Guardian of Darkness

by Katie Reus

  And wow, did she like it. She wanted to argue but decided to just let him go. Right now they needed to work as a team and she could let him take charge. “Okay.”

  Surprising her, he brushed his lips over hers oh so gently, before he stepped back and moved toward the nearest wall. Another chill slid against her, making her wrap her arms around herself as he released his claws and jumped high into the air, grasping onto a ledge far above him.

  Or at least tried to.

  Her heart leapt into her throat as he couldn’t gain any traction and fell back to the earth with a thud.

  Though she knew he was fine, she immediately stepped toward him.

  “It’s iced over,” he growled without looking at her. Instead he reached out and slammed his claws against the wall. Then winced.

  She did the same and couldn’t make a dent. That was when she noticed little ice crystals forming along the wall—and on her sweater. Her teeth chattered slightly as she said, “Not to be a whiner but holy shit it’s cold in here.”

  Jaw clenched tight, he nodded. “This isn’t normal.”

  As a full-on shudder racked her body, little flames danced along her fingertips. She couldn’t remember being this cold in her life. To be fair, she rarely got cold because of her nature. But this… Her teeth chattered as she tried to order the fire under control.

  Gabriel’s eyes widened. “That’s new.”

  She was glad he didn’t overreact. Of course he wouldn’t—the male seemed to take everything in stride. “Yeah… It’s been happening on and off for the last year. I don’t know what it is.” Except that it was weird. Because vampires and fire didn’t mix. Only she wasn’t a full vampire.

  “It’s pretty fucking awesome,” he murmured. “Try it on the wall. See if you can melt the ice any.”

  Trying to ignore the chill invading her veins, Vega held her hand up and concentrated but wasn’t sure she was doing anything right…because she wasn’t certain what the hell this was. It didn’t feel like a gift she could do much with. More like a little tingling of power sparking, but nothing else. It was so new it was hard to tell, however. She hadn’t had her psychic gift since she was born either; it had developed in her teens. And it had taken six or so years to completely develop.

  The ice glistening over the cave wall started to melt—only to ice right back over.

  And with it, a wave of cold wrapped around her like a thick blanket, chilling her to the bone. Her teeth started to chatter as she moved closer to Gabriel.

  “Whoever’s calling out to you,” he gritted out, clearly affected by the cold too, “is likely doing this to drive us to that opening.”

  Swallowing hard, she nodded and scratched the back of her neck. A little tingling had been bothering her there since…well, since her orgasm. Ignoring the prickle against her upper spine, she burrowed closer into him. “We can’t climb out…and my fire isn’t doing much… Should we take the exit provided?” It felt stupid to walk into it but what else could they do?

  The voice wanted them to leave, wanted them somewhere else, so at least they knew there was a potential trap and would be able to fight against it. Or they could sit here and turn to ice pops.

  Before he answered, the temperature seemed to drop another twenty degrees. Little ice crystals formed on his dark lashes and she actually felt her heart rate slowing. Even breathing in burned her lungs. Yep, no way this was normal.

  Simply nodding, he wrapped an arm around her, whether for body heat or because he wanted her close, and they started toward the exit.

  It seemed to take forever, her steps as sluggish as her heartbeat. Each inhale was like she’d swallowed sharp shards of ice until finally a wave of warmth rolled over them as they neared the exit.

  Only ten feet to go and it felt like they were crossing the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway. She could feel the nearby heat, as it called to her like a siren’s song. Warmth started spreading through her fingers and face as they stepped through the entryway into a…tunnel.

  She hadn’t been sure if it would be another cave but apparently not. Though this tunnelway probably led to another cave—or hopefully an exit topside. Somehow she doubted that, but a girl could hope. She wasn’t even certain that they were only underground and not in some other realm. But for now, that was what she was going to assume.

  As they stepped into the tunnel fully, warmth infused her entire body. She went to step away from Gabriel, but he held her close. Okay, then. She certainly wasn’t going to fight him. Not when he felt so good.

