by Ioana Visan
“We’re not hired guns,” Vale said in a more even tone. “It’s an honor to be a Guardian.”
“That’s why you chose to be one?”
“We don’t … choose. We’re born with all the required abilities for the job. It would be stupid not to do it when this is the one thing we will always be best at.”
“I don’t know…,” Cassie mused. “What if you don’t like it?” In answer to Vale’s puzzled look, she slapped her forehead. “What am I saying? Men and disembowelment… What’s not to like?”
Vale glared at Rafe from across the room, as if saying I told you she wouldn’t understand.
The blond Guardian grinned back and whispered towards Alise, “If she gives him a major breakdown, she’ll be paying the therapy bills.”
Alise had never heard of Guardians suffering from emotional breakdowns, even if they weren’t necessarily sane … or healthy. They had to be a little nuts to put up with that kind of life. Her neck ached so she sat up on the couch. She tugged at her shirt, which had slipped down during the night, exposing a shoulder.
“Don’t do that on my account.” Rafe watched her, smirking.
She ignored his remark. “What did you give her this time? She’s way too cheerful.”
“She was terrified when she woke up, so we gave her a spoonful of long-lasting courage and obliviousness elixir. She’s not afraid anymore, but now she won’t stop talking.” For some reason, that seemed to amuse him terribly. “Humans are so weak.”
At the kitchen island, the conversation continued.
“Is Alise on your hit list?” Cassie asked.
“No.” Vale sounded bothered by that accusation. “We’re not murderers. She declined her status and left of her own free will. She’s not part of our … jurisdiction anymore.”
“But she can still do stuff, like that thing with the monster? I’ve seen it,” Cassie said.
Unconsciously, Rafe scratched at his shoulder where the scar had been.
“She’s still a … What did you call it? Magic user?” Cassie asked.
“For now. But, with no source to refill her magic, that will soon run out,” Vale said. “She’s not one of us anymore.”
“So she didn’t have to help you locate that creep.” Cassie’s voice had taken on a certain tone Alise recognized. Heads were about to roll, metaphorically speaking.
“No one forced her,” Vale said. “She did it willingly.”
“And had her back split open? Why would anyone agree to that?”
“Because she wants him caught just as much as we do.”
He was wrong. No one wanted Gorem dead as much as Alise did.
Cassie went quiet, but only for a moment. “You took advantage of her.”
Vale didn’t look disturbed by that idea, but a muscle twitched on Rafe’s face.
“Will you protect her now that you got her in trouble?” Cassie asked.
“We don’t have to, but we will,” Vale said with a pensive glance in the direction of the couch.
“Because you plan to use her as bait.” Cassie shook her head and blew at the copper curl that fell on her forehead. “You sure are some piece of work.”
“He’ll come after her whether we’re here or not,” Vale said. “She’s got better chances with us around.”
“But why? Why is he coming after her again? And why did he take her wings?”
“That is a good question,” Rafe said aloud, and all three pairs of eyes turned to look at Alise. “He’s coming after you because you’re a witness of his crimes and you can testify against him in front of the Council. But why did he take your wings in the first place?”
Alise shrugged. “I don’t know. I was in too much pain to ask.” And what she did know, she wasn’t ready to tell them yet.
Rafe failed to look convinced by her answer, but he didn’t push it.
“You’re up!” A big smile lit up Cassie’s face.
Alise answered with a faint smile of her own. The wave of relief washing over her at the realization that Cassie still considered her a friend took her by surprise.
“We let you sleep in,” Cassie said. “We thought you needed it.”
Alise didn’t know how to answer that, especially the part where Cassie included both her and the Guardians in the “we” part. She didn’t like that. Cassie shouldn’t fraternize with the enemy.
“Breakfast is ready,” Vale announced with no sign of enthusiasm whatsoever. The early morning interrogation had exhausted him.
“Great!” Rafe grinned widely. “I’m starving.” He put the newspaper down and got up.
