Guardian (Hidden Book 6)

by Colleen Vanderlinden

  “No sign of your lost soul?” he asked me, and I shook my head.

  “We will try again in the morning. It is a large city. He could be anywhere.”

  “And you were entertaining me. I should have let you work more,” he said apologetically.

  I squeezed his hand a little. “I had fun as well. It was nice.”

  We walked in silence until we reached our hotel, and he opened the door for me, followed me to the front desk where we checked in, then the elevator. When we got in, I noticed that he was grinning.

  “What?” I demanded as I hit the button for our floor.

  “I like following you. Really, really nice view.”

  I shook my head and looked away. Damn it all, I was blushing again.

  He laughed, and his laugh was low, a little dangerous-sounding to my oversensitized mind.

  “Behave, Cub,” I managed, unable to look up at him.

  “What fun is that?”

  He was a hopeless flirt. I knew this. And I had to remind myself that to him, this was fun. It was not the way I was taking it.

  And how I was taking it was a shock to me. The way my body responded to his voice, to his gaze. The way my stomach twisted when he was near.

  This was starting to look like a dumb idea, bringing him with me.

  I got off the elevator, making my way quickly to our room, and I unlocked the door. He came in behind me, tossed his bag on the bed he’d claimed as his, the bed nearest to the door.

  “I’m sorry. I’m not trying to make you mad,” he said.

  “You are not making me mad,” I answered, kicking my boots off.

  “You seem on edge.”

  “This flirting side of you makes me feel awkward. And this entire situation with my sisters and these lost souls…” I shook my head.

  His expression sobered. “I’m sorry, Eunomia. It wasn’t my intention to make you feel that way, and you have enough on your mind.”

  “It’s not… I enjoy it, Brennan. I am not used to it, is all. Not from you,” I added.

  “Do you want me to stop?”

  I shrugged. “I am confused.”

  “By me?”

  “By everything right now,” I said, looking away.

  He was silent, and then he came over to me and raised my chin gently with his finger tips. “Hey.”

  I could not breathe.

  “Let’s try to alleviate any confusion you have about me right now then,” he said. “I am definitely flirting with you, Eunomia. I am doing it because I’m attracted to you. You’re a sexy, alluring, terrifying warrior and one of the kindest, most selfless beings I’ve ever known. I don’t flirt a whole lot anymore. I used to do it quite often and I think I was good at it, based on how often it got me what I wanted. I was pretty sure I was done doing that, but here you are, and I am more than happy to make a fool of myself for you. If you want me to stop, if it makes you feel uncomfortable, I will stop. If you enjoy it, I will keep doing it. Okay?”

  I stared at him.

  “What?”

  “You are strange.”

  “What’s so strange about me?”

  I breathed out, well aware of how close he still stood to me. “Most people do not understand that I need things like that spelled out for me.”

  He smiled a little. “You’re not the only one who pays attention.”

  I looked down.

  “And as someone who pays attention, I can also tell that you’ve got the weight of the world on your shoulders right now. You talk about me looking like I’m about to break. I think you’re nearly there now.”

  I gave a small nod.

  “So, tell me. What does an immortal badass do to unwind? What makes you feel less crazy, Tink?”

  “Flying,” I said without hesitation, finally looking up at him.

  “Flying?”

  I nodded. “It is impossible to feel weighed down when you soar among the clouds.”

  He smiled and held his hand out to me. “Get us up to the roof. I haven’t been a bird in a while.”

  I shook my head a little and rested my hand in his, and in the next breath, we were on the roof of our hotel skyscraper, moonless night sky dark around us. Brennan started shucking clothing, and I shrugged out of my coat. When I turned around, a huge black hawk was perched on the edge of the roof, black feathers shining by the meager light from below, familiar blue eyes looking out at me over a deadly-looking yellow beak.

  I smiled at him. “Let’s fly.” We rose into the sky. Each flap of my wings, each meter I put between myself and the world below made me feel lighter. Saner. Better. And Brennan flew at my side, and when I pulled up and then dove out toward the coast, he was right with me, and we soared and the world and its worries fell away.

