Stained (30 page)
The sounds of the aftermath of the Bound's museum massacre sprang up around her. People were still screaming. Emergency sirens were wailing. In her mind, Julia tasted smoke.
She aimed for the crowd that was filling the Mall, hoping to disappear in numbers, but several of the people she was running toward pointed at something behind her and shrieked.
Julia felt a body's heat a second before something grabbed her leg. She fell face first into the scratchy grass, narrowly avoiding a Nephilim's blade. He flew toward they crowd, and the people scattered, screaming. He landed in the grass facing Julia and charged. She rolled to the right to avoid his second swing.
His third was too fast. She felt her skin tear, and her hands fumbled for her stomach, where warm blood dripped onto her jeans. By the time she realized the wound wasn't deep, the Nephilim had his sword over his head. Julia whispered an apology to Cayne and closed her eyes.
Gunfire erupted behind her, and Julia's eyes popped open. Dozens of bullets ripped into the Nephilim's chest. His white shirt became red and his pretty face went slack and his stark white feathers began to fall in bundles.
Julia spun around. Five armed men in gray uniforms stood beside a van. A sixth clutched a sword and wore a red patch on his arm. He was familiar, though she couldn't quite place him. His mahogany hair was close-cropped, his eyes were dark, and he seemed about her age. Maybe a couple of years older.
Kind of cute
, said a laughing voice from her memory. He rushed past her, moving faster than a human should, and drove his sword through the half-demon's heart.
The Nephilim jerked once and then stilled. Julia wobbled to her feet, and her savoir extended his hand. "I'm Nathan. Are you okay?" His smile was pleasant, and Julia got the sense that he wanted her to smile back.
She didn't. "I'm okay, but I need to find my friend." She hurried back past the busses, and Nathan ran to catch up.
"Slow down." Julia felt a burst of compulsion at the sound of his voice; she ignored it.
"Cayne!" she called. She circled the back side of the museum, glancing frantically from bushes to bike racks to newspaper stands, but he was nowhere to be seen. She rounded on Nathan, who was still following her. Something about his face made her feel sick.
"Where is he?" she whispered.
"Where is who?"
"Where's Cayne? What happened to him? Please! I need to know!" In the garish glow of lamp light, everything seemed to swim.
Nathan's arched a brow. "You mean the Nephilim?"
"
Cayne
."
"It has been contained."
"
Contained
?"
"The Bound was exorcised," Nathan said, "and the Nephilim has been taken into custody."
"
Custody?
" Julia grabbed a tree's branch as her stomach clenched. "Custody for what? What did he do?"
The one named Nathan smirked. "You don't know anything, do you?"
Terror filled her. She didn't care what she knew or didn't know. "I need my friend!
Please!
Who are you?"
He folded his arms. "A better question: Who is he?"
She stepped closer to the smug asshole, raising her fist, like that would do something. Her heart was beating so hard that her head spun.
"Where is Cayne?" she tried again. Her voice sounded weak and far away.
Then everything unraveled very slowly, like a horrible scene from a horrible movie. Nathan's smile disappeared. The light above them flickered as the city's noise pulsed--loud, then awfully quiet.
"Cayne," she whispered.
Nathan's eyes bored into hers. He sneered. "Your 'friend' is to stand trial for crimes against our Brotherhood."
Julia made a futile effort to comprehend.
Nathan smiled and unbuttoned his left sleeve. He raised it, revealing a crimson stain on his wrist. "He is to be put to death for crimes against
us
."
Want to know what happens to Julia and Cayne?
Stolen
, the next book in the Stained saga,
is coming March 10, 2012!
• • •
In the meantime, check out my new YA sci-fi romance release,
Here
, coming next Saturday--February 18, 2012.
Get it free that day!
Milo Mitchell's life used to be charmed, but that was before her family dissolved, she went a little crazy, and her best friends started acting more like strangers. Spending Saturday morning in a treehouse with a stun gun for company and a herd of deer for friends is the only exciting thing in her life...until she shoots a fawn and finds her dart stuck in a guy.
Her gorgeous victim is dressed in a Brioni tux and armed with a hanky. He has no idea who or where he is. Afraid her dart caused his amnesia, Milo takes him in, names him Nick, and vows to help him solve his mystery. Soon the pair find Nick's face in a newspaper obituary, and Nick beings to have strange, ethereal memories of Milo--who is sure she's never met him. Suddenly Nick knows things he shouldn't know and is doing things he shouldn't do. When the Department of Defense comes knocking, Nick and Milo run--toward a gripping conclusion that could destroy both their worlds.
• • •
While you're waiting for
Stolen
and
Here
, read my second book, a contemporary YA romance called
Before You Go
:
Margo Ford just became an heiress. Not the Paris Hilton kind. Her billions came after her father died and her insanely wealthy, insanely absent mother officially claimed her. Unfortunately, some terrorists noticed, and they hatched a plot to kidnap her. After a news report goes awry, reporting that Margo *has* been kidnapped, and her mother offers the humiliating sum of $500,000 for her return, Margo doesn't want anything to do with her "egg donor." Then she is sentenced to a summer of "protection" on her mother's private island. (Not the Oprah Winfrey kind). This one has an astronomical observatory filled with scientists, including Logan Greer, a super hot, super infuriating planet-hunter. Hiding from kidnappers has never been so boring... until suddenly it isn't anymore.
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• • •
Do you have great ideas but don't love writing? Help me plot my next book! I'm letting you choose the characters, setting, and events. Just visit my blog at ellajamesbooks.blogspot.com and vote in my polls every Saturday.