Romance: Angel-The Fire Princess: Vampire Werewolf Shifter Fantasy Romance (2 page)

“That’s awful! I can’t believe Chase turned out to be such a dick!” Heather was furious on the phone, and she had every right to be. “I swear, I’ll tear his head off when I see him at school on Monday.”

Angel came home early that night, much to her parents’ relief. However, she didn’t tell anyone about the incident with Chase; she only told her best friend about how forward he turned out to be, the “hit and run”, and the apparent dare going around the school.

“No wonder you seem to be getting so much attention. Gosh, you’ve got to be so worried about going on a date after today. And on top of everything, the guy got you into a car wreck!” Angel shrugged even though she knew her friend wouldn’t be able to see.

“It’s fine. I can live without guys until college.” Heather was still furious, so Angel let her rant, but all she could do was think about the mysterious man who had saved her life.

Who were those men, dressed in bizarre clothes with strange weapons? Why did they seem to be after Angel? And who was the man with the black eyes, and why had he saved her?

“Well hey, tomorrow’s going to be a big day, and you can put this whole disaster behind you. Maybe find a nice boy at the party? Maybe use him to ward off all the stupid, sex-obsessed weirdos?” Angel laughed.

“Maybe. I kind of just want to forget that this all happened and hang out with my best friend. Does my party have to be a big deal?” Heather made a snorting noise over the phone.

“Of course it has to be a big deal. You’ll officially be an adult tomorrow!” Angel just chuckled again.

“Whatever you say. I trust your judgment. Just make sure Chase isn’t there.”

“Absolutely, 100% on it, girl. You don’t ever have to look at his disgusting face again.”

XXX

With her arms crossed over her chest, Angel glared across the crowded room at Chase’s disgusting face, then at Heather.

“I thought you promised he wouldn’t be here,” she muttered. Heather was beside herself. The party raged around her, but it didn’t stop her from throwing a tantrum.

“I cannot
believe
that he showed up! Who does he think he is?” she sputtered, but Angel just shook her head.

“The most popular guy in school. There’s no way we can kick him out.” In a show of defeat, Heather leaned into Eddie, her boyfriend, who looked sympathetic.

“We’ll make sure he doesn’t come near you, Ang. He’s a jerk, and he's really assuming for showing his beat-up face here.” Even though she didn’t want to, Angel glanced at him again, eyeing his black eye.

“Alright, let’s just try to ignore him and have a good time, okay?” Eddie and Heather both nodded, and they made their way to the center of the room, where people were dancing and laughing. Heather had done a great job of getting her place ready, stringing lights in strategic, artistic places. Along the way, Angel smiled and greeted the guests.

Tonight, Angel wore a flowery, floor-length spring dress, specifically to hide the bruises from the car wreck. She still limped, but not noticeably, and most of the soreness had worn off earlier inthe day, fortunately.

“Oh, Angel!” came a grating, irritating voice from the crowd, and Angel groaned inwardly. That could only be…

“Crystal, hey,” Angel turned and was faced with a mask caked with mascara and foundation.

Crystal Malone was a straight-up psycho, yet somehow had achieved popularity at their seemingly screwed-up high school, seeing as Chase is seen as popular, also.

“What a great party! I mean, the Christmas bash I threw was awesome, but this is so cute!”

Angel had to conceal her grimace.

“Thanks.” Crystal didn’t skip a beat.

“So anyway, I wanted to talk to you about prom-“ and just like that, Angel zoned out. She nodded and smiled and said “uh-huh” at appropriate times; however, she was long gone after that, her mind a million miles away.

She was thinking again of the curious man from the previous day, when movement from a window caught her attention. It was only a slight rustling of the bushes outside, but it wouldn’t have taken much for Angel to think of some excuse to get away from Crystal.

“Hey, listen, I’d love to chat, but I need to take care of something outside,” Angel said, making a show of furrowing her eyebrows and looking appropriately concerned. She didn’t wait for Crystal’s reply, and made her way through the crowd to the back porch of the house.

The sound of the party still carried outdoors, and the beat of the music seemed to pulsate throughout the house and into the backyard. Outside, though, it was somehow still dangerously

quiet despite the noise.

