Bodyguards Read Online Free Page B

door seemed so ominous.
    “Probably. He sent us to get her,
but knowing him, he sent another unit as back up.”
    Stunned, Vivien let herself be led
to an old, battered sofa that had seen better days. Her knees all but gave in
under her and she sat, clutching her hands in front of her, watching the two
men standing in front of her like mirror images of each other. Brad reached for
the other man’s face and rubbed off the dried blood on his cheek with his
thumb. The cut underneath was little more than a pale line, as though it’d been
healed for days.
    “Do you think they’re vampires,
too?”
    Vivien frowned, now certain she
had heard wrong—either that, or it was all just a big game. Not-Brad never even
cracked a smile at the word ‘vampire.’
    “Probably. A unit usually has two
vampires and a channeler. You did shield—”
    “This place? Of course. With all
the Quickening I could gather. She’s safe here. But if they’re looking for
traces of channeling, they’ll find us fast. We should get her home and soon.”
    At that, they both turned to look
down at her. Yet again, Vivien was struck by how similar they looked.
Still...something in the way they held themselves set them apart. Brad seemed
more relaxed, while his double stood straight, his shoulders squared. He seemed
ready to jump into action at a moment’s notice. And then, there were their
eyes. Brad’s eyes were a pale blue, like a bright sky. The other man’s were
blue-gray, almost metallic looking.
    “What’s going on?” Vivien
breathed. She hated how much her voice trembled, and tried to firm up her words
when she said, “If this is all just a joke, I swear—”
    “Vivien, no.” Brad stepped closer
and sat on the sofa near her, his body angled toward her. “This is not a joke.
You are in danger, and Aedan—” He nodded at the other man, who had retreated to
stand by the wall. “—and I want nothing more than to keep you safe.”
    “Safe from who?” She shook her
head. “Who is he?” she gestured at—Aedan, was it? “Why did he kill those men
rather than just call the police?” And speaking of the police... She held her
hand out toward Aedan, palm up. “I want my phone back.”
    Aedan didn’t move. His eyes were
on her, as cold as ever, but he didn’t seem to have heard a word of what she
said. He was as immobile as a statue, his hands at his side close to the
knives. He was so still, in fact, he didn’t even appear to breathe.
    “Safe from a very powerful man
called Rhuinn,” Brad said, drawing her attention back to him. “He’s the ruler
of our world. Aedan is my twin. He killed those men because they were after you
and the police couldn’t have done a thing to stop them. And that is also why we
are not going to call them.”
    Annoyance coursed through Vivien,
chasing away what remained of her fear. He had answered each of her questions,
and still he hadn’t explained anything. She closed her hands into fists and
stood. At once, both brothers tensed.
    “You’re not making any sense,” she
said as calmly as she could. “I’m going home.”
    Without a word, without even a
sound, Aedan slid three steps to the right to stand in front of the door. Brad
sighed softly and took Vivien’s hand, holding on to it even as she tried to
pull away.
    “Please, Vivien. There are things
you need to know. I tried to convince Anabel that she should tell you, but she
wanted to wait for your birthday. I’m afraid we can’t wait another three
weeks.”
    Vivien’s heart jumped inside her
chest as though trying to break free. Her knees weakened, and she sat down
again—or rather, she let herself fall.
    “How...how do you know Anabel?”
Her words barely seemed loud enough over the thumping of her heartbeat in her
ears. “How do you know when my birthday is? What on Earth is going on!”
    The smallest of smiles flickered
on Brad’s lips, as though she had said something amusing. He soon regained his
gravity, however, and proceeded,