Guardian's Joy #3

by Jacqueline Rhoades

  “And you were going to ask my opinion when?” JJ asked through gritted teeth.

  “And on that note…” Grace began shooing everyone out of the kitchen. “I think we should leave the happy couple to a more private discussion.” She winked at JJ as she passed by. “Don’t hurt him,” she whispered.

  Chapter 29

  They didn’t go to Moonlight Sanctuary that night mostly because JJ felt she needed to prove a point. There was no use arguing that she should have been consulted only to turn around and do what he had arranged anyway.

  “The nerve!” she complained to the other three women sitting at Manon’s kitchen table. She reached for yet another cookie. They’d been there for over an hour and between the wine and the company, JJ was feeling comfortable and relaxed.

  Hope wistfully eyed the cookie as it traveled to JJ’s mouth. “I wish I could hate you,” she told their newest member, “But I need you sitting beside me at the dinner table.” She started to giggle. “Since you make me look like a picky eater.”

  “Just for that, I think I’ll eat another one.” JJ chewed slowly, savoring the chocolate chip goodness until Hope groaned and grabbed a cookie of her own.

  “Bitch,” she muttered as she popped it into her mouth.

  “Whoa,” Grace howled. “You made Hope say a bad word! Welcome to the family, JJ.”

  Family? JJ looked around the table at the three women who were all so different from herself. They were what she wanted to be. They were confident and self-assured. She was physically stronger than any one of them, but at her core, where it counted, she was weak and afraid.

  “I’ve never done this before,” she confessed, “Never sat around a table with a bunch of women… friends. A month ago, if you’d made some smartass comment about how much I eat, I would have…”

  “Hurt you,” Grace finished for her. “She would have hurt you which is something I, apparently, can’t do.”

  “Oh, I think you could hurt me,” Hope told her and patted her shoulder in an understanding way. “I’m big, but I’m soft. Anyone for more wine?” She held up her empty glass.

  “You’re mean,” Grace grumbled. She sipped her orange juice and made a face. “It isn’t fair.”

  “Go tell it to Canaan. He’s the one who knocked you up.”

  Hope grinned as she topped off JJ’s glass and refilled her own. Manon covered hers. She’d had enough.

  “You see how she is, JJ. All the men think butter wouldn’t melt in her mouth, but you see the real Hope. Mean.”

  “Girls,” Manon shook her finger at them, “You interrupted JJ who was about to tell us what she would have done.”

  “No, it’s okay.” JJ was enjoying the banter, but they all turned their attention to her. “All right, the truth is I wouldn’t have done anything. I would have eaten one cookie and then loaded up on fast food on my way home. I’ve always been self-conscious about how much I eat.”

  “You have no reason to be.” Manon patted her hand. “It is as Bernardo said; your metabolism.”

  “Will it make a difference?” JJ asked and hoped they didn’t hear the uneasiness in her voice. She’d become attached to these women and in doing so, she’d broken her own rule; don’t become attached and you can’t be hurt. She’d given them that power.

  “Oh sweetie, how could it?” Grace placed her hand on her belly where there would soon be a bump. “My baby will be like you. That’s not a bad thing.”

  “You are one of us, ma petite, no matter who your father was. Our gifts travel through the mother’s line. You cannot lose us any more than you can lose your powers.”

  JJ swallowed hard. “It’s funny you should say that, Manon, because I think I’m losing mine.”

  She told them about her inability to zap the guard, how thankfully it kicked back in for the vampire and about Nardo’s questions. “If I can’t rely on it, I won’t be of use to anyone.”

  “I don’t think you’re losing anything,” Grace told her. “I think I’m strong enough now to make a human do almost anything, but I can’t influence Canaan at all. I can’t do much with the other Guardians either, at least not alone.” She tapped her head with her finger. “Hope connects best with Nico.”

  “But the other men are like blank walls.” Hope blushed. “I think my powers have less potential for harm than yours.”

  “What about flinging things with that wiggly finger of yours? Did you ever fling anything at Nico?” Grace’s eyes were lit with mischief.

