Read Beautiful Warrior for Free Online Page A

instead of you.”  What else could I say? What else could I do?
    A tight smile tugged at the corner of his lips. “You already paid me, little butterfly.”
    “That doesn’t mean I have to follow through on using your services.”  I wasn’t going to let him die so easily. Not him or Duncan or any of the other warriors created in his likeness.
    “So you’re determined to leave?” he asked.
    I nodded, and he closed in on me , saying goodbye the only way he knew how. At this point, stopping him from taking me into his arms was impossible. He yanked my body against his, holding me far rougher than necessary.
    He kissed me, and my knees went unbearably weak. I couldn’t control the way I melted from his touch. Or how much I missed him after he released me.
    All I could do was lift my chin and walk bravely out the door, doing my damnedest to keep him alive.

 
    Chapter Six
     
    Getting to the present realm was easy . We just imagined that we were there and voila, we arrived in the middle of a country road, rife with small town charm. Birds lined up on power poles, chirping in the sun, with an occasional car or truck chugging by.
    It could have been Anywhere , USA. But it wasn’t, I reminded myself. I was knee-deep in a hallucination, trying to help Duncan stay alive when he didn’t even believe that he was going to die.
    Seve n glanced around, taking in our surroundings. “At least we landed in the right area.”
    “Are we in the vicinity of the warrior’s home?” I asked, wondering what the other warrior, the one we’d just left behind, was doing.
    “Yes, ” Seven replied. “We’re fairly close to where he lives.”  He gestured to where the road became less visible. “It’s over that ridge.”
    “How would you know?” Face mocked . “Because you peeked down your pants and looked into your crystal balls?” 
    The psychic wasn’t having any of it . “Fuck off, Humpty Dumpty, and mind your own business.”
    I bit back a smile . Face did look like a depiction from that nursery rhyme, but without the arms and legs. Mr. Potato Head had been an accurate description of him, too.
    When he spotted my amused expression, he flew behind us and skulked, but I figured it was only a matter of time before he made a pest of himself again.
    As for Bud, he walked along, puffing on a stinky cigar and keeping his thoughts to himself. Dingo pranced happily beside him, pausing to lift his leg now and then.
    While the dog piddled in front of a farmhouse dotted with wildflowers, we all stopped to wait for him . Seven kept busy by reaching down to pluck a bright blue blossom.
    “It’s pretty around here,” I said , much too aware of the sentiment. Blue was Abby’s favorite color.
    He tucked the flower into a buttonhole in his shirt. “I grew up in the present realm. But it wasn’t in an area like this. I was a city dweller, sleeping in back alleys and stealing food to survive.”
    “Duncan went dumpster diving when he was on the streets, eating other people’s leftovers. He’s obsessive about hoarding groceries now.” Only he hadn’t grown up in 105. His life had been immersed in reality, aside from the strange stories Jack used to tell him. But Jack was sick, like me, so Duncan didn’t believe those stories any more than he believed mine.
    Seven resumed walking, and I fell into step beside him.
    He softly said, “It was tough sometimes, being by myself. I was only eleven when Abby created me, and I didn’t have any family. Eventually she created Dingo, Face, and Bud, and I hung out with them, but at first it was just me.”
    At least Duncan had Jack from the beginning, I thought . “I’m sorry.”
    “I was scared of the monsters . I knew they were going to try to attack me someday. Abby told me that from the start.”
    My sister had informed me about the border monsters, too, educating me about their lurking-in-the-shadows history. They were the same type of creatures that hid under children’s beds and