My Defender

by Alanea Alder

  It wasn't until after they sat down that she noticed a small figure sitting across from her. The figure's hoodie was pulled up, and they were face down on the table. "Are they all right?" Ellie asked pointing, unsure who sat in the chair.

  The head lifted, and Ellie was shocked to see that it was Meryn. The small woman's eyes were barely open, and she looked frightening. Bleary eyed, she pointed at them. "Ryuu," she croaked.

  "Is she okay?" Ellie asked concerned.

  Ryuu nodded, a slight smile hovering on his lips. "Denka isn't at her best in the morning. We're still waiting for the first pot of coffee to finish." He pulled something out of his vest pocket. "I believe these were made for the two of you." Ryuu handed them two small stones. Ellie looked at Grant and was about to ask him what they were when she was caught off guard at his pure, unadulterated joyous smile.

  A part of her wished her mate would be happy enough to smile more often, but if she was honest with herself, she was glad his dazzling smiles were few and far between. They made them that much more special.

  "Dude, you're like super sexy when you smile," Meryn said, her voice sounding rough.

  Ellie beamed at her. "I know, right!"

  "Die, morning person." Meryn put her face back on the table.

  Ryuu patted her shoulder. "She doesn't really mean it."

  Ellie grinned. "I've worked in many hospitals. Trust me; I'm used to grumpy, sleep deprived people."

  She turned to her mate who was still grinning like a kid at Christmas. "What are they?"

  Grant held up his stone. "They are..." He turned to the half-dead human. "Meryn, what are we calling these?"

  She lifted her head and snarled. "You're seriously asking me to think?"

  Grant pointed to the stone. "You created it with the twins, you should name it."

  "Call it 'Mornings always suck huge elephant dick'," Meryn grumbled

  At the other end of the table, Magnus and Adriel choked on their morning blood. Elizabeth and Eva however looked unfazed.

  "Is she always like this in the mornings?" Ellie asked Eva.

  Eva winked. "Why do ya think I eat breakfast down here. Not only is Sebastian's cooking phenomenal, but I get a show too."

  Meryn shook a middle finger at her friend. Eva chuckled. "Be careful, now that you're an LGBT ambassador, folks might take that the wrong way."

  "She's what?" Aiden demanded.

  Elizabeth heaved a huge sigh. "After her last announcement on Facebook, she was asked to act as a liaison for LGBT shifter groups since she's mated to you and will be the next Lady of House McKenzie." Elizabeth tapped her lips with her finger. "Politically, it's a brilliant move. It shows she is very progressive."

  "Ambassador? Meryn?" Aiden asked again in disbelief.

  "Dani," Meryn mumbled and sat up. On her chest she now sported a small rainbow-colored button. "Gotta represent." She put her head back down.

  "How'd she do that?" Ellie asked.

  Eva pointed to Meryn. "She's wearing the Gown of Eiré Danu. Meryn calls it Dani for short. It can change into whatever outfit Meryn thinks of."

  "Extraordinary." Ellie thought about it for a moment. "So M.A.S.H.E.D. We call it a M.A.S.H.E.D Stone?"

  Grant looked at her confused. "Mashed?"

  "Yes. Mornings. Always. Suck. Huge. Elephant. Dick. If you take the first letter of each word, it spells mashed," Ellie explained.

  Snorts erupted from under the hoodie, and it looked like Meryn was convulsing. She sat up, her eyes looking more awake. "That's awesome."

  "We are not calling a revolutionary magical tool that gives non-flyers freedom to move about the city mashed, especially when I know what it stands for," Elizabeth protested.

  Meryn chortled. "Too late. It's stuck."

  Magnus raised an eyebrow at Meryn. "I believe the twins already registered a patent with the Academy of Magic for these stones. They are calling it a Caelum Stone. It is Latin for sky stone."

  Meryn shrugged. "I like mine better."

  Grant looked at Meryn. "The twins weren't playing video games last night with Micah, were they?"

  Meryn shook her head. "They wanted to give you a mating present. Plus, it made sense with how often the two of you will be traveling back and forth."

  Grant looked down at his hands as he turned the stone over again and again. "Little devils."

