Protector (Daray Hall #2)

by Hoffman, Samantha

  “Do I have a choice?”

  The boat stops at the dock, and Selene helps me climb out of the boat. We walk along the nearly pitch-black tunnel, this time traveling gently upward and, when we finally reach the end, the light is nearly blinding.

  Without a word, Selene offers me her hand, and I take it. The two of us begin to glow with a silver light, and we vanish from Hades’ Realms, reappearing seconds later back in Selene’s Eternal Gardens. The second she lets go of my hand, I lean over, and puke my guts up again as my legs threaten to give out from beneath me.

  Selene helps steady me, and then she leads me over to a patch of honeysuckle. The scent helps calm me, and it settles my stomach. “What now?”

  “You have a choice to make, Kylie. I can send you back. I can’t promise that you can change the outcome of this war; I can’t promise you that you’ll survive. The only thing I can promise you is that you will suffer more pain than any of my children, living or dead, human or supernatural, ever has before. I have tried this only once before, and the pain suffered caused this person’s mind and soul to shatter beyond repair. He will spend eternity a broken and confused man, and to this day I still weep when I see him.”

  More pain than anyone, ever? If I go back to help her, my immortal soul is in danger of being irreparably damaged. Can I spend the rest of eternity like that?

  “Can you do this my daughter? Face certain pain and heartache for someone you love?”

  I take a deep breath, making my decision in an instant. “You knew what my answer would be the moment you offered this. Tara needs me, and I intend to go to her.”

  Selene smiles. “The mark of a true hero is not strength of the body or nerves, like most believe. It’s strength of the heart. Pure, unwavering love. It’s your ability to always put others first that makes you truly remarkable. Remember that, Kylie.”

  I only have time for one deep breath, before I’m falling. Wind rushes past me, causing a deafening roar in my ears, and I feel my heart racing. After mere seconds, I feel like my heart might burst, until I finally hit the ground, jolting back to earth. When I open my eyes, I’m surprised to find myself in pitch black surroundings, fighting to breathe.

  My fingers desperately scrabble for the surface, and I dig my way up. When my fingers break through to the surface, I gulp down deep lungful after lungful of precious air. Then I pull myself up out of my own grave, trying not to think about that. When I’m situated on the damp earth around me, I take a few deep, shuddering breaths, trying to calm my racing heart.

  Where’s the pain?

  It hits so suddenly that I drop to my knees, screaming as pure agony rips through every last inch of my body. My muscles contract and contort, bones creak and splinter, and my brain swells until it’s pressing against my skull, trying to split my head open and burst forth.

  My eyes, ears, and nose all leak blood, clogging my senses and my surroundings. My fingers dig into my palms until they bleed, and I fall to my side, praying that someone will hear my screams and put me out of my misery. My screams cut off when the convulsions start, and I flop around on the ground as if I’m being electrocuted.

  One rapid jerk cracks my spine, leaving me lying in the dirt at an odd, broken angle. My body seizes, and I vomit up mouthfuls of blood into the dirt near my head. Flame burns its way through my veins, setting my body on fire from the inside out. It burns hard and fast, leaving its mark clearly on my body and soul, before slowly healing my body and the damage done to it.

  I know, even before I open my eyes, that I’ll never forget this moment, and what coming back has cost me…

  Finally, the darkness takes me, and I surrender to it gladly.

  The cold rain pelts me, forcing me back to my senses. At first, I’m unsure where I am, because this dark, muddy place definitely is not Selene’s Eternal Gardens. Finally, I make out the sight of headstones, black iron gates, and dim lanterns, and realize that I’m in a graveyard.

  My graveyard.

  I’m curled up in the mud, my hands apply pressure to my brain, hoping it doesn’t explode or burst into flame, and I’m too scared to move. The pain from earlier was so intense it’s left me speechless and breathless, and I don’t think I can move just yet. All I can do is lie in the rain, letting it wash off my pain and suffering.

