by Ioana Visan
Without a word, Vale climbed out and jumped, disappearing into the darkness.
“Come on. It’s just one floor,” Rafe called out, urging them to do the same. “Vale will catch you!”
Cassie needed help to climb out. After she dropped down to Vale, it was Alise’s turn. She winced when Rafe’s hand touched her back. The air rushed around her, and her back hit the ground with a thud. Did he push me? She lay dizzily in a petunia flowerbed, staring up at the starry sky.
The air vibrated when Rafe landed soundlessly to her left. “Hurry,” he whispered.
She got up while he rushed after Vale, who was already several steps ahead. A quick glance around revealed the presence of several moving shadows in the distance. As they got closer, they turned into shapeless creatures, crawling up the street and heading their way. This was the clean-up crew. They tidied up after the other monsters, destroying the remains. The pattern was familiar, only she hadn’t expected so much energy to be invested in trying to capture her, especially not on this side. She swallowed the lump in her throat. The end felt closer.
“Where’s your car?” Alise asked, her voice breaking. They had to get away from those creatures, and cars were wonderful things for that. The only other option was to cross over. The monsters would not be able to follow them, but the Guardians would be opposed to doing it, not while Gorem was still free on this side. They had to catch him. She was extra baggage as far as they were concerned.
“We didn’t bring one,” Rafe said.
She rolled her eyes. Guardians! So cocky.
“Well, we’ll be surrounded soon. We need one,” Alise said. She could drive if she had to. She had tried it with Cassie’s car, and it wasn’t such a big deal. “The parking is that way.” She pointed back.
“No time. There are too many,” Vale said, passing by and heading the other way where the alley opened into a big, well-lit boulevard.
The moment the monsters got there, the cars, the people, even the air stood still. Nothing moved, except for the monsters. The magic surrounding the Guardians protected them, but the skin still prickled along her arms. This required too much magic to be Gorem’s doing. It had Wizard written all over it. The Guardians couldn’t make this happen, and fighting against it and winning was debatable. She wouldn’t know where to start. They needed a place to hide, but where? Everything was closed at this hour, and entering another building wouldn’t solve their problem anyway.
They passed a grocery store, a clothing boutique, and a small travel agency before Rafe stopped in front of the door to a drugstore. “Here!” He waved at everyone to come over while Vale drew a complicated symbol on the glass with his fingertips. No marks remained, but when he pressed the handle, the door opened with a click.
Narrow aisles and neatly stacked medicine boxes flashed in front of their eyes as they stumbled inside. When Vale slammed the door shut, the monsters snapped vicious fangs at his heels.
Chapter Five
When the light flickered, their surroundings drastically changed. One moment, they were inside a regular drugstore, and the next, it had turned into a fancy living room containing antique furniture and golden fixtures on the light blue walls. The girls stared with their mouths agape.
“Come, don’t just stand there,” Rafe said, signaling for them to walk towards the middle of the room.
“Wow. I’ve heard about such places,” Alise said, impressed, “but I’ve never been into one.”
“And you shouldn’t be here, either, so don’t get too comfortable,” Vale said.
Rafe smirked. “He doesn’t like you.” His words were addressed to Alise, but when he turned to Cassie, who looked ready to pass out, his eyes softened. “Sit.” He ordered and gently motioned the girl to take a seat on the large, dark blue sofa.
Cassie complied. She looked around in a daze, managing to whisper, “What’s this? Where are we?”
“She asks a lot of questions, doesn’t she?” Vale frowned at Alise as if it was her fault.
He had no idea. Alise didn’t bother to answer. She waited to see what the other Guardian had to say.
“This is our safe house,” Rafe said. “When there’s danger and no way out, we retreat in here. Every Guardian has one.”
“Guardian?” repeated Cassie.
He opened his mouth to say something, but both Alise and Vale snapped, “Don’t!”
“What?” Rafe put on an innocent look.
“Stop feeding her information.” Alise frowned at him. “She doesn’t need to know all that. It’s not safe for any of us.”
