Free UnGuarded by Ashley Robertson

moments to find
that calm, soothing place in my head, but once I was there, it was
as if nothing else was around me. Then, I opened my aura, willing
it to find that piece of me that was lost—the part that had been
stripped away when I’d been caught orbing places I wasn’t supposed
to go. And that’s when I remembered where I was and who I was with.
Luke—a vampire. And he had just given me blood. His blood. I
was gagging the next instant, trying to spit it out. “You can’t
give me that,” I hissed. “It’s poison to me!”
    “I thought you were dying.” He sounded
concerned, with a soft, uneven voice.
    “Angels don’t die,” I replied dryly. I spit
a few more times, trying to get as much of his blood from my mouth
as I could. But a metallic flavor lingered deep in my throat, and I
knew I’d ingested some of it. No angel really knew for sure what
the blood of a dark one would do to them, since none had ever drunk
it. Fear crawled up my spine, but I pushed it to the back of my
mind, knowing time was of the essence. And I’d already wasted
enough of it with my little blackout-amnesia stint.
    “Then what the hell happened?” he demanded,
folding his arms together in front of him.
    “Don’t worry about it!” I stood up but lost
my balance and started to fall. In a flash, Luke was there holding
me up.
    “What’s happening to you, Angel? You better
tell me right now! You better not jeopardize our plan!”
    I shook my head, then leaned against his
chest. It was hard like marble—just like Cole’s was. “I won’t screw
this up! I want Cole back too!”
    “Well, you’re in no condition to go anywhere
right now. You can’t even stand without me helping you.”
    I didn’t say anything back because he was
right. I couldn’t stand on my own—not good. The blackouts and
amnesia were even worse. The thought of orbing again scared the
hell out of me, but I’d be doing it soon to return to Caitlyn.
    I couldn’t tell Luke what was happening to
me…or should I? I let out a deep sigh and asked, “How long was I
out?” Nope, better to not tell him.
    He gave me a suspicious look, then released
me. I didn’t fall this time. Goody for me. “Just shy of thirty
minutes.”
    “Thirty minutes?” I repeated to him,
sounding shocked. That only left me thirty minutes. Would that be
enough time? If I needed a similar recovery period, then I was
already screwed. Just great. Too late to turn back now. I
turned on my heel and headed down the deserted alley.
    “Where are you going?” All of a sudden Luke
was next to me, holding my hand.
    “I just need to be moving, that’s all.” I
pulled my hand free and kept going, feeling suffocated by the
stress of my situation, a situation that could, once again, quickly
become a debacle.
    “Well you’re going the wrong way if you want
to meet Huron.” Luke retrieved my arm and pulled me back the other
direction.
    He didn’t let go until we arrived at some
hole-in-the-wall bar. I immediately closed my eyes, bringing the
shield over my aura. Since there wasn’t a sign anywhere, I had no
idea what this place was called. The minute we walked in, cigarette
smoke and stale vomit crowded my nose. There was a pool table—with
barely enough room to actually play—and a bar area in the back.
About a dozen barstools surrounded the old wooden countertop. There
were six others in here, including the bartender. We sat down and
waited for service. No one paid us any attention until the
bartender made his way over to us. His appearance told me that
there was some American Indian in his family tree—at least when
he’d been human—and I knew this must be the friend Luke had told me
about.
    “Luke,” the bartender said in a friendly
tone, confirming by observation, “good to see you, my old friend.”
They shook hands.
    “Huron, this is Angel,” Luke replied, then
looked at me. “Angel, this is Huron.”
    Huron’s chubby cheeks pulled into a smile as
he reached a hand toward