  Little lights flashed on overhead, but it was nothing manmade. They looked like little glowworms.

  “So are we going to talk about that whole ‘fire with your fingers’ thing?” Gabriel asked as they cautiously moved through the tunnel.

  “I honestly don’t know what to say. It’s kinda like the psychic connection I have with my mom, and now how I can get into other people’s dreams. It just started one day and I wasn’t even aware I was controlling it. Now I only sort of control it. When we were in that hotel room and you kissed me abruptly in front of Judoc, my fingers basically lit up. I think it was an uncontrolled reaction but I was able to get it to stop.”

  “Anything else new that you can do?”

  “No. But that doesn’t mean anything. I’m still pretty young.”

  He nodded once, his expression thoughtful. “I didn’t gain the ability to bend the shadows to my will until I was about fifty.”

  “How old are you now anyway, grandpa?”

  He snorted. “If we make it out of here I’ll tell you.”

  “Damn. That old, huh?”

  Gabriel simply shook his head, fighting a smile. “We are going to get out of here, you know that.”

  “I know. And I’m going to rip Carson’s face off.”

  He let out a startled laugh. “I didn’t realize you were so bloodthirsty.”

  “Normally I’m not, but hey, I am a hybrid. I guess it’s in my nature. Plus he really pissed me off.”

  “I think Judoc likely locked him down. There’s no way that wolf escaped from this territory. Or I’d be very surprised if he did,” Gabriel said.

  “If he did, we’ll just hunt him down. I really hope that I didn’t accidentally activate the panic button.” That was her main worry and she was pretty certain she had. Because if August and the others decided to infiltrate this territory, now of all times, she wasn’t sure how well that would go down if they got caught. And if anything happened to them, that would be on her conscience forever.

  “Judoc doesn’t kill people for sport. If your team did infiltrate his territory,” Gabriel said, clearly guessing her thoughts, “unless they were overtly violent, and I don’t see that happening, they’ll be alive. Maybe worse for the wear and in a cell, but alive.”

  Okay, that would have to do for now. “When I was in college, I used to write you letters,” Vega said abruptly. There were more than a few things she wanted to tell him, especially since things had changed between them.

  He shot her a sideways glance. “What do you mean?”

  “When I was bored in class—because I’d already read ahead five or ten chapters—I would type you notes on my laptop instead of actually paying attention.”

  He let out an incredulous laugh.

  “What?” she asked, frowning. It wasn’t that big of a deal, was it?

  “Back home I have a stack of about a hundred handwritten letters to you. When I left my post in New Orleans, I continued writing them. But when we were basically living together at the pack’s house, I wrote you letters often. It was my way of getting some shit out of my head when I couldn’t tell you how I felt.”

  She was silent for a long moment as they continued down the winding tunnelway. “Do you think that you ended up fighting this thing with me, with us, pointlessly? Because right now it kinda feels like we were meant to be together.”

  “A magic man once told me that fighting destiny was a fruitless endeavor,” he said, and then just sto
pped talking. Apparently that was all he was going to say on that.

  She’d take it. For now. Because the main priority was getting the hell out of here alive.

  “What if we’re walking in a giant circle?” she muttered after five minutes of walking the curving tunnelway. “And eventually those little glowworms are going to attack. Because they’re really radiation-filled glowworms doing the bidding of…whoever the voice is. She’s trying to wear us down, first with the cold cave, and now from fucking boredom. And that’s when they’ll attack.”

  Gabriel sorta snort-laughed. “You’re ridiculous.”

  “I know, but come on… How crazy would it be if glowworms attacked when we least expected it?”

  He laughed even harder, his expression softening in a way she’d never seen it as he looked over at her. His green eyes were filled with warmth and…she didn’t even know what. The only thing she knew was that she definitely wanted to see this side of him more often. As in, always. Because damn.

  “Fucking glowworms,” he muttered to himself a few minutes later as they were still walking.

  As they rounded yet another corner, that little itching on the back of her upper spine was back. Annoyed, she reached back and scratched it again.