“I assumed you’d cast a spell to wipe her memory.”
“You forget I can’t do that. I can barely keep her grounded without you putting all those thoughts in her head,” Alise grumbled. She couldn’t risk using the little magic she had left because she dreaded what would come after that.
“Oh, well…” Rafe shrugged. “Then I guess I’ll have to knock her out and hope to give her a strong enough concussion to make her forget everything.”
He doesn’t mean that. He wouldn’t, would he? Guardians could be big brutes, but they weren’t like that. “He’s kidding,” Alise told Cassie, who had curled up and was trembling in a corner of the sofa. She looked at Rafe, waiting for him to confirm her statement.
He held her gaze for a moment before a smile lit his face. “Of course I am. We’ll figure a way out.” He moved to the mini kitchen in the distant part of the room.
“While you do that, I’m going to take a shower and attempt to clean this up,” Vale said, gesturing with a disgusted look at his clothes. He disappeared through a door that had to lead to the bathroom.
Left alone, Alise sat down next to her friend and murmured encouragement, trying to soothe her. A panic attack was the last thing they needed right now. Still, she jumped when Rafe returned, carrying a steaming mug. She hadn’t heard him approach. She had forgotten how quietly they moved, even when they weren’t on the job.
“Make her drink this,” he said in a low voice.
Alise sniffed at the contents and handed the mug over to Cassie. “Drink this. It will make you feel better.” Since Guardians didn’t put much value on poison, drinking it should be safe.
Cassie did and, in a matter of seconds, her eyelids became heavy. She curled up, holding a cushion against her chest, and she soon fell asleep. Alise pulled a cover off an armchair and draped it over the girl.
“What did you give her?” she asked.
“Something to help her sleep,” Rafe said. “She’ll only get in the way if she stays awake.”
As much as it bothered her to admit it, she had to agree with him. Cassie had been through enough for one evening. She could use a break. It didn’t explain why the Guardians were in no hurry to leave, though. “Why are you still here? Why aren’t you going after Gorem?”
“I told you. He fled. We were busy dealing with his acolytes.” Rafe rolled a shoulder and grimaced in pain. “Then we rushed to get to you first.”
Because without a witness, there would be no trial.
“Do you have any idea where he went?” she asked, wondering if she would have to lend her back to his blade for a second time. She wouldn’t be able to cast the spell again so soon, and she didn’t know if doing it inside their hideout would work anyway.
“We think he crossed over to The Mists.”
Even better. At least people on that side knew about the Guardians’ existence, and magic didn’t startle them. It only annoyed them because they couldn’t hold onto it. She imagined the desolate landscape and shuddered. She would certainly die there, but the Guardians didn’t have that problem. They could pack more magic than most and were full of resources. “Well, go after him…”
“We can’t.” Another grimace. “We’ve been forbidden to cross to that side … apparently for our own good.” It sounded like he wanted to go and resented the fact that he couldn’t. Rafe rolled his eyes. “We upset the Queen the last time we were there, so she wants us dead.�
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“Since when has that stopped you?” Alise asked. The Guardians were supposed to be braver than that. Great, they had sent a broken pair to do the job. It made her question the Council’s determination to catch Gorem and for good reason. It had taken them years to act upon her case.
Rafe gave her a long look. “If this had been any other mission, we would have been gone by now. But we can’t. We made a deal. We need to behave.”
“Behave?” Alise let out a choked laugh. When the Guardians received a mission, they did everything in their power to achieve their goal. Nothing could get in their way.
He winced, clearly unhappy with the situation, and shrugged off his jacket. A big red stain spread from the left side of his chest, where he had come in contact with one of the monsters, and down his sleeve.
Alise’s protective instinct won over. “You should take care of that…”
“Yes, I should.” Rafe nodded. “I’ll be right back.”
