by Bethany Shaw
“Thank you.”
Astraea offered her a small smile before she turned to Noah and studied him through narrowed eyes. She clucked her tongue and turned away from him, her blue gown swishing against the floorboards as she drifted to the window.
She pulled the curtain back just enough to peer out and then walked toward the two male guardians. “Daire and Aric, you will accompany me to the private facility to dispose of the lycanthrope. Ethney, stay here and keep order. I’ll place a protection spell on this place that will hide it, but only until the sun rises. If this cure works, all of these people will need to be safely relocated. Gather them up and have them ready to move by the time we get back.”
“So, you think it can work?” Noah asked. Ethney didn’t miss the hint of optimism in his voice.
“I don’t know,” Astraea answered. She held her hands out to the two men who unquestioningly accepted. There was a small ripple of magic and the trio disappeared.
“Where did they go?” Mack asked lifting his brow.
“To the facility,” Ethney answered.
“But...I never told you where it was located.” Mick scratched his chin and frowned.
Ethney shrugged. She’d found out long ago that even though Astraea was the goddess of the moon and stars, she could still do a whole lot of other cool things. “Astraea is a goddess. She knows without you having to tell her.” She looked between the two men in the room and then took a step to the door. “If you’ll excuse me, I have to get something to Elena.”
“I don’t suppose you’re going to tell me what it is, are you?” Noah asked.
She shook her head. “Let’s just hope it works.”
Ethney drew in a deep breath and let it out before making her way down to Elena’s makeshift lab.
Chapter Thirteen
“You always had a thing for pretty girls who were out of your league,” Mick said drawing Noah’s attention away from the door Ethney just exited.
“What makes you think I’m into her?”
Mick laughed out loud. “Come on, man! I’m not blind and I’m not stupid.”
“Is it that obvious?” Noah asked, swallowing hard. That would explain why Astraea had given him such a long hard look.
“Yeah. You didn’t take your eyes off her once. Not that I blame you. She’s pretty. And I’m guessing there is a little more to her than meets the eye. She’s...special, like the dragon.”
Ethney was special all right, but not because she was a mermaid. Mick would never know just how much. Hopefully, Noah would get the chance to find out how completely wonderful she could be. He wanted to get to know her better. Whatever the goddess found, he prayed it worked. He wasn’t ready to die, or worse, become a crazy, bloodthirsty maniac.
“And there you go thinking about her. She must really be something to have you so distracted. It’s not like you to lose your head,” Mick said as he plopped down on the couch, putting his boots up on the coffee table.
“She is.” He couldn’t think of the words to describe her.
Mick lifted his brows suggestively. “You going to make your move?”
“She’s not interested,” Noah said.
Ethney made it pretty clear she wanted to keep things platonic between them. He couldn’t really blame her considering what was happening. However, if Elena did cure him, he was going to up his game.
“She was looking at you pretty hard, too,” Mick said.
“Yeah, well, it’s complicated.” Complicated was an understatement.
“Isn’t it always,” Mick grunted and scrubbed a hand over his face. “All I know is if I find a girl that looks at me like that, I’m going to fight for her.”
“I take it things aren’t going well with Mel?” Noah asked.
Mick closed his eyes and puffed out his cheeks before letting out a long breath. “It’s over. It has been for a long time, neither of us just wanted to admit it.”
“I’m sorry, Mick.” Mel and Mick had been high school sweethearts. They’d had an on-again, off-again relationship for years.
“She’s seeing someone. A doctor. He can be there for her in a way I never could because of the job. I’m happy for her, you know?”
“Sure. I’m still sorry. I know you love her,” Noah said.
“I do. But I’m not in love with her. I want her to be happy and I’m glad she can be. She deserves it. I should have made an honest woman out of her long ago. Things might have been different.”
“So why didn’t you?” Noah asked.
Mick shrugged. “I don’t know. I guess I knew she wasn’t the one.”