  Magnus chuckled. "They are brilliant devils though." He looked at Ellie. "What are your plans for the day?"

  "I was able to look at some of their bloodwork last night. Unfortunately, I didn't see anything that would help formulate further treatments. I'd like to get to the gardens today to see if I can find something that would cause the symptoms we're seeing in the children."

  "Just let me know when you are ready, and I will let you in," Magnus promised.

  "Ellie, Emeric will be catching up with you sometime today for guard duty. So if you find yourself being followed by a man with a Cajun accent, don't be alarmed," Elizabeth informed her.

  "Right. Thank you." Ellie nodded.

  By the time breakfast was over, Meryn had had enough coffee to be human again. When it was time to leave, Grant practically dragged her down the hall to test their stones. Meryn had gone over the phrases needed to use the stones to make them float, stop, hover, and descend.

  Stepping off the stone ledge, her mate used the first command. "Autem."

  She followed and was surprised how much fun she had. When she wasn't worried about someone else dropping her, she actually enjoyed herself. Once they arrived on Level Six, Grant spotted Micah. He turned to her. "Be right back." He hurried over to where Micah stood smirking at them. Even from a distance Ellie could see that the witch was pleased with himself. Grant pounded him on the back still grinning from ear to ear over having the ability to use the transport tunnel without having to ask for help.

  "Thank the gods I did not have to float your fat ass up. I would have given myself a hernia," the tunnel escort for the level jeered quietly, his eyes cold and full of disgust.

  Ignoring the escort's hurtful words, she quickly walked past her mate toward the wolves' houses. Grant caught up with her and frowned. "What's wrong?"

  She shook her head. "Nothing. Let's go."

  When they reached the children, she saw four men she didn't recognize speaking with Dr. St. John. When they saw her coming, Dr. St. John stepped forward. "Dr. Kimball, I'd like you to meet Artemisia Dracunculus."

  The man sighed. "You might as well call me Tarragon; everyone else does." Ellie smiled at the nickname, and the doctor continued the introductions. "The scary looking one is Emeric Foret, your daytime bodyguard."

  "Why hello there, chér." Emeric winked at her. Grant growled, and the introductions continued.

  "This is Leif Grassfield and Travis Hickory. They are both unit warriors just returning to Noctem Falls. They were supposed to get tested at Storm Keep but got called back early."

  Leif grinned. "For which, we are eternally grateful. We took a little detour in Vegas to postpone the inevitable, and before we knew it, we were getting reassigned back here."

  Travis looked just as pleased. "We're supposed to take over training for two redheaded rapscallions, but we hear they were up last night working on some project so they have a reprieve, and we're all yours for the day."

  Ellie felt some of the weight lift from her shoulders. Three extra witches would help immensely. "We're finding the medicine is becoming less effective, so any distractions that will keep the children calm and entertained would be a godsend. "

  "So basically play with them, but keep them in the cots and lying down?" Leif asked.

  She nodded. "Last night, Hawthorne turned the ceiling into the night sky; it lifted the spirits of everyone here." She pointed to where the weary parents sat with the children, trying to keep them smiling.

  "Got it," Travis said, nodding.

  "Any food restrictions?" Leif asked.

  She nodded. "No sugar, of course, and the more fluids the better.
"

  As the witches got started entertaining the children, Ellie settled down off to one side to go over each child's chart and read her grandmother's notes. Grant sat beside her, and Emeric took up a spot against the wall not too far away.

  "That's going to take some getting used to."

  "What?" Grant asked.

  She pointed to the guard. "Having a bodyguard. Is it really necessary?"

  Grant was quiet for a moment. "Did you dream before coming here?"

  Ellie froze. "Why?"

  "I did. So did Adriel and Declan, right before their mates arrived. They dreamed of their mate's deaths."

  "But they're alive."

  "Yes, but the general consensus is that being aware of what could happen helped to prevent them from dying."

  Ellie noticed that Grant's hands twisted and flipped the air stone over and over. She reached over and held one of his hands in hers. His thumb rubbed circles over the top of her hand. "What did you see?" she asked. He shook his head. "Please tell me. Don't carry those images alone. I did dream, but I didn't really see anything. I was just afraid and overwhelmed by a sense of hopelessness. I would wake up crying without knowing why."

