Guardian of the Stone

by Amity Grays

  Nodding, she leaned in closer. “It’s hard to describe what happened. The stone fell against my chest and instantly started to glow. But there was more than just the light. It had a wonderful kind of warmth about it, unlike anything I’ve ever felt before. And there was this wind, but I think it came from the room, or maybe it started from the picture.”

  He raised a curious brow.

  She laughed. “Longer story, less pertinent.”

  “All right, so there was a wind…” he encouraged.

  “Yes, it started like a breeze but then grew stronger. It seemed to pick me up, first carrying me into this tunnel and then onto a field. On the field there were these men—I didn’t know them at all, yet I felt as though I’d known them my whole life. Somehow I could feel their strength, feel their devotion. In that moment, I wanted nothing more than to join them. They were headed someplace…well, important. I think maybe to battle.” She looked away. “It sounds crazy, but it felt so real.”

  “It doesn’t sound crazy to me,” Dane said. “I’ve met the men, or at least men of such character.”

  She followed his gaze to her father, who was sitting back straight against his seat, his eyes scanning the plane, no doubt in search of other wonders as magnificent as floating cushions.

  Dane smiled. “I’d love to have seen him in his younger days. The way the knights spoke of him…well, he must have really been something.”

  Edeline smiled toward her father. “He still is.”

  She looked back to Dane. “Do you believe in visions?”

  “I do these days, but even more I believe in you. It was a vision, though I’m not sure yet what we’re to make of it.”

  “With Martin gone, will they continue to look for me?”

  Dane took a deep breath, nodding his head regretfully. “Martin was in no way the head of the Dogs. There will be many bigger and far fiercer where we’re going. I won’t lie to you and pretend it’s not so. You need to be prepared.”

  “They’ll try again to abduct me?”

  He looked away, but not soon enough to hide the worry.

  “Dane?”

  “They may try and take you again…or not.” He looked back her way. “Either way, they’ll come after you.” The fear she saw on his face made it all too clear. If they couldn’t take her alive and use her at their will, it was in their best interest to see her dead.

  She’d already known it was true, but realizing it had already escalated to that point was more than a little unnerving. “I see,” she said, leaning back in her seat.

  “I won’t let them hurt you, Edeline,” Dane said, once again pulling her into his arms. “I will never let them hurt you.”

  She had a feeling he wasn’t only assuring her, but also reassuring himself. In his arms, pressed against his warmth, she believed they could overcome anything.

  And they certainly weren’t alone. Her gaze roamed across the aisle to her father and Father Tom. They had complete faith they would all be well looked after—faith in God, in each other and in the group of men who would be meeting them in Paris.

  Edeline grimaced as she looked to the seat in front of her father.

  Graham sat there more silent than a shadow. He was her only uncertainty.

  Grabbing Dane’s hand, she nudged her head Graham’s direction. “Dane, are you certain about this?”

  “Yes.” He covered her hand with his own. “He may actually be our greatest ally. He knows what they’re like and how they think. Believe me, we can trust him. After you, he just became their most wanted.”

  “He’s so angry. Dane, I can feel it. It’s frighteningly strong.”

  “Yes, and that kind of anger on an ordinary man would be far too unpredictable. But Graham’s no ordinary man, I assure you. He can bottle that anger and use it like a bullet in more ways than you could possibly imagine.”

  “You’re sure?”

  “I’ve seen it. What fuels his anger has one face—and that’s your enemy. Their destruction is his mission as well as his need.”

  “All right, everyone,” yelled General Matthews from the front of the plane. “I’m afraid I’m as good-looking of a stewardess as you’re going to get on this ride. Fasten your seatbelts. We’re getting ready to roll.”

  Their seatbelts already fastened, Dane and Edeline simply sat back against their seats, leaned against each other and waited.

  The plane moved slowly forward. Two fast moving military jets whizzed past them down the runway.

  “Our escorts,” Dane explained. “They’ll be two behind us as well.”

  “Can this thing even land on water,” Federic asked as the engines roared a little louder and the plane began picking up speed.

  A few seconds later the plane tilted up, and they left the ground behind them.

  “Oh, this is much worse than the portal,” her father said, his knuckles white as his hands gripped the armrest.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  THEY ARRIVED IN FRANCE MIDAFTERNOON the next day. Under a clear blue sky, the city of Paris spread out on both sides of the plane—ancient and new merged into one amazing metropolis. Edeline looked past Dane and across the aisle, eager to see her father’s response.

  His head was resting on his shoulder. His eyes were closed shut. The only thing moving was his chest, rising and falling in deep, steady motions. He’d worried himself to exhaustion several hours back but had fought against sleep for fear of missing the moment of their demise.

  Edeline thought about waking him, but knew slumber would be the best place for her father as they made their approach.

  Catching her glance, Father Tom gave her a thumbs-up.

  She smiled and sat back, her eyes drifting to look back out at the amazing city beneath. She wondered how different it would have been back in the fourteenth century.

  “It’s magnificent, isn’t it?” Dane leaned her way for a better view.

