The Castle: Prequel to the Guardian Angel Series

by Melissa Johnson

  Chapter 5

  Two more days passed before Heather could teleport back to Dragon’s Keep. She’d spent more time than she cared to calculate in Thaddeus’ company and found it nearly impossible to get a moment to herself, much less leave for any amount of time. A bout of morning sickness came to her unwitting aid to give her some space to make her escape.

  She arrived within the Council Chambers to find the Councilors bent over Thaddeus’ documents strewn out across the table and along the side credenzas. She barely had time to realize it was a war room before they noticed her.

  “Heather, dear girl! We’ve been so worried!” Edward was the first to greet her and the others chimed in with similar sentiments.

  Their welcome left her more than stunned. The change in their attitude, so different from days ago, was a lot to take in. It might be going too far to call them humbled, but they were certainly less arrogant. Sleepless nights were evident by their unkempt appearance and weary expressions. Eric too. Standing next to a map pinned to the wall, his shirt sleeves were rolled up and he held a pointer in his hand. He immediately set the pointer down and walked swiftly to her. He pulled her into his arms for a quick, fierce hug before setting her back, his hands on her upper arms. The anger was gone. He looked deeply worried, more so than she’d ever seen him as he searched her face.

  “Are you all right? You don’t look well.”

  “I’m fine.” She lied, just hoping she didn’t start to cry.

  “What has been happening at the Castle?” Darius asked impatiently.

  She reluctantly turned to address the Council, thankful for Eric’s hand at the base of her spine. Where to begin?

  “Yesterday Thaddeus held a meeting in the Gathering Room and presented everyone with a copy of Guardian Rules.” Ultimately she had refused to speak to the Guardians on his behalf – only going so far as to angrily hand out his manual. An unwise defiance, as it had turned out.

  “Is this the document?”

  Eric moved aside loose scrolls to uncover a tattered notebook. Heather skimmed through the pages, recognizing the draft of Thaddeus’ manifesto. “Yes, this is it.”

  She was relieved they seemed to have made a dent in studying his documents and it saved her the time of explaining.

  “You say he presented this yesterday? He didn’t waste time.”

  “No, he did not.” She had stalled for as long as she could by spending endless hours with Thaddeus discussing his favorite subjects – himself and his plans. But the meeting had gone forward and Thaddeus had surprised her again. “The meeting also featured a demonstration of the banishment.”

  Eric swore and the others added their various murmurs of shock.

  “He actually did this?” Edward asked, his outrage evident. “What happened?”

  Heather took a breath and tried to keep her report of the event unemotional. “Thaddeus nominated two volunteers. He took great pains to explain to everyone what banishment meant and that what was about to happen next was only a demonstration. Then he cast his spell…and they were gone.”

  The Council silently absorbed this. While it was routine for a Guardian to teleport, they had never experienced forcing a Guardian to go anywhere against their will.

  “We didn’t know where he sent them,” Heather continued. “Thaddeus told us to look for them and he invited us to use every resource. But nothing we tried allowed us to track their whereabouts. It wasn’t like when the children disappeared.”

  “They didn’t leave a trace?” Darius asked.

  “None.

  “And they didn’t come back on their own?”

  “No. Eventually Thaddeus brought them back. And they told us what it had been like. They tried to return to the Castle, but could not. What’s more, they had no powers in the world. They were…normal.”

  She couldn’t prevent a shudder. “The whole thing lasted less than an hour but it felt like forever. No one is under any illusion that it couldn’t be forever if he chose.”

  “A warning.” Eric said grimly.

  “A completed experiment,” added a Councilman from the far end of the table. All eyes turned to Henry, who spoke so rarely one usually forgot he was there. “Thaddeus tried this before. Remember Alric?”

  “Halley’s husband?” Heather couldn’t have been more shocked. Alric had died in the line of duty.

  Henry flipped the pages on one of the journals in front of him. He cleared his throat and began to read. “Could not finish the experiment. Alric perished while in the second phase. Third phase should work, but running out of time.”

  Henry looked up. “It appears the third phase was the extraction. The Guardians he chose were more fortunate than Alric.”

  Heather felt sick. “He didn’t even know for sure if he could bring them back.”

  Eric abruptly pulled out a chair. “Sit down. You’re as pale as a sheet.”

  She sat and Eric poured her a glass of water. “Who were they, Heather?” he asked gently. “Who were the volunteers he nominated?”

  Her throat felt tight and she took a difficult swallow. It had been easier to keep saying ‘they.’

  “Marigold and Seymour,” she said thickly.

  “He chose your friends.” Eric frowned, obviously drawing the conclusion it hadn’t been a coincidence. “Were they harmed?”

  “No, thank the heavens.”

  Her chin lifted. He hadn’t demanded again that she bring him across, but she almost dared him to say this risky demonstration wouldn’t have happened if she’d brought him back earlier. If he but knew it, she was close to folding, in spite of the fact Eric and the Council were obviously committed to a new strategy – the very thing she’d fought so hard for. She hoped they had a plan because she desperately needed some good news.

