Guardian Revealed

by S. A. Moss

  My hand on Otis’s head stilled, and the cat let out an annoyed meow, poking me in the leg with his claws.

  “Sorry,” I murmured, resuming my distracted petting.

  After the Guardians were freed and the strongest Fallen were forced back into the Shroud—a task Pearl told me had taken up to ten Guardians working in concert—the Council had ripped me a very nice new butthole to go with my original one.

  Well, mostly Adele. She’d practically had flames shooting out of her ears while she ranted about “insubordination” and “reckless disregard for protocol” in her fancy French accent. Arcadius had remained mostly quiet, while Sada and Owen chimed in with half-hearted words of reproach.

  In the end, they hadn’t punished me, since even though I had broken a bunch of their rules on a really risky gamble to free the Guardians, the gamble had paid off.

  Glancing at the dark TV screen, I swallowed the lump in my throat. I wasn’t so sure that gamble had been the right choice anymore.

  When I’d told the Council what had happened to Alex, the room had grown quiet. As reluctant as they’d been to let him join our fight, I knew they’d respected him, even liked him.

  After promising to keep me informed of any news regarding Akaron or Sirius, Sada had instructed me to take a bit of time before going to visit the Seer for my next assignment.

  Like it was as simple as that.

  Just take a bit of time, brush that pesky human out of your mind, and get back to work.

  That wasn’t exactly what she’d said, but her words had reminded me so much of my Sirius’s human/insect analogy that I’d had to bite my tongue to keep from screaming at her. I couldn’t get used to immortals’ casual reaction to human deaths. Even the group supposedly dedicated to protecting the human race seemed to dismiss the loss of an individual human with little more than a shrug.

  Maybe they were right. Maybe when I’d existed long enough to see the entire current generation of humans live and die, I’d feel the same way as other immortals—detached, dismissive, and cold.

  But I sure hoped not.

  Caring about the human race in general seemed pretty freaking pointless if we couldn’t also care about the individual members of it.

  But I was grateful the Council hadn’t forced me into a new assignment right away. Of course, that may have been because they saw the shell shocked look on my face and judged me unfit for duty, but I didn’t really care.

  After being dismissed from the Council chambers, I’d left the Haven and gone straight to Alex’s apartment. I wasn’t really sure why. Maybe I thought if he was somehow able to get back to Earth, this was where he would come.

  Luckily for me, Evelyn wasn’t much of a news watcher—martial arts movies and daytime soaps were more her thing. So when I knocked on her door to pick up Otis, she’d been more interested in finding about whether Alex and I had chosen names for our future babies than about what we were doing fighting giant demons on top of the Hancock building. I couldn’t bear to tell her anything had happened to him, so after answering a few of her questions in as normal a voice as I could muster, I’d grabbed the fluffy gray cat and made a break for it.

  Amazingly, Otis had let me carry him up the stairs without scratching my face off.

  And later that night, when Alex still hadn’t returned, and I sat curled up on his side of the couch with tears pouring down my cheeks, Otis had shocked me again by leaping onto my lap and purring gently. I’d always thought dogs were the ones who could pick up on people’s emotional states, whereas cats either didn’t know or didn’t care what people were feeling. But somehow, Otis seemed to recognize my grief and had taken it upon himself to comfort me.

  I let out a small laugh as I rubbed his furry head, wondering briefly whether this was just a qualified truce, a temporary ban on hostilities, and if our normal feud would resume if Alex returned.

  No. When.

  When Alex returned.

  Movement flickered in my periphery, jerking me out of my thoughts.

  For a brief moment, something bright lit inside my chest like a spark of flame in a dark cave. I straightened, blind hope overriding reason and logic.

  “Alex! Is that—”

  But before I could finish speaking, Pearl and Arcadius faded into view just inside the apartment door.

  39

  I slumped back onto the couch, blowing out a shaky breath. Disappointment made fresh tears burn my eyes.

