Wrong Side of Hell (League of Guardians 0.50)

“Who the hell is she?”

“Ana is a new protégé.” Bill nodded toward her. “I’m very happy to see she’s just passed an important test. The sorcerer O’Hara is someone who means a lot to her and I wasn’t sure she’d be able to remain hidden with him so close.”

“What would you have done if she’d revealed herself?”

Bill’s eyes narrowed and winter coated his words. “It’s good that she remained hidden.” Bill glanced up at Logan, his eyes hard, unreadable. “The tide is turning and the League needs as many soldiers as we can get, by whatever means we deem necessary.”

Bill drifted from sight but his voice lingered long after, echoing inside Logan’s head.

“Don’t ever doubt the lengths that I will go, to ensure our needs are met.”

Logan blinked and felt a small, soft hand slip inside his. He glanced down at Kira and smiled, feeling his body relax almost immediately. Her blond mess of a head was growing on him.

“Who was that?”

“Bill.”

“Oh.” Her eyes widened. “He’s gone? I would have liked to have met him.” She blushed. “Well, at least, conscious this time.”

Logan turned and locked his eyes onto the sorcerer. The man’s smile faded and Logan sensed the power he held from across the room. “It’s time to go, little Dove.”

Logan and Kira hopped into the stolen SUV and pointed it north. As the Mexican sun reflected into the rearview mirror, Logan looked ahead. He thought of the one who was out there. The one who wouldn’t stop until he had Kira. His hands gripped the steering wheel hard and he accelerated, feeling the need to go as fast as the machine would allow.

“Where are we going?” Kira’s soft voice drew him from his dark thoughts.

Logan replied without skipping a beat. “We’re going home.”

“Home.” She repeated. “I like the sound of that.” She smiled at him and his heart twisted. His body heated with the need to protect. The need to keep this woman safe. “Where is that, exactly?”

He flipped the radio on. “It’s where the sun is endless and the snow is covered in a blanket of diamonds.”

She sighed and slid over until her small body pressed tight to his. “Sounds like heaven.”

Logan smiled but didn’t answer. Lady, you have no idea. He increased his speed and hummed along to the strains of Mötley Crüe’s Shout at the Devil. How appropriate.

Seconds later only his taillights broke through the dusk, and the clouds of dust that floated above the road rose several feet into the air.

Then there was nothing.

Keep reading for an excerpt from

Wicked Road to Hell,

the first full-length novel in

Juliana Stone’s

League of Guardians series,

available May 2012

wherever books are sold.

Chapter One

DECLAN O’HARA STEPPED into the middle of the crossroads, a lonely stretch of pavement on the outskirts of town. The moon was barely visible, yet a thin ribbon of light bled through, basking the low-lying fog in an eerie glow.

He glanced to his right as a series of subtle vibrations shot up his legs.