Alise’s eyes moved from the newspaper to Cassie, who had dropped the jeans and navy T-shirt in favor of a pink top and white skirt that Alise didn’t recognize. She winced and looked back at Rafe. “Have you been out?” she asked, getting off the couch. She frowned and stretched. Her back remained a little sore, but other than that, she felt fine.
“Yes,” Rafe said. “I bought coffee, since we were running low, and a few other items.”
“And?” Alise watched him intently. “How are things?”
“I’m happy to report that everything went back to normal, and we encountered no sign of monster activity in the daylight.” While pleasant, his tone was slightly patronizing. “And your apartment is still a mess.” He didn’t try to apologize because there was nothing to apologize for. After all, the Guardians had saved their lives.
“The food is getting cold!” Vale huffed from his place near the stove.
“And we wouldn’t want that.” Rafe smirked, straddling a chair next to Cassie.
Alise sat on her other side.
Cassie bit her lip and asked with a small voice, “You do like pancakes, right? You weren’t just saying that…”
“Yes, I like them.” Alise smiled, and Cassie let out a relieved sigh as if that simple admission validated her condition as a decent human being.
“Eat up, everyone,” Rafe said, the cheerfulness in his voice going up a notch at the sight of the pancakes. “We don’t have much time.”
The pancakes looked good so Alise piled her plate. Next to her, Cassie drenched hers in chocolate sauce. Alise reached for the sauce bottle when a whiff of strong, sweet scent made her nostrils vibrate. Her head jerked up. At the end of the table, Rafe was opening a jar filled with a thick, sparkling golden substance. Alise’s mouth watered. She hadn’t had a taste of lotus honey in ages.
Rafe looked up. “What? You want some?” He shook his head as if in doubt. “I don’t know. I’ve heard Fairies get high on this stuff. They get up and dance naked on tables after only half a jar.” He grinned, held her gaze a moment longer, then slid the jar across the table. “Here. Knock yourself out.”
Alise grabbed the jar, her fingers clutching it tightly. She hated him for teasing her, but the honey smelled divine. She took a spoonful and let it melt on her tongue. Her toes curled with pleasure. The last time she’d had some… No, she wasn’t going to go there.
“Is that true?” Cassie whispered.
“They wish,” Alise muttered and dumped a good amount of honey on her pancakes.
“That is true.” Rafe gesticulated with his fork before shoving the pancakes into his mouth.
Cassie looked from one to the other. “You don’t like each other much, do you?” she said to no one in particular.
“They’re a big pain in the ass,” Vale and Alise said at the same time.
Rafe laughed.
Silence filled the room as they ate, focused on the food. Then Vale said, looking at Rafe, “We need a plan.”
“Indeed,” he agreed. He turned to Cassie. “We don’t need you, and Gorem doesn’t need you, either, so you’re off the hook. Just to be on the safe side, I wouldn’t go to the apartment, but you should be okay. Do you have another place to stay?”
“I could stay with my uncle,” Cassie said, her forehead scrunching. “He has a house on the upper east hill. He’s away on a business trip this week, but he wouldn’
t mind me staying at his place. He always invites me to drop by.”
“Good. That’s one problem solved,” Rafe said, although why he cared what happened to Cassie, Alise had no idea. “Now what are we going to do with you?” he turned to ask Alise.
It took her a second to decide. “I’m going with her.”
“Not a good idea,” Rafe said. “If Gorem comes after you, you’ll be putting her in danger for no good reason. I thought you wanted to protect her.”
“I do.” Alise held his gaze. “There’s nothing smart in letting her go somewhere on her own, unprotected. Gorem isn’t dumb. It won’t take him long to figure out he can kidnap her and force me into coming to him. When he does, who will be there to protect her?”
“You?” Rafe’s eyebrows arched up. “You can’t even protect yourself.”
“True.” He was obviously missing the point. She had the perfect solution. “But you can.”
