Hell's Angel: Guardian Angel Book 2
Chapter 1

I sat straight up in my big, comfy bed. I was covered in a sheen of sweat and it was hard to get air into my panicked lungs. Over the last six months, since I got my godly powers back, memories of an eternity of past lives had come flooding back piece-by-piece. The ones from when I was still a goddess in the City were the strangest, especially when showed me things like my dream about the destruction of earth. The dream, my memory, made my head spin seeing everything I loved reduced to oblivion. Pure evil wiped out everything in its path, but I wasn’t sure if it was because of something Vega, the goddess of the titans, did or because of her monsters themselves, because I knew she had something to do with it. Her titans weren’t the all-powerful precursors to gods from Greek mythology, but savage, terrifying beasts that obeyed only her. I knew from personal experience that you did not want to mess with one.

The door to my room burst open and I squealed. A six-foot-five giant stood in the frame with his cloudy grey eyes darting quickly around the room. His wide shoulders blocked any possible escape for someone trying to dart out and it took a full minute for him to relax and his gaze to settle on me. His eyes softened and my breath came up short seeing him with his dark, curly hair in disarray, his full mouth curved in a tiny, worried smile. He was shirtless so his incredible muscles were on display and his plaid PJ pants hung temptingly low on his hips. “Lyra-Rose, are you okay? You screamed.”

I shook myself out of the inappropriate thoughts my sleepy brain was having. “I’m fine. An unpleasant memory decided to creep in while I was dreaming.”

Wordlessly, he crossed the room in three long strides and perched carefully on the edge of my bed. “Would you like to talk about it?”

I avoided his earnest gaze. The absolute annihilation of my world freaked me out and I really didn’t want to rehash that, and my guardian Michael could read me like an open book if he looked into my eyes. Michael Page had once been a mystery to me, just some guy I met in a coffee shop. I’d since realized that he’d been looking after me since before I started reincarnating into human bodies several thousand years ago. He was the one person that I could always count on, the one who would protect me with his life. But I couldn’t let him share my burden of what would happen if I failed humanity.

Very carefully, his strong fingers cupped my chin and he tilted my face toward him. You can tell me.

I’d gotten used to having a full conversation with Michael with just eye contact. Our eyes were windows right into each other’s thoughts and emotions. I know. But I just want to put it behind me.

He sighed. “I do not like to see you hurt, Lyra-Rose.”

I wiped away at the tears that threatened to spill out of my crystal blue eyes. I refused to cry and give him any more reason to worry. I tried for a smile, which was actually easy when my eyes dipped down his torso toward the V that disappeared under the waistband of the flannel bottoms. “I’m good. Really. Please go back to sleep. If I remember correctly, we have a busy day tomorrow.”

He smiled back and his entire, perfectly sculpted face lit up. He tucked a strand of my long, wavy strawberry-blonde hair back behind my ear and my breath hitched at his proximity. “Indeed we do. Goodnight, Lyra-Rose.”

“Goodnight, Michael.”

I didn’t get a whole lot of sleep after he left. I was in that weird half-awake stage for hours until dawn came and I gave up trying to fall asleep altogether. Luckily, I wasn’t human anymore and didn’t need that eight hours a night. A goddess body was more durable, but it did still take a steaming shower and a giant caramel macchiato to fully function. I downed my coffee as I dressed in a comfortable pair of black yoga pants and a blue workout tank. I pulled my hair back into a high ponytail that still fell down to the middle of my back. Six months ago, my hair had been at my shoulders in a cute style, now it was just so functional and boring. I didn’t bother with makeup and slipped on my white tennis shoes on my way out the door.

Outside, the weather was a perfect seventy-six degrees and sunny. The grass was green and skies were blue, just like any other day. In the middle of Utah, we’d usually be getting rain, but Arcadia was in its own bubble so normal weather patterns had no effect here. Arcadia was a paradise for heroes from long ago, all of whom apparently looked to me as their queen. Growing up as the younger of two daughters to an ex NFL player and having my biggest dream in life become a journalist, it was still a little overwhelming at times to have heroes from legend defer to me with respect. People I’d thought were nothing but myths, like Hercules, bowed to me as I walked through the small village to the lake at the edge of the grass.

Michael was already there when I arrived at the grassy shore of the lake. He was dressed like he was going to go running, but I knew we weren’t doing anything that mundane. His eyes quickly scanned over me and he nodded once to himself. “Let us begin. You are becoming skilled with a sword, but you must still learn to manifest one. Swords will not always be readily available to you.”