  "Death."

  "What?"

  "I think I saw death. Etain and I compared dreams; they were almost identical. In my dream, I saw a woman with creamy, pale skin and warm brown eyes drown in an ocean of black."

  "I can't drown in a desert," she reminded him gently.

  "No, but I don't think the darkness was water. I think it was death, and it swirled all around you."

  Ellie looked out over the room. "You don't think..."

  "I hope not."

  She shook her head. "Let's talk about something else. Tell me about your parents."

  His hand tightened. "There's not much to say. My father kicked me out of my pack when I was young, and I never tried to go back. You?"

  "They were murdered while shifted in Africa. It's one of the few places where we can shift and not arouse suspicion. They were killed by poachers for their tusks."

  "They didn't shift back?"

  She shook her head. "Elephants were one of the first shifters known to remain in animal form after death."

  "Were the poachers ever caught?"

  "The official answer is no, but I think they were." Her eyes drifted to her grandmother. "One day, there was a hunter's rifle mounted over the fireplace, and she had a certain peace about her. My mother was her only child."

  Grant's eyebrows rose. "Your gram kinda kicks ass."

  She grinned. "She's yours now too."

  "Oh yeah." He paused. "Where's your grandfather?"

  Ellie hunched in on herself. "He died in a car accident thirty years ago. We were on our way home from picking up dinner for Gram; it was her night off. I was telling him about my research when the car beside us lost control and forced us off the road." She shuddered. "He was trapped, and we could hear the sirens. If he could have shifted he would have made it, but it would have exposed us to the humans, putting me at risk. So he slowly bled to death while the paramedics tried to get him out. He just wasn't strong enough to shift and heal then shift back to human." She looked up at him, tears in her eyes. "Tragedy seems to haunt us. We're a matched pair, aren't we?" she asked feeling depressed.

  He wrapped an arm around her, and she leaned into his body. "We can be. What do you see when you think of our future?"

  She wiped her eyes. "You and gram. A home. Continuing my research to help children. What about your dreams?"

  "You. Good food. And a warm, dry place to sleep."

  "That's it?"

  "It's all I've ever wanted."

  A piece of her heart broke when she realized that two of the most important things to him were something to eat and someplace warm to sleep. What had happened to her mate in his past that the very basic things had been denied him?

  She laid her head against him. "What about children?" She felt his body tense.

  "What if I hurt them?"

  "Grant, I've seen you with Benji. You're protective and nurturing. Any child would be lucky to have you as a father."

  He shook his head. "The way I grew up, I don't know how to be gentle."

  She was about to ask him what he meant when loud shouts were heard from inside the Garcia's home. Moments later, a group of people rushed into the courtyard. The men carried a small group of children, and a unit warrior carried an unconscious man.

  Ellie and Grant scrambled to assist. Her grandmother immediately started to settle the children on spare cots so Ellie concentrated on the adult.

  "What happened?" she asked a weeping woman.

  "He just collapsed. He complained yesterday of being tired, but we hadn't slept well the night before, worrying about the children; we just chalked it up to that." The woman wiped her eyes.

  "What's your name?" Ellie asked gently.

  "Carina Sanchez. This is my mate, Julio," Carina replied.

  "Okay Carina, this is what we're going to do. We're going to have the warriors place Julio on this blanket for just a little bit. Then they are going to go down to Level One and bring up a few gurneys. We'll get your mate hooked up with some fluids and medicine. Is that okay?" Carina nodded, looking scared, all the while brushing Julio's dark black curls off his forehead.

  Grant grabbed spare a blanket and laid it on the ground. The warrior holding the man placed him down gently.

  "Sulis wasn't it?" Ellie asked.

  The warrior nodded. "Yes, ma'am."

  "Thank you."

  "No worries. If you'll excuse me, I'll gather some men and bring those gurneys up for you. How many did you need?" Sulis asked.

