by K. B. Draper
“Such simple desires, Guardian. Surely, you can think of something more worthy. Like, ohhh …” Kanyon could hear him changing positions and moving in the direction she’d wanted him to go. “Ah yes, I can see it radiating from you.” He laughed. “You know love makes us weak and vulnerable. Why would you desire such a thing?”
Kanyon stumbled as he spoke, feeling something seep into her, as if he was searching her soul. She steeled herself and focused solely on the sound of his voice, not the words. She just needed him to move two more steps. She leapt onto the crate she’d been behind, ran across its top, and launched herself toward his back. He spun, shooting a blue flame at her, but her shield was already in place. The force of the impact made her come up short, but she was still able to reach out with her sword, striking him as he raised his other arm to throw another blue sphere. She hit the ground hard and rolled, coming to a stop on a knee.
Ralph came flying at him from the opposite direction, sinking his teeth into the back of the man’s calf. The man yelled out in fury and pain. He twisted, both hands full of light. Kanyon brought her sword down across his back. If it had been a real sword versus a metal prop, it would’ve sliced through him. Instead, it acted more like an aluminum bat, but the pure power she used to swing it, caused the man to stumble forward. “Ralph, go,” she ordered.
Ralph growled a response that Kanyon assumed was dog speak for “No way in hell.”
Straightening, the man smirked. “Not bad, Guardian. You might be a better opponent than I thought. I’m glad you didn’t take me up on my offer. I believe it might be more fun to kill you and your Seeker.” He lit his hand and threw another sphere of blue light at her.
Kanyon didn’t take the time to think, she simply threw her sword directly at the light, piercing it down the middle. She realized her mistake a split second too late.
The sound shook the storage shelves and the metal walls. As the now two blue spheres flew in opposite directions. Kanyon risked a glance from behind the shield. “Oh crap. Ralph, we need to go!”
Kanyon tugged once on Ralph’s collar to head him in the right direction just as the helium tanks began to explode. They hit the side exit door and Kanyon slowed intentionally as another boom echoed behind them. “We were not in there.” Another explosion. “Not anywhere close to there.” Ralph barked once in agreement.
Daylen was pacing in front of Kanyon’s trailer, fighting the urge to not run back toward the warehouse and the explosions. She had to learn to trust Kanyon. She had to learn to let her Guardian handle things. “Screw that,” she muttered. She’d only taken two steps when she saw Kanyon and Ralph. “Kanyon! Jesus Christ, what the hell happened?”
“Well, we–” Ralph growled. “Fine. I maybe blew up a helicopter. In my defense, I technically didn’t throw the fireball.” Ralph scoffed. Kanyon looked down at the dog. “Seriously, how was I supposed to know throwing a sword at it would cause it to freaking split like an atom?”
Daylen stepped forward, grabbed Kanyon’s jacket, and pulled her down. She kissed her hard then pushed her back.
Kanyon smirked. “Dang, I should blow thi-”
Daylen pointed a finger at her. “No. And why don’t we rewind just a couple of minutes. You threw a sword?”
Kanyon shrugged. “He threw something at me. I threw something back.”
Blue came walking up behind Kanyon. “Nice burn application, but I could’ve done better.”
Daylen grabbed Kanyon by her elbow, spun her around, and went a little weak in the knees.
Kanyon tried to look over her shoulder. “Damn it. I liked this jacket.” Kanyon shrugged out of the coat and held it up. There was a burn hole the size of a dinner plate on the right shoulder. “This sucks.” She put an arm through the hole and pulled it out. “It was totally vintage café racer and matched my ’65 BMWs.”
“Ah, Kanyon,” Daylen said with forced control, “can we please forget about the jacket.”
“Why?” She looked over her shoulder again. “Damn it! He got my shirt too! I lose my favorite jacket, my favorite jeans, my shirt …”
Daylen bit her lip tried to ignored the sound of her heart beating in her chest, as well as the sirens staring to sound in the distance. “Can we go inside, please?”
“Sure.” Kanyon moaned. “I think I have another shirt in there.”
