Guardian Unraveled

by Georgia Lyn Hunter

  The tall spiral of light shuddered. Then it began to reform into a shimmering female shape…solidifying.

  His heart racing to his throat, he leaped to his feet. Prisms of light shot out of Shae’s eyes, her mouth, and her fingertips. Whatever force held her suspended in the air, the sight was beyond breathtaking. Her hair floated out around her in waves of white. Her arms hung loosely at her sides as she became corporeal once more. Color seeped into her—and she was naked. Dammit!

  Then Dagan forgot her nakedness, his eyes widening as branch-like appendages spread out from her back several feet wide. Feathers burst free…and two enormous coppery-red wings spread out.

  “Oh, dear God,” Jenna whispered, her hand on her mouth. “She has wings.”

  “She would,” Michael said from beside her. “Her father was still an angel when Shae was conceived—”

  “No!” Jenna rounded on him, her expression fierce in a way only a mother’s could be. “You will not touch her. I know about the killings of half-angel children by you lot.”

  Hedori reached for her, but she shrugged him off. “She’s suffered enough…” Her voice cracked.

  Hearing Jenna’s words, Dagan’s jaw clenched. Yet his gaze remained fixed on his mate still hovering several feet in the air.

  Finally, the furious, spinning energy slowed, and Shae floated down.

  Dagan dove forward, swept her into his arms, and lowered to his knees, her enormous wings fanning out on the ground. Gently, he laid her down and hauled off his button-down. The shirt was scorched in the front, the sleeves burned to his biceps, but it didn’t matter. With her appendages in the way, he put the shirt on her backwards.

  Then he simply held her, staring at her beautiful, serene face. His heart still hammering like crazy, his fear not leaving him, he stroked her smooth cheek, the Y-shaped scar there now a faint, white line and barely noticeable.

  “No one will ever touch my mate. I don’t care if she’s psionic or a damn nephilim, she’s mine!” Dagan lifted his gaze to Michael, his tone a stone cold promise. “They come near her, and I swear on every fucking star in the universe, I will kill them.”

  The other Guardians moved to stand beside him, their support evident in their granite expressions. “So will we.”

  “We’re fed up with the Absolute Laws having dominion over us, always on our asses the moment one of us finds our mate,” Aethan said coldly. “We are immortals who live under the radar, but this world is ours, too. We deserve a damn chance at happiness.”

  Michael remained silent for a long second then snorted. “You’re one damn pack of boneheads.” He glanced at Jenna. “Rest easy. The laws of the Watchers do not apply here. Shae’s immortal now, she’s safe. But her human self had to die for her immortal self to be born.”

  Jenna’s shoulders sagged in relief, tears sliding down her cheeks. She dashed at them. “After living in fear for so long, it’s so good to hear this.”

  Dagan held Shae close. There were no words to express his relief that he held her living body in his arms again. He rose to his feet, carrying her, her wings dragging down.

  Too overwhelmed to speak to the warriors who’d rallied with him, Dagan nodded to them, then dematerialized with his mate back to the castle.

  Chapter 29

  Sweat running down his face and back, Dagan swiped it away with a towel and grabbed a bottle of water and an energy drink from the small fridge in the training arena where he’d spent three intense hours training with swords with Nik.

  “How’s Shae?” Nik asked, snatching the can Dagan tossed at him in midair.

  Jaw tight, Dagan unscrewed the bottle and gulped half the contents. “She still sleeps.”

  “Guess with all the changes she’s been through, it makes sense.” Nik guzzled some of his drink. “I’m off. See you at the briefing.”

  Dagan nodded. Since their return from Stone Ridge three days ago, he’d left Shae under her mother’s watchful eye when he went on patrol, hunting for that bastard Aza. In the furor of the fight, he’d obviously snuck away. None of the warriors had seen him either. So he probably had no idea Samael had been captured.

  Wiping his face again, Dagan headed for his quarters. As he entered the bedroom, Jenna rose from the bedside. With a small nod, and as silent as usual, she walked out, the door closing softly behind her.

  Dagan rubbed his palm over his whiskered jaw, exhaustion riding him hard. He should shower and get—

  A soft sigh distracted him. He pivoted toward the bed and felt as if his knees would cave.

