In The Dark (The Guardianship Trilogy Book 1)

by Sarah K. Jensen

She shook her head. “Not on your life. Don’t even ask.”

  “Yeah, okay,” he said, shoulders slumping just a bit in defeat. Laif understood how he felt. Even though he’d seen Memphis fight, he didn’t like the idea of her going out there, today of all days, and in her wedding dress no less, to fight off Satan’s lapdogs.

  “I can handle this myself,” Ian said, flicking his wrist and conjuring up a flaming sword. Okay, coolest trick ever. Only not a trick. Ian was fae and probably could handle this himself.

  Regan shook his head. “They come to my daughter’s house, on my son’s wedding day. We fight together.” With that, he opened the front door and stepped onto the porch.

  Laif followed on his dad’s heels, Memphis at his side, his brothers and Ian at his back. He didn’t see Alannah or Born Elk but felt their presence. He knew they could handle this, no problem. If only the man didn’t have a knife to a woman’s throat. That scared him.

  Memphis eased around Laif’s dad, and onto the top step. “You surprise me Kyrell, I never took you for a coward.”

  The man holding the woman, smirked, drawing the blade across her throat, and dropped her to the ground. Memphis screamed and ran to the crumbled body, placed one hand over the woman’s neck, and started chanting. Or maybe it was just praying. He wasn’t certain.

  Laif had had a problem with her magic when he’d first seen it but was now comforted by it. No sooner had she started, but the man who had cut the woman pulled a sword and swung it at Memphis. Before the blade moved more than a few inches, a knife pierced his chest and the sword dropped, clanking against the road.

  Laif ran, the others following, sand flying through the night air, incantations were called out, sending most of the evil spirits back to Hell. Ian killing others.

  The man who’d taken the knife in the chest had fallen to the ground and Kyrell, having stepped out of his body just before the knife had struck, laughed. “I killed the wife; you killed the husband. Perfect.” With that, he was gone.

  Laif growled. He was on his knees, holding the man’s head off the ground. Ian stood over them, staring at the man. “Can you save him?” Laif asked.

  “I can,” he responded. “But I’m not sure I should. He is the reason his wife was injured.”

  Laif didn’t miss that he didn’t say “had died.”

  “He drinks too much and does not act as a man should. He allows his wife to work instead of going out and laboring to care for his wife and bairns. Maybe it will be best to let him die.”

  “What?” Laif stared at his father-in-law. “This is not a call you should make. Kyrell was here because of us. This man’s daughter played the harp at our wedding. We can’t let her come home to this. It’s our fault.”

  Ian rubbed his smooth face, frowning. “You have a point.”

  Laif watched long enough to be reassured that Ian would heal the man and then moved over to Memphis. Her hands and dress were stained crimson with the blood of the woman, and tears streaked black down her face. The woman’s breath came in shallow spurts, but she was alive. Thanks to the magic his wife of thirty minutes knew. The magic that had first scared him.

  “It’s my fault,” she whispered. “Kyrell was here because of me. He slit her throat because of what I said. She nearly died because of me.”

  His heart breaking for her, Laif took Memphis in his arms, stroking her dampened hair from her face. “Shh, baby. It’s going to be okay. They’re going to be okay, thanks to you and your dad. Kyrell is evil. He’d have slit her throat no matter what you’d said or not said. He was here because that’s what he does. He tries to ruin lives and hates that we’ve found happiness. He won’t stop until we stop him.”

  He kissed her gently on her brow. “And we will stop him. We will stop them all. One way or another. And with you and your dad teaching us how to fight we’ll defeat Kyrell.”

  Memphis seemed to consider what Laif said for a few moments before she gave a slight smile. “I love you. You know that?”

  “I kinda figured,” he whispered before kissing her mouth. Clinging to his shirt, Memphis opened for him, trying to meld her body to his. A few throats cleared and Laif eased her away. “Let’s get these two home and cleaned up. We’ll make sure they come through this all right and that their children are taken care of.”