I huffed and tugged at the end of my ponytail. It was too early for a lecture. “We’ve tried this before. I’ve only been able to create a sword once. I think you need a different approach than just saying I need to work on that.”

On the night I’d gotten all of my powers back, Vega had taken my human sister and my niece hostage. She’d had one of her titans with her, a huge, flesh-eating crow who’s razor sharp claws had been about to rip into my big sister. I’d grabbed the first thing I could replace hoping to throw it to distract the animal, but the regular pen from her counter had turned into a sward in my hand. I still wasn’t able to repeat that trick.

“Lyra-Rose, you will be able to do it again in time.”

“When?” I snarled. “After it’s too late to save everybody that I love? You just don’t understand.”

An angry, hurt expression flickered across his face and I felt awful for my harsh words. “You think that I do not know how it feels to watch the person you care for most die? Lyra-Rose, I have lost you over and over again since the beginning of time because of my failures.”

I bit my bottom lip and put a small hand on his muscled bicep. His muscles were tense beneath my fingertips and it took a long minute for him to acknowledge me. He stared past me, probably seeing a million lifetimes’ worth of my death and the pain I saw there made me want to cry. “Michael, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean what I said. I shouldn’t have been such a bitch.”

His face softened into a smile. “I know you did not mean anything by it. Come, let us get back to training.”

He didn’t harp on me about trying to manifest a sword. Instead, we used the two that he’d brought with him down to the lake. Metal clanked together as we each tried to get a hit in. Michael was still better than me, which was no surprise considering that he’d been one of the best warriors in the City, a soldier for the gods, but at least I’d graduated from the wooden substitutes to actual blades and he’d stopped taking it easy on me after my powers had come back. It was a dangerous dance that I’d had to learn.

The sharp point of Michael’s blade sliced along the left side of my collar bone in a painful line. I cried out and shuffled away from the sword still aiming for my heart so I could assess the damage. The strap of my tank was torn and blood seeped out from the wound. My stomach roiled and I forced myself to breathe through the fire in my shoulder. The scratch healed right before my eyes and I could feel my fingers again. The second I was sure I had full range of my arm, I swung my own heavy sword with a wild battle cry.

Michael raised his weapon a nanosecond before mine could make contact with his bronzed cheek and the clash sent a jolt from my hands all the way down to my toes. I groaned but disengaged only to spin into another attack. He parried it and used my own momentum to send me crashing to the emerald green grass. I tucked my body so that my hip took the brunt of the fall and did a somersault so that I was looking up at him. Tired of defense, Michael hacked away at my sword looking for weak spots in my fighting until he found an angle to get his sword locked with mine and yank it away. I was left totally defenseless, on my back with the deadly point of his sword pointed right at my throat.

Michael’s hand replaced his sword and he hauled me to my feet. I was panting and sweaty and gratefully accepted the water bottle he handed me. “You have much improved. I believe you are better now than when I originally trained you in the City.”

I pulled the bottle away from my greedy lips and water sloshed down the front of my shirt. “Thanks. I still need to replace a way to stop falling, though.”

He sheathed the sword. “You will.”

I rolled my eyes at his absolute confidence in me. “I’m glad one of us has faith that I can actually do this. I feel like every time I think I’ve got it, I lose it. You’d think that now that I’m a goddess again, I’d have some sort of control.”

A deep chuckle rumbled through his chest. “This is not like your natural gifts. To use a sword was not one of the abilities that your mother gifted you with. You must learn just like the rest of us.”

I snorted, a very unladylike sound. “There’s no way you learned your swordplay like anyone else. I’ll bet you were born with the skills and never had to have a lesson a day in your existence. I remember when you were still a guardian for my mother. Thesis was very proud to have you in her army. Why do you think she made you watch me?”

A little pucker appeared in his eyebrows and his grey eyes grew even stormier. “You just called Thesis your mother. You have refused the creation goddess that title since you found out the truth of who you are.”

I sucked in a sharp breath and the last half of last night’s dream popped into my head. I saw understanding flicker in his eyes and I knew that mine spilled everything I was trying to hide from him. He knew all about Thesis’ complete lack of support and about what I’d seen of the destruction of earth. When I’d first run away from being a goddess, Michael didn’t understand, but now he was just as invested in saving humanity as I was, the look he gave me at the horrible prospect of the destruction of my world said it all.

Why did you not tell me? I want to share this burden with you. The words were clearer in my head than if he’d spoken them.

