A Dark Guardian

by Donna Grant

  She had wanted him. Her body had opened for him with just words and a touch on her lips. He shifted to relieve the throbbing between his legs, but it only grew. There was only one thing that would ease the ache.

  Mina.

  He hadn’t lied to her. She was more beautiful than even Rufina, the Fae Queen, who was the most striking creature he had ever laid eyes upon.

  At first, he had thought Mina used a ploy, but she honestly thought herself ugly.

  And he could understand why. After hearing, day after day, how repulsive someone thinks you are, one could start to believe it.

  Theresa wasn’t homely either. But it was the hatred festering within her that made her beauty fade. Aye, Mina outshone Theresa in every way.

  He shut his eyes and pictured Mina with her eyes closed and lips parted on a sigh.

  All he would have to do was lean down and taste her, but he had made a point to stay away from the people he helped.

  It made for a lonely life, but it was even worse when he had to leave them to hunt the next monster. Besides, in all the years he had led The Shields he had never returned to the same place twice, and likely never would.

  He would just stay as far away from her as possible. For sanity’s sake, he had to.

  With that resolved, he rose to his feet and turned to face his men and Mina.

  She stood at the foot of Bernard’s bed, watching her brother closely. Her hands were clasped in front of her and every time he moaned she flinched.

  Aye, he already regretted allowing her to stay. He tried to lean against the wall, but his back was apparently worse than he had thought. He couldn’t see to it because he couldn’t leave the chamber, and he wanted Gabriel to concentrate on Bernard right now.

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  * * * *

  It was in the hour of midnight, but Hugh couldn’t sleep, not with Mina in the chamber with him and his back throbbing with pain. Gabriel hadn’t left Bernard’s side, and even now as he dozed, he sat by the baron’s bed.

  Mina had taken the chair on the other side of the bed and had fallen asleep with her arms cradling her head on the bed. Cole and Darrick sat on either side of the door to make sure no one entered.

  The night hadn’t gone as badly as Hugh had thought it might, but then again it wasn’t over. As soon as that thought flitted through his mind, Bernard sat up in bed bellowing and punching anything he could hit.

  Hugh moved as fast as he could from his place beside the hearth, but he didn’t reach Mina in time to block the blow that Bernard aimed at her.

  She fell back onto the floor with a loud thud. Hugh glanced to make sure his men contained Bernard as he reached Mina. He gently picked her up into his arms and carried her away from the bed. He sat her in the chair she had occupied several hours before when they had talked. Her hand covered the right side of her face.

  “Let me see,” he said and eased her hand away. He breathed a sigh of relief to see it wasn’t as bad as he had feared. “’Tis a busted lip. You might bruise a little on your cheek, but I’ll have Gabriel fix something for you.”

  He called to Gabriel who threw him a wet cloth. “I’ll be gentle,” he said as he reached up to wipe the blood away.

  “’Tis strange to find someone with such strength as yourself to be so gentle.”

  He shrugged. “I do what I must.”

  “How is she?” Gabriel asked as he walked up.

  “A cut lip and maybe some bruising on her face,” Hugh told him and moved so Gabriel could look at her injury.

  Hugh found himself wanting to yank Gabriel’s hands away from Mina. That emotion hadn’t been experienced since he had lost his family, and frankly he would prefer that it go away as quickly as it had come.

  But it didn’t. And the longer Gabriel touched her, the worse it became. When he next looked, he found Gabriel watching him oddly.

  “Hugh?”

  “What is it?” he asked, afraid that Mina was hurt worse than he had thought.

  Gabriel stood and moved away from Mina. “She is fine.”

  He narrowed his eyes at his friend as Gabriel turned and walked back to Bernard.

  “Stay here,” he told Mina as he followed Gabriel. He stopped Gabriel before he reached the bed. “What is it?”

  Gabriel stared at him fixedly with his silver eyes. “You.”

  “Me? What are you talking about?”

  “You growled when I touched her.”

  Hugh blinked and took a step back. “I wouldn’t.”

  “You did,” Gabriel said. “Not that I blame you. She’s simply stunning, but I wasn’t laying claim to her.”

  “I know,” he said and looked away. “I apologize, my friend.”

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  Gabriel shook his head. “No need. Take what comfort you can, for it never lasts.

  Now tell me, why you didn’t inform me of your back?”

  “You were busy.”

  “I’m never that busy. It can become infected. Let me see to it now.”

  Hugh sat in a chair as Gabriel helped him remove his tunic. Hugh settled his elbows on his knees as Gabriel set out wiping the blood away. Hugh looked up and found Mina watching him.

  He wanted…he didn’t know what he wanted anymore. In truth, there was nothing for him to do but continue. He couldn’t return to his time. Everyone thought him dead.

