Libra Ascending: An Epic Urban Fantasy Romance (Zodiac Guardians Book 1) by Tamar Sloan (adult books to read .TXT) 📗

“Brielle, is something wrong?” Frank’s concerned question makes her head turn.

“Umm…no, everything’s fine,” she lies, her voice cracking with uncertainty. “Do you mind if I step out for a sec?”

He lingers for a moment, the concern on his face deepening.

“Really, it’s fine,” she reassures. “I just think I need some fresh air.”

If it is Eye Patch Guy, she needs to make him go away. She can’t have him interfering with the utopia she’s stumbled upon, and she’ll do anything to protect Frank and Beatrice from his strangeness. She’s not quite sure what she saw, but it must have an explanation, and she’ll be damned if she’s not going to get to the bottom of it. Right now.

“Alright, if that’s what you need,” he says, one foot hovering on the threshold of the kitchen. “Like I said, you can always talk to us.”

“I know.” She puts on her best smile and hopes it’s convincing.

He nods and continues on into the kitchen, letting her slip through the porch door to the back yard.

Summoning up every ounce of her bravery, she shakily calls out, “Hello?”

Nothing. Not even crickets. As if they, too, have quieted to hear the intruder.

“Look, I don’t know what you want, but you’d better leave or…” she hesitates, feeling foolish for talking to the silence. “Or I’ll call the police.”

The night is so still, so completely devoid of all sound, that it disturbs her to her core. Maybe it’s because she’s grown up in town and the distant noises of dogs barking and cars driving is her idea of what night sounds like. But not even the grass hisses under the slightest breeze, as if the moonlight has put everything in this field into a trance.

And it’s the eeriest thing she’s ever experienced.

Suddenly, desperate to escape the nothingness that threatens to swallow her without a trace, she turns to go inside. Something heavy drops onto her shoulder, and before she can scream, a hand clamps tightly over her mouth.

“Don’t scream,” whispers her assailant, and despite the hushed tone, she recognizes Tristan’s voice.

She nods, burning with both terror and curiosity as to why he’s here.

He removes his hand, and she slowly turns to face him. She really should have avoided him from the very beginning. Like a moth to a flame. Maybe he’s the real danger.

He puts his index finger to his lips. “You need to come with me. Now.” His whisper is so silent she wouldn’t have heard him if the rest of the world was still in motion.

Barely able to move, she manages to shake her head.

“Please, you’re in danger,” he hisses. “They’ve come for you.”

That triggers a cannon in her nervous system.

“Who?” she mouths, unable to put enough wind behind her question for it to be audible.

“I’ll explain later, but we have to go right now.”

A sudden anger simmers deep within her and quickly spreads throughout her extremities. First he tells her she may be the person he’s been looking for his entire life, then he goes out with Cassandra of all people, and now he shows up at what might become her new home and tells her to abandon her one and only chance at a family.

“No!” she hisses back.

“Urgh, Brielle, this isn’t a game!” he groans hoarsely, no longer as quiet.

She glares at him and stomps forward. “You don’t get to do this, Tristan. You don’t get to manipulate me, fraternize with the one person who hates me most, and then demand I leave my only hope at a better life. No. I’m not going with you. Leave, or I will call the cops.”

His head drops between his shoulders and shakes slowly from side to side before lifting back up to look at her. “I can promise you that if you don’t come with me, you and your new parents will die. You want to save them? Then we have to go.”

The word “die” strikes a chord, and the vibrations resonate throughout her entire body. She knows she’s in danger. She wouldn’t have come out here if she didn’t. And with all the weirdness of the last few days—Tristan showing up, her powers growing, Eye Patch Guy’s warning—she can’t just leave this to chance.

“Then tell me who’s after me,” she demands, still whispering lest she broadcast the danger to Frank and Bea.

He clenches his jaw and exhales loudly, then holds his breath when he hears the sound it makes. “His name is Chardis. He’s the greatest evil in the Universe, and he’s the one who attacked my family’s space station and sent the Universe into chaos. He has assassins everywhere, forever hunting for the children who were sent to Earth seventeen years ago. They can become invisible and are extremely powerful.”

Invisible.

Like the objectless shadows she saw moments ago. The reason she came outside.

“And they’re here as we speak. It’s only a matter of time before they discover us and destroy us both. The only reason they’d be here is if you really are a Zodiac Heir. Now, do you want to be adopted or do you want to live?”

He holds out his hand.

She looks at it, a hot debate warring in her head. If she leaves now, completely abandons Frank and Bea without an explanation, she can kiss adoption goodbye. But Tristan isn’t lying. Even now, in her fragile paranoid state, she can sense the truth in his words and being. He really is here to help her.

And in this moment, her draw to him is more powerful than ever before. His open palm looks like a life raft, and she feels like she’s been floating at sea for months.

What should she do?

A twig snaps nearby, and out of instinct, she grabs his hand and pulls close against him.

“I’ll explain everything when we get to safety,” he whispers, his lips brushing against her forehead. “I promise.”

Brielle doesn’t know what she’s just agreed to, but every fiber of her being tells her it’s not safe for anyone if she stays.

Goodbye Frank and Bea.

Goodbye happily ever after.