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

Knowing he needs to do this, Tristan pierces the skin of Cassandra’s arm with the needle and injects the antidote.

Sitting back, he lets out a breath. “Now, we hope to hell it works.”

Brielle’s hands flutter over Cassandra. “She’ll just...wake up?”

If Tristan’s right, she will. “That’s the plan. The antidote worked pretty fast when…when Tess gave it to me. She was so good at that kind of stuff.”

Talking about her in the past tense suddenly is far more piercing than he’d ever imagined.

Brielle nods, her eyes soft with understanding. “They both loved you very much.”

Tristan looks away. They both died for him.

Brielle sighs. “It’s probably a good thing Cassandra’s not a Zodiac Guar—”

Tristan shakes his head vehemently. “When I was paralyzed, I could still hear everything.”

She clamps her mouth shut. And Brielle thought she had secrets before…

From the corner of his eye, Tristan sees Cassandra’s fingers twitch. She’s starting to wake, which means they have to get her out of here before she sees the graveyard of bodies around them.

Including Zarius and Tess.

Clenching his jaw as he shoves away that thought, Tristan scoops Cassandra up. He can try and process that when this is all over.

Try to figure out how the hell he’s going to keep moving forward.

Brielle holds the door open and Tristan carries Cassandra out, striding away from the warehouse of death and toward his truck. Outside, it’s still dark and quiet. Tristan looks around, wondering how everything can still look the same.

Not when everything’s changed.

Cassandra stirs in his arms and he looks down, finding her eyes fluttering open. Tristan stops, waiting to see what they’ll be dealing with.

Her blue eyes groggily blink up at him. “Tristan?” Her hand lifts, brushing his cheek as if she needs to make sure he’s real.

“Yeah, it’s me. You’re safe now.”

Cassandra’s brows crinkle, her body twitching as sensation returns. She’s probably going to be sore in a whole lot of places, and yet he can’t tell her she’s lucky to be alive.

“I…” She swallows. “They…”

“We’re going to take you home.”

Cassandra’s eyes widen. “We?”

Brielle steps in, her face soft with reassurance. “It’s only the three of us. Like Tristan said, you’re safe now.”

Cassandra stiffens. Her blue eyes shoot to Brielle before returning to Tristan. “You can put me down now.”

Lowering her gently, Tristan releases her slowly, making sure she doesn’t collapse. Her body wouldn’t be used to seeing such violence.

But Cassandra locks her knees. She throws back her shoulders.

Then narrows her gaze at Brielle. “Just before they…” She shakes her head. “They said your name. They asked me about you.”

Brielle takes a step back. “I’m so sorry you had to go through this, Cassandra.”

She takes a step forward, her body vibrating with anger. “I should’ve known you were somehow involved in this. Did you ask them to take me?”

Brielle gasps. “No, I’d never do that. I—”

Tristan steps around to face Cassandra. “We went for a drive and found you beside the road, unconscious. Despite what’s happened in the past, Brielle would never wish this on you.”

Cassandra’s hands are clenched by her sides and it takes her a couple of seconds to tear her gaze away from Brielle.

Who’s right. It’s a good thing Cassandra’s not a Zodiac Guardian. Brielle was probably thinking that her violent introduction to their world would leave scars. That Cassandra’s perfect world would have been turned upside down.

But right now, Tristan’s realizing they don’t need that sort of conflict in their fledgling ranks. The Zodiac Guardians’ strength is as a team. Cassandra and Brielle’s history will only fracture that.

Tristan grasps her arm, in part to keep her focus on him, in part because Cassandra’s trembling is morphing into shaking. He asks his question slowly, knowing her answer is going to make all the difference. “What do you remember, Cassandra?”

“I… I was walking back from track training. There were men…” She closes her eyes then opens them again. “And then I woke up here.”

Tristan watches her closely. “That’s all?”

Cassandra lifts her hand to her temple, frowning. “That’s all I remember.”

Relief that something’s finally gone right floods Tristan. They don’t have a civilian on their hands who they have to explain why they were tortured and interrogated. That words like Zodiac and Guardian are more than science fiction. In fact, it’s possible the Skins wiped her memory themselves in an effort to cover their tracks.

Tristan wraps an arm around her shoulder. “Come on, let’s get you home. Your parents are probably worried.”

Cassandra nods mutely, allowing Tristan to lead her to his truck. She climbs in the back seat and curls up, her eyes fluttering closed.

Tristan and Brielle glance at each other. Sleep is probably the best thing for Cassandra right now.

They drive back quietly, not wanting to wake her. As they pull up the wide driveway to park outside the large, double story mansion, Tristan frowns. No lights are on, there’s no movement.

The monster-sized house is asleep, even though Cassandra has been missing for hours.

Cassandra wakes as the truck comes to a stop. “I’ll walk the rest of the way.” She opens the door, moving stiffly but determinedly.

Tristan jumps out, glancing at Brielle to let her know it’s probably best if she stays in the car. Coming around, he grabs Cassandra as one of her knees gives out. “Your mom is going to ask some questions.”

Cassandra snorts. “She’s overseas.” Flicking back a strand of matted hair, she angles her chin. “A shower, some strategic makeup, and no one will know.”

Tristan has to keep his eyebrows from hiking up. It’s not the response he expected from her. At the same time, if she’s going to act like this never happened, that’s a good thing.

He nods. “Okay. But if you get dizzy or anything, you’ll need to see someone.”

Cassandra’s lips tip up. “I will. Thanks, Tristan.”

Shrugging, he allows himself a smile. “Good thing I was at the right place, at the right time.” Releasing her arm, Tristan’s glad to see Cassandra stays steady. “Get some rest.”

“I will.” With a flicker