Angel Eclipsed (The Louisiangel Series Book 2) Read Free Page A

scared. “Angel, get out of here,” he barked at me.
    I took too long to process the words. Behind me, the bathroom door slammed shut. I whirled around to find a gun pointing at my chest. “Oh, this isn’t good,” I muttered.

CHAPTER TWO
    Storm Fall
     
     
    I didn’t blink as I stared at the gun, though my mouth quickly dried up. I couldn’t move. I wasn’t unfamiliar with guns: my uncle had been in the army, and my aunt still had his guns locked away, but I’d never been on this side of one, staring at the cool black barrel. “Interesting company you keep, Joshua,” I muttered, trying to work out what I was going to do. There wasn’t much room in the bathroom, and while I could move fast, I didn’t think I was fast enough to dodge a bullet.
    “What is she doing here?”
    I finally dragged my gaze away from the gun, noticing, first of all, that the hand was shaking as he struggled to hold the weapon steady, then second of all, the guy holding it looked high as a kite. He was blinking madly as his eyes darted around the room, sweat beads forming on his head despite the coolness of the night. Drugs and guns: what a great combination. “Me?” I repeated. “What is Joshua doing here?”
    “Okay, let’s everyone take a moment and calm down,” Joshua said, his voice steady. “There’s no need to doing anything stupid, Karl.”
    “Is she a cop?” Karl demanded, the gun jerking between me and Joshua.
    “A cop?” Joshua laughed. “Look at her, Karl. She looks like she’s taking part in a wet t-shirt competition.”
    A wet t-shirt competition? The England football team spent at least ninety minutes playing in a shirt like mine – more if it inevitably went to penalties – and not once did I ever recall their shirts going even remotely see-through. I snorted. “Are you-” I started to turn to Joshua.
    “No, no!” Karl cried, lurching forward. “You need to stop moving. You need to stay perfectly still,” he snapped, the ball of his left hand massaging his temple. “You can’t be doing anything stupid.”
    I froze.
    “No one is going to do anything stupid, Karl,” Joshua tried to assure him. “Why don’t you hand over the gun before anyone gets hurt, and before you get into any trouble?”
    Karl’s dark eyes darted between the two of us. I was still trying to work out what my chances were against a bullet. As well as being able to move fast, my body – my vessel – was supposed to be able to heal from a lot, very quickly. I’d recovered from scrapes and bruises in a matter of hours, but I really didn’t want to test the theory with a bullet.
    Lying in bed for weeks doing little more than stare at a ceiling, reliving memories, had left my mind sluggish. I took that long thinking about my possible actions, that my attention wasn’t focused on what was going on behind me. Karl, his eyes on me, didn’t catch on straight away either.
    Whatever was keeping Joshua huddled in the corner was forgotten about and he lunged forward towards Karl, pushing me to the side. The gun went off, sounding like an explosion in the enclosed space, and thankfully at that moment Joshua tripped on an uneven piece of flooring. As Joshua hurled himself at Karl, knocking him backwards into the hallway, I recovered my balance and threw myself at the door, slamming it shut so hard the wood splintered on the frame.
    I dove at Joshua pushing him flat to the floor before he could get back up, as bullets began exploding through the bathroom door, sending pieces of wood raining down over us. My instinct took over. I rolled, pushed my back against the door, keeping low but digging my heels in to keep it pressed closed. Sure enough there was a break in the shots and the sound of Karl rattling the handle as he tried to open the door. Seconds later, the door slammed back against me as Karl hurled his body at it. I dug my feet in, wedging them in the uneven floorboards and pushed. A minute passed, and then the door fell