  Lydia spoke from behind Laif. “Julz and I will take care of Mrs. Wallace. Your dad and Fisher can take care of Mr. Wallace. You two go change for the reception. I told everyone that you were changing anyway.”

  Laif helped Memphis to her feet and smiled at his mother. “Thanks.” He looked at his sister’s two neighbors and wondered aloud, “What are we going to do about everything they saw.”

  Ian spoke up before anyone else had a chance. “I have put into the man’s mind that he is to stop drinking and find a job and support his family. He will remember nothing of this night. I can take the memories from the woman as well. Make her remember doing chores, nothing more.”

  Laif nodded. It amazed him, and truth be told, scared him a little too, the power Ian welded. But as long as he used it to help others, Laif wouldn’t say anything.

  “Thank you,” he told his father-in-law before leading Memphis back to the house to wash up and change their clothes.

  Chapter 24

  The bride and groom laughed, smiled, and acted the perfect couple. But the whole time, they looked over their shoulders. Waiting.

  Let them wait, Kyrell decided. They thought they were going to be able to destroy his plans? How foolish they were. How naive. What made these two think—that by joining forces—they could fill in the crack between earth and Hell?

  Sure, there were rumors that the son of Nuadha and the daughter of Síofra would join and have a child who could close the crack, but that was a legend and meant nothing. At least it wouldn’t when he destroyed this alliance.

  Kyrell scrubbed his hand over the old man face he currently inhabited. He needed to do something that would break up this perfectly sickening duo. And he needed to do it before they started in on having that child. He couldn’t let that child be born. Just in case.

  When the cell phone belonging to Lydia Craig rang and she told the hospital that she was on her way, he knew an opportunity had just presented itself.

  With a smile on his face, Kyrell went to the car belonging to the man who worked at the same office as Laif. Luckily for Kyrell, the man had had a few drinks before he’d arrived at the wedding reception since the goody-goodies didn’t serve alcohol at any of their get-togethers. Without it, he might not have found anyone who he could have possessed.

  With this man, the alcohol was just a bonus. His mind was so perverted, so dark, that Kyrell could have gained access with just a few well-aimed whispers.

  Kiddy porn swam in waves of darkness on his computer and home DVD collection. The man had killed his first wife and gotten away with it, poisoning her only one year after they had married. He’d raped two teenage girls while visiting an online girlfriend in Chicago last spring.

  And now, he was going to stab Lydia Craig in the chest. She would live long enough to know that Kyrell was the one to kill her and it was because of the marriage between her son and the tramp. She would tell her husband, and he would make sure tenderhearted Memphis knew it was all her fault that her mother-in-law of fewer than twenty-four hours had died.

  Kyrell smiled. Yes. This would do perfectly.

  He pulled into the hospital’s ER parking lot, left the car running and the door opened, and followed the Texas beauty into the lobby. Stayed with her in the elevator and stepped off when she started to the ICU.

  Kyrell palmed the eight-inch blade hunting knife he’d found in the pervert’s glove box. And just before she reached her destination, Kyrell struck. Her back did just as well as her chest would have, and as she crumbled, he cast a spell to keep her alive long enough for her family to make it to the hospital and for her to tell them what had happened.

  “Know that Kyrell killed you because you
r son married that slut. Many others will die because of them if they don’t break up now. Tell them that. I’ll see you in Hell.”

  He probably wouldn’t. Not a woman like her. But it never hurt to tell them that.

  He laughed cruelly as security surrounded him, tackling him to the floor. This man would probably be let off by the very people he’d hurt because Kyrell had possessed him. That is if the police didn’t find his apartment first. How foolish people were, they so often entered Hell surprised that they actually belonged there. That Satan hadn’t tried to help them get into Heaven.

  Idiots.

  He struggled, laughing, making the security guards call out for help. He had greater strength than all of them. A nurse called the Craigs’ and Kyrell heard the frantic no! coming from her devoted husband.

  Oh, yes, the family would be here before they could subdue Kyrell. This was better than he could have planned. And even better, the doctor who was preparing to operate on the man who’d had a motorcycle accident was now turning him over to a less experienced doctor and things might not go so well for the man.

