Hidden (Her Immortal Guardians Book 1)

by Bella Edwards

  Lorelei nodded unable to speak, still teetering on the edge of reality as the head injury took her further from the night’s events.

  “Can you stand?” continued Erin, and she nodded again.

  Erin helped Lorelei to her feet, and Lorelei stumbled, grabbing onto the tree. “Some help here?” asked Erin, looking around at the two men.

  Gabe didn't move, but Marius came over. Erin put her hand up to halt him. “Not you, I think she's frightened enough.”

  She turned to Gabe, beckoning him with some irritation. “Come here! Some Watcher you are.”

  Lorelei focused on Gabe through her dizziness as Gabe still refused to move towards her. Emptiness turned her stomach over. Why wouldn't he help her?

  "She's your responsibility, Gabe. You said you wanted this. If you want to go alone, you have to deal with everything. That includes the decision what to do with an injured girl."

  Gabe pushed a hand through his hair then walked over to Erin, whispering something into her ear. The bark dragged down Lorelei's neck as she slumped again. If only she possessed the energy to run.

  "Take her to the hospital. A head injury on a human can be dangerous, and she looks as if she's going to black out again any minute."

  "Hospital?" he asked as if Erin suggested he jump off a cliff.

  "Yes," snapped Erin. "We're going home. Do this on your own."

  "Is our home still in one piece? Anything unpleasant you left behind?" asked Marius

  Gabe shook his head.

  "Well, then we shall take our leave," smiled Marius, extending a hand to Lorelei.

  She put her hand in his, and he pulled it towards his face. Brushing her hand with his lips, he looked under his lashes at her with large brown eyes. "Enchante." He dropped her hand, giving a little bow.

  Erin shoved him hard. "Stop that. I don't think she's interested in men who think it's funny to turn into a large black cat, wander around the countryside, and deliberately scare people."

  "How can you be sure she isn’t interested?" Marius grinned at Lorelei.

  "Look at what's in plain sight, you idiot," said Erin, eyes flicking from Gabe to Lorelei.

  As Erin pushed him in the direction of the house, Marius strolled ahead, and Lorelei watched as Erin walked twice as fast to catch up, continuing to scold him. Marius mimicked Erin's walk and teased her.

  Gabe moved towards Lorelei, an ethereal white glow accentuating his features. The light surrounding him turned his skin to shimmering marble, hair shining a blonde as pale as her own.

  "How did you do that?" she asked, rubbing the tree bark with her fingers, feeling the rough splinters on her fingers. Reality. "All of that... and you... how you look."

  "I told you, I am not human."

  She bit down on her lip. She had to ask. “Are you an angel?”

  Gabe said nothing. But he had to be—that was the only logical answer

  "Did I fall down a rabbit hole?" she muttered.

  "A what? Where?" To her amusement, Gabe looked at the ground.

  "Nothing."

  "I find you quite strange."

  "Have you looked in the mirror recently?"

  Gabe smiled hesitantly at her and looked down at his hands. "The glow will leave."

  "What I meant is, I seem to be in a different world than the one I lived in last week. I'm finding it hard to accept. Suddenly demons exist, I'm told someone is pursuing and wants to kill me... and I just saw a cat turn into a man."

  "I never said Caleb wanted to kill you. If he did, he would lose the Key again because it would pass to a new Host."

  "Then what will he do if he finds me? How does he get this power from my body?"

  "I don't know."

  "I don't believe you."

  Gabe's pale blue eyes searched hers, and she stared back at him, not able to tell if they held the truth. Before she could question him further, her weak legs buckled and the pressure behind her eyes grew. Gabe stepped forward, eyes wide in alarm.

  "Don't take me to a hospital. I want to go home," she said weakly. The world lurched again, and she saw the ground coming towards her face.

  Chapter Eleven

  Lorelei opened her eyes then shut them immediately, the incandescent strip lights too harsh for her sore head. The nauseating smell of disinfectant hung in the air around her, and she lay in an uncomfortable hospital bed.

  No way.

