Chapter Six
Gabe
My celestial beast was growing restless. Mel had been gone too long.
Something wasn’t right.
I pulled myself to my feet, slung her backpack over my shoulder, and turned down the hallway, where I saw her disappear.
A couple of drunk girls came up to me, giggling and feeling my biceps. Normally I didn’t mind human females flirting with me since I never really got to indulge in them in any other way. But there was no time for that now, so I mumbled a curt “excuse me” and shoved through the crowd into the back hallway.
I scanned the long line of women, but it took only a second to see that she wasn’t here. I kicked open the door of the ladies’ restrooms, ignoring the dozen nasty glares from the people in line.
“Mel!”
No response.
My beast paced inside me, growing more uneasy by the second.
Find herthe inner voice of my true nature gritted in my ear.Find what’s ours.
I growled low, loud enough to serve as a warning to my beast to shut up and low enough to not be heard over the pulsating club music.
Inhaling, I tried to pick up her sweet scent of honey and wildflowers, but all that assaulted my senses was the stink of the nearby toilets and body odor.
Then I saw a door on the other side of a vending machine with a glowing exit sign hanging overhead. I turned to the line of women, asking if they saw a girl in a tight black dress and curly brown hair leave through there. A couple of them nodded.
I pushed through the door, and the sight that greeted me filled me with a swell of rage that crashed over me like a tidal wave. It was all I could do to keep from shifting to my true form. My inner nature roared with fury. My muscles strained against my flesh, bulging, coiling tight as they prepped for the shift.
But I couldn’t, not here.
A vein in my brow throbbed, and my knuckles clenched at my sides as I wrestled the urge to let loose the divine powers that made me the force of destruction I was.
Three men stood in front of my ward, cornering her like prey. Praise the heavens they were only human, so I wouldn’t have to shift to fend them off. I could take on an army of humans by myself, no sweat broken there. The only issue was that Mel would have to witness a serious ass beating she’d never seen me dish out before.
That would be awkward to explain. But an awkward conversation after I took out these ingrates was a small price to pay for her safety.
“Back the fuck off, trash,” I snarled. My lips twisted into a manic grin as I advanced on them with all the confidence of a man with a thousand-man army at my back.
They turned to look at me. By the sloppy way they held themselves, they were drunk, high, maybe both. Either way, they were too intoxicated to process what kind of threat I was. Despite my height and the stacks of muscles that came along with being a celestial shifter, I guess they lacked the ability to see past my posh clothes and the pink backpack slung over my shoulder.
“Looks like someone missed the school bus,” the biggest one closest to Mel jeered. He jerked a thumb in my direction, leering at my girl. I wasn’t supposed to deal more pain than necessary to keep Mel safe, but, at that moment, I wanted nothing more than to rip out their eyeballs for even looking at her.
“Is this your boyfriend?” he cackled. “Time for an upgrade, baby.”
Mel looked like she wanted to spit in his face. But wisely, she held her tongue.
“Youscum. You don’t deserve to even look at her, let alone speak to her.” I cracked my knuckles and flashed him a taunting smirk that I knew would make him come at me all the more. It had been forever since I’d been able to tap into my abilities as a celestial warrior, and I wanted this to be at least a little fun. I only prayed they didn’t have guns. Of course, being an immortal meant I couldn’t die at the hands of humans. But trying to explain my immunity to gunshot wounds to Mel wasnota conversation I was up for.
“Who the hell do you think you are, asshole?” another one said.
“I think I’m the guy who’s about to kick your ass for messing with my girl.”
My line of sight flicked to Mel, whose jaw hung open as she watched me with wide, terrified eyes. Her tight dress was soaked through, her hair clinging to her brow, her flesh pale and pebbled with rain drops.
Jesus fucking Christ.How fucked up was I that I loved the way she looked when she looked at me likethat?Drenched to the bone, with awe, terror, and lust etched into her pretty face.
I slipped off Mel’s backpack, let it fall to the ground with a wet thud, and with a few easy strides, I placed myself between her and the thugs, like a holy shield. Whistling, I let my gaze drop to my thick forearms as I began to roll up my sleeves, a show of just how little they scared me.
