Hell.

  I could feel feather-like strokes of warmth on my cheeks and my neck. The dream world was gone and I tried to come back to reality.

  “Erin. I’m here. Open your eyes,” a gentle voice whispered to me.

  I blinked in the dark room, finding the face that I crave staring down at me. Zander’s smile was sweet, and incredibly sexy.

  Even after he left me to have to lie about him, without so much as a goodbye, my heart still tried to reach out to him. I was on the confusing line between anger and lust.

  I looked around and noticed that I was no longer sitting on my balcony, but laying in my bed. It was sometime after dark, and we were completely alone. Zander’s wings were hidden away.

  Oh, and he was laying beside me, warming me from chest to feet. Dear Lord.

  I swallowed hard and met his gaze again. “Zander Reid. Why are you in my bed?”

  His smile grew and he brushed his nose against mine, sending warmth into my cheeks. “Erin Porter. Wherever you are, is where I find my peace. If that happens to be in your bed, then so be it.”

  I let out a shuddering breath, confused and completely exhilarated. “Zander. I don’t…”

  “I know. Trust me.” His words cut me off, and his green eyes closed briefly. “I have absolutely hated the past few weeks. I’ve tried so hard to stay away from you, and every second has killed me.” I didn’t know how to respond, so I let him continue.

  “When I was pulled here, I fought as hard as I could to get back to you. I fought until they had to tie me down and lock me away, Erin. And it was not because of my role as your Guardian. It wasn’t because I only cared about you.”

  My chest rose and fell so fast that I thought I could hyperventilate. “I don’t get it. You said we couldn’t be together. You pushed me away so many times.”

  Zander pushed himself up on his elbows until he was leaning over me almost fully. It wasn’t helping my racing heart. “Like I said. I hated every second of it. I didn’t know when you arrived, until Penelope came to the prison and talked to me.”

  “Pen saw you before me?”

  He nodded. “She said you were entering the city with Power angels. I asked her to help me escape so I could come to you, but she told me that no matter what, I couldn’t show any emotion toward you, so I should stay in the prison until she came to get me out.”

  I scooted away from Zander and sat up in bed. He sat as well, facing me. “Well, you did a crap job about it, Zander.”

  He laughed humorlessly and rubbed the back of his neck. “I never was very good at following rules. Plus, I didn’t expect you to come see me and ask the Throne for my release. It complicated things.”

  “Why would Pen not want you to tell me these things? Why did you have to act the way you did? Zander, you broke my heart…” I looked down at the blanket under me, feeling exposed.

  In the blink of an eye, Zander had me on his lap, straddling his hips, and his fingers were under my chin. “I never wanted to hurt you, Erin. She told me that the Thrones would be looking into your soul. That if we had a relationship, they would see it and send me away, and I could never see you again. I told you that I couldn’t be with you, not that I didn’t want to be.”

  His face was so close to mine, and I could feel his heart beating against my chest. Everywhere that our bodies were pressed together felt like fire, and I became very aware of the small amount of fabric I had on. Freaking angel clothes.

  Also, Zander didn’t have a shirt on. I couldn’t stop my hands as they moved up his muscular arms and across his bare shoulders. He shivered at my touch, and I linked my fingers together behind his neck.

  “You want to be with me?” I asked.

  His nose touched mine again. “Like I said, I hated being away from you. I hated the Throne touching you.” He growled at that one. “I hated leaving you last night after you were attacked, and I absolutely hated telling you that I cared about you. I don’t just care about you, Erin... I love you.”

  I stopped breathing, feeling like my heart had swelled so large that it shut off my lungs completely. I hated it all too, and I was done pretending that I didn’t.

  “I love you too, Zander.” I closed the gap between us, crashing my lips to his. Zander’s arms tightened around my waist and his mouth explored mine without any hesitation.

