Shattered Dawn (Fallen Guardians Book 5)

by Georgia Lyn Hunter

  Sure. Who?

  Two humans from Hade’s gang. One with tattooed cheeks and the other sporting a spider bite and earrings. Clear out all thoughts of the female Shadow. While he could do a wipeout of new thoughts, older, ingrained ones weren’t his forte.

  Where are they?

  Currently leaving my vicinity. Dagan could easily locate them by tracking Nik.

  On it.

  Nik coasted around Rough, prodding his mind. The blight to humanity shuddered, his head snapping both ways as if sensing him. Nik couldn’t mind read, but he sure as hell could mind fuck when he wanted.

  He shoved into the scourge’s thoughts, letting free the agonizing sensation of skin peeling off his body and his dick being castrated every time he thought of Shadow. Then he revealed more torment, having lived the reality…

  Darkness bound him, along with mind-numbing cold, in the gray, foggy wasteland. He hung by his wrists manacled to a monolith for endless nights. Sleet lashed him like blades, flaying off layer upon layer of flesh.

  Eerie voices drifted to him. Skeletal faces circling his head, bony fingers digging into his bleeding wounds, licking the gore. They sped faster and faster, tearing into his flesh, unimaginable pain torquing him. Ghoulish laughter like shattering glass, slicing his mind—

  A yowl brought Nik back. He stared blankly at the human writhing on the floor curled in a ball, arms shielding his face. The rest of the gang gathered near their leader, fear stinking up the place. Yeah, that would keep the bastard occupied, trying to find his lucid mind again.

  Nik coasted out, tracking the two shitheads who’d slunk away.

  At the mouth of a tunnel, a tall figure with waist-length, ropey hair fended off blows from the human plagues as if swatting flies. The Sumerian must be bored. It had to be a slow night if he was toying with them.

  “If that asshole Tolvi thinks we’re just gonna rat on Rough,” tattooed cheeks spat, “he and you are outta ya fuckin’ minds. Rough will find and kill ya both!” He dove, headfirst into Dagan, meaty arms flying. It barely moved the warrior.

  Dagan cut the idiots a cold smirk, revealing the tips of his deadly fangs. “I could drain you of every drop of blood, and no one would give a fuck.”

  They froze.

  Nik took corporeal form. “Dag, hold on.” With a wave of his hand, he trapped both with ice restraints. “The missing women and children, who took them?”

  They snarled like feral strays, fighting to break free of the ice. “Fuck off, asshole.”

  Dagan snorted. “They never learn.”

  Needing to find Shadow before more shit flew, Nik let the ice slither around their throats, forming nooses. Their eyes widened in terror. “Take too long to answer, and you can kiss this life goodbye.”

  The scrawny one squeaked, “No, no, we only take women for Rough—”

  Truth.

  “Shut it, Tiny,” baldy coughed out. “R-Rough will skewer you!”

  “Amazing,” Dagan drawled. “You can kill him in a second, and he’s worried about some pisshead who terrorizes females?”

  Nik willed the ice to tighten. “Where’s the Viper’s den?”

  “Somewhere beneath Tribeca,” Scrawny gurgled. Truth.

  The urge to kill them grew. Nik didn’t care that killing a human might end his life—maybe, it was a way out of this endless, empty existence and constant torment—but he currently had work to do. And to make sure Shadow was safe from these sewer shits. Leaving them to Dagan’s mercies, Nik dematerialized.

  In his molecular form, he drifted to the manhole Shadow had used. With a shove of his mind, he moved the metal cover aside, glided into the dank, hot air of the Lower East Side, and coasted down the street.

  About to head off to Tribeca, he stilled. Beneath the stench of exhaust fumes and garbage bags, a familiar scent of wildflowers teased his nose. Nik instantly scanned for her. There. In a dingy alley, she crouched, speaking to a homeless man settled on the steps of a cordoned-off building.

  With a low growl, she flung over her shoulder. “I know you’re there. Would you lay off? You’re gonna scare these people before I can get them to go to The Shelter.”

  Nik reformed in the gloom before stepping out. “I can help.” He must have lost his mind, offering aid when he never made contact with humans in any way, except for Olivia seven years ago. And now because of him, she was dead.

