Chapter One

by Jaden Sinclair

  The man would live. Rage just had to make sure the girl did as well.

  * * * *

  Claudia paced the clinic, hugging herself, and rubbing her arms. Every few steps she glanced at the door, waiting for Dimitri to walk in. Her gut screamed that something was wrong. She was certain the mission had failed in some way, and he wasn’t going to be walking through that door. She couldn’t stop this nagging, stinging in the center of her chest and rubbed frantically at it.

  “Something’s wrong,” she said to the doctor when she walked past her. “I can feel it.”

  Lucan stumbled into the clinic. “Something … is … wrong.” He still had trouble talking and walking, but was slowly coming around, those blue eyes showing he knew way too much.

  Claudia opened her mouth to question him, but jumped when Shadow came bursting into the clinic. Her heart sank at the sight of her vampire limp in Shadow’s arms, blood soaked rag on his chest, and his face pale as the sheet.

  Hand over her mouth to still the screams, which almost erupted from her lips, shock kept her planted off to the side of the room, her eyes glued to Dimitri.

  Shadow placed him down on the bed and instantly Doc Ivy went to work examining the large hole in his chest.

  “What happened?” Ivy demanded as she went to work.

  Guardians 2: Forgotten Soul

  145

  “Breeds,” Shadow answered. “I was getting Denver out like we planned, and we were at the van when he got a call. Rage told him to come back and get Dimitri.”

  “Where’s Carissa?” Ivy asked, holding fresh gauze against the wound and reaching for the surgical pack.

  “Dunna know.”

  “What happened?” Ambrose came in with Julian right behind him.

  Claudia couldn’t move. She saw everyone, not understanding anything. Dimitri was shot; Carissa missing. That was all her mind could process.

  “Claudia!” Ivy’s sharp voice seemed to snap her out of the shock. “I need you to help me here.”

  Claudia forced herself to move over to Dimitri’s still body. She brought over one of the chairs, sat down on the other side of him, across from the doctor, her hand on Dimitri’s arm.

  “You can do this,” Ivy said, squeezing her hand quickly.

  Claudia nodded her head, took a deep breath to steady her, and worked the gloves on. She went to work, focused not on the fact it was Dimitri she was helping to fix up from the inside out, but a patient on the bed who needed attention.

  Claudia glanced over her shoulder very quickly. Another man, a human man came into the clinic with a bundle in his arms. “Julian,” he cried out, rushing to Julian who rushed to him. He handed over the bundle in his arms.

  Julian’s daughter!

  Claudia had to block them out and the rush of emotions at seeing Julian take his child. Her sole purpose was Dimitri. Period! He needed to get better.

  “Okay, I’m going to start working on these bleeders, you get all the metal. The damned slug fragmented,” Ivy told her.

  Claudia handed clamps and more gauze to her as she needed them. At the same time, she worked slowly and carefully at picking out all the small pieces of metal she could 146

  Jaden Sinclair

  find. She didn’t hear the talking going on around her. Didn’t look to see who else might be in the room. All she did was think and concentrate on the job, which had been given to her.

  Ivy remarked, “That shotgun slug did a number on him.”

  “May I stitch him up,” Claudia asked.

  “Couldn’t think of a better person for the job.” Claudia looked up, and Ivy smiled.

  “He’s going to make it, Claudia. Just keep telling yourself that.”

  Ivy left her, and Claudia went to work on sewing up the large wound in the middle of Dimitri’s chest. She was halfway done when Lucan sat down in the chair, which Ivy had vacated.

  “It isn’t his…time yet.”

  She didn’t look up at him. If she did, then she knew she was going to lose it and break down crying.

  Lucan reached out and closed his hand over hers, stopping her from doing the last bit. The action urged her to look up at him. As she feared, the tears fell.

  “We all have a role to play,” he said softly. His new voice was deep like a man’s, as was his body and face. But those blue eyes of his held so much knowledge it had her shivering. “His has just…begun.”

  She sniffed back her tears, finished up the stitches, then cleaned, and put a fresh bandage over the wounds. She kissed him softly, lingering over his lips longer than she should have.