  The warmth from his hands burned my skin as they slid to my bare thighs and clung onto me. I sucked in a sharp breath and took my lips from his to trail slow kisses across his rough jaw.

  When I kissed the soft spot just below his ear, to my surprise, his wings sprung out of his back and I squealed.

  Zander laughed breathlessly and tightened his arms around my back again in a warm embrace. “I guess you found the wing button.”

  I blushed and giggled with my forehead pressed to his. “Should I keep going and see if I can get you to fly?”

  Zander’s smile fell and his sparkling green eyes darkened. “Yes, please.”

  I couldn’t stop the goofy grin that spread across my face, proud of causing such a reaction from him, until a pesky clear-headed thought popped into my head.

  I leaned back. “Wait. What has changed? Why did you decide to tell me everything tonight?”

  He brushed aside a stray lock of hair and tucked it behind my ear. “We’re going home.” His eyes gleamed, excited.

  My jaw dropped. “What?” I almost shouted at him.

  “We’re meeting Riyon and Penelope at the edge of the forest, and we’re going to go through the portal back home. To your home.” I was speechless. He continued, “Of course, it’ll only be enough time to see your parents and take off to a safe house. But we are going to figure you out, Erin. And we’re going to keep you safe.”

  Zander kissed my silent lips softly, reminding me that I was truly loved, and then a voice broke into our private moment.

  “I knew it.”

  Chapter 20

  * * *

  Amell’s voice caused me to jump off of Zander’s lap, and my panic kicked in. “Amell. I’m so sorry. It’s not what you think.”

  He held a hand up to stop my lies and turned to Zander. “This is a forbidden union, Guardian.”

  Zander stood from the bed and held his fists up ready to fight. “I won’t leave her side.”

  Amell made a movement with his eyes like an eye-roll but it was clearly the first time he had ever tried that, and it looked more angry than irritated. “Stand down. I did not come to fight. This,” he gestured between me and Zander, “is not news to me.”

  I moved around the bed to stand beside Zander and looked up at the large Throne. “You knew about us?”

  He nodded, looking softly into my eyes. “I can see your souls when you are together. They are intertwined. If my father had seen you both in the same place, he would know as well, but thankfully he has not.”

  Zander stood straighter, finally relaxing, and I grabbed his hand. Our souls are intertwined. I looked back at Amell. “Thankfully? You aren’t angry with me?”

  “You were never mine. I knew you were his from the moment you asked me to release him from the prison.” He looked between us both and nodded again. “Although, I did come here with news. Osca has reported to my father that you have failed your tests.”

  “What?” Zander and I shouted at the same time.

  “Yes. He claims that your tendencies lean more toward the darker side, and you show the same abilities as the Fallen.”

  “That’s ridiculous!” Zander yelled. “There has been no proof of that in her training.”

  Amell held his hands up. “I agree. Though I still see that small amount of darkness in her soul, she has not given me any reason to believe it will grow.”

  I released Zander’s hand and rubbed the sides of my temple. “What’s going to happen now? What will they do to me, Amell?”

  His blue eyes softened when they found mine. “The only solution to deal with an evil being is execution.”

  I gasped and covered my mouth, but Zander grabbed my hands from my face and made me look at him. “Erin, we won’t let that happen. I promise you. We need to stick with the plan and run with Penelope and Riyon, now.”

  Amell cleared his throat. “I will help.”

  I turned and stepped closer to the man that was supposed to be my fiancé and reached my arms around his neck. “Thank you, Amell. You have become a dear friend of mine.”

  He hugged me back gently, and whispered to me. “As have you.”

  I ran back to Zander, and he pulled me to the balcony door, looking up and down the dark street. “It’s all clear out here. Are you ready?”

  I nodded, and Amell jumped into the sky ahead of us, waving us forward. Zander lifted me easily in his arms, cradling me against his chest like he had done when flying me home after training. Only this time, he was mine.

