Sun Kissed (The Guardian Angel Series Book 2) (9 page)

“I thought I was meeting with my people?” I
asked, forcing confidence into my tone hoping that it would, in turn, make me
confident. No such luck.

“We are your people.” Lucian chuckled, his
deep coal eyes pierced mine.

“No. My people help the world, not destroy
it.”

The room erupted in laughter, but I didn’t take
my eyes off Lucian. I wanted to. I wanted to squeeze my eyes shut and wait for
someone to save me but I couldn’t. I needed them to think I wasn’t afraid.

“I can see why the guardian angel is so
captivated by you.” He approached me and circled me slowly. “Absolutely
stunning.”

He twirled my ponytail around his finger
and I shivered at the thought of him being so close to me.

“Where is the higher power?”

“Oh my dear,” he said, coming face to face
with me. “I’m right here.”

No. It couldn’t be. The higher power was supposed
to be a god. He was supposed to be on our side, not theirs. Everything was in
fast-forward and I was motionless in the middle of it all. How could this
happen?

“I- I don’t believe you,” I stammered.

“Not many people do.” He sighed. He clicked
his fingers and a vampire handed him a manila folder. Lucian clicked his tongue
against his teeth as if in thought. “Here are a few reports that were made
against you, Miss Moore.” He cleared his throat and opened the envelope. “It
seems a few of your peers have a problem with you.”

“So I recently discovered.” Although I had
no idea there was a few. Lucian glanced at me in amusement.

“You got into a fight with a goddess, ran
away from school, hunted a vampire, which cost the lives of three guardian
angels —” He paused and smiled a fang-filled smile. “And then there is the
issue of Eli De Luca, your guardian angel.”

“Ex-guardian angel,” I corrected bitterly.

“Oh yes. I ended that, didn’t I?” An icy
chuckle seeped through his lips, causing my skin to erupt into goosebumps. My
fists curled into balls at my side as I remembered the morning my tattoo washed
off like dirt.

“Protocol. Sorry.” Lucian’s grin widened
and his eyes held a devious gleam. “Ah, speak of the devil.”

He pointed behind me, bringing my attention
to the opening. Eli was escorted in the same way I was.

“Yummy,” moaned Ludiia. I ignored the urge
to scowl at her.

“What is he doing here?” I couldn’t keep
the panic out of my tone.

Lucian’s charcoal eyes narrowed in on me as
Eli came and stood beside me, but I still couldn’t bring myself to relax, in
fact, it made me tenser. I could feel the tension radiate off his body. I
glanced sideways at him; he was just as nervous about the surrounding vampires
as I was. I could tell by his clenched jaw, his clouded, intense eyes, and his
lips that were held in an impassive line.

“You look a little … uncomfortable, angel,”
Ludiia purred. She zipped over to him. “I’m sure I could find a way to relax
you.” She began running her long fingers over his shoulders, causing jealousy to
burn relentlessly in my chest.

“I’m fine. Thank you.” His voice was
strained and cautious.

Ludiia’s lips stuck out in a pout, but she
didn’t take her hands off him.

“Well, Miss Moore. It just so happens to be
your lucky day. I want you to work for me.”

The Job

I couldn’t think straight, I was too
confused. The higher power was no longer one of us, he was one of them. I would
die before I helped out any vampire.

“No. I’d rather die.” I didn’t mean to say
it. The words just fell from my lips.

Lucian drifted forward rapidly, his
movements too fast for me to realize his cold fingers grasped my jaw tightly. I
winced at the pressure I felt under his grasp as all pretense of civility disappeared.

“Be careful what you wish for,” he hissed.

The eyes that bored into mine were deep and
black. I shuddered as they searched every inch of my soul. They held no
emotion, no life. I felt a lump form in my throat as I thought back to the
night my mother was killed, when I was turned against my will. I closed my
eyes, swallowing hard in an attempt to hold back the tears that threatened my
eyes.

“Let her go,” Eli growled.

Lucian chuckled and released his grip. I
opened my eyes as a single tear fell down my cheek.

“Interesting, isn’t it?” Lucian said,
addressing the entire room.

The surrounding vampires chuckled and
agreed.

“Perhaps, you would do it if I —” He kicked
Eli to his knees and exposed his throat. Ludiia giggled and knelt on the floor
beside Eli. Lucian’s fangs shot out of his gums and nicked the skin of Eli’s
throat.

“Stop!” I shrieked, my voice echoing in the
silence.

Ludiia looked up at me, smiling with
pleasure. I couldn’t bear to see another loved one killed in front of me and the
smile that spread across Lucian’s face made me nauseous.

“Tell me about this proposition,” I
stammered. I swallowed, reminding myself to force confidence back into my
voice.

“Atta girl,” a random vampire cheered.

Lucian appeared in front of me once again
and Eli rose to his feet, standing closer to me. I could feel his body heat
radiating onto me and I relaxed in it. It made me feel safer, it offered me
protection, and it soothed my soul. Ludiia appeared behind Lucian, keeping her
spiteful eyes on me.

“Ruby,” Eli muttered into my ear. “You
don’t have to negotiate with these people.”

I ignored him. “Your plan?” I prompted Lucian.

He clicked his fingers and a big rust
colored chair was brought out for him. I bit the inside of my lip in nervous
anticipation as he got comfortable.

“You might not know that vampires outnumber
your species a hundred to one. If you want to survive, you’ll take this offer I’m
about to explain to you.”

I nodded.

“I want to harvest both your species’
blood.”

I stared at him in astonishment. He couldn’t
be serious? Did he actually think I’d go along with that? Eli fumed beside me.
I could hear a rumble in his chest, building toward a growl.