  When she stood up, preparing to cut away his ruined clothes, she saw Julian standing alone, watching her. A small bruise colored one side of his face. She’d heard Carissa hit him, knocking him out to stop him from following her. He smiled at her. One arm still held his daughter as the other opening up for her. Claudia didn’t hesitate. Undressing Dimitri could wait. She went right to Julian, taking the comfort he was offering.

  He sighed against the top of her head. “I’m so sorry, Claudia.”

  Guardians 2: Forgotten Soul

  147

  She held on tight, making sure not to crush the small bundle he still held in his arm.

  “I can’t lose him. I can’t.”

  “You won’t. Dimitri is a strong man. He’ll make it through this.”

  She sniffed and nodded before turning her face and looking down at the baby. “So this is Ziva. Hello, little one.” The small baby girl squirmed just a bit before snuggling up against Julian’s chest. “I think she knows you.”

  The baby gave a big yawn, but when Tempest walked in with Paris, her sister, Ziva opened her eyes and looked up at Julian. Claudia stepped out of his arm so he could take the other, and for the first time, Julian held both of his daughters in his arms.

  “You look very natural holding them,” Tempest remarked with a smile.

  Julian’s voice was unsteady when he answered. “And it feels very good.”

  Claudia didn’t stop smiling at the scene. Taking a few steps back, she left him and went back over to Dimitri. Lucan still sat with him, staring at Dimitri.

  “He will sleep…for awhile,” Lucan stated. “But your…news will bring…him back.”

  “News?” she frowned. “What news.”

  Lucan smiled at her. “You’ll see.”

  * * * *

  Dragged into a warehouse and drugged made fighting almost impossible. Bright light flashed, blinding her over sensitive eyes. Carissa’s feeble efforts didn’t stop them from putting her wrists in iron cuffs or pulling her heavy body up, dangling her with her toes a few inches off the ground. Helpless, but her head cleared quickly with her vamp metabolism throwing off the drugs.

  “You have a very nasty habit of showing up where you’re not wanted,” a deep hateful voice rang out, echoing off the walls. “And taking things not belonging to you.”

  “She didn’t belong to you!” Carissa yelled. “She belonged with her father!” When she tried to work her wrists free, her whole body swung.

  148

  Jaden Sinclair

  A breed got too close and with reflexes honed with years of training, Carissa pulled herself up, threw her legs around his neck and twisted. His neck snapped, and his body slumped to the floor.

  The speaker laughed. “A fighter. Good. You’re going to need it.”

  Carissa pinpointed where he was, coming down metal stairs, each step echoing louder. Renzo Ferrari slowly moved into her line of vision, close enough to block the light, letting her see. Cold, forbidding eyes glared at her. He presented himself as a leader, but deep down she could still make out the cold bloody killer inside. Hell, she could see it in his eyes. Renzo enjoyed killing, enjoyed the pain of others.

  In all her years, Carissa never hated one person, one man as much as she hated the one standing before her. She wanted to rip his throat out with her bare hands and simply watch him die slowly at her feet. She wanted to see his life extinguish
ed; the light fading from his eyes.

  “I see how much you want to take me down.” With a nod he circled around her.

  “You’re the first female of their kind I’ve seen. Who’d have thought a woman could be a protector.” He finished with a snort, standing back in front of her. “Most of the females I have had in the past cringe and beg for mercy, but you.” He wiggled his finger in front of her face. “I don’t see you begging.”

  “Only to be the one to sink my knife in your heart,” she said through her teeth.

  The sound of a knife cutting through the air fluttered by her ear, and the sleeve of her coat split open, followed by a stick of a needle to her arm. Within seconds the room began to spin and sleepiness threatened to overcome her.

  Her eyes refused to focus, but Carissa fought to stay awake and get herself out of the mess she’d landed in. Going to sleep or passing out wouldn’t help her one bit. She felt as if she weighed a ton, and if not for the cuffs cutting into her flesh of her wrists, she might crumble to the floor. Her head fell back; she was just too damn weak to even hold it up.