  He jumped from the balcony and into the sky after Amell, and they flew over the sleeping city. Everything was quiet, and just like only one night before, that uneasy feeling landed in the pit of my stomach. I knew better than to ignore it this time.

  “Zander, something is wrong,” I whispered to him, and he looked around at the dark sky, just as we were nearing the outer wall of the city.

  “I don’t see anyth…” Zander was cut off by something hitting us from the side, and just like that, I was falling to the ground.

  I opened my mouth to scream, but the wind was knocked out of me as a big furry beast swooped below and caught me in the air. I started to slide off of Griff’s back, but I quickly wrapped my arms around his furry neck and held on for dear life.

  “Griff! You’re my hero.” I looked at his massive wings and they were spread wide as we soared over the forest trees.

  I looked back toward the city and saw no other angels in the sky. I was too scared to call out for Zander, knowing that it would bring unwanted attention to him and I. With Amell missing too, fear gripped at me. He was too powerful to be taken down, wasn’t he?

  “Griff, we have to go back.” I tried talking to the Gryphon but he just continued forward. “Please, we need to find Zander.”

  Instead of turning around, Griff glided down through the tall Aspen trees and landed softly on the forest floor. He pulled his wings to his sides and turned his large head almost all the way around to peer into my eyes. I felt like he understood me completely.

  I slid off of Griff’s back, super awkwardly, and landed on my butt. “Geez, you are humongous,” I muttered, looking up at my sweet monstrous friend.

  He turned his head and lifted it high, smelling the air, until he caught the scent of something and turned toward a narrow path in the trees. A rustling came toward us in the dark, and I jumped up from the ground, hiding behind Griff.

  I was already starting to glow when Penelope emerged from the trees and spotted me. “Oh, thank the heavens, Erin!” she shouted in a loud whisper, and turned her head to whistle in the direction she came.

  Immediately, I ran to her and gave her a huge bear hug, but it was short lived as I was ripped from her arms and pulled into Zander’s much larger ones.

  He nuzzled his face into my neck and breathed me in. “I was so scared, Erin. I thought I’d lost you.”

  I pulled away just an inch to look at his handsome face and make sure he wasn’t harmed. “What happened to you? Are you hurt?”

  He shook his head. “Amell and I were hit from the side, and all I saw was you falling toward the ground before a Power grabbed me. I was able to fight him off, thanks to Riyon and Penelope showing up.” He stepped back to look me up and down. “When I got out of the Power’s grasp, you were gone.”

  I turned to the big gryphon just watching us from the same spot we landed. “Griff caught me before I hit the ground. Thankfully, he has a knack for coming to my rescue.” I looked past Penelope, but Riyon wasn’t with her. “Where are Riyon and Amell? Did they get away?”

  Penelope nodded and pointed behind her. “They are doing a quick sweep of the area before we open the portal. We need to go fast. More angels will come.”

  I looked around at the small open meadow, recognizing it for the first time as the same place we came through the portal only two weeks ago. “How did Griff know to bring me here?”

  Penelope shook her platinum blonde head. “I always knew gryphons were intelligent, but this one seems to be extra in tune with your needs.” I’m sure I looked shocked as I looked back at Griff. “And before you get any ideas, we can’t bring him with us to earth.”

  I ran to Griff and wrapped my arms around his neck again. “I’m going to miss you so much, but I’ll tell Bruno all about you, okay?”

  He seemed to give me a curt nod, before jumping back into the air and disappearing into the night sky. I spun back to Zander, and he pulled me into his arms again. “We will have to go straight to the safe house, okay? I know you wanted to see your parents, but we weren’t prepared for there to be an immediate hunt for you.”

  My heart sank, but I understood. I gave him a small kiss, and stepped away from him as Riyon and Amell landed beside us.

  “We need to go now,” Riyon rushed the words out and plucked a feather from his wing.

  I spun to Amell, who was turned toward the trees, looking out for something. “Are there more coming already?” The fear was evident in my voice as I looked out into the dark forest for any sign of angels that wanted to see me executed.