“You want to trick us into protecting both of you?” Rafe was too stunned to laugh.
From his seat, Vale frowned at them, unhappy with the suggestion.
“What else can you do?” Alise countered. “You can’t take me back. If you cross over without Gorem, you have no case, and you would be dragging me there against my will. The Council wouldn’t like that.”
Rafe grimaced.
“You can’t cross over to The Mists—that would make the Council even less happy—and you can’t force Gorem to come here. You have to wait for him to make the next move.” Gorem would come when he was ready, and although the idea of such a meeting terrified her, she couldn’t hide for long. “Where else can we go until he does? To a hotel? The apartment is ruined, and we can’t stay here…”
“Why can’t we stay here?” Cassie asked, her bottom lip trembling a little.
“Because,” Vale said before Rafe could open his mouth, “this is our safe place. He can’t find us in here. Nothing can enter unless we want it to. If we allowed Gorem access, it would defeat its purpose.”
“And,” Alise added, “they can’t keep the protection up that long. The walls are getting thin already.” She pointed at the ceiling. Pinpoints of light had appeared around the top corners of the room. “Soon, we’ll be able to look outside, and people will be able to look in.” The Guardians were supposed to have better control over their hiding place. Maybe they had stretched out too much. The place was too big for two people to hold it up.
“And none of us wants that,” Rafe said. “Thank you for explaining it.” His smile was thin, then his face turned serious. “We need to move.” He tapped his fingers on the countertop.
Vale spoke next, looking at Rafe. “It’s not a totally stupid idea. If it’s a larger area, we can control it better. We can set up some traps… You said it’s a house, right?” he asked Cassie.
“Yes. It’s a two-story mansion up the hill with a big garden outside,” she said with a nod.
Vale glanced at Rafe and started gathering the dishes. “We can take a look at least.”
“Okay.” Rafe let out a defeated sigh. “You have five minutes to change,” he told Alise. “There are some clothes over there. If they don’t fit, it’s not my fault. He picked them.” He pointed at Vale.
Chapter Seven
A quick check in the mirror revealed no signs that Alise had been involved in a monster attack during the night, which was a good thing. People weren’t supposed to know. She didn’t look or feel any different. Her back, while still wingless, felt the same. So why did she feel like her entire world had shifted a little? Must be because of knowing that Gorem was on her trail once again. This story was never going to end. She would never be free.
She sighed and finished brushing her hair. She had found a hairbrush and an extra toothbrush inside a cabinet, and she had taken the liberty of using them. In fact, there were more beauty products in this bathroom than she had expected. For people who spent more than half their lives covered in blood, the Guardians sure did know how to take good care of themselves.
The new clothes fit her well, even if they weren’t her favorite color. The light green made her look ghastly pale. She shrugged and started to put her hair up when the door opened and Rafe walked in. He silently closed the door behind him.
“Wow, you must really be desperate…,” she murmured, glancing at Rafe’s reflection in the mirror, her hands still dealing with her hair.
“I thought it was better for Cassie not to see this,” he said, stepping closer.
He moved too fast for her to react. His hand snuck underneath her top and slid up her back until it reached the sensitive area between her shoulder blades where he stopped and pressed. Power surged through her, marking every cell of her body, claiming her as his. Alise gasped, her head flying back as her spine arched to the point of breaking. Rafe’s left arm automatically went around her waist to support her.
“What … did you do?” She panted, collapsing against his chest. It hadn’t hurt, but she could have sworn she’d seen light coming out of her chest for a brief moment there.
“I put a sigil on you,” Rafe said. “We sometimes do it when we take prisoners.”
As far as she knew, those cases were rare.
“We extend our protection over them, like an umbrella. It messes with your signature, so you will be harder to locate. When Gorem does try to find you again, he won’t know if it’s really you. He’ll have to come in person to get you. It’s what we want.” Rafe waited until she regained her balance before he removed his hands from her.
