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Messenger
The
Guardian Trilogy
Prequel
Book
One
Laury
Falter
Book Description:
Messenger is the first prequel to
the bestselling Guardian Trilogy - the breathtaking romantic saga about a love
that has lasted centuries between a messenger and her guardian.
Maggie does not know she is a
messenger. She has never met her eternal lover. She has never survived a Fallen
One. All this changes when a messenger awakens in the Hall of Records only to
die moments later, never to return.
As Maggie sets out to determine
why the messengers are suddenly beginning to die, she crosses paths with the
infuriatingly appealing Eran and their story begins.
In this riveting account of
Maggie's first life on earth with Eran, the star-crossed lover's romance
transpires amidst treacherous enemies, their friends' resistance, and their own
opposing wills. With the odds against her, can Maggie survive long enough to
admit the feelings she has so carefully denied?
EXCERPTS
MESSENGER
GUARDIAN TRILOGY PREQUEL 1
EXCERPT
1
He strode to me
and crouched at my hip. His shirt was already off and the nearness of his
well-built chest made it a challenge to stop myself from glancing at it. To my
astonishment, he seemed not to notice my internal plight, not even the tremble
that shook me when he tenderly took my chin and turned it toward him.
"You're
healing nicely," he observed, concentrating on my forehead.
"Mm-hmm."
It was all I could muster.
This was the
closest we had ever been. His lips were no more than a few inches from me and
drew my attention.
"I don't
think you'll even scar."
When I didn't
answer, I felt a shift in his presence and my eyes darted up to find him
staring back with his striking blue-green eyes.
We froze in
place.
Only our chests
rose and fell, and they did it more rapidly the longer we stared at each other.
As his eyes
lowered to my lips, his fingers tightened gently around my chin.
The flare of his
nostrils and the intensity of his stare mesmerized me, made me want him closer.
And it told me that he was struggling too and was in profound debate over what
we were doing. No ward should be this close to their guardian, even if the ward
didn't recognize them as one. It was taboo, unheard of, an abject insult to the
role the guardian had been given. Yet, here he was, looking at me, at my lips,
tensing at the sight of them.
And he wasn't
alone in the struggle. For the first time, I forgot my urge to throw him off
balance, my need to establish my independence. I was the one quickly losing my
poise and forgetting who was dominant. The charm I fought so hard to deny, the
very one that drew all others to him, took hold of me. And I gave into it out
of my own free will.
EXCERPT
2
Without thinking
about it, I rolled my shoulders backwards into his palms. The heat from him was
soaking into my tight muscles and it was an unavoidable relief.
"Was that a
moan?" he asked.
"Did I make
a sound?"
"I think
you did."
I released a
half-laugh, too tired to offer anything more.
"It was a
good sound," Eran whispered and I felt his fingers stiffen at his candid
acknowledgement. It was the first time he moved them since he laid them on me,
but I got the distinct feeling he didn't want to stop there and yearned to curl
his fingers around my shoulders and feel me more fully.
A constrained
sigh escaped him, followed by a deep, forced inhale.
His thumbs
moved, sliding down the dip between my shoulder and neck. They were tender,
barely a whisper against my skin. And I knew he was exploring me, just that
small and subtle part but taking his time not to miss an inch. When his hands reached
the base of my neck, they paused and I thought he was done, would now pull back
and step away. But his thumbs moved up over the top of my palms, embracing my
hands.
I was acutely
aware of his scent, the quickened pulse in his thumbs, his restrained breathing.
He opened his
mouth to speak but the tent flap opened, bringing him to a sudden halt.
EXCERPT
3
I twisted around
in search of Eran.
He stood over a
small body lying in an odd position. Its head was facing me and I could see
Cedric's face, dirtied with his eyes closed. His back was exposed and the grey
appendages were in the midst of sinking into his body.
I looked up to
find Eran staring over his shoulder at me, his handsome face contracting into
dread.
He spun on his
heel and sprinted for me, the fear in him deepening with each step.
As I waited for
him, something flowed into my left eye, blinding me. I brought my hand to it
and wiped. It was warm and stuck to me. When I pulled away to study whatever it
was, a deep crimson color was swathed across my fingers. It collected at the
bottom of my hand and dripped, splattering the same color on the dirt at my
feet.
Blood…
Lots of it…
I suddenly felt
dizzy, weak. I reached for Eran.
