Destiny's Shift (2 page)

nervous system. He hated country music.

“But of course,” she said, never quite meeting his eyes. “It is my duty to serve,

nonetheless, I must ask a favor of you, sir.”

“Sure. What do you need?”

“If it wouldn’t be too much trouble, if you would please tender your bill, I would

be very grateful. My shift is at its completion, and I must take leave.”

Gotcha. She needed her tips.

“No problem,” Jovan said, pulling out some bills. “This should cover it, and you

can keep the change.”

She picked up the money, and her eyes grew wide. “But, sir, this is far too much!”

“Don’t worry about it. Have a good night.”

“But, sir, I simply cannot accept this level of generosity! It’s not—”

“Seriously, don’t worry about it, honey.”

Finally meeting his eyes, she stared at him for a beat, obviously surprised by his

fifty-dollar tip. Then she put her hand on her chest and bowed her head. “Thank you, sir.

Your generous gift is very much appreciated.”

He watched as she turned and walked away, thinking about her gesture. It was the

same gesture as one would make on SR44 when giving a vow, making a promise, or

giving thanks.

He shook his head, thinking how ridiculous it was that a human’s small movement

made him think of SR44. He obviously had been around humans too long.

As the French maid passed the table that had hassled her before, the guys said

something, and she glanced at them briefly. She shook her head, and they laughed.

She went through a door painted black so it blended in with the wall, then

emerged a few minutes later with a dark, long coat and headed for the side door leading

out to the back alley.

Jovan watched her slip out the door and was about to turn back to the stage, but

then he caught movement out of the corner of his eye. The guys at the table who had

hassled her headed for the back door, then stepped out into the back alley.

“Aw, shit,” he said, and slammed back his Jagermeister. He usually stuck to the

hard and fast rule of minding his own business and keeping his distance from most

people. He never donned the cape and tights and jumped into the savior role, especially

with humans. He had one responsibility as far as he was concerned, and that was killing

Colonists to keep the humans safe. Otherwise, humans weren’t good for much.

Especially the males.

However, he could see this situation with the French maid and the asshole humans

had the potential of going directly into the shitter.

“What’s up?” Talin asked.

Jovan thought about telling Talin and Cohen the possible problem situation, but

decided to keep it to himself. Maybe a little confrontation would spark that adrenaline

rush he liked so much, and with that adrenaline rush he could cross off bored from his list

of emotions. And, if he got a little physical, maybe it would relieve some of the stress. It

would be a win-win for him. Except that he would have to touch them. But connecting

his fist to someone’s jaw was a little different that getting a haircut. The blow would be

quick, and the emotions would be nothing but a flash.

He could deal with that.

“I’m heading out. I’ll see you later.”

“Catch you on the flipside, man.” Cohen loved throwing around clichés.

Jovan made his way to the alley door and pushed it open. He looked up at the sky

and judged the sun would be setting in about twenty minutes. Glancing around the alley,

he just wanted to make sure those guys were leaving and not on their way to giving the

French maid any trouble.

So put him in some tights and call him fucking Superman.

He heard scuffling down at the end of the alley, a little whimper, and then some

laughter.

Oh, hell.

Jogging toward the noise, he promised he would not kill anyone, even though he

was jacked-up enough to do so. No, he would simply break up this little party and that

would be the end of it.

He came to a doorway, and sure enough, there was the French maid cornered by

the two assholes from the strip joint. Tears ran down her pretty cheeks as one of the men

reached for her coat.

“C’mon, baby, we know you’re a bad girl playing hard to get.”

“I beg of you, please cease this behavior,” she said in a shaky voice.

“Oh, you’re good,” said the other man, “but you can drop the act now.”

Jovan had heard and seen enough, and he was thinking it might be fun to kill one

of these fuckers. He’d never killed a human before, but there was a first time for

everything.

He pulled one guy out of the doorway and threw him into the dumpster, then

grabbed the other guy and slammed him against the building. Dumpster Boy came

rushing at him, and Jovan spun the wallflower around so that they crashed into each

other. He put himself between the French maid and the two men, then crossed his arms

over his chest as if he had just swatted a couple of flies, not two human men. Both got up

off the ground and came at him.

“You don’t want to do that, boys,” Jovan drawled.

“You need to mind your own fucking business,” Dumpster Boy said.

Jovan shrugged. “My mama always told me I sucked at boundaries.”

“Fuck your mama,” Dumpster Boy hissed.
I’m going to take out my knife and cut

this guy.

“And trust me, sweetheart,” Jovan said, “you don’t want to take out that knife,

because a guy coming at me with a knife makes me really cranky. And I can’t begin to

tell you how cranky I’m feeling right now.”

Dumpster Boy stopped dead in his tracks and his face went pale. The wallflower,

on the other hand, didn’t catch what just went down and lunged at Jovan.

Jovan heard a squeal behind him, but ignored it. He set his body into a fluid

motion of kicks and punches, and five seconds later the wallflower was out cold on the

ground.

Looking at Dumpster Boy, he could hear the French maid’s thoughts.
I must leave

this area . . .
she repeated over and over, and Jovan could feel the anxiety rolling off her

even though he was three feet away.

“I suggest you see just how fast you can run, you cocksucker,” he whispered to

Dumpster Boy, who took his advice.

Turning to the French maid, he felt the anger evaporate. She crouched in the

doorway shaking, looking so innocent and pure. He was more certain than ever that she

didn’t belong in a strip club slinging drinks, and he felt bad that she had to witness the

violence he’d doled out.

She slowly turned his head and met his gaze, her dark eyes glimmering with tears

of terror.

