Free Salvation (The Guardian Angel Series Book 3) by Skyla Madi

the council wishes to speak with you.”
    Mr. Aleksandrov rose off the couch and straightened out the creases in his robe.
    “Have a good afternoon,” he called over his shoulder as he strolled out the door. Lyric and Xavier followed him, leaving Eli and I alone again. The sexual tension between us was dampened.
    “Who were the men in the white uniforms?” I wondered aloud.
    “Elite guardians of the council, or as everyone else sees them, a bunch of morons with annoyingly high egos,” Eli explained.
    “So the council is here?”
    “Yeah, I’d say so.”
    I pondered the idea of storming up there and demanding answers myself.
    “Don’t even think about it,” he warned, pulling his eyebrows together. “The Elite guardians will kill you before you make it to the front door, regardless of who you are.”
    I smiled innocently. “I wasn’t going to bother them.”
    I shifted my weight onto my left leg. “I don’t suppose you want to continue what we started?” I arched an eyebrow toward his bedroom and Eli laughed loudly. He stepped toward me, took my face in his hands and kissed my forehead.
    “Go home and relax. When the time is right, it’ll happen on its own.”
    We walked to the door and Eli held it open for me. I stepped out into the light and squinted slightly. A crisp, flowery scent blew with the breeze and I inhaled.
    “I’m going on duty soon so you probably won’t see me until tomorrow,” he said.
    I turned to face him. “Well that sucks.”
    He chuckled. “Have a good afternoon.”
    Eli stepped back inside and with a sweet smile, he closed the front door. I headed down the porch steps feeling heavy and frustrated. We’d gotten so close and yet here I was, still no closer to being equal with Eli on every level.
    Damn it.

 
    Salvation

    O nce I left Eli’s house, I had nothing else to do, so I sat around my house snacking on grapes and replaying the moment between us over and over. Mila wasn’t coming back tonight—she had class in the morning. If I was in Gerald, I’d be working right now, pouring beers and shots, wiping the bar, flirting with drunk old men, trying to get them to buy even more alcohol. Even I have to admit this was better than what I could have been doing.
    I laid on the couch, throwing grapes in the air and trying to catch them in my mouth. My phone buzzed. I leaned over to the coffee table, knocking a few grapes out of my bowl, and grabbed my phone. It was a text message from Eli.
    Shift over. I’m going down to the school’s dining hall for dinner. Would you like to come? — Eli
    How’d he get my number? I smiled and a warm feeling spread through my chest, but there was no way I was going anywhere near the students.
    I’m not ready to see any students right now, especially Raina and Rylan.
    I waited a few minutes and got no text back. I saved his number into my contacts list and went back to catching grapes in my mouth. Playing and eating grapes was fun—until it got boring. I sighed. I guess it was an early night for me. I hadn’t eaten dinner. I couldn’t be bothered cooking it and I sure as hell wasn’t going to start now. I went to my bedroom instead. Tonight the air was warm, the opposite of last night’s cool breeze. I slid out of my checkered boxer shorts and climbed into bed. Almost immediately I began to sweat. I pulled my singlet off—still didn’t help. I exhaled in annoyance. The house had air conditioning, but I didn’t know how to use the remote to start the damn thing.
    In the silence, I heard a knock at my door. I put my pajamas back on, flicked on the lights and ran to the door. As my hand touch the cool metal, I stopped. What if it wasn’t Eli? What if it was the council or Mr. Aleksandrov taking me away to do some kind of top secret mission? I peered through the peep hole but I couldn’t see anything. I ran my hand along the wall until I located the porch light switch. I flicked it on and the person cloaked in the shadows was revealed. I