  “Yeah, by willing them to go?” she retorted, rising to her feet.

  “It makes things easier—”

  “Nik?”

  At the familiar, feminine voice, he cut a quick look back.

  Elytani glided toward him, dressed in her black patrolling gear. She, too, wore boots with spiky heels. How the females could stay in those things an entire night, he had no clue.

  A soft snort reached him. He glanced back at Shadow. “I’ll see you later.”

  “Can’t wait.” She rolled her eyes and went back to cajoling the human.

  Nik clamped his lips. The female sure liked skirting the edges of danger with him.

  Ely stopped near him. “Is she the one Týr spoke about?” she asked softly, watching Shadow.

  “Yeah.” Nik rubbed his bristly jaw, a restlessness stirring. Odd, since he didn’t care about anything enough to feel. But the urge to remain with the little machitís grew, so sure she would sink into a shitload of trouble the moment he left.

  With immense effort, he reined in the compulsion and let her be for now. He had work to do. However, he would find out just what kind of trouble she was steeped in, and why she hid underground.

  And more, why she affected him the way she did, that he kept coming back to her.

  Chapter 5

  Shadow cut a furtive look at Nik and the tall, gorgeous blonde and found the woman staring at her with a curious expression.

  What? Never seen a homeless person before?

  Despite her acerbic thought, she couldn’t stop her tinge of envy. They were so beautiful together. Both tall—him, big, muscled, and darkly dangerous—and the woman was exceptionally stunning. Almost ethereal, with hair resembling the shifting hues of moonlight. She appeared…otherworldly.

  Of course. She was like him. Immortal.

  Shadow shook off her jealousy. Heck, her path was steeped in darkness, and the only men she attracted, and unfortunately needed, were of the dark and at times, terrifying kind.

  Nik and the blonde disappeared down a side thoroughfare.

  And the old man she’d been trying to get to safety had shuffled off. Great.

  Exhaling a weary breath, Shadow stalked from the alley and headed toward The Shelter a few blocks away downtown. Might as well check if Joyce heeded her advice.

  As she neared the worn, graffitied, two-story brick building, a dull spasm started in her breastbone. Mouth tight, she rubbed the nodes on her sternum and did a quick calculation. So quickly the week had passed? If she wanted to continue breathing, then she had to see to her needs tonight. After she checked on Joyce.

  A bright light marked The Shelter’s front entrance. People shuffled in and out, and Shadow navigated through them into the dwelling, drenched with the smell of something savory. The interior sported faded white walls and worn, gray tiled floors. Miles of long, wooden tables filled the place, but this late, supper was already winding down.

  Shadow bypassed the old three-seater couch and a few chairs taking up space near the entrance and headed for the office. The door stood open, revealing a big, burly guy seated behind a desk and frowning at some paperwork.

  She rapped her knuckles on the jamb. “Hey, Dar.”

  Darwin Wright glanced up. “Shadow.” A white smile widened his dark, attractive face. “Haven’t seen you in a while.”

  “Yeah, been busy. I sent another woman here. Slender, about five-five, has long, spirally hair. Her name’s Joyce. She has a two-year-old son. Did she turn up?”

  “Haven’t seen any new faces today. Most think this place’s a hell pit,” he said dryly, rubbing his bald h
ead. He got up and crossed to the window overlooking the diners. “It’s dinner time. Maybe she turned up.”

  Frowning, Shadow searched the people seated there, but no sign of Joyce. Darn. She rubbed her throbbing chest, the craving for relief growing. “She’s not here. I’ll pop in again in a few days…” she trailed off, recalling something Nik had said about the homeless being abducted. “Dar, you know anything about missing kids and women?”

  At the sudden tightening of his jaw, yes, he knew.

  He nodded. “But nothing concrete. Just some of the homeless talking about it. I’ve alerted the staff, and we’re trying to keep that from happening here, but it’s damn tough. People come here then decide to leave.” His dark eyes met hers. “Why?”

  “Heard the rumors, too.” She shrugged and surveyed the hall. “I’m worried about Joyce.” A door leading into the kitchen swung open and a lanky teen with messy brown hair, about seventeen or so, shuffled out. He’d piled a few empty boxes together. Chatter and laughter spilled among some of the workers, yet he stayed apart.

