Messenger (Guardian Trilogy Prequel 1) Read Online Free Page A

sense… He’d left without any reference to me. He had been transfixed on me nearly the entire duration of our training sessions and yet, as he departed, he’d done it without even a momentary look in my direction. This made no sense. It contradicted his behavior, which had been consistent from the beginning, right up to the point when he left.
    I thought maybe I was over-rationalizing it. Maybe he hadn’t really spent that much time staring at me… Maybe he had been doing it because he caught me looking at him… Maybe I’d only imagined the personal silent exchanges between us. Maybe that excitement burning in my stomach at the thought of him was nothing more than what they called nerves.
    Either way, he was gone. And I hadn’t seen him before the training began, so the likelihood that we’d cross paths again was improbable. So why did this realization fill me with deep sadness? Why couldn’t I shake the indelible imprint he’d left on me?
    But Eran did come back, the very next training session, with an entire legion following closely behind.

CHAPTER THREE: GUARDIANS
    T HEY FORMED A THIN LINE ACROSS the sky, their appendages moving in almost perfect unison, appearing as a strip of pure white streaked across a deep blue canvas.
    I saw them first, that now familiar exhilaration awakening in my stomach and causing me to look up. He was in front, directly in the middle, leading the charge.
    Hermina saw them next, the image so commanding that she dropped her fists to her sides and took a hit to the face. She sighed, but immediately forgot it in exchange for taking in the sight that was headed for us.
    By the time Eran’s stunning body was visible not a single person was moving in the clearing. Our breathing had stopped at once and we held the air in our lungs as we silently contemplated reasons for his return. Only when the mud gave way to Eran’s feet did we release it.
    There was no fear of an assault – not here, not in this place – but there was the weight of confused curiosity bearing down on us. This type of an entrance was unprecedented. It left Jacob’s original one, which he had been so proud of, shriveled in comparison.
    I expected Eran to scan the group, in search of whatever he’d come for, but he didn’t. He’d found who he needed from the air and moved directly to them.
    “Jacob, Daniel,” he said with a nod to each. “A judgment has been made.”
    Our trainers gave each other a bewildered glance and met Eran at the edge of the clearing. The rest of us bristled.
    Judgments were not made lightly and by virtue of who made them – everyone in the afterlife who did not have a stake in the outcome – they were accepted as law. Therefore, those of us in the clearing, all of whom had something to win or lose, had been excluded from being foretold or participating in the judgment that had been decided on.
    I had a feeling I would not easily accept this particular judgment and had to remind myself before even hearing it that it was made for the good of those involved. In other words, don’t get mad at the messenger, who in this case was Eran.
    Bowing forward to address only our trainers, Eran kept his voice low so that whatever message he delivered would only be heard by the two of them. This frustrated, and insulted, me.
    I took a step forward, intending to join them.
    Eran’s eyes flashed at me, noting my movement, before he appeared to finish in a rush.
    This surprised me. Here was a brute, strong in mental acuity and physical control, who managed an entire legion of powerful entities now seemingly concerned with my behavior. For some reason, quiet, little me had left the big, bad warrior off balance. While I wasn’t able to join their discussion, knowing this gave me some slight satisfaction.
    Daniel nodded in understanding before turning around to address the messengers. When he did, the look on his face told me that I wasn’t going to like whatever was to come.
    As he spoke, Eran’s eyes