  Over the water, I pushed myself, flying fast, diving toward the water only to pull up at the last moment and soar back up into the sky. I flew in lazy loops, upside down, in spirals. My wings stretched, my body became more fluid, and if I flew fast enough, it almost felt as if I could leave everything behind. Brennan twisted, turned, soared with me, and at one point, as we pulled up out of yet another dive toward the water, he let out an exultant shriek, shattering the still night, and I laughed.

  We flew. And in that moment, I felt closer to him than I have ever felt to anyone in my entire existence.

  And I knew I was lost.

  I veered toward the city, and we flew above Tokyo. The lights were no less beautiful from above, though the noise and frenetic activity did not reach us. We circled around several times, racing one another, seeing whose wings were more powerful. For the most part, we stayed side-by-side. My heart pounded, and my body felt languid, more relaxed than I had at any time in recent memory.

  We flew until my wings grew tired, and when that happened, I swooped back toward the roof of our hotel, and landed, breathless, turning, looking out over the city to let Brennan dress in some privacy. I could hear him. Hear shuffling, his zipper.

  The city was bright beneath us, the roof solid beneath my feet, yet I still felt as if I was soaring. I sighed in contentment, and took it all in. Brennan stepped behind me and related his hands on my shoulders, rubbed them gently.

  “I have never seen a hawk quite that size,” I said, at a loss for words at the feel of his hands on me.

  “Are you saying I’m the biggest you’ve ever seen, Tink?” he asked, and I could hear the teasing note in his voice.

  “Quite impressive,” I said, crossing my arms over my body as shiver raced up my spine.

  He did not answer, and his hands gently brushed the sides of my neck, and a tremor ran through me.

  Oh, gods. I could not breathe. He rested his forehead on the top of my head, and I could hear him breathing me in. He rubbed his face against my hair, and I could feel his breath on the shell of my ear as he lowered his face to the side of my neck.

  The sensation of his warm lips kissing the pulse point at the side of my neck threw my entire system into chaos and a small sound escaped me, something between a moan and a strangled cry. At the sound, he groaned and turned me around, swiftly. And then his lips were on mine, soft, warm, giving me a chance to run if I wanted to. And I did not. I pulled him to me, burying my fingers in his hair, kissing him like a woman possessed, and he kissed me back just as hungrily, kissing me, tasting me, our kiss deepening until I was sure I was about to die from the way my heart was pounding. He held my body tightly to his, and ravaged my mouth, and trailed hot kisses across my jaw and down my neck, to that place that had started this whole thing.

  “Brennan,” I breathed.

  He released a low chuckle, and it vibrated against my skin. “Not ‘Cub’ now, huh?” he teased, and I shook my head.

  He pressed another kiss, warm and sweet, to my lips, then gently released me and stepped back.

  “Is this awkward?” he asked me, eyes on mine.

  “Not at this moment, no,” I answered. “Ask me in the morning.”

  He smiled. “Maybe I won’t give
you a chance to think about it.”

  “I do not want to think about it.”

  He smiled, and took my hand, and I rematerialized us back to our room, and the first thing my gaze took in was the two twin beds. I did not know what he expected now. “I…” I began helplessly.

  His gaze followed mine, to the beds. “We’re taking this slow, Eunomia. I refuse to mess this up.”

  I took a breath of relief, and he chuckled. “Not that I am not practically dying for you right now,” I said quickly, needing, wanting him to know that he affected me.

  How bizarre was that, that I actually wanted him to see how weak he made me?

  He smiled. “Glad to hear it. I’m going to need a cold shower before I go to sleep.”

  “That was a mental picture I did not need right now,” I said, and he laughed and lowered his face to mine, claimed my mouth briefly, and I let myself fall into him.

  He wandered off to the shower after breaking our kiss, and I sank into my bed, lazily watching the talk show on the television and smiling to myself at the memory of his lips, the way we’d flown together.

