Guardian Demon (GUARDIAN SERIES)

by Meljean Brook

  He gave her a partial truth that resembled agreement. “I do not want to see Lucifer or his demons alive to threaten Earth.”

  More lay beneath his words, if she listened. But Khavi was right. Anaria only heard what she wanted to.

  “So you are here to help us fight?”

  “No. Lucifer is plotting with his sentinels to open Chaos. I need to know how he communicates with them. Perhaps as your children did, crossing over with human souls—or stretching the spider silk between realms.”

  Anaria nodded. “That can be done.”

  “The spider threads?” Khavi’s eyes narrowed. “As Zakril and I used them in your temples?”

  “Not as you did,” Anaria said. “That was stone to stone. To speak, to see, to make the two chambers appear as one—that must be from life to life.”

  Michael had never seen the temples. Khavi’s spell had prevented him from entering or even looking upon them. When he had, he’d seen only an illusion, and he couldn’t picture what they spoke of now. “Whose life?”

  “Two demons or Guardians, because the process would kill a human,” Anaria answered him. “Stone would be needed to anchor them, but the silk threads would pass through their flesh.”

  “Have you seen Lucifer do this before?”

  “No. We only spoke of the possibility. Collecting the silk is no simple task. And to stretch between the realms, someone must teleport while holding the threads.”

  “Lucifer can’t teleport.” Neither could any other demon. “Did either of you create this for him?”

  No longer a Guardian, Anaria couldn’t teleport now. She could have in the past.

  “No,” Khavi said, flattening her voice.

  “I did not, either,” Anaria said, and a glance at Hugh told Michael they had both spoken the truth. She continued, “But it might have been done hundreds or thousands of years ago, then closed up with the shielding spell until Lucifer needed it. It could have been any of the grigori—or any Guardian who has ever had the teleporting Gift.”

  And someone might have been caught by a bargain, or performed the task to save his life. Lucifer could have forced a Guardian to do it any time in the past eight millennia—and then patiently waited until he needed to communicate without using a Gate.

  Who had helped Lucifer mattered little. Only finding the sentinels did. “If he is using the spider silk, what would we search for?”

  “Two chambers of stone—one in Hell, the other on Earth. Here, it is most likely in his tower. On Earth, it could be anywhere, as long as there is enough stone to anchor the threads.”

  Frustration bit at him. Earth did not lack for stone. “How does it work? Does it leave a psychic trace?”

  “After everything is set into place, establishing a link between the chambers is simple. It can be activated on either side. You would only need to lower your shields and touch a thread. That makes the chambers appear as one inside your mind—and if a thread is touched on the opposite side, you can speak directly to each other.”

  Michael closed his eyes. Lilith had said he was a blind idiot. And he was.

  “Michael?” Hugh had noticed his reaction. “You’ve seen this?”

  “Yes.”

  He’d seen the demons, their bodies split open, the wires running through their flesh—and he’d assumed that Lucifer was torturing them. But they hadn’t been wires. They had been the silk spider threads.

  And Lucifer’s shields had been open. Michael should have seen it then. Lucifer always guarded his mind. Andromeda would have known, because it hadn’t fit the demon’s pattern. But Michael had been so full of rage and fear after Lucifer had plucked her from his thoughts that he’d been blinded to everything else.

  He projected the image of the chamber. Only Khavi would be able to see it, but she was familiar enough with spells and spider silk to recognize whether it was the chamber they were seeking. “Is it this?”

  “Yes.” Idiot. “Can you teleport there now?”

  A simple jump, because he’d been there before. Michael anchored to the location but couldn’t teleport. He shook his head.

  “Lucifer must have put the shielding spell up around the chamber, but we can get through it. Will you join me, Khavi?”

  He didn’t need to ask Hugh. He wouldn’t ask Anaria.

