Kelly Guardian Wars

Part One
1. Auflage 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4835-6068-7
Verlag: BookBaby
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: Adobe DRM (»Systemvoraussetzungen)

E-Book, Englisch, 288 Seiten

Twenty year old Olivia Tremaine is the daughter of a very wealthy family. They expect her to fit in and follow the guidelines of her Sector, but she doesn't. Not by a long shot. In Olivia's world, money is power which is why her country is divided into Sectors, separated by wealth. Being from the wealthiest sector, Olivia has a Guardian who was purchased by her parents to protect and care for her. Rowan and Olivia have spent nearly a decade together, but once Olivia is married he will be forced to leave her. When she is introduced to her future husband, Olivia and Rowan are forced to face their true feelings for each other. Because of Rowan's position as Olivia's Guardian, they are forbidden from being together, and no one in the prestigious Sector is allowed to choose their own partner. The barriers already seem insurmountable when Rowan becomes violent with Olivia's overzealous fiancé and is forced to flee. Rowan leaves the heavily dependent Olivia to follow through with their plan to stay together. Olivia must find the strength to begin a dangerous and life-altering journey in an effort to reunite with her Guardian, and learn to stand on her own two feet.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Kelly, James

Leseproben

CHAPTER 1 My mother had often referred to me as untamable. I knew that she meant it as an insult to my character, but I always took it as a great compliment. The word she so begrudgingly used to describe me lingered in my mind as I tried desperately to accept my inevitable fate. “You really don’t want to know?” Rowan asked from the doorway that separated my bedroom from his study. I simply shook my head and stared out into the night as I sat perched on the windowsill of my twelfth floor apartment. I was attempting to think of anything but the envelope my mother would have received earlier that day. Rowan huffed loudly. “I don’t believe that. Even I’m curious to find out who you’ve been matched with, and we both know how I feel about this whole process,” he teased with a sarcastic laugh. Two weeks prior I had taken my mandatory compatibility test to determine the person in my Sector that I should spend my life with. The results were based loosely on personality traits and individual preferences, and more strictly on monetary and social standing in the Sector. The envelope that should have arrived at my parents’ house that day would contain a copy of my test, along with the name of the person I was most suited to marry. My twenty-first birthday was only 6 months away, and I had until then to either accept or reject a marriage proposal from my match. I wasn’t required to marry the person selected for me, but it had become tradition to marry within the findings of your test. No one had gone against the test results since our Sector government initiated it nearly twenty years ago. Other sectors had tried to adopt the same method, but for some reason Sector 1 was the only one who still mandated the test. Our Sector’s leader, Dante, was a firm believer that money was the only true power in the world. As a result, all of his decisions and rules were based on that philosophy. As I stared out my window thoughtfully, I could see other young girls like myself walking across the large campus of The University with their protectors, their Guardians, by their side. It was so easy to forget about the dangers of our world, but the presence of the Guardians was a constant reminder of what lay outside the safety of our Sector. In Sector 1, we were safe. We didn’t need to worry about the things that transpired in the lower classes. Even from my current height, I could see that the girls below me were not friendly with their Guardians. Their relationships were forced and typical. Not like mine and Rowan’s. I smiled fondly at the thought of my Guardian. “I’m going to call it a night.” His deep voice startled me as it broke through the heavy silence. I jumped slightly before turning towards the doorway of my bedroom. Rowan still stood there, leaning casually against the door frame. “Did I scare you?” he asked, with a grin. “No, I was just lost in thought,” I defended myself against his teasing expression. He nodded before stifling a yawn with his hand. I looked at the clock beside my bed and saw that it was almost ten o’clock. “Do you need anything before I go to bed?” he asked, reaching his arms above his head, and stretching them from side to side. His shirt lifted with his arms and revealed a small pistol tucked into the waistband of his pants. I averted my eyes quickly. The gun that he carried always made me nervous. I knew that Rowan was well-trained, and that the gun’s safety was always in place, but it was a dark reminder of our country’s checkered past, and why it and the man who wore it were there. “I’m fine. I’m done studying for the night, so I’ll probably turn in as well,” I