“Hello?” Angel called out hesitantly.

“Hello,” she heard from behind her, and she jumped. Chase had managed to sneak up on her, and he grinned. “Man, don’t be so jumpy. I don’t bite.” Angel backed away from him.

“Stay away, Chase,” she said firmly, keeping her arms in front of her, ready to ward him off. He laughed.

“Angel, I tried to be nice about the whole thing. I know the situation was weird and my request was awkward, but this is my reputation at stake.” As he spoke, he moved closer.

“Stop it! So what, your reputation rides on you being a rapist?” Chase’s expression clouded at that.

“I never intended to do that. I know that no means no. I wouldn’t have pushed it-“

“Except you did. Do you know how disgusting your little dare is? How objectifying and scary it is?” Chase continued to approach, and Angel was running out of space.

“It’s all just a game. Look, I’m sorry I freaked you out. Just let me kiss you, and I’ll leave you alone. I promise not to do anything else to you.” Just as Angel had backed herself into the fence, she heard movement from above in the trees, and suddenly Chase was on the ground, groaning.

“What the-?” A tall figure loomed over Chase’s body, and he tried to scoot away in fear.

“When are you going to learn that when you mess with this girl, bad things happen?” a menacing voice boomed, and then the figure punched Chase, knocking him unconscious. When they turned, Angel saw it was the same man from the wreck.

“You! What are you doing here?” The man reached for her, grabbing her arm.

“I’m saving your butt again, and I’m getting you out of here,” he said, leading her to the gate leading back to the front of the house.

“What? Why are we leaving? Why should I go with you?” Angel asked it like she had a choice, but she knew that even if the man gave her one, she would still go with him. He shook his head.

“Because you have a lot more to be concerned about then disgusting high school boys.”

“Where are you taking me?” Angel demanded, tugging against the strange man’s rock-hard grip. He didn’t look at her when he replied.

“You’ll see.” They were both running down the street, which was quiet besides the noise coming from Heather’s house. They made it to the end of the road before Angel spoke again.

“Then at least tell me who you are.” The man paused, looked at her, and finally shrugged.

“Nolan.” She thought on this for a moment before he forced her to move again. “Come on, our transportation is waiting.” Nolan led her along back streets and dusty alleys until they reached a main street, moderately heavy with traffic.

“Wait here,” Nolan said, gesturing for her to stay back. “Don’t show your face.” He stepped out onto the sidewalk and looked like he was about to hail a cab. Instead, he raised his hand to the sky, a light issuing from it. Angel gaped at him, but no other bystanders or drivers seemed to be able to see the strange sight. They continued about their business without a second look.

Nolan backed up again until he was level with Angel, and her mouth continued to hang open.

“What was that?” she asked. Nolan cracked a smile.

“A signal. Just watch and see, human.” Choosing to ignore his snide comment, Angel rolled her eyes and looked again to the street, just in time to see a completely normal-looking Camri pull over to the exact spot where Nolan had signaled. She looked back to him, but he was already

standing. “He was quicker than usual today. Let’s go, this is our ride.”

Angel stood with him and followed him quickly to the vehicle, but her jaw dropped when she saw the inside of it. “How-“ she started, but couldn’t bring herself to finish as she stared at the inside of the car, which was definitely bigger than the outside.

“Just get in,” Nolan growled, shoving her. Angel stumbled inside, but she clambered back to her feet, staring around her at the glamorous interior. Somehow, she was able to stand upright, and so were the several other people inside, who had plenty of room between them and were moving around comfortably between the gold chairs and the high tables littered with glasses of champagne and cards and the chandeliers that hung from the vaulted ceilings.

“What is this?” Angel asked, awestruck. Nolan was smiling, and he placed an arm on her shoulder.

“This is the Golden Airways. It’s the easiest and classiest way for people of magic to get around.”

“Wait,” Angel started. “Did you say ‘airways’? And ‘magic’?” With that, they heard a voice over the booming intercom.