“How do you know who the one is?” Noah asked. Again his mind drifted back to Ethney. The room lit up when she entered, she brought a smile to his face, and he would do anything to keep her smile there. Not to mention, his body and mind responded to her in a way it never had with anyone else. Was this what it felt like when you met the one?
Mick shrugged. “I guess you just know.”
“Guess so.”
“Uncle Noah?”
Noah turned around at the sound of Claire’s voice. She stood in the doorway rubbing her eyes. Tears streamed down her face and she hiccupped loudly.
“Hey, what’s wrong?” he asked hurrying to her and kneeling by her feet.
“I had a nightmare. The monsters were trying to get me.” Her face scrunched up and she let out a tiny whimper.
“Hey, sweetie, it’s okay.” He pulled the girl into his arms and hugged her to his chest. He’d do anything to ease her suffering. She didn’t deserve any of this.
“Get down!” Mick yelled.
Noah’s head whipped up at the same time the glass in the front room window cracked. A smoke bomb went off and smoke billowed around them, quickly filling the space.
Noah coughed and covered his mouth and nose with his shirt. He put a hand over Claire’s face and tugged her into the hallway where the air was a little clearer.
Mick followed right behind them. “I thought this place was supposed to be safe until sun up?”
“Me too,” Noah said. He crouched down and held Claire to him. It wasn’t sunrise yet. They still had a few hours, so what happened?
Mick reached for his pant leg and rolled it up, pulling out two Glocks. He handed one of them to Noah while keeping his back to the wall and his eyes on the opening from the front room.
“Claire, get upstairs and find someplace to hide. Don’t come out until I come for you. Understand?” Noah commanded.
Claire nodded her head. Before she could leave, someone stepped through the entry and into the hall. Mick lunged at the figure, slamming him against the wall. Another man in uniform tried to grab Mick, but Noah reacted first.
He grasped the man’s arm and wrung it to the side, disarming him. Using the butt of the gun, he slammed it into the man’s headgear; it would hurt him, but not kill him. The man stumbled back and Noah punched him in the face, his nose crunching beneath Noah’s fist making him wince. The man went down hard, but he was still breathing.
These were his comrades and they were just following orders, but at the moment they were his enemy and they needed to be taken out.
Noah turned to make sure Claire was gone, but found her staring at him in shock. “Claire! Run!” he hollered, making her jump.
Two men rounded the corner at the opposite end of the hall cornering them in while at the same time two more men came at them from the front room.
Noah cursed under his breath. He charged the man closest to him and took him to the ground. The guy used his momentum against him and flipped them over so he was over top of Noah and threw a punch that connected with Noah’s jaw, sending pain exploding through his mouth. Coppery warmth flooded his mouth, causing him to sputter. He didn’t dwell on the pain; instead, he head-butted the man in the face. Noah lifted his hips and slammed the man into the wall. Within another second, he drew up his fist and sent the best uppercut he could from his angle into the bottom of the man’s chin.
&nbs
p; “Uncle Noah!” Claire screamed as she ran toward him.
“Claire, no!” he cried out.
The men at the end of the hall drew their weapons. Mick shot out from the side and tackled Claire at the same time a shot sounded. The discharge echoed through the hall casting them in a moment of silence before Mick and Claire toppled to the floor.
“What kind of monster shoots at a child?” Ethney growled, coming up from behind the two men with some sort of jug in her hand. She shoved one soldier into the wall, hard enough to send a crack rippling up the drywall from floor to ceiling, and then slammed the water jug against the wall sending the contents spraying everywhere.
She flung her hands out and squeezed her fists causing large droplets to form from the water and sent the droplets into the men’s faces. They coughed and sputtered as they choked on the water filling their lungs; clawing at their throat and writhing for what seemed to be an eternity, they fell silently to the floor, their cold eyes staring vacantly at him.
“Everyone okay?” Ethney asked.
“Claire!” Noah forced his eyes from Ethney to where Mick and Claire lay crumpled in a pile on the floor. Mick groaned as Noah rolled him off of Claire.
