Angelfall theosophi box.., p.1
Angelfall: Theosophi Box Set, page 1
Angelfall: Theosophi Box Set
By T.A. Creech
Published by JMS Books LLC
Visit jms-books.com for more information.
Copyright 2017 T.A. Creech
ISBN 9781634864954
Cover Design: Written Ink Designs | written-ink.com
Image(s) used under a Standard Royalty-Free License.
All rights reserved.
WARNING: This book is not transferable. It is for your own personal use. If it is sold, shared, or given away, it is an infringement of the copyright of this work and violators will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
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This book is for ADULT AUDIENCES ONLY. It may contain sexually explicit scenes and graphic language which might be considered offensive by some readers. Please store your files where they cannot be accessed by minors.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are solely the product of the author’s imagination and/or are used fictitiously, though reference may be made to actual historical events or existing locations. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Published in the United States of America.
* * * *
Angelfall: Theosophi Box Set
By T.A. Creech
Sentinel
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Herald
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
General
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Assassin
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Sentinel
Pam, Meeka, and Ian, thanks for the boot in the butt. And to Robbie, thanks for believing in me.
Chapter 1
A flash of light against the darkening sky made Jason rein in his horse. He had seen a lot of weird things happen during harvest season, because Arkansas was home to a sparse and kooky population. Something that looked like a fireball falling to the ground was outside even the normal level of strange. The thunderheads looming purple in the distance had convinced him it was time to head inside for the day, but his damned curiosity prodded him to watch the fireball come down.
Just as the thing sped out of sight above his pumpkin patch, the ground heaved, and Set danced aside with a started snort. The sound reached him a second later as Jason shushed at the big black horse, a roar so loud his ears rang as he tried to get Set under control.
“Fuck was that?” And no, Jason didn’t want to know why he expected Set to answer him. Still, the horse seemed to be of the same mind as he pranced and pulled against the tightly held reins, nickering to Jason or the world in general.
Well, that answered Jason’s question. “Okay, we’ll go and see the thing. Maybe it was a meteorite?”
Jason prodded Set into a canter in an effort to avoid the clusters of pumpkin mounds that packed the field like sardines. Set was family as much as Jason’s brothers were and he refused to force him through the loose dirt pitches and maybe break an ankle.
The backyard and stable passed in a blur and they flew through the first couple acres of the massive pumpkin patch. Almost smack in the middle of the sixth acre, the rings of destruction started. Pumpkins overturned and torn from their vines marked the outer boundary. Gently reining in his horse, Jason guided Set through the mess at a careful walk, wincing at the sheer amount of crop lost.
He scrambled out of the saddle the second they reached the center of the crater, and had to grab a stirrup to keep himself upright. It was not a meteorite.
Wings.
The huge appendages spread in a black oil spill across the ground. Flight feathers were as long as his arm and splattered with pumpkin guts, but where was the monstrous bird such large wings belonged to?
Jason didn’t worry about Set when he dropped the ground tie. The horse would not wander away from his human without good reason and Jason didn’t want to chance some nasty, unknown parasite on the wings getting a hold of his companion. Set simply huffed and dug his nose in Jason’s back to get him moving, as if annoyed that Jason was looking out for his safety. Damn horse was too aware for a mere animal, in Jason’s opinion.
He crouched and shuffled on the balls of his feet to the longest inky feathers stuck over the crest of the shallow depression in the dirt. They were so damned beautiful and he couldn’t help himself. Soft, silky warmth glided across his skin as he slid his hand into the feathers, instead of the stiff bristle Jason was expecting. The damn things looked like they belonged on a raptor.
A gentle tug didn’t move the wing when he tweaked the feathers, not even a twitch of life. Jason had to know, though, so he fisted feathers in his sweaty hand and yanked.
“Holy shit,” he breathed as the wing slid away.
The man curled underneath the feathers was beyond beautiful. Even in the weak light, the deep olive of his skin shone under grime from the pumpkin patch, stretched taut over a heavily muscled frame. Long, curly, raven-black hair partly obscured a Persian face. He was wearing the strangest clothes, a metal and leather top that split and left his side exposed with no fastenings that Jason could see. The fact that the large feet were bare was weird too. The guy looked like a boxer, but how did he get into the patch without his shoes?
Jason gently brushed the being’s curls away from his face and neck, exposing the swan-like throat. He took a chance and lightly pressed his fingers to the spot just below the hinge of the jaw, and blew out a hard breath when he felt a heavy, slow beat.
Jason sat back on his heels and pulled out his phone. Danny and Levi were out of town until tomorrow, but Adam would work. He pressed the button and Adam picked up after the second ring.
“I thought you’d be back at the house by now, Jace.” Little shit never bothered with a greeting when Jason called. “The weather report is calling for a bad storm within the hour.”
