She suspected the real reason behind his angry outburst was not safety but, rather, jealousy—jealous she’d been touching another man, even if it was purely platonic, or jealous, perhaps, that she was sharing the personal experience of training with someone other than him. Jonathan was young, good-looking, and athletic. Caleb probably assumed she was attracted to him. A week ago, he would have been right – but not anymore. Even in his pig-headed, grumpy, territorial man state, she wanted him. That truth only irritated her more.
She had so much to say to him, yet, at the same time, wasn’t sure what to say. She was too emotional to have a productive conversation with him, and she doubted he was ready either. Still, she was grateful he was protecting her; he could’ve walked away after their argument in front of the gym, but he hadn’t. He was turning his own life upside-down to keep her safe even though they were barely more than strangers. Either he was the most dedicated good Samaritan out there or he wanted her too. Maybe it was a mixture of both.
But what annoyed her most, was the way he was protecting her. She had gone from an independent woman with few ties to a woman hunted by demons, guarded twenty-four hours a day, told where she could go and what she could do. He may truly feel it was for her own safety, but she would not be ordered around like a child. She would take his concerns under advisement and make her own choices. If he didn’t like it, he didn’t have to stay – she’d never asked him to.
Chapter 11
Grace awoke to a rumbling, hollow stomach. She’d spent the rest of the evening in her room, avoiding Caleb, until she had drifted off to sleep. She’d been so absorbed in her thoughts, it had never occurred to her to eat dinner. Her body was loudly reminding her now. She briefly contemplated trying to go back to sleep, but she dismissed the idea. The gnawing ache of hunger would keep her awake until she satisfied it.
Grace rolled over to squint at the bright red digital clock that read 1:37 AM. At least she would have plenty more hours to sleep before she had to get up for work in the morning. Still in the lounge clothes she’d thrown on the day before, Grace cracked open the door as quietly as she could so as not to wake Caleb.
To her surprise, he wasn’t asleep, but was watching TV on near mute. It was Lassie. She smiled to herself; as a child, she and her mother had watched the adventures of Lassie the Collie at this time of night if Grace was sick or scared. She had liked the idea of having a companion to always look out for her if she needed help. The irony of her current situation wasn’t lost on her.
“Life seems so simple in old TV shows doesn’t it?” Caleb commented casually. Grace nearly jumped at the unexpected break in the silence.
“That’s part of their appeal, I think,” Grace responded and quickly heated up a frozen dinner in the kitchen.
“Would you like something to eat?” she asked.
“No thanks, I ate a few hours ago.” He turned his head briefly and then returned to gaze at the TV.
Grace put her steaming hot tray on a plate and took a seat on the other end of the couch.
“I’m sorry for how I acted today, Grace. My outburst was uncalled for.”
“Thank you,” she answered, and then paused for a moment. “I do appreciate everything you are doing to protect me, but I need some autonomy. I understand there are situations where there is no time for discussion, but in day to day life, I need to make my own choices. If you don’t let me do that, I’m no better than a bird in a cage. I can’t live that way.”
He didn’t say anything for quite a while. Grace thought he might have decided not to answer, but he finally spoke.
“I can see that. I will respect your wishes as best as I can.”
“Thank you,” she answered. She was satisfied, at least for now. She’d see if he could keep up his end of the bargain.
They fell into companionable silence watching Lassie as Grace finished up her TV dinner.
“I’m going back to bed. You should try to get some sleep. I’ll be getting up for work in another five hours.”
“I’ll just finish this episode,” he said, and relaxed back into the corner of the couch.
Calmer and satiated, Grace fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.
✽✽✽
“They are coming.”
Kalev heard Gavriel’s voice in his head only moments before he appeared in the living room of the apartment.
“She could’ve been in here,” Kalev whispered as he stood up from the couch.
“She is not,” was all Gavriel had to say in reply. Kalev let it go.
“What kind? How many?”