Daylen tried to look everywhere but at the red scorch mark on Kanyon’s shoulder blade. “I can do this. I can do this,” she whispered to herself. She swallowed hard as she stepped into Kanyon’s trailer, stopping Blue before she could follow them in. “You think maybe you could go find Ralph and Kanyon something to eat for me?”
“Wow, I don’t remember applying for the position of errand bitch,” Blue retorted.
“Please,” Daylen pleaded.
Blue huffed. “Fine. But only because I’m hungry too.”
“Thank you.”
Light shimmered in the corner and within a blink Isadora materialized. She looked at Kanyon then Daylen, instantly feeling the tension in the small space. She smiled. “It is very nice to see you both in the same space.”
“Good to see you too,” Kanyon said as she turned her back and patted her wound. “You got any tricks up your super-spirit sleeves?”
Isadora moved quickly to her. “Oh child, what have you done?”
“Had a little run in with a hibachi with an attitude problem.” Kanyon saw that Daylen had turned away from them. “You think you can do something to show her this isn’t a big deal?”
“No, but we can improvise a little.” Isadora straightened. “Daylen, come here. I need you.”
“We should take her to a hospital,” Daylen protested.
“There is no need for that. Come here, please.”
“Isadora, I can’t–” Daylen started.
“You can and you will,” Isadora ordered. Daylen took a hesitant step forward. “She was doing her job. And it is time you do yours.” Isadora reached out, taking Daylen’s wrist, and pulled her closer. “It is time you both understand the bond between Guardians and Seekers; the special bond the two of you share.”
“I don’t understand,” Daylen whispered.
“Yes, you do,” Isadora said softly as she squeezed Daylen’s hand then raised it to Kanyon’s back. “Close your eyes,” she ordered gently.
Kanyon looked over her shoulder and Daylen held her deep blue gaze for a long moment. Daylen closed her eyes as the heat began to travel through her body to the palm of her hand.
“All they had was some cucumber pita crap,” Blue barked as she flung open the trailer door. “Stupid wannabe stick people. I dropped your name and told some dude that you wouldn’t be able to continue filming if you didn’t get a couple of hamburgers and a jumbo bag of Funyuns stat. You should’ve seen that dude tear off. It was freakin’ awesome.” She dropped the bags of food on the table.
Kanyon reached back and laid a hand over Daylen’s. “It’s all good now,” she said softly.
Daylen blinked, pulled her hand back, and saw the pink healed skin of Kanyon’s shoulder. “You’re–”
“Good as new,” Kanyon said, giving Daylen’s fingers a grateful kiss.
“You knew?”
Kanyon shrugged. “Had a suspicion. My bathroom, the first night we–”
Daylen nodded then looked down at her hand. There was a lingering warmth, but it otherwise looked the same. “Would’ve been nice to know before now.”
Kanyon gave her a wink. “I’m going to change my shirt.” Then to Blue as she passed, “Don’t let Ralph eat my burger. Oh and …” she stepped back and popped Blue on the back of the head, “don’t pull my diva card again, especially for stinky-ass Funyuns.”
Blue threw a fried circle of artificial onion to Ralph, which he snatched from the air. Coming down, his landing caused the whole trailer to shake. “Ralph likes them.”
“I’m pretty sure he’d eat a tire if you told him it was food,” Kanyon replied as she closed the door to her room.<
br />
“I got you a cucumber and crap wrap because I saw your competition today and you know, you might want to–”
“My competition for?” Daylen asked as she caught the wrap that Blue tossed her.
Blue gave the bedroom where Kanyon was changing a nod. “To be tall, dark, and mouthy’s tongue toy.”
“I have no idea,” Daylen held up a hand. “No, forget it. Never mind, and just FYI, I’m not in competition with anyone.”
“Okay. But I’m just saying, I had one eye-lick of that sex-icle and I was totally wanting to figure out how many licks it takes to get–”
“Please stop.” Daylen slid onto the bench seat surrounding the kitchen table. “I really don’t want to know that you find Lexi–”
“Lexi?” Kanyon asked as she stepped back into the room, pushing up the sleeves of her shirt.
“Nothing,” Daylen quickly answered over Blue’s, “I wasn’t talking about– nothing,” Daylen repeated pointedly at Blue.