“Yeah, I was heading in. Something happened.” Jason paused, not sure how much his brother would believe. He decided to keep it simple until Adam saw the man. “I found someone in the middle of the patch. He’s out cold and it’s getting too dark to tell how banged up he is, but he’s in desperate need of some clean up. Meet me at the door in about twenty minutes, okay?”
Adam groaned. “You and your strays.” Jason was willing to bet Adam was rolling his eyes. “Fine. Ten minutes. Haul ass.”
The beep of disconnection echoed down the line, but Jason would lecture his brother later, after he dealt with the problem at hand. He fetched the extra horse blanket he kept in Set’s saddle bag, and spread it out as flat as possible. He tucked the giant wings as close to the man as feasible and rolled him belly down onto the blanket. Jason was no slouch, and the man wasn’t close to the weight he was expecting with so much mass, but Jason grew winded anyway from simply rolling him.
Wrapping the blanket the rest of the way around the being, Jason lifted him up and cradled him close as he picked his way back to Set. “Hey, Set, kneel down, would you?”
Set obeyed the command with easy grace for such a big horse, making it a simple matter to lay the stranger across the animal’s wide back. Set got to his hooves without difficulty when Jason gave a crisp snap to the reins.
A roll of thunder cracked the quiet twilight. Jason hopped into the saddle and rearranged the man to lounge against chest, head tucked under his chin and body held tightly in place. “Let’s get home before this storm breaks. And I’ll get you something nice for all the extra work you put in tonight.”
The horse whickered to Jason, in thanks or exasperation was anyone’s guess, and Set gave them a smooth ride home.
* * * *
“Please tell me the reason you wrapped that piece of man up is because he’s naked under there.”
Jason rolled his eyes. His brothers would be the death of him one day. “No, he’s not naked. Get your ass over here and help.”
Adam sighed, but obeyed, coming up to Set’s left and steadying the stranger as Jason dismounted. Happily, Adam was almost as big as Jason himself, tall and solid as a brick wall. Four years of military service had cut almost all of the fat off the third Thomas brother, but it couldn’t touch the baby-faced, band boy look from Adam. It sure as shit didn’t touch the green eyes and ash blond hair—a gift from their mother. With a little maneuvering, the man was back in Jason’s arms in no time. “Any chance you could get Set bedded down?”
With a half-hearted glare at Jason, Adam clucked at the horse and Set followed the human to the little stable like a puppy. Damn, Jason loved that horse.
The sky broke open in a down
He left the odd skirt thing in place for modesty’s sake and rifled through the linen closet in the spacious hall for towels and washcloths. Clomping boots echoed through the plain country house and Jason was already issuing commands before he saw Adam. “Grab the stock pot out of the kitchen and bring it full of warm water!”
Jason strode back into his room and dumped his load of fabric on his bed. It took a minute to find the tiny, barely used wastebasket tucked next to his bed, and by the time Adam wandered in with the water, Jason had already set to work.
Crashing into the pumpkins had sure made a mess. Jason took his time, pulling big, mashed pieces off the inky blackness to reveal more feathers than he could count in a lifetime. They shone in the bright light of the room, an iridescent shimmer spanning the rainbow every time Jason moved the wings. It was one of the most beautiful things he had ever seen. Of course his younger brother had to butt in.
“What in the hell?” Adam barely breathed the question; the quietest Jason had heard him in years. He glanced across the bed at his brother, pale as a ghost, green eyes so wide Jason was afraid they would fall out of Adam’s head.
“No idea. Found him out in the middle of the patch.” He shrugged and took the water from Adam before he dropped it. “I saw a meteorite going over and tried to follow it to where it fell. Found this guy instead.”
That got him a slack-jawed look and a near hysterical chuckle. “You found an angel in our field and didn’t think to mention it before bringing him home? Are you out of your mind?” Adam shook his head. “Wait until Dan and Levi found out. They are gonna freak. Hell, the whole world will shit itself when they find out about this guy!”
“No.” Jason didn’t know where the low growl in his voice came from, nor the near paralyzing fear, but he rolled with it. “Absolutely no one except for us, Danny and Levi will know about him. He’s hurt and we are going to fix him up and wait until he’s awake enough to explain what he’s doing here. After we get him back on his feet, he can tell the world if he wants.”
“But—”
“No.” Giving Adam a pointed look, he asked, “Now, are you going to help me clean him up, or not?”
Adam frowned, but helped, dunking washcloths in the pot and wringing them out as Jason needed.
Eyeballing the appendages, Jason started with the left wing at the top, where the wings sprouted from what looked like the shoulder blades and collar bones in a fluffy cascade. It took an unbelievable amount of time to wipe the dirt away. Still, seeing the glossiness underneath was a reward in its own right.
An hour later and filthy up to his elbows, Jason surveyed his work with a proud smile. Not bad. Turning to his silent brother, he quirked an eyebrow.