  Hope’s blush turned a furious red. “Only once. It didn’t end well.”

  “My illusions don’t hold up well under their scrutiny either,” Manon added. “Nor can I read their pasts.”

  “There. You see. It’s a problem for all of us, not just you. So problem number two. Humans.” Grace poked her thumb at Hope. “Zap her.”

  “Wait a minute! Why me?”

  “Because Manon’s old and I’m pregnant. That leaves you by default.”

  “I’m not zapping Hope,” JJ insisted, laughing.

  “You can control it, can’t you? Just give her a little one.” Grace jabbed the air with her fist.

  “No,” JJ laughed, “Not even a little one. This is your revenge for the wine. Count me out.”

  “Spoil sport. Now you’ll be forced to zap some completely innocent stranger when you could have taken my revenge on Hope.” Grace stuck out her tongue and Hope returned the gesture adding a raspberry for good measure.

  “Actually, I have zapped a human,” JJ admitted cautiously, “I didn’t say anything before because I felt really bad about it and I didn’t know how you’d react to it. I didn’t exactly zap her. Faith touched my fingers when I showed her the blue sparks.”

  “You zapped my sister.” Hope wasn’t smiling anymore. “How could you?” she asked angrily. “You know how fragile she is and you expose her to that? How could you?” she asked again.

  JJ held out her hands in a plea for understanding. She should have known this would be a mistake. “She showed me the gold at her fingertips. I showed her the blue at mine. I thought it was a way for us to connect. I didn’t touch her and I didn’t think she’d touch me. Shocked the shit out of both of us. The kickback felt like I stuck my finger in a light socket.”

  “Well, you both survived, so it couldn’t have been that bad,” Grace reasoned. She wasn’t at all upset.

  “Couldn’t have been that bad? She shocked her, Grace!” Hope pointed an accusing finger at JJ. “As if Faith hasn’t been through enough, you shocked her!” She appealed to Manon with her hands.

  Manon raised her hand before Hope could say more. “I am more interested in this kickback you speak of. Has it happened before? Was it your spark or Faith’s that you felt?”

  “Mine, definitely. Faith’s has more of a tingle, no pain,” JJ answered Manon. “And no, it’s never happened before. Why?” Had she screwed up her own ability when she came in contact with Faith? “Where are you going with this?”

  Hope sat ramrod straight in her chair, her back an even four inches from the wooden chair back. She crossed her arms over her chest and set her mouth in a firm, thin line. Her jaws were clenched and the chords of her neck stood out. No one would ever mistake this woman for soft.

  Manon ignored her and tapped her pursed lips with a fluorescent pink nail and then she, too, pointed at JJ. “If you suffered this kickback from your power,” Manon said slowly, “Then is it not logical to assume Faith received this kickback from her own power? She has improved so much in recent weeks. Do you suppose your contact…” She tapped the tips of her index fingers together. “…gave her a dose of her own medicine, so to speak?” She turned to the anger frozen woman across the table. “What think you of this, Hope?”

  JJ held her breath. This unconventional family fit so well together. If one were to turn against her, it would upset the balance for them all and she wouldn’t let that happen. She would leave before she let that happen.

  Hope sat back heavily in her chair. �
�I think I can’t stand the thought of my sister suffering more pain and it doesn’t matter if the results are beneficial.” They waited while she hung her head and gathered her thoughts. When she finally spoke, she didn’t sound any less angry.

  “But that’s my problem and I shouldn’t make it yours… or Faith’s. She likes you, likes you a lot. She watches for you and her face brightens when she sees you. She doesn’t do that with anyone else. I’ve tried to spend as much time as I can with her, but she closes down when I’m around. We don’t communicate.” The word was bitter on her tongue. “She hates me, refuses to live in my home.”

  Hope didn’t look strong and confident now. She looked lost and hurt. It appeared that one of JJ’s newfound idols had feet of clay. Instead of disappointment, JJ found it strangely comforting to know she wasn’t alone. She glanced at Grace, who was watching Hope with eyes filled with concern. JJ wondered what secrets and fears lurked in Grace’s heart.

