Authors: Ashley Robertson
UnGuarded (21 page)
His features hardened and his voice grew
deeper. “Know your place, girl! Do not make false claims in this
room!”
“Angel, what are you talking about?” Luke
asked.
“His archangel had to have placed the
protection seal in this room and a shield upon him.” Because no
other being would be powerful enough—except for a high-level demon.
I swung my head in Ezariah’s direction, concentrating all my energy
on him, but not sensing anything that would indicate the former
guardian was fallen…but I did pick up something else and I
remembered how he’d used magic. “You can remove the seal, lower the
shield,” I told him, my voice full of certainty.
“What?” Luke asked, dumbfounded as he stared
at the old man.
I glared at the former guardian, taking
another small step closer. “But you’re not going to, are you?” It
was less painful thinking the old man couldn’t help me even if he
wanted to, but to know he’d had the power to help me all along and
was simply choosing not to created a dark ember in my gut.
Ezariah snorted. “I am the keeper of the
scrolls!”
Unable to contain my fury, my body suddenly
went from a faint glow to radiant flashes of light.
“Calm your temper, girl,” the former
guardian warned.
“Angel,” Luke breathed, gripping my arm.
My breaths were deep and short, and my chest
felt like I was trapped under a hundred pounds of water—tense
pressure boring over me. Then my face dropped into my hands as my
light faded. “She’s as good as dead, Luke”—my voice muffled against
my skin. “There is no other way for me to save her.”
“Thanks a lot—for nothing!” Luke spat. He
took my hand and started leading me away.
Reluctantly, I followed.
As we approached the doorway we’d entered
from, Ezariah called out, “Wait!”
I froze, slowly turning to face the old
man.
“What now?” Luke groaned.
Ezariah rubbed his hands together and said,
“Maybe there’s a way we can help each other.”
“Yeah, sure,” Luke smarted. “And how’s
that?”
“Every moment that passes, I grow lonelier,
and surely I thought Aurora would find me before now. If she only
knew where I was, then I’m certain she’d come. If you’d be willing
to get a message to her, let her know where I am, then I could
perhaps lower the shield long enough for you to obtain the scrolls.
But promise me this!” His voice grew louder. “You will return them
here to me as soon as your charge is saved.”
Considering his offer, I asked, “But what if
my archangel catches me?” Not that I wanted to dissuade the old
man’s seeming change of heart, though relief wouldn’t come unless I
was holding those scrolls.
“Then our fates are no longer in my hands,”
came his warning reply.
“Won’t they know how your charge survives
anyway?” Luke asked, eyes gliding from Ezariah to me.
“No, dear boy. That’s the beauty of
miracles. If Selene here can pull the ritual off undetected, then
no one will be the wiser.”
“But, I expected there’d be no way to pull
this off without getting caught. Raphael told me that my future was
decided and I’d be receiving a new charge and re-inheriting some of
my powers,” I noted. “Assuming all of that, I was still willing to
risk everything to save my charge.”
“Your compassion becomes you, dear girl.
Those before you were merely working through guilt and shame; very
few really, really cared for their charge beyond their angelic
requirement, which is why I’ve reconsidered my position on
this.”
“My human form allowed me to experience love
in ways most angels don’t.” A pang struck in my heart, reminding me
just how much love I’d been able to feel—both the good and bad of
it.
The old man’s face softened. “Do not confuse
your tenderness for weakness, dear girl. You are far stronger than
you give yourself credit for.”
“But what about Raphael, my archangel? He’d
told me that—”
“Nonsense!” scoffed Ezariah. “He told you
what he was shown. Your actions can always change the outcome.” He
stood up and took a small step closer. “Your archangel is shown new
visions all the time. He could never claim your charge had lived by
anything other than a miracle. Unless you were caught in the act,
of course.”
Luke took my hand, giving it a gentle
squeeze. “Angel, how can you say no to this?”
Staring at Ezariah’s face, I replied, “I
can’t.”
