by Iris Abbott
She arched her back, smacked him in the chest, and twisted out of his iron grip. She knew he let her go. Kara wasn’t foolish enough to think she could break away from the guardian if he didn’t want her to. She glowered at him with accusing eyes. “You bit me!”
He didn’t back down from her anger, didn’t even blink. “Yeah, and I’d do it again.” He folded his arms across his chest and slouched against the rough-textured wall. “Should have done it a long time ago since you insist on seeking danger at every turn.”
She rubbed the heated spot on her neck. “What’s that got to do with anything? Besides, it’s not like I could get into too much trouble. Not with a feline shadow who refuses to slink away into the night and leave me be.”
“Your penchant for trouble has everything to do with my bite.”
“Why?” She frowned at him. Her family had been let in on one of the biggest secrets of the cosmic universe. Yet she still had a lot to learn about the other beings that mixed and mingled with humans while mankind was none the wiser.
“The saliva of guardians has special healing agents, much like the saliva of the shifters and the blood of vampires. Now that I’ve bitten you and injected my saliva into your body it will work to heal any damage.”
A cold chill snaked down her spine. She bounced her foot up and down and pinched the skin at her throat. “What kind of damage?” Kara had a feeling she wasn’t going to like the answer.
He lifted her arm, and before she could stop him, he licked the six-inch nick, washing away the thin crimson line of blood. “Minor injuries like this,” he said after he lifted his mouth from her body.
The uncomfortable sting from the knife wound lessened until she could barely feel it. Her instincts warned her there was more to what he was saying.
She tapped her foot. “What else?”
“The healing agents all but stop your body’s aging process. Barring any catastrophic injuries, you will live as long as I do.”
Her eyes widened, and she wrinkled her brows. “So just like that I’m immortal?” she asked in disbelief. Her stomach clenched, and she struggled to comprehend the magnitude of what he just revealed to her. Worse was the secret her sisters must be keeping from her since one was mated with a vampire and the other with a wolf shifter.
He shrugged like it was no big deal, and Kara had to resist the urge to strike out at him. This was her life he took so casually. “Over the centuries other guardians have learned that the bite only has to be repeated every month to continue the healing and anti-aging processes.”
“Don’t plan on sinking your teeth into me anytime soon,” she declared in a firm voice that belied the nervousness that made her stomach churn.
“We’ll see about that,” he answered with a wicked grin and wink that curled her toes despite the fear and anger that simmered inside her.
She knew better than to issue Alexander a challenge, so she swiftly changed the subject. “Thank you for dropping in when you did.” She managed a smile at the pun. “Five to one isn’t good odds for anyone, not even a seasoned hunter.”
His lips tightened, but he nodded his acceptance of her thanks. “Whoever the killer is, he’s long gone. You should be too. I need to do damage control, clean up the scene, and make sure there’s no trace of us left behind for human authorities to find. Someone will eventually report the bodies to law enforcement.”
She gave him a mock bow. “Until next time.”
Kara retreated from the alley, leaving Alexander to his work. She knew next time wouldn’t be too far away. She was headed to Enigma, Maine to visit with her sisters. The New England town was Alexander’s home base. With that and his stalkerish tendencies, she was sure to run into him several times while she was there.
TWO
Alexander watched Kara disappear with clenched jaws and balled fists. It took every ounce of his iron will to let her go, something he’d done too many times. It was only getting harder. Tonight, the immense danger that threatened her cracked his self-control. He marked her with his bite, staking his claim and imbuing her with its healing powers. If she were ever outnumbered like that again and he wasn’t there to help, she’d be hard to kill, especially for mere humans.
He reluctantly pushed thoughts of Kara aside and concentrated on the task at hand. Using his superior senses and a touch of magic held by all guardians, he staged it to look like the hooded men first killed the woman then turned on each other. That done, he erased all traces that he and Kara were ever in the back alley. He soundlessly leaped onto the decaying fire escape, slipped into a long ago broken window, and slinked away from the crime scene without a backward glance. Someone would come across the massacre and call the police.
