A Guardian's Love

by Stein Willard

  “She is asleep.”

  They dissolved and solidified in an alley behind the bar.

  †

  Tahlia sniffed the air and grimaced. These kids have no idea in how much danger they place themselves in.

  “There are blood cows inside.” She turned to look at Jemima and frowned. Jemima was nowhere to be seen. She must’ve transported herself inside, she thought with sudden alarm.

 

 

  Inside, the bar was fully packed and a quick sniff confirmed that more than half of tonight’s patrons were not human. Paloma wrinkled her nose in distaste and followed Tahlia to where Jemima stood at the beer-stained bar. As they walked through the throng of renegades, they could feel their eyes on them. Some quickly made for the exit.

  “He’s not here tonight. Maybe we should wait for him outside,” Jemima said when they joined her.

  “Now all that is left is to clean out the bar.”

  The door to the bar swung open, and a sexy redhead in a tight black leather outfit walked in. Tahlia heard Paloma curse under her breath.

  Chapter 16

  With an overconfident swagger, the redhead walked over to the far corner of the bar. She had just taken her seat when two male renegades approached her.

  “Hey, beautiful, you up for some company?” the taller of the two men asked.

  “If I had wanted company, I would have brought my own,” Trinity snapped and ordered a glass of wine. She hadn’t sensed the presence of the master vampires in the bar from the outside and only noticed them when she stepped inside. She could feel their eyes on her, and judging by the tension in the air, a fight was inevitable.

  The two men moved in closer and she felt her patience slip. Just as she was about to tell them off, they were unceremoniously pulled away and tossed across the floor, capsizing tables and chairs in the process.

  “I can take care of myself and do not need your help,” she snapped.

  “Yes, you do. Now get out of here. You do not want to be caught in the middle of this fight.” Tahlia’s eyes were deep pits of rage, her power swirling around her.

  “Why do you care, anyway?”

  The Queen’s eyes narrowed fractionally. “Because when we leave this bar in exactly 3 minutes, no renegade will be left standing, including you.” The words uttered calmly, but Trinity knew it wasn’t an idle threat. As good as she knew she was, there was no way that she could take on three master vampires at once.

  She pushed away from the bar and without a backward glance made for the exit. She was a few feet from the door when she felt a powerful pulse and turned. Shocked, she watched as one renegade after the other fell at the feet of the three women. They worked the room like a tornado. All she could make out were three blurry shadows cutting through the throng of renegades. She knew that they were simply using their sense of smell to differentiate between human and renegade. Falling in the latter group, she quickly left.

  She had been hunting renegades for centuries, destroying the ones she knew deserved to be killed, but seeing these master vampires at work made the hair rise at the back of her neck. They killed brutally and without remorse. She prayed that they would never have to come after her.

  She had barely stepped into the shadows when a motorcycle came to a stop outside the bar. The rider took off the helmet and Trinity’s eyebrows shot up. It was Paloma’s lover. She stepped deeper into the shadows and was shocked when the girl peered into the shadows where she was hiding. The blue eyes were icy, and Trinity knew that the girl detected her. With a shrug, she stepped into the light, her hands resting on the holsters of her handguns.

  The Assassin’s mate also had her hands under her long coat. From the human’s stance, she knew that fighting her would not be a one-sided affair. The girl exuded loads of confidence.

  “What are you doing here?” The tone was brusque.

  “Same as you...hunting.” She stepped closer to the girl and was mildly surprised when she stood her ground. She had spunk. “What's a beautiful girl like you doing with a dangerous woman like the Assassin, anyway?”

  The blue eyes hardened further and she saw the minuscule tightening of the small hand on the weapon that was concealed under the long overcoat.

  “Why don’t you ask her yourself?” The blue eyes looked passed her and Trinity stiffened. She had been so absorbed by the presence of the girl that she hadn’t noticed Paloma’s presence. It seemed she was making it a habit of letting her guard down around the most deadly killer on the planet. When she turned, she looked into the blood-red eyes of a very possessive lover.

  “What business do you have talking to her?” Paloma voice was so quiet, it bordered on ominous.

  Trinity grinned and took a step back. “Actually, we just bumped into each other and I reckoned it would seem very rude not to even greet her, seeing as we are in the same line of work.”

  Paloma moved fast. The next moment Trinity found herself hoisted up by the front of her leather jacket, her feet dangling in the air.

  “You need to stop manhandling me, Assassin. It is becoming really annoying.”

  “If I ever see you near my...ward again, I will destroy you.” Paloma dropped her.

  Although she landed on her feet, Trinity sent Paloma a cold stare. She hated the way the woman treated her, but she also knew that she wasn’t powerful enough to take her on. Without a glance to the human, she dissolved. Feeling bruised and abused, there was only place where she knew to go to restore her good mood.