  Lorelei sat slowly and looked around. Alone inside the curtained hospital cubicle, the torn and dirty dress she wore to the party was folded over a nearby chair.

  This was her chance—her opportunity to walk away from the craziness she'd been pulled into. There were no machines attached to her or IVs in her arm—her head hurt like hell, but she couldn't be badly injured. She could leave. Lorelei slid herself to the edge of the bed to reach her clothes.

  "Ah, Lorelei! Welcome back!" A woman not much older than her, dressed in hospital blues pulled open the curtain. She smiled kindly at Lorelei, clipboard in hand. "I was just coming to do your Obs. I'm Jane."

  Lorelei's shoulders dropped, of course, it wouldn't be easy, nothing was recently. She looked past the nurse into the emergency ward. Outside the cubicles, people on trolleys waited for an available room in the curtained bays. "I'm okay. I think other people need this bed more than me."

  "Let's see what the doctor has to say first." Jane pushed a strand of dark brown hair from her face as she leant forward and busied herself with taking Lorelei's blood pressure.

  "How did I get here?" Lorelei asked her.

  The nurse frowned. "Your boyfriend brought you in. He said you'd been in an accident and needed checking out."

  "Boyfriend?"

  "That's what he said—the guy with the blonde hair—tall, gorgeous, ring any bells?" The nurse chuckled and Lorelei reddened. The young nurse perched herself on the bed next to her. "I don't want to talk out of turn, but is everything okay? What sort of accident was it?"

  "I crashed a car."

  "Pretty lucky to escape with only a bump on the head then."

  Lorelei nodded.

  "And the other bruises? On your neck?"

  Lorelei touched her neck. How bad did she look? "My seatbelt probably."

  The nurse’s eyes went to Lorelei's arm, and she followed her gaze. A set of five marks were imprinted on her arm. Fingerprints.

  "Has someone assaulted you?" Jane asked gently. "You don't have to talk to anyone right now, but it sets alarm bells ringing when unconscious girls with suspicious bruising are brought in here, with vague stories from boyfriends and husbands."

  It suddenly dawned on Lorelei what the nurse meant. "Oh..." She breathed the word as if someone punched her. "No... that’s not the situation at all. Gabe stopped someone attacking me. Before the accident."

  "And he didn't think to report the attack to us or the police?"

  "I don't know. We drove away straight after, maybe Gabe will report it soon?” As if he would. “A stranger attacked me—drunk I think, you know, late night after a few drinks." Lorelei smiled weakly, aware how vague she sounded. It was clear from Jane's expression, and the concern in her eyes, she didn't believe Lorelei.

  "Did you want me to call someone for you?"

  Should she ask the nurse to call the police? She rubbed her mouth. What would be the point—clearly, they would be useless against whatever was happening. Gabe's far-fetched stories about Hosts and Keys began to slide towards the truth after the events that followed his explanation. What she witnessed was not a story. It was real.

  "No, Gabe will take me home. When can I leave?"

  The nurse frowned but took this as the end of the discussion. "Because you may have a concussion, we'd rather you stayed a few more hours, just to keep an eye on you." She chuckled at Lorelei's grimace. "Yes, he said you didn't like hospitals. He wasn't happy to leave you on your own and sit in the waiting room."

  "Gabe is right; I don't. Is he still here?"

  "Yes."

  Disappointment and reli
ef fought in Lorelei's mind. If he'd left, she'd be free to leave alone, get home and away from the madness. But he stayed.

  "Can he see me now?"

  Uncertainty crossed the nurse’s face.

  "He didn’t hurt me," pressed Lorelei.

  The nurse nodded and stepped through the curtain into the ward. A few minutes passed before Gabe appeared. Her pulse quickened the moment she saw him. His beautiful face had lost its luminescence, his hair darkened back to sandy blond. His puckered brow betrayed his concern.

  "How are you?" he asked, standing inside the curtain, no closer.

  "Why did you bring me here when I asked you not to?"

  "It's safe here, and Erin said a doctor should see you. I’ve never dealt with things like this, so I followed her advice."

  Lorelei sighed. "Well, the nurse interrogated me about whether my boyfriend assaulted me."

