Guardian Healer: A Taylor Coven Novel: Book 3

by Brittany Rose

  “Let’s go.”

  He said, “Can I change in your room?”

  The heat I felt in my lower body was reflected in his eyes when I opened mine back up. My breath caught at the intensity of the need and want as he looked at me. At least I didn’t have to worry he wasn’t attracted, just everything else. Reluctantly, I stepped around him and started down the stairs.

  “Go ahead.”

  I tried to ignore my body’s reaction to the thought of him stripping down in my room. He was quick, I was still going down the stairs to the basement when his wolf rubbed against me. I expected him to keep going past me, but he was glued to my side.

  Despite myself, my heart melted.

  Amber looked up at me as I walked down, of course I was the last one down. Our conversation hadn’t taken long, but it had taken long enough.

  She said, “Same plan as last time. There looks to be a few more of the weak ones, but they’ll all die in my pulse of light. The wolves will take and hold the more powerful demon that is up front and attacking, and Kim will trap the larger demon that runs for freedom.”

  “It looks like there are three.”

  Amber nodded, and looked annoyed, “There are, we’re going to have to let one go unless I can nail it quickly enough after the blinding flash.”

  That was hard, I didn’t like the idea of demons out in the world, and sometimes we would hunt them. But there were supposed to be some. I wasn’t sure why, but I also wasn’t going to argue with the goddess about the grand design of the multi-verse either. I had faith in her, and didn’t want to make the same mistakes that our parents had. If there was ever an example of what not to do, and the unintended consequences of thinking we knew better than the goddess, it was what our parents had done to keep us safe, and all the pain that had caused.

  Case in point, if I’d grown up with Derek, he’d have been my mate the last six years, instead of trolling bars and picking up hussies. Of course, none of that made me like it, or not want to stop more of them from escaping. We weren’t supposed to stop all of them, but we could stop as many as we could without breaking the rules.

  I wished I could make more than one shield at a time, I could catch both. Unfortunately, that was my limit. The greater power I’d attained allowed me to shield for much longer, and even cover a larger area. That would only help if the two other larger demons were standing close enough together, and they weren’t. It also allowed me to heal faster, but still only one person at a time.

  I reminded myself we were guardians, and not gods. We couldn’t save everyone, or stop every demon, all we could do was limit their influence in the world and kill as many as we could. The reminder didn’t really help.

  An idea struck out of my frustration. What if I could use my shield offensively? I’d shrunk it down to make it a tight prison for the powerful demon yesterday evening, what if I created the shield inside a demon, and then expanded it? It couldn’t touch flesh, it was only capable of shielding from magic and dark entities, but could I move the shield with an entity inside it and drag it around? I couldn’t see why not.

  The expansion idea might work, but wouldn’t help me catch the third demon, just kill the second one without waiting for Amber to blast it, which was okay with me but also pointless.

  But… What if I captured one, and then moved the shield to also envelope the other. They moved fast, but my magic moved as fast as thought. I should be able to warp the shield to wrap around the second entity while still holding the first securely. Maybe?

  My power and personality had always dictated being the healer and protector of my sisters, and that was it. But what if there was more to it? What if I could use my magical ability more creatively? I felt no guilt at the idea of killing a demon. They were evil, true evil, and deserved oblivion.

  Amber said, “On three,” which broke me out of my thoughts, but solidified the idea of giving it a try. Some would still escape part of the time, when there were even more, but what if I could account for trapping two each time? I had to find out.

  We may not have been meant to stop them all, but we were meant to stop as many as we could.

  Amber counted to three, and we lowered the first ward. The same for the second, and then finally the third which released the wild magic and disoriented demons and us alike. I closed my eyes tightly for the flash of bright light that would rip apart all the small demons, and it would also hurt and slow down the three powerful ones.