  Khavi considered for a long moment. He knew she wanted to, but first she had to examine how it might affect her already established plans. Finally, she nodded. “Though I have only a little time to spare—and Colin and Savi might have little time left. Even if they refuse to create the portal, the demons will already have taken enough blood to use in a ritual.”

  Then a little time would have to be enough. “Let us go and prepare, then.”

  “After you find the vampires, you should destroy them so they cannot be used in such a way again,” Anaria said. “They are a threat to every human on Earth.”

  For an instant, Michael agreed with her. Beside him, Hugh stopped in the middle of a nod, then frowned and shook his head, as if to dislodge the thought of killing his adopted sister.

  That was Anaria’s greatest power, but it was not a Gift. It had been within her since birth. Simply by speaking, she could compel conviction, agreement—could make anyone listening want to believe her.

  The angels had done that, too. It was why they had left Earth in the Guardians’ protection. Their every statement blurred the line between free will and force. Humans wanted to believe them, to follow their every word. Even if it led to their damnation or death.

  Anaria blurred the same line. But, unlike the angels, she neither recognized her power nor cared how it affected those around her.

  Many times after he’d ordered her execution, after every single argument had failed to produce a single concession from her, Michael had wondered if Anaria was compelled by her own voice. She never uttered any doubt, never questioned herself. Perhaps she reaffirmed her beliefs every time she stated them, and over thousands of years, they became an unshakable truth.

  And now, she proclaimed that it would be good and right to destroy Colin and Savi because of their tainted blood. Michael knew it would be no use to argue now, either. But he could not kill the bit of hope left within him that she might one day see reason again.

  “I should murder them after their rescue to prevent another possible threat? The demons are to blame for the danger the world is in, not our friends.” Better to slay the demons instead.

  “The demons are only being what they are.” Dismissively, the tips of her wings flicked outward. “But they could not have endangered the world, Michael, if you had not been so careless with your sword. And your friends would not need to die if they had never been infected. Yet you refuse to take responsibility for your carelessness and do what you know must be done.”

  Michael couldn’t stop his laugh. So he was to blame? That wasn’t the answer he’d expected, but he should have. “Perhaps I should have never slain the dragon. After it killed our mother, I should have let it burn the rest of the world, since now I must murder everyone who touches the blade of the sword I used to slay it. And what should I do with Katherine Blake, who is human and was born with the taint, and whom the demons have also taken?”

  “Of course you would not slay her. She should be protected—though you have apparently shirked that responsibility and failed in that as well.” Anaria gave a long-suffering sigh, as if wondering why something so obvious needed to be said. “And it is not murder to slay the vampires; it is a kindness. Humans were never meant to be afflicted by the nosferatu’s bloodlust; it overwhelms their free will. Vampires are a disease that will soon blight all of humanity by erasing the protection of the Rules, and making humans prey to every demon.”

  Michael had heard this before. She’d explained it to Andromeda once, to justify the nephilim’s slaughter of vampire communities around the world. He wouldn’t tell his sister that he agreed with Andromeda’s response—that even if every human became a vampire, they would not fall p
rey to demons. Because there’s going to be a whole lotta motherfucking Guardians standing in the way.

  But Anaria would not believe anything but her own truth, so he only told her, “Our friends are worth saving.”

  “My sister is,” Hugh said.

  Michael wished that he could say the same of his own. Anaria regarded him, her expression pained by disappointment, her sadness a dirge from her mind.

  “You should do something that is truly worthy before you die,” she said softly. “Something that matters.”

  The power of her voice pushed through his mind, but she didn’t need to compel him. Whether his life had been worthy or not, it had led him to this—and he was already protecting the woman who mattered most. But there was no point in saying so. Anaria didn’t know her name, anyway.

  CHAPTER 12

  Taylor never minded tedious grunt work like searching through surveillance. Sometimes murders were solved with a smoking gun in the killer’s hand, but more often than not, convictions came from the details, small bits of evidence that cracked open the case and then piled higher and higher.

