Page 2 of Guardian Falling
Her gaze flicks over us, Jake’s hands on my hips, my legs hooked around his waist, and something unreadable crosses her face. “Well,” she says mildly, as if we haven’t been caught mid-foreplay on the hood of a car, high above the city. “Thisisawkward.” Her voice is calm and almost amused.
She stands only a few feet away, backlit by the city lights glittering far below, and for a fractured second, my brain latches onto the fact she’s the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen. Porcelain skin that seems to glow in the dark, as if moonlight has taken up residence beneath it. Long, dark hair spilling over shoulders draped in something that looks both ancient and obscenely expensive. Her features are too perfect, too carefully balanced, as though someone sculpted her from marble andthen decided to see what would happen if they breathed life into stone.
But it’s her eyes that shatter me.
They’re the color of blood under moonlight, dark, luminous, and they lock onto me with an intensity that makes my chest seize. There’s no warmth in them, no curiosity, only hunger. Old, patient, and focused in a way that bypasses thought entirely and punches straight into something primitive buried deep in my brain.
Prey.
The word doesn’t form consciously, but my body understands it anyway. Every hair on my arms rises, my pulse skids, and the vodka warmth drains out of my veins as if someone pulled a plug, leaving me cold and suddenly, terrifyingly sober.
Run.
The instinct screams so loudly it’s almost painful.
“Hey, lady, this spot’s taken.” Jake, Jason… fuck Chris! He starts, stepping in front of me with a burst of misguided bravery that would be sweet if the air around us didn’t feel so heavy that it’s hard to breathe.
The woman tilts her head in a small, graceful motion that’s too smooth, as if gravity doesn’t apply to her the same way it does to the rest of us. When she smiles, something gleams in the darkness, white, sharp, unmistakablyinhuman, and my stomach drops as understanding slams into me far too late.
“I’m not here for you,” she says, her voice smooth as honey poured over broken glass. “You are of no consequence to me, and youreekof desperation.”
“The fuck?” he snaps, but before he can finish saying anything else to defend himself, she moves.
No—appears.
Reality seems to fold in on itself, the space between us collapsing in a blink, and suddenly she’s in front of him.
One hand clamps around his throat, fingers digging deep, her thumb finding the precise point beneath his jaw. His feet lift from the ground when she raises him effortlessly, his body jerking as the air is forced from his lungs. His face shifts from red to purple, veins rising stark against his skin while he claws frantically at her wrist. His eyes bulge, wild and panicked, darting to mine when his mouth opens in a soundless gasp. Spittle flies as he struggles, heels kicking uselessly in the air, the fight draining out of him in seconds. She doesn’t strain, doesn’t even brace. She holds him there, steady and unmoved, lifting him as if he weighs nothing.
My brain can’t catch up.
Thiscan’tbe happening.
“Stop!” I hear myself scream, the word thin and broken, dragged out of me as I scramble off the hood of the car, stumbling forward, my breath coming in sharp, ragged bursts that burn my lungs.
She tilts her head slightly.
Then she twists her wrist.
The sound is unmistakable, a sharp, wet crack that slices through the night and echoes across the empty lookout, final and absolute. His body goes slack instantly, all tension vanishing at once. His head snaps sideways at an angle no living neck should ever bend, chin collapsing toward his shoulder as if the bones inside simply gave up.
She lets go.
And he drops.
His body hits the gravel with a dull, hollow thud, limbs folding in on themselves like something discarded. His eyes are still open, staring at nothing, his mouth frozen mid-gasp.
For a heartbeat, I stand there.
Staring.
My stomach revolts violently, bile surging up my throat as the truth slams into me all at once.
He’s dead.
Not hurt.
Not unconscious.