“Ladies and gentlemen, we’ll be taking off shortly. Don’t bother to sit down or put your seatbelt on because the gravity in this thing is the-“ The line cracked off at that moment, but immediately came back. “Just don’t worry about a thing, Golden Airways has got you covered.”

“Yeah, it’s an airline in disguise. It’s much faster, and more convenient for people who don’t want to hide their abilities.” Nolan glanced around him.

“Abilities?” Angel was having a difficult time processing everything.

“Have you not picked up on anything yet?” Nolan sighed, but this simply frustrated her even more.

“I have no idea what’s going on. You won’t tell me anything. All I know is that I got attacked yesterday, and you keep showing your face and saving my life, but I don’t know why.” She huffed, and Nolan just sighed again.

“Look, I don’t know how to tell you this. I mean, you’ve got to see it for yourself now: these people have magic. There’s an entire world full of magic on this planet: vampires, wizards, werewolves. We live among humans, but humans don’t know we exist. We sort of just try to blend in.” He shook his head. “I can’t tell you much more than that until we get to where we’re

going.” Angel crossed her arms over her chest.

“But why am I here?” At this, Nolan looked puzzled himself.

“Honestly, I don’t have a clue. I was sent to look for you; it’s what I do. I’m a Hunter.” He shook his head; this puzzled Angel even more. “I’m the best tracker around; it’s my ability. I can sense and smell and stalk.”

“Who sent you?” Nolan’s eyes sparkled at this.

“That, my dear, is classified information.” She smiled at that.

In the time since they were at the party, Nolan had seemed to warm up a little bit more and not be as intimidating and terrifying. He sat down and reclined in one of the gold chairs, and Angel followed suit. Before they could get too comfortable, however, the intercom crackled on again.

“Nolan, to the front, please; Nolan to the pilot’s quarters.” He groaned next to Angel.

“I knew he’d do this.” They both stood and made their way to the front of the vehicle. “He does me lots of favors, like he did today, but he’s quite a handful.”

When they reached the cockpit, Nolan reached to knock, but the door fell away before he could.

“Well if it isn’t good ol’ Hunter X,” came a voice from inside. The voice belonged to a young looking guy, probably in his early 20s, with a big, black, floppy pile of hair on his head. His facewas covered in freckles, and black glasses framed his brown eyes. There was a goofy grin on his face when he greeted Nolan and Angel.

“Hi, Ryker.” Nolan waved, his mouth in a thin line, trying to keep from smiling himself. Ryker’s grin only widened.

“Who is this gorgeous creature we have here?” He wheeled himself in his swivel chair until he was in front of Angel, and he gazed up at her with admiration. “I must know your name.”

“It’s Angel,” she said, trying not to blush.

“Yes you are,” Ryker smirked, and Angel couldn’t hide her blush anymore.

“You’re the pilot?” Angel asked, looking around at the equally luxurious pilot’s pit and at the controls and buttons in the front. Out the window, all she could see were clouds and the night sky.

“Yeah, this is my aircraft. Dad gave it to me so I could ‘use my powers for something useful’. He was tired of palace guards complaining that I was speeding past them. So now I channel my abilities and voila, I own the fastest transportation in the entire magical world.” Ryker beamed. “To be perfectly honest, I think Dad’s just mad that I’m not a wizard. Like, sorry I’m not all powerful, Dad, I can only go fast; but at least I don’t have to cast a spell or anything.”

Angel was having a hard time processing everything and her head was starting to spin.

“How do you guys remain hidden so well?” Ryker just shrugged.

“Great disguises.”

“We’re careful,” was all Nolan said his expression back to being imposing and scary.

“And it’s not like strange, weird things don’t happen in the human world that are caused by magical people don’t happen. You people just can never identify the sources of strangeness,” Ryker continued. He shrugged. “We cover up our tracks well.”

“All of this is so crazy,” Angel breathed, barely a whisper, but Ryker just laughed.

“You’ll get used to it, no problem. Look, Nolan, here’s your stop. I’ll be seeing you kids soon.”

With that, he shoved them out of his quarters and slammed the door behind them. Angel could feel the vehicle coming to a stop, and she turned to Nolan, who nodded to the door.

“Let’s go.”