Human. Angel. Demon.
Three species that have
coexisted since the beginning of time, although humankind is blissfully unaware
of the predators and protectors that walk among them. But there is a new threat
emerging that affects them all.
The story begins when an
innocent girl is saved from certain death by a man who straddles the worlds of
darkness and light. Their relationship holds the key to saving everyone.
PROTECT HER: PART ONE
Get in. Get the job done.
Get out. Get paid.
It’s a simple motto that
I’ve lived by for the last five years. It’s kept me alive and made me rich.
There’s no love lost
between me and the supernatural beings who walk the world beside us. But when
it comes to being able to retrieve valuable information from the dead,
Necromancer Riley Stone is the only game in town. They know it. I know it too,
and that’s why my services aren’t cheap.
The archangel Benjamin
hired me to find out why he has a new demon problem. Three demon interrogations
in, and the only thing I know is that the demons are in hot pursuit of a
nameless young woman. She’s here on Calamata Island, and the demon officials
are willing to risk Benjamin’s wrath to grab her.
But I found her first, and
she’s nothing like what I expected. In my line of work, you can’t afford to let
anyone get too close. But there’s something about Paige Matthews that I can’t
shake, and she needs my help. I won’t turn her over to Benjamin until I help
her find out why the demons are after her.
So now I’ve got a demon
problem, and I’m in way over my head.
PROTECT HER: PART TWO
Want to know what happens
to a human caught in the crossfire between angels and demons? I’m going to make
sure that Paige Matthews doesn’t find out.
The job that originally
brought me to Calamata Island might be done, but I can’t leave Paige behind.
Without me she’s defenseless against the demons that are after her. I just met
her, but I feel protective of her, and I can’t walk away. Not yet.
Paige is at the epicenter
of something big, and none of it is good. It’s not just the demons that want
her. The angels are in on it too being led by the archangel Benjamin.
Paige’s past is being
hidden by her amnesia. Those secrets want to be let out. It’s up to me to make
sure that she stays alive long enough to find the answers that will finally
reveal it all.
PROTECT HER: PART THREE
I want Paige Matthews. The
archangel Benjamin’s claim on her soul is one that cannot be easily broken, but
I intend to try. Of course, that’s assuming that she would want someone like me
once this is all over.
First, we have to get off
Calamata Island in one piece. I know someone who can help Paige finally unlock
the memories of her past. That’s the key to gaining the upper hand against the
demons who are coming for her. Among those is a familiar face; a demon official
who stole something from me five years ago. Having a shot at a little vengeance
in the process is all right with me.
Everything’s coming to a
head, and this is one fight that I intend to win. I just have to make sure that
I don’t lose Paige in the process.
I
wanted to ask her questions, like why the demons were after her, but her
initial confusion about the attack and look of shock when I mentioned demons
told me that she was a civilian. No knowledge of the ugly underbelly that
prowled the world beside hers. I envied people like that sometimes. It had been
a long time since I had the luxury of that kind of innocence. Unfortunately for
the woman, hers was about to go away as well.
Still,
asking questions and ferreting out answers regardless of her physical or
emotional state was part of my job. I was damn good at it. You just needed to
know the right approach depending on the person, or thing, you were
interrogating.
I
decided to start my line of questioning with the simple stuff and hopefully
build a thin layer of trust. People, especially humans, opened up quickly to
others that they trusted. “So you know my name. What’s yours?”
Her
eyes swung toward mine. Her pupils were dilated and glassy. She was deep into
the throes of the effects of the drug. “Paige. Or at least, that’s what I call
myself these days.”
It
was a strange answer that only encouraged more questions in my mind. I made a
mental note to come back to it. “Nice to meet you, Paige. I wish it were under
better circumstances.”
That,
as much, was true. Paige’s lean, athletic body, long blonde hair, and baby blue
eyes were on the money for the type of woman that drew my attention like a
beacon. Her full pouty lips begged for me to reach out my thumb and caress
them. Even with the dirt, dust, and blood covering her, she looked like a
blue-eyed angel.
I
cursed myself for being so indifferent to the current situation even as I
shifted in my seat from the sudden tightness in my jeans. Clearly I’d been out
of the game too long. Work was my sole focus these days, and I had forgotten
how liberated I felt after a simple roll in the hay.
“Are
you taking me to the hospital? I think I’m hurt pretty bad,” she replied.
“Not
as bad as you think. You just need a little rest,” I said. “Why were you in the
graveyard tonight, Paige?” Given that she was human, my assumption was that she
was a Wiccan. They often held their ceremonies in cemeteries to bolster their
spells with the energy of soil. Dead bodies still emanated quite a bit of
mystical juice.
“Running,”
she said. “Couldn’t sleep.”
Another
perplexing answer that made no sense. Demons didn’t hunt and attack regular
humans for no reason. Then I corrected myself. Demons didn’t hunt and attack
regular humans at all on Calamata Island. On the mainland, one would occasionally
step out of line and feed on a human, but that was usually squashed quickly. It
wasn’t good for anyone to have the humans be aware of the paranormal minions
that walked in their midst.
There
was a reason that the demons were showing up en masse and looking for her. I
just had to figure out that reason, and then decide if there was any financial
benefit for me in it. I wasn’t thrilled about the idea of getting involved in a
demon matter, but if Paige was important to them, that could be highly profitable
intel.
