Be Light (The Guardian Trilogy)

by Liz Schulte

  A Guardian Trilogy Christmas Short Story

  By Liz Schulte

  Be Light

  Copyright © 2012 by Liz Schulte

  Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the above author of this book.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.

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  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  About the Author

  Dedication

  This is for all of fans of the Guardian Trilogy, you know who you are.

  Without you there would be no Olivia and Holden to pick on.

  Thank you and Merry Christmas.

  “I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all year.” Charles Dickens

  — —

  I looked over at Liv, struggling to decorate the tree by hand and grumbling to herself every time the branches poked her. I shook my head, but stayed out of it. This was her deal, and if she wanted a filthy, bug infested tree in my house, then I didn’t have a problem with that—I didn’t have a problem giving Olivia anything that made her happy. I couldn’t remember the last time I acknowledged Christmas let alone let it spill into my life. She turned up Dean Martin singing Baby, It’s Cold Outside and sang along as she relentlessly trimmed the tree.

  How did I get so lucky?

  She narrowed her eyes. “Why are you smiling?”

  “No reason.” My smiled widened, and I looked back to the newspaper.

  She put her hands on her hips and tried to frown. “You’re laughing at my singing, aren’t you?”

  I chose not to answer her. Olivia wasn’t a good singer by any stretch of the imagination, but she was enthusiastic.

  She walked behind me and wrapped her arms around my neck, pressing her cheek to mine. “You could help me.” Her lips brushed against my jaw.

  I turned so our noses nearly touched. “You could do the light thing and have it done rather than wasting the entire day. I can think of other ways to entertain you.”

  Her eyes darkened slightly, and she leaned in the millimeters of distance separating us to kiss me. But when she pulled back, she shook her head. “Tomorrow’s Christmas eve. I have to finish and I want to do it right.”

  “Hmm, I want to do it right too.” I pulled her around the chair and onto my lap while she happily giggled.

  She half-heartedly pushed away. “Everyone’s going to be here tomorrow. I have to finish the tree and wrap presents.”

  “Don’t remind me.” I kissed her neck, enjoying her fluttery pulse beneath my mouth. I wasn’t in a hurry to share Olivia with other people even if it was just for a couple days.

  “I leave you two for a couple winks and you get all hotsy-totsy.” Baker waggled his eyebrows when I looked up, and Liv’s laughter filled the room.

  “I thought when I left the jinn I’d get rid of you too,” I said, shooting him as threatening of a look as I could manage with Liv sitting on my lap. She elbowed me and stood up.

  “Applesauce! You wouldn’t know what to do without me.” Baker ambled into the living room, desensitized to my threats, and closed the door behind him. He had been mysteriously absent for a couple weeks, but I hadn’t given it much thought.

  “Did you find it?” She looked at him with too much excitement.

  He nodded, and she clasped her hands in front of her.

  I looked back and forth between them, but neither said a word. Olivia’s mind was on lockdown when I tried to glean what I was missing from her thoughts. Suspicious. I folded the newspaper and set it aside. “What did you find?”

  Liv gave me a sly smile. “Go away, Holden. Baker and I have business.”

  Baker guffawed, gasping for air.

  I looked at Liv, dumbfounded. “Are you serious?”

  She rolled her eyes at Baker then turned to me. “Yes. Now, shoo.” She waved me toward the door and gave me a peck on the cheek.

  I crossed my arms over my chest. “I don’t like surprises.”

  “Oh, did I lead you to believe you had a choice?” Those blue-green eyes haloed in gold twinkled with a mischievous glint that made me nervous for what she had in store. “Baker and I have this handled.”

  I struggled for a reason; any reason, why I couldn’t leave, but she had that stubborn look on her face. It wasn’t worth a fight. I would get one of them to talk eventually. “Fine,” I said through clenched teeth.

  “You should have seen the look on your face.” Baker wiped tears from his eyes and I had a thought about breaking his nose. He slapped me on the back. “That girl you got is the bee’s knees, boss.”

  “Walk with me.” I grabbed his arm and didn’t give him a choice. “You would tell me if this was something I need to know, right?”

  “It’s Christmas. What’s the worst that could happen? You need to learn to relax. Enjoy the moment.”

  “I can hear you,” Olivia called from behind us. “Leave Baker alone you big bully. Oh and pick me up some more wrapping paper.”

  I left my house not quite sure what happened. I should have never let Baker and Liv become friends. Should have known they would team up on me. Now, I was suddenly the errand boy—that was Baker’s job.

  Damn it, I hated Christmas.

  — —

  Baker’s smile was contagious. “Are you sure you got it,” I asked.

  He nodded. “Four planes rides, a couple B&Es, and hours of searching through old newspapers and yearbooks, I found it. It wasn’t easy to come by. Are you sure boss man won’t be upset you’re digging into his past? Who is this kid anyway?” He handed me a sealed 8x12 envelope.

  “None of your business.” I smiled at him to soften the blow. Holden wouldn’t be mad that I was digging into this past, but he would be mad if I shared the parts of his past he revealed to me with anyone else, even Baker.

