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  The Protector Book 3

  Release

  Written by M.R. Merrick

  The Protector Book 3

  Release

  Written by M.R. Merrick

  The Protector - Book 3 - Release

  By M.R.Merrick

  © 2012 M.R. Merrick

  Kindle Edition

  ISBN: 978-0-9877262-6-1

  All Rights Reserved

  Copyright © 2012 – M.R. Merrick

  No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form, by any means, without the express written permission of the author. For further information please contact the author at [email protected]

  Cover design by M.R. Merrick

  Cover artwork by Julija Lichman © 2012

  This is a work of fiction. The characters, locations, and events herein are used fictitiously as an article of the author’s imagination. Any names or references to locations, events or persons, either living or deceased, are purely coincidental.

  Kindle Edition, License Notes

  This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Amazon.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  For Elena

  You inspire my imagination, you personify innocence, and your laughter guides me on the darkest of days. You are magical. You are beautiful. You are my last unicorn.

  Acknowledgments

  This book is something completely different for me. It’s emotional in a way nothing I’ve ever written has been. To say thank you to the people who helped make it possible just doesn’t seem like enough, but I’m going to try.

  I want to start by thanking my wife, Cherry. You are beyond amazing. And to my family, thank you. You know how much this all means to me, and you’ve stood by me through everything. You picked up the slack when I had to write, and you carried me through difficult times. This book and this series would not exist if it wasn’t for you. Your love and support keeps my passion alive.

  To my friend Val from Stuck In Books, you’ve been a blessing throughout this entire story. You supported me, cheered me on, and have done an incredible amount for me and this series. Between promotion, your kind words, and your time, I’m lucky to have you on my team. You’re as passionate about these books and these characters as I am, and I hope one day I can repay your kindness. You are an incredible individual and I feel honored to know you.

  To my editor Kara Malinczak, the time and effort you put into this novel was remarkable. As always, you helped me smooth out the bumps and keep the story on point. Your enthusiasm for my books shows in the work you’ve done and it breathes new life into the characters. Thank you for all your dedication.

  And to my copy editor Amanda Shofner of Language Management, you are amazing. You do so much more than clean up a manuscript, I don’t even know where to begin. You make my words shine, and you give me revitalized confidence in the stories I’m telling. You inspire me, you encourage me, you support me, and you’re my friend. Thank you, not only for all the hard work you’ve put into this book, but for everything that has preceded it.

  Special thanks to Jason Pitt and Tim Jeffcoat for helping me get everything polished. You worked with a tight timeline, and you delivered wonderfully.

  To my readers, I am humbled by and gracious for the kindness of your words. The passion you share with me about my novels, the e-mails and messages you send me, and the reviews you leave of my books inspire me. It pushes me to be better, to work harder, and to ensure I deliver something worthy of your time. To you, and everyone who has supported me, or contributed in any way to The Protector series, thank you. I am forever in your debt, and I truly hope you enjoy this story.

  Chapter 1

  His power surged and slammed me into the wall. A bright light flashed over my eyes from the impact and I broke into a run, the concrete sliding beneath my feet. As he flexed his magic, his air element wrapped itself around a chair and pitched it through the air like a homing missile with me as its target. I took cover behind a concrete pillar and the chair shattered against it, splinters scattering across the floor.

  Power churned inside my body, water and fire pulsing through my veins in an icy flare. Spheres of magic formed in my palms as beads of sweat ran down my brow. I took a deep breath, centering my focus.

  I spun out from behind the column, red and blue magic drifting behind me like a comet’s tail. My elements shuddered and heat from the flame swirled as I pulled back my right arm, launching the flame forward. A stream of fire snapped through the air towards him.

  Shadows coiled around him, blending his body with the darkness. Another element pulsed, but this time it wasn’t mine. It was heavy, powerful, and smothering. His magic submerged me, forcing me to tighten my chest. I thrashed against the power, gasping for air while I tried to break its hold, and my flames flickered, then died.

  The fire and water receded and another element rose inside me. My own air element twisted through my body and pushed his power back, allowing me room to breathe.

  Magic rumbled inside me as I called more elements to my aid. The ground moved in a violent quake and my earth element rattled the walls.

  His body stumbled and his focus broke. As his element faded, I tore the water back up from that place deep inside my soul. Cold power chilled my body and burst towards him.

  A ball of ice shot across the room, shattering against his chest. Crystals of frozen magic sparkled and rained like diamonds to the ground. The shadows collapsed around him, vanishing back to the corners of the room, and Marcus dropped to the ground.

  Silence wafted through the room and I crept forward, awaiting his reaction, but he was hardly moving. His massive form lay on the floor, his chest rising and falling. I noticed a layer of sweat glistening off his dark skin as I inched closer. The black shirt that hugged his muscular form was smeared with white dust, and my crystalized magic littered the concrete around him.

  “Marcus?” I asked.

  He took a deep breath and nodded. “You’re…getting much faster.” His face twisted as he propped himself up on his elbows.

  “Sorry, I didn’t mean to go all out.”