“So you are going to use me as bait, like Cassie said.”
“I never claimed I was playing fair.” Rafe brushed away a lock of dark hair that tickled her cheek and grinned as she swayed away from him.
“Right. Who’s going to protect Cassie?” With all the talk and legends about Guardians, their dedication and honor, could she trust them? At the end of the day, Cassie was not one of them.
“She’s human,” he said. “Gorem is not interested in her. She’ll be fine.”
The look Alise gave Rafe clearly said she didn’t believe that.
His eyes softened as he gazed down at her. “As long as she’s around, we will protect her. That’s what you want, isn’t it?”
Cassie had helped her when she needed a place to settle down after crossing over, and Alise owed her, but it was more than that. She genuinely liked the girl. They were friends, which wasn’t a concept the Guardian would understand. Guardians had no alliance, other than to the Council. It was the best and only way to keep them impartial and subdued. She settled for a nod and left the bathroom.
Rafe emerged a few moments later, making a big show out of shoving his shirt down his pants. Vale rolled his eyes. No one would believe anything improper had happened between them in that bathroom.
Chapter Eight
With one last look around the blue room, torn between needing to feel safe and not wanting to ever see it again, Alise stepped closer to the exit.
Vale paused, his hand on the door handle, and glanced back. “Ready?”
They had to be. The upper part of the walls had become see-through. It was time to leave the safe house and face whatever waited for them. Alise repressed a shudder. Despite its deprivations, the humans’ world had been like home for four long years. Now the false impression of safety had vanished. Wherever she went, she would always have to look over her shoulder and fear an attack at any given moment. She sighed. Maybe the Guardians’ company wasn’t such a bad idea.
At Rafe’s tiny nod, Vale opened the door. He stepped outside, holding the door open for the girls. Cassie needed Alise’s encouragement to step over the threshold. The Guardians’ definition of “safety” might be a little different from theirs, but they wouldn’t intentionally put anyone in danger. Everything looked normal, like any regular early morning. People were going to work, and cars were rushing by in the rapidly-heating air.
“We’re still here,” Cassie said, sounding disappointed at the sight of her building
down the street.
“This isn’t a teleportation device.” Rafe laughed, pointing back at the room. “It’s a pocket in the fabric of the universe. Where it’s opened, there it stays. We can’t hop around from place to place, although people are working on it.” He sported an amused smile as he said that. “For now, we walk.”
So they started walking. Behind them, Rafe closed the door to a perfectly normal-looking drugstore. The safe house had disappeared. Cassie shook her head as if trying to wake up from a dream. “Can we take the car now?” The excitement in her voice came out a little forced, despite the courage elixir she’d taken.
“Since you’re offering so nicely,” Rafe said with a grin, “we will.”
They walked around the block. Once they got to the parking lot in the back of the building, Rafe stared doubtfully at the small, black Toyota parked next to a linden tree. Half-dried lime flowers were sprinkled on the windshield.
“I expected something bigger,” he said. “By the look of your place, I thought you could afford it.”
Cassie shook her head. “Well, my parents can, but smaller is better when there is no place to park.”
“Hmm.” Frowning, Rafe moved to look at the other surrounding cars, as if they were merchandise. His pursed lips and pinched brow showed that Rafe was anything but happy with the Toyota. Like most men, he would have probably loved a tank.
“It’s the only one I have a key for,” Cassie said. “Good thing I had it in my pocket when we ran from the apartment…”
Alise smiled, but Rafe looked up from the set of tires he was inspecting. “Let’s see it.”
Cassie retrieved the key from her skirt’s pocket and held it up.
“Thank you.” Rafe took the key from her so fast, she wasn’t able to protest.
“Are you sure you can drive this?” Alise narrowed her eyes at him. There were no cars on the other side, and Guardians didn’t stay in one place long enough to learn how to do it. But, then again, they were resourceful, so not much would have surprised her.
