Scarred Protector(4)

The other people in Pergor to whom he would ask questions were never keen to give answers, but answers were what he needed. He had seen what the people from his Homeworld were like this past year. His friend Ridge, in America, had found his life partner but had struggled to get any information from Pergor. Their outpost between Earth and home used to be a place of solace but these days distrust was the word he would use to describe it. When Ridge had gone to Pergor with Nicole, no responses had been forthcoming and they had even attacked her or had been willing to let her to die. In that instance, her Angelic guardian had been removed by Sayell, a Demonic Midworlder. How the hell did Evie end up without a guardian at all? It didn’t make sense. How long had she been like that? He had to assume Charles had been as surprised as him or he would have brought his own backup as well. More questions.



             Thunder roared around him when he opened his mind to form the conduit to Pergor. Then the lightning and thunder became faint as the sky grew dark and starless around them. He would not let anyone hurt her. He would die protecting her if he had to. After all, dying would be a relief from this existence of coping with the failure of the past.

“What the fuck is happening?” Evie yelled.

Heath peered down, and even in the darkness he could see she was wide-eyed as she struggled to get away and pushed against his chest. There was no tranquil female in his arms now. Where she thought she was going was beyond him as they were high above the ground. To be honest, he couldn’t blame her for freaking out. He had to consider what to say next. At this close range he could try to convince her to hand over her thoughts to him, but he had a feeling she would not be willing to do that after everything she had seen so far.



“We’re leaving Earth to go somewhere to get you a guardian angel,” he said, flapping his wings as the stars started to disappear around them. He hovered in the space between worlds, not yet able to make contact with Pergor. Then the pain started to build in his temple, as the connection tried to form.





             She thumped his chest as she wriggled and yelled. “If a guardian angel is what I’ve seen on people for years, I don’t want one. Half of them are dark creatures waiting to kill whatever they see, and the other half look like self-serving pixies, so get stuffed and take me home. I just want to be left alone.”



What she said just added more questions to the list. “Evie. There’s nowhere for you to go. You can’t stay here between the worlds, and I won’t let you go back or you’ll be found again by Charles and his associates. I offer the only alternative.” She huffed but stopped wriggling. He changed his mind and considered she was more annoyed than scared. “I want to reassure you I’m not associated with those dark guardians.”



“You sure? You look pretty dark to me. If I have to choose, I’ll go with a pixie angel like Dad had. Will it keep that creep Charles away from me?”

“I will certainly try to get you an Angelic guardian, and no, Charles won’t be able to touch you then. You have to trust me while I take you to a place not of this world. I know it’s a lot to ask after what has happened, but you should give your mind over to me.”

“You can take me wherever you want, as I don’t seem to have much choice. Go for it, but I’m not giving my mind over to anyone. Trust me, you wouldn’t want to be in there anyway. You lot think you’re dark and yet you don’t know anything,” Evie mumbled, as she shook her head as if to rid herself of a buzzing bee. “If you knew my life you wouldn’t even be suggesting going anywhere near my mind.”

She grabbed on tight around his neck and his whole body tingled in the same way it had when they had been in the middle of the lightning. He needed to concentrate on making the connection with Pergor, but instead he found he was thinking more about how Evie smelt as she held her face close to his. She had the aroma of lemon and vanilla, and he closed his eyes as he drew her scent in, and she pressed close to his chest. It had been a long time since he had felt anything more than the general need to protect. He wanted to make things right for this human as he sent his thoughts out to the post on Pergor. He could feel himself harden, which often happened when a Midworlder’s wings came out; the difference was he felt it was the closeness of this woman affecting him. He never let such basic instincts take over, and yet again wondered what was happening with this particular female.