  “The two of you are rubbing off on one another,” he muttered as I tore into the envelope.

  I pulled out two plate photographs wrapped in tissue paper. One was of a small group of similarly dressed young men with the customary serious expression in all photographs from that long ago. I studied each person’s face until I picked out Thomas. He was taller than the other guys, had Holden’s intense eyes and dark hair, but that was where the similarity ended. Even in the photograph, everything about him seemed softer. His eyes were intense, but it still came off as good-natured. His expression was serious, but his lips still curled slightly at the edges as if that was the natural movement. I resisted the urge to run my finger over the picture, not wanting to damage it. The next picture made my breath catch. It was more than I hoped for.

  I sat down in Holden’s chair and crossed my legs staring at the picture. “Baker, where did you find this,” I breathed. They were photographs of Holden’s brother, Thomas, but this one in particular was of him standing behind a girl sitting in a chair with his hand resting on her
shoulder. They were dressed in wedding clothes and she had pretty dark curls surrounding her face. I looked up at him through the tears in my eyes.

  Baker plopped down on the couch. “That one I got from her family.”

  My heart stilled. “Her family?”

  “Yeah, I found her great, great, great grandchild. She had boxes of family heirlooms in storage. I pretended to be an antiques dealer. And get this, she lives practically in your backyard.”

  I let his words sink in and shook my head as they registered. “She didn’t have children. She was killed.”

  “She was, but she had a son before she died.”

  Oh. I pressed my hand to my lips. Holden didn’t know. Holden told me that his brother had written he was coming to visit and he had a surprise. The surprise apparently wasn’t a wife like Holden thought. There was a child too. I leaned back against the chair trying to think of what to do then it occurred to me if Baker researched her then he probably researched Thomas as well. More than likely, he knew who this was. “You researched both of them, didn’t you?”

  He scratched his chin. “I like to be thorough.”

  “Baker, I’m serious. If you say anything to Holden about knowing, joking or not,” I bit my lip and shook my head, “I won’t be responsible for or stop what he does to you.”

  “Like I ever believed his last name was really Smith. Everyone has a past, but I swear I’ll be mum on the subject.” Baker rolled his eyes. “Edwards isn’t so identifiable, I wonder why he didn’t keep it. In case you were wondering, Holden is actually his name.”

  I didn’t know how Holden would react to having family. Maybe he would be thrilled or maybe he knew and chose to stay away to protect them, but why didn’t he tell me if he knew. I chewed on my lip for a moment; there was no way he knew. “What’s the girl’s name?”

  “Maggie Edwards.” Baker watched me carefully. “What are you going to do with this nugget of information, angel?”

  I clicked my teeth together. “I don’t think he knows. His brother said he had a surprise and Holden assumed it was the wife.”

  Baker whistled through his teeth. “Are you going to tell him?”

  “Of course I’m going to tell him.” I leaned my head to the side. This could be the best Christmas gift ever, depending on how Holden reacted to the news. “But I’m going to feel him out.” Baker raised his eyebrows. “If Holden seems receptive to having a family, I can bring her here to meet him.” I smiled to myself liking the idea more and more. Christmas was about family and now Holden would have someone who was a blood relation, which until five minutes ago was impossible.

  “Whoa, whoa, whoa, you have a little too much giddy up in your go, if you catch my drift.”

  I didn’t catch his drift at all. What in the world, was he talking about? This is an amazing plan. Holden needed connections and here was one he couldn’t turn away from. It was perfect.

  “Look, even if Holden doesn’t know about the family ties, he’s not going to want to meet her. He has enough to worry about with you. The last thing he needs is a human family that can be used against him. Tell him he has a family and leave it at that. Don’t try to bring them into this world.” I frowned at him. “Do I need to remind you that you didn’t want your mom in this world either?”

  Hmmm, he had a point. I scrunched my nose, momentarily defeated, but not ready to give up. “I will take that into advisement.” I carefully wrapped the pictures again. “Can I have her address?”

  Baker shook his head, but rattled it off.

  “She lives in Chicago?”

  He nodded and I glanced up. Apparently, I wasn’t the only one pushing family toward Holden. Was Uriel meddling again? I wrote the address on a piece of scrap paper and shoved it in my pocket, just in case. “Now, will you please help me decorate the tree? It’s no fun to do it alone and Holden’s anti-Christmas.”

  Baker shrugged. “What did you expect? Christmas doesn’t have much to do with the world we live in.”

  “Then why are you helping me?”

  “Me? I love Christmas. Those are some of the best memories I have from growing up.”

  I offered him a box of ornaments. Finally, someone else who was enthusiastic. Femi looked at me like I lost my mind when I invited her over for Christmas Eve, but she accepted. Even Quintus seemed confused about why I would celebrate Christmas. “So you’ll help me?”

  “Sure thing, angel.” He hummed with the Christmas music as we hung ornaments.

