by S. A. Moss
I nodded, acknowledging all of their introductions.
“We’re very happy to have you join our ranks. There hasn’t been a new Guardian born in over a hundred years.” Arcadius’s tone was genuine. “I’m assuming Pearl has explained how you came to be here? I know it can be quite a shock, especially if your death was sudden or violent.”
“It is. And it… was.” I swallowed, needing to say it out loud to make it real to myself. “I was hit by a car. I was supposed to meet with a private investigator I hired who had information about my parents, and I—”
I broke off.
My parents! Silver! The man threatening him. The creature chasing me.
Silver had most definitely had information about my parents that someone didn’t want me to get my hands on.
When I spoke again, my voice was shaky. “There was this—this thing that crawled out of a man’s body and into another man’s body. Then it chased me, and I ran into the street. I didn’t even see the car until it was too late.”
Anxious excitement hummed through me as I started to put together what had happened since I woke up this morning—if it was even the same day anymore.
“I was looking for information about my parents, and I’m sure the detective had something. I need to go back to Earth! I need to find out what it was! Pearl said most, er, Guardians spend their time on Earth. Is that right? Can you send me back?”
My body buzzed like a live wire. This was it. I was getting a second chance to solve the mystery of my parents’ disappearance. I might have died, but I could make sure it wasn’t in vain.
The large woman, Adele, frowned. Her accent was vaguely French, and her voice was severe. “Of course you can go back to Earth. That’s what Guardians do. But you will not be going to pursue old vendettas and tasks from your previous life. That life is over, and you must let it go. Your purpose now is to protect humanity.”
Sada’s dark eyes narrowed. “A thing crawled out of a man? And you saw it?”
It took me a second to answer her; I was still trying to process Adele’s words. And by this point, that horrible creature was barely in the top five most shocking things I’d seen today. “Yes. It looked like a skeleton, but with skin stretched over the bones. And it was sort of incorporeal, like a ghost. It crawled out of one man into another man’s body, and then it made me shoot the second man. Silver. Then it came after me.”
“A wraith.” Sada clicked her tongue, looking over at Arcadius. “They’re becoming more bold. That’s the second sighting of one this week. The Fallen haven’t been this active in years.”
My head swiveled between them. “The Fallen? What are they?”
“It’s a catch-all term for the souls who are trapped by the Shroud. Some are harmless, but many—wraiths, banshees, and demons, for example—are decidedly not.” Sada frowned. “They sometimes slip through to Earth and wreak havoc on humans. Our job is to stop them.”
Arcadius nodded grimly. “We need another Guardian out there more than ever.”
“We do,” Adele murmured, looking at me pointedly.
“Wait! Wait, wait, wait! You’re talking about this like I have no choice. My purpose now is to protect the human race? What does that even mean? I’m not—” Tears started to well in my eyes. Great. I couldn’t eat, sleep, breathe, or have a pulse, but I could still become a weepy mess. “I didn’t ask for this. I just want to find out what happened to my parents. Please. I have to know, I can’t just… let it go.”
It was Sada who spoke into the silence, her voice kind. “When the Shroud captured your soul, you were pulled here. I know it doesn’t feel like a choice, but a purpose isn’t always something we get to choose. It is something we do in many cases despite what we wish we could do. We need your help, Camille. Please.”
“And what if I say no? Do I really have no choice?”
Owen, who had been watching the entire exchange with the same slightly amused expression he’d worn since I walked in, shook his head. “Of course you have a choice, lass. You don’t have to bear the burden of a Guardian. But we can’t just let you return to Earth. Our entire purpose is to protect the human race, and that means restricting supernatural activity on Earth. If you choose not to join our cause, you may remain in the Haven.”
I blinked. “Stay here?”
He grinned. “Unless you’d rather take your chances in the Wild.”
The Wild.