The room only had three doors, and he walked through one. Alise went to the front door. She hesitated and, in the end, decided against touching it. Assuming she could get out by herself, she didn’t want to leave Cassie alone. She turned around and, for the next few minutes, explored the place, careful not to disturb the neatly placed things. There were no secrets in sight, just a beautiful room with a girl sleeping on the sofa. She smiled as she turned to Cassie, who frowned in her sleep while holding tightly onto her cushion. Hopefully, this adventure wasn’t going to affect her too much, and that was all she could do—hope.
They were taking too long … Vale with his shower, and Rafe with the healing. Didn’t they have another bathroom? She would have liked to clean her back, too. Feeling brave, she started after Rafe, the one who didn’t hate her so much … or, if he did, he hid it better. The door opened into a small, dark hallway with two other doors. The one on the left was closed, but the one on the right was open. Rafe stood by a large, metal frame bed, his shirt off and the healing stone pressed to his upper arm. The wound had closed, leaving a big ugly scar that refused to disappear in its place. It looked odd on his clean skin, as Guardians’ bodies usually bore no visible scars.
Alise stopped in the doorway. “That looks bad.”
“It doesn’t feel that bad,” Rafe said, frowning at the scar. “There must have been something else inside that expansion monster. They don’t normally do this.”
“Meet Gorem.” Alise took a step inside. “May I?”
Raising an eyebrow, Rafe slowly turned to face her. He stood still, arms hanging by his sides, healing stone in hand, watching her expectantly. Alise couldn’t help but glance at the two blades resting on the bed. If he wanted to end her, he didn’t need them, but she came in peace. So she brazenly looked into those quicksilver eyes and walked up to him. She stepped to the side of Rafe, planting her feet firmly on the floor. Up close, the scar looked even worse, almost as if it was boiling inside, just like his eyes.
It failed to intimidate her. Her fingertips ran over the scar, barely touching it, investigating its nature. Except for the tracking spell and that one monster, she hadn’t used any magic in so long. Was this going to work? She felt Rafe’s eyes on her, his muscles tense under his skin, and she hid a smile when faint yellow vines started from her fingertips, spreading towards her wrist and farther up her forearm. Old magic paths, carved by long-term use, would not disappear that easily. Despite the sickly look, as they lacked the natural golden glow, they still did the trick. The ugly scar slowly faded away, leaving healthy, smooth skin in its place.
Rafe checked his arm and shoulder then settled his eyes on her, a little smile dancing on his lips. “Thanks.”
“That’s payback for the shelter. We’re even,” she told him and stepped back, prepared to leave.
“Not so fast.” Rafe grabbed her by the back of her shirt, and Alise froze. “What’s wrong with your back?”
“Ask your blade,” she said through gritted teeth and threw him a glare over her shoulder. Her wounds were bleeding again.
He frowned. “Why didn’t you heal yourself?”
“I can’t do that. No wings, remember?” She hated to admit it. For a Fairy whose main purpose had been healing, it really hurt.
“But you healed me.” Rafe sounded puzzled.
Alise let out a sigh. “That wasn’t healing. That was like applying make-up.” She tried to move, but he held her still.
“Take your shirt off.”
“The hell I will!” She gasped, hearing the fabric being torn. Cold metal ran down her back. Part of her brain registered the presence of one blade on the bed. The other had to be in Rafe’s hand.
Rafe pulled both parts of the shirt to the sides to uncover her back. His fingers brushed against the nape of her neck when he pushed a few locks of hair out of the way. When he had first seen them, he hadn’t commented. This time, he took his time checking the wounds. “Nice. What did he use? An axe?”
“Yeah,” she muttered. The memories and pain threatened to flood her consciousness, and she fought to keep them at bay.
“Did he do it himself?”
“How did you guess?”
“If I were a psycho who progressed from ripping wings off of flies to chopping wings off of Fairies, this is how I would do it, too,” Rafe said.
That made Alise chuckle. “That’s good to know.” Although she couldn’t see his face, she knew he was smiling.
Something cold touched her back, the healing stone, but it quickly warmed up. Slowly, Rafe moved it up and down, following the lighting-shaped wounds. The healing stone hungrily ate up the blood, even the dried parts, and radiated a low energy field that sped up the cells’ regenerative cycle. Soon, her skin pulled tightly as the wounds sealed closed.
