The Guardian's Keeper (The Guardian Trilogy, Book 1)

by Raven, T. R.

  “You will never, ever raise a hand to Claire,” Nikoli declared menacingly. “If I even think you might harm her, I will kill you where you stand. Not only will you not touch her, if you cannot contain that foul tongue of yours in our presence I will yank it out of your head myself. Do we have an understanding here?” he demanded as he shook Garridan for emphasis.

  Garridan nodded mutely. Nikoli released his grasp without warning and Garridan fell to floor, sucking in huge breaths of precious air. Nikoli smiled gently at Claire.

  “You all right, my Keeper?” he asked cautiously.

  Claire nodded mutely at him as well. She knew Nikoli said he would protect her, keep her safe but she was taken aback to see the lengths he would go to in order to do so. She wasn’t upset with him, just shocked. In the past he had always replied to Garridan’s insults only with words. When he saw Claire in physical danger he was willing even to move against Renka’s pet.

  Anya had stood quietly observing the whole situation until now. She brought some water to Garridan but patted Nikoli’s arm as she walked by. Her message was clear- she wasn’t taking sides in the matter and she wasn’t mad at Nikoli.

  “I think,” she said quietly, turning to Nikoli and Claire, “we sleep on this side of room, you sleep on other side. We go to bed now, we ride out early to go back to Camp.” She looked solemnly at Nikoli. Claire felt sympathy for her- she didn’t want trouble, she just wanted to make it through the night and get back to Camp when travel was safe. Anya spread a blanket out on the far side of the cabin and helped Garridan lie down. He wouldn’t even look at Nikoli or Claire.

  Nikoli nodded and collected some of the blankets Anya had found. He spread a few of the thicker ones in front of the fireplace and gave them a pat, inviting Claire to join him.

  “It’s not a bearskin rug and the company is more than I’d like, but it’ll have to do for now,” he said.

  Claire gave him a small smile and joined him down on their makeshift bed. She settled in against his chest with a sigh as he stroked her hair in the firelight.

  “I love you, my Keeper. I would do anything for you,” Nikoli whispered as he gazed at her contentedly.

  “I love you too, my Guardian. And you’ve already done enough, thank you- I bet poor Garridan can barely talk after what you did to him.” She smiled softly.

  “Good. I prefer not to hear him for a bit. He has nothing of value to say so far,” Nikoli joked as he kissed the top of her head.

  Anya said something to Nikoli in her language and Nikoli replied briefly.

  ‘Sleep now, lovely,” he whispered. “Anya’s right- we have a long day ahead of us again tomorrow and we all need our rest.”

  Claire sighed happily and curled up against Nikoli’s broad chest, safe in his arms. Tomorrow they’d ride back to Camp, destroy the Fang with Renka’s help, and be free to return home and build their lives together.

  Chapter 26

  Claire was jostled out of her deep sleep by a violent coughing fit. The cabin was filled with smoke so thick she could barely see across the room. One corner of the cabin was on fire, the flames just starting to lick up the walls.

  “Anya!” she screamed as she scrambled to her feet to reach her friend on that side of that cabin. Nikoli snapped awake and grabbed her arm.

  “Wait by the door, Claire, I’ve got them.” In a second he was over to Anya and Garridan to help them away from the fire.

  The four of them stood by the front door as they watched the far cabin wall burst into flame.

  “We can’t stay in here,” Nikoli said quietly. He consulted his watch. “Sunrise in an hour, we can do this.” He looked steadfastly at Claire. “We get the horses and head back towards Camp. We keep moving, we’ll be okay.” He caressed Claire’s face. “I won’t let anything happen to you.”

  “Claire, follow right behind me and stay close. Anya and Garridan will be behind you, let’s get those horses and get out of here.”

  Nikoli threw open the cabin door and stopped just for a second to look for any threat lurking. Seeing none, he motioned for the others to follow him out into the night.

  Claire sucked in the cool night air as her pulse pounded. She followed Nikoli as he quickly headed around the cabin’s corner to get to the horses out back- and smacked right into his broad back when he stopped short.

  Nikoli lunged forward and knocked over the Myrmidon blocking their path. Claire broke out into a cold sweat, unable to move as she watched Nikoli and the Myrmidon rolling on the ground, both snarling and trying to rip apart the other.