That tangled mass of dark vegetation under a black sky. The woods themselves had seemed to pulse with a sentient energy, and whatever was hidden within them could only be worse. And was it dark out because it was night now? Or was it always like that here? They’d just told me I was immortal, but that somehow made the prospect of the Wild more terrifying. Death, I was quickly discovering, was not the furthest mark on my measuring stick of fear.
But staying here, even in this castle they called the Haven, wasn’t much more appealing. I needed to get back to Earth.
“Those are my choices? Help you or remain stuck here?”
“I’m afraid so, lass. But we do hope you’ll choose to join our ranks. I promise, it’s much more fun.” Owen grinned widely.
I swallowed, forcing down a sudden wave of sadness. I wanted to sit down and weep for my life that I’d lost. For the choice that was no choice at all. For the world that had flipped upside down and left me with nothing real to hold on to. I wanted to sit in a corner and cry selfish tears because all of this seemed so stupidly unfair.
Instead, I bit my lip hard to stop the tears, straightened my shoulders, and looked at this panel of strangers who held my fate in their hands.
“Then I accept. I will become a Guardian.”
6
Owen’s face split in a broad smile. “There’s a lass!”
Pearl was almost jumping up and down. Whatever training in decorum she’d had during her life, or perhaps her afterlife, kept her from actually leaping into the air. Instead, her body quivered and bobbed like an excited puppy.
The other Council members leaned back as well, and the entire atmosphere of the room changed—like a collective sigh had been released. They had been worried, I realized. They really did want me on their side. That made me feel a bit better, although the urge to sit down and cry like a three-year-old was still strong.
“That’s wonderful,” Arcadius said. His eyes softened, and for the first time it struck me how handsome he was. He’d probably died in his late twenties, in the prime of his life. His name seemed vaguely Greek or Roman, and he looked a bit like a statue of a gladiator come to life. His angular face, strong nose, and closely shorn hair fit well on a set of square shoulders. His gaze flicked to Pearl, and his eyes warmed even more. “Pearl, will you show Cam to a room? After all she’s been through, I think it’s best to give her some time alone to process and recover before we move forward. It is imperative we take her to the Seer soon, but it can wait a few hours.”
A slight blush rose in her cheeks as she looked at Arcadius. “Of course.”
The four Council members stood, which I took as my dismissal.
Thank goodness. What Arcadius had said could not have been more spot on if he’d had a direct line into my head. I needed time to wrap my mind around everything that had happened—and a break from the torrent of new information that made my skull feel like it was straining at the seams.
Pearl gestured for me to follow her. As we reached the door, Sada called out, “Thank you, Camille.”
I met her eyes briefly and nodded, then slipped out the door behind Pearl.
As I followed Pearl down a maze of hallways and up another set of stairs, it occurred to me that Sada had called me by my full name twice. It should’ve seemed rude, since I had just told them that I usually went by my nickname, and she had completely disregarded that. But somehow her use of my name had calmed me, soothing me like it had when I was a kid and my mother had whispered it as she tucked me into bed at night.
Maybe I was just so desperate for a mother fi
gure that any woman over a certain age ended up filling that role for me in a way. But I had to remind myself that no one here was my family. Although I had agreed to join them, I wasn’t about to let my guard down and trust them totally. I’d been on my own too long to fully trust anyone but myself.
“I’m so glad you decided to accept.” Pearl’s voice snapped me out of my thoughts. “And I dearly hope Arcadius will let me be the one to bring you back to Earth once you’re given your assignment by the Seer. I haven’t been back in years, and I know I’ve missed so much.”
“Why not?” I glanced at her curiously. “I mean, aren’t you a Guardian too?”
She sighed. “Yes, I am. The Seer sends most Guardians out into the world to complete tasks. But several of us were placed here to keep everything running smoothly in the Haven. Rather than watching over humans, I watch over this place. It’s very satisfying, but—” her voice dropped to a whisper, and she glanced around guiltily “—it does get a bit boring. I’m slightly jealous of the Guardians who are assigned to Earth.”
