Read Online King of the Damned: A League of Guardians Novel by Juliana Stone - Free Book Online Page B

upper realm, Azaiel had been stripped of some of his powers. If not for Bill, his brothers would have left him as helpless as a newborn. As it was, he’d been banished from the upper realm for an undetermined time and left with only a few of his former powers. He could no longer travel through time and space at will, delve into the minds of humans, or—Azaiel eyed the arrogant bartender—kill with the blink of an eye.
    He flexed his long fingers and squared his shoulders. He was, however, stronger than any human, and in fact most otherworld creatures, and he couldn’t be killed. If need be, he had no problem at all demonstrating how quickly he could crush the bartender or any who dared give him attitude.
    “Boys, let’s calm down.” Rowan leaned toward the bar. “I’m Rowan, Hannah’s cousin. She around?”
    The bartender’s gaze moved from Azaiel and settled on Rowan. He studied her in silence for a few seconds, then smiled, his large, beefy hand stroking the thick beard that covered his chin.
    “You’re Marie-Noelle’s daughter. You look just like her.”
    Rowan stepped back and nodded. “You knew my mother?”
    The man nodded. “I did.” A sad smile now graced his rough-hewn features. “Back before she had her, ah, breakdown. She was full of fire that one.” His face darkened as he looked at Azaiel. “I don’t think she’d like the thought of you running around with someone like him.”
    Azaiel arched a brow and stepped up beside Rowan. He was close enough to the bartender that if the man decided to insult him again, he could easily snap the man’s neck and be done with it. “Someone like me?” he asked, his voice dangerously low.
    The bartender, however, refused to back down. “Yeah, someone like you.” The man shook his head and took a step back. “Far be it for me to advise you on your choice of company.” He nodded to Rowan. “But you’re asking for trouble with him around. The kind of trouble that got your mom all messed up.”
    Azaiel would have moved forward, but Rowan’s hand on his arm kept him still. “You don’t know anything about my mother.”
    “I know more than you think I do,” the burly man growled.
    “Who are you?” Rowan’s voice rose.
    The bartender didn’t skip a beat. “I’m a soldier in this war, same as you. I might be human, but that gives me more of a stake in this mess, don’t you think? My family, my wife and kids, are everything to me, and I’ll do whatever it takes to keep them safe.” He sneered as his gaze settled on Azaiel. “Safe from the likes of him.”
    “Look, I don’t have time to debate the war or the baddies you’re not keen on. If you really want to help, then tell my cousin I’m here.”
    Several long seconds passed before the bartender reluctantly reached beneath the bar and grabbed a phone. He turned, but Azaiel heard his words nonetheless. “She’s here, and she’s not alone.”
    He then turned back to them and gestured toward a table hidden in shadows near the exit. “Hannah will be out in a minute. We had a cook quit earlier in the week, so she’s filling orders and helping out in the kitchen.”
    “Thank you,” Rowan murmured.
    “You can thank me by keeping your pet on a tight leash.”
    Azaiel ignored the taunt and followed Rowan to a table. He was aware of the eyes upon them—of the interest they generated, and the lust that filled the eyes of the woman two tables over. She smiled as Azaiel passed, her shoulders hunched forward, her breasts on display.
    And he felt nothing.
    Rowan followed the line of his gaze as she slid into the seat opposite him. “If we had time, I’m sure you could score some of that.”
    “Not interested.”
    “Really?”
    He settled his large frame into the smallish wood chair. “Why do you find it hard to believe I don’t want to have sex with that woman?”
    Her cheeks flushed pink at his words. “I didn’t mean . . . ah, I wasn’t talking about sex.”
    His eyebrow rose, and the