The Guardians Complete Series 1 Box Set: Contains Mercy, The Ferryman, Crossroads, Witchfinder, Infernum

by Wendy Saunders

  27.

  The dawn broke, pale and unrelenting, creeping through Olivia’s bedroom window to dance across the floor. She lay perfectly still, watching the fiery red and gold blaze across the sky through the open drapes and her heart lay like lead in her chest.

  ‘You’re doing it again,’ Theo mumbled as his arm snaked around her pulling her in close.

  ‘What?’ she rolled over to face him.

  ‘Thinking too loudly,’ he smiled, his eyes still closed. ‘I can hear you thinking all the way over here.’

  With her fingertips she traced the silver moon hanging from his neck, the metal warmed by his bare skin. He caught her hand and rolled her onto her back, leaning over her and taking her lips in a soft kiss.

  ‘Talk to me,’ he breathed as they broke the kiss. ‘I don’t like it when you’re sad.’

  ‘I’m not sad,’ she traced his jaw absently, ‘I just…it’s hard, knowing that today I have to face my dad.’

  He propped his head up on his hand and watched her intently.

  ‘You don’t have to do it alone though.’

  ‘I know,’ she blew out the breath she’d unconsciously been holding, ‘it just hurts to look at him, knowing what he has taken from me and wondering…’

  ‘Wondering what?’

  ‘If he ever really loved me at all, if it was all just another lie.’

  ‘I can’t answer that for you Livy love,’ he tucked her hair behind her ear.

  ‘Don’t call me that,’ she pulled away irritably.

  He pinned her down gently.

  ‘I will call you that, because it’s the truth. I know you’re hurting and you’re scared, but it doesn’t change the fact that I love you and I’m going to keep telling you until you believe it.’

  A hot uncomfortable ball of emotion burned in the back of her throat as she blinked back the tears.

  ‘I don’t want to love you,’ she whispered painfully.

  ‘Then just let me love you,’ he murmured against her lips as he took her under.

  She knew he loved her, she could feel it in every soft teasing glide of his fingers, in every stroke of his tongue and every brush of his lips. She couldn’t say the words he deserved to hear and she hated herself for it. He slipped between her legs parting her thighs and as it did every time he touched her, every thought drained from her mind except him. There was nothing else. She wrapped her arms and legs around him, pulling him in as close as she could and when she felt him press inside her she arched, moaning against his mouth.

  Theo hung on, clutching onto what little sanity remained, when he felt her surround him. She was truly everything. As they moved together he absorbed every movement, every sound she made. It was all his, even if she didn’t know it. He knew she couldn’t say the words, knew that her fear was holding a part of herself back from him and he ached for her, ached to hear the words tumbled breathlessly from her lips, while he was sunk deep inside her, but he knew she wasn’t ready. She may not have been able to tell him she loved him, but he knew it, she showed him in a thousand little ways she wasn’t even aware of. What she couldn’t tell him with her mouth, she showed him with her body.

  He could wait for the words, after all he’d waited three hundred years for her. He could wait a little while longer.

  Mac hung up the phone and frowned. He had the uncomfortable feeling something was going on. After making her official statement the day after she had been released from the hospital, Olivia West had been dodging his calls. He’d even driven out to the Stick House to see her, but she’d told him she was busy working. He wasn’t stupid, he knew how to read people and she was definitely trying to keep something from him.

  Now Jake had mysteriously called in sick. Jake was never sick. Mac had gone over his file, as he had with all the staff files when he’d temporarily taken over the department, and Jake had never been sick a day in his life. Now he suddenly had the flu and was not answering his phone. Neither was his sister Louisa or his girlfriend, the one he insisted wasn’t his girlfriend, who just happened to be Olivia’s lawyer Erica Kelly. All of a sudden it was like total radio silence and all his hackles were up and tingling. They knew something and they were purposely keeping him in the dark.

  In the week since he’d fled, there had been no sign of Thomas Walcott. The guy was completely off the grid. Mac had no idea how he was surviving with no money and no supplies, but he had definitely not resurfaced. Mac was almost expecting to find his body in the woods somewhere, dead from hypothermia or exposure.