THE BLINDS WERE CRACKED OPEN, allowing faint
rows of light in the hospital room. Machines buzzed and pumped,
providing the only sound. Dusk was fast approaching, the weight of
my thoughts pressing heavy on my mind. Yet Caitlyn’s face looked
peaceful, almost as if she knew what I was about to do for her. I
stroked her cheek as a tear slicked down mine. Everything was
moving smoothly so far, but that only made me anticipate some type
of looming drama. Trouble always had its way of finding
you—especially when you were doing something you’d been told not to
do. But I was at peace with my decision. It just wasn’t Caitlyn’s
time to go, nor was it the way I’d accept her dying.
After leaving Rhea—sea scrolls in tow—Luke
and I had come straight to the hospital in Denver. No time to waste
by dropping him off in Virginia Beach—considering he could just run
there in a few hours time. But he’d insisted on coming here anyway,
offering his help should anything go wrong. Reluctantly, I’d
accepted his offer. The invisible ties binding us together were
becoming too great to ignore. So was this confusing mixture of
emotions I seemed to have for him—all the while beating myself up
for how badly things had gone with Cole.
Cole. When would he seek me out? Or would he
reach out at all? And even if he could forgive me, how would he
react to Luke still lingering around? Sure, I’m a big motivator for
forgiveness; it’s my job and all that. But really, how could I
expect a being of darkness to jump on board? His ability to love me
had already been so much greater than I could have ever
imagined.
Luke was just outside the room, guarding it
like it was the entrance to Fort Knox. In exchange for my
generosity in letting him stick around, he’d allowed me privacy
while performing the ritual. If anyone were to show up to see
Caitlyn, he’d use his vampire magic to make them leave while
believing they’d actually visited her. Pretty handy trick leaving
no one disappointed.
I gave a long sigh, my fingers tracing my
dress’s scooped neckline. Just beneath the fabric was where I’d
stuffed the sea scrolls. Once Ezariah had handed them to me, I’d
initially been surprised at their small size. He’d explained that
there were many more pages, but this particular one was all I
needed. I retrieved it from my bosom, fingering the texture, an
aged papyrus with burnt edges and, along its surface, what felt
like hundreds of soft, tiny hairs as it unfolded to its full
six-by-nine size. It reminded me of an antique postcard with chunky
black script written inside:
For this life,
Precious child of Christ,
My life for your death,
I bestow upon you my breath.
After silently reading it for the twentieth
time, I felt confident that I at least wouldn’t screw up the words.
Releasing a deep, nervous breath, I took Caitlyn’s limp hand and
gently squeezed. And just when I was about to recite the ritual,
all chaos broke loose.
I sensed him seconds before the door flew
open, making a loud
whack
when it hit the wall, then he came
stomping into the room with Luke pulling him back by the arm. “You
can’t come in here!” Luke roared.
“The hell I can’t,” Cole said dryly, jerking
his arm free of Luke’s grasp.
I released Caitlyn’s hand, stepping back
until I hit the wall.
Cole kept moving, running his hand through
perfectly styled dark hair. He wore a basic black tee with darker
black jeans—somehow he made them look incredibly sexy. “What are
you still hanging around for?” Cole demanded, throwing a searing
look toward Luke. Then his gaze shifted to Caitlyn and his features
softened.
Luke came in a few human steps, arms folded
in front of his chest. He eyed me confusedly, then glared at Cole.
“Leave that human alone!”
Ignoring the order, Cole inched to the side
of Caitlyn’s bed, standing no more than a foot away from me. He
reached down and held her hand, then shifted his attention back on
Luke. “This human is my friend! Now tell me, where is Selene?”
My breath caught as I remembered I was still
in angel form. With Luke being able to see me, I’d forgotten the
fact that no one else could. With a few shakes of my head, I let
Luke know to keep quiet about my presence here—and the fact that he
could even see me. Then I hurriedly folded the scrolls and shoved
them back into my bosom.