  “I heard you were the best.”

  Guardians 2: Forgotten Soul

  149

  She willed her head to move and eyes to focus on the man sitting in a chair in front of her.

  “I think I’m disappointed.”

  “I’ll do better next time,” she said. Even her voice sounded drugged.

  He chuckled. “Oh, I’m not sure there will be a next time.” The chair scooted away, making a loud noise, which pounded in her head. “See, I don’t think you are going to walk out of here as easily as you walked in.” He laughed. “I forgot you didn’t walk in.

  My breeds carried you, so I know you’re not walking out.”

  She tried to look around but nothing would focus for her. “What did you give me?”

  She couldn’t even hold her head steady. She jumped when he whispered in her ear.

  Whatever they shot into her arm had dulled all of her senses.

  “Something special. I had it made especially for your kind.”

  Carissa shook her head, trying to clear off the haze. An arm came around from her back showing her a knife. He was behind her without her being aware of him moving.

  Then was when how helpless she really was dawned on her.

  A hand touched her chin, moved down her throat to the zipper of her vest. He cut it off, pieces dropping to the floor, and then cut the rest of her clothes away, leaving her only in her thin panties and a sports bra.

  “Do you think she can breed?” Renzo called out.

  Carissa turned her head, trying to focus on the other figure looking down at them from the second floor.

  “No,” came the answer, sounding from a distance and echoing off the walls. “Half-breeds don’t breed. Like mules, they’re sterile.”

  “And how would you know?”

  “I’ve done my research.”

  “Pity.” Renzo walked back around to the front of her. “Such a fighter would make strong breeds. I guess information is all I’m going to get out of her. Let’s get started.”

  150

  Jaden Sinclair

  Renzo walked away, and Carissa tried like hell to focus her eyes on the one standing above her. She couldn’t make out more than the dark outline of his body before her wrists were freed. Falling hard to the ground, she was picked up, dragged away, and tossed in a cage. The door slammed shut, lock snapping into place. Caged like an animal, she was helpless to even stop them when they gave the cage a push, causing it to sway and twirl on the chain it hung from.

  * * * *

  Rage tamped down and buried his boiling anger, and worked to put no emotions on his face when Renzo walked back up the iron steps to stand next to him. He felt Renzo’s eyes on him and masked his face in preparation. He kept the detached expression in place, staring at the girl in the cage being turned by snickering breeds. He wanted so very much to shoot the bastards between the eyes and take her out of there.

  “She’s going to be tough to break,” Renzo stated.

  “Might be impossible.”

  Renzo snorted. “Nothing is impossible. She’ll break, or she’ll die.”

  Again Rage had to push back the need to beat the man to death. He took a deep breath, calming himself. “They’ll come for her,” Rage told him, watching her closely.

  “You know that.”

  “I hope they do.” Renzo rubbed his hands together and smiled, his eyes shining. “I look forward to killing them all.”

  Or they’ll kill you.

  Renzo’s face and voice hardened. “You know what happened?”

  “Umm.” Rage murmured. “Your son stole the baby and betrayed you.” He enjoyed the irony that both sons had betrayed him, though of course he didn’t say it.

  “He’ll pay for that.”

  “And how will you make him pay?”

  Guardians 2: Forgotten Soul

  151

  Renzo laughed. “Oh, you’ll just have to wait and see, won’t you.”

  152

  Jaden Sinclair

  Chapter Ten

  Ambrose, it seemed to Claudia, got older in just one short week. The whole house seemed to change. The atmosphere became dark again, and no matter what Corbin or the other bloodmates tried to do, they couldn’t lighten things.

  Lucan got stronger every day. Shadow worked with him, as he did with Julian.

  Julian, even though he had his baby, was still determined to fight with the Guardians with a new reason, to get Carissa back.

  Claudia learned what Lucan meant about news for Dimitri.

  She was pregnant.

  Dimitri’s stitched wound healed, and yet Dimitri was still unconscious for no reason Ivy could find. Ivy had blood IVs hooked up to him, feeding him, making him strong, but for some reason he wasn’t waking up.