  Shae’s gaze flickered around then settled on him, and the smile he adored took life. It had been hell waiting for her to awaken. Three days seemed like years.

  The sconces’ lights above the bed cast a soft golden glow over her, bathing her in warmth and reflecting off her enormous wings fanned out on the massive bed like burnished copper. More, he worried at the heightened power he sensed churning inside her. “How do you feel?”

  “Tired. Like I’ve been through a long sprint and still have too much energy inside me.” Her smile died. “Dagan,” her voice broke, tears flooding her eyes. “Samael killed Harvey. He killed him because he was trying to protect me.”

  “Harvey cared about you. He was a true friend. I’d do the same.” Dagan sat on the mattress and wiped away her tears. “Samael had traps set for us all over the city. Demons attacked Hedori in a damn long fight when he arrived at the hall.”

  “It was so he could get me alone,” she whispered.

  “I realized that too late.” Dagan wished he could get his hands on the bastard just so he could kill him this time. He lifted her fingers and brushed his mouth across her knuckles. “At least Týr got your friend Ash to leave.”

  “Thank you.” She shifted on the mattress, distress tightening her face. “All these years we were staying with a monster, pretending to be my father’s friend. Oh, God, Mom?” She gripped his shirt.

  “Your mother’s fine. She’s spent a lot of time here with you while you slept.”

  That seemed to break her out of her terror. “She did? She’s okay?”

  He recalled her silence. No, she wasn’t. He merely said, “Samael’s hold on her is broken. And since she’s a powerful psi, Hedori took on the role of her protector. So she’ll be safe now.”

  “Thank you.” A shaky smile touched her lips. She shifted again and frowned. “The bed’s lumpy. Did you change it?”

  His mouth quirked. She still had no idea. “Not exactly.”

  She pushed up and groaned. “My back feels so heavy…” She reached behind her. Her eyes widened. “Dagan, what is this? What’s wrong with me? There are tufts of—”

  She stared at him as if she didn’t believe what she felt. She glanced over her shoulder. “No-no way!” She scrambled off the mattress and nearly fell on her back again at the weight.

  “Easy.” He grasped her upper arms and helped her up. Before she unbalanced again with the added mass of wings, he guided her into the dressing room and over to the huge paneled mirror on the wooden wall.

  Her mouth dropped open. “Oh, Jesus! I have wings. How?” She spun around to him and nearly tripped, her enormous extremities hitting the closet with a thud. “Ouch!”

  “Slowly, baby.” Dagan cupped her elbows. “It happened after you incinerated Samael.”

  “Tell me he’s dead?”

  “No, but he’ll wish he was. He’s been condemned to Purgatory for the deaths of so many. However, you did destroy his wings.”

  “Good.” At her bloodthirsty satisfaction, he shook his head and continued, “You were encompassed in a white glow, it swallowed you whole…” His gut twisted, still haunted at how helpless he’d felt having to watch her fight a powerful angel then be consumed by her own power…and, finally, die. He rubbed his burning eyes.

  “Dagan? What is it?”

  He lifted his agonized gaze to hers. “I thought I’d lost you.”

  “I heard you,” she whispered. “After the immense
agony, I was finally in this place of calm and peace with radiant white lights. And a melodious whisper in my mind saying I would always be at peace there… I never wanted to leave. But, then I heard your voice and it tugged at my soul, I knew I couldn’t stay…”

  She stroked his left pecs as if to ease his grief. “I tried to reach for you, but you were so far away. The voice continued to tempt me to stay, but my heart wanted you. I fought to break free; it was like trying to fight through quicksand… I don’t recall anything after that. Just immense white light surrounding me.”

  She’d heard him, and she came back.

  He grasped her hands from his chest and pressed them to his lips. Emotions choked him. It took a moment, maybe several before he could speak again. “You became an orb of light and rose into the air. It swirled and started to reform. When you took shape again, those wings grew out of you…” Dagan shook his head, still awed at her rebirth. Then he grasped her wrist and turned it over while Shae warily eyed her wings in the mirror again.

  The fucking mating mark was still there.