  My eyes popped open and I felt my magic surge from my chest and through my hand as a bubble shield popped into existence around the demon running for the wall on the right. Then without hesitating I pushed more magic into it and made the shield fly across the room to the back wall, where the third demon was running. If he reached the back wall he’d sink into it like a pebble into water, and be out of our reach.

  The shield deformed, and wrapped around the demon, and I opened up a small breach in the shield to suck him inside of it, sealed the breach, and then unfolded it where it was doubled up to prevent escape. That was no longer needed to hold them both in the shield, and it took a lot more magic to hold the shield deformed than to hold it in its naturally spherical shape.

  I giggled. It hadn’t even been that hard. Well, controlling my magic and shield took a lot of focus and concentration, but the demon didn’t have a chance of slowing down my shield, I could drag them wherever I wanted.

  Which… gave me another idea. Since my shield didn’t effect flesh in the least, could I use it to pull demons out of bodies? I wished I could ask my mother, but it was far too late for that, and I fought off the surge of grief that passed through my entire body. The journals were helpful to an extent, but it didn’t really go into details on what our personal abilities were capable of, and what out of the box thinking could bring to the equation. I had to learn and apply on my own, and make it up as I went.

  The next time I faced a demon in a physical body, I’d give it a try. Actually, I’d make a tiny bubble in the middle of the human, and then explode it outward. That should push the demon out, and if I’m right, rip it to pieces at the same time. If that didn’t work I’d try the big bubble and then try to pull the demon out whole.

  Amber said, “Nice one. I didn’t see that coming.”

  She’d already taken out the one the wolves had tackled, and she effortlessly sent large bright balls of light into the two demons I had trapped, and blew them apart.

  Amber asked, “What made you think of that?”

  “Yesterday, when I had to adjust my shield to hold the most powerful demon at the warehouse so Tony could take it down I realized I could move and manipulate my shields with a demon in it. I also really didn’t want that other one to escape. I thought if I could move my shield with a demon already in it, and if I was fast enough, I might be able to catch the second one. I think I’m fast enough to consistently get two, but that last one almost escaped.”

  In other words, if there were more than three stronger demons in a wave, one of them would escape, but that was better than two. My magic moved faster than they could run, but not twice as fast, so I could only snag one extra.

  Diana said, “I kind of feel superfluous to the process.”

  That was kind of true, they hadn’t gotten the chance to get their banishment off this time either. But she could do things I couldn’t. All of us could, it was only as a full coven where we could meet almost any threat.

  I replied, “You were instrumental in the graveyard though, trapping all those possessed humans in a wall. And the wards wouldn’t be nearly as strong without all seven of us casting them. We all have parts to play, and there are circumstances for all of us where our natural powers don’t fit in.”

  That was true, but maybe not for me. If my shield ideas worked, I’d be useful in a physical fight with possessed humans as well. Even in the case where a supernatural threat from this world came at our coven, which was rare but did happen, I could use my shield to protect my sisters from their magic.<
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  Diana grunted, “Maybe, but there has to be a short spell, shorter than banishment at any rate, that we could use to help during the gateway surges.”

  Amber said, “During the big surges where a lot of powerful demons come through, we will need the banishment spell. My light is powerful, but it can only take one at a time for the more powerful demons with their own magic. According to the journals the larger surges of demons always stick around to fight, in the hopes there are enough of them to form a solid beachhead on this world and secure the portal.”

  Yeah, and they almost succeeded four days ago. I hated to admit it, but the demon in charge had messed up. If he’d ordered all of them to stay, they’d have killed us all that night before we were able to claim our full powers. That told me the demon we were after might have been very powerful and cunning, but it was also too cowardly to face us itself.

  Diana sighed, “I won’t argue, but I still think there should be a one or two-word spell that could impact, freeze, trap, or maybe even destroy a demon. Something. We’re powerful enough in magic to do it, if we have the spell to channel it into. Maybe I’ll research it. If there isn’t one, maybe I can figure one out.”