  Finally, after almost ten minutes, I get the courage to sit up and look down at myself. I’m wearing the jeans, black tank top, and black sweater I wore to the graveyard to battle Andrea and Achlys, and it’s still stained in my blood. There’s something new though, and I pull down my shirt to look at it.

  A red, crescent shaped scar rests directly over my heart, and it looks almost like a burn. I remember the feeling of fire working through my body and veins, and I realize it’s a reminder. A reminder of the things I’ve sacrificed for others. It’s a reminder from my goddess that I’m good, and deserving of a decent life.

  Tilting my head up to the moon above me, I smile and say, “Thank you, Selene. For everything.”

  Shakily, I get to my feet, looking around the dark, empty graveyard. I’m completely alone right now, which is probably for the best, seeing as I just crawled out of my own grave and started screaming and thrashing like a maniac. I can’t imagine the hysteria something like this would cause.

  With one final look at the moon, I jog off into the darkness, towards the ruins of my home. There’s something different, and I know what it is from my very first step, when I shoot off into the trees, faster than the human eye can follow.

  Selene’s made me a full-grown vampire, even though I’m not eighteen for another three and a half months. Is this a gift to help ease the pain of what I just experienced?

  That’s not the only gift she’s given me. I’m not sure how I know–it’s little more than a feeling–but I know that she’s given me the ability to pledge myself as a Protector. And that’s the first thing I’m going to do when I find her, is pledge my body, heart, and soul to her for the rest of eternity.

  Chapter Six

  Daray Hall is little more than a pile of still burning ash. The cold rain has put out what little fire the firefighters left, and now everything just smokes in the darkness. All I can do is stand at the front gate and try not to cry over the ruins of my old home. I was only here for a few weeks, and I already had better memories than I did at home.

  I remember what Selene said about not all of the residents making it out alive, and I wonder if I knew any of the dead. I look away from the ruins and in the direction of Jillian’s childhood home, where Tara and the others are sure to be right now. As much as I want to stay here and remember this place I can’t waste time.

  So I put up my hood to keep off the rain, then turn around and start running.

  I’m not sure how long I run for, but with my new speed, I make it to Jillian’s just as the sun is starting to come up. For a minute, I stand in the trees surrounding her childhood mansion, just thinking about what I’m going to say to Tara when I see her. There’s bound to be lots of screaming, confusion, and mostly crying.

  Then I see her, passing by the window. She’s still in her hello kitty pajamas, and her hair is a disheveled mess. Her eyes are red-rimmed and puffy, which I can clearly see from my spot outside, thanks to Selene’s newest gift to me. One look at her and every speech I’ve prepared over the last couple of hours goes right out my brain, leaving me speechless and unsure.

  However, I can’t stand out here in the rain forever. Without telling them to, my feet carry me down toward the mansion at a run and, without stopping, I vault over the iron fence easily, landing in a deadly crouch on the other side. I take just a second to marvel at my new body and what it’s capable of.

  Then I’m running to the mansion, and staring up at the second-floor window where Tara’s staying. With a running start, I jump up, and my fingertips catch the windowsill. Hauling myself up, I perch dangerously on the sill, peering in through the window.

  Tara’s curled up in a large bed, with Morgan on
the other side. Austin is sprawled out across the floor, and I can’t help but notice that Chloe is incredibly close to him, and I smile to myself. There hands aren’t quite touching, but their fingers are only inches apart.

  For a second, I just watch Tara breathing silently in bed, and I’m incredibly scared about what’s going to happen next. Will she accept me now that I’m back? Will she be scared of me? I wouldn’t blame her, seeing as I’m supposed to be dead right now.

  Just as my fingers begin to pry open the window, an arm wraps around my waist, and I’m dragged away from the window and to the ground, landing in a crumpled heap with someone on top of me. I stare up into a pair of haunted green eyes that I immediately recognize.

  It’s Kaven.

  He and I just stare at each other, incapable of saying or doing anything. He has my arms pinned above my head with my hood pushed back, and I know he recognizes me. He’s breathing harshly, and I think I see tears in his eyes.

  “Kylie?”