  “See?” Pearl tapped Arcadius on the chest. “I told you she’d be here!”

  She beamed at me in triumph, but her smile slipped when she saw my drawn face.

  Otis stood, arching his back with a loud hiss, then leapt off my lap and dove under the couch. A tiny flicker of smug pride flared inside me. He might not like most supernaturals, but for the moment at least, he liked me.

  “Are you all right?” Pearl hurried over and sat on the couch next to me. Arcadius lingered by the door.

  “Yeah. I’m fine,” I lied, quickly brushing away my tears. She tipped her head at me, eyeballing me severely, but instead of elaborating on my answer, I turned to Arcadius. “How’s the cleanup going?”

  “Well.” He took a few steps toward us. “There are still more low-level Fallen on Earth than usual, but the worst have been forced back into the Shroud. And, of course, the highest concentration of Fallen activity is in Chicago, since so many of them slipped through the portal here. We’ve…” He hesitated, looking like he’d swallowed something that didn’t want to stay down. “We’ve been in contact with the local human authorities to establish a protocol for dealing with supernatural sightings. Pearl is handling the technical aspects of that.”

  My jaw dropped. “You’ve been what?”

  “Don’t look so smug, Camille.” Arcadius glowered. “You forced our hand on this with the little show you put on in front of that news crew.”

  “I didn’t know it was a news channel’s helicopter,” I insisted. “But even if I had, what would you have had me do differently? Not fight the demon?”

  “You know there are ways you could have—” His voice started to rise before he cut himself off, dipping his head. “But, no matter. What’s done is done. And with information traveling as quickly as it does now, people all around the world have seen the footage of you, Alex, and Sirius on that rooftop. We’re working on containing and controlling the response. And if that means letting some humans know about us, then so be it. We’ll mitigate the fallout as best we can.”

  “I’m—” I hesitated. “I’m sorry, Arcadius. I didn’t actually mean to expose the Guardians. I know we’ve disagreed on that before, and I know I went behind your back about a bunch of other stuff. But I really wasn’t trying to cause more trouble.”

  “I know you weren’t, Cam. It’ll be all right,” Arcadius said, his tone softening. Next to me, Pearl’s head was ping-ponging between us, her expression hopeful. I was sure she was anxious to see her friend and her boyfriend—or whatever Arcadius was now—coming to an understanding.

  Ignoring Pearl’s obvious glee, Arcadius continued. “The Council has also agreed to allow certain Guardians who show a high aptitude for aether manipulation to train with that ghost, Reeva. We’re not opening the doors to cooperation with all ghosts, but since several of our rank have already trained with Reeva in secret, we’ve decided to give her a chance.”

  He stopped to glower at me briefly.

  Yep, that was a great example of one of the rules I’d broken behind his back. I felt certain Arcadius had a running tally of my transgressions logged somewhere in the back of his brain. Whether that list would ever come back to bite me in the ass remained to be seen, but either way, Arcadius would never forget a single item on it.

  I shook my head slightly. “Wow. Well, that’s really great. I mean, Reeva’s a little strange. You might want to warn whoever goes to train with her that they should be prepared to get to first base with her, or at the very least, bring a willing stand-in. But she knows her stuff. Witho
ut what she taught me, I wouldn’t have stood a chance against my da—Sirius.”

  Arcadius moved farther into the small living room. He still looked a bit uncomfortable for some reason.

  “You are exceptionally talented at aether manipulation, Cam. But even raw talent needs someone to shape it. That’s why we’re letting other Guardians follow your lead and receive more training.”

  “I’m glad.”

  Silence fell. Pearl had stopped grinning like a loon at the two of us, and was now staring intently at Arcadius. She raised her eyebrows pointedly, and Arcadius sighed.

  “What’s going on?” I asked.

  “Pearl would like a moment alone with you,” he said dryly.

  “Oh, okay.” I turned to her. “You could’ve just said that.”