  “Yes, very. I can’t tell you how long I’ve dreamed of this moment. I’ve always wanted to come back, to stand once more in the land where I was born. I’ve been fascinated with France for years. I wish I knew what it was like back then, or better yet, back when my parents were young.”

  “If things go well, and it’s deemed safe, I’d like you to stay here with me for a while, you and your father. There are things I’d like to show you, places only short hours away that meant something to you when we were here last, places that probably still mean something to your father today.”

  “They still stand?” Hope mixed with surprise. Her fingers played with the brooch on her blouse. He’d already salvaged for her so much, she was afraid to hope for more.

  He watched her fingers twirl around the jewelry before looking back into her eyes. “Perhaps not in their best form,” he said with a smile, “but there are likely remnants—certainly the land, villages that have been remarkably well preserved. France is a literal feast of ruins.”

  “You sound as though you’ve been here a lot?” Realizing it a silly question, she elaborated. “I meant in current times, not…business trips.” She laughed outright, amused by the oddity of the statement.

  His gaze fell to her lips. Instead of laughing with her, a solemn and somewhat sorrowful expression fell like a curtain across his face. He looked backed out the window.

  “Dane, what is it?”

  “There are times it’s harder than others,” he said, continuing to study the city.

  “Harder?”

  “To step back.” Dark brown eyes, sincere and troubled, caught hers inside the window. “I loved you, Edeline. I love you still. You are, though you don’t feel it, the same woman I held so often in my arms.” He sat back in his seat and sighed.

  Covering his hand with hers, she studied his somber profile. “I’m not without…feelings for you. From the first time I saw you inside the lab, I…” This time she sat back in her seat and sighed. “I feel as though I’ve been waiting for you a whole lifetime.”

  Thinking on it further, sh
e was surprised by the depths of her feelings. “Actually it’s more than that. I know it sounds corny, but I come alive when I’m with you.” She looked back his way. “But I’ve a practical side which holds me back. This time, I need to allow time to catch up with me. I’m not asking you to wait for me. I’m asking you to wait with me.”

  Those same dark eyes seemed to penetrate clear to her soul. He turned his hand to capture hers. “I’ve already waited a few hundred years. What’s a few more months?”

  They both smiled.

  No wonder she’d fallen in love with the man, he was everything she’d ever hoped for—strong, trustworthy and not afraid to give his heart completely to the woman he loved.

  The plane began its descent. Dane squeezed her hand. “Edeline, you should be prepared for what we’ll face.”

  “What we’ll face?”

  “General Matthews, the soldiers—they’ll not be allowed to leave the plane. The protection you receive from this point forward will be different. I’m not even sure what to expect.” He looked past her out the window. “We’re touching down in the middle of a warzone, one where the battles and the enemy are less obvious than most. At the moment, you’re right in the middle of a tug-a-war. Both sides are desperate. Both have a great deal to lose. It’s unlikely everyone will play fair. The Dogs will do anything to get to you. The knights will do anything to see that they don’t. Things will get ugly.”

  “I’ve already been through so much, Dane. How much worse could this possibly be?”

  “It will be different,” he said. “Men from both sides will likely die. You have to prepare yourself for anything. Whatever happens, you must keep going. You must do whatever it takes to stay alive. If something is to happen to me—”

  “No!” Her heart skipped a beat before it started to pound heavy with the pain.

  “Edeline, you need to face the possibility. I need to know you can handle it.”

  “I can’t,” she said, closing her eyes and pulling his hand against her middle. The groaning of the plane’s wheels being lowered sounded beneath them. She looked back his way. “I’ll be all right through all of this, as long as you promise you’ll be there with me.”

  He stared at her silently a long moment, his face a visual reflection of the turmoil within. “I can’t promise you that—not this time.” He cupped the side of her face with his free hand. “I love you, Edeline, too much to ever again hold from you the truth.”

  He bent to kiss her.

  The plane bounced as the wheels connected with asphalt. The loud groan of pressure fighting against the breaks rumbled through the cabin.

  “What is it? What’s happening?” Federic sat up straight in his seat.

  Dane dropped his hold and pulled away, echoing her disappointment with one heavy sigh.

  “It’s all right, Federic,” the priest said. “We’ve merely landed.”

  Edeline looked across the aisle to her father. “Welcome home, Daddy.”

  He smiled, though worry was all she could see in his eyes. “Welcome home, Edeline.”

  It was eerily quiet as they walked off the plane and hesitantly down the long aerobridge toward the terminal. With a carpeted walkway, not even their footsteps echoed through the tunnel’s walls.

  Edeline searched Dane’s face for any show of concern and indeed found it leery.

  “Where is everyone?” he asked no one in particular.

  Father Tom shook his head, his eyes still searching the tunnel’s end. “I’m not certain. I would have thought we’d have seen them by now. Don’t worry. I’m certain they’re here.”

  Leading their small party by several steps was her father. He stopped, bringing them all to a standstill. “Something’s not right.”

  “Dane?” called General Matthews from the plane’s entrance, his voice echoing the uncertainty gripping them all.

  “They’re here,” Father Tom said with a sigh of relief. Without another word, he hurried down the jetway.