  †

  A dull blue light shone through the curtains. Trinity shook her head slowly. She was at it again. It was close to 2 a.m., and still the teenager was busy on her computer. She moved closer and melted into the shadows of the darkened room. A quick glance at the computer screen made her frown in displeasure. What the hell is a fifteen year old doing on a dating site? Her eyes moved from the computer screen to the blue-black shoulder length hair. The girl seemed to be oblivious to her presence, giving Trinity the chance to observe her quietly…

  Gabriella Talos was a survivor. Born into an immigrant family from Puerto Rico, her parents and younger brother were killed barely two months after their arrival in the States, leaving the beautiful seven year old orphaned. The night Gabriella’s family was killed; Trinity had been tracking a gang of renegades who were spreading terror in one of Brooklyn’s Hispanic neighborhood, leaving the police baffled by the murders. That night, she had caught them in the act.

  When she arrived at the scene, they’d already slaughtered Jose and Armelia and were feeding on the five year old Jorge. Another member of the gang was dragging a beautiful dark-haired girl into the room. His hand fisted in her hair as he pulled her toward the center of the room.

  Trinity was standing outside by the window, debating whether it was worth it to take on seven renegades to rescue one child. She didn’t know how the girl knew of her presence, but she had turned her head to the window, looked her straight in the eye, and mouthed for her to help her. By the time she had gotten over her shock, the renegades had tossed Jorge’s body away like a piece of soiled cloth and were reaching for the girl. The big dark eyes were begging her, and she had obliged.

  Because she couldn’t enter the house without an invitation, she had relied on her trusted Glocks to do the job for her. From outside she had picked off the vampires with unerring accuracy, pumping wooden pellets into their chests. Afterwards she had gently persuaded the girl to the door. Trinity gathered the cowering girl in her arms and took her to a nearby convent. She’d thought that would be the only contact she was ever going to have with the human girl, but she had returned to the convent the next evening.

  The girl intrigued her. A wave of emotion had come over her when she’d held the sobbing girl in her arms. The thin trembling arms were clasped tightly around Trinity’s neck and her wet face was
pressed into her shoulder. The trust the child put in her that night had set off an overwhelming need to protect her. She knew then that her future was to be irrevocably linked with the girl’s.

  Trinity visited the convent again two days later. She learned that the child’s name was Gabriella Talos and that she had been moved to an orphanage a day earlier. She had left money for the burial of the slain Talos family members before going in search of Gabriella.

  Gabriella was quickly adopted by a wonderful family who raised her like their own. She had checked in on Gabriella regularly, making sure, she was safe and that she never wanted for anything. At first, Clara and Mark Jameson had questioned the motives of the faceless Samaritan who deposited vast amounts of money in their bank account, but after a while, they accepted the monetary gifts. Trinity had set up a college fund for Gabriella, hoping she would one day opt to go to college and not return to the abject poverty awaiting her in Puerto Rico. As selfish as it sounded, she couldn’t think of losing the girl, her only ray of light in her otherwise dark existence…

  The chair creaked and Trinity was quickly brought back to the present. Wide amber eyes were looking back at her. She smiled at the girl and ruffled her hair affectionately. Gabriella always looked at her with so much affection and trust.

  “Why are you sneaking up on me? I had expected you much earlier.”

  “I had to attend a meeting.” If that is what her humiliation can be called, Trinity thought bitterly.

  Gabriella walked into her arms and they hugged for a long while.

  “You’re sad. I can feel it.” The amber eyes were serious. “Who hurt you so?”

  “Ah, it was just some...some vampire bully.”

  “Why didn’t you just kick his ass?”

  She gave the girl a stern look. “Watch your language, mi’ja.” She playfully tapped her on the tip of the nose. “By the way, the bully is so much more powerful than me. In fact, she is one of the most dangerous vampires alive.”

  The girl pulled away, her eyes big in her young face. “Is she a bad vampire?”

  To me, yes, Trinity thought, but for Gabriella’s sake, she shook her head. “No. She is a good vampire and part of my mother’s clan.”

  The brown eyes were solemn. “When will I meet your mother?”

  “One day, mariposa, one day. Tomorrow is a school day, and it is way past your bedtime. Get some sleep.” She would question her on the dating site business later. For tonight, she just wanted to bask in the acceptance of this child.

  An hour later she lay listening to the gentle snores of the teenager she held in her arms.

  †

  Inger refused to make eye contact with her irate partner even as she felt the silver eyes resting on her with burning intensity.

  “I thought you were asleep when I left.” Paloma’s voice was calm, belying the anger Inger knew the vampire was feeling.

  Inger shrugged and carefully studied her lover’s bloodied clothes, assessing her body for injuries. “You're getting negligent where I am concerned, my love. I’m psychic and have the ability to thwart many of your mental coercions.”

  Paloma stared at her in silence, before she turned away and held the door open. Inger was surprised at the lack of any further argument. But she knew Paloma well enough to know that the issue wasn’t resolved by a long shot.

  “It is messy in there.”

  Paloma wasn’t kidding, Inger thought as she entered the bar. The tile floor was sticky with blood and body parts were spread all over. She saw Tahlia frown when her eyes lit on her, and Inger groaned under her breath as Jemima came striding over to where she stood.