“If I can provide my kind with your blood
without many deaths to your species, then your kind can thrive longer. Your
kind will also remain oblivious to what I really am.”

“Why are you doing this? Why do you care if
we live or die?”

“When you were a vampire, did you ever
taste god or guardian angel blood?”

I shook my head, but I remembered the smell
distinctly. They had the sweetest scent I’d ever had the pleasure of smelling.

“What a shame. No vampire would give your
blood up, but if I can harvest it and sell it, your species will survive. If
goddesses, gods, and guardian angels survive, then as the higher power, I’m
doing my job and no one will know.”

“What do I do?”

Eli inhaled sharply, no doubt confused why
I was even considering his job offer.

“You will travel to various vampire sectors
and impose my will upon them— No goddess, god, or guardian angel deaths until I
say so. As for your kind, I will issue mandatory blood donation. It shouldn’t
be too hard. Don’t you worry about the technical side of things.”

“And if the vampires don’t want to conform
to your new law?”

“Kill them.”

A nervous chuckle left my lips. “I don’t
know how to fight and I can barely use my magic. You chose the wrong girl.”

“Did I?” His lips separated into a smile,
exposing his fangs.

I shivered as he stared at me, like he knew
something I didn’t.

“You have no idea who your father is, do
you?”

What was he talking about? I repeated his
words over and over in my mind. Why wouldn’t they make any sense? What did my
father have to do with anything?

“Did anyone tell you why Hank’s venom
couldn’t fully turn you? Did they tell you why he came back for you a year
later?”

I heard a low growl escape from Eli’s
chest.

“Mr Aleksandrov told me a charm had been put
on me as a baby, preventing the venom from turning me completely.”

“How creative.” Lucian snickered, the other
vampires joined in. “And incorrect.”

I chewed the inside of my cheek in thought.
I hadn’t thought about my father. My mother told me he’d bailed on us, plain
and simple. I didn’t ask any more questions because I didn’t care. As for Mr
Aleksandrov, why would he lie to me? What would he get out of it?

“Why should I believe a word you say?”

“Because I’m the only one telling you the
truth.”

I couldn’t help but glance at Eli. He was
watching me curiously, apologetically.

“Did you and Ivan lie to me?” I asked
quietly.

The vampires shifted in their seats,
leaning closer, making sure they didn’t miss anything. Ludiia dashed over to
Eli and leaned against him, claiming him. The jealousy she forced into my chest
distracted me from keeping my eyes solely on him. She was smirking at my
frustration.

The territorial feeling that surged through
my body felt alien-like. Only Eli De Luca could make me feel things I’ve never
felt before.

“Ruby, you don’t want to get into this.”
His voice was hard.

“What’s the real story?” I asked Lucian,
ignoring Eli’s comment.

I didn’t know if I could trust what Lucian
said, but I had a backup plan. Eli wouldn’t lie to me now, not after everything
we’d been through together.

“Tamzin!” Lucian called.

A tall Indonesian man walked in through a
flap in the side of the door. He wasn’t like me or Eli, he wasn’t even a
vampire. He was human. Tamzin’s skin was a deep olive; his hair was slicked back,
exposing a narrow face and high cheekbones.

“Bring him in.”

“No, don’t do this, Lucian. If this goes wrong,
you could destroy everything,” Eli shouted.

“Do you think you can order me around? You’re
nothing more than a lowly guardian. You’re disposable, replaceable.” His voice
was icy and flat.

All I could get out of my brain were words.
Not formed in sentences or anything that made sense. Was he going to bring in
my father? Was my dad a vampire? I couldn’t help but feel like my brain was
short circuiting and it needed rebooting.

“Wait,” I called to Tamzin. He turned to
face me. “I accept.”

“Ruby!” Eli growled at me.

“But on a few conditions.”

“Name it.”

“You do not touch anyone at Sage Sanctum.
You do not tell me anything about me until I ask. Any more information and I’m
going to have nervous breakdown. Lastly, you give me a week to say goodbye to
my friends.”

“And you reinstate me as her guardian angel,”
Eli added.

“No.” I panicked.

“I’m not letting you do this alone.”

Everyone else in the room faded away. I
wasn’t paying attention to them. It was just Eli and I talking now.

“I won’t put your life at risk again, please,”
I begged.

“I’m not giving you a choice,” Eli said
through clenched teeth.

His eyes were filled with frustration, a
pleading frustration. I couldn’t leave without him and he knew it.

“And Eli is to be reinstated as my guardian
angel,” I muttered to Lucian.

Lucian rubbed his index finger across his
top lip in thought.

“I may be a vampire, Miss Moore, but I
still stand strongly against Guardian Angel and God-slash-Goddess
relationships.”

“There is no relationship between Mr De
Luca and I.”

“Please,” Ludiia scoffed. “The sexual
tension is suffocating me.”

I scowled at her.

“Ludiia is right. It’s painfully obvious
the feelings you have for each other. Your actions speak louder than your
words. It’s disgusting.”

“I have a boyfriend. His name is Hunter and
he’s a god,” I lied, dropping my gaze to the floor. I hoped it would better our
chances and take the scrutiny off Eli and I. I was still mad at him for what he
did, but if dropping his name helped, it was the least he could do for me.

“Hunter Reeves?”

I didn’t know Hunter’s last name but I
nodded anyway. I glanced up at Lucian, who was rubbing his chin, pondering my
conditions.

“Fine. You have a deal. I expect you back
here on Friday. You have six days to get your shit together.”

I exhaled, but I wasn’t relieved, although I
should celebrate every small victory I get over a vampire. Vampires aren’t
usually known for negotiating. I must have something he really wants.

“If you breathe a word about this to
anyone, I will destroy your school and everyone you know.”

In entered the masked men with guns that
escorted us in earlier.