  “They feel odd…heavy,” she said, tentatively reaching behind her to touch the downy feathers. “How on earth am I to walk without falling?”

  “Practice.”

  “Dagan—” Wild-eyed, she stared at him in the mirror. “How can I leave the castle with these things in view?”

  “You’ll have to learn to conceal them. Angels who come to Earth do it all the time. Draw them close to your body,” he encouraged.

  After several grunts, she managed to fold them against her back.

  “That’s good.” He stroked the arches of her wings, and she stiffened, a low moan escaping her. Her pale cheeks took on a deep flush, and her pupils dilated. He went motionless. “It turns you on when I stroke you here?”

  She bit her lip and nodded. “Like you have your fingers…”

  “Where?” he teased. “Here?” He stroked the arches again.

  “Between my thighs,” she growled, her voice huskier than normal.

  And just as fast, he lost his smile, a thought kicking him in the gut. He cursed under his breath. “No one must touch your wings there. It’s essential you learn to conceal them.”

  Her shoulders heaving in a huge sigh, she nodded. “I know. Or you’ll probably kill them all.”

  He frowned. Even though she’d been in a healing sleep, she looked paler than normal. “I’m an idiot, dumping this on you when you’ve just awakened. We can wait a day or so.”

  “No. I don’t want anyone making me feel this way—ugh.” She grimaced. “What must I do?”

  He stroked her upper arms and considered his options. “Remember how you shielded your powers? Let’s try the same way here. It should work. If not, Michael will have to teach you.”

  Shae shut her eyes, a shimmer, and her wings vanished. Her eyelids snapped open, shining with wonder. “They’re gone, I don’t feel them anymore. I’m normal again.”

  “Normal?” A smile tugged his lips in wry amusement. “Hardly.” He grasped her hand, drew her back into the bedroom and stopped in front of the fireplace. “I don’t want you to hurt yourself. The dressing room wouldn’t take your open wings easily. Go ahead.”

  Dagan stepped to her front. She inhaled deeply, and in a swoosh of feathers, her wings emerged. She stumbled back at the added weight, her hands grabbing his shirt for purchase, and she grinned up at him. “I did it!”

  At her happiness, he pulled her close and kissed her, dying to touch her, to make love to her after all that had occurred over the past few days, but he still had a damn Fallen to annihilate.

  He didn’t want to worry her about that just yet. He would find the bastard soon enough.

  “Can I fly now?”

  He struggled to contain his smile as she stood there, hands on her hips, her wings held close to her body before they vanished. It must be an inherent angel thing at how easily she learned to hide them.

  “Well?”

  “So impatient.” He laughed. “Probably. However, that I can’t teach you. Michael will have to get one of the angels to show you.”

  Suddenly, her gaze widened, her wish to fly seemingly wiped from her mind. “Dagan!” She rushed behind him. “Your beautiful hair!”

  “What?” He turned with her as she pulled some of the remaining long braids to the front.

  “So much burned off,” she whispered, gently touching the singed ends. He stared at it for a second. Right. He’d forgotten about getting them cut off. “How?” she asked.

  “When I tried to save you. The white glow emitting from you as the changes took place, exploded, and I got caught in the crossfire. My hair paid the price.”

  Her face fell. “I’m so sorry.”

  At her distress, he drew her into his arms. “I don’t care about my hair. You are all that matters. I love you, Shae. I’d give my life for you, don’t you realize that?”

  “I know.” A smile hovered on her lips. “Let me even them for you.”

  He headed back into the dressing room, got a pair of scissors from a drawer, and handed them to her. With his mind, he undid his ropey hair then sat on a wooden chest. She gathered his uneven mane to the back, and the sounds of snipping echoed. Burnt ends and longer tails fell to the floor like black ribbons, but his chest constricted. She was so close, and he couldn’t sense her—couldn’t feel her spirit anymore, faint as their mate-bond had been.

  She set the scissors on the trunk and dusted his back. “There. All done.”

  Before she stepped back, Dagan grasped her arm and rose to his feet. He drew her close and wrapped in his arms, wanting to keep her right there forever. When she died, their faint bonding had severed, probably aided by the damn mate brand on her wrist. But the loss clawed at his soul.