The spark in her eyes made me realize how incredibly dull it must be around here most of the time. I really hoped the Seer found me a post on Earth.
“So you’re just stuck here? That’s awful.”
“I do occasionally get to return to Earth. Hopefully, I’ll get to go with you and show you the ropes a bit.”
I cocked my head at her. “The ropes?”
“Well, yes. How to function on Earth, what powers you can use, those kinds of things. You’ll learn a lot on your own, but it will get you started.”
“Powers? What kind of powers?”
She smiled. “Like that, do you? When you died, your soul began being absorbed by the aether before the Shroud pulled you in. And even though you were brought back, your connection with the energy of the universe remains. You can manipulate that energy.”
“So I can do magic?” My brain still felt like it was going to explode, but this time it was out of excitement, not panic.
Pearl trilled a laugh. “If you like to call it that. It’s not so much magic, but a simple manipulation of energy. For example, you can become incorporeal and invisible. Very useful for watching over humans.” She grinned. “You can also control the aether, using it as a sort of blunt force weapon or shield. You can’t do spells or anything, but you can use energy as a tool.”
“Coooool.” I breathed the word in awe.
“Yes, it is, what did you say, ‘cool?’ It is very cool.”
“So that’s how I’m supposed to protect humanity, or whatever it is I get assigned to do? I go invisible and then use my powers?”
“Yes, in essence. There’s a bit more to it than that, but the Seer will explain everything to you when you meet with her tomorrow.”
She opened the door to what looked like a small bedroom and led me inside. There was a bed against the wall, a table and chair in the corner, and a large window looking down on the Wild.
I walked up to the window and peered out again at the dark landscape. “Um, hey, Pearl? Is it night here? Or is it always like that outside?”
She joined me at the window. “It’s night. The Shroud mimics time on Earth.”
Oh. Whew.
“But it doesn’t ever get much brighter than that here,” she added. “You’ll see when the suns come up. There are three, but they don’t shine as Earth’s one.”
I shivered. How had she lived here for hundreds of years and not gone completely stir-crazy?
Pearl turned and walked back to the door, stopping in the doorframe to look back at me. “I’ll leave you alone for a few hours. In the morning, I’ll come back and bring you to the Seer.”
“Okay.”
She closed the door behind her. I looked around at the small room, wondering what it was usually used for if most Guardians weren’t even here. Maybe it was used like a hotel room, a place to put up Guardians who stopped by for a day or two. The thought made me giggle as I walked over and sat down on the bed, then flopped back and stared up at the ceiling.
A nagging thought had been kicking around in my head ever since I’d taken the Council’s offer.
I might be going back to Earth soon.
I’d told them I would accept the duties of a Guardian, but what was to stop me from also using my time back on Earth to look into the lead Silver had found on my parents? Surely I could manage to slip away for a few hours and go back to his office to see if anything was still there.
It hadn’t been that long since I died. The cops might not’ve even been called yet. The building had looked pretty sketchy, and when I was running for my life from the wraith, there’d been no offers of help from the neighbors. It seemed the philosophy in that building was “keep your head down and don’t get involved.” So maybe there was still a chance I could find some useful info there.
Part of me admitted—extremely grudgingly—that Adele was right. If I was dead, what did it matter whether I found out what happened to my parents? I could never go back to my old life anyway.
Before Silver’s unexpected message, I had all but given up on the idea of ever solving the mystery of their disappearance. I’d picked the broken pieces of my heart up and built a little life for myself. But every day since they had vanished, I’d felt like part of me was missing. It wasn’t just the loss of the two people I loved most in the world. It was the loss of context for myself. Without them, I wasn’t quite sure who I was.
I grinned, biting my bottom lip. What the Council didn’t know wouldn’t hurt them. I didn’t plan on breaking my word—I’d take whatever assignment the Seer gave me. I’d just use my spare time to pursue my own agenda. And if my parents were still alive somewhere, maybe I could use my new powers to help them too. Wasn’t that my purpose, as Adele had said? To protect humanity?
