The Protectors Series Bundle (A superhero romance anthology)

Dedication

To Siaki, may you grow up into a strong, sassy woman.

Betrayed (A Reluctant Protector
Prequel)

Reluctant Protector

Forsaken Protector

Other Books by Nana Malone

About Nana Malone

Betrayed (A Protectors Prequel)

The Protectors Series

Cassie’s Prequel

by

Nana Malone

Copyright 2012

This is a work of fict
ion. Names, characters, places,
and incidents either
are the product of the author’s
imagination or
are used fictitiously, and any
resemblance to
actual persons living or dead, business
establi
shments, events, or locales, is
entirely coincidental.

Betrayed (A Protectors Prequel)

COPYRIGHT
© 2012
by Nana Malone

All rights reserved. N
o part of this book may be used
or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without

written permission
of the author
except in the ca
se of brief quotations embodied
in critical articles or reviews.

Contact Information:
[email protected]

Cover Art by
Kimberly Killion

Published in the United States of America

Chapter One

Cassie Reeser knew secrets were dangerous things. And she was hiding a doozy . Though, it wasn’t like she could tell anyone and not be committed. Running up to someone and saying “Hey, I’ve got super powers!” would get her fitted for a tight, white jacket. And not the kind made by Betsy Johnson. So she kept her little secret to herself. But if there was one person she would have trusted with her secret, it would have been her best friend, Mallory.

“Cassie, you have to come to the winter wonderland party tonight. I need you as my wing woman.”

Cassie eyed her friend and shook her head. With her flaming red hair and exuberant energy, not to mention her penchant for wearing green, it was hard not to think of her friend as a Leprechaun. “Mal, you know the rules. Peter won’t let me anywhere near this party.” Her older brother, Peter gave a whole new meaning to overprotective. Mallory pouted. “But you haven’t even asked him yet. Besides, it’s a school event. He can’t say no to a school event, right?”

Cassie carefully counted the canned goods in the box she’d packed before setting it to the side. Volunteering for the school’s food drive was one of the highlights of her week. Because she was usually so ill, her brother had worked out an arrangement for her to be partially homeschooled while participating in activities as her health improved. The arrangement worked well for the most part, but Peter was always so worried about her health. The constant hovering was overbearing. But she’d been cured for months. Now he was terrified someone would find out their secret and take her from him. At least that was the lie du jour. A part of her wondered if he wasn’t busy trying to replicate their little miracle.

Cassie watched the group of teenagers milling about surreptitiously. Volunteering was the one outside activity her brother allowed. Growing up she’d been in and out of hospitals due to congenital heart failure.  Now that she was cured, he let her out on occasion, but under the caveat that she was
careful
of the people she met.  As she loaded canned food into separate crates for vegetable, meats and dried grains, she tried to relax and enjoy herself, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that someone was watching her.

Likely for good reason too. Peter’s bodyguards were
ever present
. Oh sure, her brother called the big Brit her private nurse, but she knew what he really was. With his East London cockney accent and his bruiser’s nose, he looked like a thug. Besides, there was no godly reason for a nurse to be that big. Reynolds was the size of a refrigerator and about as menacing as a monster with his scars. But as bodyguards went, he was nicer than some of the others she’d had. He even talked to her sometimes, seeming to understand her constant loneliness. She needed a bodyguard even less than she needed a nurse. Pound for pound she might actually be as strong as Reynolds. Peter had never tested her full strength. It was a byproduct of the drug cocktail he’d worked up to help her get better.

Along with the strength came acute hearing and enhanced eyesight. Sometimes if she tried really hard, she could read thoughts, but that was rare, and only if the other person was projecting them. Once or twice she’d managed to put a thought into the mind of the family maid, but that had been entirely by accident, and not only had she been unable to replicate it, the sheer effort had put her in bed for days.

She slid a glance to the hulking behemoth of a man who sat awkwardly on a folding chair by the entrance to the school gym. Why she needed a body guard at Millings Academy was beyond her. The posh private school had a campus to rival any Ivy League. But Reynolds was just more proof that there was no arguing with her brother. He was so anal about her security. He’d let her get her driver’s license, but he insisted she had to use drivers.