  He backs away from me so fast he nearly trips over his own feet, and I sit up. “Yeah, it’s me.”

  He nods and then straightens himself up. “This is a dream. I shouldn’t be surprised; I’ve done nothing but dream about you since you didn’t come back from that graveyard. Sometimes I’m not sure if I’m awake or not.”

  “You’re awake, Kaven,” I say, stepping closer. He doesn’t move, even when I reach out to touch his face. When my fingers are less than an inch from him, he flinches, almost as if he thinks my hands will go right through him. When they don’t, he frowns, and looks at me.

  “You’re here…” he says in a strangled voice. “It’s really you?”

  I nod, and his strong arms wrap around my waist, and he lifts me up and spins me around, burying his face in my neck. I wrap my arms around his neck, and pretend I don’t notice that he’s crying, because I know it’ll embarrass him later. We just stand there in the rain, crying and holding each other, until he finally pulls away.

  He uses his thumb to wipe away a trail of tears, and he looks into my eyes. “How is this possible?”

  I take a deep breath. “Selene sent me back to help you guys.”

  “She just sent you back? Is that allowed?”

  “If you earn it,” I say, looking away. “And I did.”

  “How?”

  “It doesn’t matter.” I look at him again. “How’s Tara? I heard about her…accident. Was that really what it was?”

  “She learned her lesson. I kept her safe for the most part, for you,” he says, taking my hand. “Kylie, there are so many things I wanna say–”

  “Later. Right now we have serious problems to deal with. Pandia is missing, and Selene can’t find her. The war is starting. Daray Hall is only the fist thing to burn. Next comes the rest of the world, unless we stop it.”

  He nods. “Alright. We’ll talk later.”

  “Take me to Tara?” I ask.

  “This way. She’s gonna be so happy to see you.”

  “I hope so,” I say, following him into the mansion.

  I think he understands I don’t want anyone else to see me yet, and leads me through the dark mansion up to Tara’s room without us being seen. Then he knocks on the door, and disappears down the hall, leaving me standing there alone.

  The door opens, and Tara’s sleepy face is just a few inches lower than mine. She rubs the sleep from her eyes and yawns, not looking up yet. “What do you want this early?” she asks, almost as if she’d just gotten up.

  Goddess, it takes forever for her to wake up…

  She finally looks up, and her eyes widen. For a split second, nothing happens, and then she screams and throws her arms around my neck, nearly choking me in the process. The only thing that keeps me standing is the fact that I’m now a fully-grown vampire.

  Her scream immediately attracts attention, and I hear raised voices coming from the first floor. In a second, we’ll be swarmed, and I hopefully won’t have to tell my whole story more than once. For this second though, I just hold Tara while she sobs into my shirt, soaking it. She’s not reacting like Kaven, with caution and disbelief; she fully believed I would find a way back to her, and I have.

  I push her gently away and look down at her. The last couple of days have aged her, and she doesn’t look much like a fresh-faced child in a new world. Instead, she looks like she’d almost given up hope of ever being happy again. “Kylie? It’s really you! You’re here!”

  I nod, too overwhelmed to speak. We just stand in the middle of the hall, holding one another, both of us crying again. Then the door opens, and Chloe sticks her head out. “Tara, what’s going–” She stops when she sees me, and her eyes widen like Tara’s. Then she gives an excited squeal and throws herself at me, wrapping her arms around me.

  Austin and Morgan follow her out, and they just stare at me in quiet amazement. Then they’re all talking excitedly, asking me question after question, giving me no time to answer. Finally, I have to stop them all. “Guys! I’ll answer your questions, but I only wanna do it once. Can we go find Jillian and Carlos? They’re here too, right?”

  Tara wipes her eyes, takes my hand in hers, and leads me down to the ground floor. Everyone is crying now, and I realize just how much the others have missed me too. For the first time in a long time, I actually feel loved by someone other than Tara. I have a family.