  I continued to think about the problem at hand. I didn’t have to tell Maggie about the Abyss. I could just tell her that I was studying Holden’s family history, and he was related to the brother of her great, great, great grandpa. That way she was protected and Holden still got to have a family. I smiled, happy that I had figured out a way around revealing our world and ourselves. I sang along with the song, not caring about the look Baker gave me. Finally, he broke down and joined me, just as off key.

  I couldn’t wait for Christmas.

  — —

  I stared at what seemed like thousands of different wrapping paper options. I had no idea what she wanted. Did she want red and green, blue and silver, pink and green, or any other color combination imaginable? I texted her and she replied back, “Whatever you like.” Helpful as ever. I didn’t like any of them. Presents were such a waste of time. All they did was bog people down with more stuff, which was the last thing anyone needed. I grabbed the most sedate paper I could find and pushed my way through the crowds of slow moving people who seem determined to stop in the middle of the aisle. I struggled to keep my temper, the last thing I needed was to start a riot.

  While waiting in line at the checkout, another form of Christmas torture, I remembered something that made my palms sweat. I hadn’t bought Liv a gift. And to make it all the worse, I had no idea what she needed. I couldn’t ask Baker. He was with her and couldn’t keep a secret from Liv if his life depended on it. I never saw a grown man fold so easily under such little strain. I called Femi, Liv’s best friend and a bounty hunter—Liv had an eclectic taste in friends. I sure as hell wasn’t going to ask Quintus what to get her.

  “Hey, Chuckles. Is Olivia driving you crazy with Christmas cheer yet?” Was how she answered her phone.

  I smiled, despite myself. “Nearly. So did you get Liv a present?” Maybe presents weren’t necessary. I hadn’t listened to most of what she said when she started talking Christmas.

  “Of course I did. This might be my first Christmas, but I get the idea behind it. Besides, she’ll have something for everyone there. Even Sy got her something. Why?”

  Shit, the half-elf barely knew her. I sighed. “No reason.”

  “You haven’t bought her a gift,” Femi proclaimed with a peal of laughter.

  “Any ideas?” I handed the check out girl the wrapping paper and got out my wallet.

  “Nope. You are on your own for this one, Ebenezer. You know Liv better than anyone else. Surely you can think of something.”

  “But she doesn’t need anything and the few things she has ever mentioned she wanted, I got for her. I don’t need an inflated holiday for that.”

  “It isn’t about what she needs, even I know that.”

  I rolled my eyes and thanked her for nothing as I declined a bag and headed home with the wrapping paper. I racked my mind for anything that she might like. I could do jewelry, girls in movies always like that, but I never noticed Liv wearing jewelry. I considered a new camera, but that was definitely something she would want to pick out for herself. I thought about asking her what she wanted, but I dismissed it. I could already hear her voice in my head. “You don’t have to get me anything. I just want you to be happy.” I had no doubt that was true too and she might even be fine with no present, but I couldn’t be the asshole who didn’t get his girlfriend anything for Christmas.

  I poked around at her mind looking for any clue as to what she might want, unfortunately if she didn’t want me in her head it was impossible to g
et into. Fort Knox had nothing on her. I walked into our building, brushing snow off of the shoulders of my coat. I found her and Baker singing while decorating the tree. I shook my head. Liv looked up and smiled.

  “Come help us.”

  I laughed. “No. Looks like the two of you have this handled. I’m going back out for a while.”

  “But—” she started to protest.

  “When I get back, we’ll go to dinner.” I winked at her, closing the door behind me. I glanced at my watch. I had two hours to find her a present.

  If I ever had any doubt about how much I loved her, it was put to rest when I voluntarily walked up and downed Michigan Avenue, in and out of stores, looking for anything that made me think of her. Nothing. There was nothing. Olivia never used purses; she didn’t need one. Clothes seemed impersonal and I couldn’t imagine her lighting up over a sweater. The hours went by faster than I thought and I was still no closer to getting her a gift.

  Defeated, I started back home.

  — —

  I knew better than to worry about Holden being late. I could feel that he was fine, but I had no idea what he was up to. By 8:00 p.m. I decided we probably weren’t going out for dinner. The apartment looked fantastic and full of Christmas cheer. The tree sparkled with glittery ornaments and twinkling white lights. I decorated the fireplace mantle with two small trees made entirely out of silver balls with sprigs of holly along the back. I hung a stocking for Holden and myself. Everyone’s presents were wrapped and stacked neatly in the back. I wrapped the two pictures of Thomas and hid them separate from the other presents—that gift would be for Christmas morning. I cleaned the apartment until it was Holden’s level of spotless because I wanted him to be in a good mood.

  When I finished, I lay on the floor with my head under the Christmas tree looking up while the seasonal music still played softly in the background. The dark branches and the white lights made the inside of the tree look like a fairy wonderland. I smiled knowing that fairies were real, though they probably wouldn’t come dance around my tree even if I asked nicely. I thought about Holden’s family. I was torn about whether or not I was opening old wounds or giving him the gift I meant it to be. I heard the door open and felt his presence the moment he walked in.