“I have only heard the news from one of the scouts. I travelled straight here. Approximately one dozen, a mixture of daevas and infernons.”
“Thanks for the heads up. I’ll go handle this,” Kalev went for the door.
“I will fight beside you,” Gavriel stated and then with a puzzled expression added, “Why are you utilizing the doorway?”
“Habit. With Grace around, I can’t travel our way now can I?”
“I suppose not,” Gavriel answered. “How inconvenient.”
The two headed out the window and floated to the ground instead.
The unnaturally quiet streets were covered in a thick blanket of cool fog, the temperature was nearly freezing. It wasn’t entirely out of character for a Spring predawn, except that the temperature had been at least ten degrees warmer throughout the rest of the night.
Kalev could just make out movement coming through the mist, but the harsh light of the streetlamps reflected unforgivingly on the water droplets in the air, making it harder to see. He squinted as he tried in vain to assess the number of approaching demons.
Without warning, a squad of flaming columns lit up the street, the light both brilliant and blinding. The fireballs were blue in the center and gradually faded from yellow to orange to red at the edges.
“Well at least we know where the infernons are,” Kalev muttered half to Gavriel, half to himself.
“There could be more,” Gavriel said.
“Doubtful. When one lights up, the rest nearly always follow suit. They can’t help it.”
“This is good information.”
Kalev assessed the distance from them to the water. “Our best bet is to get the infernons to follow us into the reservoir.”
“They must know it is there.”
“True, but if we try to avoid the infernons and mostly battle with the daevas, we could gradually move the action in that direction. Maybe they won’t notice how close they’re getting. They might be hell on land but they’re fish in a barrel once you’re in the water. They’ll follow you right in.”
“Excellent pl—” Gavriel didn’t finish his sentence. He was walloped from the left-hand side by a pair of daevas. Kalev had barely enough time to brace himself for the impact of another pair crashing into his right side.
“And here are the daevas,” Kalev shouted, almost playfully, toward Gavriel who was just rolling out from under his two attackers and jumping to his feet.
“This should be good sport!” he replied, trying to match Kalev’s tone. Kalev grinned at the attempt as he slammed the daeva clutching his arm into the pavement.
More daevas spilled in around them, many more than the estimated dozen. Having punched the other daeva hard in the face, Kalev spun over to Gavriel.
“I think our intel was a little shaky,” Kalev said as he put his back to Gaviel’s. The two angels circled, holding off the gnashing teeth and pointed claws surrounding them.
“We should begin our trek towards the reservoir,” Gavriel said.
“At least with this many daevas the infernons should hold off. They won’t engage if they don’t have to.”
Gavriel and Kalev fought their way down the street, only doing enough damage to temporarily stun the daevas. Within a few minutes each one would clamor back to join the fray. While they did outright disintegrate a few, they were careful to leave enough of them so that the infernons stayed at bay
.
Progress was slow, and Kalev was starting to tire. Gavriel had to be feeling it too—while Gavriel held the higher position in the chain of command, he had never been in a position that regularly required fighting. They needed to end this quickly, but they had a ways to go before they were close enough to the water.
Gavriel was struggling to handle the number of daevas going after him. They had pegged him as the weaker of the two and hoped to finish him off before all going for Kalev. He could barely make out Gav under the daevas swarming him, but he could tell Gav had faltered when the pile of daevas suddenly lowered; two actually tumbled and rolled off to the sides due to the unexpected movement.
“Hold on, Gav, I’m coming!” Kalev called out to him, no longer trying to pay attention to the numbers of daevas. When he reached Gavriel, he started yanking daevas back by the head and twisting their necks in one motion. He was so focused on the task that he noticed another demon behind him too late. It sunk its long, thick claws into his back, tearing at the flesh. Kalev growled with pain and threw himself backwards. He pinned the daeva between him and the pavement. It loosened its grip in surprise. Finally, Kalev had the edge he needed to rotate in its grasp and finish it off.