  The man, a one Jason Claybourn, was likely the soulmate of Lydia’s daughter, Mikia. Oh, what if he died and poor little Mikia had to live her life without her one true love. This just kept getting better and better.

  Mr. and Mrs. Laif Craig—Memphis loved how that sounded—were putting their suitcase in the trunk of Laif’s car when Regan darted from Julz’s home, the rest of the family following on his heels. Laif looked up and almost staggered back at the look on his father’s face. “What’s happened?”

  “Mom’s been stabbed by Wes Lee. Seems he followed her from the reception and stabbed her for no reason,” Bryson said just before he climbed in the back seat of Laif’s car. Alannah scooted in behind him and slammed the door.

  Laif stared at Memphis for a second before he followed suit and got in behind the wheel. Memphis barely had time to fasten her seatbelt when the car roared to life and peeled out of the drive.

  “She’d just stepped off the elevator in the ICU and the creep just stabbed her,” Bryson went on. He swore viciously. “I can’t believe this.”

  “How bad?” Laif asked, a catch in his throat. Memphis knew he was thinking this was Kyrell because that’s exactly what she thought. And if it was, then this was all her fault. Just like the neighbors only an hour earlier was her fault.

  “Don’t know. Stabbed her in the back.” Bryson sounded strained. When Memphis looked back at him, he was staring at her, a look of bitterness and pain in his eyes.

  She spun back around and watched the buildings and cars pass by in a blur of tears. She knew he blamed her. Well, he wasn’t alone. She should have known that this marriage was a bad idea. She did know. She’d just chosen to ignore all the bad things that could happen when she let people into her life.

  “Don’t,” Laif growled.

  Memphis glanced at him. “What?”

  “I know you’re blaming yourself. Don’t. This is evil fighting good. Satan doesn’t want us together. We don’t do what he wants. We follow God’s will. Remember. And we both know that it is God’s will that we marry and have a family.” He was still growling at her. “So, don’t you dare start thinking this marriage was a bad idea and that you are going to get out of it because you aren’t! This is forever, and you aren’t backing out now!”

  He turned onto Enfield Road, going faster than was safe, but since they were following Tiegan, Julz, and Regan and Tiegan had his flashing lights and siren going, she didn’t think they’d get pulled over.

  Ian? Memphis thought. Hoping he could hear her. Can you go save Lydia?

  Already at the hospital. Joan has Callen and Julz’s two little ones and is taking them back to her place. So, don’t worry about them.

  Memphis felt a wave of relief at this.

  Kyrell possessed this joker and stabbed her in the back. Missed her heart by a centimeter. She’s on her way to surgery, but I will be there to make sure that she’s fine. The doctor that was going to operate on her is needed elsewhere, so I am going to aid this young doctor. I worked things out among administrators to make sure they don’t mess everything up.

  “I don’t understand.”

  Laif gazed at Memphis. “What’s to understand? The man is evil.”

  “Oh. Not you. My dad.”

  His look turned to one of concern.

  “He’s at the hospital. He’s making sure your mom is fine. He will be in the OR the whole time. He won’t let her die.”

  Looking back at the road, he asked, “How do you know this?”

  She sighed. Would this be something he’d freak out about? “We can talk in our minds I guess.”

  “You guess?” he snorted.

  “Well, I called out to him and asked him to go to the hospital to look after your mom. I didn’t know if it would work, but then he answered me. So, I guess it did. Does. Anyway, he’s there. She’s safe.” Memphis turned to look out the window again but glanced back when Laif took her hand and squeezed. He was smiling.

  “I’m glad you can reach him, honey. This is a good thing.”

  She wanted to cry. He was being so understanding about all the trouble she’d brought into his life and she wasn’t sure she deserved his love and kindness.

  Yes, you do. Ian whispered through her mind.

  Thanks, Dad.

  It took less than fifteen minutes to make it to the hospital. They all parked in the ER lot and dashed straight to the elevators. On the OR floor, the whole lot of them poured out of the enclosure like a wave and were met by a nurse who worked with Lydia.