  His hands fisted as Gabriel rubbed a foul stinking mixture onto his back.

  “No

  stitches?”

  Gabriel grunted. “The funny thing is the creature could have killed you, but it didn’t. The talons opened the skin but not far enough to stitch.”

  That puzzled Hugh. “’Tis almost as if we are sport to it.”

  “Could be,” Gabriel answered. “Let the mixture dry for a moment before you put on another tunic.”

  Hugh moved to the wall so he could watch Bernard but stay out of Gabriel’s way.

  Despite the urge to check on Mina, he was determined to stay right where he was.

  His body might be away from her, but his gaze constantly found its way back to her. It was galling that he didn’t have enough control over himself to keep his mind focused.

  They all jumped at the sound of the creature’s scream as it circled the castle. He reached down and gripped the hilt of his sword. One could never be too safe.

  “I am beginning to think we should leave this place,” Mina said as she rose from her chair.

  “That thing won’t stop with just your village,” Cole said. “He has his own mission.”

  “Cole,” Hugh said to stop him, but it was too late.

  Mina took a step toward the door where Cole stood. “What mission?”

  “They are out to kill every person they encounter,” Cole answered her.

  Hugh found Mina’s gaze turned to him. “Is it true?” she asked.

  He nodded solemnly.

  “But you know of a way to stop it.”

  He sighed, hating these questions. “With every creature we hunt ‘tis different.

  We have never encountered the same creature twice.”

  “In other words, you have no idea how to kill this one.”

  Damn, she was perceptive. “That’s correct.”

  She paced the chamber while he watched Gabriel mix more herbs in water for Bernard. Hugh wanted to tell her they could kill it tomorrow, but only a fool would make a promise such as that.

  “Hugh,” Gabriel called. “Help me lift Bernard so I can get this mixture down him.”

  Hugh pushed off the wall and walked to the bed and lifted Bernard. Sweat covered Bernard’s body, and he shook so badly the goblet kept knocking against his A DARK GUARDIAN

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  teeth. Hugh began to wonder if the baron would survive the addiction.

  In the next instant, the goblet went crashing to the floor as Bernard shoved Gabrie
l aside. “Ale,” Bernard called. “I need ale. Now!”

  “By the gods, he has strength,” Gabriel said as he immediately began to mix more herbs. “We must get the water down him.”

  “Mina, grab his legs,” Hugh called out as he grabbed one of Bernard’s arms.

  Cole quickly captured Bernard’s other arm before he was able to hit Gabriel while Darrick helped Mina hold Bernard’s legs.

  Even with all four of them practically on top of Bernard, he still fought the water Gabriel tried to give him.

  “What is in the water?” Mina asked.

  “It will aid him past the addiction,” Gabriel explained. “The sooner we get it down him the sooner he will get past it.”

  “Ale,” Bernard murmured.

  Mina bit her lip as Hugh physically opened Bernard’s mouth and Gabriel poured the water down his throat. For a moment, she thought Bernard might choke, but they got him to swallow somehow.

  “I’m not strong enough,” Bernard said as he opened his eyes and looked at Mina.

  She smiled and climbed off his legs. “You were strong enough to begin this, and you will be strong enough to finish it.”

  “You don’t understand, Mina. So many lies,” he said and trembled.

  She pulled the covers around him, thinking he was finally calm.

  “Nay,” he said and swiftly took hold of her arms. He looked over her head to Hugh. “Get her out of here. She needs to be safe. She will die if she stays!”

  “She will be safe,” Hugh’s deep voice said behind her.

  “You don’t understand,” Bernard said, the frustration evident by the lines in his young face. “None of you understand. She can’t stay here any longer.”

  Before she could say anything, Bernard fell back onto the bed seemingly asleep.

  She rose on shaky legs and turned to face Hugh.

  “I don’t know what he means. This is where I was born and raised. I cannot leave.”

  “Mayhap he just wants to see you safely away from the creature,” Darrick said.

  She looked at her brother, so vulnerable and young on the bed. It would not be too long before he would take a wife. Where would she be then? His new wife wouldn’t allow her to stay for long, and she wasn’t naïve enough to believe she would ever find a husband. But the convent was not for her.

  With her future clouded in unanswered questions, she took Bernard’s hand and resumed her seat by his bed. She would not leave him this night. Not even the creature that still circled the castle could move her.

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  Chapter Seven

  Hugh watched Mina slowly wake. She had not moved from Bernard’s side all night. She had stayed to help get the healing water down his throat and soothe him in the long hours of the night.

  But it had taken its toll on her. Dark circles marred her beautiful face, making her blue-green eyes larger than usual. Hugh moved on silent feet to her side as she worked the kinks from her neck.