  “I don’t know,” Federic said, obviously reluctant to step out of the tunnel and away from the safety of General Matthews and his men. His troubled eyes met hers. “Perhaps you should wait here, Edeline.”

  “No,” Dane said, pulling her close. “At no point do I want her alone.”

  “I’ll check things out,” Graham said, stepping around the three of them to head fearlessly toward the terminal.

  “That man’s got a death wish,” Federic mumbled as they all three nevertheless followed.

  The buzz of a busy terminal rolled up the walkway to meet them, its sounds growing louder as they neared the end, defining themselves in ways which soon made them recognizable.

  A tall, middle-aged man, dressed in casual attire had stepped forward to embrace Father Tom. “It’s been far too long,” he was saying as they approached.

  Behind him, carefully scrutinizing the corridor along with Graham, stood two men wearing stoic expressions and headsets adorned with mouthpieces. Behind them all and moving in both directions, was a sea of travelers heading for various destinations, pulling with them a vast assortment of wheeled carry-ons.

  A wide array of languages passed by as new swarms of travelers emerged in steady waves from every joining hall, shop and gateway. Dressed in business attire, blue jeans and occasionally even top-Paris fashions, they scurried by, uninterested in the huddled group congregating at the tunnel’s end.

  Edeline wasn’t sure what she’d been expecting, but the normality of it all wasn’t it.

  “Everyone,” Father Tom said, pulling her attention back to their small group. “Real briefly, I’d like you all to meet Cole Babin. He’s the son of one of my dearest friends. He…and the others are going to be seeing us through the airport. We’ll make time for formal introductions later.”

  “Ah…the others?” she asked out loud before mentally counting two. If these were the only others, she’d prefer they take a withdrawal from the plane behind them.

  “There are more,” Dane said, searching the terminal ahead as though some bionic eye was spotting what she couldn’t.

  If there were more, she’d have liked to have seen their faces. Having lived all the daring she cared to back at the mansion, she no longer dreaded security, she welcomed it…lots and lots of it. Cole and his two sidekicks, though seemingly hardy, were hardly her idea of coverage.

  “Everyone ready?” Father Tom asked.

  She looked to Dane, then her father, and even toward Graham. Isn’t someone going to say something…maybe like “No!” But the men surrounding her seemed to be paying no attention to her at all. Each had shifted gears into what she could easily see was their offensive.

  They moved forward, Father Tom and Cole taking the lead, while Dane and her father both guarded her sides. Graham, looking every inch the fierce-soldier, fell back to take the rear, his eyes, like Dane’s and her father’s, continuously scanning every inch of the terminal—every corner, every door, every stand and every crevice. Taking separate sides of the entourage, Cole’s two men did the same, only they spoke nonstop into their mouthpieces.

  “Father,” a young man greeted Father Tom as he walked closely by their group. Not one of her chaperones seemed particularly interested in him. It was surprising, considering the man was built like a linebacker. He could have easily at least made a dent in their armor had he made an attempt.

  Perhaps she was simply making too much out of everything. Nerves—they were the culprit, they or the lack thereof. The last few days had nearly been her undoing. All nerves remaining had been plenty frazzled.

  What she needed was to get a grip. In truth, peril simply didn’t fit with this everyday terminal scene. Danger didn’t appear to be lurking, it was only paranoia, her own included, which was running wild.

  Nothing seemed out of place. In fact, it was just like in the movies—bright lights above various fast food courts and gift shops decorated the walkway like a walk down Las Vegas Boulevard. Seating areas, check-in booths, large glass windows, and
walls lined with vending machines and Wi-Fi ports were all crowded with a large assortment of customers. None of them seemed even remotely interested in her or any other member of their group.

  Edeline tried to relax. She’d always enjoyed watching others and wondering who they were, where they were going and exactly what made up their lives. The terminal offered a virtual smorgasbord of people to watch and test her imaginings.

  They were all fascinating enough.

  Take the well-dressed man sitting beside the newspaper kiosk. By all appearances he had the world at his feet. What was he reading—the stock market, news of mergers and acquisitions? Not entirely absorbed in the paper he was reading, his glance kept drifting over its top, searching the crowds. Perhaps by finding his success, he’d lost something else. Was he searching for it here? Did he search for it everywhere?

  Standing on a chair beside her mother, a little girl bounced up and down, smiling at those who passed, stealing their hearts while sending them off with a sweet smile.

  Edeline grinned and went to glance away, but her eyes were stopped by the cold, dark glare of the man sitting on the seat straight across from the child. His eyes reminded her far too vividly of another very cold, very hollow set of eyes, eyes which had been entirely immune to the cries of a child, eyes which could have watched without sorrow the child’s death.

  She stumbled over her own two feet, nearly falling to the ground before Dane’s strong hands reached out to correct her.

  “Look,” she said, her gaze and her finger shooting back to the seat where the man had been.

  Empty. He had gone.

  The child across from him continued to bounce, giggling and cooing without a care in the world.

  “She’s adorable, Edeline, but you need to stay focused. Watch your footing, not the children.”