  And she could focus on the task and still run her brain in the background, mulling over other problems. No surprise that her thoughts settled on Michael, and her mind began turning over doubts.

  Because she’d taken that leap of faith, and now they were . . . what? Working on a demon-hunting version of dating? A couple who would boink now and then? She didn’t know. But she didn’t try to stop herself from wondering. She trusted him not to hurt her, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t still afraid of being hurt—and doubts were normal. She could use a hefty dose of that, even if it was the Guardian version of normal.

  Humans didn’t have to wonder why a billion-year-old guy was so fascinated by her responses—but a human might have to wonder why a sixty-five-year-old man might go after someone forty years younger.

  At least Taylor knew it wasn’t just the sex. Michael didn’t seem to have any interest in getting off.

  And the age thing never seemed to matter so much, after a while. Lilith was more than twice as old as Hugh; he was a teenager when they met and they were born more than a millennium apart. Likewise, Irena had over a thousand years on Alejandro, and Alice had a hundred or so on Jake. Savi was younger than Colin’s great-great-great-something nephew. As numbers, the years separating them were overwhelming. But in person, they all matched up. They fit and got along perfectly—and there was no question of their love.

  Taylor got along with Michael, too.

  But no one had said anything about love. And putting Michael and herself in the same category as those other couples wasn’t the smartest thing to do right now. Because that meant she was already thinking of the future. That meant she might be thinking of forever.

  Not without reason. Michael had said that he was hers. He’d said that he cared for her. But what did he even mean by that? A part of her was leaping ahead, hoping it all meant more than he was saying. Another part was dragging her feet, frightened that she might be wrong.

  God. Taylor stopped the video, pushed her fingers into her hair. These doubts were normal, but this was moving out of Guardian normal and into teenage territory. Does he like me, or does he like like me?

  Stupid. She just had to ask him. And then maybe get a handle on what she felt for him, too.

  Though if Taylor was completely honest with herself, she already knew. It was just too terrifying to admit right now.

  With a sigh, she rolled her shoulders to loosen tense muscles. The office was mostly quiet, except for the ringing of steel from the conference room. Irena had vanished the table and chairs. Now she and Alejandro were giving Ash and Nicholas pointers as they practiced with their swords. Through the open door, Taylor watched them spar. Both had less than three years of training under their belts, but to her eyes, they were already incredibly skilled.

  Until Alejandro took Ash’s place and disarmed Nicholas with a single strike of his blade—then taught the younger Guardian how he might have defended against it.

  Taylor needed to be doing that. Not now. Trying to find a link to the demons who’d taken Colin and Savi came first. But soon, she needed to start learning the sword fighting and the flying.

  Would it be weird for Michael to train her if things got more serious between them? She didn’t know whether there was a Guardian normal for that. But she’d seen some of the advanced training sessions with Hugh and the older novices. They all ended up with severed limbs and broken bones, so that they could learn to fight through the shock and pain. Taylor didn’t think she could do that with Michael. She didn’t think Michael could do that to her, either.

  But that was a long way down the road. And she was getting ahead of herself again.

  For now, it wasn’t weird. He helped her use her psychic senses and her Gift, but there was no icky teacher/student vibe there. More like her first year on the job, learning the ropes with a more experienced partner.

  Of course, Taylor hadn’t jumped into bed with any of the cops she’d worked with. But that was Guardian normal. The Guardians who hooked up often partnered together.

  She wouldn’t start making assumptions now, though. No matter how tempting it was.

  “Are you daydreaming on the job, Agent Taylor?”

  God. Her attention snapped to the nearest office. Lilith stood at the entrance, leaning back against the door frame with her arms crossed beneath her breasts, as if she’d been watching Taylor stare into nothing for a while. A hard smile played around her mouth, but Taylor wouldn’t have called it amused. More like barely contained anger.

  The thing about Lilith, though, was that it was easy to tell when she was pissed at someone. Taylor would have been feeling that burn down to her toes. So the other woman was ticked at someone else. Or maybe just frustrated that she couldn’t teleport to Hell with the others, because she couldn’t be teleported back out.

