by Ruby Raine
LUCAS RELAXED WHEN the soft hand of Mathew grabbed hold of his own. It was a relief to feel that anchor to the real world, because in a blink, Lucas was seeing a vision of an old world long past. The Guardian was aware of what was happening, but somehow, it didn't relieve Lucas' stress over the fact that his gift decided to kick in at one of the worst moments possible.
Being in the pause of a battle sure to start up again wasn't any safer than being behind the wheel of his truck—which he hadn't dared drive yet again since he'd almost killed Lizzy.
But Lucas was no longer standing in the gully of White Pines—well, he was, just not in the present, but in the past. The very, very distant past. Watching something unfold that had happened here on the Isle long before any witches resided here.
A man. Kneeling in front of roots.
The roots that now wound around the Power Source, Lucas recognized.
What he didn't recognize or expect, was for those roots to start moving and reshape themselves into a very much living vision of a woman. Her skin glowed. Her smile eased. Her beauty was unmatched.
"Have you thought about my offer?" the man asked the woman—erm—Power Source in the form of a woman.
"I have given it much thought. And I have concluded that you are correct. The secret should follow you to your grave. And the gift you wish to give the world, for when that secret must be revealed—I accept your gift. I will protect and nurture the child. They will sleep until the moment arrives when the Garudian bloodline is ending and only revealing this secret can save your bloodline, and not destroy it."
The man exhaled, relieved. "Thank you."
"I believe I should be thanking you, Alon. Your discovery has brought your own death to you. And you give it freely so that your offspring can save your bloodline, as well as the humans and my own descendants."
"I do give my life freely. What me and my kind have created on this earth is too precious to lose. It is worth losing one life—my life—to save it. Humans have come to depend on us. We have changed this world by coming here. I will do all in my power to protect this."
"Very well. Once it is done, our child will hold the secret. And only when the time has come for that secret to be revealed, will our child be born into this world. Equal halves, magic and Guardian. They will be a ray of light to smite all darkness."
Lucas narrowed his gaze. Was this Alon a Guardian? Is that what they meant by Garudian bloodline? Mathew had just used that word too—corrected himself, but he'd used it. Lucas supposed the more important part is that he had a suspicious feeling that whatever his brother was bringing into the world was this gift. But if this was planned, why his brother? That still didn't make any sense.
And what secret did this child possess?
A secret her father was willing to sacrifice his own life to protect.
"You are truly as beautiful and wise and powerful as I believed," the man named Alon spoke.
"And you are kind and brave, Alon." She sighed. "Though, taking human form weakens me. We must hurry before I am forced to return to my natural state."
Alon nodded. "I am ready."
The man climbed to his feet. She opened her arms as if to take him into an embrace. However, as the man smiled and entered into her arms, they were engulfed by bright light and the man's body dissolved into empty space. The womanly form soaked up his entire being, taking his very soul and power into herself.
She peered down at her belly and rubbed it gently.
"Sleep now, little one. You don't need to wake for a long time." She let the womanly form morph back into the twisted roots which linked together holding a pod-like cocoon. What Lucas took from the vision, though, was that this thing—this child—being born, was worth the fight and the sacrifice. That what was being born, was a precious gift the world needed desperately. The thing his brother had been charged to bring into this world—was hope. Hope for a better, safer, more peaceful future.
And who was he to argue with such a prospect?
And just like that the time travel ended, and Mathew was peering nervously at Lucas who blinked hard a few times, getting his bearings about him, while the others continued bracing themselves for battle.
"What did you see?" Mathew asked him.
Lucas glanced around at everyone, and smiled timidly.
"I saw—hope."
He wasn't sure how else to sum it up. But his gift had allowed him to see that it was something good coming. That the sacrifices made by all had been worth it.
"Don't suppose you could be a touch more specific," mumbled Michael.
Melinda rolled her eyes. She knew damn well gifts didn't always work like that.
Lucas tried to explain.
"Something happened here, a very long time ago. Um, this man, a Guardian named Alon from some Garudian bloodline."
"Alon?" questioned Mathew. "There was only one Guardian named Alon and he was one of the sons of my Elders. The original Guardians." He had to clamp his mouth shut before he revealed too much.
"What did this Alon do?" asked Melinda.
"Sacrificed himself for some secret he believed would save the Garudian bloodline," Lucas aimed his statement at Mathew who took a step back, in awe. "Is that another word for the Guardian bloodline?" Lucas clarified. "I've never heard it before."
"It's um—" Mathew stalled. "Something like that." It was the bloodline of all of them. Demons and Guardians. Mathew trembled, trying to get a grip. He was walking a super fine line here, and wasn't sure how to explain without giving away what Lucas was.
"Okay, well, this guy, Alon, gave himself into death to magic. Right here. In sacrificing himself, he gave magic a child who would be born into the world when the secret needed to be revealed."
"A secret? I must speak with my Elders."
"No need, Mathew. We are here."
Everyone spun around to see two more Guardians had arrived out of nowhere. A man and a woman. Their very presence lifted much of the dread that the Demons had spread into the gully, like light lifting the dark.