  “Come on.” Anya broke Claire’s trance of terror by grabbing her hand and trying to pull her around the dueling vampires only feet away. Claire resisted her.

  “Nikoli…”

  “Nikoli will catch up with us! Let’s go, we’ve got to get the Fang out of here!” Garridan swooped up Claire from behind and threw her over his shoulder. Claire didn’t even protest as he sped off towards the horses. She was too busy watching Nikoli and the Myrmidon try to kill each other from her vantage point over Garridan’s shoulder. Their vampire battle predominantly moved too fast for the human eye to see, but the few seconds when they did slow down a bit showed them both covered in gouges and bleeding profusely. Currently there was no obvious forerunner in the fight.

  Anya ran behind them but stopped and readied her bow when she spied another Myrmidon approaching them from the side. Garridan saw her stop but continued sprinting towards the small shed out back to get to the horses. He halted suddenly, lowered Claire to the ground as he took out his large hunting knife.

  “They lit the shed up too,” Claire whispered. The Myrmidons had not only set the cabin on fire to flush them out into the night, they had started a fire in the shed too. The horses were nowhere to be found. The Myrmidons had effectively destroyed their safe house and their means of escape.

  The terror Claire felt was suddenly replaced with white hot rage. These Myrmidons had killed her entire family and destroyed her home all in the name of resurrecting Stavros. Sunrise was coming fast- if she could survive until sunrise she could destroy Stavros for good and end this all.

  “Give me a blade!” she yelled to Garridan with her palm out. He looked surprised by her demand but complied and handed her one of his smaller hunting knives. The noise from the burning cabin and shed was deafening as the structures became fully ablaze but the light cast by the fires gave them lots of visibility as they looked for anymore Myrmidons about.

  Claire’s hear sank when she realized Anya was gone. Nikoli was gone too, only the bloody corpse of the Myrmidon he had been fighting lay on the ground with a hole in its chest where its heart had once been.

  “Guard up now, Claire. Anya can take care of herself and it looks like he went after her to help,” Garridan said after observing the same things she had. Claire nodded, too busy scanning the flickering shadows for Nikoli or Anya or any remaining Myrmidons.

  A figure stumbled into view, slow and unsteady on its feet. Garridan raised his knife and hissed air out between his teeth in preparation for battle.

  “It’s Nikoli!” Claire sprinted to meet him and got an arm underneath him to help him back to Garridan while Garridan kept careful watch for the remaining Myrmidons or Anya.

  Nikoli was in terrible condition, barely able to walk without Claire’s help. He was covered in blood, his body riddled with deep gouges where the Myrmidon had tried to puncture his heart and kill him. He had won that battle, killing the Myrmidon first, but he had physically paid dearly for that victory.

  Sobbing, Claire laid him at Garridan’s feet and stroked his hair. He managed a weak smile at her.

  “Sunrise soon,” he managed before coughing up thick mouthfuls of blood. He feebly rolled over to spit it out.

  “Nikoli.” Claire took a deep breath to quell her sobs. “You need to feed.” She offered her wrist. Garridan made a noise of revulsion but kept his careful watch for danger.

  Nikoli shook his head feebly and turned away. He
refused her offering.

  “You have to!” Claire beseeched him, her sobs threatening to return. “There’s something you don’t know. Renka- she told me, when she read my tea leaves. She told me…she told me I would find true love and he would feel the same about me. She said we would be bound by blood.” Nikoli’s eyes widened in surprise and Garridan sucked in a sharp breath. “I thought it was silly, I thought she was a fake. I know now she wasn’t. You’re my true love, Nikoli, and we’re to be bound by blood. This is what she meant, this is what she saw. You have to!” Claire cried in earnest as she again held her wrist under Nikoli’s nose. “You have to in order to heal! I know there are more Myrmidons out there, and we can’t fight them off without you! Please, please Nikoli, I want to do this. I want you with me,” she implored as tears coursed down her cheeks.

  Nikoli simply looked at her, his eyes searching hers. Claire leaned down and kissed his forehead, mindful not to touch any of his blood to her lips. A single shriek of pain cut through the night.

