Guardian Unleashed

by S. A. Moss

  A wooden crate that looked like it’d once held vegetables sat in the grass by the side of the road. I flipped it upside down and slowly lowered Alex onto it. He slumped, elbows braced on his knees and head hanging low. Worry twisted my stomach. He was still conscious, but he was so quiet and dazed. He was almost unrecognizable as the strong, witty, capable man I knew.

  The sun beat down on us from the cloudless sky as we waited. I kept my gaze fixed on the road, hope rising every time a car appeared on the horizon, even though I knew it was too soon for Sarah to be here.

  Then something else appeared on the horizon.

  A tiny furry body.

  I squinted. Is that…?

  Yup. Will had darted out of the field a ways down the road, and now he scampered along the shoulder past the gas station. He picked up speed as he drew closer, and by the time he was five feet away, I braced for what I knew was coming. Without breaking stride, he leapt into the air, landing with a splat on my chest.

  At least he hadn’t starfished my face.

  He scrambled up to my shoulder, chittering angrily. Probably chewing me out for leaving him behind.

  “Sorry, little guy. I didn’t think you’d want to come. Don’t you want to stay in your home?” I thought back to the threatening landscapes of the Wild as I scratched his furry head. “Well, I guess I can see why you wouldn’t.”

  Will must’ve forgiven me because he didn’t chomp my ear or my finger. Instead, he scrambled down the side of my body and sniffed around the edge of the shallow field.

  I knelt in front of Alex, my stomach twisting as I took in his wan face. “Are you doing okay? Sarah should be here soon.”

  “Yeah, I’ll make it.”

  His eyes were still tired but didn’t look quite as glazed over as they had earlier. He reached for my hand, bringing it to his lips to kiss my open palm. I rested it against his cheek for a second, taking comfort in the rough feel of his stubble against my skin.

  He was alive.

  That was all that mattered. Everything else, we could figure out.

  Because Alex was alive.

  8

  I had no way to measure time, so I wasn’t sure if it took Sarah more than an hour to reach us. But when her car appeared on the horizon, it took all my self-control not to leap into the air, shouting with glee. I waved my arms over my head, but she’d already spotted us. The car slowed, rolling to a stop on the shoulder across from us.

  Sarah jumped out and raced across the street, barreling into me with such force we took a few steps backward together, wrapped up in a tangle of limbs.

  “What the heck is going on, Cam?” she whispered, her southern lilt not softening the strain in her voice. She pulled back to look me in the eye. “And if you say ‘witness protection’ one more time, I swear to God—”

  I laughed, even though I knew she was deadly serious. But her lecturing tone was so familiar it made me almost giddy with joy. “I won’t. I promise.”

  She gave me one last squeeze before releasing me.

  Quickly, I helped Alex across the street and into the back of her car. As I stepped back, Will jumped onto his lap. Alex barely stirred, but Sarah let out a piercing shriek.

  “What the—? Get out! Shoo!” She waved her hands toward Will, trying to move him out of the car without actually touching him.

  “Sarah, wait! It’s okay. He’s—he’s with me.” I finished that statement lamely, knowing exactly how it sounded.

  Sarah brushed a strand of wavy blonde hair off her face, turning to me slowly. She blinked twice. “Excuse me?”

  “He’s, um, kind of like… my pet.”

  She was still for a long moment. Had I somehow short-circuited her brain with that little piece of information? And if that shorted out her brain, how was she going to handle the rest of what I had to tell her?

  Finally, Sarah shook her head. “Lucy, you’ve got a lot of ’splaining to do,” she muttered.

  I suppressed a grin. That was her favorite thing to say to me when she caught me doing something stupid but knew she couldn’t talk me out of it.

  “I promise, he’ll be good,” I assured her.

  I hope.

  She clicked her tongue but closed the door and hopped into the driver’s seat. Once we were all buckled in—well, all except Will—Sarah started the car and pulled back onto the road.

  Beyoncé sang to us from the speakers on the dash. Alex’s eyes were already closed.