  “You okay?”

  “Yeah. Just itchy.” She shot him a sideways glance. “Maybe the glowworms have started their attack already.”

  Rolling his eyes, he reached out and rubbed the back of her neck. “That better?” The low tone of his voice rolled over her, sending shivers rolling through her.

  “Mmm hmm.”

  “You get a tattoo?” he asked as they came to a split in the entryway. The lights overhead all shifted right instead of left.

  Pausing at the fork, she shook her head, wanting to savor the sensation of his hand resting so protectively against the back of her neck. Clearly they’d lost their minds earlier, and she knew a replay wasn’t happening anytime soon. But that didn’t mean she couldn’t fantasize about a replay. And hope for one later.

  Frowning, he stepped behind her and gently tugged at the top of her sweater, pulling it down a couple inches.

  When he swore violently and stepped back, she swiveled to face him. “What’s wrong?”

  The muscles in his neck worked as his jaw clenched—as if he couldn’t talk. Finally he turned around and tugged down his own pullover.

  Frowning, she leaned closer, inhaling his spicy, masculine scent even as she did. Her eyes glowed bright enough in the dimness that she didn’t actually need the overhead lights to see anything. Her frown deepened as she looked at the tattoo on his upper back. It was a Celtic symbol and she was pretty certain it had something to do with life, death and rebirth.

  “You got a tattoo?” She wasn’t sure why he was even showing her, or why he seemed to be having trouble talking.

  “It’s not a tattoo,” he rasped out as he turned around. Gone was the relaxed male from earlier, replaced by this fierce, angry wolf. “It’s a mating symbol. You have one too. We’re mated.”

  She blinked. “That’s…not possible. It’s just not! We haven’t even had sex.”

  “That doesn’t seem to matter. You orgasmed and bit me at the same time. And you’re psychic so…maybe…fuuuuck. I don’t know!” Growling, he shoved a hand through his hair. “This can’t be happening.”

  “Yeah, well it is. It has.” And she wasn’t sure how she felt about it. At all.

  But she knew that she didn’t like the way Gabriel appeared to be having a full-on panic attack. Okay, that was an exaggeration but his face had flushed red and he…didn’t look too good.

  So she punched him in the chest.

  His head snapped up as he met her gaze. “What the hell was that for?”

  “You looked like a freaking cartoon, like steam was about to start coming out of your ears.”

  Gabriel sucked in a deep breath and seemed to center himself. “I’m processing this.”

  “Me too!” And she was definitely going to freak out. But a lot later. Once they were out of this place.

  “I know, I’m…” Taking her off guard, he pulled her into his arms.

  She moved into his embrace, wrapping her arms around him. She rubbed a hand up and down his spine. “We’ll figure this out.”

  “Don’t do that.”

  “What?”

  “Try to comfort me.”

  She pulled back slightly but kept her arms around his waist. “Why not?”

  “Because I should be the one comforting you.”

  “How about we both comfort each other—and get the hell out of here in one piece.”

  Nodding, he glanced at the two tunnelways, his expression turning grim. “Let’s follow those damn lights.”

  She nodded even as she tensed, preparing for whatever lay at the end of the tunnel.

  Chapter 20

  In dragon form, Mira scooped up a chunk of the disturbed earth that had opened up before. She tossed it behind her while Judoc stood in front of her, arms over his chest. He’d offered to get a crew to help dig, but that was ridiculous. Especially when she could do this in minutes.

  As she dug, she tried to reach out to her sister, but it was useless. That bothered her on multiple levels. No matter what, Mira and Prima were bonded in a way that most dragons, and she assumed most shifters, weren’t. Since they were children, they’d been able to communicate with each other, not in words, but through emotions along their psychic link. She’d always taken it for granted, she realized, as she now couldn’t communicate with Prima.

  Frustrated, she started digging faster, her claws ripping into the earth and tearing a huge hole in the same place Gabriel and Vega had fallen. She heard the ground underneath her begin to crumble before she felt it. Using her wings, she stayed airborne as the ground fell away.