  “She’s ashamed and afraid,” JJ said quietly. She hoped Faith understood this breach of confidence. This needed to be said and Faith had no voice. If JJ was going to have to leave this place, she wanted to leave something good behind.

  “You saw what she’d become. You all did. You can’t help yourselves. You see her as a victim. I know what happened to her, but I wasn’t an eye witness. Those few minutes on the street don’t count, so it’s easier for me to see her as a survivor. I recognize her strength. I didn’t know the pretty girl she was, so I don’t pity the loss. I see the scarred girl she is and I only see a friend.

  “She knows you blame yourself for what happened to her. She hates that. What’s worse, though, is she believes it was her fault. She’s afraid if she leaves here, she’ll make the same mistakes she made before. She’s afraid she’ll end up in the hands of a demon.”

  “It wasn’t Faith’s fault!” Hope cried out and began to weep.

  “Of course it wasn’t her fault, sweetie.” Grace began kneading Hope’s shoulders while Manon grabbed the box of tissues from the counter. They both were teary eyed.

  “It wasn’t your fault either, Hope.” JJ shut her own burning eyes and swallowed what she was feeling, burying it deep. “I don’t know much about demons,” she told Hope, “But I know about humans that are every bit as evil and I know they leave behind more victims than the legal ones.

  “You and Faith need to talk, really talk and you need to watch and listen. You need to stop treating her like an injured child and start treating her like a recovering adult. She loves you, you know, loves you more than anything and she’s so happy you’ve found Nico. That’s why she won’t live with you.” JJ tried to suppress her embarrassed laugh. “She wants you and Nico to be free to ah… express your passion? and thinks her being there would um… suppress it.”

  Hope’s face flamed red and Grace let out a truly unladylike snort before she laughed. Manon, who was usually more circumspect when it came to sex, chuckled before she spoke.

  “So, Faith is much more aware than we supposed.”

  “Have I really been that awful?” Hope asked bleakly. She looked from Manon to Grace.

  Manon shrugged noncommittally, but Grace gave a slight nod. “Sorry, sweetie.”

  They were all a little surprised when JJ came to Hope’s defense. “You gave her what she needed, Hope. She needed to be sheltered, pampered and protected. You made it so she didn’t have to think. She only had to heal.” She tapped her head. “You gave her the chance to hide out for a while.” JJ went to the light switch on the wall and flipped it down. “That’s how Faith described it. Lights out.” She flipped it up. “This is where she is now. We need different things when we’re in the dark than we do in the light. Faith needed what you gave her. Without it, she never would have been able to find the light again. Now, she needs something else.”

  Hope sniffed, nodded and tried to smile. “I’m glad she has you. I was jealous, you know. I felt like you were taking my place.”

  JJ felt the truth in Hope’s words. “I couldn’t take your place,” she said, speaking her own truth, “But thanks for the compliment.”

  “Okay.” Grace dusted off her hands and began collecting glasses and plates. “Now that we’re all huggy-kissy again, we need to get back to the reason for this pow-wow.” She swept her hand out to the door and bowed. “Ladies, shall we adjourn to Manon’s parlor?”

  JJ followed the others, though she didn’t see the need to leave the cozy kitchen. It was merely changing one comfortable location for another.

  Like the woman herself, Manon’s parlor was a combination of old fashioned elegance and modern comfort. The furniture was deep cushioned and comfy. JJ could picture kicking off her boots and snuggling down for a snooze before the fire, surrounded by the sparkle of old crystal and silver.

  Now that the minor kitchen drama was over, JJ was ready to kick back and listen. Let the others talk. She’d already done more than her share. She was surprised, therefore, when Manon motioned to the ottoman in front of where the Frenchwoman sat. It was almost close enough for their knees to touch.

  “It will be easier if you are relaxed,” Manon told her. “Clear your mind. I will wait until you are ready to begin.”

  “Begin?” JJ looked around the room at the warm fire burning in the grate and the candles shedding their soft light over mantle and table. Hope was curled in a chair by the fire looking a little sad, but she smiled encouragingly. Grace sat in the other fireside chair with her hands folded in her lap and looking… guilty.