“Yeah, yeah. Good job.” Adam crossed his arms. “Now what?”
“Uh.” That was a great question. “Maybe we should clean the rest of him up?”
“You want to get that angel naked and give him a sponge bath?” Adam’s baby face brightened with a wicked grin as Jason felt his whole body tingle hot with a blush he knew showed on his face.
“Just go get clean water and more washcloths.”
“Okay, but it’s your funeral if he wakes up.”
Jason took a second to flip his brother the bird as Adam cackled his way to the bathroom. “Impudent little shit.” While Adam was busy with his task, Jason rearranged his guest on his bed. He stretched the wings across the pillows and rolled the man to his side so the potentially fragile appendages weren’t in danger of being crushed. He was ready when Adam came back with another steaming pot.
Fuck his life, but the being was even more stunning in his room’s dim lamp light. With barely any pressure, Jason wiped the dirt away from the high, full cheeks and painfully straight nose, down to the sinfully curved lips and square jaw. The soft skin underneath was a darker color, almost a bronze instead of the gold that he first thought he saw.
He carried on past the throat and over the abnormally muscled shoulders, carefully swiping the grime from the man’s chest. Just below the dark brown nipple on the left, Jason found a raised rope of knotted tissue that trailed almost to his hip. Since he couldn’t ask the question of where the vicious scar came from, Jason moved on, legs and belly getting the same care.
After a brief debate with himself, Jason figured his guest was clean enough until he was on his feet. That horse blanket had to go though. He knew just how itchy it could get from experience. Jason glanced at his hovering brother.
“Come on. Let’s tuck this guy in.”
Groaning, Adam helped roll the man onto his stomach and inched the blanket out from under his dead weight at the same time. “Hate to rain on your parade Jace, but where are you going to sleep with the angel in your bed?” One last tug and the blanket came free, which Adam tossed toward the door. “I don’t have to tell you how awful our couch is to crash on.”
That was true. Their battered, old couch was lumpy and threadbare and too small for anyone who stood over five feet. “No clue.” Mulling the possibilities, he folded the black wings where they seemed to bend naturally and threw his heavy comforter over the entire being. Exhausted, he sat on the edge of his bed. “I doubt he should be left alone, so I’ll probably stay in here.”
Adam plopped down next to him, eyes wide with concern. “You sure that’s a good idea? Angel or not, this one could be crazy when he wakes up. I don’t like it.”
Jason snorted and then grinned. “Please. I may not have been a kick ass soldier like you or Danny, but I can hold my own.” That earned him an eye roll. “Do I need to remind you how badly I stomped on you the last time?”
“No.” It was a mock sullen answer and they both knew it. “Still, I got a weird feeling about this. You could always sleep in my room.”
“I think I’ll just camp out in here. Make a spot on the floor.”
“Your neck,” Adam replied.
He bumped his shoulder against Adam’s, playful. “Get out of here. Sleep.”
“Fine.” Adam grinned and started to slip out of the room, but stopped at the door. “I want it on the record though. I let you win last time.”
Little shit.
* * * *
That night, Jason dreamed of stars he had never seen and woke with the sound of feathers rustling, moving to the cadence of a deep, lilting voice. By dawn, it had flittered away like a delicate butterfly in a stiff breeze.
* * * *
The next morning, his guest had not so much as twitched from where Jason had laid him. In fact, Jason felt a misplaced moment of blind panic until he checked for the being’s pulse. Adam laughed when Jason told him about it, but the unnatural stillness from the guy was unnerving. Jason didn’t know any better, but he would swear the man was in a coma because he was so still.
Danny and Levi waltzed through the door that afternoon, trailing rain water and bickering about their trip, and was welcomed as the distraction Jason needed. Also, dreaded. Jason had no fucking clue what they were going to say about the new house guest.
It figured that smart, observant Levi would pick up Jason’s mood first. “What did we miss?”
“Well…” He scrubbed a hand over his face, still not quite himself after the troubled sleep he had. He was stalling and both his brothers could tell, if the sharp looks they gave him were anything to go by. “You see, there was this thing that crashed in the middle of the pumpkins. I saw the damn thing fly over and tried to find it, but I ran into something else first.”
“No.” Danny dropped his bag as his voice took on a hard edge. Danny towered over them all, despite being second born. His face had a natural hard, fierce edge to it unless he smiled like a sweet country bumpkin. His eyes were just as hazel as Levi’s and Jason’s, hair a toffee brown and another brother who chose the Army, built to match. Danny would’ve probably stayed in the service if an IED hadn’t torn up the right side of his body, and the scars still caused Jason to flinch at times. He never should have let his brothers go. That went double when Danny put on his drill sergeant face, like he was now. “You didn’t bring home another one of your strays, Jason.”