  I hope the sleep helps him recover.

  Sarah cut her eyes to me. “So? What’s going on?”

  I sighed. I’d been trying to organize my thoughts, but there was really no good jumping off point for the explanation I owed her. So I just dived in.

  “You saw the footage? Of us on the Hancock Building?”

  Sarah sped up to pass a slow-moving truck. “Yeah. They played it nonstop for days. They didn’t say your name, but I could tell it was you.”

  “It was me. And Alex. And my father.”

  The car lurched slightly as she pressed too hard on the gas. Her lips pursed in a silent whistle. “Oh, my gosh. So he’s alive?”

  “Well… no. He’s not. And neither am I.”

  This time she turned to look at me fully, and the car lurched again, almost veering off the road.

  Shit. In retrospect, we probably shouldn’t be having this conversation in a moving vehicle.

  It was too late to stop now though, so I forged ahead. “Do you remember how you thought I was dead before I called you from the hospital? And I told you I was in, well, that thing I’m not allowed to say anymore?”

  “Witness protection?” Her lips tilted up in a small smile.

  Good. Our familiar banter was calming her down a bit. I needed her to realize that even though I was somehow dead and yet not, I was still the same person she’d known all these years. Just with a few minor changes.

  At this point, I was almost glad that news crew had broadcast our fight with the demon on top of the Hancock Building. Having already seen and been forced to process that unbelievable image, Sarah had no reason not to believe what I told her now.

  That was my hope, at least.

  She was still staring at me, waiting for more explanation. I hurried on, making a small gesture toward the windshield to encourage her to keep her gaze on the road.

  “That day after our chem final, I got an email from the latest detective I’d hired to search for my parents. I went to his office, but someone—something—was already there. There’s a certain type of supernatural called a wraith, and they can possess human bodies. There was a wraith puppet in Silver’s office, threatening him. It commanded him not to tell me anything about my parents. Then it killed its original host so it could take over Silver’s body—once they’re established in a human host, they can’t leave it until the body dies. Anyway, I freaked out and ran, but it chased after me, and then I… I got hit by a car.”

  I winced. Every memory right up until my death was still as vivid in my mind as if it’d happened yesterday. The rust brown color of the car, the screech of its brakes, and the slight dent by the right headlight were all forever etched into my brain.

  Sarah’s eyes were on the road, but they were so wide and unblinking I wondered if she was actually seeing anything. I kept my eyes on the road too, as a safeguard in case Sarah’s mind shut down completely—and also because it was easier to tell her all this when I wasn’t looking at her.

  “I woke up in a strange room, in a huge castle-like compound called the Haven, on an alternate dimension called the Shroud. It’s like a sieve that catches some souls before they disperse into the universe. Some of those souls are good and commit their existence to protecting humans. Some are terrifying creatures warped and twisted by the Shroud. And some are”—I glanced toward the backseat, where Will was curled up on Alex’s lap—“squirrels.”

  The car lurched again as Sarah whipped her head around. “Is that thing a demon?”

  Alex jerked awake at her loud
screech, and I reached over to grasp her arm.

  “No! I mean, I don’t think so. He’s from the Shroud. But when I was there, I realized more than just demons and Guardians exist in that place. There are some creatures and monsters that don’t really fit either category. They’re more neutral—sort of like the wildlife of the Shroud.”

  Sarah’s arm relaxed a little under my grip, and she let out a slow breath. “Okay. He’s not a vampire or anything?”

  I chuckled lightly. “No. He did bite me once, but he’s not a bloodsucker. I’ve met a vampire, and it definitely wasn’t cute and fuzzy.”

  As if he knew we were talking about him, Will crept up to the front seat. I heard Sarah swallow, and she kept darting glances at him out of the corner of her eye. He stood on my lap and rested his front paws on the door, just barely able to peer out the window. Sarah gave a squeaky little laugh as she watched his head dart back and forth, trying to catch all the scenery passing by.