Once he cleared the dingy, narrow back street, Alexander hid in the shadows, breathed deep, and opened his senses. He needed to find the one who’d escaped. He wouldn’t allow any blowback from the incident to endanger Kara. He would annihilate anyone who meant her harm. He needed to find the remaining witness and introduce him to the cold, harsh reality of guardian justice.
A day later, Alexander traced the scent of the murderer to an abandoned and long forgotten farmhouse on the outskirts of a rural but once thriving agricultural area. It was the kind of place where the elderly residents were dying off, and the younger ones left as soon as they were old enough, looking for opportunities that no longer existed in their fading hometown. There were no busybody neighbors or concerned citizens to notice the flurry of activity on the isolated acreage. It was a good hiding place for what Alexander suspected was some kind of cult.
Cloaked in the shadows of midnight, Alexander surveyed the area. He spied a well-hidden trail that was no match for his superior tracking skills and well-developed senses, including night vision and smell. After several minutes of studying the area, he decided the cellar would be the best point of entry. Alexander effortlessly lifted the solid wooden door. His nose told him no one waited below to ambush him.
He tiptoed down the shaky wooden stairs until he reached the bottom of the underground room. One dim, yellow light hung from the ceiling, losing its battle to light the dark and dank space. Luckily, he didn’t need any illumination to make out the details. Rough dirt walls formed the boundary. Rocks and broken bricks littered the uneven floor along with several sets of footprints.
He could hear the faint trickle of dripping water. Rodents and insects scurried to dark corners to escape his notice. Muffled voices from the main part of the house filtered through the ceiling. He paid the creatures of the night no notice as his sight followed the well-worn path to the opposite end of the cellar.
He wrinkled his nose in a vain attempt to lessen the dank smell of damp earth and dust intertwined with the stench of evil. He knew relief would only come with his departure from the enclosed space. Inherently able to tell good from evil was one of the guardians’ many gifts from the gods. His senses warned him that several acts of depravity recently occurred between the walls of the old building. He could almost hear the lost souls crying out to him for help.
The intensity caused his head to throb, not that guardians would ever suffer from something as mundane as a headache. Still, he needed out. Alexander lightly ran his hand along the wall, searching for the hidden entrance he was sure existed. His finger snagged on the latch. He silently released it to reveal a secret tunnel that led upward and inside the house.
Stealthily as a stalking feline, he traversed the passageway which opened into a bedroom closet. He slowly pushed open the door, wincing when the rusty hinges squeaked. There were no shouts or pounding footsteps to indicate he’d given himself away. Using the flexibility of his feline, he slipped through the minuscule opening.
The scent of the one he tracked was present but faded. Before he could move away from the closet, the sound of faint voices reached his ears. He slid behind the closet door and flattened himself against the wall.
“We’re stuck here guarding an empty compound while he’s out having all the fun,�
� voice one said in disgust.
“Never question the Messiah,” a second voice added. The man’s voice trembled with fear. “He sees and hears all even when he’s hundreds of miles away.”
A third voice snorted. “You mean when one of his many kiss-ass spies reports back to him on what everyone else is doing.”
“Whatever,” yet a fourth man said. “I was promised plenty of action, not this hiding shit.”
“You getting antsy, Jones? The woman you bludgeoned to death the other day, not enough for you?” the second voice asked with a laugh. The other three joined him. The maniacal sound sent chills down Alexander’s spine.
“I’m just saying something doesn’t add up,” voice one continued. “The Messiah was totally flustered when he left for parts unknown, muttering about tracking down some eyewitness that needed to feel the cleansing blows of his blade. And what happened to the five followers who went on a sacrificial tryst with him? You all know as well as I do that no one gets out of this place alive.”
Alexander heard enough. His senses told him the four males were the only other living beings present in the house. Wickedness permeated from them. There was no delivering them from temptation, only the chance to spare future victims from their depraved thoughts and actions.
