Underground Guardians BOX SET: Includes 'Protector' and 'Healer'

by Lisa Renee Jones

  Yet…Diego felt like home.

  But since he’d come into her life everything was out of control. Was he her savior or the destroyer in angel clothing? And now, her protector of the past, her bodyguard, David lay in the next room near death. He’d been a good friend and he’d been loyal to her this day. And it might just cost him his life.

  If Diego had never entered the picture would David be where he was now?

  She pressed her eyes shut, willing herself to rest. Energy was important for her healing abilities to work. After several seconds, punching her pillow, she turned to her side. Why was this happening?

  * * * * *

  Diego stood staring down at David, concerned over his progress. Micah, and now Seth and Catherine, also surrounded the bed. He sighed, feeling the need for food and rest. Diego had stitched his wound with supplies Seth had brought, which included pain medication, but it wasn’t enough. His internal injuries were extreme. “He’s not good.”

  “Marcella can’t help?” Micah asked.

  Catherine shook her head. Her graying hair was tied in a knot at the back of her head, making the tension in her wrinkled features more evident. There was a quiver to her voice. “Healing completely drains her.” She sat down on the bed and picked up David’s hand and she had goodbye in her eyes. “She will never help the child if she helps him.” A shaky breath escaped her throat. “Poor David. He really has been good to my Marcella.”

  Silence filled the room.

  “There is an option,” Seth said, drawing everyone’s attention.

  Diego found this as no surprise. He knew what was about to be suggested. Seth tended to tread on water others didn’t. He was known as the Renegade because he often pressed into the unknown and risky. A tall man with a long, muscular body, he looked the role of a gladiator. He had long blond hair like a lion’s mane and blue eyes so brilliant they often drew attention.

  Diego’s eyes locked with Seth’s. “No,” Diego said, rejecting the idea before it was spoken.

  Seth didn’t back down. Not that Diego thought he would. “It will save his life. I see no other option.”

  “You know how I feel about this.” Diego was a man with strong principles and he had often spoken against what was suggested. “He can’t make the decision himself. You had a choice.” And in the back of his mind, Diego felt guilt at taking Marcella’s choices. He knew she would have picked him. Mates wanted to be together. But the way time had pressed him to push had been dangerous. He’d acted because it was best for her safety. Together they were stronger. But how did he earn her trust? Could he?

  Seth’s voice brought him out of his reverie. “And I chose the advantage of transforming to survive in battle.”

  “But not on your death-bed,” Diego argued. “You chose while alive and well and with full understanding of the implications.”

  And Diego knew he had made the mating choice for Marcella. He’d asked her to accept their connection but in the heat of the moment he knew he had influenced her response. Just by being there, touching her, he’d made her want him. But he would not completely convert her without her request. She was bonded to him now, yes. But her body was not converted to that of this new species.

  “What are you two talking about?” Catherine asked. “Can you save him?”

  Diego looked at her. “No one said he wasn’t going to make it.”

  “But he will make it for sure if you do this my way,” Seth added.

  “How?” Catherine asked.

  “Nothing is certain,” Diego countered. Promises about life and death were dangerous.

  Micah sighed. “I’m afraid I have to side with Seth.” He spoke the words against Diego’s wishes though it was obvious they came with heaviness. “If you want this man to survive, and I sense it is important to your mate, then you must convert him.”

  “Mate?” Catherine questioned, pushing to her feet. “Why did you call her his mate?”

  Diego’s lips thinned. “It’s a long story, and Marcella is restless. I need to go to her.”

  “I need answers,” Catherine insisted. “You can’t just dismiss me like this.”

  Micah looked at Catherine. “Does David live or die? You must make the call.”

  Her mouth hung open. “How can I answer when I’m not sure what I’m being asked?”

  Diego looked at her and he saw a distinctive woman with courage and pride and ripe beauty. An older Marcella. From the moment he’d met Catherine, she had been strong and fearless. She’d faced adversity with her chin high. And now she dared to question, even when it meant someone she cared about could die.

  The room was silent, waiting for Diego’s answer. It was now his call. He had to make a decision that shouldn’t be his to make. And he knew he held this man’s future in his hands. Marcella stirred in his mind, a soft whisper of concern. She wanted David to survive. She wanted the child to survive. And she expected him to find an answer. Perhaps it was even a silent test…was he to be trusted?

  With this realization came a decision. He looked at Catherine. “We aren’t like you. Or David. Or any human.”

  Her eyes went wide. Diego moved towards her, his fingers touching her elbow as he guided her to the small table in the corner. They sat down across from one another and he started explaining. It was several minutes later when he finished by saying, “So you see, David can survive, but he will never be the same.”

  She stiffened her spine as if a decision was forming. “But if you convert him he can fight these creatures in the future without this happening.”