  “Who’s that?” she asked.

  “Liam. Good kid. Went down the wrong path. First offense and got slapped with community service. He decided to help out full-time for the summer.”

  “What happened?”

  Darwin shrugged. “Heard he lost his family years ago, it’s probably what caused him to slide. Got into bad company, stole a vehicle, mouthed off to the judge. Instead of the norm one year’s community service, he got slapped with an extra six months. He’s about done now, a few more weeks left.”

  The boy disappeared into the kitchen, his sadness seeping into her. But she shut it out. She didn’t have time to fix everyone’s lives when her own hung in the balance.

  A sharp pain pierced her skull, and she winced, rubbing her brow.

  “You’re gloomy like the night, Shady Shadow…” Childish laughter echoed, clutching at her heart. Shadow struggled to hang onto the memory, but it faded like mist, leaving behind a dull ache in her temple and a black hole where her past should be. It sucked to have no memories of her previous life, except for the last five years—

  “You okay there, Shadow?”

  She dropped her hand and gave Darwin a wan smile. “Yeah, just tired. Gotta go, Dar.” Shadow waved and headed out, avoiding the passing people on the sidewalk. She had to put looking for Joyce on hold for now, unable to ignore the stabbing sensation in her sternum any longer. God, she hated this part of her life.

  As she crossed the narrow pathway alongside The Shelter, she bumped into someone coming out from the side access. “Oops, sorry,” she muttered, hurriedly stepping back.

  “It’s okay,” the guy rasped, looking up. Striking blue eyes met hers.

  The boy from the kitchen. Liam.

  He stared.

  Shadow arched an eyebrow. “Can I help you?”

  A flush tinged his face and he hastily lowered his head. “Sorry, it’s just—er, nothing.”

  Shoulders hunched, helmet in hand, he crossed to one of the bikes parked on the curb, then he glanced back at her.

  Sure, she appeared younger than her…twenty-one—twenty-six—thirty? Heck, she had no idea how old she was, and didn’t care anyway. But she didn’t sense any interest of the lustful kind from the guy. Frowning, Shadow watched as he fumbled on his helmet, straddled the monstrous Suzuki, kick-started the thing, then zoomed off.

  Pain speared her chest in a brutal punch, stealing her breath. Thoughts of the boy faded as she cut between the idling cars at the traffic lights and hurried to the dingy side street opposite. Fitting, she supposed, that she haunted the alleyways, the place of her…rebirth? Maybe it was, given that she’d almost died in an alley behind the garage where she lived with her friends, Aba and Nate, after blood demons had attacked them five years ago. Old, terrifying memories resurged…

  Fangs sank in her throat, tearing through flesh and tendons, her voice lost in her agony…warm blood flowing down her neck. Sucking and slurping, then blessed darkness…

  “Shadow, it’s Nate.” Red-hued topaz eyes held hers as oblivion tugged, promising eternal rest from the unending anguish. “I’m gonna fix this, but you need to hold on for me, you hear me?”

  Strong arms picked her up. Through her sea of pain, he appeared like a dark angel. Tears blurred her eyes. End it, please. But she couldn’t get the words out. He held his hand over her neck, a glimmer of warmth… “Aba, get me a damn blade!” Nate barked.

  Darkness beckoned, and she shut her eyes…

  “C’mon, Shadow, wake up. Wake up.”

  She fought to surface from the molasses of nothingness.

  “How do you feel?” a man asked. Cool, callused fingers stroked her fevered brow.

  Shadow stared at the stranger, had no idea who he was—who she was—only aware of a vicious craving consuming her, A throbbing sensation in her chest overwhelming her.

  Growling, she grabbed him by his shirt. Buttons snapped, and her palms slapped onto his bare chest. She stared up into his lean, handsome face as delicious energy streamed through her hands, strengthening her…giving her relief from the gnawing pain…

  A husky groan escaped him.

  More, she needed more—

  “No.” Nate dragged her hands off him, his tone brittle, expression surprised. His red-flecked eyes flared with something darker. Demon?

  “Nate, what the hell’s going on,” Aba demanded. “She was supposed to be healed. You gave her otherworldly blood.”

  She blinked. Another demon?