  Manon followed JJ’s gaze and settled it on Grace. “JJ did not request this, did she?”

  Chapter 30

  Nardo still wasn’t sure why Joy was so upset. Sure, it would have been nice to tell her about what he’d found before going to breakfast, but the time available for that had been taken up by other things. Thinking of those other things made him hard all over again. He shifted in his chair and moved it closer to the table.

  It wasn’t like a discussion with Joy would have changed the outcome. They still would have told the others, the same questions would have been asked and the results would have been the same. The exception, of course, was that they weren’t going to the Sanctuary tonight, but tomorrow night. He didn’t get it.

  He thought about asking his Liege Lord to explain it, but while an expert in all things deadly, Canaan was as clueless as Nardo when it came to the nuances of a woman’s mind. Why, just the other waking, the man had commented, pleasantly enough, that he thought he detected a bit of a pouch to Grace’s belly. She promptly accused him of calling her fat, burst into tears and fled the room. He and the other men had sat in stunned silence until Hope entered. Upon hearing the story, she threw up her hands, hissed “Men!” in a way that said more about their lack of intelligence than their gender, and ran off to comfort Grace. The men were left as baffled as they were before, which, Nardo thought, was also typical of women.

  They spoke in cryptic symbols and allegories. They couldn’t seem to say what they thought in clear and concise language. When he’d asked Joy to explain what was wrong, she’d told him something about demons. As far as he knew, no one had mentioned demons.

  “Would you rather be ambushed by a demon jumping you as you turned the corner,” she’d asked him, “Or have someone tell you there’s a demon around the corner, better get your weapons out?”

  She was standing there with her arms folded under her breasts. It was very hard to concentrate with those luscious little apples bobbing in emphasis to her words. Joy thought they were too small and insignificant. Nardo saw them as sweet little treats she kept hidden from everyone but him.

  JJ wasn’t happy when he snapped his eyes away from her chest long enough to grin and ask her to repeat the question.

  “You’re not listening!”

  “No, I’m not,” he admitted. “Why don’t we go to my rooms where we can talk about it some more?”

  She tried not to react, but he caught a ghost of a smile tilt at the corners of her mouth.
“Sex is not the solution to every argument.”

  “That’s a pretty broad statement,” he told her. “I think we should test the theory and keep a tally of the results.”

  At that point, she’d thrown up her hands much the way Hope and Grace did and said she was going to Manon’s where people thought with their heads instead of their dicks.

  Canaan cleared his throat and Nardo realized it wasn’t the first time when the others laughed.

  “You ready?” Canaan asked after removing his tongue from his cheek.

  Nardo nodded. He’d spent most of the night at his terminal researching. Since Joy had abandoned him, he’d decided it was a good time to get some work done.

  “Our security friend,” Canaan nodded toward the garage where the freezers were located, “has a teardrop. He could have been one of us.”

  “So why wasn’t he, boss? If he wanted that kind of life, we’re a helluva a lot better than some security firm.”

  “While I appreciate the sentiment, Col, not everyone sees us in the same light as you do.”

  “Why join anything? Isn’t that the point of being an Indie? They don’t join.”

  Broadbent spoke up. “Many Independents don’t like the options available to them, Dov. They are searching, as we all are, for a place in society that meets their needs. I recently read a treatise on the subject.” Because of the number of groans, he changed his course. “The gist of which leads me to believe our boy may have found something outside the norm i.e. a sanctuary or enclave or even the Guardians. I believe he has found a raison d’etre, a cause, if you will.”

  “I think you’re right.”

  “What else is new,” Dov grumbled. “Now will someone translate so I can understand why he’s right?”

  Nardo flashed a picture of the coin onto the screen. “Once I got a name from Nico, I contacted some academic friends of my parents and from them I got some names of other academics who might have some information. I told them it was for a video game and that probably turned a few of them off, but I didn’t want any rumors started. One of them emailed me back. Seems he’s a fan.