  Ellie chewed on her lower lip. In truth, she wanted to get the children out of the cots and into beds as well, but she wasn't sure they had enough to go around. They had stocked an infirmary not a hospital. She gasped and looked around.

  Grant cursed, and Sulis muttered under his breath. They had come to the same conclusion. They didn't have enough room. Three to five children were one thing. But the new group consisted of five more children and now an adult. They had more than doubled their patient load.

  Sulis nodded. "I'll bring up the gurney for Julio and then contact the city estate. I'll have more gurneys and supplies here as soon as I can, but I'll need someplace to put everything."

  "Leave that to me," Grant volunteered. Without saying another word, Sulis turned and ran out of the courtyard.

  Ellie felt a hand on her back, and she spun around. Her grandmother's smile was wan. "Adora is getting the new children set up and showing the parents what forms to fill out." She smiled at Carina. "Dr. St. John will ensure your mate is comfortable and show you what we need."

  The odd doctor stepped forward and took over Julio's treatment.

  Her grandmother steered her off to one side. She looked around the courtyard her head bobbing as if mentally counting.

  Ellie held up a hand. "We know," she said.

  "Ellie, I'm not sure we're going to be enough," her grandmother admitted quietly.

  "We'll have to be."

  Just as her grandmother was about to respond, they heard more shouts coming from the other side of the houses that faced the street.

  "Good gods, what now?" her grandmother asked.

  Ellie and Grant stood and hurried to see what was going on.

  When they ran out of the Garcia's front door, they were shocked to see a mob of people forming at the entrance of the wolves' housing. Kari, Declan, Adriel, Eva, the prince, Elizabeth, Gavriel, and Aiden stood as a barrier against the angry vampires. Behind them, the wolves gathered to keep the vampires away from their homes and children. Kari and Eva were trying desperately to keep things from escalating. Adriel and Aiden looked like they just wanted to beat the rowdy vampires into submission. Gavriel was staring down anyone who got too close to his mate, and Declan kept hissing at the more unruly citizens.

  "We want them gone!"

  "They brought sickness and dise
ase!"

  "And we will not abide sickness in our city!"

  Ellie ran up behind Kari. "Everyone please calm down!" she shouted over the noise.

  "Send them away!"

  "Please! Everyone listen! There's no evidence that the wolves brought this sickness to the city. We're still working on determining the cause."

  "Maybe if you were not such a fat, lazy pig, you would have discovered the cause by now!"

  Ellie tried not to collapse in on herself. She fought back humiliated tears. When she looked up, she saw that the one who had insulted her was the same nasty tunnel escort who had made the snide remark earlier.

  One moment the jerk was sneering at her, the next he was flat on his back on the ground. Ellie knew that if she had blinked she would have missed it. Grant had moved so fast even the man's friends looked surprised to see their companion staring up at them at their feet. Her mate had punched his jaw so hard he'd literally flown back several yards.

  No one besides her gram had ever defended her before. Her tears of humiliation were replaced by ones of joy. She finally knew what it felt like to have someone in her corner.

  Grant rubbed his knuckles. "Does anyone else feel like insulting my beautiful mate?"

  The crowd murmured under their breaths.

  When a man dressed in a three- piece suit stepped forward, the crowd parted to let him pass. He walked right up to the prince. "Your humanitarian efforts will see this city destroyed. Tell them to leave."

  Prince Magnus raised a brow, and though he smiled, Ellie could almost feel his barely restrained anger. "You dare to give me an order, Delacroix? Since when do Noble Family heads have the power to do such a thing?"

  The man's nostrils flared. "Of course not my prince. But even you must admit that these refugees have brought nothing but sickness and strife."

  Prince Magnus' eyes narrowed. "That also sounds like an order: what must I do?"

  Delacroix paled and realized exactly how angry he had made his prince. He took a step back, taking safety in the crowd. "We all want them gone!" he shouted, encouraging the mob.

  Again, shouts and threats were hurled their way. Ellie looked up at her mate. She was shocked to see his eyes were shut tight, and he was gritting his teeth. Of course! He hated crowds and loud noises. When the cacophony reached a frenzied decibel, her mate's eyes opened, and his canines dropped.