Free Kela's Guardian by B.J. McCall Page A

draw him out.”
    “No, Kela. No matter what happens, no matter what you see, don’t get in the way. It will take all my concentration and energy to fight Vakkar.”
    “There must be something I can do.”
    “Protect yourself and the cross.”
    Ansara parked in the lot behind the club and cut the engine.
    Kela’s gaze swept the lot. The sun had dropped behind the downtown buildings and soon the vampires would come out. Kela released her seatbelt and picked up her weapon belt. A dozen sharpened stakes hung from the leather loops.
    Ansara grasped her shaking hand. Kela turned toward him.
    “Wait here,” he said. “Stay in the vehicle and be ready to drive. Protect the cross at all costs. I have your word?”
    Kela nodded.
    “I’ll go inside the club,” Ansara said. “If Vakkar is inside, I’ll know him by his stench.”
    She secured the belt around her waist. “Don’t worry. I got your back.”
    Ansara cupped the nape of her neck and pulled her face close to his. “You’re gorgeous.”
    She closed her eyes, waiting for a kiss that didn’t come.
    He climbed out of the car. “If I’m not back when darkness falls, leave and don’t look back. Drive out of the city. Keep going and don’t stop until sunrise. A guardian will find you.”
    Then he slammed the door closed. Sword in hand and adorned with his crosses, Ansara looked ready to rumble.
    Kela jumped out of the car, walked up to him and put her hands on her hips, giving him her best tough-bitch stance. “Kiss me, then kick Vakkar’s ass for me.”
    He grinned, grasped her by the shoulders and yanked her against him. He kissed her, thoroughly, lushly until she was breathless.
    When he released her, she looked him in the eye. “Stick him in the heart.”
    “I’ll be right back.”
    Kela watched him walk away, his stride purposeful. When he disappeared inside the backdoor of the club, she climbed back into her SUV. If he didn’t come out in ten minutes she was going in after him.
    The minutes ticked by and the light faded with no sign of Ansara.
    Time to rock and roll.
    Giving her weapon belt a quick check, she climbed out of the SUV and pulled on leather gloves. The scent of Hot Blood and a nasty fart slammed into her nostrils.
    Roland stood just out of her striking range. His eyes were red-rimmed and his face was pale and sickly. Something was different about him, but Kela couldn’t put her finger on it.
    “You’ve been fucking him .” Anger and hatred dripped from Roland’s voice. “Fucking Ansara. I can smell his cum.”
    Kela smiled at Roland. He might have a demon, but she had Ansara. “Vakkar must have told you about my new friend.”
    “You’re my woman, Kela. Mine.”
    “That ship has sailed. I don’t fuck dead things with bad taste in cologne.”
    His eyes glowed red. “You turn against me and take up with my enemy?”
    My enemy?
    Realization sent spikes of fear down her spine. Kela gripped the sharpened stakes. She had to be ready to strike. “I’ll take up with anyone who kills vampires and demons.”
    “How many women do you think Ansara has fucked over the centuries? You’re just another convenient pussy.”
    “Ansara doesn’t kill innocent women. He kills vampires and demons.”
    “What do you know of demons?”
    Kela pulled a stake from her holster. “You’re not getting the cross, Vakkar.”
    Roland’s features distorted, re-forming in the visage of Vakkar. He was an ugly thing with a heavy brow, sunken eye sockets, large, pointed ears, a long nose, jagged teeth and a sharp chin. And he stank. An outhouse in August smelled better.
    In a flash, he slammed into her, taking her down. Her back hit the asphalt, forcing the air out of her lungs. She managed to hold on to the stake and stabbed the demon in his side.
    Vakkar shrieked, blasting her face with fart breath.
    He grabbed for her cross and she stabbed him again. He caught the chain and yanked it. The silver links cut into her skin, the pain so intense Kela dropped