Read Beautiful Warrior for Free Online

all-knowing, all-seeing rock star. You couldn’t find your ass in a windstorm if it blew your butt cheeks apart.” 
    Seven spun around an d smacked him. Face fought back, and they went after each other like snot-nosed boys fighting over a toy.
    “They do this all the time,” Bud said as Dingo jumped around and barked.
    “How do you stop them?” I asked.
    “I don’t. I just let them hash it out.” 
    We didn’t have time for th at. Nor was I going to put up with it. I snapped at them, raising my voice above the commotion. “The warrior is going to save both of you from the border monsters. So maybe you could help me figure out what to do to save him?”
    Seven ended the altercation, shoving Face away and making him roll like a bowling ball in the air. Face recovered quickly, landing right side up and flashing both of his middle fingers. But at least it was over.
    After a beat of silence, Seven said to me, “It isn’t going to work, Vanessa . We can’t accept his help.”
    I gaped at him . “You’re not going to let the warrior protect you from the monsters? How are you ever going to get back to Abby if you refuse his protection?”
    “We can go to the next warrior and enlist his help.”
    “The next warrior?”
    “In the present realm . I doubt he’ll be as archaic as the dude we’re dealing with now. The present warrior can get the rest of us across the border and he’ll probably help you find the magic that will keep him alive, too.”
    It hadn’t occurred to me that there would be other versions of the warrior in other realms. But it made sense, I supposed, in a strangely schizoid way. Since he’d been created as a protector of Abby’s people it stood to reason that he needed to be available on every realm.
    I asked, “If the present warrior doesn’t come through, will we go the future and see that warrior?”
    “No.”
    Puzzled, I shifted my feet . “Why not?”
    “Because things are always changing there . The last I heard, there weren’t any borders left on that realm, so there would be nothing to cross.”
    “ You wouldn’t be able to leave 105 from there?”
    “Nope . You could, using the same portal that brought you here. But that won’t work for the rest of us.”
    “Th en we’ll focus on the present.”
    “That’s the plan . Now go ditch that hard-ass you slept with last night so we can get going.”
    “What should I tell him about us leaving?”
    “Tell him the truth.”
    “He’s not going to like it.”
    Seven shrugged, refusing to make it his concern . But all of this was my fault anyway. I was the crazy one conjuring these details. Still, I didn’t relish what I had to do.
    I reached for the door . “You guys wait here. I’ll be back after I talk to him.”
    “We’re not going anywhere,” Seven assured me.
    I entered the cabin and found the warrior standing in the center of the room. We made eye contact, and he stared at me in that feral way of his. He seemed to suspect that something was amiss. I wanted to turn tail and run.
    But I said, “The mission is off . We don’t need your help anymore.”
    He narrowed his gaze . “What does that mean?”
    I tried not to hesitate, to just get it over with . “It means we’re going to travel to the present realm and see the warrior who is there.”
    A muscle ticked in his jaw . “So you can bed him, too?” 
    I had n’t actually thought about what the modern man would expect in exchange. “If that’s what it takes.”
    “No other warrior will make you feel the way I do.”
    He stepped closer, and I shivered from the want of him . But I held my ground. I held up my hand, too, stopping him from sweeping me into his arms.
    I said, “You don’t know how he will make me feel.”
    “I don’t wan t you to bed him.” 
    “Then help me break the curse, and I won’t need to go to the present realm.”
    “ I already told you that I won’t interfere with the curse.”
    “Then I ’m going to have to hire him