“School event or not, we both know I’m lucky I get to do some extracurricular at all.”

Mallory rolled her eyes. She, more than anyone else, knew Cassie’s struggles. The few times Cassie had been allowed a sleepover at Mallory’s, Peter had personally inspected Mallory’s house for contagions and God only knows what else. Mallory’s mother had taken it in stride. She’d been friends with Cassie and Peter’s mother. She’d seen Cassie at her worst, when she was so sick in the hospital the doctors hadn’t thought she’d make it through the night. Cassie shuddered. Her congenital heart failure had meant spending more time in hospital beds than she had in her own. But thanks to her father and brother’s research she’d gotten better. Much better. She flexed her hands and wondered at their strength. Just a year before, the idea of picking up a box of canned goods would have been impossible. Now she could out-lift some of the boys who volunteered.

“Okay, look, what if I have mom call him. Sometimes he listens to her. After all, she’s almost like an aunt to him.”

Mallory was like a dog with a bone. She never gave up on anything she wanted. Cassie chuckled. “Yeah okay, if you think it’ll do any good. But honestly it’s not that big of a deal to me. I got to see you today and he’s letting me come to your birthday party at the end of the month, I’d rather not push my luck.”

Mallory tugged on her arm. ”You don’t understand. You have to come. I need moral support.”

Cassie narrowed her eyes at her friend. “Why are you pressing this? Why do I have to come? It’s just a school party and you think they’re lame anyway.”

Mallory scoffed. “Well maybe I’ve had a change of heart.”

“Bull. Spill, Mallory.”

An errant thought popped into Cassie’s head at that moment. Bryan Porter. She resisted the urge to whip around and find him in the crowded gymnasium. She’d had a crush on him since middle school when he’d moved here.

Mallory squirmed under Cassie’s gaze. “Okay, look. I promised I wouldn’t tell you, okay? Bryan’s totally in to you and wanted to see if I could convince you to come.”

Heat spiked Cassie’s skin and the hairs on the back of her neck stood up. Still, she resisted the urge to turn and look for him. “I really doubt Bryan Porter wants me to come tonight. Honestly, Mal, using my crush to lure me to a party is just low.” She smirked. “And might totally work.” Maybe, just maybe, Peter would let her go tonight.

Mallory grinned. “You have to try Cassie. He so totally has a thing for you.”

Cassie flushed and her skin prickled with heat. “I—uhm—I don’t think so.” There was no way on earth Bryan, with his tall good looks, was paying her any attention. Like all the romantic comedies she liked to watch, he was movie-star good-looking for a teenager. His hair was dark and
his
eyes
even darker
.  He had the constantly brooding look down pat.

“Would I lie to you, Cass? Besides you’re totally gorgeous
with your black hair and those eyes of yours
. Do you know how many girls go hunting for contacts to match your pale green color? And let’s not forget the skin to die for and those never-have –to-study brains.  Not to mention you’re cool enough to be my bestie. Why wouldn’t he like you?”

“Oh, I don’t know. Lots of reasons. He doesn’t even know me.” Not to mention she was a total freak. But what Mallory said rang true. Sometimes she’d catch him staring at her. And every time, a single thought would pop into her mind.
So pretty.
But not like she thought he was pretty, more dangerous looking really. Pretty was too feminine an adjective for him. But more like he thought
she
was pretty. Like he was thinking the thought so hard it was written all over his face.

Mallory giggled. “Something tells me that’s about to change.”

Cassie frowned. “Huh?” But her friend had already skipped off. Bewildered, Cassie blinked. “Mal—l”

“Uhm, hey
, Cassie.”

Cassie whirled around, nearly dropping a can of green beans and a box of spaghetti. Bryan stood behind her in all his lanky glory and she swallowed hard. She tried to force her mouth to work, but that would mean her brain needed to kick in first.

“H-hi, Bryan.” He smiled and Cassie’s knees wobbled. Okay, all she had to do was play it cool. This was the exact reason she told her brother she needed to go to real school, so she wouldn’t be so incredibly awkward.