  “I could have, but Arcadius was supposed to just find a reason to step away. Subtly!” She pursed her lips indignantly at him, and the warm smile he shot back at her transformed his whole face.

  My chest squeezed painfully. At least these two were happy.

  “Right. Well then, I’ll just…” Arcadius trailed off, fading out as he stepped backward and slipped out of the room.

  “Subtle!” I called after him, a real grin breaking across my face for the first time in days. Then I turned back to Pearl. “What’d you want to talk to me about? What’d going on?”

  Her expression grew grave, and my stomach twisted.

  “The Council wanted me to speak to you,” she admitted. “They’re worried about you, Cam. They care about you, as much as you occasionally butt heads.”

  A lump formed in my throat. “I care about them too. They—you—are my family now.”

  She rested a hand on my knee, squeezing gently. “Your ours too. So please know I’m not telling you this to hurt you. But the Council thinks it’s important that you know—there’s no record of a human being taken to the Shroud before. That doesn’t mean it hasn’t been done!” she added quickly, seeing my face drop. “The Council isn’t able to keep tabs on every bit of Fallen activity. But to their knowledge, no humans are… alive… in the Shroud.”

  Her words settled over me like a bind. I could practically feel them weaving into my aether, freezing me in place. She’d chosen to use a negative of the opposite word, alive, but I knew what she was trying to tell me.

  Dead.

  Alex was dead.

  “No! That’s not true. He’s still alive,” I insisted, my hands clenching into fists.

  Hope lit in her eyes and she sat up straighter. “You’ve felt him?”

  My stomach pitted. “No. Not since before he was taken. But I just know, Pearl. He has to be.”

  “Why?”

  The tears that’d been stinging my eyes since this conversation began finally burned their way free, slipping down my cheeks.

  “Because… I love him.”

  Pearl didn’t tell me that my hope was probably false. She didn’t tell me it was just as well if he died, because if not now, he’d be dead in several decades anyway. She didn’t tell me I was an idiot for falling in love with a human in the first place.

  She just hugged me and let me cry until I had no more tears left.

  40

  The fridge was empty.

  I’d thrown away the last of the food yesterday, not wanting it to go bad. Otis had taken to following me around the apartment—whether I was visible or not, he always seemed to know where I was—and I was sure he could sense that something was wrong. I didn’t have the heart to tell him Alex wasn’t coming back.

  Not that he would’ve understood the words anyway.

  I was supposed to report back to the Haven today for a new assignment. The Council had been amazingly understanding, allowing me wallow in my grief for over a week. Which, considering we had eternity to work with, wasn’t really that much time in the grand scheme of things. But my father and Akaron were still out there, and the Council was wary. It would take the Fallen a while to organize another mass Guardian abduction, but that didn’t mean they didn’t have some other plot up their sleeves. A “Plan B.”

  I’d met Akaron. And in our brief but entirely unpleasant meeting, I’d gotten the impression he wasn’t the type to give up easily. On the contrary, he’d seemed like the kind of guy who’d pursue what he wanted with a single-minded intent until he or everyone opposing him died in the attempt.

  A shiver raced down my spine. Akaron had been seriously freaking creepy. Not as overtly horrifying as some of the other Fallen I’d seen—that human-heads-for-eyes spider creature would give me nightmares if I actually slept anymore—but he was definitely the scariest. He was utterly ruthless and intelligent, possibly the worst combination of qualities ever.

  Otis meowed, bumping his head against my ankle.

  “Hey buddy. I’m sorry.” I bent to scoop him up, and he plucked at my shoulder with his mini talons. I didn’t think I’d actually made the offer to be his scratching post out loud, but he’d decided to take me up on it anyway. “I gotta go back to work. Hopefully they’ll just have me on random Fallen hunting assignments, so I can come back here and hang out with you when I’m off duty. But no matter what, I’ll make sure you’re taken care of, okay?”