  Sometimes it was hard for her to believe that the two women who raised her with so much love and tenderness were capable of such violence. What she saw before her was a massacre. From the body parts strewn around it was difficult to gauge how many renegades they killed. All she knew was that there were a lot of them.

  “It’s dangerous for you to be out here.” Jemima was speaking to her, but her eyes rested on Paloma. “I thought you said she was asleep.”

  “It appears she was faking.”

  Nobody said anything more as they swiftly cleaned up the scene. While the others worked in the bar area, Inger walked down the long corridor past the restrooms to the small storeroom at the back. She pushed open the door and gasped.

  †

  For the second time that night, she lay in bed mulling over all that had happened earlier. Paloma hadn’t said a word to her since their return, and she figured that she was still angry with her. It was the first time they lay in bed together without Paloma’s strong arms holding her. She turned her head and found Paloma looking at her. Paloma appeared calm, but she could sense her inner-turmoil.

  The last Paloma had spoken to her was when she’d come looking for her and found her in the storeroom. Something must have gone horribly wrong, because what she’d witnessed would stay with her forever. She was rooted to the floor as she watched the scene before her with revulsion.

  There were two women and a man, but it was difficult to tell them apart, since they were all in the process of changing and were ferociously feeding on one another. Their eyes were gleaming with bloodlust, and their fangs stained with blood as they were ripping chucks of flesh from each other. When they’d sensed her presence, they had lunged for her. She must’ve made a sound because, just as she was pulling out her guns, Paloma was in the room with her. She grabbed the one nearest to her and snapped its head off. The other two Inger felled with a rain of bullets.

  “You should be more careful in the future.” The silver eyes were cool and distant. “We did not have time to sweep the whole building yet.” She had turned and continued with her task of dragging bodies together before incinerating them.

  Paloma had pointedly ignored her since then. Inger could tell that even her parents had noticed that something was wrong because she found them casting worried looks between her and Paloma. When they’d arrived at home, they went through their nightly rituals in silence and slipped into bed.

  Looking into the eyes of her lover, Inger realized that since they had met two and half months ago, she had never thought that Paloma would ever be so angry with her that she’d refuse to talk to her. It seems she was mistaken...and she hated having Paloma angry with her.

  “I’m sorry, my love,” she apologized softly, her hands itching to touch the vampire’s face. She hated not being able to touch Paloma. They were an extremely physical couple and touching each other was a pivotal part of maintaining intimacy for them.

  The silver eyes warmed a fraction, but Paloma still kept her distance. “Why did you do it?”

  “I knew my parents’ were waiting in the lounge and that you were up to something.” Her hand moved under the covers and she found Paloma’s hand. “I didn’t want to be kept in the dark anymore.”

  “What do you mean ‘anymore’?”

  Inger came up to rest on her elbow. “Before we met I was free to come and go as I wanted. I’ve hunted and killed many renegades without the assistance of anyone. But now, I can’t even leave the house without a companion.” She squeezed Paloma’s hand. “I don’t want to sound ungrateful, but in a way I miss my independence—and the sense of adventure.”

  Paloma reached out and pulled Inger against her naked body. Inger shivered at the familiar sensation of Paloma’s skin against hers.

  “I understand how you feel, Inger, but do you realize what it will do to me if something happens to you.” The husky voice sounded shaky. “Your mother advised me to have this conversation with you a while back, but I never thought that I would need to.”

  “What does my mother have to do with this?” she asked in a wary tone. Her parents had promised to allow Paloma and her space in which to explore their relationship and not to interfere. If they had gone back on their word, she would really be—Paloma interrupted her quickly.

  “They did not go back on their word. They simply wanted you to understand wha
t it meant to be forever bonded to a vampire.”

  “What are you talking about?” Inger asked with a frown.

  “When I pledged my life and heart to you, I did so literally.” She gently caressed Inger cheek and smiled. “I take it that you know your parents’ history? How they met and how they finally managed to be together twenty centuries later?”

  “I know bits and pieces, but what does it have to do with us?” Inger asked.

  “We are in the same boat now. I am forever linked to you and once you grow old and perish, I will wait for you until you are reincarnated again.”

  “Yes. But my parents—” Again, Paloma did not allow Inger to finish her sentence.

  “We might not be as lucky as your parents, Inger.” Paloma looked away but not before Inger saw the bleakness clouding her eyes.

  This was not what she’d expected to hear. She’d thought it was a given that they would love each other throughout eternity—like her parents.

  “But as long as you are still alive there is a chance for us, Paloma.” When Paloma still refused to look at her, Inger became worried and turned Paloma’s face so she could look into the silver eyes. They were so sad that she couldn’t help dreading the answer to the question she was about to ask. “What are you not telling me?”

  Paloma bent her head and planted a tender kiss on the soft lips.

  “When I joined us, I placed my life in your hands. No other vampire has lived through the loss of a partner. We thought Pierre was the exception to the rule. It gave us all hope that maybe it was possible to survive the demise of a partner. We know now that Pierre survival was because Genevieve was not dead. Their souls were still joined and that had kept them both alive.” She turned away again. “You might not be reincarnated for centuries, and I might not be there when you are finally reincarnated.”