Blood coated Claire’s nightgown and the girl sobbed uncontrollably.
“Hey, it’s okay,” he said reaching out for her.
Claire trembled and covered her face with her hands. She wasn’t the one who was hurt. There was too much blood for her to be moving that well. His gaze shot to Mick.
His face was pale and his breathing was labored and unsteady. “Shit!” Noah glanced up and met Ethney’s wide eyes. “Get Elena. Now!”
Ethney didn’t need to be told twice. She turned on her heel and sprinted away.
“Claire, run to the kitchen and get some towels. Now!” Claire stood still for a moment before she, too, disappeared.
“It’s going to be okay, buddy. I got you.” Careful not to jostle his friend too much, he got Mick on his back. There was a bullet hole in the front of his jacket close to his heart. Blood poured out of it at an alarming rate.
Mick coughed and blood seeped from between his lips. Noah saw enough combat to know when someone wasn’t going to make it. This wasn’t how it was suppose to happen. Mick wasn’t supposed to die like this; he was home, someplace where it should be safe. He put his hands over the flowing blood. “Hold on, Mick. Help is coming.”
Mick’s eyes rolled closed for a moment before he coughed and then opened them. “Do me...a...favor.”
“Anything,” Noah said.
Mick swallowed hard, which only made him cough harder. “Don’t let her get away. Find...a way to...make it...work.” With those words, Mick’s eyes slid closed and he drew in a sharp breath he didn’t release.
“Mick?” He couldn’t let his friend die like this. Shoving his jacket open, he put his hands over Mick’s chest to start CPR.
“What happened?” Elena yelled as she ran down the hall with a small first aide bag in tow and Ethney right behind her.
“He’s been shot in the chest. He’s not breathing,” Noah said.
“Oh God,” Elena said. Her eyes went wide and she drew in a deep breath. “I haven’t done anything like this since med school.”
“Do what you can,” Noah said quietly.
“Is he going to be okay?” Claire asked, returning from the kitchen with several dishtowels piled up in her hands.
“He’ll be okay,” Ethney said. “Come on. Let’s give them room to work. Why don’t you show me your room?”
Ethney met his eyes for a brief moment, sadness shining in them before she looked away and took Claire’s hand in hers leading her away from the gruesome scene.
“Okay, we need to place these on his chest,” Elena said. She rummaged through the bag and pulled out an AED machine.
Noah ripped open Mick’s shirt so Elena could place the pads on his chest. He prayed for this to work.
Before Elena could charge the machine and detonate a shock, the air around them rippled. A presence filled the room, pressing down on him as it had earlier when the goddess had been before them.
“It’s too late for that. He is gone,” Astraea said from behind them.
“We have to try,” Noah said. He nodded at Elena.
She turned to the machine and pressed the button. They both backed away from Mick when the machine warned them to. It jolted him hard enough to make his back lift off the floor. Then the machine announced that it still couldn’t find a heartbeat.
“Modern medicine can’t save him, but I can.” Astraea stepped around them and knelt before Mick’s body. She placed a hand on his forehead and hummed. “He has a pure heart.”
“What are you doing?” Elena asked. Her mouth popped open when Astraea ripped the pads off of Mick’s chest mid-charge. She flung them to the ground not caring that joules were racing through them. Elena squeaked and moved away from the pad when it landed next to her.
“What are you doing?” Noah asked this time.
“Let her do her work,” Aric said. He offered a hand to Elena. She took it after a long moment, allowing him to haul her to her feet.
Noah grumbled under his breath as he watched the goddess. Her eyes were closed tight in what he assumed was concentration. Did she have the power to bring his friend back from the dead? She did. But not in the way Mick would want.
“What’s happening?” Elena asked Aric. “What is she doing?”
“I believe she is offering him a job,” Aric said. “Assuming he accepts, we’re going to have a new guardian.”
“When is his birthday?” Daire asked quietly as he walked in.
“February fifteenth. Why?” Noah asked with a frown.
