. Still, we continued for what seemed like minutes as I continued to slip out of his grasp.

Suddenly a high pitch laugh broke my attention. I couldn’t help but wonder if the boys were sitting on the sidelines watching the whole thing with a bag of popcorn. I stewed on that thought and stopped to look.

Big mistake.

In a tenth of a second I was caught, and he pulled me hard against chest squeezing the breath out of my lungs.

“Gotcha.”

I struggled but his arms were cement, and my feet lost sense of the ground as he lifted me up. Without fear, I looked him in the eye. I had one option, so I flung my neck back and slammed my head into his face.

My temple exploded in pain.

The sound he made was animalistic as blood poured from his nose. His arms relaxed and all hell broke loose.

From out of nowhere Justus appeared, pulling me off and ramming him so hard they both fell to the ground.

“Get her out of here!” Justus shouted.

Chapter 19

I had to swallow down nausea as throwing up in Justus’s luxurious kitten could quite possibly result in the first sign of the apocalypse.

“What just happened back there?” Touching my temple I felt the tight, swollen stretch of heated skin.

“Justus picked up on a vibe. Never go off like that, you should never be alone.”

“So you picked up a Mage, but why all the panic that you would ditch me like that?”

“What the bloody hell have you two been studying these past months, philosophy?” He flipped the heater to a higher temperature eyeing my fingers. “He wasn’t flaring but Justus sensed a weak energy leak. The juicers are a constant threat. Most of them are searching for weak Learners to collect for personal use or to be sold on the black market.”

“I didn’t feel anything.”

“Love, you can barely feel yourself,” he said with playful undertones.

“Ugh,” was the only reply I could give.

“It’s serious stuff. We put out our hello sign; suffice it to say he never put out his. I went to find you but you weren’t there.” The engine purred as we neared the turnoff.

Simon gave me his full attention. “Are you alright?” The steering wheel felt the pain of his grip as he whispered under his breath, “Limey bastard. I hope he throttles him good.” He gave a sideways glance and reached out with his hand and touched my head, taking away my pain with a bit of light. “Better?”

“Miles,” I replied.

When we pulled up to the entrance, I opened my door and fell onto the ground. I was exhausted from the flashing and still mildly drunk. Staring up at the sky, a shadow eclipsed my view and as I focused my eyes, I saw leather pants that went right up to the heavens.

No wait, that was Simon.

“You’re so pretty.” I smiled.

He put his hands on his hips. “Funny, I was going to say the same thing about you.”

“Sure, sure,” I waved off, and rolled over to push myself up. I felt as heavy as a ton of lead.

His curled his arms around my waist and tugged me gently to my feet. “Upsy daisy. You handled yourself well—fast.”

“Not fast enough.”

“You’re also pissed. That was impressive, Learner. Someone as young as you? I’d love to see what you can do sober.”

“I could have taken that guy you know,” I mumbled as he carried me more than I walked.

“Of course, love. That’s a pretty thick head you’ve got.”

“So I hear.”

My eyes lifted from the uneven ground at the dark woods. The air had an icy wet flavor to it that hinted a snow was coming. It didn’t snow much where I was from, but scent of snow left quite an impression.

“Why is he such a jerk?”

“Responsibility? He’s not used to it. He’s never been a Ghuardian, nor had to live with a woman. Justus is in a pressure cooker because he’s a perfectionist. You are a reflection of him, I suppose he thinks if he’s not hard enough on you then he’ll have failed.”

A twig snapped beneath our feet.

“I take it his maker was not a woman,” I laughed sleepily.

“And where is yours?”

His voice softened a bit, suggesting he knew there was more to my story. Maybe he knew it, maybe he didn’t. But whatever the truth was, I kept silent.

We approached the entrance and he lifted a hatch in the ground that looked like it had grass, leaves and dirt glued on top of it. I stared down the dark hole.

“How did he get all his furniture down there?” I gave a quizzical stare and put my hand on my hip.

“You should see what he can do with a ship and a glass bottle.”

I drew in a sharp inhale and sneezed. “Great, now I’m sick.”

Simon laughed lightly. “That’s one thing you won’t have to worry about again, Mage do not get sick unless you count the occasional indigestion. That, unfortunately we can do nothing about.”

“You mean I can’t catch a cold?” I rubbed at my nose hard.

“Our bodies do not respond to nor carry disease or viruses. I guess Justus taught you about our healing but failed to mention that part.”

Another sneeze escaped. “So then why am I sneezing?” I felt a rub of worry wondering if maybe certain things didn’t apply to me.

Simon merely snatched my nose between his fingers and mused, “Because it tickles, love.”

My boot gripped the thin metal rungs and I nervously lowered myself down the hatch.

“Get a good grip now, careful.”

I went one step at a time with a blind foot reaching for the next narrow step; without a light it was impossible to see.

“Does Justus own this land?”

“Not entirely,” his voice echoed in the room below. “Technically most of us don’t own our own land. It’s owned by the Mageri who controls our properties. It’s a convenience, really. They manage all the goodies like taxes and securing the adjacent land from companies building a department store or gas station.”

My heel slipped and I lost my grip, scrambling for the rungs as I fell back.

I freefell into the darkness and when I hit the ground landing directly on my foot—I screamed. My body instinctively curled up and I held my leg, growling in pain.

There was an audible stomp and Simon knelt at my side. His hand lightly brushed over my face as if he were assessing my injuries based on my expression alone.

I guess it told him enough.

“Take my neck.” He pulled my arm over his shoulder and lifted me into his arms. “Let’s get you inside and take a look.”

“Can’t he get a freaking elevator?” I yelled out, biting down on his leather jacket as hard as I could. I kept my teeth clamped firmly until we made it to the bedroom where he laid me down on the bed—the one I never slept in—the bed I had nicknamed Goliath because of its monstrosity. The sheets never had to be changed because they were untouched. I preferred the red sofa chair against the wall.

Pain radiated up my leg with every beat of my heart.

“I need to remove your boot.” He stretched his fingers nervously. “It’s on tight, it’ll hurt,” he warned.

“Just do it,” I breathed, throwing a pillow over my face. With a quick tug, he jerked it free and I screamed.

Slowly, my knee-high stocking was peeled off and my entire body shuddered. A tolerance to pain was something that I had been working on, but I was always prepared for it.

Sliding the pillow away to watch, the candles put out a dim glow in the room. I doubted under the circumstances he was looking up my skirt, but I felt a hint of embarrassment nevertheless.

Simon held my ankle gently in his hands while the slow rise of power transferred from his fingers to my leg. His eyes remained fixed and concentrated. The healing was not really painful, just a sensation of heat and blissful numbness.

I sighed—hell, I think I groaned in relief. “Was it broken?”

“Doesn’t matter now,” he said.

Once residual waves of pain subsided, it occurred to me that Simon wasn’t pulling back. The sensation changed to something completely unfamiliar as his energy spread up my thighs and a gasp escaped my lips.

Desire heated me unexpectedly—as if everything I felt at the dance club was magnified times twenty.

Confused by my reaction I looked down at Simon, expecting he would be laughing at me. Instead, my gaze was met with one of attraction and a flush of heat licked across my chest.

“The male on the dance floor tonight…,” he said, stroking my ankle tenderly. My brows joined together in a display of confusion, only I wasn’t as confused by his comment so much as his thumb sliding up my leg.

“You can’t do that with humans.”

He climbed on the bed blanketing my legs, hands on either side, prowling up my body with a gaze of a predator. Simon’s eyes pulsed with light and I fell into their trance.