Guardian's Hope

by Jacqueline Rhoades

  She was lining her eyes in the heavy black kohl that Tyn preferred when she remembered. The pencil in her hand triggered the thought. She pulled the old cookbook out from beneath the mattress, shook out the pen hidden in the spine and tore out three pages. She forced her mind to form the words even though it went against the demon’s command. Long training and practice made her hand and fingers move. Three times she wrote.

  Help me - Hope

  *****

  Heavy grey clouds covered the sky as far as the eye could see and the rain that fell in a slow and steady drizzle showed no signs of stopping. There was still an hour until sunset, but Nico felt it was safe for travelling. He was settling their bill in the office and Hope had just settled into the passenger seat to wait when a blue and white police car pulled into the lot and stopped behind the ‘vette. Sam Tolbert got out wearing his police windbreaker under a clear plastic poncho and his wide brimmed hat was cover in plastic as well. The rain didn’t seem to bother him as he strolled to over to Hope’s window. She rolled it down at his approach.

  “Leaving us so soon?” he asked with a friendly smile, but Hope knew he wanted answers to other questions.

  “Yes, sir,” Hope answered politely. “We got what we came for. The poor girl you found wasn’t my sister. Thanks to your recommendation, we had a lovely dinner at the Madison Lodge and now we’re ready to head home.”

  “Thought you might be staying for the revival.”

  “No,” she said cautiously, “I have no interest in what the preacher might have to say.”

  “Then why is he so interested in you?”

  “Why is who so interested?” Nico stood on the other side of the car. They both answered at the same time.

  “The preacher.”

  “My father.”

  “He’s your father?” Sam asked, but it was more than a simple question.

  “Yes, sir. My sister and I grew up in his church and in his house. My sister left home some years ago, myself, some months. Our being here at the same time is strictly a coincidence. I came to search for my sister, not him.”

  “That’s not the way he tells it.”

  “What difference does it make and why is it your business?” Nico’s voice was hard and unfriendly. The constant drizzle was beginning to soak his hair, yet he didn’t take his place behind the wheel.

  “Take it easy, son,” Sam said looking over the roof at Nico. “It’s my business because it’s my town. Everything that happens in it and everyone who passes through is my business.”

  “Nico, it’s all right. Sam doesn’t want to hurt me.” She sent him pictures of the meadow and moonlight. “How does he tell it, Sam?”

  “He says you use your shared name to cause trouble. He says you’re trying to extort money from him to keep you from claiming kinship and spreading filthy lies. He wants me to pick you up on solicitation, prostitution or as he puts it, your ungodly woman’s ways.”

  “That’s not going to happen,” Nico said through gritted teeth. He started around the car.

  “Nico!”

  “I never said I agreed to it,” Sam laughed, “I’ve got no grounds to make an arrest though I might have if I’d followed you up to lover’s leap. Couples don’t usually go up there just to enjoy the view.” He laughed again at Hope’s pained and embarrassed look. “Now, see there, that’s exactly why I believe her and not the preacher. She can’t lie, can’t cover her tracks. The other morning when she came to see me, her heart was on her sleeve. She was nervous, but not because she was faking. I’ve been doing this job for a long time now and I’ve always had a pretty good feel for people.” He looked at Nico meaningfully. “You got yourself a good woman here. You better take good care of her.” He looked back at Hope, pointed his thumb at Nico and winked. “Him, I’m not so sure of. He needs somebody to keep an eye on him.” Sam’s face became solemn. “That preacher, your father? I don’t see much good in him though there’s nothing I can do about it. He’s not breaking any law and if some people want to believe that drivel he preaches about demons and witches and Eve being the cause of it all, well, there’s nothing I can do about that either except tell those people they’re damn fools.

  “The only thing I can do is warn you and believe me, I don’t take pleasure in telling a girl something like this about her father. That preacher hates you. I could see it in his eyes. He wants to see you hurt. I’m glad you’re going tonight. It’ll save my ears from being chewed on by George Harmon, our mayor. Seems the old jackass is a big fan. He and that preacher won’t have any cause for a fight with me if you’re not in town. You drive safe, now, and when you get home, you watch your back.”