  Gabe's frown deepened. "Assaulted you?"

  "The bruises. And I imagine you were evasive when questioned? Since you normally are." She gave him a pointed look.

  Gabe looked taken aback for a moment then nodded. "I can see why they might think that."

  "And why would they think you were my boyfriend?" Her stomach fluttered as she said it, hoping there was a hidden reason behind his decision.

  "They asked, I said yes. I thought it might seem odd if I was a random stranger bringing an unconscious girl to the hospital. I think the police would be involved otherwise."

  A pang of disappointment ran through her. Gabe's face showed no sign of anything else behind his words. Of course, there’d be a practical reason.

  "No demonic doctors in here you need to protect me from?"

  "I couldn't be sure, but I don't think so," Gabe said, face serious.

  Lorelei giggled, and Gabe frowned at her. "I don't think this situation is something to laugh about."

  "Do you think I don't know that when I'm the one sitting in a hospital bed? I am trying to cope with this in the best way I know how."

  Involuntary tears stung her eyes, and she blinked them away. Gabe didn't know how it felt to be in her position—to want to walk out of the hospital door then see him again, reminding her something waited outside. The confines of her life were bad enough before but why this? What had she done to deserve the craziness following her around?

  A young doctor appeared from behind the curtain, blowing brown hair from his eyes, harassed. Asking her only the minimum he needed to, the doctor gave Lorelei a routine check, read the notes on her chart and disappeared.

  A minute or two later Jane reappeared. "Doctor Brewer thinks you should stay a little longer. You can never be sure with a concussion. It's four am now—leave it until around eight, when the shifts change over. It's safer for you."

  Lorelei noticed her glance at Gabe.

  "Does that mean he has to leave?" asked Lorelei

  "Yes."

  "That's not possible. I have to be with Lorelei."

  The intensity with which he said it alarmed the nurse who regarded Lorelei with a questioning look.

  Lorelei nodded. "He's right. He should stay."

  "No, we should go. It's not safe for you here." Gabe picked up Lorelei's clothes.

  "Okay, you can stay with her if it means she doesn't leave." Jane tutted and walked out of the cubicle.

  "This has to be the longest night of my life," murmured Lorelei, resigned to the fact she was staying. The protective cover of the hospital pillow crunched against her head as she lay down, no longer able to fight off the exhaustion. Mind and body drained, she allowed herself to sleep.

  Gabe moved to sit in the uncomfortable plastic chair next to the bed, surprised how quickly Lorelei fell asleep. His mind circled the events of the last few hours. How could this all happen suddenly? Having to shift to his true form for only the second time in his earthbound life proved things were beyond his control now. Now the girl he tried to hide his identity from had witnessed this and knew what he was. How could he explain?

  The prospect of protecting her until she was safe to carry on her life uninterrupted faded with every hour. Erin was right, Caleb's followers shouldn't have found him as quickly. Was it his fault or Lorelei’s?

  He should work out what to do and where to go next, but he couldn't. Lorelei’s presence knocked him off balance and shifted his focus.

  The possibility Caleb could succeed in possessing the Key should be at the fore of his mind, and how to deal with Caleb's new forces paramount. He shouldn't be gazing at a sleeping girl, fighting against his desire to stroke her hair and comfort her.

  Gabe closed his eyes and breathed deeply. This situation was wrong, so wrong. The overwhelming change in his relationship with a Host interfered with his ability to do his job. Erin recognised his feelings and Marius saw through him too.

  Caleb spoke the truth—Gabe’s benevolence would threaten everything.

  Why her and now? It made no sense for him to feel a sudden attraction to a human girl, and one so young. Gabe had seen how he felt mirrored in the girl's eyes. They had nothing in common. Was this the lust Caleb told him about when he bragged about all the pleasures he took from being in this world? It couldn't be—he wasn't Caleb. Maybe his need to protect had become entwined in his physical attraction for this beautiful human. Or perhaps it was more—she was more than human.

  His reaction to the attack in the cottage alarmed him—this need to help went beyond protecting the key. He worried about Lorelei's injuries.