  The temperature had plummeted and winter had firmly set in. There was no way someone could survive in the woods under those conditions without specialist equipment, unless, Mac mused, he’d fled Mercy completely. He’d put out an APB to all the surrounding law enforcement agencies but nothing. All he could do now was wait for him to turn up, alive or dead. The only thing he did know for sure was that, if Thomas Walcott was still alive, he wouldn’t stray far from Mercy. He was too obsessed with Olivia West and her father.

  Which brought his thoughts back to Olivia once more. What the hell were they up to? His fingers tapped a restless staccato on the desk, as his eyes narrowed thoughtfully.

  They’d had confirmation the third victim had been Lucas Campbell, they’d also managed to ID the fourth victim. The guy’s name was Daryl Ward, an independent Graphic designer and artist living in Mercy. The weird part was he also knew Olivia. When she’d first arrived back in Mercy she’d spoken with him briefly about designing the illustrations for the children's history book she was working on. She’d even confirmed it herself on the one brief occasion he’d managed to actually speak with her. That meant she was connected, however loosely, to all of the victims. He didn’t think for one moment she was the killer, but it could mean the killer was somehow connected to her.

  Suddenly uneasy he picked up the phone and called through to the county sheriff’s department to check they’d assigned at least two guards to watch Olivia until Walcott was back in custody, only to be told that he himself had cancelled that order earlier in the day.

  Scooping up his keys from the desk, Mac abruptly stood and pulled on his coat. Now he knew there was definitely something going on and there was only one way to find out what. He was just going to have to drive out to the West place and have himself a little nosy around.

  ‘Oh good you’re here,’ Olivia opened the door and stepped back allowing Jake to enter. ‘Does anyone suspect?’

  He shook his head.

  ‘I called the sheriff’s office earlier pretending to be Mac and got them to recall the guards, so we’re all clear. Erica’s at my place, she’ll cover for me in case anyone decides to check on me.’

  ‘What did you tell her?’

  ‘The bare minimum,’ he replied. ‘I don’t think she’s ready to deal with demons and magic just yet.’

  She nodded in understanding.

  ‘Theo’s waiting in the library.’

  Jake followed her through the hall and into her favorite room, reaching down and petting the fur ball trying to climb his leg.

  ‘Beau,’ she whistled for him and he scrambled to catch up with her.

  ‘Jake,’ Theo nodded in greeting as he entered the room.

  ‘Is everything ready then?’ Jake asked.

  ‘Here,’ Olivia handed him a small silver crescent moon on a chain, hanging from her fingers. ‘Put this on.’

  ‘It’s a bit girly,’ he eyed her warily.

  ‘If I have to wear one so do you,’ Theo replied pulling his own from the neck of his sweater.

  ‘Fine,’ Jake grumbled, taking it from her and slinging it around his neck.

  ‘Don’t turn your nose up,’ Olivia told him pointedly, ‘it might just save your life before all this is over.’

  ‘Sorry,’ he muttered.

  She handed them each an object wrapped in black velvet and watched as they unwrapped them.

  ‘Holy shit,’ Jake’s mout
h fell open. ‘Are these the hunting knives I brought you?’

  She nodded, watching their reactions in amusement. Theo was fascinated and as he did with everything, he was studying it in minute detail, trying to figure it out. Jake on the other hand was a kid with a new toy.

  ‘What did you do to it?’ he asked enthusiastically.

  ‘It’s a bit hard to explain,’ Olivia frowned thoughtfully. ‘They contain Hell fire and ancient magic, but it’s not something I can re-create. These knives are two of a kind, they can’t be replaced so be very careful with them.’

  ‘I’ve got a magic knife?’ Jake smiled like a little boy with a lightsaber. ‘What can it do?’

  ‘It can kill Hell Hounds and I’m pretty sure it can kill most supernatural creatures.’

  ‘Most?’ Theo asked.

  Olivia shrugged.

  ‘It doesn’t exactly come with a manual,’ she answered. ‘It was made with Hell fire, which comes from the Hell dimensions so logically it should be able to destroy creatures from Hell, but it’s not an exact science. Try not to experiment too much; they’re there so you can defend yourselves. Don’t go looking for trouble.’