  Whatever it was, Taylor didn’t feel like clashing right now. “I don’t think you can call me an agent anymore.”

  And since Special Investigations had been disavowed, that meant Lilith wasn’t her boss, either.

  Lilith shrugged. “Fuck them.”

  “The government?”

  “Yes.”

  “No, thanks. They’re mostly a bunch of old guys.”

  “That didn’t bother you an hour ago.” Of course Lilith didn’t let that pass, but she didn’t give Taylor a chance to respond, either. “Anything on the surveillance?”

  “Not yet.”

  The other woman nodded, pushed away from the door frame as if preparing to leave. Her gaze lingered at the center of the room for a moment—where she’d last seen Hugh and Sir Pup, Taylor realized.

  “Are you worried for them?”

  Lilith’s flat stare landed on her face again. “No.”

  She was such a liar. But Taylor could lie, too. “Are you sure? Because you had a little worry line right here.”

  She tapped her forefinger between her own eyebrows. Lilith’s eyes narrowed. Taylor thought that if she’d still been a demon, they’d have been flaring crimson right now.

  “I only worry that we won’t find Colin,” Lilith replied, and Taylor felt an instant’s guilt for needling her. “If he dies, all of his money goes to his family. And I don’t know anyone else who is rich enough to feed Sir Pup after I’m gone.”

  Right. That was the only reason. But a sharp clang from the conference room stopped her reply. In a whirl of blond hair and crimson skin, Ash rushed out—and her eyes were glowing red.

  “I’ll take care of him!” Ash clutched her sword to her chest. Her hope and excitement were a sweet, electric flavor on Taylor’s tongue. “And I have a lot of money.”

  Lilith pursed her lips. Her gaze fell to the terrier trotting at Ash’s heels. “You haven’t finished training your evil puppy yet.”

  “And you aren’t dead yet, either.”

  Ash’s blunt response made Taylor wince a little, but Lilith’s faint
smile held real amusement this time.

  “It will be Sir Pup’s choice,” she said. “And Colin is easy to torment. My pup likes that.”

  A calculating expression slipped over Ash’s features. “Should I start bribing him with food?”

  “I’d be disappointed if you didn’t.”

  Sheer determination set her jaw. “Then I will win him over. And I’ll begin telling more lies, too, so that he won’t miss you so much.”

  She pivoted and stalked back to the conference room. The terrier bounced after her. As if bemused, Lilith watched her go, then met Taylor’s eyes.

  “I haven’t lied even once today,” she said.

  Taylor snorted. Still wearing that faint smile, Lilith returned to her office, then emerged again when Jake and Alice appeared next to Taylor, the stench of Hell all over them. A second later, Michael, Hugh, and Sir Pup followed.

  Michael’s amber gaze immediately met hers, then gave her a once-over when she rose from her chair. Taylor almost joked that she could survive forty-five minutes at a desk without injury, but the intensity in his expression started worry in her gut. He looked at her as if more than forty-five minutes had passed. As if something terrible had occurred while he was gone, or he’d received devastating news.

  She scanned his face, his body, then glanced at the others. No one appeared hurt. She didn’t see any blood. “What happened?”

  “Khavi didn’t give any information to Lucifer. But I believe we know how he communicated with his sentinels.” He glanced away from her as Irena came in from the conference room. “We must return to Hell. The chamber we seek is likely in Lucifer’s tower.”

  Jake shot a look at Alice, who nodded. “Are you looking for volunteers? We’re in.”

  “I am not asking for volunteers, but you both are in. Irena and Alejandro as well.”

  Irena’s eyes gleamed with anticipation. At her side, Alejandro said, “You have our blades.”

  “Khavi will also be with us. We need Ethan and Charlie to open the shielding spell. Charlie is the only one who must volunteer. She has touched Lucifer’s mind before. I would not force it upon her again.”