Bound by Revenge (Guardian Series) by Jennifer Thibeault Page A

out the other side. She was stunning in her deep purple dress. It tied around her waist, emphasizing her natural curves and exposing just the right amount of cleavage over the top. It was a look that drew attention and envy from both men and women. Her black, patent leather stilettos elongated her already impossibly long legs.
    As the town car pulled away, Leus wrapped his hand gently around Arriana’s arm and led her to the door. Tonight she would be treated like a queen. The doorman held open the entrance just as the hostess walked up and greeted them by name.
    The best table in the house. That’s what he asked for in front of everyone in the place and that’s what they got. Every face turned as he spoke and they continued to watch them as they took their seats. A low murmur went through the room like a wave, the other guests quietly debated over who they could be, why they got such royal treatment and why the chef came out to personally bring them their meals, not retreating to the kitchen until they had each tasted the dishes and gave praise to the chef for his skill.
    Arriana ate up every moment of attention. It was well worth the cost , Leus thought to himself, as he paid the bill when the meal was done. Twelve hundred dollars. That’s what it cost him to give her all of this. The bill didn’t say that of course but the amount was agreed on ahead of time, when he made the arrangements, when he decided to give her something that she would never have in the colony.
    That fateful moment, as he pulled out the chair for his beautiful Arriana, when they prepared to end their evening of high society to return home to their normal lives, a loud crash came from the far side of the room.
    Leus looked over and repositioned himself to block Arriana from the intrusion. He saw a group of five men rushing into the room. They were trained fighters, all of them large men, wearing solid black, faces covered in ski masks and carrying a variety of large guns. With neither uniformity in dress nor in weaponry, Leus knew instantly that this was not human law enforcement. It was something far more dangerous.
    Smoke filled the room and gun fire seemed to come from all directions, taking out anything in its path. In a moment of terror, Arriana ran for the door at the front of the room.
    Leus bolted after her to try to protect her from the chaos that was invading from all directions but she was ahead of him and panicked humans and strewn about chairs slowed him down.
    He watched in horror as Arriana ran straight into the arms of one of the attackers.
    She showed the spunk that Leus had always known she possessed. Arriana fought with all her might to break free and she bit the arm that held her close.
    The man pulled his arm back in pain. He didn’t seem to expect any fight from such a proper looking young woman.
    Instead of taking that opportunity to save his Arriana, to drag her out of the fight, he followed his instincts and attacked the man who dared to touch his wife.
    Leus fought hard and took down the man with little effort. He’d been trained to fight like all leanthan males, and the human didn’t have a chance but Leus wasted precious time enjoying the harm he caused. It was time he could never get back.
    In that second, he heard the sound that changed his life. A single deafening shot. His Arriana was down, bleeding from a gunshot through the chest. A shot that showed no signs of self healing. It had to be from a bullet from an immortal’s gun, the only things that could kill their kind. But these men weren’t demons, they weren’t angels, they were human.
    Leus’ life ended with hers. Only two things mattered to him anymore, his children, the only part of his Arriana left in this world, and revenge. As soon as the humans crossed the line from sharing the planet with the leanthans to being a threat to their kind, he knew he would reignite the war that had ended centuries before.
    In the name of Arriana, he vowed to destroy any