  “She’s reacting to the—dammit!”

  The hunger returned. “Want more,” she rasped. “More!”

  “Listen to me,” Nate rasped, his grip like a vise on her wrists. “The sensation of you feeding is an aphrodisiac for males. If you want to live, take less of your donor’s life force. More will bring notice to yourself.” He shook her a little. “Shadow, you hear me? Siphon a little energy from two or three males. It will keep you safe. You aren’t strong enough to take on a demon in a fight…”

  Shadow wrapped her arms around her waist. Yes, Nate and Aba had saved her, but they’d done so out of guilt because she’d been grabbed from their garage and left for dead in the alley. Worse, she’d lost all memories of her past due to the trauma of what happened. Or so Nate had explained.

  But he’d vanished a few days later, deserting her. Aba said it wasn’t unusual for him to disappear for days on end. She couldn’t blame him, not when she’d attacked him like a rabid dog. After living with Aba for a few months, and rare stopovers from Nate, she left the only home she knew and ended up underground.

  However, she’d proven Nate wrong. She’d learned to fight and took on both demons and demoniis, the latter, the worst of the dark species, killing several when she had to, and she still breathed.

  Shutting off her hurt and loneliness, she skirted a trash bag and stuck her fingers into her skirt pocket, the crinkle of bills there reassuring her. Yeah, she stole—damn annoying Guardian trying to make her feel guilty about it—not like she had many choices in life, not when danger dogged her heels, making it impossible to get a job. But she always reserved some cash for the club, because using the dark alleys for her needs was asking for trouble as she found out soon after her change.

  Shadow plodded the humid backstreet, heading toward Club Anarchy, the one place guaranteeing her safety and providing the kind of donors she required.

  Nik trawled deeper into the alley, Ely at his side. Though she’d started patrolling solo, they still kept an eye on her. Usually, he never prodded another about things even if he was curious, except with Shadow. Hell, the little fighter would not leave his mind, especially with her tendency to traverse these dangerous alleys.

  He glanced at Ely. “Why this life?”

  “You mean signing up as a Guardian?”

  “No, remaining on Earth. There’s nothing for us here, except fighting evil.”

  “True.” Ely slipped her hands into her pants pockets.
“But there is so much more here, too, isn’t there?” she asked softly. “I see freedom. Yes, I know we don’t have free will, but to watch humans live it, well, it makes me feel better knowing it exists.”

  Nik frowned. He’d never cared about all that. He cared about nothing. He merely existed to do his job. Now, he had one troublesome female to keep safe—a female who snagged his thoughts into a direction he shouldn’t even consider. He was a ticking time bomb with what inhabited him, and he didn’t want her caught in the blast.

  A harsh abrasion scraped through his mind like a steel brush. Nik tensed at the dense, unpleasant odor of sulfur wafting to him. No, not demoniis or even the monstrous Narakas he’d fought a few days ago but something else…an ancient impression. One he knew all too well from his brutal incarceration in Tartarus. This unidentified sulfur-tainted entity hammered his psyche like rusty nails. The souls careened inside him as if sensing it, too, seeking freedom.

  Ely rubbed her arms. “Something’s here.”

  The damn sensation made his gut churn. Nik frowned. But he had no corporeal jailor to take revenge on for his brutal incarceration in Tartarus. Unless those formless fucks found a way to get here and wanted the damn souls he housed back. Yeah, no way was he letting anyone get their hands on him. He’d rather live with the curse inside him as he had for millennia than live through that hell again.

  Before he could hunt the abrasive sensation, it dissipated.

  Laughter dragged him back from his spiking anger, and his focus flicked to the mouth of the alley.

  Several humans rolled out of Club Anarchy, their guffaws echoing like a damn invitation in the night. Sure enough, a trio of demoniis appeared behind the men, trailing them.

  Unable to go after whoever wore the sulfuric taints of Tartarus because of his oath to protect humans, Nik clamped down on ire. How the hell could mortals remain so clueless to danger stalking them?

  “Finally, some action,” Ely murmured.

  He would have laughed if fury wasn’t keeping him on edge.

  A light downward breeze wafted past, barely cooling his temper, when a whisper of fragrance, of wildflowers, teased his nose.