He slipped out the way he came. Once away from the structure, he called on a recent talent he acquired not too long after several Enigma residents defeated the demented rogue vampire known as the Puppet Master. He had a feeling it was a residual side effect of the merging of powers done by Jillian, the wife of a guardian and also a powerful conduit. She called all their strength and powers to herself before reducing the evil vampire to an insignificant pile of dust. He was getting ready to do the same, but he drew his power from the energy in the surrounding atmosphere instead of other paranormal beings.
He closed his eyes, lifted his arms above his head and moved his hands in a precise circle. In his mind, he pictured the obliteration of the old, wooden structure. He felt the wind pick up speed and whip around him. The air crackled with energy, and his body vibrated from the force and momentum of the power he gathered to himself.
With one vicious fling of his hands, the energy left his body in a destructive wave of power headed straight for his target. Faster than the blink of an eye, the old house combusted, becoming a large fireball. Bright orange, yellow, white, and blue flames shot toward the sky, burning and cleansing away the evil staining the otherwise peaceful place.
Once nothing but a large pile of ash remained, Alexander waved his hands once again. This time the energy dispersed, and the flames disappeared as if they’d never been. Satisfied that he’d done all he could, Alexander turned his sights toward home. He knew Kara finally returned to Enigma, and there was no other place he wanted to be.
THREE
Kara breathed a deep sigh of relief as soon as she entered the town limits of Enigma, Maine. Of all the places she and her sisters traveled to over the years, it was the only one that called to Kara and invited her to stay awhile. So far, she resisted the pull of the town. However, with all her remaining family settled there and unlikely to ever leave, she was thinking more and more about making Enigma her home base. Most of the citizens she met were different but friendly, just like the Myers sisters. The sudden desire for semi-permanency had nothing what so ever to do with one exasperating but sexy as sin guardian, she reminded herself for at least the hundredth time.
A black shadow darted across the road. Kara slammed on brakes to avoid hitting the animal, and her SUV veered onto the shoulder. She gripped the wheel and fought the urge to yank the vehicle back onto the road. The SUV came to a stop. Kara rested her forehead against the steering wheel and thanked her lucky stars that she hadn’t ended up in the ditch that bordered the highway.
She exited the vehicle and glanced around, looking for the culprit. She thought the streak of black was a cat, but one couldn’t be too sure especially in Enigma. She might not know everything about guardians, but she knew they possessed the magic ability to turn into cats. It was a logical choice for their creators as ancient Egyptians held cats in high regard. It also allowed the mystical beings to blend in with humans, stealthily gathering information and spying on prey.
Kara also knew that guardians tended to hang around and mate with witches. Thus, the legend of a witch’s familiar and cats probably owed its origin to guardians. The guardians she knew, including Alexander, were all black cats. The fur matched their dark good looks and black hair.
She clicked her tongue and waited. A small, slender cat slunk out of the tall grass on the side of the road. It trotted toward her and wound its flexible body around her legs and between her feet. Kara gingerly held out a hand toward the animal. She was confident it was a cat and not a guardian.
The guardians she’d seen in cat form were much larger than the cat next to her, more similar in size to a Maine Coon. This cat looked like it only weighed about eight pounds. And if Kara wasn’t mistaken, it was a girl. All guardians were male.
The cat repeatedly bumped its head against her hand. Kara rubbed the animal. “Such a pretty kitty,” she softly murmured. The cat purred in response.
“What are you doing out here all alone?” Kara wondered aloud. The cat looked a little underfed and had a few clumps of matted fur, but otherwise seemed no worse for wear. The lack of a collar pointed to the animal being a stray. Kara couldn’t leave her to fend for herself.
She carefully picked up the animal. It didn’t fight to get away. Instead, the cat snuggled against her, hiding her face between Kara’s neck and hair. “Such a sweetie,” she cooed. “Wanna come home with me?”
The cat snuggled closer and purred louder.
“I’ll take that as a yes.” Kara hugged the animal and giggled.