  “What about the Barrier?” she asked abruptly. “Do you think the spell can be neutralized?”

  Eric looked like he wanted to say something else, but nodded. “We think so, yes. But we will have to test it as the Castle.” He moved back to the map on the wall and pointed to a location. “We will do that here.”

  Heather recognized the Castle layout, but she could not identify the room. “Where is that? I have a map but it doesn’t seem to match.”

  “You won’t find it on your map. Fitzsimmons added a secret room.”

  “Thaddeus doesn’t know? You’re certain?”

  Eric gave a short nod. “My brother won’t even know we’re there.”

  She noticed he said we. “You won’t act alone?”

  Darius answered her question when Eric scowled at her a bit too long. “Henry is best qualified to perform the spell. We also propose you bring across as many of us as the room will hold.”

  “Does that meet with your approval, wife?” Eric asked, his lips twisting wryly.

  “Yes, it’s perfect!” She caught his dig but didn’t care. The relief nearly overwhelmed her, but her mind quickly moved on to the logistics and timing of bringing across the Council and, she assumed, other Guardians. “When do we start?”

  Her elation subsided when Eric hesitated. “We will have a better idea once we decipher the spell.”

  And then they still had to alter it. Her glance darted from Eric to the Council members and landed on Henry, who didn’t meet her eye. “You aren’t even close are you?”

  She didn’t think she could stand it if it took very long.

  “Heather.” She jerked her head back to Eric. He stepped forward and rested his palms on either side of the armrests of her chair. Practically nose to nose, the rest of the Council faded into the background.

  His deep voice wrapped around her. “If I thought it looked hopeless we wouldn’t be trying. I wouldn’t hesitate to say we had already cracked the spell so you would bring us across, starting with me.”

  “You would trick me!”

  “I would.”

  She should be o
ffended, but his confession reassured her…and she couldn’t help but admire his strategy. “That might have worked.”

  “Thank you.”

  Now she was offended. “I was not complimenting you!”

  “I think you were.” He straightened and recruited the opinion of Council. “Who agrees my wife was complimenting me?”

  “Absolutely,” seconded one of them. Heather glanced at Kendrick and had a suspicion he almost smiled.

  “Oh! I see I am outnumbered.” But the trust the Council placed in her touched her deeply. “Thaddeus is outnumbered too. I am certain you will unravel his scheme in a fraction of the time it took him to put it together.”

  The grandfather clock in the corner chimed and Heather bit her lip, realizing she should go back to the Castle.

  Eric snagged her hand. “A moment.”

  He led her into the shadows of the corridor outside the chambers, leaving the doors open to allow light into the interior space.

  “Your argument not to show our hand before we’re ready had merit.” He spoke quietly and nodded at the direction of the table full of documents seen through the doorway. “I won’t underestimate my brother.”

  She nodded.

  He pulled her close, wrapping his arms around her. His breath stirred against her temples. “I saw sketches in Thaddeus’ journals, Heather. Not just of the experiments, but of you.”

  She trembled and his arms tightened.

  “Has he…?”

  “No! Nothing has happened. I swear, nothing has happened.” Nothing she couldn’t recover from, that is, once this was over. He held her so tight, as if he’d never let her go. What could she say? That his brother sought to take his place? She hated that Thaddeus had been right, in his own way, when he’d been so certain she wouldn’t tell Eric what he’d done. He’d thought he’d separated them forever. Only now she still had to keep silent while in her husband’s arms.

  “I want you to stay.”

  It was hard to refuse him when he didn’t frame his preference as an order. She wanted to stay too, right here where his heart beat strong against her ear.

  “I can’t. Not yet.”

  He set her back from him a step.

  “Why take the risk? Have you thought about if your locket is discovered and taken away? What will that mean for all our plans?”

  “I’m being careful to keep it out of sight. You notice I’m not wearing it around my neck?”

  “What did you do with it? Stuff it in your pocket?”

  “Better. I added another chain to it and made it long enough to wear around my waist.”

  “Clever.” He laid his hand against her stomach. “Trust you to find a way to protect it.”

  If he only knew. She covered his hand with hers, glad for the dim light as the tears flooded her eyes. Our baby rests beneath your hand.

  Eric sighed. “So there is nothing I can do beyond chaining you to my side to keep you here?”

  “I’m a Guardian,” she said softly. “Only this time I’m guarding my friends. How can I leave them?”

  She sensed rather than saw Eric’s frown. “Heather, in this instance, it might be best for your friends if you removed yourself entirely.”

  He referred, she knew, to Thaddeus choosing Marigold and Seymour for his demonstration. But she shook her head. “It wouldn’t help them if I were gone. If I went missing, he would just think they’d hidden me somehow.”

  “Damn him.” Eric uttered his pronouncement quietly, as a sentence.

  “I can handle Thaddeus.” Heather swallowed and modified her statement. “My influence may be…complicated, but I can at least slow him down.” She added, trying to reassure him…and herself, “Besides, I can always leave.”

  “Promise you will. The minute you feel threatened, promise you will leave.”

  “I promise.”