Shadow of Hope by Elizabeth Rose, Tina Pollick Page A

shouldn’t bother him, but it was. The look she gave him wasn’t that of a witch sentenced to death…it was of a human woman who had been crushed by an action committed. An action he himself instigated. He betrayed the person he was supposed to give his life to protect. It was a slight on his honor, as well as his humanity.
    He grabbed the wraps and gloves, put them on and headed into the gym. Why should she feel betrayed by him? They were strangers he just met her. He grunted. That was a lie and he knew it.
    He walked up to the bag and struck it. He felt a little better, but it was going to take a lot more before he felt like a decent human being again. He punched the bag over, first throwing just some simple jabs, followed by the intermittent crosses. He intensified his techniques, throwing complicated combos involving hooks and uppercuts. Sweat beaded on his forehead as he put his full weight into each punishing blow.
    He watched Zoe since she was in her teens. His grandfather warned him not to get to o close to her and keep his distance. His grandfather explained that a warrior who served to protect could not afford to become entangled with the person they were watching over. That led to compromise and compromise was the heart of failure.
    He thought he had done exactly that, but if he had , why did the look on her face haunt him? He served a greater purpose, he served the one true God, and he couldn’t allow himself to be swayed from his path, his mission. For the briefest of seconds, Evan lamented being bound to someone else’s obligation. He had not asked for this, nor did he have a choice. His father had already refused the honor and Evan was now the Last of the Templars. Curse one man for damning an entire lineage. Damn you, Sir Rhodan!
    He would fulfill his families promise. He would make sure she stayed safe, but he would keep his distance. As that thought entered his mind, so did the sight of her sleeping on the couch. She had not appeared as a witch then. In fact, she appeared almost angelic. She appeared like a normal woman who Evan could have a normal life with.
    Yeah right. Who am I kidding? There is no ‘normal’ for those who have chosen to serve the Sword. Back when I was young, it was different, the tales, the heroes. But I see now that there is nothing left for my kind but to babysit and fulfill obligations we never chose to hold. His past and present were at odds. What he was raised to believe and where his heart was leading him was not the same path.
    He swung at the bag until exhaustion threatened to overtake him. He collapsed to the ground, both mentally and physically fatigued. He glanced up at the sky paying homage to the man who raised him.
    “I will not succumb, grandfather. You trained me to overcome. These conflicting emotions which cloud the mind have no place in a warrior’s heart. Whether by my own choice or someone else’s I have been chosen to serve, as befits a Templar Knight.”
    Evan wondered if his grandfather heard the hollow echo he heard as he said each word.

Chapter: Seven
    Lucian walked two miles to a white cottage style house on foot, keeping to the shadows. He had dropped his cab fare just before that, preferring to take no chances of being tailed by any diligent eyes that may be watching. He tested the door, pushing lightly. There was no give. It was locked.
    He looked around once more before producing a hand-sized cordless drill from the pocket in his dark duster. He hated using something with such a distinctive whining noise, but speed was the prerogative here and this was the fastest way to accomplish a break-in these days.  He placed the tip of the drill against the lock housing and depressed the trigger.
    The stark whine lasted only as long as it took to punch through the metal housing of the lock, which was all of about three seconds max. He pushed the door open and walked in.  He surveyed the living room. If the house followed the standard layout of most