Day of Sacrifice (Day of Sacrifice #1) (5 page)

Flora turned and walked alongside him. “How come? Weren’t your parents afraid something would happen to him?”

“My parents...they were both second children, both close to their Sacrifice siblings. When they married, they agreed not to have children. They were against producing a Sacrifice.”

“And then your mom gave birth to
twins
.”

He nodded. She understood. Julian continued on, “One child they had to give up to the Gods, another identical looking child to serve as a daily reminder of their loss.” They’d arrived at the banks of the stream.

Flora sat down on the ground, took off her clunky black boots and socks and plunged her feet in the ice cold water. “Simple pleasures,” she said, smiling up at him. “Keep talking, I want to know about you.”

Julian shucked his shoes and socks and joined her on the ground, dangling his feet in the water. “So, they moved us here to the Outer Territory and hoped that no one had followed. That the Gods wouldn’t demand their Sacrifice.”

Her eyes grew wide. “Did August know that he was a Sacrifice?”

“Yes. My parents didn’t keep anything from us. If he was discovered and had to perform his familial duty, they didn’t want him to feel betrayed by our family as well.”

“Good. Because that would be the worst fucking surprise ever.”

Julian dipped his cupped hand into the water and took a drink, giving himself a moment to think. Which would be worse, he wondered, telling her about her own family betrayal or letting her go to her death falsely believing she was doing what she was destined to do?

Flora watched Julian drink the water from his hand and wanted to be that water. Only stupid Gods would require their Sacrifices to be virgins, and at this moment being a virgin was bothering her more than the dying was. This man, this
Guardian Angel
she was sitting next to, was opening up to her, instructing her to feel the damned grass on her skin and she was so overwhelmed by his sweetness and honesty, she could hardly contain herself. The cold water on her feet was helping a little bit, but not nearly enough to keep all of the oh-so-wrong thoughts she was having about him from tickling her brain.

Usually Flora would have required half a bottle of good vodka before considering making any kind of move on a Guardian. It was done, Guardians and Supernaturals hooked up all the time, but not by her and certainly not by Julian. That was under normal circumstances, though, and developing strong feelings for someone two days before you were going to die was not usual circumstances.
Two more questions.
She would give herself the length of two questions and answers to get her nerve up and then she was going to kiss that irresistible mouth of his, blushing and embarrassment be damned.

“How did you become a Guardian then?” she asked.

Julian lay back on the bank and slung his arm over his eyes. “Three years after August’s sacrifice The War began and I enlisted. My parents didn’t need me to help on the farm, really. They’d hired a few men to help with the extra crops it was producing because of the Gods’ favor.”

“I’m sure they didn’t want you to go.” That wasn’t a question, was it?

“They didn’t and they did. My mother, especially, was afraid of losing another son, but my parents also didn’t want to stop me from choosing what to do with my life.”

“So...you died, obviously.” Definitely not a question.

He took his arm off his face and propped himself up on his elbows. “I died eight months into my service, had my throat slit, never saw it coming.”

Flora could feel him glance at her neck. He knew what kind of pain she was in for, then. That made her braver. “How did you convince the Gods to let you become a Guardian?”

“It was luck.” He turned his gaze back toward the water. “I was standing in line waiting for my Afterlife assignment, hoping that maybe I’d get something in the way of carpentry or farming. Some people get assignments to do things they have no affinity for. But like I said, I was lucky. With all of the people dying in The War, the Gods’ record keepers were behind and no one knew I was a witch. When they asked me if I wanted to be a Guardian, I immediately agreed, happy that I could be alive again and that I could visit my parents from time to time.” He looked Flora in the eye. “Glad that I could give back to Sacrifices in my own small way.” Julian stared at her, studying her face.

Before Flora could let the blush he was causing fully take over, she licked her lips and leaned into him, pressing her mouth to his. When he didn’t resist, returned the kiss even, she deepened it. She pushed her tongue in between his lips, touching his. In response, Julian wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her on top of him. Keeping his arm around her, he slid his hand down, letting it rest on her rear end.

Flora had other ideas. She spread her legs, straddling him and sat up. She began taking off her sweater, but Julian’s hands stopped her, grabbing her wrists.