  Chapter Sixteen

  I was awakened by a hand gently shaking my hip, and I opened my eyes to see the sun shining brightly into our room, Brennan sitting on the edge of my bed.

  “Hey,” he said.

  “Hey,” I answered. “I slept the sleep of the dead, I think.”

  He laughed. “You did. I came back in here after my shower and you were in dreamland already. I have a meeting this morning with the guy in charge of the Tokyo bureau for the supernatural affairs office. I just wanted to let you know I was leaving.”

  I looked him over. He was wearing his suit, and I reached out and ran my fingers over the dark tie.

  “Eunomia,” he said.

  “Hm?”

  “I don’t suppose you’re going to wait for me before you go looking for your soul today?”

  “No.”

  He laughed a little. “Would it make any sense to argue with you and ask you to just wait for me? I hate you going after theses assholes alone.”

  I shook my head. I knew this was one of those moments, one that would set the pattern and tone for whatever there was between us. I can lie to just about anyone without qualms. I do not like lying to Mollis, keeping things from her, yet I was doing so anyway.

  Him, I could not lie to. Not anymore. Not now, when I’d admitted to myself what he meant to me. That he’d made me feel something I had never felt for another being.

  “I need to tell you something,” I said softly. “Do you have a minute?”

  “I have as much time as you need,” he said, and it warmed me, knowing he meant it completely.

  I sat up and held my hands out to him. “Come with me.”

  He put his hands in mine, and I rematerialized us to a subway station where I’d told my lost souls to wait for me. My New Guardians.

  I spied them though the crowd, sitting on a bench, watching the crowds. I led Brennan toward them.

  “I am not alone,” I told him quietly as we approached Quinn, Claire, Cathleen, and Erin.

  “I don’t…” he said, trailing off, then his brow furrowed as he felt something.

  “You feel them?” I asked. He gave a small nod. “Focus. Hard. Put everything into it. You are an Aether immortal. You have been healed by my Lady’s blood. Open yourself up. See the things our kind can see.”

  I watched as he focused. “I feel them more strongly, but…”

  “Keep trying. I want you to see. I want you to know,” I whispered, and he met my eyes, and nodded. “You are a shifter. Grandson of Artemis. You have senses many can only dream of. Use them.”

  He looked toward where he sensed my team, and Quinn looked at me questioningly.

  “You sure about this?” he asked me.

  “I am.”

  “He won’t betray you?”

  “I would never betray her,” Brennan said, looking toward Quinn’s voice. And I saw it. I saw the moment his sight opened up, and he saw the souls before him.

  “Holy shit,” he muttered the next second. Then he looked at me. “Explain, Tink.”

  “Tink?” Quinn asked with a laugh.

  “Quiet,” I told him. And I explained. I explained about them, and how I’d found them, and what they did, and the ways they’d helped me. I explained why I had kept them from Mollis, that I feared she would insist on them being imprisoned with the rest of the souls, and how I was trying to understand how they could possibly exist without her knowledge.

  “She would see them as a threat,” he said quietly. “She could very well be right.”

  “She would. And she would have every right to. But they are not. They are mine. Loyal. I cannot explain them. The only theory I have is that Nyx had some foresight, that she saw a situation like this arising, in which there were not enough of my kind to maintain the systems as they are. And maybe she allowed for the creation of New Guardians, those who would have a personal reason for wanting to help those who remained. I have no idea if it is right. It fits with what I know of my Creator, but it is only a guess,” I admitted.

  He was quiet for several long moments. “She hates being lied to, Eunomia,” he finally said.

  “I know. I just need time,” I said. “I need to know if there are more out there. It would be lovely if I had an explanation for why they are here, other than a guess.”

  “She’ll know the second she looks at me now,” he said.

  “I know. I will tell her about them when I make it back to Detroit. Do you trust me?”