  When he'd stayed in the shadows, living in this world amongst the humans was easy. But now, under the bright hospital lights, he was far from his old existence.

  And that made things harder. Much harder.

  When Lorelei woke, Gabe was missing, and Erin now sat in the plastic chair by her bed. Squinting under the bright lights, Lorelei sat, and her head pounded, so she lay back down, looking at Erin through one open eye.

  "Hi!" Erin said breezily.

  Lorelei peered at the girl she'd met in the woods. Probably not much older than Lorelei, with dark pink highlights in her short brown hair and a fringe clipped back to one side. A smile covered her open and friendly face. "I brought you some clean clothes—I hope they fit."

  Erin indicated a pair of jeans and a lightweight green shirt folded on the end of her bed. "Don't worry, they're not mine—I have friends who are your size. Ish. I didn't think a hospital gown, or ripped clothes, were the most practical things to leave the hospital wearing."

  Lorelei silently nodded her thanks.

  "So anyway, Gabe won't be long, and he wanted me to sit with you."

  "Guard me?"

  Erin's eyes widened. "Oh, no, not at all. As Gabe said, you can leave when you want. But I'd probably advise you not to. Not until you've met the Council."

  "The Council? What Council? I just want to go home."

  Erin pulled a sympathetic look. "I can understand why, but we were both hoping you'd at least look at your options before you went home."

  "I have options?" Her voice dripped sarcasm.

  Erin sat forward a little in her seat. "For your safety. Gabe explained some things to you last night, and you must surely see things have got a bit um... out of control."

  A bit? Her foggy brain tried to remember every detail. Gabe surrounded by light, the dogs, the people. If they were people. And the panther man. Her cheeks turned pink at the memory of his naked body.

  Then there was Gabe's explanation, which left her with more questions than answers.

  "Can things return to normal for me?" she asked Erin.

  "Normal?" Lorelei's words seemed to amuse her. "Well, we're hoping we can get some more normal back for you, and that's why we want you to meet the Council. Well, I did—Gabe is reluctant."

  "Why?"

  "Because he doesn't trust anyone. He prefers to work on his own."

  "Can the Council stop Caleb?"

  Erin's laugh held a bitter edge. "If the Council could do, they would've done many years ago. No, they are allie
s who also want to maintain the equilibrium which exists in our world now. Uneasy allies but with a common goal. If they meet you and talk to Gabe, they may be able to find a way to keep you hidden from Caleb. If you don't meet them and return to your everyday life with no help, we don't know what will happen. Surely you can see it's worth visiting them?"

  What was she supposed to do? She sat in a hospital bed with some concussion after a night of terror she couldn't explain. Her adrenalin levels were so high she jumped at the slightest unusual noise.

  "You think they can help?" Lorelei asked.

  Erin shrugged. "If anyone can, they can. I don't want to sound like I'm pressuring you, but I think it would be unwise of you to go home without trying to find help. It's been difficult enough persuading Gabe to take you to the Council. I hope you trust us—we've tried to keep you from harm's way too."

  Lorelei sighed. Erin was right, of course, and the thought of returning home, unprotected, back into her old life wasn't appealing. However much it irked her, Lorelei knew she needed protection. If what Erin said was true, maybe she’d have a chance at a normal life, away from all this.

  "Do you think they might be able to take it out of me? This Key?"

  "Completely impossible. And if it was possible, there is no way Gabe would let that happen."

  "Gabe. How much do you know about him? Where he's from?"

  Erin regarded her silently for a moment. "Only what he's revealed. A little more than he has told you, but I expect he'll tell you more when it's the right time. I’m surprised he told you as much as he did. He must have thought it necessary."

  "Is evading questions a supernatural thing? You're all very good at it."

  Lorelei sat forward in the bed and pushed the sheets off her legs. A part of her knew an audience with the Council was a courtesy and, whatever decision she made, she'd have no choice. But it made sense to visit before Caleb managed to find her again. She grabbed the jeans and wriggled into them.

  "Okay, where's Gabe? Will he take us there?"

  Erin's eyes glinted, and she smiled. "He's getting a new car."