             He concentrated on the link and expected to see the tunnel of light with its beautiful colors. Instead all he saw was darkness. He flapped his wings but didn’t feel like he was making any progress. He persevered, but it was akin to hitting a brick wall. Reaching out with his mind there was no contact with Pergor, and yet he was sure they were not alone in this place. Something slithered around his legs and then was gone. He was not the sort to panic but could feel Evie clutch on tighter as she wrapped her legs around his hips, like she was clinging on for her life.

“Shit, you’re hard. You’re as bad as that other asshole. Can’t you guys concentrate on anything else other than sex? So much for trying to save me. He said he was going to rape me. At least I had a chance to get away from him.”

Evie tried to move away, but Heath pulled her closer. He didn’t know what was out there and wasn’t letting her go now.



“I’m sorry. I’ve no such intentions of that kind toward you or any other woman. It’s a side effect sometimes when the wings come out. I’ve never accosted a lady or taken her against her will in my long life. I’m here to save you no matter how things may seem to the contrary.”

She let her legs drop and tried to arch away from him, but her arms still clutched tight around his neck.

“Okay, let’s say I believe you for now, considering I don’t have much choice. Is this your other world? Because it wasn’t what I was expecting. So far it’s just darkness, slithery things, and you with a hard-on.”



             Her face was near his, and he could feel her breath on his cheek. He couldn’t concentrate with her so close. This didn’t happen to him. His men told him he had ice in his veins, and yet he wanted to pull Evie closer. He wanted to press his lips against hers so that she wanted to open hers to him. She screamed and broke into his thoughts. He was supposed to be protecting her and all he was thinking about was her body pressed against his. This had to stop.

“What the hell? Something touched my leg again.”

“It’s all right,” Heath said the words but didn’t have any idea how he would protect her against something he didn’t understand. He didn’t like being in this situation. He stretched out with his mind again, and this time he did feel something. If hate had a physical form, it was there in the darkness with them. It was like a big black cloud of loathing around them. Then there was pain. His body stiffened as if a thousand shards of glass were being pushed through his skin. He clenched his teeth as he held on to Evie. He would not drop her, he had an inkling he would never find her again if he did. He would not let whatever was out there take her . . . Or was it him it was after?

The pain grew more intense, he wouldn’t last much longer. The shards now felt as if they were heating up, and his skin was burning. He sniffed and could smell the wingtips of his feathers smoldering.

“Heath? I can smell burning.”

“It will be all right. I’ll get us through.”

“Oh, hell. It’s you burning. I’m sorry. I don’t care what I said before, just get us out of here,” Evie screamed.

He could feel her whole body trembling against his. Damn whatever was out there, he would not give in to it. He could be dark, too, and would fight it. There was a power building up around them and he couldn’t stop it. At the moment, he could hardly breathe through the pain. He tried one last time to get through to Pergor. His thoughts went out and hit the dark wall of heat absorbing his thoughts. Then the explosion hit, and he wrapped his wings about them. It was all he had left to protect Evie. If his people found her alive with their protection that would be enough for him. If he could not reach Pergor, then he would send her back to them.



             Then, in a split second, everything changed and the heat was gone, and he could feel the cold air and rain on his skin. It was glorious, and he took in a deep breath to fill his lungs. They ached, but they expanded. If he had believed in a god or a deity, he would have thanked them. Lightning cracked around them as he unfurled his wings. He was back in the human world. His exhilaration ceased when he realized he was moving too fast. Evie screamed again as they headed at tremendous speed toward the ground. He couldn’t stop them. All he could hope was that he would be able to protect them. He wrapped his wings tight around them as they headed back toward the car-park roof they had left only moments before.

He prepared himself for the pain that would come when he hit the ground. He could only hope he was not incapacitated and that Charles was not still around. Heath knew his wounds would heal, but he didn’t think his mind would ever be the same again after what had just happened. Being the fool he was, he had underestimated the pain of hitting the concrete. The impact hit and he was splayed out on his back as pain reached out to every part of his body. He tried to lift his head, but it felt like it was wobbling on his shoulders as he blacked out.