  Theo nodded.

  ‘Jake?’

  ‘Yeah, yeah I heard, don’t go looking for trouble,’ he answered absently as he turned the blade and watched in fascination as the writing inscribed in the blade glowed blue. ‘Cool…’

  Olivia sighed, shaking her head in resignation.

  ‘So are we clear on how it’s going to go down?’ Olivia asked them.

  ‘More or less,’ Theo replied.

  ‘I’m going to bind my father so that he can’t use his powers. At that point you should be able to overpower him and Jake can get the cuffs on him. After that we’ll hand him over to Macallister and he can do what he wants with him.’

  ‘We can’t rule out him having the white haired guy with him.’

  ‘Davis?’ Olivia mused, ‘no we can’t. They seem to have been in this together right from the beginning, so I think we can expect him to be there too. If we can take him I’m sure the authorities want to speak with him about my father’s escape from Morley Ridge. Do you have more than one set of cuffs?’

  ‘I’ve got cable ties,’ Jake replied more seriously, ‘they fit easily in your pocket. Theo and I can take a couple of them each.’

  ‘Have you both got your guns?’

  Theo and Jake nodded.

  ‘I’m still wondering if we should include Captain Macallister in this,’ Jake looked at Olivia. ‘He’s a good guy, I think we could do with a bit of extra back-up. We still don’t know exactly what we’re walking into.’

  ‘No,’ Olivia answered, ‘we just don’t know enough about him Jake. If this was a normal situation I’d say yes, but we don’t know how he’s going to deal with the whole magic and demons thing. It’s not fair to involve him in something like this. Once you know the truth about the magic world we live in there’s no going back. He doesn’t need to know that the stuff horror movies are made of is real.’

  ‘Fine,’ he replied, ‘I don’t like it, but this time it’s your call.’

  ‘Okay, when we get into the woods, we need to get to Boothe’s Hollow as quickly as possible. As you know my father is an incredibly powerful witch. Once he casts the circle around the clearing we won’t be able to cross the line and all of this will be pointless.’ She glanced across to the window, ‘we’ve got about an hour until sundown.’

  There was another knock at the door and Theo disappeared.

  ‘Are we expecting someone else?’ Jake asked in confusion.

  ‘Just one more person,’ Olivia looked slightly apologetic, ‘just try not too freak out too much okay?’

  ‘Sorry I’m late,’ Louisa stepped through the door carrying a large box of medical supplies. ‘You have no idea how hard it was to sneak all of this out of the medical center.’

  ‘What the hell are you doing here?’

  ‘Oh hey Jake,’ she replied absently. ‘Theo, there’s another box in my car, would you mind?’

  ‘Don’t hey Jake me,’ he snapped at his sister before turning to Olivia. ‘Why is she here?’

  ‘Relax,’ Louisa answered before Olivia could open her mouth, ‘I’m not here to gate crash your little hunting party, but I am here to stitch up any of you idiots if you manage to get yourselves hurt.’

  He looked to Olivia who just shrugged.

  ‘It seemed like a good idea.’

  ‘You’re not going into the woods?’ he asked Louisa.

  ‘No, because I don’t have a death wish,’ she answered easily.

  He humphed, slightly mollified.

  ‘Besides,’ she scooped an enthusiastic Beau off the floor and nuzzled his adorable face, ‘someone has to watch this handsome boy.’

  Theo dropped the other box down beside the first.

  ‘My God Louisa what have you got in there?’

  ‘A bit of everything,’ she shrugged as Beau licked her face happily.

  ‘We should go,’ Olivia spoke quietly.

  Louisa dropped Beau back to the floor. She hugged each one of them in turn, leaving Olivia until last.

  ‘Be careful,’ she whispered, ‘I just got you back. I don’t want to lose you again.’

  ‘I know,’ she replied.

  They stepped back, a look passing between them, before she turned to the others.

  ‘Okay let’s go.’

  Within minutes they had their coats and warm hats on and were trudging across the heavy snow to the edge of the woods, in the rapidly fading light.