“Okay,” Kanyon looked suspiciously at both Blue and Daylen but didn’t want to push it since Lexi was one of her least favorite subjects. “Thanks for the food.” Kanyon scooted in next to Daylen. “What’s next?”
“Well, I’d like to know exactly what just happened,” she looked at Blue who was half listening as she threw more Funyuns, frisbee-style to Ralph, “but we can shelve that for a minute. I guess we could try and find the rest of the guys and interview them. At some point, I want to go to the office. I still haven’t heard from Aunt Ruby.”
“I’m good until at least ten tonight, night shoots. Could even be later with the warehouse incident.”
“Cool! Ralph and I can come P.I. with you guys. What do you say, Ralph? Wanna’ Turner and Hooch it this afternoon?” Blue reached out a hand and Ralph high-fived it with a paw.
“Wanna check if Theo is able to leave?” Kanyon asked.
“Sure. I’ll call and see if he can meet us.”
Chapter 15
Theo, Blue, and Ralph fell out of the backseat of Daylen’s SUV as soon as they hit Ruby’s house and office. “Seriously, I can’t believe they made me share the same air space as you,” Blue complained. “You freaking slobbered and panted all the way here.”
Daylen patted Ralph as he came to stand next to her. “He’s a dog.”
“I wasn’t talking about him. I was talking about toothpick boy.” She pointed at Theo. “And he smells like a sweaty burrito.”
“Sorry, but sometimes I get car sick when I have to ride in the backseat.”
“Theo, why don’t you go up and get started on finding the home addresses for your buddies that weren’t there today,” Kanyon offered.
Daylen turned to Blue when Theo jogged to the backdoor, Ralph on his heels. “Would it hurt you to be nice to him? He’s really a great guy.”
Blue huffed. “It might hurt. It might hurt a lot. It might cause me to break out in a rash, hives, go into shock and since I’m currently not covered by healthcare, I’m not willing to risk it.”
Daylen rolled her eyes. “You’re ridiculous.”
“What’s ridiculous is that he can go around violating the Clean Air Act of 1970 and no one is doing anything.” Blue fell into step behind Daylen as she began walking toward the house. “I can’t help that my environmental morals hold me to standards which you can’t appreciate.”
“You’re correct. I don’t appreciate it. So, knock it off and be nice.”
“I am nice, all the time,” Blue retorted.
Daylen stopped, put her hands on her hips, and gave Blue an “ohhh, please explain that one” look.
Blue lifted a defiant chin and put her hands on her hips. “Fine. Half the time.”
Daylen raised an eyebrow.
“Hey, I hardly ever kill or maim anyone when I’m asleep. Except that one time after teq-kill-ila Battleship, when I woke up and this guy claimed I gave him saddle sores. Apparently, we did some freaky sleep bonking. He still kind of walks funny.”
Daylen opened her mouth, closed it, opened it again, then simply turned and began walking.
Blue started after her, a smirk on her face until Kanyon grabbed the back of her shirt and halted her in her tracks. “Hold up there, Turbo.” Kanyon put a finger in her face. “One, that weird kid with the funny limp, is not allowed to come over anymore. Two, you have until we hit that porch to start playing nice with others. That,” she pointed at the porch for emphasis, “is the polite porch.”
Blue eyed Kanyon narrowly. “And what if I don’t comply?”
“I’ll put a lock on my refrigerator, tell my mother you see her as a role model and want her advice on clothes and boys, and…” she narrowed her eyes, “I’ll cancel cable.”
Blue clutched her heart. “You wouldn’t dare.”
“Willing to bet Face Off and The Walking Dead on that?”
Blue glanced toward the polite porch then back to Kanyon. “What if I try, honestly try, but my brain defaults and something just slips out.”
“Same results.”
“What if I skip the porch and go around to the front door?”
“It’s a happy house. Only happy people in the happy house.”
Blue looked around. “Garage?”
“Glad garage.”
Blue pointed. “Backyard?”
“Best behavior backyard,” Kanyon stated.
Blue huffed, crossed her arms, and looked around again. “Is there anywhere that I don’t have to be the H word?”
Kanyon looked around. “Sour-puss path.” She answered as she pointed at the opening of the tree-lined area that circled the property, then pointed at Daylen’s vehicle. “Crab-ass car.”