  “Anya,” Garridan whispered in horror. He was visibly trembling with fear but held his knife at the ready and continued watching for approaching danger.

  “Please,” Claire whispered as she offered her wrist to Nikoli again. “I love you.”

  Nikoli paused a moment before nodding slightly. With a grunt of pain he raised his hands to cradle Claire’s wrist and brought it up to his mouth. Garridan gasped in repulsion, suddenly unmindful of the possible dangers in the shadows around them.

  Claire braced herself for the pain but felt hardly any. There was a brief sting to her wrist similar to getting a shot, and then warmth flowed into her wrist and slowly began creeping its way up her arm as Nikoli fed. She closed her eyes and enjoyed the sensation, forgetting everything but the feeling of intense pleasure spreading throughout her body. There was no more Fang, no more Myrmidons, no Garridan. There was only her, and her beloved Guardian, and this feeling of bliss.

  The feeling ended abruptly and disappeared altogether. Claire opened her eyes in confusion as awareness of her current situation came back to her in a sudden rush. Nikoli smiled gently up at her, bloodied and dirtied but back in his whole form and strong again.

  “Claire,” he whispered. “Thank you. My Keeper, you are so very brave.” He sat up and held her in his arms. He laughed. “Renka is always right, she has the Sight, that’s why I wanted you to tell me what she told you at the Feast. My lovely, if only you knew how much you mean to me and now…” he stopped abruptly and his breathing quickened to a pant as he roughly pushed Claire away.

  She scrambled to her feet. Nikoli stood and leaned on his knees, panting heavily.

  “What’s wrong?” Claire began to rub his back, trying to comfort him.

  “I don’t know,” he panted. He pushed her away from him as he continued to pant faster and harder.

  “Nikoli?”

  His head snapped up, his eyes flashing blood red. “Keep away from me!” he barked in a stern tone. Claire could see the light of the Myrmidons’ fires dancing on his long fangs.

  “Claire…” Garridan placed a hand on her shoulder in warning.

  “Don’t touch me!” Claire snapped as she pushed his hand away.

  “You need to get away from me,” Nikoli said as his face softened. “I don’t know what’s happening to me but….” He broke into a deep chuckle. It was a frightening sound full of dark promises. “Oh, Claire, lovely, you don’t know what you’ve done.” Nikoli straightened up and breathed normally again. His voice was not his own as his red eyes and menacing look came back.

  Claire took a step back in fear. “Nikoli, I don’t understand.”

  Nikoli chuckled again and the sound made the hairs on the back of Claire’s neck stand out as she broke into gooseflesh. “I didn’t either, until now.” He took a step towards Claire and she stepped backwards again in response.

  “Oh, my Keeper, we had no idea, did we?” Nikoli took a bigger step towards Claire, closing much of the distance between them. Claire didn’t know why Nikoli had changed so suddenly into something so scary, but every fiber of her being screamed at her to get away from him. She warily shuffled backwards.

  Nikoli moved towards her steadily now. “Renka was right, bound we shall be- by blood. First yours, now mine.” Nikoli brought his own wrist to his mouth and ripped it open. Blood seeped down onto the ground. Nikoli grinned an evil grin at Claire, his mouth smeared red with his own blood.

  Claire felt frozen in place. This was too much, too much for her to take in. Garridan grabbed her roughly around her waist and pulled her quickly backwards a few paces. Nikoli howled with rage.

  Garridan held her firmly in place against him and spoke quietly in her ear. “Don’t move a muscle. I’ve got a circle up, but it’s not a big one- we don’t have much room.”

  Claire blinked in surprise and looked down first to the circle of blood ringing them and then to Garridan’s bleeding wrist. She quickly removed her sweater and tied it around his wrist to slow the blood flow from the gash he had made with his hunting knife.

  “Let her out of the circle,” Nikoli demanded to Garridan. “She’s mine, not yours.’ He addressed Claire directly. “Come, Claire, come with me, be my new Queen. Together we can rule them all.” He held out his hand to her as he slowly approached the circle.

  “I don’t understand,” Claire whispered again.