  That would be nice. There was a two-word sleep spell that worked on one target, why not a shorter banishment spell that would only work on a specific target instead of a whole room. I wouldn’t have the first clue how to design one though.

  Sherry looked dubious, “I imagine our ancestors were just as dedicated as we are. Wouldn’t they have found one if it was possible?”

  Danielle shook her head and said admonishingly, “Don’t underestimate her. Diana is smarter than all of us, if any one of us can create a new spell it’s her. Maybe our ancestors were just as dedicated, that doesn’t mean they were as capable.”

  Monica snickered, “I’d forgotten, her bimbo act is very convincing.”

  I held in a laugh. Diana still did well in school, but she did come across as a party girl now, even more than Danielle did.

  Diana tossed her hair in false disdain, “Damn right. Nothing scares a man away faster than a smart woman. It’s just too bad I didn’t figure that out in high school.”

  She paused for a moment, and said, “Well, I suppose I did figure it out, but by then it was too late to change my reputation as a bookworm.”

  Amber cleared her throat meaningfully, I supposed we had gone far afield.

  “Either way, that’s for another day. Let’s go wake up our detective, and then split up on our tasks. I don’t know about the rest of you, but I have a bad feeling something is coming, and we need to figure out what it is fast.”

  Not only did I feel it, but her words resonated sharply.

  I said, “Me too,” while the rest of the coven also agreed. If all our witch’s intuition was going off like that, we were really in trouble. It didn’t necessarily mean it was us in danger either, the demons could be up to other kinds of mischief. I’m sure I’d regret it, if a lot of humans suffered because I didn’t figure out what they were up to in time.

  Derek’s wolf bumped his head against my abdomen, and then ran up the stairs. I couldn’t stop the smile that reached my lips, as I watched him go. I had my doubts, and we still needed to talk, but I was tired of fighting my attraction to him. Maintaining the wall between us was exhausting, but I couldn’t let it down until we’d talked, there were some things I couldn’t live with. I hoped they weren’t true, but everything I knew said they were.

  ~ Chapter Six – Derek ~

  The ten minute car ride to Tom’s precinct was torture.

  Kimberly wasn’t quite ignoring me at that point, and had promised to talk once we got a handle on whatever the demons were up to. Despite not having a clue what I was doing, I’d managed not to screw up too badly when I confronted her in the hallway. I’d acted confident, but in reality, I’d been really far out of my comfort zone.

  The torture part came in with her scent, her arousal, and her warm soft body pushed up against mine. I was in the back behind Kevin who drove, Monica sat on the other side behind Amber, and Kimberly sat in the middle between us.

  Her bare legs looked silky smooth, and her long luxurious soft dark brown hair was down, and kept tickling and teasing my arm as our shoulders, thighs, and upper arms rubbed together with every small bump of the car. Her blouse was half unbuttoned, and from the bottom right corner of my eye I could see her flat mouthwatering stomach. That wasn’t the only thing I could see. Normally, the blouse would still be hiding it, and would from most other angles, but I could also see her large tightened nipples straining against the sports bra on her rounded perfect little handfuls. My destined mate was a little sex pot, and the front of my jeans was a little strained as well, I couldn’t help the half chubby I was sporting.

  More than the physical things, the way my mate had kicked demon ass, and prevented that one from getting away earlier had turned me on. She may have been the heart of the coven, and the nurturer, but she was also a feisty little thing.

  It was a real effort to keep my hands, and lips, to themselves. The fact she was having the same trouble as I was felt right to me, but didn’t really help matters. I cursed the demons in my mind for the thousandth time, the timing there was killing me. The need to worship and pleasure every inch of my little sex bomb was driving me crazy.

  As I said, torture.

  I didn’t disagree with her earlier words either, some things were more important. We’d have the rest of our lives together, but there were humans out there right now who’d die if we took the time to talk and get together right now. We couldn’t go non-stop of course, no one could, so worst case scenario we’d be talking tonight. At least, that’s what I kept telling myself.