He was closer
now, having taken to flight, the mist clearing in his wake. Down that narrow
grey tunnel he created, at the end of it, something stirred. It left hollowness
in my heart.
Cedric wasn't
dead.
He was knocked
out and beginning to revive.
With Eran facing
me, he had no idea.
I searched for
my rapier, the one Oleg's brother had given me. Somehow it had made it down the
hill, landing a few feet away. The silver in its handle contrasted with the
yellow grass, peeking at me from between the dead blades.
I went for it,
picking it up, stumbling under its weight.
Then the ground
came at me as I fell toward it. But before we could meet, I used the thrust of
my fall and sent the rapier through the air.
My toes twisted
with the force and my body rotated until I could no longer see Eran or Cedric
or the rapier. I was facing the hillside by the time my shoulder and hip
slammed into the dirt. But I was smiling because the aim was good. The rapier
would hit its target. Eran would be safe.
I was smiling
for all these reasons, and because I didn't have the slightest notion how much
danger I was actually in.
EXCERPT
4
As Eran's feet
left the ground, he found me in the crowd and gave me one final burning look.
There was something in his eyes now, not pride at having subdued Jacob or to
impress upon me the importance of the lesson he'd just demonstrated. All that
seemed to have been forgotten. No, what I saw was intense curiosity. And just
before he broke our gaze to adjust his sight on the route they were taking, I
was certain that he felt the same way I did…that he wished he understood what
had just happened between us.
As the rest of
us watched in awed silence, I couldn't help but notice that, in a way similar
to the messengers on their arrival, Eran's group departed with the same
close-knit familiarity.
"Who are
they?" I asked, my head still tilted back.
"Part of a
legion," Daniel replied.
Despite my
seclusion, I'd heard of legions. There were several of them, each with a
primary purpose. "Which one?"
"The one
that oversees castigated entities."
"Those who
have wronged humankind?"
"Yes, the
Fallen Ones," confirmed Daniel.
I'd heard of
them, too. In passing.
"And Eran's
a part of that legion?"
"No,"
Daniel said with a subdued chuckle. "Not a part of, the leader of. He's
their colonel."
"Colonel?"
I said, finally lowering my head.
Eran had been
out of sight for a while, but this was the first time I'd felt enough
conviction to look away.
"You really
have no idea who he is, do you?" Daniel was astonished.
"No."
He didn't reply
for what felt like a very long time. "Eran has been credited with keeping
the most dangerous entities from committing further atrocious acts while they
are sentenced to an eternity on earth."
"You mean
his legion has," I corrected him.
"No, I mean
Eran. There is a reason why he is renowned. When the most vicious of the Fallen
Ones are too much for others in the legion to handle, they request Eran, which
is to say that he pursues and restrains those who all others cannot
handle."
"That takes
skill," Jacob muttered, stretching a kink from his neck.
Daniel chuckled
at the understatement. "Some of which you just witnessed…personally,"
he added.
I didn't share
Daniel's humor, being too preoccupied by who I'd just met, and how his
attention had been so finely tuned to me. "Do you think he'll be
back?"
"Eran?"
Daniel said. "It's possible. I've heard every action he makes is
deliberate…calculated. He was here with a reason today. If he returns, he'll
have a reason then too."
Jacob groaned,
evidently not anticipating Eran's return. "Next time you can spar with
him."
Daniel chuckled.
"I'd think our time would be better spent training the messengers, which
is something we should probably return to…," he hinted.
Jacob nodded,
rubbing the side of his neck where I remember a vine had hit him. Daniel pitied
his friend through a quiet, suppressed laugh, wrapping a friendly arm across
Jacob's shoulders and walking him toward the waiting group. But my attention
drifted back to the sky where Eran had disappeared.
The anticipation
of seeing him again proved too much and my insides were ignited in a way I'd
never felt before. That searing pleasure worked its way through my belly, and
as much as I wanted to dwell in that sensation, I had to force myself to ignore
it. There was work to be done and that feeling was a distraction.
Resigned to
concentrate on my task at hand, I joined the messengers shortly after, but not
before peering back for one more lingering glance at the sky.
About
the Author:
Laury Falter is a bestselling
author of young adult romantic suspense and urban fantasy. She has three series
out: the Guardian Trilogy, the Residue Series, and the Apocalypse Chronicles.
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Jodie Pierce
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