  “Thank you, Sam. Your kindness is most welcome,” said Hope and offered him her hand.

  “Hmpf. Those are the same words he uses, except when you say them, you sound like you mean it. You’re welcome.”

  Nico met Sam at the door to the cruiser and held out his right hand. “My apologies and my thanks.”

  When Nico would have naturally drawn back his hand from the shake, Sam held on and covered their right hands with his left.

  “Some men,” he said, looking Nico in the eye, “Some men preach about fighting the devil and his demons. Other men do the real fighting. You be careful out there, son.” He let go of Nico’s hand. “You ever need something I can provide, you call and I’ll see that you get it.”

  Nico nodded. “Good friends are hard to find.”

  He closed the door after the Chief and watched as the squad car drove off. He saluted the departing vehicle and the man behind the wheel.

  When Nico finally got behind the ‘vette’s wheel, Hope was ready with her handkerchief to wipe his face and hair.

  “I wonder what he really wanted.”

  “He wanted to warn you about your father, don’t you think?” Nico backed the car out and started them on their way home.

  “Yes,” she agreed, “That was part of it, but there was something else, much more important to him. He wanted desperately to ask.” She slapped the dashboard with her hand. “I wish I could read other people as easily as I read you.”

  “I’m rather glad you can’t,” said Nico, with the telltale quirk at the corner of his mouth. “You’re not reading me very well at the moment either.”

  She looked at him and her eyes widened. “You know! Tell me, tell me right now. No! Wait! Don’t tell me out loud. Tell me in your head. Use the bridge.”

  “I don’t think I can visualize a picture of it.”

  “In the Madison Lodge, I heard you without words. You heard my reply. Think about it, Nico, and send it across the bridge. If I hear you, I’ll send something back.”

  He looked like he was driving casually along the road, one hand on the wheel, the other on the gear shift. Nevertheless, she could feel the bridge between them growing, expanding.

  “Good heavens, Nico,” she cried aloud forgetting the agreement. “He knows what you are? Did you…?” She poked her forehead with her finger.

  “No, precious,” he laughed, “I didn’t…” He followed her exampled and poked his forehead. “It wasn’t something he recently figured out. He’s known about us for a long time.” Nico told her what happened by the cruiser.

  “How do you suppose he knew?”

  “If I had to guess, it’s something that was passed down to him like the priest in Kurt’s village or the one at St. Stephen’s. There have always been humans who know about us. They’re rare and the Paenitentia try very hard to keep it that way.”

  He saw the question in her mind and smiled. This bridge could prove annoying at times, but at least it ran both ways. He was as privy to her impressions as she was to his.

  “I don’t know how he recognized me for what I am. He said he was good at reading people. Maybe that’s the key to the mystery. Maybe certain humans have latent psychic powers that help them see through pretense. It doesn’t matter. Your Sam Tolbert is a man we can trust. I’m sure of it.”

  He looked at
her and his mouth broke into a grin that almost looked boyish. “Why thank you ma’am. I’ve always thought I was the most perfect man in the whole world. I’m glad you agree.”

  Hope smacked his arm playfully. “That’s it, Mr. GQ. You have no business snooping in my head. Your head is big enough. The bridge is coming down.”

  “What’s that they say, Hope? What’s good for the goose is good for the gander?” Nico laughed aloud when Hope smacked him again.

  Chapter 28

  Grace asked the question with her eyes and Hope answered with a meaningful look of her own and colored slightly. She’d never be able to casually discuss the intimate details of her relationship with Nico, but there was no need to deny it existed.

  Nico had pulled the car into the underground garage next door and they entered the Guardian House through the hidden door in the pantry. Grace was the only one there to greet them.

  “Dov and Col will be happy,” Grace said with a smile.

  “Happy about what?” Nico asked, knowing he’d missed something that had passed between the two women.

  “Happy they won’t have to move all that stuff back to Hope’s room. I had them move her things to the attic rooms with you.”