  ‘You sure about this?’ Jake asked Olivia.

  She breathed out a deep misty breath.

  ‘I’m sure.’

  Jake looked across to Theo and nodded. They both drew their weapons and with a gun in one hand and a knife in the other they headed into the tree line.

  Mac watched from his vantage point, as the three of them trudged into the woods with weapons drawn.

  ‘Now’, he thought, ‘we finally get to the truth’ and pulling out his own gun and flicking off the safety he followed into the woods behind them.

  ‘We should have brought flashlights,’ Jake mused as they moved quickly but warily through the trees.

  ‘It wouldn’t have done much good,’ Olivia replied, ‘you need your hands free to be able to defend yourselves.’

  ‘That won’t do us much good if we can’t see,’ Theo agreed with Jake.

  Olivia stopped and turned to face them, looking up at the sky.

  ‘We are losing the light quicker than I thought,’ she murmured thoughtfully.

  Theo and Jake watched as she pulled off her gloves and shoved them in her pockets. She cupped her palms together and a bright golden light appeared between her hands. Her skin had begun to glow and her whiskey colored eyes deepened into gold. The light pulsed and grew bigger until it lifted out of her palms and separated into two. On each ball of light, wings made of pure flame unfurled and suddenly, hovering in the air, were two giant dragonflies made entirely of flames.

  Theo watched in wonder as they beat their gossamer wings and hummed against the cold air. He’d seen one of her dragonflies the night she had been injured in the woods, but it still didn’t diminish the awe of seeing it again. One of them hovered at Theo’s shoulder and one at Jake’s.

  ‘They will stay with you,’ she told them. ‘As long as my heart is still beating they will remain at your side, lighting your way.’

  ‘This is so cool,’ Jake tried to poke his with his finger.

  ‘Will it not weaken you, to have your attention divided?’ Theo asked in concern.

  Olivia shook her head, searching for a way to explain.

  ‘It’s like breathing while you’re eating, it’s automatic, it doesn’t require conscious thought. These are the same; I don’t need to concentrate on them.’

  ‘We should get moving,’ Jake urged them onward, glancing anxiously
at the sky.

  They headed deeper into the woods toward the clearing and Boothe’s Hollow. The closer they got, the more Olivia could sense the demon’s presence. It was stronger than it had ever been as it flexed and strained against its bonds, angry and impatient. It knew it was so close to freedom.

  ‘Did you hear that?’ Theo asked suddenly.

  The sound came again, a kind of shriek and the sound of beating wings. They looked up at the darkening sky and through the gaps in the branches could make out black shapes.

  ‘Bats?’ Jake raised his gun.

  ‘Those aren’t bats,’ Olivia hissed as she raised her hands. Much as she had when faced with the Hell Hound she pulled her fists apart and as she did a bow appeared and burst into sapphire colored flames.

  The black creatures dove lower and as they came into view, they realized she was right. Those things sure as hell weren’t bats.

  ‘What the hell are they?’ Jake shouted.

  ‘I have no idea,’ Olivia aimed at one of them and let loose a black arrow. It shrieked and burst into black ash, which rained down on the snow. ‘You need to use the knives.’

  ‘Just how are we supposed to do that,’ Theo asked as one swooped and dove straight for him.

  Jake let out a couple of shots and one of the bullets tore through its black leathery wing, sending it crashing into the ground in front of Theo. Diving forward he plunged the knife straight into its body and it exploded into the same black ash.

  ‘Aim for the wings and take them to the ground,’ Jake yelled above the harpy-like shrieks.

  Olivia took out another one with a pure black bolt from her bow.

  Raising his gun Theo fired, managing to wing two of them for Jake to finish off as they hit the snowy ground.

  Mac tripped over a tree root and as he looked up the creature let loose a shriek of triumph and plummeted toward him. He fell back and his gun was thrown from his hand. He tried to edge away, but the creature flapped above him, snapping at him with a strangely bird-like beak filled with dozens of needle-pointed teeth. It bit down on his hand, causing him to cry out in pain as blood sprayed across the pristine white snow.