  The car slowed, and Kevin pulled us into the parking lot of the Sherriff’s office.

  Amber asked, “You know what to do?”

  Monica smirked, “Trust me.”

  Amber sighed long-sufferingly, and Monica giggled.

  “Really, it should be fine. We’ll just walk straight back to the Sherriff’s office. Just act like you belong, and my lower level magic will take care of it.”

  “How does that work?” I asked curiously.

  Monica tilted her head in thought, “My compulsion ability requires that I speak for complicated ideas, and to get answers from someone, but even without that my natural affinity magic can influence a roomful of people in small ways. They’ll see us, but they’ll dismiss us. My magic will make us and the reason we’re there unimportant to any of the people in there. Lower level magic is just my self-made term for it.”

  Kimberly said, “Unless there’s a demon.”

  Amber frowned, “Good point.”

  Monica said, “True enough, at that level it’s more of a strong suggestion, than compulsory. If a demon gets belligerent with us, the humans will shake it off.”

  She closed her eyes a moment and murmured, “Malum deprehendere.”

  Amber looked at the building thoughtfully for a few seconds.

  “No demons inside. So either Tom’s right, and this was just a perceptive mortal who smelled a rat, or the demon responsible for setting us up isn’t here. Either way, we need information from the Sherriff on who initiated the investigation into Tom and the rest of us.”

  Kimberly squirmed and rubbed her legs together, “Let’s go find out.”

  I smirked as I opened the door and got out, her voice had been more than a little breathless. Not that I could talk, both our pulses and respiration were a harmoniously matched set. I fisted my hands to stop myself from reaching out and helping her from the car.

  Monica took the lead, and we walked into the police station as if we owned it. No one in the room even spared us a glace from what held their attention, and we maneuvered through the large bull pen and into the far right corner. There was a black plate sticking out from the wall labeling it the Sherriff’s office.

  We walked inside, and closed the door.

  The Sherriff was an older
man who looked like he was still in excellent shape. Maybe in his high fifties. He looked up at us with annoyance, and his glance moved out to the bullpen as his eyes narrowed. No doubt wondering how we’d just waltzed into his office. It was equally apparent, that he knew exactly who we all were. That wasn’t surprising, the Taylor coven wasn’t known as witches, but their mansion behind a wall, and the fact seven families lived there, was something of a legend in the area. Most people speculated it was some kind of commune or cult.

  Monica said, “Sherriff, we need your help with something.”

  I resisted the shudder that went through my body, as he looked up with sudden concern, and more than a little eager adoration for Monica. I wondered of all the witches, if she had the most trouble with the morality of her own powers.

  She didn’t seem too, she had a happy go lucky irreverent personality, but I wasn’t foolish enough to take that at face value. Admittedly, her scent helped with that. She didn’t feel guilty, and she shouldn’t, but she was far graver about using her power than she showed.

  I could see the tic in Kevin’s neck, I wasn’t as uncomfortable as the alpha with Monica or her ability. I knew for Kevin though, Monica’s presence was always a grim reminder for him of the coven’s betrayal in the past.

  The Sherriff replied, “What can I do for you miss?”

  Monica smiled charmingly, “I’m concerned about my friend Tom, and the detective in my house. Can you tell me who ordered the investigation?”

  He replied, “I did. I sent my concerns to IA, and opened up a case to look into your parents’ deaths.”

  Monica asked, “Did someone tell you or pressure you to do that?”

  He nodded, “The mayor was concerned. I’m sure you know your home, and the way you folks all live together as seven families is kind of a mystery to us. Things just didn’t add up.”

  Monica replied, “Great. Well I want you to forget we were here as soon as we’re out of sight, and when Detective Rice submits a report that all is well, you won’t be surprised or look into it any further. At that point, Tom will be reinstated.”