answered in agreement, still not looking directly at him. He lowered his arms and adjusted his shirt to cover the pistol. I had final exams coming up, and despite the long hours of studying I had put in that day, I still didn’t feel like I had learned anything. He walked over to me and kissed the top of my head gingerly. “Goodnight, Olivia,” he murmured before turning and walking back towards his study. “Goodnight,” I said in return as he shut the door of my bedroom behind him. I gathered up the textbooks I had spread out along the bench seat under my window and dropped them unceremoniously onto my desk, before walking stiffly to my bed and crawling under the duvet. I hadn’t realized how long I had been sitting in the window until Rowan interrupted me. I lavished in the feel of the cool sheets against my feet as I stretched my legs out as far as they could reach. Once I had switched the lamp off beside my bed, I let my thoughts wander back to the unknown in the Sectors outside of mine. I didn’t need to worry about the threats that they presented to me and the other wealthy girls in my Sector. I had Rowan, and I knew that he would always protect me. I could hear muffled sounds coming from his room as he prepared for bed, and I smiled affectionately as I pictured him going through his evening routine. The weight of what would happen the next day bared down on me, though, causing my smile to falter. Unlike most willing girls in our Sector, I had no desire to find out who our government thought I should marry. I squeezed my eyes shut in an effort to block out the frustration that swirled around in my head. Soon I was drifting away, into a restless sleep. Just as they had a hundred times before, the walls around me vibrated in response to an earth shattering ‘BOOM.’ It wasn’t long before the yellow light of fire outside my window illuminated my entire room. A dense fog of smoke was beginning to cloud my vision as the heat closed in around me. I knew the flames would soon follow the smoke that had begun to creep under the door. I coughed as it stung my nostrils. Panic set in and I began to scream. No words formed in my mouth, but screams flowed freely across my tongue. No one heard. As flames licked the edge of dirty carpet that ran beneath the door, I continued to scream. Still no one came. I screamed louder, as the heat became unbearable. I shot up in my bed clutching my burning throat, slowly becoming aware that I was awake but still screaming. Tears streamed down my cheeks. I looked around my room desperately. There was no fire, but I was still alone. I opened my mouth to yell out, but before I had a chance to call his name, Rowan burst through my bedroom door. He knelt beside the bed and knowingly reached his hand out to wipe a tear from my cheek. “Was it the fire again?” he asked softly. “Yeah,” I muttered helplessly in response. “I thought we were done with that nightmare,” he sighed as he pulled back my duvet, and in an inappropriate yet familiar gesture, sat down on my bed beside me. As he pulled the blanket across his own legs and leaned back against the headboard, his arm opened welcomingly towards me. His closeness immediately began filling my body with a sense of calm. I leaned into his chest and buried my face in his shirt. His open arm closed around my back, and he began rubbing my arm methodically. “What time is it?” I asked still softly weeping. “4:00 A.M. Go back to sleep,” he answered with a yawn. “I don’t want to. It will make tomorrow come too soon,” I said, still feeling overcome with dread anticpating the following day’s events. “I know you don’t want to know who has been selected for you, Olivia, but it’s going to happen. You need to stop trying to avoid the inevitable. In less than a year you will be married and you won’t need me here to save you from your bad dreams anymore,” he said in an eerily quiet voice. “I still think we should just run away,” I suggested, jokingly. Rowan laughed softly, making my head bounce against his chest. “Sleep,” he commanded. I closed my eyes and tried, but I couldn’t seem to force myself back into unconsciousness. The fear of what awaited me in my dreams haunted me. I had suffered through the same nightmare for as long as I could remember. It was always the same, almost like a memory. I couldn’t speak, but I could scream. I screamed for someone to rescue me, but no one ever came. I always woke up before the fire reached me, but it didn’t make the dream any less scary. I didn’t like that I wasn’t safe there. I was safe when I was awake and with Rowan. “I can’t. Keep talking to me,” I pleaded. “Your sister won’t be happy when you’re yawning during her wedding rehearsal tomorrow,” he scolded. I knew he didn’t care what my older sister, Lynette, thought. She was the kind of person who held herself with the highest esteem, and expected everyone else to do the same. With the exception of Rowan and myself, everyone pretty much did. “Just tell me a quick story. Make something up if you have to,” I said as I looked up at him with puppy dog eyes. This was not a new game. Rowan had started...