The swift loss in numbers had caused the remaining daevas to hesitate; they circled Gavriel and Kalev without an immediate approach. Kalev took the opportunity to touch his back and shoot some power into the claw marks he could reach, closing them instantly.
“We aren’t far,” Kalev said through ragged breaths. “Hang in there.”
“I do not doubt that we will reach our destination.” Gavriel tried to heal a deep gash along his own arm.
Kalev could tell his friend was struggling, his powers mostly expended in putting additional force behind his fighting blows. Gavriel had never been taught how to use his power most efficiently in a fight. Kalev, on the other hand, had hundreds of years of experience behind him.
Kalev reached out and grabbed Gav’s arm and managed to heal it, right as the demons relaunched their attack with earnest.
“Let us prepare ourselves to rumble!” Gav announced getting into a crouching position.
“Close enough, buddy, close enough.” Kalev laughed to himself before whamming his fist straight into jaw of the daeva shooting directly at his face.
✽✽✽
Grace cracked and eye to look at her clock again. She groaned. Only quarter after six. Why was she awake? Her alarm wouldn’t go off for another hour yet and she could use the extra shut eye. It was no use. Her mind was already racing, thinking about the amazing man asleep on the couch in the next room. What did he look like asleep? Peaceful? Troubled? Did he sleep silently, or did he snuffle? She couldn’t hear him. So, not a snorer – that was certainly a plus.
She quietly tiptoed into the living room so as not to wake him. She tried to lie to herself to say it was solely for his sake, but she knew she wanted to catch a glimpse of him slumbering before he awoke.
She rounded the couch and frowned. He wasn’t there. The bathroom door was ajar with the light off, and he was clearly nowhere in the main living space. He’ll be back in a few minutes I’m sure. She put on a pot of coffee. If he hadn’t left someone with her, he mustn’t have gone far. That is, of course, unless he was actually honoring her request for autonomy. Wouldn’t that be a surprise.
A sudden scratch at her window made Grace jump in alarm. She whirled. A daeva was perched on the sill, claws scraping at the windowpane. To her terror, the daeva was cutting into the glass, its sharp teeth glinting in its sickening grin.
Grace’s eyes darted around the apartment, frantically searching for anything she could use as a weapon. Her butcher block stood empty, the knives waiting to be washed in the sink. She blinked and would have laughed at her absurdity had she not been so frightened. Who cared if the knife was dirty?! She snatched up her chef’s knife in one hand, the utility knife in the other, and ran to put herself between the daeva and the door.
She prayed that Caleb would return before the daeva got in – she’d try if she had to, but she knew she’d never outrun it. She needed to get Caleb back here, fast.
She shoved her hand in her pocket. Shit. Her phone was on her bedroom nightstand. She had enough time to make it to her room before the daeva got in, right? It didn’t matter. She needed that phone. She made a mad dash toward the door. The daeva growled and hissed as she passed but it hadn’t yet breeched the window.
Grace began barricading the door as she shouted at her phone.
“Hey Siri,” she yelled frantically. She sighed with relief when she heard the BLEET that let her know Siri was listening.
“Call Caleb!”
“Calling, Caleb’” she responded coolly.
The phone rang and rang. “COME ON, CALEB,” Grace urged. “Pick up!”
The ringing stopped. No voicemail, no ‘message box full’, nothing. It just disconnected. Grace was truly terrified. What had happened to Caleb? Was he injured? Was he alive? She was now trapped in her tiny bedroom, only a door, her bed, her dresser, and her nightstand in between her and the daeva. She wasn’t sure she could win in close quarters like this, but it didn’t seem likely that Caleb would be arriving to save her any time soon. Her confidence was draining out of her with each moment of inaction. She tried the phone again. Nothing.