  He and his men had concluded there was more to Bernard’s ranting than he had let on, and they would get to that as soon as Mina was in her own chamber.

  “Come,” he said and took her arm.

  She tried to pull away from him. “I won’t leave my brother.”

  Hugh opened his mouth to speak, but Bernard’s voice, low and raspy came from the bed. “I will be fine, Mina. I couldn’t have done it without you, but you need your rest. There is a creature to kill,” he finished before his head lolled to the side.

  She stood there and stared at her brother before turning her gaze to Hugh. “I suppose he doesn’t need me anymore.”

  “He will always need you,” Hugh whispered. “I’ll walk you to your chamber.”

  The sun was just breaking over the horizon as they walked along the deserted hallway. The sounds of people waking from the hall below reached them.

  They reached her chamber, and he followed her inside where she immediately went to her bed and laid down. She was asleep before he took two steps toward her.

  After he removed her shoes, he covered her with a blanket and quickly walked from the chamber before he climbed into bed with her and buried his rod deep within her tight sheath.

  He lengthened his strides and hurried back to Bernard. Upon entering, he found Gabriel and Darrick helping the baron sit up in bed.

  “How do you feel?” Hugh asked as he walked toward Bernard.

  The baron laughed dryly. “Like I’ve been dragged behind a wagon being led by six wild horses.”

  Hugh chuckled and straddled the chair, leaning his chin on the back. “You’re past the worst of it, thanks to your sister.”

  “I saw her lip.” Bernard looked down at his hands. “Did I do that?”

  “By

  accident.”

  Bernard sighed loudly and raised his eyes to Hugh. “I meant what I said last night. You must get her away from the castle. Now. Before ‘tis too late.”

  “Why?” Gabriel asked.

  Bernard hesitated for a moment and looked down at his hands again. “She will be safer away from here.”

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  “Everyone would,” Hugh said. “But that creature will only move on to another village if we don’t destroy it. You and Mina have already begun to mend your relationship. Everything will work out.”

  “You don’t understand,” Bernard said and slammed his hand against his thigh.

  Hugh decided it was time to stop playing around. “Then tell me. There is someone in the castle that let loose that creature, and I’ll wager that same someone has been drugging your ale. Do you know who it is?”

  Several tense moments slipped by before they had an answer.

  “Nay,” Bernard said with a shake of his head. “I sorely wish I did though. So much has gone amiss.”

  Hugh didn’t like this, not one bit. It was one thing to battle an evil he knew, but another to fight one blinded. His gut knew Bernard lied, but there would be no getting the truth out unless the baron wanted to admit it. It was Bernard’s tone when he spoke of getting Mina away from the castle that intrigued Hugh. Why Mina and not Theresa?

  The questions were mounting, and it did little to soothe him.

  “Darrick, keep an eye on Mina,” Hugh said as he studied Bernard. “Don’t let her see you, but make sure she stays safe.”

  “What are you thinking?” Bernard asked.

  “I just want to be sure no one else in your family is harmed. Cole, keep watch on Theresa.”

  “Don’t bother,” Bernard said. “That woman could skin the creature herself if she put her mind to it.”

  Hugh looked at Cole and Darrick pointedly and waited for them to leave the chamber. He turned to Gabriel and Bernard then. “We must keep a vigilant eye out to keep everyone safe. If something looks out of the ordinary, tell us immediately, Bernard.”

  The baron snorted. “That is going to be difficult since I really don’t know what is ordinary anymore.”

  He had a point. Hugh scratched his chin as he thought over their options. “I think it would be better if everyone still think you a drunk. Don’t change your attitude toward anything, especially toward Mina.”

  “Aye, I can do that. What about Mina?”

  “We will tell her ahead of time. We don’t want her acting any differently either,”

  he said.

  “I don’t know,” Bernard hedged. “I’m not sure I could do it.”

  “We’ll help you.”

  Gabriel rubbed his hands together. “I see a plan forming.”

  Hugh smiled at his friend. “If everything goes right, not only will we kill that creature, we’ll free this castle and the village from the evil that holds it.”

  “Then, by God, I hope your plan works,” Bernard said.

  * * * *

  Mina opened her eyes and moaned. Her body ached from the position she had kept it in most of the night, but it was
worth it to see Bernard over that awful addiction.

  With a smile on her face for the first time in months, she rose from the bed. A A DARK GUARDIAN

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  bath would be just the thing to ease away these aches, she thought. She opened her chamber door and headed toward the bathing chamber.

  Her step was light, as if a great weight had been lifted from her shoulders. She had her brother, and he treated her like a sister for the first time since she could remember. Things were looking up, especially with the arrival of Hugh and his men.