Well, I had two humans I wanted to add to the top of that list, and I’d find them no matter what it took.
7
After I emancipated myself from my foster parents at sixteen, I rented my first apartment in Chicago. It was a tiny studio in Rogers Park, with black mold stains permanently ingrained in the shower’s grout and a small oven with a maximum temperature of two hundred degrees. But it was mine. And even though I worked my butt off juggling work and school, I granted myself one small luxury that I’d never had at my foster home.
I slept in.
In the Shroud, sleeping in was apparently not an option. Primarily because it seemed sleep was another one of those pesky human things Guardians no longer had to worry about.
So by the time Pearl came back to fetch me in the morning, I’d had more than enough time to think. Too much, if I was being honest. How did Guardians handle this without going nuts?
As she led me through the halls, two people—Guardians, I assumed—turned into the hallway, heading in the same direction as us. The dark-skinned girl glanced at us briefly, then stopped and did a double take.
“Oi, Pearl! Have you been giving away my clothes? I knew someone had going been through my stuff.”
Shit. That must be Asha. I looked down, suddenly feeling very awkward. It was like when I did laundry in the basement of my apartment and had to move someone’s abandoned clothes from a washer, so I could start my load—only to have the person walk in while I was holding their soggy underwear.
Pearl tilted her head, her smile bright. “Well, I didn’t think Arjun’s would fit her quite as well.”
“She’s got you there, Ash.” The large man standing next to Asha laughed. He was dressed in cargo pants and a t-shirt, and his black hair was cut short.
Asha grinned and punched him lightly on the arm. “Who’d want your ratty clothes anyway? I am a fashion icon among Guardians.” Her gaze shifted to me. “I’m just giving you a hard time, New Blood. Don’t worry.”
“Where are you two off to?” Pearl asked, as we all resumed walking.
“Training room. We just brought in a whopper of a demon. Took two of us to get him back over into the Shroud. While w
e’re here, we figured we might as well have a little fun.” Asha wiggled her eyebrows mischievously.
Pearl’s face darkened. “Another one that powerful? That used to happen once every fifty years, but this is the second one in, what, a week?”
“Third. Garin had to call for reinforcements to haul an especially nasty banshee in Beijing into the Shroud last week,” Arjun said.
I didn’t really understand what they were talking about, so I didn’t have much to add to the conversation. Instead, I surreptitiously studied Asha. She was dressed in an outfit similar to the one Pearl had “borrowed” for me—except it made total sense on her. There was something about her that screamed badass. I might give a decent “fuck off” vibe, but her vibe was definitely more along the lines of “fucking try me.”
She caught me staring and grinned, showing her teeth. A few steps later, they broke away from us and headed down another hallway.
“Welcome to the Shroud, New Blood!” Asha called over her shoulder as they departed.
We continued on for several minutes in silence, walking through hallways and down several sets of steps.
“How big is this place?” I asked Pearl, rubbernecking to try to take everything in.
“Oh, quite large. We have rooms available for Guardians who return between assignments, then there are several rooms used for gatherings and for training. The portal room takes up the most space.”
Before I could ask what the portal room was, she stopped at a heavy wooden door and unlatched it.
When I stepped through, a warm breeze hit my face. The air out here smelled slightly sulfuric, and ahead of us a raised walkway made of rough, dark stone led to a door at the base of a tall tower. From my glance out the window last night, I’d surmised the Haven was perched on a sort of hill, and below it was the Wild, the scraggly branches and strange vegetation encroaching on the castle perimeter like water lapping at a shoreline.
The stone walkway was narrow, and the drop on either side was at least thirty feet. I shivered involuntarily as I looked down. Darkness seemed to engulf the base of the walkway, waiting to swallow up unlucky visitors.