  “Don’t be. That’s kind of the point of training, right?”

  “I guess.”

  “Are you boys done playing yet?” Rayna stood behind us with crossed arms. Dark jeans hugged her long legs, revealing toned thighs before disappearing into knee-high fur boots. A red tank top embraced her curves, revealing smooth pale skin. Her raven hair was pinned up, her slender neck exposed, leaving red strands to frame her face. “People are starting to show up for the meeting, and Eric’s about to lose it…again.”

  “What happened this time?” Marcus asked.

  “I think Tiki tried to say hello.”

  Marcus sighed. “I’ll be right there.”

  I reached out and pulled Marcus to his feet. He dusted the crystals off his chest and smiled. “That was a good session. How do you feel?”

  “I feel good. It’s you I’m worried about. I think maybe you’re getting too old for this.”

  Marcus laughed but quickly silenced it and narrowed his eyes. “We’ll see. Next time I won’t be going easy on you.”

  “Now that’s funny.”

  “Who’s joking?” Marcus asked. “I better go deal with this.”

  Rayna stared at me and I shook my head. “He wasn’t going easy on me. He’s kidding.”

  Rayna nodde
d. “Sure.”

  “No really, he was kidding, right?”

  Rayna laughed and followed after Marcus.

  “Rayna, don’t play with me. Tell me he was joking.”

  ******

  “I don’t care whose side you’re on. You pull a stunt like that again and I’ll slit your throat!” I recognized the voice and pushed open the door to the meeting room.

  Eric, the leader of a small group of rogue hunters based out of Maine, had his hand wrapped around Tiki’s throat, pinning him against a table. Chairs were scattered across the floor and veins bulged from his swollen arms. A mid-sized blade pushed against Tiki’s face, threatening to split his caramel skin.

  Willy stood beside Eric, trying to pry back his blade-wielding arm, but it wouldn’t budge. “Com—come on, Eric. You know Tiki didn’t me—mean it like that.”

  “Get off me, you filthy mutt!” Eric threw his elbow back, cracking it against Willy’s face. I leaped forward, but Rayna grabbed my shoulder and held me back.

  Willy fell to the floor but quickly recovered to his feet, rubbing the side of his face.

  Anger flooded my senses and I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself. I’d only met Eric twice, but I already disliked him. This wasn’t helping his case.

  “Eric, I already apologized. I am unsure what more I can to do quell your anger. I am Tikimicharnikato of the Suriattas Clan. I am your friend, you know this.”

  “I ain’t friends with no demon. Not now, not ever. Out of respect for Marcus, I’ve let you live, but you’re walking a fine line.”

  “I do not wish to do battle with you. I merely came to greet you.” Tiki’s demeanor was calm as he stared up at Eric with his bright orange eyes.

  “Again, Eric? Really? We’ve been through this.” Marcus said.

  Eric’s forehead creased above his unruly eyebrows as his blue gaze found Marcus’s. “Oh no, this isn’t getting put on me. Not this time. One of your stupid pets tried to sneak up on me.”

  “I did not mean to scare you. I only—”

  “Scare me? Ha! You didn’t scare me. You—”

  “That’s enough, Eric.” Marcus’ voice was loud but even.

  “It’s enough when I say it is.” Eric’s jaw clenched. “I know you like to play in the gray areas, Marcus, but I don’t. I’ve respected your position so far and I expect you to do the same for me. I sure as hell won’t stand for these things creeping up on me.”

  “Don’t you think you’re being a bit unreasonable here?” Marcus asked.

  “Forcing us to work with these demons is what’s unreasonable. It’s going to get us all killed.”

  Eric was shorter than Marcus and not as thick, but he was full of rage. His hairy arms were covered in faded tattoos and his long black hair curled at the end of a ponytail. An unkempt beard covered his face and matched his wild eyebrows.

  “We need everyone we can get. You know that. We cannot waste any more time on these petty differences.”

  Eric took a long breath, his eyes fixed on Tiki. The muscles in his face flexed and his teeth ground together. “Fine.” He pushed himself off Tiki and slid the long blade back into his hip sheath. “But your trust in these…things is discomforting. I’ll tell you this, when push comes to shove, you better have my back before theirs.”

  Rayna and I were a few feet back from them, and as they spoke to each other, I leaned towards her. “What is it with this guy?” I whispered.

  “Eric doesn’t like demons much. Or people, for that matter.”

  “You’ve known him for a while, right? How does he put up with you?”

  Rayna’s lips shined with a thin layer of gloss and her hands touched my chest. She gripped my shirt, pulling me closer, and the red strands of hair that framed her face danced along my skin as she leaned into me. Pressing herself against me, her lips brushed my ear, causing my pulse to race.

  “Because just like you,” she whispered, her warm breath rolling over my skin, “he knows how hard I can hit.” Rayna’s fist jabbed into me, her knuckles finding the sweet spot between two ribs.

  I coughed and forced myself to remain upright instead of keeling over like my body was demanding. Rayna smirked and turned away, swaying her hips dramatically as her knee-high boots tapped against the floor. She picked up one of the fallen chairs and fell into it with a feline’s grace.