  He looked at me, finally turning away from the New Guardians. “Of course I do. I trust you, Eunomia. And I trust your judgment. And I’m glad you’re not doing this shit on your own. I’m glad you have them,” he said. “Thank you for telling me.”

  “I did not want to lie to you,” I said quietly.

  He took my hand in his. “And I won’t lie to you, either. And I won’t betray the trust you just put in me. But you need to tell Molly before this becomes a mess.”

  “I know. I will.”

  “Okay. I need to get to my meeting, and I’ll see you after and we’ll figure it out.” I nodded, and he lowered his lips, brushed a quick kiss across my lips. “Stay safe, okay?”

  “I will. I will see you in a while.”

  He nodded, then looked at Quinn and the others. “Keep her safe.”

  “We intend to,” Claire said, and the others nodded.

  “Not that she needs us, especially,” Quinn added.

  Brennan smiled then. “True,” he said, and Quinn laughed. He looked back at me. “Lunch? One o’clock? Sushi? That place across the street from our hotel?”

  I nodded, and he grinned. One final kiss, and he was walking through the throngs of people, heading to the train he needed to catch for his meeting.

  I turned to my New Guardians. “All right. Let’s look for our American monster. All of his murders took place here in Tokyo and the surrounding areas. He murdered Japanese women, with the twisted notion that he would keep his ‘enemies’ from the second human World War from procreating if he killed all of their women,” I said, rolling my eyes.

  “What an asshole,” Quinn muttered. “How’d he finally meet his end?’

  I smiled. “He happened to run across Lord Hades when Hades was in town enjoying a meal… and some human companionship, if you know what I mean. Hades caught him in the act, killed him, escorted his soul to the Nether personally, then judged and punished him.”

  “Wow.”

  “Indeed. Hades really did not get much time off, and I think he was even more enraged to have it interrupted,” I said with a shrug.

  Quinn shook his head. “This is all completely nuts. So where do we start?”

  “We walk. Hades caught him near Lake Tama. We will relocate there, and see if he still haunts the place of his death.” I took their hands, and we rematerialized on the winding road near the reservoir. There were trees here, sports fields. The
re were several so-called “love hotels” in this area, the Japanese equivalent of the cheap motels I’d seen in the States. Hades had been in one of those when he’d been interrupted by the American murderer, who had been there as well, choosing his next target.

  “His name was Robert Mordell,” I said as I started walking, Quinn and the others arrayed around me. “He murdered thirty-nine Japanese women of all ages in his insane crusade against those he saw as enemies. He did it for forty years. One per year, and he would stalk her for months beforehand in preparation. Grown women. Elderly widows. Young girls. My Queen will be especially glad to have this one returned to her,” I finished, thinking of Molly and her ongoing quest to make the world, especially her own city, a better, safer place for women. Men like the one I was tracking now symbolized the entire reason she’d started on the path she was on. I can only imagine that she never envisioned ending up quite where she was now.

  We walked, and soon, I felt it. “He has been here,” I said quietly. We walked on, toward the end of the lake, where the trail was less-trafficked, weeds and saplings growing up in the cracking concrete, the concrete turning to rubble the further off the main road we went. His energy signature grew stronger, and when I saw where we were heading, I shook my head.

  “What?” Quinn asked.

  “He returned to the building where Hades killed him,” I said, nodding to the dilapidated structure, long abandoned, standing before us.

  “What was it?”

  “Love hotel. Like a motel or pleasure house, depending on which term you like.”

  “A whorehouse?”

  I shook my head. “No. They had to bring their own partners,” I said, and Cathleen crossed herself. She did that whenever she heard something that was apparently not looked upon well by her faith. It amused me, considering that I knew very well who judged her, and Mollis did not care about things like that.

  We trudged toward the love hotel, its white exterior stained and sooty, graffiti marking the walls. Trash was strewn all around the building, and a large chest of drawers lay across the porch, partially blocking the entry door. Its blue-tiled roof still gleamed in the weak sunlight. I noted, absentmindedly, the bodies of several large crows nearby as well.