  As if sensing his despair, her worried gaze searched his face. “What is it?”

  He shook his head. She pushed away and wrinkled her nose. “Ugh—I smell terrible, like charred dead things, and you didn’t tell me. I’m going to shower.”

  “No.” He swept her off her feet, startling a squeal out of her as he headed for the bathroom. “We both are. You were in a healing sleep, how you smelled was of little importance, but to make up, I’ll pay careful attention to every part of you and make sure it’s all washed.”

  “Oh…” Then she smiled. “I like your idea far better, and I get to do the same.” She kissed him.

  A half hour later, they stepped out of the shower. Shae made her way into the dressing room, her face flushed from the intimacy they’d just shared.

  Dagan inhaled deeply, rubbing a hand over his chest where her light resided inside him once more. Shae hadn’t even realized that their mating bond was back, probably because of so much energy churning inside her. Except Dagan felt the difference. It was still faint because of the damn mating mark obstructing the completion of their soul-joining.

  It was almost midnight when they headed downstairs. Aware of the furtive glances she kept throwing him, he arched a brow. “What?”

  “Nothin’...” A smile ghosted her mouth as she raked back her damp hair.

  Yeah, she was up to no good. He pressed her up against the balustrade with his hips, his hands on the railing, caging her. He lowered his head and ran his tongue over her pulse point. “Tell me. Or… I’ll bite you.”

  “Really?” She leaned back, casting him a sultry look. “Go ahead, I love your mouth on me.”

  Amusement tugged his lips. Her smile turned into a sigh. She patted his chest and relented. “It’s just that you look so different. Before, with your long hair, you sported that dangerous, get-the-hell-away vibe. Now, you look really, really hot and sorta have this badass, please-do-me look.”

  “Is that so?” He trailed his mouth over the faint lines where the bumpy scar had once been in a slow kiss. “Oh, I plan to do you, Shae-cat. In every way possible, as soon as I can…”

  “Samael tried to kill me when I was a child?” Shae shouldn’t be shocked, considering all she’
d learned about her uncle.

  “Yes,” Jenna said quietly, her eyes dark with pain and anger. “I recall it all now. Samael was unaware that your father had cast a protection spell on you when he first attempted to end your life and failed. You were three. That incantation was to keep you from being detected by the archangel and thrones. But something must have released you from its protection…” She cast a glance at Michael before continuing, “He believes it could have happened when you met your mate.”

  They’d gathered in the kitchen. Dagan stood near the open French doors, his arms folded across his chest. The other warriors were still out on patrol, leaving only Michael and Hedori. Echo sat opposite them.

  As her mother revealed the horror of Samael’s reach—of him killing her father and wiping out Shae’s memories of the incident—Dagan’s expression turned darker.

  “Samael lied to me about Gus being killed in a mugging.” Her mother stared at the teacup she wrapped her fingers around. “He had Aza do it. An angel killing another would instantly draw Michael to him, and that he couldn’t have. He used to tell me all these things every time he came to the Dark Realm where he’d imprisoned me. I hated him. I wanted to hurt him so badly, but I couldn’t do anything, I-I was helpless—” She broke off, wiping her wet cheeks.

  “He paid, Jenna, and he’ll be paying for eternity where he’s now trapped,” Michael said from the opposite end of the long dining table. “There is no escape from Purgatory.”

  After a long moment, she nodded. “He deserves no less.” Her gray eyes lifted to Shae’s. “You were fifteen when your father decided to fall. He didn’t want us to be hunted for the rest of our lives, and you had to be protected at all costs. It was a dangerous time for us. He trusted no one and wanted us shielded while he was gone to the Celestial Realm. We were going to tell you the truth after he came back, Shae.”

  She pushed her cocoa mug aside and rubbed her brow wearily. After everything they’d been through, anger was so pointless when her parents were only trying to protect her. She lowered her hand. “I’m so glad you’re safe, but I wish I’d known about Dad.” Just thinking about her father, and her chest compressed. She’d known all about her parents’ first meeting, bumping into each other on the street, and it was love at first sight. “Dad was wonderful.”