"Alethea. Daegal." Mathew bowed his head in surprised greeting. The two originals rarely ever made appearances in the world of the living, spending most of their time managing the world of the Guardians.
"The magic called to us. A new Garudian has been born," Alethea spoke.
"Although, we do not know how," Daegal finished. "It is beyond our knowledge."
"And beyond ours," a man spoke from behind them. His voice was much deeper and held a haughty malevolence to it. "But it is this same magic that has drawn us all here."
They all spun to see a foreboding figure marching into the gully, with three more dark figures behind him. Demons. The leader eyed the two Elder Guardians and gave them a tempting grin.
"Jesus," Michael spewed under his breath.
"Not quite," the Demon responded. "But not for lack of trying. Humans will believe almost any stupid drivel you put into their minds."
"Obviously, that is not true," Daegal argued. "Or you'd be in control of this world, Daemon."
"King Daemon, if you please." He raised his arms as if he expected them all to bow down to him, but only laughed when they did not. "Oh, come now, I'm just having a bit of fun. What's the point of being King of the Demons if you can't have a little fun?"
As if to prove some point, a tattoo that lined his neck and shoulder lit up, like a fiery warning—similar marks lit up on his Demon minions and they growled in response to some silent order only they could hear.
"This does not frighten us," Alethea responded, unimpressed.
"It should. Because I'm done playing the game. The bloodline is ending. Let it be known, here and now, that the world will be mine as it should have been."
"We will never allow that to happen."
"And you think you can stop me, Daegal?" Daemon laughed, revilingly so. "The rules don't matter any longer. Our bloodline is ending!"
"But it is not yet ended," reminded Alethea sternly. "There are two left."
> "Yes, your two precious ones. I've tried to tempt them over the years, but to no avail. And I don't need them. I have many allies."
"We are aware," stated Daegal.
"And they have allies, too." Melinda had no damn clue why she was compelled to join in the conversation, other than she was sick ass tired of people thinking they were so much better than anyone else.
"Hush little human. You know nothing of which you speak." Daemon's harsh belittling got a warning growl out of William who'd moved closer to Melinda. She and Michael, and probably the others, had never been so out of their element before. Demons and Guardians having a talk on the Isle.
Shit. The surprises kept a coming.
But it sounded a lot like there was major trouble in paradise. Like perhaps things were not so well organized in the world of the Guardians as many had been led to believe. Actually, it sounded a lot like they were on the brink of war. And the little humans—witches and friends—just happened to be in the way.
It was an odd situation to say the least. Especially for Michael, Melinda, and William, seeing as they were used to being in charge. The Isle was long known as Howard territory.
"If you begin a war, Daemon," Daegal spoke, "it will be you who loses. In our spirit forms, we cannot kill each other. And without our human forms, we are useless on this earth. All of us, Daemon, including you."
The Demon King growled, his tattoo lighting up. His Demons began to snarl like they had been ordered to fight.
"I guess it call comes down to which side has the most human bodies left when the war is over then?" And Daemon was confident he and his Demons would win that battle.
Shit. How the hell did you fight a Demon?
Strike that, the King of the fucking Demons?
And suddenly, as fast as it had stopped, the battle wound right back up again. The Feyk and their friends joining up with the Demons—although King Daemon spun on the spot and popped out. Just like a bad guy. Disappear and let others do the dirty and dangerous work.
Mathew eyed his Elders for a direction. Fight? Leave? What was he permitted to do?
"Daemon is in part correct," Alethea told him. "We have forever changed this world and we cannot allow our bloodline to end humanity, even if it means the end of our own."
So, they'd fight. Mathew wasted no time, grabbing potions. But none of them had more than shot off a few spells when—
"Stop!"
The order ricocheted off every surface as if amplified by everything it touched, so loud it was almost painful.
And it worked, because the battle stopped.
Riley and a young woman stood at the precipice over the entrance of the Power Source.
But it was the woman who spoke.
"I am Raeana. Daughter of magic. Daughter of Alon." She locked her gaze on her shocked and befuddled grandparents who just stared in disbelief at the granddaughter they never even knew existed. And Mathew hadn't told them what Lucas had seen earlier, but Alon was one of Alethea's and Daegal's sons. And he'd gone missing while still living out his human life, never to be seen or heard from again. Which made no sense seeing as all others from the Garudian bloodline returned to their spirit forms after their human deaths.
"Alon had no offspring," King Daemon charged. "I call bullshit."
"Call it what you will," Raeana stated. "It does not change the facts. Alon is my father. He gave his life so that magic could bring me into this world when I was needed most."
Alethea cast a longing gaze at her lifelong companion.
Daegal sighed. "This is why we were always drawn to this place," he realized. "Why we felt such a need to protect it."
At long last, they understood why they'd done this, and what mysterious thing had befallen their loving son. But what they did not know, was why he had done it.
Daemon snarled out, "Alon was a murderer. Killed his own damn brother."
"Took his human life, and for good reason," Daegal argued.
"Because he was serving me." Daemon tossed a satisfied smile their way. He'd turned one son against his parents and pegged the brothers against each other.
"It wasn't long after Cerek died that both he and Alon vanished," Alethea remembered longingly. "From the Human and Garudian world."
