Falling for Angels - Hazel Hunter Page 0,1
the first time we jumped back, right? But if you knew my situation, you’d understand. Mom is a soap actress, and Dad’s an agent. They loved the whole Beverly Hills Seriously Loaded scene, so nannies raised me. By the time I left for college my parents barely remembered they had a kid.
My cheerleading squad became the family I chose. After our first accidental trip to the fourteenth century I also discovered I had two little problems. Now I lived in an honest-to-God castle called Dun Dorchas. Hella old Scotland was super pretty, too. As for the clan, well, think oh my god wow how can they be that big, ripped, and gorgeous? Only for real.
“Coco can’t do laundry,” Deb said to Coach Jennings at breakfast. We were talking about divvying up chores, and naturally I was getting thrown major shade. “All my undies turned pink last time she did ours.”
“Remember when she tried to make nachos for the homecoming after-party?” Gayla said, snickering. “She almost set the dorm on fire.”
“I can do a back handstand and turn it into a pike or a hurdler,” I reminded her. “Also, I’ve never dropped you in the basket toss.”
Deb scowled at me. “My hands got sweaty.”
“We know, bae.” I put an arm around her for a reassuring side hug. “Look, there’s got to be some way I can help out.”
“You can ride, right?” Coach asked, and when I nodded she said, “How about taking patrol duty with Griogair today?”
“With McGrumpy?” Deb and Gayla said in unison, and groaned.
I glanced down the table at the clan’s captain of the guard, who glowered 24/7. He looked like he’d been in a lousy mood for all eternity, too, so no one went near him. But the guy was built like a vaulter—a tower of long, sleek muscle—and his black hair had a violet sheen that matched his pretty eyes.
I was also pretty sure he didn’t deserve the nickname. I mean, I’m a big-chested blonde cheerleader on the outside, but would you guess that I maintained a 4.2 GPA and completed my master’s in sports science in three years?
“Sure, I’ll go,” I told Coach.
An hour later I walked a dun mare out of the stables. My ride was a Goldilocks like me, but had black legs, nose and back stripe that made her look fierce. Griogair’s white stallion gave my girl happy ears, but I got nothing from McGrumpy.
“Where are we patrolling, Captain?” I asked as I came up alongside him.
He looked at me, blinked, and then pointed to a faint trail circling around the forest that mostly hid Dun Dorchas from sight. A second later he cantered off.
The guy wasn’t a grump, I decided. He was shy around girls. When I caught up with him we both heard a kid crying from the woods, so there was no time to discuss his problem. We headed into the trees until he stopped in front of an old stone building.
“’Tis coming from the shearing shed,” Griogair told me, and put a hand on his sword.
“Maybe the kid’s lost.” In a louder voice I called, “Hey, where are you, sweetheart?”
The door to the shed swung open, and a very grimy little girl peeped out before disappearing inside. The captain made an impatient sound and started to go in, but I felt my big little problem start to ramp up.
“Wait.” I had to make a dash to get in front of him to kick one of the walls, which exploded, causing the roof to collapse.
Inside a very different scream sounded as beams of sunlight lit up the terrified kid being held on a rope like crab bait. Behind her something was scrambling to stay in the little bit of shadow left.
“Yours,” I told Griogair as I lunged, grabbed the girl and shielded her with my body. I felt the whoosh as he swung his sword, and the disgusting sound it made beheading the vampire, who burst into a cloud of ash.
The captain grabbed us both and carried us out into the light. The kid wept against my neck as I smiled at our hero. “Nice work, Captain.”
Griogair eyed the rubble. “’Tis why you came back, Coco?”
“Yeah, my druid thing. It was that or blow out the side of a stadium with a back flip.” I looked into his pretty eyes. “Plus, I couldn’t stop thinking about you.”
He kissed me. Imagine the hottest kiss you’ve ever gotten, then turn up that heat to nuclear. No lie. We should have set that