  And at the start of the second week, Claudia had enough of sleeping alone in a bed that was far too cold for her taste. She went to Lucan, hoping he could tell her why Dimitri didn’t wake. Lucan said Dimitri didn’t wake because he thought he had failed, that Carissa was dead, and that Claudia would be better off without a Guardian for a bloodmate. Not doubting for a moment that Lucan was wrong, his words made her want to storm down there and slap Dimitri awake. As worried as she was, she might even have tried that if Lucan hadn’t told her of a way she could get Dimitri to wake—feed him her blood, providing Dimitri again with a connection to her and possibly to hearing the heartbeat of his child.

  She dug into Dimitri’s drawers, found clothes for him and one of his pocket knives.

  Guardians 2: Forgotten Soul

  153

  Claudia picked daytime for her mission. Everyone was sleeping, including the doctor. She went up to his bed and dropped the clothes on his lap. Grabbing a chair, she dragged it over, sat down, and flipped open the blade of the knife.

  “Okay, here’s the deal,” she said to him. “I need you to wake up, and I need it right now. I’m lonely and very scared.” Pressing a fingertip on his chin, she opened his mouth, cut her wrist, and pressed on the cut, dropping blood into his mouth.

  Lucan said this would work, so it better!

  Closing her eyes, she pressed on her arm, forcing more blood from her veins. She wasn’t sure if it was working, until she opened her eyes and looked down at him.

  Claudia smiled. Eyes closed, Dimitri’s tongue licked, and he swallowed her blood.

  She leaned forward, pressed her wrist to his lips, and nature took over. His fangs sank into her, pulling, drawing more gulps of blood from her vein.

  Her chin quivered at his response, and she prayed that it was going be enough to bring him back to her.

  * * * *

  Like a fog being lifted, Dimitri felt himself coming back from the deep sleep. He could feel her heartbeat, taste the sweetness of her blood, and sense the love she had for him. His chest hurt like hell, but the silkiness of his bloodmates flesh against his lips was well worth any
pain. Something else was there as well, something faint that he could hear and feel, an echo of her heartbeat. Something he never sensed before when he drank from her.

  Recognition hit him like a splash of cold water; Dimitri let go of her wrist and lunged up in bed. He looked at her and frowned, ignoring the pain.

  “Hi,” she said softly, touching his cheek, moving her hand to his hair. “I’ve missed you.”

  154

  Jaden Sinclair

  Dimitri didn’t bother speaking. He grabbed hold of her, dragging her into his arms, holding and hugging her tightly. He pressed his face into her hair and drew in her scent.

  The soreness in his chest couldn’t and wouldn’t dull his need to simply hold her, feel her breath upon his flesh, and take her scent deep into his lungs.

  “I’m sorry, Claudia,” he rasped out so low he didn’t even know if she could hear him. “So damn sorry.”

  “Well, look who has decided to wake up.” Ivy came over with a smile on her face. “I was starting to wonder if there was more going on that was keeping you out. I’m glad I woke up in time for this.”

  Dimitri straightened, but he didn’t let go of Claudia. “How long have I been out?” he asked. His throat was raw, but it wasn’t going to stop him from asking questions.

  “Too long, but then it was a gunshot wound. Those tend to knock you guys on your ass, especially shotgun slugs. I’ll call up and see if Corbin has anything he can send down for you to eat. And congratulations.” She turned and left.

  Claudia’s face turned red again. “I heard it,” he said. He placed his hand on her belly. “A baby?” Her face brightened, and she nodded. “You’re going to have a baby?”

  “We are going to have a baby,” she corrected.

  “Oh, man.” He rubbed his face. “How far along?”

  She giggled and told him, “Enough for it to have been the first night, my viral stallion.” She sighed and sobered, wrapping her arms around his neck. “God, you had me so scared.”

  “I’m sorry about that.”

  She sniffed and pulled back. “Well, I’m not going to waste my time telling you to not let it happen again. What I am going to say is don’t scare me like you did by sleeping like that. I don’t like thinking you’re never going to wake up.”