  I should visit my mother later…

  The thought surprises me, until I remember her curled up on the floor, crying like there would be no tomorrow. She loves me, and I have to let her know that I’m ok and that I still love her, even though she hasn’t shown it much in the last few years.

  “Jillian!” Tara says, walking into the dining room with me trailing behind her. “Jillian!”

  Jillian is sitting at the head of a long dining room table, and she looks up, and her jaw drops. She and Carlos just stare at me with shocked faces, and neither of them speaks until I step forward. “How?” Jillian asks, getting up from her chair.

  “We’ve all been wondering the same thing,” Tara says with a hiccup. She’s stopped crying for now, but I know the second the two of us are along, she’ll probably start crying again and never stop.

  I take a seat at the table, and everyone else crowds around. Kaven and a few other Protectors are listening from the doorway, and I can’t help but notice how freaked out most of them look. I guess it’s not everyday you return from the dead…

  “Kylie, how are you here?” Carlos asks. Of all the people in the room, he seems to be the most calm and level-headed right now, but I can see the happiness in his eyes. “We saw Selene carry your body from the graveyard.”

  I nod. “Yes, and my soul was transported to her Eternal Gardens, where I was going to rest for all of eternity, awaiting the day that Tara would join me once again. However, Travis apparently had other plans, and Selene became worried about the war’s escalation. That and the abduction of Pandia sent her into panic mode, though she hid it well.”

  “So she sent you back to help?” Morgan asks, leaning forward with interest.

  “Yes, but she didn’t just wave her fingers and send my soul back to Earth. I had to earn my body back from the Lord of the Underworld, Hades. He refused to just help us, so he made me a deal. If I could complete three tasks, I would get my body back. If I failed any of the tasks, he would get to keep and torture my soul for the rest of eternity.”

  “Kylie!” Chloe gasps. “How could you risk something like that?”

  “I’m needed here; it was worth the risk.”

  “What were the three tasks?” Austin asks.

  I take a deep breath. “The first task was to battle and kill a fire-breathing dragon that was three stories tall with a spiked tail. I got burned, and had some cuts on my stomach, but I survived. The second task was to steal food from Hades’ pet chimera, a creature with the heads of a goat, lion, and dragon. It had wings, and snakes for a tail.

  “And the third task was by far the hardest. I had to do battle
with Hades himself.” Everyone sucks in a collective breath, and I almost smile to myself. “He told me that anything went, and I used my brain to get the upper hand.”

  “How did you outsmart a god?” Chloe asks.

  “He told me that anything went, so I held his wife and Queen hostage until he surrendered to me. I wouldn’t have actually hurt her, but I had to make him think I would, and I don’t know if he fell for it so much as he just didn’t wanna risk Persephone’s life.”

  “Could you have killed her? I thought gods and goddesses were impossible to hurt.”

  “Not with the right weapons,” I say, taking the dagger from my boot. “Selene’s gift to me. She also gave me a sword and bow and arrows, which I’m sad to say I don’t have anymore. They were light and deadly, and perfect for me. Weapons created by the gods can kill the gods, like Selene’s spear in the graveyard.”

  “So after you completed the three tasks, Hades just gave you back your body, and you came back?” Tara asks.

  “No,” I say, looking away. I’m worried if she looks into my eyes, she’ll see the pain that’s still there. “There was a bonding process.”

  “What kind of bonding process?”

  “Selene had to force my soul back into my body. It was…painful.”

  When I look up, I notice Jillian and Carlos are both staring at my chest, and I know what they see. The red, flaming crescent moon shaped burn is just visible over the neckline of my tank top, and I pull it up self-consciously. Carlos’ eyes lift to mine, and I look away. Does he know that Selene has given me her permission to pledge myself? Is that something a person can tell?

  Everyone continues to ask me questions, and I tell them everything I can about both the Underworld and Selene’s Eternal Gardens. They’re particularly interested in the dragon, and I spend most of my time telling them about my near-death fight. Finally, I can’t take it anymore, and I have to excuse myself. “Sorry, guys, but I’m really tired. Plus, I kind of have to talk to Tara about something.”