  Nico’s face became clouded with anger. “You had no right, Grace. No right to make such an assumption. No right to make such a decision without asking Hope, without asking me. Those rooms are my private domain and I will decide who enters and who does not. This is a personal matter between Hope and myself and what we share or don’t share is not for you or anyone else to question. I won’t have Hope subjected to the sly remarks and ridicule of Dov and Col…”

  “Ah, welcome home,” Broadbent greeted from the door to the den. “What have the dithering dunderheads done now, pray tell?”

  “None of your business!” Nico snarled and turned back to Grace with his finger in the air. “And none of yours either.”

  Canaan stood in the other doorway. “Back off, Guardian. That’s my mate. Watch how you speak.” His shoulders were hunched and his hands were balled into fists.

  Grace ran to Canaan and placed her hands on his chest. “Stand down, big boy. Nico’s right. I should have asked,” she said, but she looked hurt.

  “It’s all right, Nico. She didn’t mean to offend. She couldn’t have known we decided against it,” she said. Her voice was too high and falsely cheerful. “I’ll go take my things from your rooms and everything will be fine.”

  There was a fleeting image of pain as she fled from the kitchen and Nico heard a distinct sob in his head as she ran up the stairs.

  “Now see what you’ve done,” he snapped as he pushed past Canaan and Grace to follow Hope.

  “Somehow I don’t think it was me,” Grace said to Canaan, shaking her head. She followed Nico’s thundering footsteps across the ceiling.

  “Mr. Calm, Cool and Collected seems to have blown his image,” Broadbent observed.

  “I know,” said Grace, “I think it’s sweet.”

  “Sweet is not a word I would use in the same sentence with Nico,” Canaan muttered. His hands were still clenched at his sides.

  “Exactly. That’s how you can tell he loves her,” Grace explained to her confused mate.

  Hope was already stacking the clothing she’d pulled from the closet onto the end of his bed when Nico arrived. “Just give me a few minutes and I’ll have these things out of here.” Her hands shook as she placed another bundle of clothes on top of the others. The weight of the hangers upset the balance of the pile and the top half slid to the floor.

  “Dammit, dammit, dammit!’ she cried, stamping her foot in time to her words. The book on the nightstand fell to the floor and the lamp began to wobble. She pointed irritably at the lamp and it slammed back into place. Her finger and glare moved to the potty mouth jar sitting on the table by the window.

  “And I’m not paying you a penny. Not one red cent. I’m through with you. I’ll think what I want and say what I want.” She pushed past Nico, grabbed the jar and stomped to the window. When it wouldn’t open, she swore again and threw the jar to the floor.

  Up to this point, Nico could only stare. He’d never heard Hope swear before. He’d never seen her angry. The bridge between them was wide open, but he couldn’t decipher the furious jumble of messages streaming across. He only saw her anger and hurt. Now he stepped forward and held out his hand.

  “Hope, stop. Don’t be angry with Grace. She didn’t mean to hurt you.”

  She rounded on him. “Grace? I’m not angry with Grace. Grace didn’t hurt me. You did, you, you…” All the names she’d heard the twins call each other and she couldn’t remember a one. “Oh!” She stamped her foot again and this time let the lamp fall to the floor.

  “Precious…”

  “Don’t you precious me,” she interrupted indignantly. “I was good enough to have sex with up on that mountain where all Perryville might have seen us. I was good enough to unburden your heart to and to share your pain. But I’m not good enough to share your bed in this House.”

  “Hope, I was thinking of you. We can still…”

  “Still what? Sneak? Creep up and down the halls in the middle of the day and pretend they don’t hear us? You were only thinking of me,” she said and her voice dripped with sarcasm. She tapped her temple with her forefinger. “You forgot to close the bridge. Thinking of me was only part of it. Keeping your aloof and unemotional image untarnished would be impossible if you had to admit in front of all and sundry that you loved me.”