“I know. But I’ve burdened you enough. I-“

Michael and all of Arcadia vanished and fire licked at my skin. Smoke filled my lungs and I coughed, even though my goddess body didn’t need the air in the same way that my human body had. It took a second for my eyes to adjust to the sudden change so that I could see through the flames and thick smoke.

I was in a long corridor lined with open doorways. The tile under my feet was stained black. Most of the long light fixtures overhead had exploded so that glass crunched under my shoes. I peeked into the first room to my right and saw the curtain inside the doorway was burning, along with the thin bed, single chair, and computer mounted on a cart.

Hospital. I was in a burning hospital building.

“Hello?!” I shouted, not sure if there was anyone around to hear me or if it was all an illusion.

A high scream echoed from down the hall and I ran in the direction of the sound. Debris from the fire blocked my way and the intense heat made it hard to concentrate. I wanted to just get out of there, but I had to replace whoever screamed first. Just when I was about to give up, another terrified yell sounded, this one much closer than the first.

I charged into a room that wasn’t quite as bad as the rest of the hospital. This one wasn’t as damaged as the last room I’d been in. It was a standard hospital room for the most part, except for the clear plastic bassinet perched carefully on the wooden cart. The bassinet, honestly more like a large storage bin, had melted onto the blue blanket that used to line its bottom. This was the maternity ward.

A woman with dark hair and eyes crouched in a corner where the fire hadn’t yet reached her. She was covered head to toe in ash. Tears made tracks down her face through the soot. “iPor favor! iPor favor, ayúdame! ¿Dónde está mi bebe?”

I rushed up to the panicked woman. I’d taken Spanish as a freshman in high school, but only passed with a C average, yet somehow I understood the woman perfectly. She needed help replaceing her baby. At this point I really hoped this was all happening in my head. “It’ll be okay. We’ll replace your kid. Just, just hold on.”

“Seriously, Lyra?” I spun around at the sound of the derisive voice. Vega leaned casually up against the wall under the TV. The flames danced around her, but they didn’t seem to bother her. Like me, Vega had hair the perfect combination of red and blonde, but hers was up in an elegant twist instead of my practical ponytail. Her clothes were designer, a tight Dolce & Gabbana dress with Prada heels. Her smile was pure evil. “I expected you to come much sooner than this. A hospital full of your humans just died and you’re barely getting here?”

My jaw clenched. “What did you do, Vega?”

She pushed away from the wall, her black booties clicking with every step. “I was bored so I figured I’d play with a few of your precious humans. Where have you been for so long, Sister? I’ve been having all sorts of fun.”

My jaw locked and my teeth gnashed together. I narrowed my blue eyes to her smug turquoise ones. “I won’t let you destroy humanity.”

She let out an airy laugh that was one hundred percent fake. “Oh, dear little sister, but it’s so fun taking what’s yours. And it’s not like you can stop me. Let’s not forget that your stupid guardian wastes all of this time babysitting you, so he’s out of the question.”

I could feel my back molars grinding together. “Don’t you dare bring Michael into this.”

Her smirk was real this time. “Did I hit a nerve? You’d think that after all of these centuries and all of your lives you two would stop being so pathetic.”

“You’d think that after all of these centuries you’d stop being bitter that he turned you down,” I snapped.

Her face went expressionless, like smooth stone on a statue carved by one of the great Renaissance masters. One perfect red-blonde eyebrow arched up and her lips flattened into a tight line. “How long can you protect your human family if you’re hiding out? I promised you war, Sister. I think it’s time I step up my game, starting with them.”

The flames kicked higher and the smoke thickened so black that I couldn’t see the woman screaming in agony. I covered my mouth with my hand and tried to maneuver blindly to reach her. She hadn’t been that far, but her voice sounded like it was fading further away. I didn’t want to put too much thought into what that meant. “I’m coming,” I tried to reassure her, inhaling a lungful of soot in the process. My head started going fuzzy and I tried to cough to clear my lungs. It didn’t work. Dizziness swept over me and I was only vaguely aware of my knees crashing to the hard tile.

I sucked in a sharp breath and was blinded by the sudden bright light. It took a long moment for my senses to register that I wasn’t at that hospital but back in Arcadia on my ass. Michael hovered over me, his face concerned. “Lyra-Rose? What is it?”

I coughed out the last of the smoke. “Vega. She’s been terrorizing people. I need to see the news from the last six months to know what she’s been up to. She’s going after my family again. I have to stop her.”

His warm hands wrapped around my thin shoulders to stop me when I tried to get up. “You must remain calm.”

“Calm my ass, Michael. I’m done hiding out here. If it’s a war she wants, it’s a war she’ll get.”