  Diego wanted to make sure she looked at this both ways. She’d taken in the information with remarkable acceptance and calm. But then Catherine knew Marcella was different. She understood everything in the world wasn’t as black and white as humanity wanted it to be. Hell, as he wished it was.

  Diego urged her to consider the negatives. “He will be better equipped but there is no way to know what the long-term effects of our condition are.”

  “I want him to live. We need men like David in such a fight. We are not better off without him.” She pushed to her feet. “How can I help?”

  Diego wasn’t sure if he felt relieved or more stressed. Her use of the word “we” surprised him. This woman who hardly knew them now considered herself a part of their world. He could only hope she would help Marcella join him as well. But right now, the need for nourishment was beating on his body, and thinking was getting difficult. As his body weakened so did his ability to focus. The metabolic rate of calories for a GTECH was extreme. He glanced at David who was pasty looking and completely knocked out.

  He hated transitioning him without his approval. But waiting could put him at risk. If they were attacked they wouldn’t be able to save him and fight. Or even transport him. Diego stood. “If we could get his approval I will feel better.”

  Micah stepped forward, focused on Catherine. “This won’t be a complete conversion. We can’t finish the process until we get back to the lab. What we do here, today, will only allow him to heal and help him survive.”

  “Diego,” Seth said, breaking a lengthy silence. “You need to eat.”

  Diego glanced at him and nodded. “Yes, I know, but I want to get this done.”

  “Then use my blood,” Seth said. He walked to the dresser and pulled a bottle of orange juice from the ice bucket. “And drink this. You know you can’t go without it.”

  Diego accepted the drink but rejected the idea. “You’re too newly converted. I don’t want to risk weakening your system.”‘

  “Then use mine,” Micah said.

  “Blood?” Catherine said, a bit hoarsely.

  “Yes,” Diego said, “a transfusion will partially convert him. Our blood has unique healing properties.” He walked to his medical bag and withdrew tape and bandage. He then went to David’s side, directly across from Micah. He looked at Catherine. “You might want to turn your head. Without the comforts of a medical facility we are doing this the only way possible.
”

  She stared at him and then said, “I’m fine. Continue.”

  Micah brought his wrist to his mouth and bit down. Catherine made a sound and then covered her mouth. Diego pulled David’s mouth. Micah held his wrist over the man’s lips.

  “He’ll choke,” Catherine objected and stepped forward. Her voice raised a notch as she repeated her concern. “He’ll choke. No!”

  Seth reached for her. “He won’t.”

  She squirmed in his arms. “He will.”

  “Look,” Seth told her, pointing. David had starting lapping at the flood.

  The adjoining door flew open and Marcella appeared dressed in a pair of sweatpants and t-shirt. With her hair ruffled and wild, to Diego she looked casual and sexy and good enough to be his dinner. But her expression was one of concern. “What’s wrong?” Her eyes went to her aunt and then to David. “What is he doing? What…” Her words broke off as if she didn’t know quite what to ask. She blinked rapidly, staring at David drinking from Micah’s wrist with shock in her face

  Slowly, her gaze shifted to Diego and then to her aunt. Seth eased his grip on Catherine, exchanging a look with her. Catherine nodded her understanding. She needed to reassure Marcella. “Everything is fine,” she said to Marcella with a voice that was pinched a bit. She swiped at her skirt as if needing something to do with her hands. “If you heard my voice, I was overreacting. I’m sorry I disturbed you.”

  Marcella looked at her aunt for a moment and then let her eyes return to her mate. She’d taken in what Micah was doing with the calmness of a woman who expected the unexpected. And she turned to him and asked for answers, giving him her trust whether she recognized it or not.

  “Diego?” She spoke his name in a soft question.

  Micah looked at Diego. “Seth can bandage me. You take care of your woman.” Diego nodded.

  “He needs to eat.”

  Diego needed Marcella. He walked towards her. She was tense. Upset. He felt it. She put on a calm exterior for the world but deep inside she was a wreck. At that moment he realized she made a habit of shielding her emotions from others. He wondered what impact holding everything below the surface had on her. She protected everyone as a part of her nature. But when did she allow herself the opportunity to feel and need?

  “I’m fine,” he said to Seth. “I need to explain things to Marcella.” And to touch her and hold her and make love to her.

  “He has to eat, Marcella,” Seth said. “Our metabolism is not like yours. It’s critical.”

  She nodded at Seth and then looked at Diego. “I’ll take care of him.”

  The minute the adjoining door shut, Seth looked at Micah. “What the hell was he thinking coming here alone?” His eyes went to Catherine. “Sorry, ma’am.”

  Micah focused on Seth’s question not his language. “He thought he could explain his reasons for being here if he was alone. To make the Arions think he only traveled to visit family. He hoped to slip out of the country, with Marcella by his side, with little or no attention.”