“He’s an Aquarius. If he accepts, I’ll be free.” Daire smiled and leaned his back against the wall.
Aric reached out and patted his friend on the shoulder. “I’m praying for you, Daire.”
“What does that mean?” Elena asked, her eyes wide as she turned her gaze to each of them.
Noah closed his eyes and shook his head. If Mick accepted the goddess’s offer, he’d be an eternal guardian like Ethney and Aric. His best friend would be honor bound to kill him. As if it wasn’t bad enough the woman he loved wanted him dead, now his best friend would, too.
He was so screwed.
Chapter Fourteen
Ethney stared at the ocean as the waves crashed against the shore; the water an inky black in the darkened sky. Daire and Aric stood next to her, all of them in silence. Daire was free; Mick accepted Astraea’s proposal and successfully replaced Daire. It was no surprise Mick decided to become a dragon shifter; after seeing Daire’s massive form earlier, who wouldn’t? Even Ethney admitted the dragon was pretty impressive, though she still preferred her mermaid and the water to anything else.
“How does it feel to be free?” Aric asked clapping Daire on the shoulder.
Daire grinned and chuckled softly. “I don’t know. I still haven’t wrapped my head around it to be honest. I’ve been a guardian for so long, I never thought I’d get a second chance.”
“Well, don’t mess it up,” Aric chuckled.
Daire sobered and leveled Aric with a serious look. “I don’t intend to. I’m going to hold onto Grace and her son Caden and never let them go.”
“You better,” Ethney said. Daire reached out and pulled her into a hug. “I’m going to miss you,” she said into his shoulder.
Daire squeezed her a little tighter. “I’ll miss you, too, but this isn’t goodbye. You guys will have to come visit—often.”
“We will,” she promised. Just because she wouldn’t get a happily ever after didn’t mean she couldn’t live vicariously through her friend. She couldn’t imagine losing her mermaid, maybe if she found true love and could have a fresh start it wouldn’t be as bad. Unfortunately, the right man was also her sworn enemy. She was cursed in love; at least she had a job she enjoyed and friends who loved her, she tried to encourage herself.
Daire blew out a breath and took a step back. He flexed his arms and stared up at the sky. Astraea explained he’d have control over his dragon for another twenty-four hours before it vanished for good, making him mortal. Daire shifted into his large black dragon once more, flapping his enormous wings a few times before lifting into the air.
Ethney smiled, watching the clouds as the dragon blended in with the night sky.
Aric moved next to her, putting an arm around her shoulder. “You okay?”
“Yeah. I just can’t believe he’s gone.” When you worked with someone for centuries you kind of got used to having him around. In an ever-changing world, Daire and Aric were the only constants she knew.
Aric pulled her closer. “One day, we’re going to get our freedom, too.”
She shook her head. “I don’t think so—not me anyway.”
“Have faith.”
“How can you stay so positive?” she asked. Aric was always a happy-go-lucky guy—nothing seemed to bother him.
Aric shrugged. “That’s how I was raised. At sea, you had to keep a positive outlook and keep trudging on or you’d get swallowed up whole.”
Aric was a Viking, or he used to be a long time ago. He was born and raised on the sea and even gave his life to save his crew. Born in Scandinavia, he was one of the only people alive who could still speak Old Norse, not to mention just about every language ever created.
“You did get swallowed up whole,” she pointed out with a roll of her eyes. It was true—he drowned at sea.
Aric laughed out loud. “True, but I hoped my crew would survive and they did.” Ethney shook her head. “Don’t give up hope, Ethney. I know it seems bleak right now, but there is always a way if you are passionate enough.” Aric squeezed her shoulder and then pulled back and took a few steps toward the ocean. “I’m going for a swim. Want to join?”
She shook her head. “No, thanks.”
Aric shrugged. He rolled his shirt up and deposited it on the beach before going for his jeans. She turned her back and made her way to the house, but froze when she realized Noah was standing on the porch.