Blue contemplated her options. “Not one slip?”
“Nope.”
Blue looked at Daylen who had stopped on the porch to watch them. “Daylen, can I please have the keys to your car?” Daylen smiled and threw Blue her keys. Blue curtsied. “Thank you so very much.”
Kanyon patted Blue on the head and headed toward the house. She heard Blue unlock the car, get in, and shut the door. “How long do you give her?” Kanyon asked.
“Oh, I’d guess in three, two, one.” They both spun back to watch the car window slide down and Blue lean out.
“You totally suck. Like Miss Hoover had an affair with the Dyson dude and they had a baby and called it Kanyon, level of suck.”
Kanyon finger waved as she went through the backdoor and into the kitchen.
“I can’t believe her sometimes.” Daylen said as she opened the refrigerator, then held out a bottled water.
“No, thanks. Oh, she’s alright. She’s got a hard, outer shell, but she’s a total softy on the inside.”
“You guys have formed quite the relationship these last few months.”
Kanyon laughed. “Kind of like the relationship a person has with their pet snapping turtle.” Daylen laughed. “She’s actually pretty okay. She’s just trying to find her way, her own identity, and I can relate to that.”
Daylen sobered at Kanyon’s downturned eyes. Daylen walked over, stepped into Kanyon’s embrace, wrapping her arms around Kanyon’s waist. “I think we all can.” They stood there for a long moment, each lost in their own thoughts.
Daylen had known she missed Kanyon, known it was painful not seeing her for the last eight months. But having her back, standing there in the kitchen again, the two of them talking and now how easy the intimacy came back to them, she kicked herself again for all the lost time. She didn’t know how she had survived without Kanyon. Survived, she thought, when only an hour ago she’d seen Kanyon hurt again. She knew the burn on Kanyon’s shoulder came from when she had pulled her out of the way. She’d saved her, again. Leaving Kanyon at the warehouse was a whole other issue. She’d done it to prove something, to give Kanyon something, but she couldn’t do that again. She wouldn’t stand by as the poor helpless Seeker while her Guardian fought the battles. If they were going to do this, it would be together. “Kanyon, we need to talk,” she
said before she even realized it.
Kanyon’s body stiffened.
Daylen leaned back to look up at her. “Don’t do that. I just want to talk about earlier.”
“Okay,” Kanyon responded, a tinge of weariness in her voice.
Daylen only had to look into the dark blue to see the fear, hurt, and the anticipation of rejection. “Kanyon, I’m not going to push you away again,” she said quickly, wanting to extinguish that thought as quickly as possible. As she’d hoped, Kanyon’s posture relaxed slightly. “I’ll be honest, seeing your shoulder red and raw, it was my first thought, but I know this is your destiny as much as it is mine.” Kanyon opened her mouth to speak but closed it as Daylen held up a hand. “I simply want to lay down some ground rules.” She continued at Kanyon’s lifted eyebrow. “I left today, at the warehouse, because you asked me to, because I wanted to show you I trust you. Maybe to prove to myself as well that I can let you be my Guardian, despite the risk. But I won’t do that again.” She lifted a hand to Kanyon’s cheek. “We’re in this together, equally. I’m not going to run. I’m not going to play damsel in distress and I won’t play sidekick to your hero ever again.”
Though she kept her face cool and assessing, Kanyon smiled inside. If only she knew that I’ve always thought of her in the hero role. “Fine, but I still get to be the one that drives.”
“60/40,” Daylen countered, dropping her hand back to Kanyon’s waist.
“75/25. I have cooler cars.”
Daylen gave her a playful role of the eyes. “I see how this is going to go.”
“Yep. Get used to it.” Kanyon caught Daylen’s mouth with hers.
They broke apart when they heard overhead footsteps pounding down the hall.
“I can definitely get used to that,” Daylen whispered, dropping a hand to hold Kanyon’s. “Thank you, Kanyon.”
A confused look came over Kanyon’s face. “For what?”
“Forgiving me. Saving me.”
Kanyon gave Daylen’s hand a squeeze. “I could say the same thing.”
Daylen smiled and took a step back as Theo and Ralph came storming into the kitchen.