"Yes. It seems that Alon figured out some way to destroy my best servant." And this woman, Raeana, knew the secret. Something Daemon had greatly desired to discover.
Alethea cast a knowing gaze to Raeana. "You know what befell them both, don’t you? You know the answer to the mystery that has plagued us all these long years."
"Yes. But it's not a secret I'm yet willing to share."
What they all heard was—at least not in the present company.
Raeana and Riley jumped down from their perch. Riley joined his brother—everyone ignored them, their eyes on this new mystery woman.
"You okay?" Lucas put to his brother.
"Um—sure. I mean, I just helped birth a woman who has been living inside a cocoon for like, hundreds upon hundreds of years. And all because she claims I'm one of the last people from some Garudian bloodline—" Mathew gasped, giving Riley pause.
"Um—what?" Lucas choked out. His gaze passed from his brother to Mathew, where the truth rode the man's shock. This was the big secret. This is what Mathew hadn't been able to tell him. This is why Mathew had been assigned to protect him and Riley, and why Mathew had to leave so suddenly.
But Riley didn't get a chance to answer, and Mathew didn't get a chance to explain, because there were a series of gasps dragging their attention back to Raeana—who was being far too daring they all thought, by marching right through the good guys and using herself to block them from the bad guys—the Demons.
The Feyk were slowly slinking to the safety of the night shadows—cowards or smart? Who the hell knew or cared. They were bastards either way.
Courtney hissed and toyed with making a drive at Stricker and let the Demons and Guardians fight out their own battle. But a firm grip caught her arm and she scowled to see Annie, stopping her.
"Hot heads don't prevail."
Something Courtney was already well aware of seeing as it was her hot-headedness that had gotten her turned into a damned vampire to begin with.
"Fine," she caved unhappily. But hell, she did not want to let Stricker out of her sight. Again.
"And just what is your big secret?" Daemon egged Raeana. "Why did dear old pappy give his life, so you could live?"
"If I told you, it wouldn't be a secret anymore. Would it?"
Daemon grinned. "Tenacious little thing. Or complete and utterly stupid." The Demon King issued another silent order, his tattoo blazing hot and fiery and a blink later his Demon minions rushed forward to attack and try to steal, Raeana. He might not get her to join him, but he could keep her a prisoner and out of the hands of his enemies. And torture the secret out of her.
Alethea and Daegal moved to protect her, but were forced to stop when Raeana raised her arm, her palm releasing a pulse of magic that blocked them, and blasted two of the Demons away, but caught another in its trap. It slid forward across the surface of the ground against its will.
As it did, a vein thickened in Raeana's arm, pulsing with fresh blood. It rushed to her palm, the smallest droplets of blood pushing outward against the palm of her hand and when her blood and skin made contact with the Demon, it cried out in agony. As if it were being torn apart from the inside.
And in actuality, that might be exactly what was happening because a moment later, to everyone's total shock, the Demon blew apart in a blast of fiery light. Raeana's eyes gleamed in the victory and her confident stare found Daemon—a King knocked down a few pegs whose eyes bugged wide, in shock.
"What the hell are you?"
"I am the Demon Slayer. And I have come to destroy you all."
CHAPTER 12
DAEMON STARED DOWN Raeana as if his own deadpan would smite her down. She merely held his gaze in the full confidence that she'd proven her point and w
arned the Demon King she was coming for him and his minions. One by one until they were all gone from this earth.
His tattoo sizzled with the silent order which was obeyed at once by the remaining Demons. The Feyk and their friends had already slithered into the shadows and began a hasty retreat.
"Do not think for a moment that this is surrender or our defeat. I will learn your secret, daughter of Alon."
And no one present had a single doubt the Demon King would ever surrender. But he did leave, which was certain once the last of the icy dread that followed Demons like their own breath, lifted and vanished.
"If anything," said Daegal, "Daemon will be more dangerous than ever before. The old world is dead. The rules we abided, are broken."
"But you have a weapon you did not have before." Raeana gave her grandparents a thin smile.
"We have been spared from war this night," Alethea stated. "And for that, we are eternally grateful."
"How did you do that?" questioned William. "How did you kill a Demon?" He held up his hand. "Never mind. It is not safe to speak of such things. Not here."
"You're right, Vampire." Rae straightened. She turned to see her grandparents. "I will explain all to you when it's safe to do so. But I would tell you this...Alon, your son, sacrificed his own life to bring me into this world, today. Because he discovered how to kill our kind. Permanently. No human form. No spirit form. Dead forever. He feared that this knowledge in our kind's hands so long ago, would have been our doom."
Alethea and Daegal cast a thoughtful glance at each other, thinking over her words.
"I fear Alon was correct in that thinking. If we'd discovered such a thing back then we would have destroyed each other and left our bloodline to fend for themselves. Left them to wander in their spirit forms, forever, without purpose. Or to fall to the same destruction."
"My arrival makes claim to the time of the Guardian's rise," Raeana announced. "I am here to tip the scales and render evil powerless. And I will have some help along the way." Her gaze slid to Lucas and over to Riley. Both brothers squirmed uncomfortably.