“Let me,” he said, his voice husky. He peeled the light cashmere fabric from her body, tracing his pinkie fingers across her skin as he went, making her shiver. He gave one final little tug and had the sweater off over her head, her ponytail loosening. Flora reached back to take the elastic out, but Julian stopped her again. “This is my favorite part.” He gently pulled on the band and her hair spilled down over her shoulders. He sighed.

She had to admit, she thought that was a little weird. Then it occurred to her, “How old are you really?” she asked, smiling down at his lust clouded eyes.

He grinned, embarrassed. “Old enough to get turned on by taking a woman’s hair down.”

Flora slid her bra straps off her shoulders and bent over him. “So, what does something like this do for you?”

Julian took his feet out of the water, tightened his grip on her hips and rolled her onto her back. “Are you sure you want to know?” he breathed, kneeling next to her, grazing his fingertips over her flat stomach.

She laughed deep in her throat.

I should not be doing this.
And yet, there he was, his tongue tracing along the tops of her breasts, unable to stop. He moved lower, taking one of her hard nipples into his mouth, teasing the other with his thumb. She brought her hand up in between his thighs, rubbing against him with her heated palm. Scary for a non-fire user, incredibly arousing to someone like him. It was too much. “Easy, Flora.” Julian took her hand and pinned it above her head with his.

“Sorry!”She just laughed again and went for the zipper on his jeans. He moaned. She had no idea what she was doing to him after a decade without any sexual contact. He needed to control the pace of this thing that was happening with them or it would be over in a matter of minutes. He pulled her hand away from him and tried to capture it next to her other one.

She shook her head, panic rising in her voice. “Too...sacrificial. Please let me go.”

Oh, Gods. He immediately let go of her hands and sat back on his heels. “I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have even--”

“Don’t you dare say you shouldn’t have been fooling around with me. We both wanted it. There just wasn’t time to set up ground rules.” She put her bra back on and reached for her sweater. She had grass in her hair.

Julian’s groin ached something fierce. “Ground rules?” He stood, hoping that would help circulate the blood away from his crotch and put some feeling back in his legs.

Flora stood too, tugging her sweater down. “You know. One: I won’t use any fire because I can’t control it when I’m distracted.” She wiggled her fingers at him.
I hate that rule.
“Two: no holding my wrists and ankles down. Three: my virginity stays intact.” She grinned and tossed him his shoes, then started putting hers back on.

He bent to tie his laces. “Well, the virginity thing goes without saying. Your use of fire...not scary in the way you thought it was.” He cleared his throat. “Holding your hands down? That didn’t occur to me, but of course that would cause you to panic. I’m truly sorry for that.”

“I know,” she grabbed his hand and pulled him toward the gravel road to town, looking back at him over her shoulder. “We’ll do better next time.”

“Next time?” he asked, his legs going wobbly.
May the Gods have mercy on my reinstated soul
.

Julian had been right about town, it wasn’t much. There was a survivalist store that sold guns and ammunition, knives, water filtration systems, and other things required for life in the Outer Territory. A gas pump sat outside the storefront, not a single vehicle around for it to fill. On down the road was an outdoor market where the more permanent residents of the area, like Julian’s family used to be, sold local produce.

A gruff looking man with a beard that hung down to the middle of his chest greeted Julian with a powerful back slap. “Good to see you. It’s been a while. Seems your color has improved since leaving the city.” He gave Flora a once over that made her skin crawl. “Or maybe it has something to do with this fine young woman. I don’t recall you ever having company in all the years you’ve been in the Territory.”

Julian put his arm around Flora’s shoulders and moved her away from the older man’s fervent gaze. “Daniel, this is my friend, Harmony.”

Flora nodded her head and smiled her sweetest smile, figuring that Julian had good reason for lying about who she was. Anyone out here could be working for the Fitzgeralds, after all. She dared a glance at two scraggly men standing behind Daniel giving her an eye-full.

“What do you say, honey, does any of the fruit Daniel’s selling appeal to you?” Julian asked, his eyes pleading for her to play along.

Flora perused the stand. Everything looked good. She hadn’t realized she was so hungry. “I’d like a couple of apples, sugarwings, if that’s okay with you.”