  “Yes,” he said simply, ready to fight. “I will hold them off, but you must go.”

  Riyon sliced his wrist with the long red feather quill and began writing the angelic symbols in the air to create the portal. As he was writing, at least a dozen Power angels landed in front of us, looking like a small but very powerful army.

  Osca stood in the middle of them all, looking menacingly at Amell. “Brother Amell, you, as well as all of us know that a ruling has taken place tonight. The Nephilim girl needs to be taken in immediately.”

  Amell shook his head, and spoke at the same time as Zander. “She is not a Nephilim.”

  Osca raised his hand for the Powers around him to see and said something in their angelic language that I didn’t get, but before he finished speaking, a large white light erupted around us all.

  I gasped and turned to see the Phoenix from my first day in the Divine City. She was lit up in a hot white flame, and heading toward the group of Powers.

  “Silkie!” I shouted in excitement, and she descended upon Osca, taking him to the ground beneath her talons and lighting him on fire with only her touch.

  I had to look away from the gruesome scene, and when doing so, I saw Riyon’s portal begin to take shape, spinning in a wild circle. Zander grabbed my hand, pulling me along with him toward the large black hole.

  “Let’s go now, Erin. It will be okay.” Penelope and Riyon grabbed one another’s hand and turned with a smile to me before stepping into the dark portal.

  I swallowed a hard lump in my throat and looked back at Amell, who waved me on with his usual stoic expression. I nodded to him and looked back into Zander’s emerald eyes, trusting my love for him, and without another thought, hand in hand, we jumped.

  A

  Warrior

  The Rescued Series

  Book 3

  Chapter 1

  * * *

  “I’m dying, I’m dying. I’m dying!” My stomach grumbled at me as I leaned forward and tried to hold back the rising bile in my throat. I was determined to not throw up this time.

  “Erin, it’ll pass just like last time. Just take deep breaths.” Penelope held my long black hair back from my face. She stood over me where I knelt on the gravel driveway of some large home in the middle of a wooded area.

  We had just escaped an attack by a group of the warrior angels of the Divine City. The Power angels were about to charge and take me back to their prison to get executed for being a Nephilim, but my friends knew that I wasn’t an angel of hell. I wasn’t so sure. If it wasn’t for my phoenix friend lighting the Power leader on fire, I might be in their prison now.

  My once Guardian angel, Zander Reid held my hand as we jumped through the portal to who-knows-where. One thing I knew for sure, we were back on Earth. The scorching sun and summer heat were a sure sign of that, not like the perfect weather of the angelic city.

  I breathed in the fresh scent of evergreen trees, trying to calm my upset stomach from the black hole that was created by Riyon, one of the less “attacky” Power angels who believed I was more than an evil half-creature, and who had an eye for my best friend, Penelope.

  “Erin, are you alright?” Zander called from somewhere behind me, and I was too embarrassed to turn around and face him.

  He had just confessed his love for me, and now I was about to puke my guts out right in front of him. True love, huh? If there ever was a test of unconditional love, this had to be it. Do not throw up! I demanded my body to cooperate.

  I raised a hand and nodded, staring at a butterfly floating through the sky in front of me. “I’m fine. Please don’t come over here.”

  I heard Zander’s warm chuckle as Penelope pulled me back to my feet. Pen adjusted her mini white angel dress, and linked arms with me. “Are you feeling any better yet? You can throw up if you need to.”

  “Honestly, the deep breaths helped. I think I’m good.” I finally turned to face the guys and they both smiled warmly at me. “I’d be perfectly happy never traveling to other realms again, if that’s cool with you?”

  Zander took a step toward me with worried eyes, but I turned to the large country home beside us and started up the driveway. Throwing up on the man I love was not on my to-do list that day.

  “So, whose house is this?” I pointed at the building, queen of the subject change.