  Willy rubbed the side of his face and broke away from the group. As he walked towards me, I could see him trying to hide the pain he was obviously in.

  “You okay?” I asked.

  Willy rubbed his face and winced. “I was more worried about you. Rayna hits really hard.”

  I would never admit it, but he was right. “I’ll be fine.”

  “Everything okay wi—with you two? You seem…off.”

  “We’re fine. I think…nothing you need to worry about. You look like you’re healing up nicely, but we’ve missed you around here. How’s the pack treating you?”

  “I should be back to normal in another week. Things are better now that Ja—Jax has taken over. I’m still the Omega though. Not much has changed there.”

  Willy was no longer on crutches, but he still had a limp. His body should’ve healed already, but Arian, the former Hollowlight leader that Riley had recruited, had done a lot of the damage himself. Whatever powers Riley had given Arian were affecting the rate at which his victims healed.

  “Do you need me to talk to Jax or any of the guys?”

  Willy glared at me.

  “I know you don’t want me involved, but you’re my friend. Besides, you’re better than all of this. You could have so much more than what the Shadowpack offers. You could have more than what we offer you. There’s a whole world out there, Willy, and you don’t need to be anyone’s punching bag.”

  “You said you und—understood. Can’t we just leave it at that?” Willy sighed. “I’m happy here, Chase. I’m a part of all this and I’m no—not going anywhere, so stop talking like that.”

  “I’m trying to understand...I mean, I do. It’s not that I want you to leave, I just…I hate seeing you like this.” That was only partially true and I knew it, but I’d never admit it to Willy. There was a part of me that didn’t want him around any of this. Willy was my best friend, and even though he was a werewolf, I was still worried about him. I wanted more for him than this. I wanted more than this for everybody.

  “I’m fine, Chase. Really.”

  “If you say so,” I said.

  The door behind me squeaked open and people began to shuffle in. This was the first time everyone would be meeting together and a nervous tension had settled in my shoulders. I wasn’t sure what to expect from the meeting, but with Eric here, I doubted it would be dull.

  Chapter 2

  Kate walked in first. She led a group of rogue hunters based out of New York City. It had taken Marcus a while, but he managed to convince her to join up with us a few weeks ago.

  Kate’s chocolate brown hair hung past her shoulders and her green eyes devoured the room. The t-shirt she was wearing revealed the battle scars that covered her arms—a true sign of a hunter. She kept her chin high and her back straight as she walked across the room, taking a seat at the table. Two hunters I didn’t recognize followed her in and stood silently behind her chair.

  Chief, the leader of the werecats, gave me a curt nod as he passed with Garrett and Karissa following behind him. Willy’s eyes instantly lowered as Jax walked in. “I guess that’s my cue.” Willy gave me a half-smile and fell in line behind his Alpha and the wolves who accompanied him.

  As an Omega, Willy was the lowest wolf on the totem pole. According to werewolf law, Willy shouldn’t have been attending the meetings, but Jax knew I wanted him here. I didn’t care if it broke their rules or not; Willy was one of us.

  As more rogue hunters from the surrounding states shuffled into the room, it didn’t take long before all the chairs were full. I took a spot leaning against the wall and Marcus moved to the head of the table. It
was the only thing in the room other than the chairs that wasn’t concrete.

  Chief had bought this place in hopes of converting it into apartment-like living quarters for his pride, but since he hadn’t started construction yet, it was perfect for us. It gave us space to train and a private place to meet.

  “Thank you, everyone, for coming,” Marcus said. “Grams and the rest of the Triquerta Coven are running late, so we’ll get started and fill them in later.” He leaned forward against the table. “If everyone agrees, I think it’s only right that we begin our discussion with Riley.”

  “What’s there to discuss?” Eric asked. “He’s Chase’s dad, a powerful fire elemental, he abandoned the Circle, and he wants to invoke Ithreal and destroy us all. Enough said. We find him, we kill him.”

  “If only it were that easy. We’ve all seen the extent of Riley’s power in the past few weeks. Since the attack on the wolves, he’s taken on several rogue hunter outposts.”

  “Do we know what he wants exactly?” Kate asked.

  “His agenda is to invoke Ithreal. He believes if he takes over the god’s power, he can rule the Underworlders and stop the war between hunters and demons. In order to do that, we’ve learned he needs all of Ithreal’s soul pieces. Why he’s attacking our people, however, is a question that remains unanswered.”

  “So what’s your plan, Marcus?” Brendan asked, his voice unsure.

  “To get the pieces first, stupid.” Cory cut in.

  “Don’t call me stupid.”

  “Don’t ask stupid questions then.”

  Brendan crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair, and Cory continued to glare at him.

  Cory and Brendan ran a hunter’s group out of New Jersey, and although Brendan was older, it seemed Cory was always the one calling the shots.

  “Yes,” Marcus said. “And that’s why we’re here. Unfortunately, we don’t have their locations, and as far as we know neither does Riley, but they have something we don’t.”