  Alannah stepped forward. “I’m scrubbing in,” she said, brokering no argument. “I’ll let you know when we know, but she will be fine.” She looked at Regan. “Talk to Memphis. She’ll keep you updated.” With that, she was gone and those who’d ridden in different cars all stared at Memphis.

  She took a deep breath, preparing to explain when Regan said, “I can talk to Lydia. She says Ian is with her and Ian can talk to you.”

  Everyone stared at their father.

  “Don’t worry. It’s a new development. She said that Ian was gifting us with this so that we could both be calm. I have to say, it freaked me out at first, but I think I could get used to it.” He smiled, turned, and found a seat to wait for his wife to come out of surgery.

  Three hours later, Laif slapped his hands on his thighs and growled, “You haven’t heard a word I’ve said, have you?”

  Huh? Memphis stared at Laif, not understanding since he hadn’t said much of anything for quite a while.

  “I’ve been trying to talk to your mind since we sat down, and you haven’t gotten any of it.”

  “Oh,” she laughed. Couldn’t help it. This man, the same one who had freaked out whenever she did any of the magic born to her, was trying to talk to her in her mind.

  “Great,” he grumbled. “Laugh at me.”

  Memphis took his hand. “Oh, sweetheart. I have a block up against people getting in my head. I used to hear voices when I was a little girl and my Grams taught me how to block them. I opened up to Ian so that I could let you know what was going on. Even though I had no idea if it would work. Him hearing me like that. But I’ve thought about him and he’s shown, so I hoped.”

  She touched his face. “If you want, I can try it. With you.” Then her skin heated in remembrance. “It worked when we were making out, so it just might now.”

  Laif took a slow, deep breath and smiled. “I’d like to try. You know, when we’re not making out.”

  Memphis nodded, gazed into his crystal clear, baby blues, and let her mind whisper to his, Can you hear me?

  Laif shot out of his chair, breaking their connection. “Holy freakin’—um…. That’s so awesome.” He sat back down, grinning like a mad man. “Okay, my turn.”

  He focused on Memphis and she heard, I love you. Do you know that?

  She smiled. “Yes. I know.”

  I can talk in your mind.
<
br />   Yes.

  Can you read my mind if I’m not talking to you? Will you be able to hear my thoughts?

  Memphis shook her head. “No. Well, maybe I can, but I block it all out because a lot of what people think isn’t worth knowing.” She frowned. “I’ll have to learn to tune you in. So, don’t be mad if I don’t always answer your mind summons. I might not always hear it.”

  “Yeah. Okay. That’s good.”

  Memphis smiled. “Don’t want me hearing every thought in your head?”

  Laif blushed. “Um. Well.”

  Now Memphis laughed. “Well, I have no desire to hear all your thoughts, or for you to hear mine. So, no worries.”

  Memphis.

  She straightened. Yeah?

  Lydia is out of surgery and doing fine. I’ve healed the internal wounds but left the bruising and cut on her skin. We don’t want anyone wondering where her injuries have gone, now do we? Give her a week and she will be right as rain.

  Relieved beyond belief, she kissed Laif and announced to the room. “She’s fine. The surgery went well, and she should be good as new in a week.”

  Regan patted her shoulder. “Thank you, sweetheart.” He stood and went to the doors where the doctor would come out soon and give him the news himself.

  On another note, Ian continued. I’m needed in another operating room or your new young sister-in-law’s future husband is going to limp for the rest of his life.

  And Ian winked out of her mind.

  Tiegan came over to the family, having been with a couple of officers discussing the man who had stabbed Lydia. “I have news.” He took his wife’s hand and pulled her up, into his arms. “I love you so much,” he whispered.

  “That’s not news.” Fisher rolled his eyes. “So, what is?”

  “Well, this guy’s no prince. We got a warrant to search his place, and you wouldn’t believe the stuff we found. Turns out he’s a pedophile and a rapist and has pictures. As far as I’m concerned, it doesn’t matter that this is a matter for the Guardians. He’s going down for attempted murder—on top of any other charges we can stick him with.”