  Abject misery poured across the bridge. She crumpled to the floor and buried her face in her hands. Her whole body shook. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry. It’s not your fault. I knew this could happen. I’m the one who promised that a few days of bliss with you would bring me a lifetime of contentment and I’m sure it will as soon as the pain goes away. Oh Nico, I didn’t know it would hurt so much,” she wailed. “I’m sorry.” Angrily she swiped the tears from her face with her fingers. “I’m sorry,” she said again, “I swore I wasn’t going to do this.” She sniffed and tried to smile. “I don’t know what’s wrong with this House that it makes women cry. I’ll be all right in a minute, but you need to go away, Nico. I need some time alone to put this all aside. I’ll get my things moved and put everything back where it belongs. Okay?” She closed the bridge between them.

  Nico let the hand that he still held out to her fall to his side. “Hope, I’m not used to this. I’ve never…”

  “No.” Hope put her hands over her ears. “I don’t want to hear it. What’s done is done. I’ll be fine if you just give me some time. And Nico?” She dropped her hands and straightened her shoulders. “The others don’t have to know about this. Let them think we’re mutually agreed. I couldn’t bear their pity.”

  “It’s none of their business. They won’t hear it from me. I’ll leave you now, Hope, because I know that nothing I say here will make this right, because saying I’m sorry isn’t enough.” He clicked his heels and bowed his head formally to her before he left the room.

  Buffy waited at the bottom of the stairs. She hissed and swatted her claws at his pant leg as he passed.

  Nico went directly to Canaan’s office. “My lord Canaan,” he said formally, “I beg a moment of your time. I need a leave of absence.”

  *****

  “So, Professor, have you thought anymore about taking the leap?”

  “The leap? Ah, you mean committing myself the Guardians. I think about it all the time, my friend. More so since my visit to the family seat.” He removed the lid from his cup and took a tentative sip of the steaming liquid. He winced. “We should have stopped at Louie’s.”

  “Why?”

  “Because this coffee tastes like swill and while Louie’s isn’t much better, at least they serve it in a decent cup.” He took another sip.

  Nardo righted a fallen wooden chair, checked it for sturdiness and brushed off the seat before sitting down. There were always chairs in the alleys behind restaurants
and bars. Workers brought them out for their smoke breaks and never put them back. He often wondered how much money these places lost in chair replacement and how many homes were furnished with the cast offs.

  “I wasn’t asking about the coffee,” he said when he was seated. He popped the lid from his own cup and spun the plastic disc across the alley where it landed in an open trash can. He sipped and waited, knowing the Professor would answer when he was ready.

  “My father sees this as some sort of rebellion and I have to wonder if he isn’t right. I never liked the life they offered. Oh, I did enjoy the education I received. It was superb. But the rest of it? Administering the family estate, taking my place as an Advisor and eventually, when my father passes, his seat on the Ruling Council…” Broadbent shuddered. “There’s too much glad handing involved.” He laughed at himself. “I can face a demon, but a cocktail party? To spend a morning filled with trite remarks and innocuous conversation is sheer torture.”

  “Must be tough having all that money,” Nardo mocked without rancor.

  “You’d be surprised. You may not have had as much money as I, but you had choices. Look what you’ve done with your life, not just becoming a Guardian, the rest of it. What you do for the House has revolutionized the way we work. You create. If your game is a success, and I’m sure it will be, you’ll earn your own money. Mine is inherited. I’ve done nothing to earn it. My life was planned and settled from the day I was born. It would be easier if I wasn’t an only child, if there was someone else to take over the reins.”

  “You looking for input?”

  “Yes, I am, as a matter of fact.”

  “Okay then. It seems pretty damn simple to me. You like your life here. You hated it there. Your old man has a lot of years left in him. If you go back now, you’ll be like that human prince, spending most of your life waiting to take the throne and in your case; it’s a seat you don’t even want. Take the pledge, become a Guardian. When the time comes, you can transfer back to England. You can take over the estate and leave the rest to somebody who really wants it. No offense, buddy, but we’ve already got too many Advisors and Councilors that inherited the job but have no real interest in doing it.”