“Sure,” he squeezed her shoulders hard.
What? Was sugarwings too much?
“Two apples for Harmony and I’ll take some pears for myself.”

Shit
. Angels didn’t need to eat and she’d unwittingly just given away Julian’s true identity. She smiled even harder at Daniel, hoping she could distract him from the conversation. He leered at her chest and stroked his beard. Her tactic seemed to be working.

“The apples and pears?” Julian said, sliding his hand down Flora’s back and grabbing her ass. “We’re in kind of a hurry.”

Daniel grinned lasciviously, showcasing his mouth full of rotten teeth. “Gotta keep yer energy up.” He winked at her. “I get it.” He plucked the fruit from the wooden crates it was stored in and put it in a brown paper bag. “Have fun. Do everything that I would, ya hear?”

Julian took his hands off of Flora long enough to pay for the fruit and then steered her away from the stand, his arm around her waist.

“It’s not safe here, I should have come alone,” he whispered in her ear, nuzzling her neck. “We’re going to go behind that abandoned building over there and transport. Now laugh.”

Flora laughed her best flirtatious girl laugh and tucked her head into Julian’s chest, letting him lead her behind the vacant storefront. With one hand he pushed her up against the weathered wood of the building and scanned the landscape.

“I’m sorry I called you sugarwings. That was so stupid. I didn’t know your being a Guardian was a secret,” she whispered, sure he could feel how fast her heart was beating through his hand on her chest.

“Its fine,” he said, his voice low, his eyes still surveying their surroundings. “I’m the one that messed up. I counted three unfamiliar faces at the fruit stand, any of them could have been contracted to kill you and I just paraded you right in front of them.” Satisfied that no one had followed them, he took his hand off of her and covered her body with his. Pressing her closer to the building, he unfurled his wings. “Here we go.”

“Not so fast, angel.”

A shot rang out at close range, ripping through the top of Julian’s right wing.

He fought against the debilitating pain, focusing instead on protecting Flora, blocking her from view between his uninjured wing and the building. He turned his torso toward Daniel, and was met with a pistol butt to his forehead. Blood seeped into his eyes, but he held firm. Shrugging his arm out from under his injured wing, Julian reached out with amazing speed and took hold of the gun barrel. Wrenching it from the old man’s hands, he backhanded him across the jaw. Daniel swayed sideways into the building and then slid to the ground.

Flora dropped the bag of fruit.

What Julian needed was a plan. One: Find out what Daniel knew about Flora. Two: Kill Daniel. Three: Get Flora back to his house.

“Don’t move, Flor,” he cautioned.

He felt her nod her head against his side. Julian stepped away from her and grabbed Daniel by the beard, yanking him to his feet. “Talk, now, you disgusting old fool.”

“There’s--” Daniel began, wincing when he spoke. “Godsdamn it, I think you broke my jaw.” He spat a bloody string of saliva and a couple of his rotten teeth onto the ground.

Julian raised his hand to strike him again.

Daniel cowered. “There’s a reward. Fitzgerald’s had associates out here spreadin’ the word around this morning. Be on the lookout for a male Guardian and a female Sacrifice.” He dragged a shirtsleeve across his mouth. “You weren’t hard to recognize.”

A scream sounded behind Julian. He whirred around, expecting to see Flora apprehended. Instead he saw a burly man cradling his burnt hand to his body and a red hot gun in Flora’s.

“What?” she said, shrugging her shoulders and dropping the gun on the ground. “He was trying to sneak up on you.”

Two men came around the corner, sawed-off shotguns aimed at Flora’s head.

“Shoot her!” cried Daniel.

Julian turned as three men armed with knives came at him from the other side. His eyes met Flora’s and an understanding passed between the two of them. Her hands exploded in flame.

Julian punted Daniel in the head, knocking him out, and launched himself at the other three men, using his injured wing as a shield. They took turns slashing at him with their blades, staying just out of his reach. One man, hopped up on adrenaline, tripped over his own feet and wasn’t quick enough to make his retreat. Julian found his opening, grabbing the man by his neck and lifted him in the air. He squeezed the man’s neck until it broke and then threw him at the feet of the two other attackers. They didn’t back down.
Damn, the reward for Flora must be enormous
.