  Judoc cursed and jumped back even as she peered downward. It looked to be a cave. Nothing special about it. Unfortunately it was also empty.

  An icy wave rolled upward. That didn’t seem right. It would be cold underground, but not freezing. And this felt far below what should be normal.

  Flying backward, she landed and shifted only when she was sure the ground was stable. “I still can’t communicate with my sister,” she said. “But I sense her presence a lot stronger now. I’ll go in and find your friends.”

  Judoc snorted from across the cavernous opening. “I’m going with you. My land, my rules. Don’t turn this into a stupid argument.” He pulled out his cell phone and was barking orders into it while she picked up her discarded clothing.

  She did want to argue with him, but decided it wasn’t worth her time.

  Judoc stalked around the hole and shoved his phone in his pocket as he reached her. “Couple packmates are going to come with us. They’re bringing supplies.”

  “Supplies like your human weapons?”

  “Food, water and a medical kit. Who knows what the hell is down there.”

  She lifted an eyebrow.

  “And yeah, a few weapons. I told them to bring the Glock you like.”

  She smiled briefly at his words, but it quickly dimmed. “It might be better if it’s only me. I…am sensing something else down there. Something not associated with Prima.”

  Judoc stiffened, his expression pure Alpha as he looked at her. “What does that mean?”

  “I don’t know. I just sense something else down there. And it wasn’t there when we went to sleep. We chose our Hibernation place very carefully.”

  “Can you explain that to me? About your Hibernation?” he asked quietly, before looking over his shoulder. “It will remain between us.”

  She patted his cheek gently, then inwardly chastised herself for it. He was an Alpha, but the male was so young, at least by her standards. She could see the male he would one day grow into and she’d become so fond of him. “I hope you know I don’t mean any disrespect when I do that.”

  His smile was wry. “I do know.”

  “Okay… Dragons pick a place to hib
ernate and how they get there is particular to that dragon.” Some chose caves or mountains but she and Prima had gone underground. “My sister and I chose places close enough to each other, ah, a mile apart by your standards, to go to sleep. There weren’t many humans in this area back then. None that had made permanent settlements anyway.” The people here had been primitive hunter-gatherers and absolutely delightful. She and Prima hadn’t worried about anyone disturbing their slumber. It would have been too deep for mortals to reach them anyway. And they would have sensed an attack, regardless.

  “How far underground?”

  “Deep.”

  “Could a human have reached her?”

  “No. And I don’t think a shifter could have either. I would have sensed it. And you likely would have noticed someone on your land anyway.”

  “True. So…we’re headed into something unknown. Will your sister attack the others?”

  “I don’t know. She won’t attack me.” Mira was mostly certain of that. Prima might be angry about the binding spell she’d done but hopefully her sister would understand why she’d done it. Prima had been so disillusioned back then and Mira could only hope that sleep had tempered her sister.

  “Then we better hurry the hell up,” Judoc said as two wolves driving an ATV pulled to a stop at the line of trees and jumped off the seat, backpacks in hand.

  * * *

  “I don’t like this,” Neema said, pacing like a caged wild animal.

  Which was exactly how August felt right now. Technically they weren’t caged; they were in a plush library and someone had offered them a tray of snacks. Seriously, fucking snacks. Froufrou shit too. Cucumber sandwiches and other finger foods. What the hell kind of wolf pack offered vegetable sandwiches?

  “If she’s been hurt because we couldn’t get to her in time…” Eli shook his head in frustration.

  Eli always kept his cool, but this thing with Vega… She was new to the team. She’d been ready, yes, but she was still new. They all felt responsible for her even if they weren’t. It was what made a good team. August had worked with others in the past whose motto was every man or woman for themselves. Those assholes never lasted—and he never recruited people like that. Carson… That asshole was an anomaly. He’d slipped past August’s defenses, something that had never happened before and he’d be damn sure it never happened again.