  Finally, she flicked her eyes back to me. They were wide as saucers, but less manic than they had been earlier.

  “Okay, I believe you. Now tell me everything.”

  9

  We hit traffic on the way back into Chicago, which gave me plenty of time to fill Sarah in on everything I’d seen and done since being reborn as a Guardian. With every new piece of information, she seemed to grow less freaked out rather than more—cementing my belief that people were more capable of handling this knowledge than the Council gave them credit for.

  By the time we pulled up in front of Alex’s apartment, I was champing at the bit to get inside and get him help. He hadn’t woken up again during the drive, which I hoped was a good thing.

  Sarah hopped out as soon as she parked, obviously having no intention of just dropping us off and leaving. Will darted out after Sarah, racing up a tree in front of Alex’s apartment. I was tempted to call for him like a dog but knew it would be pointless. He’d come back when he wanted. And if he got in trouble, he could always fade back over to the Shroud.

  I pulled open Alex’s door and reached down to unbuckle his seatbelt. He stirred, nuzzling his face into the hair draped over my neck. “I dreamed that you came to get me.”

  I slipped my arm around him to help him from the car. “I did. That was real.”

  His brows furrowed as we walked slowly toward his building, Sarah in our wake. “Did you… blow up a building?”

  “No, I just collapsed it. Key.” I held out my hand. He dug into his pocket and produced a key ring. As we headed up the stairs at a slow pace—damn these old Chicago buildings with no elevators—Sarah darted up to support Alex’s other side. I fumbled with the keys again when we reached his apartment door, finally shoving the right one into the lock.

  The sight that greeted us was one of the strangest things I’d ever seen in my life or afterlife.

  Arcadius, Sada, and Adele were all crammed onto Alex’s couch, which seemed totally dwarfed by their combined presence. Owen stood behind the couch, thick arms crossed over his massive chest and wild red hair giving him the appearance of a Viking. Four people could not have looked more out of place than the Council members did in Alex’s small apartment.

  “Cam!” Owen exclaimed, and everyone broke into a whirlwind of action. Sada and Arcadius leapt off the couch, while Adele rose a bit more reluctantly. Sada rushed forward to help me and Sarah lower Alex onto the couch. He slumped against the cushions before I gently pushed him down into a prone position.

  “Oh my, lass. He doesn’t look good,” Owen whispered, bending over the back of the couch to examine Alex. Of course, his whisper was a normal person’s full speaking voice, so if he was going for subtlety, he failed miserably.

  Alex cracked his eyes open and smiled slightly. “Gee thanks, Owen.”

  Owen started guiltily, shooting me an apologetic look. Sada sat down on the edge of the couch and ran her hand over Alex’s forehead. His complexion looked even more ashen and pale next to her dark brown skin. “Do you know what’s been done to him?”

  “Torture,” I bit out. “Since you guys are here, I’m guessing Maron made it to you?”

  “He did.” She pried Alex’s lids up gently and peered at his eyes.

  “Akaron and Sirius wanted Alex to turn Maron mortal, and they were using torture as an incentive. Beyond that, I don’t know. It looked like they were feeding him, at least. They didn’t want their precious asset to die. But I think the Shroud did something to him.”

  Sarah still stood by the door, observing everything quietly. Arcadius had disappeared from my view, but he stepped back into sight a moment later, announcing, “Pearl brought Reeva here to look at him. We don’t have a healer at the Haven as you had hoped, but she’s the next best option.”

  I glanced around the living room, noting for the first time two auras glowing near the entrance to the kitchen. I stood up and faded into the mid-plane to greet them. Just like the first time I’d met her, Reeva’s features shifted from moment to moment, never settling in one configuration.

  Her hair color, eye color, nose, ears and mouth all kept changing, as if she were some kind of walking mirage. It made my eyes water if I looked at her too long, so I shifted my focus to Pearl. Her red hair, blue eyes, and sharp, petite features remained reassuringly static.