It was only when the daeva began throwing itself against the door that Grace knew it’d gotten through the window. She tried Caleb’s phone a third time, but still no answer. Grace threw open the sash to her bedroom window and looked down. While she wasn’t very high up, there was a depression in the ground so that the basement apartments could get full light and the bottom was lined with rocks. She could try to jump across, but she wasn’t sure she’d make it. If she could get down in the pit, however, there were foot holds in the side so people could use the basement windows as emergency exits.
Grace threw her bed pillows and blankets down into a pile at the bottom and crawled onto the sill. She lowered herself to hang on to the ledge by her fingertips. She only hesitated for a moment but let go as soon as she heard her bedroom door splinter.
OOF! While her landing hadn’t exactly been graceful, a quick assessment told her she hadn’t broken any bones. A few pebbles were stuck in her right hand which had skidded off one of the sheets when she’d landed, but she was otherwise alright. She scrambled up the stone ladder and ran, not bothering to check how close the demon was behind her.
The clashes of fighting drifted up the street. It had to be Caleb. Her fear for his safety and her confidence bolstered by her narrow escape, she sprinted toward the shrieks and yells as fast as her feet would carry her.
✽✽✽
The reservoir was within reach when Kalev’s phone began vibrating. It had to be Grace. But both of his hands were currently ringing the neck of a daeva, so answering wasn’t an option. When it rang a second time, his heart dropped. She must be in trouble. He cursed his own stupidity. All the demons should have chased them, unable to resist the allure of taking down two angels. But what if one of them had had enough self-control to stay behind?
With the last of the daevas near defeated, the infernons had started to move in. Their flaming bodies casted heat from hundreds of feet away. As they approached, the temperature was approaching unbearable, but all Kalev could think about was the phone, now buzzing for a third time, in his pocket.
“Gav!” Kalev shouted over his shoulder, as he finally positioned his hands to twist the neck of the daeva he’d been choking, “Grace is in trouble.”
“Go, then. I will handle the infernons.” Gavriel gave him a resolute look that added what he had not said aloud. He would handle them or die trying.
Kalev gave him one last nod and ran toward the apartment. He felt terrified and enraged all at the same time. How could he have left her so unprotected? What if he was too late? What if— He couldn’t bear to finish the thought. He’d never forgive himself if something happened to her. He was supposed to protect he
r. He was responsible for her. He cared about her. Cared more than he’d ever cared for any human in his entire existence, more than any being in his entire existence.
Relief flooded him as he saw the clear outline of her lithe figure sprinting down the street toward him.
“Caleb!” she shouted.
“We need to get you someplace safe, Gav—”
“BEHIND YOU!” She shrieked, pointing frantically.
Kalev whirled around just in time for his face to meet the flaming fist of an infernon.
✽✽✽
Grace hadn’t the faintest idea what the hell was attacking Caleb, but it wasn’t good. It looked like an extremely tall human, but one that had been burning for a long time. Underneath the brilliant blaze surrounding it, its skin was charred, black and flaking.
Caleb was in trouble. Unlike when he fought other demons, he wasn’t dodging most of the blows, while swiftly darting around, landing his own kicks or punches. After taking the hit to the face, Caleb staggered, only to be hit across the chest by the back of its forearm. Grace stared in horror. His shirt had burned away at the contact, and the exposed skin was already red and welted.
Think, Grace, think. Her eyes darted around. How could she possibly help him? Then she spotted one of the shiny red fire hydrants that lined the street. “Yes,” she said. Shouldn’t dowsing the demon, even if it didn’t kill it outright, at least slow it down?
She still had one problem. How was she going to get it open? Didn’t firefighters use, like, a special tool or a big wrench or something? It wasn’t like those things were just lying around.
She growled in frustration. More burns were cropping up on his legs and arms. She shut her eyes; she couldn’t think if she watched. She struggled to concentrate. Her thoughts flashed between the current moment and memories of the last few days. She tried to force herself to focus. Her fear of losing him, of losing the opportunity to have moments like the special ones they’d already shared, was interfering with her ability to think.
Guardian Page 11