Answering Cole’s question, Luke shrugged his
shoulders and said, “I don’t know where she is.” He paused a
moment, then added, “I’m real sorry about your friend.”
“I know why you’re still hanging around,”
Cole said with vehemence. “You gave her your blood, you
bastard!”
Luke snarled, a glimpse of fang protruding
through his lips. “I was trying to help her! You went and got
yourself kidnapped and she was trying to save your worthless
life!”
“She’s an angel! She doesn’t need any
saving!” Cole fired back sarcastically.
Luke waved a hand. “It didn’t look that way
to me!”
Cole turned back toward Caitlyn. “It doesn’t
matter how it looked to you,” he growled.
“Oh yeah?” Luke went on, his voice more
steady. “Well I guess I do owe you a ‘thank you,’ seeing how it’s
your
fault she needed my blood!”
Cole released Caitlyn’s hand. In a blur of
motion, he was standing face-to-face with Luke. He shoved Luke’s
shoulders, rocking him backward, but my vampire ally straightened
with ease. “Go on back to wherever the hell you came from,” Cole
threatened, “before I kill you!”
“No!” Luke exclaimed, shoving Cole back.
“Angel and I, we have a bond. That’s something you and her won’t
ever have!”
“Don’t bet your life on that!” Cole
snarled.
They lunged forward at once, fists flying. I
knew my light wouldn’t stop them both—since Luke was immune. So I
did the only thing I could, which was to shift into my human form.
“Stop it!” I screamed just as they’d thrown another round of
punches.
“Selene!” Cole pulled back straight away,
and I saw blood pooling in the corner of his mouth. Then he rushed
over, placing his arm around my back. “Please tell him to get the
hell out of here.”
I stared at him a moment, a longing for him
searing hot beneath my skin, but now wasn’t the time for that. With
the threat of running out of time, I needed to stay focused on my
charge. So instead of throwing my arms around his neck and pulling
him close, I ducked under his grasp, fixing him with a look of
regret. “This can’t happen right now. Tonight is about Caitlyn! Not
either of you!” I glanced at Luke, the gash above his eye Cole had
given him was partially healed, hardening my mood. “Look at you
two”—my eyes flitted between them—“Both of you must leave.
Now!”
“But Angel,” Luke whined.
“No ‘buts,’ Luke. Please let me do this
alone.” Then my gaze landed back on Cole, a mixture of emotions
still churning inside me. “I’m glad you came for me, but I can’t do
this right now. Caitlyn needs me. We can talk
after
I help
her. Please.”
Cole blinked in confusion, then his gaze
quickly sharpened. “But I have a way to save Caitlyn!”—his tone
laced with excitement.
“You’re late!” Luke said in a mocking voice.
“We’ve already found a way to save the girl.”
“Be quiet, Luke!” My voice rising. “There
isn’t much time. Please listen to me. I’m not asking you two to be
friends, or even get along at all, for that matter! But I am asking
you both to leave, and I’m expecting some respect here from both of
you!”
“I can turn Caitlyn into a vampire,” Cole
said in a rush. “And I’ll teach her morals and values, and how to
survive without killing—”
Luke burst out laughing. “Dude, didn’t you
hear me? Angel already—”
I held up my hand, ceasing Luke’s words
(because for once he was listening to me). “Cole,” I said calmly.
“I already have a way to help her and I need you to leave right now
so I can.”
“What are you talking about?” Cole asked
with suspicion. “You no longer have your healing abilities.”
I met Cole’s gaze squarely. “I’m not
referring to that. I’ve found another way.”
Cole snorted. “What? What is it?”
“I don’t have time to get into it right
now,” I replied curtly, knowing Raphael could orb in at any moment
and my whole plan would be a bust.
His brows arched, eyes pressing deeper into
mine. I knew he was tempted to take a peek inside my head, so I
grabbed his hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. “Please. Trust
me.”