  Before I could say anything, Pearl rushed forward and swept me into a bone-crushing hug. “Thank goodness you’re all right. We didn’t know if you’d ever come back,” she whispered, her accented voice pained.

  I hugged her back. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you what I was doing. I just had to find him, Pearl.”

  She nodded as she drew away, and her eyes flicked to Arcadius, who was conferring with Sada behind me. She’d probably do the exact same thing if Arcadius was taken by the Fallen—or at least, she’d want to. Pearl might be a bit too responsible and level-headed to go running off half-cocked without telling anyone where she was going.

  Releasing her, I turned to Reeva. The ghost watched us with a detached curiosity. “Hi, Reeva. Do you remember me?”

  “‘Course I do. Taught you how to filter aether. How to bind. Then you ran off.” Her lilting accent gave away her Yorkshire roots.

  “Oh, right,” I admitted. “Sorry about that. There was an emergency we had to take care of. And now I have another emergency I need your help with.” I gestured to the couch. “You remember Alex, right? You… you kissed him?”

  She nodded sharply, her morphing eyes peering at him as she approached. “Oh, yes. Yours?”

  I suppressed the urge to roll my eyes. She wasn’t wrong anymore—hadn’t really been wrong the first time she’d guessed it. Alex was mine, and I was his. Logic and reason be damned. He would always protect me, and I’d protect him right back.

  “Yes. Mine.”

  She smiled at me, he lips changing from pink to cherry before the smile faded from her face. “Good. Let me see.”

  I led her around the couch and kneeled by Alex’s side. I had to raise my voice a bit since I still wasn’t great at communicating with humans past the divide between the mid-plane and the earthly realm. I hoped Reeva wouldn’t take offense. When we’d visited her home under the L tracks, she’d yelled at me for shouting.

  “Alex, Reeva is here. She’s going to try to heal you, okay?”

  His head lifted at the sound of my voice, and he glanced vaguely toward where I was crouched. “You kiss her this time.”

  I stifled a chuckle, wishing I could grab his hand or smooth his hair off his forehead. His mop of brown and gold hair was damp from a light sheen of sweat. “I don’t think there’ll be any kissing this time.”

  “Just as well. I’m taken,” Alex murmured, a smile ghosting across his lips as he let his head drop back to the couch.

  “You bet your ass you are, Mr. Knight,” I shot back, smiling.

  But the warm feeling in my stomach faded as Reeva sank down next to me, her shifting gaze intent on Alex’s face.

  “Oh dear. Oh dearie. Poor dear.” />
  “Can you help him? What’s wrong with him?”

  She clucked her tongue and cooed, running her hands over his face and chest. They didn’t make contact, but she ghosted them over the surface of his skin anyway. Then she looked up at me, eyes wide.

  “He’s been to the Shroud.”

  10

  I clenched my jaw, worry eating at me.

  “I know. For about two weeks. Can you do anything for him? Will he be all right?”

  She shook her head, still passing her hands over Alex’s body. “It ate away at him. Picked at his life force bit by bit. He’s blowing away like dust in the wind.”

  One of her hands fluttered away from his chest, as if to illustrate the point. A rock settled in my chest.

  “But… he’ll get better now that he’s back on Earth, right? He can, I don’t know, regenerate that energy, right? What does he need? Rest? A doctor? A blood transfusion?”

  My voice grew in pitch and volume, but I could barely hear it over the rushing in my ears. I’d kept my shit together all this time because I’d blindly believed that when I got Alex home, the Council—someone—would be able to fix him.

  Reeva looked at me sadly. “Those are human solutions. This is an inhuman problem.”

  “Okay, so what are the inhuman solutions? What does he need?”

  I gripped her upper arm, just barely holding myself back from shaking her. Even in the mid-plane, the only place a ghost could exist, she felt a little spongy. Like her arm wasn’t quite there.

  Her features sharpened for a moment, holding their shape for a few beats longer than usual. Grey-blue eyes stared at me from a heart shaped face. “He needs life.”

  “What does…” I shook my head. “What does that mean? How do we give him that?”