Rafe took a step back to admire his work. The pain had vanished, leaving only numbness, so the scars must have turned into thin, barely visible white lines.
“Not bad,” he said. “Now we’re even.”
“Thanks,” Alise murmured and moved away to put more distance between them.
When she turned around, holding the shirt against her chest as if she feared she might lose it, he was watching her with his head tilted.
“Umm, we don’t have any female clothes in here, but I can lend you one of my shirts.” He sounded like he expected her to refuse it.
“Okay.”
Warily, she watched him while he went to retrieve a white shirt from the wardrobe. He might act nice now, but he was still a Guardian, and he would take her back with or without her consent. Resistance was not an option. Fleeing might be if she ran and hid far away. The shelter was a temporary solution. It didn’t diminish the problem of being trapped with two Guardians.
Without a word, she accepted the shirt and put it on, then removed the ruined one from underneath it. It was too big, but at least it was clean, and it covered her enough to make her look decent.
“You can sleep in here,” Rafe said. “I’ll go bring Cassie in.”
“I wouldn’t move her. Cassie is a light sleeper. She might freak out if she wakes up.”
“She won’t be such a light sleeper after what I gave her, but okay … whatever…” He shrugged. “You can still have the bed if you want. Unless you prefer Vale’s room?” He smirked.
“I’ll stay with Cassie so she won’t be alone when she wakes up.” The couch next to Cassie’s looked comfortable enough, with plenty of space to lie on.
Rafe grinned. “As long as you don’t bleed on the furniture, I guess there’s no harm in it.”
With a roll of her eyes, Alise left the bedroom.
“Rafe, can I borrow your healing stone? Mine’s broken!” Vale’s desperate request came from the bathroom.
“I don’t suppose you want to play nurse for him?” Rafe whispered as he strode up behind her. “No? Okay. Try to get some rest. We only have until morning.”
Chapter Six
“What’s a Guardian?” A voice tickled Alise’s eardrums, coming from a great distan
ce.
Was that Cassie? It had to be. Alise’s brain stirred, trying to decide if it was a dream. The girl was talking to someone, the clanging of pots and pans echoing in the background.
“Guardian of Balance,” came Vale’s slightly irritated voice.
“It sounds like a character from a bad video game,” Cassie said. “I mean, what do you do besides killing monsters and saving … Fairies? Is that what she is?”
“Yeah. She was…,” Vale said.
Was? Alise’s brain protested. But she wasn’t dead yet. Oh, wait. He meant she wasn’t a true Fairy anymore, not after the … incident. Rafe had mentioned something about Vale not liking Fairies, although she couldn’t be sure if he had been serious. Did that mean he disliked her less now?
“So?” Cassie wouldn’t leave a question unanswered.
Alise silently wished Vale good luck with keeping secrets from her inquisitive roommate.
“We go after monsters, demons, the occasional rogue Wizard, and all kinds of evil things… We’re basically the keepers of justice in our world.”
There was a pause while Cassie digested the information. “Who decides who’s evil and who’s not?”
While she kept her eyes closed, Alise’s lips curled up a little. Leave it to Cassie to fight for justice. All of her international law studies were being put to good use.
“The Council.”
A frown creased Alise’s forehead. Where had the Council been when she needed it?
“So you’re basically hired guns,” Cassie said.
“No!”
The protest was accompanied by a muffled chuckle coming from nearby. Alise’s eyes blinked open. This wasn’t a dream. Across the small coffee table, Rafe sat in an armchair with his legs crossed, holding up a newspaper. He wasn’t reading, though. He was staring at her over it. The lingering eyes gave Alise the chills.
“Shh…” He pressed a finger to his lips and whispered, grinning, “This is fascinating.”
Alise twisted her neck to look over the back of the couch. Cassie sat at the kitchen island while Vale cooked breakfast on the other side. Was he making pancakes?