  Catherine was listening intently, concerned but calm beyond reason. She felt good about these men. Especially Diego. She’d often hoped for a man who could watch out for her niece. David wasn’t that person though she knew he wanted to be. He simply wasn’t what Marcella needed. It took a unique person to understand what her niece faced in her life. Someone like Diego.

  And though she knew these men were strong and honorable, she needed to know more. “Marcella is in grave danger, isn’t she?” she asked, wanting to know what faced them. It was easier than wondering.

  “Yes,” Seth said. “But she is in good hands. You can trust us to take care of her.”

  “And David?” she asked, concerned for the loyal friend who had been willing to die for someone he cared about.

  Micah answered though he still held his wrist at David lips. “He’s responding well, but he must return quickly to our main lab to complete the process. He is too weak to only undergo a partial conversion.”

  Seth answered. “The sooner the better. In fact I wonder if we shouldn’t have a few of our men take him on to the main lab.”

  “No. I don’t want to weaken our manpower. Come bandage me,” Micah said to Seth. “Then I want to scout. Just as the Arions can’t sense us down here, we can’t sense them.”

  “What do you mean?” Catherine asked. She’d picked up pieces of information about why they had moved hotels, but no one had completely explained. Everything had happened in a whirlwind. “Down here?”

  Seth walked toward Micah. “Once one of our kind has a sense for you, tracking is easy. Unless you’re underground.”

  “So anywhere Marcella goes, they can find her?”

  “If it’s above ground,” Seth explained. “And not just Marcella. Anyone one of us can be tracked once on the Arion radar. We have an entire underground facility. More than one, actually. Marcella will be safe there.” He pulled tape tight around Micah’s wrist. “The critical part is getting her there.”

  “Are they…” Catherine broke off, her fingers twisting together in front of her. She worried for Marcella. And she often felt tortured by her responsibility to her. By the fear of failing her. “Waiting for us?”

  Seth cut the tape. “Yes, but we know they are. Of course, they know we know as well. It’s a standoff of sorts. Healing this child is a big risk.”

  “Marcella will insist you stay for this family,” Catherine warned.

  “So we’ve been told,” Micah said. “We understand and plan to be ready for anything that comes our way. Right now, we’re going to bring one of our men in to stay with you.”

  Seth walked to the door and opened it. A big man with sandy brown hair stepped through the door. He looked a lot like Zorro, with long raven hair and dark skin. “This is Marcus. You’ll be safe with him. Seth and I have some preparing to do.”

  Catherine looked at this new visitor. A scar traveled the left side of his cheek. He was silent. Not that a man like him needed to speak. His presence would never be missed. He looked stern and dangerous.

  She didn’t want to think about the “what ifs”…like what if all of these men were really the bad guys. She didn’t think so, but how could she be sure? Letting out a breath, she walked to David’s side. Staring down at one of the few people she called a friend, she asked, “Will he have a hard time traveling?”

  “A couple hours from now, he’ll be walking around,” Micah said.

  Catherine’s gaze lifted to Micah’s, surprise in her face. Then she refocused on David and took his hand. It was cold. “How can that be? He looks so pale.”

  “Our world is not what you would call normal,” Seth replied.

  Catherine squeezed David’s fingers. “Then we fit well together. Nothing about my world is normal.”

  * * * * *

  Hours later, Seth stood between Micah and Marcus at the edge of the woods, careful to stay a distance from the hotel as they scanned for the enemy. Seth had really hoped to kick a little Arion ass tonight. Apparently, he wasn’t going to get that little treat quite yet. They didn’t want to draw the Arions to their location.

  “Nothing,” Micah said. “Not a damn sign of an Arion.”

  Marcus scanned the area. “They’re underground.”

  Micah looked at him. “They never hide.”

  “Who says they’re hiding?” Marcus said. “I think they’re just buying time.”

  Micah’s expression turned thoughtful. “As in waiting for us to bring Marcella out into the open.”

  “Exactamente, compadre,” Marcus said.

  Seth gave him a thoughtful look. “Which means the child has to come to her. I thought we already decided as much.”

  “Si,” Marcus agreed. “But we don’t know how to reach this family.”

  “David does and he’ll be alert soon,” Seth pointed out.

  “Even so, we can’t just walk into the hotel and go to the child,” Micah said. “The Arions will be all over us.”


  “This family,” Marcus said. “How sure are we they are not part of a setup?”

  “We aren’t sure of anything at this point,” Micah inserted.

  Seth shook his head. “In other words we’re fucked.”

  Chapter Nine

  Diego pulled the door shut and locked it. Marcella felt the warmth of his arm as it slid around her waist. As with every time he touched her, she marveled at the funny feeling in her stomach. The way he made her feel was unexplainable.