  Nikoli grinned widely, his face all wrong. “It’s quite the surprise, isn’t it, my Keeper? You fed me to save me, to heal me so we could all be saved on this damned night. Seems Renka doesn’t catch everything with her Sight.” Nikoli glanced up at the stars as Claire stood frozen against Garridan, waiting for him to continue. “Turns out, Claire, we didn’t know about part of your family tree, a very important part.” His grin grew. “Seems you have some Gypsy ancestors running through that tasty blood of yours.”

  Claire gasped and Garridan reached for her hand to steady her.

  “Stavros,” Nikoli began shaking a finger at Claire, “was really onto something, once he drank that magical blood. He had the right idea! He’s still dead now, and I’m personally going to dispatch his last few Myrmidons so that’ll keep him down for good, Fang or no Fang. Then I shall be the ruler of everything, all will fear me, man and vampire alike. Just think about it! Nothing and no one can stop me, I’m invincible! Unlike Stavros daylight won’t stop me. But I don’t want to rule this new order alone, no, that won’t do. I want you to join me, Claire.” He held out his hand, encouraging her to step out of the circle. “I want you to be my Queen. Just a few drops of my blood, my dear, and I can give you the very gift you gave to me.”

  “No Claire!” Garridan hissed in her ear.

  Nikoli stopped a few feet shy of the circle. “The first thing we’ll do together,” Nikoli told Claire, “is dispose of Garridan here. Just think, Claire- this guy has been hunting you since you arrived, against your will, and treating me like dung on the bottom of his boot. You and I will rip out his throat and bathe in the rivers of his hot blood.” Nikoli licked his lips in anticipation as Claire cringed and Garridan tensed behind her, his trembling beginning anew.

  “No,” Claire whispered.

  Nikoli shrugged. “Ok, lovely, I can do it myself, but I think once you share in my blood you’ll see it my way. We’re meant to be together Claire, you know that, the Gypsy Queen even told you. I can’t wait to kill that old bat, yelling at me every chance she got. Come with me, together we’ll be the most powerful creatures on earth. Bound by blood.” He beckoned her.

  “No!” Claire spat out, forcibly this time.

  Nikoli’s face fell. “I really wanted us to be together by your choice. But there’s one more thing you don’t know yet, one thing I just discovered with all of this.” Nikoli’s eyes danced dangerously, the red coloring deepening. He took a small step forward. Garridan wrapped his arms protectively around Claire. She didn’t push him away this time, she was too terrified to move.

  “Give it a rest, jackass.
She doesn’t want you and never will. After you’re dead we’ll use your skull as a soup bowl,” Nikoli snarled. He turned his attention back to Claire. “The Gypsy blood, ah yes, Gypsy blood. We knew it turned vampires into all-powerful creatures, greater than any vampire roaming the earth, and we knew it keeps vampires away with a line that can’t be crossed, didn’t we, my pet?” Nikoli looked for Claire for affirmation but she gave none. “What we didn’t know, well, at least until tonight,” Nikoli took another step forward until he was merely inches from the circle as Claire and Garridan both held their breath, “is what Gypsy blood outside the body does to a King Vampire.” Almost jocularly he added his own side note. “I like ‘King Vampire’ better than ‘Super Vampire’, don’t you, Claire? Sounds more regal, more deserving of all the fear and respect that comes with the title.” He turned serious again. “What we didn’t know, until now, is that Gypsy blood circles,” here he punctuated each word separately as he slid closer and closer to the line of blood while Claire and Garridan slid back away from him as far as they could within the circle, “don’t.keep.King.Vampires.away.”

  Nikoli stopped just at the line of the circle. “I’ll ask one more time, lovely.” He held out his bloodied wrist to Claire. “Come with me willingly, now, to be my Queen in this new world, or I will take you to my side by force.”

  “Never,” she barely managed to whisper.

  Nikoli’s face fell and became angry again. “So be it. You will be my Queen!” Nikoli reached over the circle line and grabbed Claire’s arm to pull her to him as Garridan struggled to pull her away. Nikoli yanked her roughly out of the circle as Garridan went sprawling backwards onto his behind.

  Claire cried out, dizzy with pain. Nikoli had dislocated her shoulder when he pulled her to him so forcibly. Nikoli grabbed a fistful of her hair and yanked her mouth to his wrist.