She wasn’t going to waste time trying to find the owner if one even existed. She drove onto Main Street and parked near a pet boutique she remembered seeing on a previous visit. She had to walk past the Witch’s Brew, and the owner, who was standing at the door, waved for her to come inside.
Kara accepted the invitation without hesitation. Brianna Sheldon was one of the most powerful witches alive. Besides that, Kara liked and respected the other woman. She found herself embraced by the witch as soon as she pushed open the door.
“Your sisters mentioned you were coming for a visit. ‘Bout time.” She cocked her hip and put a hand on it for emphasis. A sharp meow drew the other woman’s attention to the black bundle of fur Kara cradled in one arm. She threw back her head and laughed. “Giving Alexander some competition, I see.”
“Hardly,” Kara replied with a delicate sniff. “She dashed in front of me just inside the town limits, wasn’t gonna leave her to fend for herself. She’s a sweetie. Don’t suppose you’re in the market for a cat?” Kara reluctantly asked.
Brianna reached out and petted the cat on the head. The animal pushed against her hand and purred almost as loud as she did when Kara rubbed her. “Don’t suppose I am. Cats are pretty good at picking people. Looks and sounds like she chose you.”
“That’s what I thought too.” She narrowed her eyes and accidentally squeezed the cat hard enough to make it squeak. “My brothers-in-law better not get any ideas about eating her either, or I’ll stake their hearts faster than they can blink.”
Brianna laughed again. “Might want to stay with Raphael and Tara this trip,” the witch suggested. “No need to tempt anyone on the Gannon compound. Natural instincts take over when they’re in their wolf forms. Or maybe you’re planning on staying at Alexander’s?”
“I’m here for the big Halloween bash not to hook up with cat boy.” She wasn’t sure why she insisted on the nickname when Alexander was all man. “Though, I doubt if anything can top last year’s party.”
Brianna snorted. “What? Was it the discovery of witches and shifters or the invasion of zombie-like creatures that took the cake?”
“Both, but I’m looking forward to a rocking party this time. No mayh
em or death, just fun and games.”
Brianna winked at her. “From your mouth to the ears of the universe. Glad I caught you. I’ve got the perfect costume for you, been saving it in the hopes that you’d stop by.”
“If it’s all right to put Onyx down, I’ll go ahead and look at the costume while I’m here.” She hadn’t been thinking about cat names, but that one popped into her mind and refused to budge, so Onyx it was.
“She can roam all she wants, nothing here that’ll hurt her.” Brianna tried out the name. “Onyx! I love it. The stone is one of healing and is said to help rid its owner of negative energy. Maybe this cutie can do the same for you.”
Kara shrugged. She wasn’t looking for any of that just a furry companion. She gently sat the cat down and followed Brianna. Her stomach tightened. She was more than a little anxious to see Brianna’s idea of the perfect costume. Somehow, she knew it was going to have something to do with cats.
****
“She’s so cute!” Zoe, Kara’s older sister, exclaimed.
Onyx let out a soft meow, ran up to Zoe’s husband, arched her back, hissed, and swatted at him.
“Smart too,” Kara said with a smirk. “She knows a dog when she sees one.”
“Cats,” her brother-in-law said with a vigorous shake of his head. “Just as bad as guardians.”
Kara leaned down and picked up Onyx for a snuggle. “Couldn’t agree more with you about guardians, but leave cats out of it.”
“Uh, you do know that guardians embody the feline spirit, don’t you?” Drew grinned. “It’s the way they were made.”
“You know what they say,” her twin butted in. “Love a cat, love a guardian.”
“No one actually says that,” Kara snapped at her sister.
Tara shrugged. “Maybe not but they should.”
Kara refrained from answering her twin. They always knew how to push each other’s buttons. “Speaking of guardians.” She narrowed her eyes, crossed her arms, and tapped her right foot all while glaring at her sisters and brothers-in-law. “I thought we shared everything,” she said in a huff.