  “Meeeeorrw.”

  He didn’t seem satisfied with my promise.

  Honestly, I wasn’t quite sure what was going to happen. I’d forged Alex’s signature and mailed this month’s rent check a few days ago. But I couldn’t stay here indefinitely. I just knew I wasn’t ready to leave.

  “It’ll be okay,” I told the cat softly. “Besides, there’s always Eve. You know she—”

  I broke off with a gasp, squeezing Otis so tightly he let out a squawking meow. Numbly, I loosened my hold, and he leapt out of my arms, glaring up at me reprovingly.

  But I hardly noticed. My entire body vibrated with energy as I blinked slowly.

  I’d felt him.

  Alex was alive.

  It was very faint and had a strange quality I couldn’t define, but the little tug at my center that always pulled me toward Alex was back.

  He was alive.

  I clapped both hands over my mouth, staring down at Otis, who still seemed disinclined to forgive me for my earlier rudeness.

  “Holy shit. Otis! He’s alive!”

  Snapping out of my shock, I started to race around the apartment, switching off lights and unplugging things. I didn’t know how long I’d be gone, and I didn’t want the place burning down while I was away. With the lights off, the late afternoon sunlight filtering through the window cast gray shadows over the room, but for the first time in days, the place didn’t feel like a funeral parlor.

  I stuffed my two new daggers into the small sheaths inside my boots, than scooped up Otis. He mewled loudly, jostled in my grasp as I raced down the stairs, and I had a feeling this was the beginning of the end of our tenuous friendship. I didn’t care. I’d put up with a million cat glares if it meant I had a chance to save Alex.

  When I reached Evelyn’s apartment one floor down, I barely restrained myself from pounding on her door like a lunatic, settling for a more restrained rap instead.

  She pulled open the door, her thin frame swathed in a light pink sweater and khaki slacks. At the sight of me, her brow furrowed. “Cam! Is everything all right, dear? You look a little… manic.”

  “Yes, everything’s fine, Evelyn,” I promised. Then, seeing the suspicion growing in her eyes, I amended. “Well, it’s not fine, exactly. Alex is in some trouble, and I need to go help him out. Can you watch Otis until we get back?”

  Her clear blue eyes darkened with concern. I knew how much she loved Alex, and I hated to worry her. But she deserved some version of the truth, at least.

  “Did I see you on TV?” she asked suddenly, her shrewd gaze taking in my usual black tank top, pants, and boots. The exact same thing I’d been wearing on top of the Hancock building.

  Crap. Maybe adopting Asha’s fashion choices hadn’t been the best idea after all—it made me easy to s
pot in a crowd. And Evelyn definitely wasn’t stupid. If she was asking whether she’d seen me on TV, it was because she knew she’d seen me on TV and wanted to give me a chance to explain.

  “You… might have,” I hedged. I didn’t have time to go through everything with her right now. “And Alex’s trouble is sort of related to that. Please, Eve, trust me. I need to go now, but I’ll explain everything when we get back.”

  “All right, dear.” She nodded, but the line between her eyebrows deepened.

  I kissed Otis on the head. I didn’t care if he hated it, the fuzzy little jerk, I was actually going to miss him. Then I handed him over to Evelyn.

  “Thank you, Eve. Really.”

  Not giving her the chance to ask me any more questions, I turned and headed down the stairs. Before my foot even hit the landing on the ground floor, I was already fading out, crossing over to the Shroud.

  The exotic foliage and rough terrain came into view around me, dimly lit by the three moon-like suns.

  Closing my eyes for a second, I latched onto the faint tug in my middle then turned in the direction it pulled me.

  Hang on, Alex. I’m coming.

  THANK YOU FOR READING!

  Thank you so much for reading Guardian Revealed! I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. And don’t worry, the adventure doesn’t stop here.

  Cam’s search for Alex will continue in Guardian Unleashed, coming soon.

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