“I’m not going to hurt you,” he said gruffly, as he offered his hand to help her up.

After a moment, she gently laid her hand into his, and he pulled her up, feeling a jolt of

her fear and anxiety.

She took a moment to rearrange her coat, then said in a quiet voice, “Truly, I

thank you for saving me the humiliation of another male laying his hands on me,

however, I must take my leave now.”

Briefly she met his eyes again.

“Are you okay?” he asked, surprised by the concern he felt for her. He rarely gave

a shit about humans, except his fellow Warriors’ mates, of course.

Pulling away from him, she nodded her head. “I shall be fine, and now I must say

farewell. Again, thank you.”

He watched her scurry down the alley and noticed out of the corner of his eye that

she had left her bag.

Checking the sky, he knew he was cutting it short, but he couldn’t let her go

without her bag. He supposed he could bring it to her the following night, but he was

leaving Phoenix, and what if she got home and didn’t have her keys? She definitely

shouldn’t be out walking around this part of town at night. Only people looking for

trouble were out in the hours of darkness around here.

Breaking into a jog, he caught up to her quickly. “Hey,” he said, falling in step

next to her. “You dropped your bag.”

When he handed it to her, their hands touched, and once again he felt anxiety

coursing through her, but this time it was stronger. It was so fierce he actually looked

around the alley to see if there was another attacker around.

Glancing at the sky again, he knew he had to go. He was minutes away from

lighting up.

Then she looked toward the sky and sheer panic crossed her face. “Thank you,

again. In short order, you’ve become my knight in glowing armor.” She turned to leave,

and this time he let her go.

“It’s shining armor,” he said.

She stopped and turned. “Pardon me?”

“It’s shining armor, not glowing armor.”

She gave a brief smile, then put her hand over her chest. Her pale skin grew paler,

and her dark eyes grew wide, her hand covering her heart-shaped mouth in shock.

“Holy shit,” he whispered.

“Oh my word.”

Jovan stood there frozen, his green eyes glowing in the twilight, as her eyes

slowly turned a light pink.

Chapter 2

Liberty stared at the huge man in front of her and watched as his eyes slowly

turned an emerald green. Dressed in a long-sleeved black t-shirt, baggy jeans, and boots,

he was built like a mountain.

“Are you—”

“You’re . . .”

She couldn’t finish the sentence, and apparently the circumstances had his tongue

tied as well.

So she tried again. “Sir, please, are you one of the Six Saviors?”

He had to be. She knew for a fact that he wasn’t human because a human’s eyes

didn’t glow with such fervor, and she recognized the emerald green color as that of the

Six Savior known as Jovan. Could she possibly be in the company of a Savior? One of

the most highly regarded and dignified males of her species? Who was supposed to have

traveled to the afterlife?

Her thoughts fled back to her place of employment. Why hadn’t she known him to

be different from the other males? And what about the other males he had shared a booth

with? Were they human or the SR44 Warriors known as the Six Saviors?

Her head spun as she stared up at the male before her, one who had been mourned

on SR44, but who seemed to be very much among the living.

“Yes,” he said quietly, coming toward her. “I am. My name is Jovan. What are

you doing here? How long have you been here? Why are you here? Are there others?”

His voice was kind, his face perplexed. His human form was very becoming of

him with his blond hair that hung to his shoulders in slight, messy waves. His smooth,

tanned skin held a day or two worth of blond stubble, and his lower lip was a bit fuller

than his upper. A small scar next to his eyebrow gleamed white in the darkness settling

about them. As he stood before her, she felt as though she were looking up to the heavens

—he towered over her so tall and broad.

She had read the
History Chronicles
on each of the Saviors. They were supposed

to be gone a short time, but they disappeared for more than two hundred years. The

people of their planet had mourned their disappearance and assumed the Warriors had

traveled to the world beyond physical existence.

Recalling the chronicles, Jovan had been the son of royalty, as was another

Warrior named Noah.

The Six Saviors were decent males. The Chronicles had stated how they were

males of integrity, honesty, and honor. Unless the Chronicles had been wrong, or this

particular Savior Jovan had dramatically changed over the centuries, Liberty believed she

was safe with him. Goodness, she hadn’t felt security since arriving on Earth, and the fear

and uncertainty had been consuming her.

She was exhausted.

“That is quite a few questions, sir,” she said quietly. And frankly being out after

dark had her so nervous, her stomach was in knots. Just then, she heard footsteps in the

mouth of the alley, and she shut her eyes so whoever it was wouldn’t see the soft pink

glow.

Jovan took her arm and moved her back against a building, and she stumbled as

he pulled her down behind a dumpster.

“Quiet,” he whispered, and they sat in silence until the footsteps retreated.

“We need to get out of here and find somewhere to hang for the night,” he said

quietly, looking down at her.

She sighed. Truly, she was having such a hard time with the English language,

although she had reviewed it extensively on the trip. Even though she had studied the old

English language, the inhabitants now, and it seemed the Warriors, spoke some type of

variation on the old English that she didn’t fully understand.

For instance, what exactly did it mean to “hang” somewhere? She had visions of

bats in a cave, but had a feeling that wasn’t what this Savior had in mind.

“And then I need to know what the fuck is going on. Why you’re here, who you

are, and if there are others. Understand?”

Liberty nodded. A little thread of uncertainty about going anywhere with the

Warrior niggled at her, but then again, what choice did she have? She was barely

surviving on her own, and she again remembered the positive things that had been written

about the Saviors in the
History Chronicles
. Besides, the Warrior Jovan had been very

kind to her while she served him, which was more than she could say for a lot of the

males she came in contact with during her working hours. She remembered the large tip