Guardian Born

by S. A. Moss

  Her eyes widened. “Guarding whom? Or what?”

  “A big stocky guy. He looked human; I didn’t see an aura around him.”

  She bit her lip, looking thoughtful. “Well, you wouldn’t see an aura if a wraith had possessed him. When they take over a human body, their aura disappears.”

  I shuddered. “That’s creepy as hell.”

  “Agreed.”

  Drawing in a deep breath, I straightened. “Well, thanks for the warning, Pearl. I’ll be extra careful. Can you do me a favor? Keep your ear to the ground at the Haven. If you hear anything else, will you let me know?”

  She nodded, then pulled me into a quick hug before hurrying after Arcadius and Owen. I wasn’t sure if she’d keep what I’d told her from Arcadius—the looks they kept shooting each other made it clear something was going on between them, whether they acknowledged it or not—but I needed to tell someone.

  I sank into the chair next to Alex’s bed, watching the steady rise and fall of his chest.

  The Fallen are acting strange. Organizing.

  I thought back to the one I’d seen today. He had definitely looked like a bodyguard.

  And the body he was guarding—the stocky man I’d seen in the picture with my father—might be human, but I had a sinking feeling that whatever had taken up residence inside of that body was distinctly inhuman.

  16

  Sometime between late that night and early the next morning, Owen and Pearl reappeared. Pearl promised to sit by Alex’s side and watch him like a hawk, and I grudgingly agreed to leave his side for a few hours, so I could practice with Owen.

  As we walked down the stairs of the hospital to the main floor, I glanced over at Owen. Physically, he was the most intimidating of all the Council members—but there was something about him that actually made him the least scary. Maybe it was his perpetual semi-smirk, or his boisterous manner of speaking, but I imagined he was as likely to crack open a few beers with a person as crack their head open.

  “So, not to question the wisdom of the Council or anything, but why didn’t you guys teach me this stuff earlier? Why throw me into the job with no training at all?” I asked, as we passed through a wall and out onto the street.

  His perma-smirk slipped a bit. “In this instance, we had no choice. The Seer did not want any delay in sending you to watch over Alex. And she was right not to. If you hadn’t been there, he might have died.”

  “I wasn’t there the whole time,” I said softly.

  “But you will be from now on, right?”

  “Yes.” The word was full of conviction.

  “Then that’s all that matters. Arcadius forgets what it’s like sometimes, but it’s not an easy thing to let go of your old life. When I was born as a Guardian, I wanted desperately to go see my wife and son, to make sure they would be all right without me. The Council warned me against it, but I didn’t heed their advice.” A deep sadness flickered across his face. “I wish that I had. We are no longer entirely of this world, and it is best to remember that.”

  A wave of grief washed over me. No longer entirely of this world. I could feel the truth of that in my bones, and I suddenly felt a sharp pang of nostalgia for the simple pleasures of being human. “I’m sorry.”

  His grin reappeared, and he clapped me on the back, causing me to stumble a step. “Don’t be. That was many hundreds of years ago. I have made peace with my death. And you will too.”

  Before I could respond to that, he veered off the sidewalk into a large, nearly empty parking lot. The shops in the complex were all closed at this hour, and only a few cars were left scattered throughout the lot.

  I blinked. “Here?”

  He grinned mischievously. “We’re going to need space. Lots of space.”

  “Oookay.”

  Turning to face me, he held up his hands in a ready stance. “Pearl already showed you how to fade, and how to harness and release energy, right?”

  I nodded. “Yeah, and I’ve been practicing when I can.”

  “Good. Show me.”

  Feeling a little nervous, I turned to look for a trash can or something I could hit. I wasn’t sure I’d be able to repeat the same size blast I’d released yesterday, when I’d had so much energy coursing through my veins from the fight.

  “What are you doing? I said show me.” Owen’s amused voice jerked my gaze back to him.

  “I was—”

  “No. Show me.” He held up his hands in the same ready stance, and it finally sunk in.

  Oh geez. He wanted me to hit him with a blast.

  Crap. He was a lot bigger than a trash can.

  I reached out into the ether, harnessing as much energy as I could, then cast my hands towards Owen and released it.

  He raised his arms in front of his face, and with a dull whump, my energy blast dissipated.

  I gaped. “How—how did you do that?”

  “The same way you did. Energy. It’s the same principle as throwing a blast, but instead of releasing the energy, you create a sort of wall or shield with it. Now you try.” He flicked out a hand toward me. I barely had time to gather my thoughts, much less harness any ether, before the force of his blast threw me backward through the air. I skidded against the pavement and finally came to a stop lying on my back. It hurt, but not nearly as much as it would’ve if I’d been human.

  Owen’s face appeared above me. “You didn’t block me.”

  “I wasn’t ready!”

  He smirked. “Oh sorry. I forgot that in a fight, I always ask my opponent if they’re ready before I hit them.” Holding out his hand, he pulled me to my feet. “I noticed that you hesitate as you draw the energy from the ether. That’ll slow you down. You need to work on making it as fast as possible. Don’t think of it as a two-step process—drawing it into yourself and then releasing it—but instead, picture yourself as a conduit for the energy. It flows through you. I was hoping if I surprised you, it’d force you to act faster.”

  I grimaced. “Guess not.”

  “We’ll try again. But I’m never going to ask if you’re ready.” He walked away, chuckling to himself. While his back was turned, I threw up a couple of practice shields, getting a feel for the way the energy surrounded me. His advice actually helped a lot. I shook out my shoulders, trying to stay loose and prepared.

  Mid-step, Owen suddenly pivoted and shot a blast of energy toward me. My shoulders immediately tensed—so much for loose and prepared—but I managed to get a weak shield up in time to deflect part of his blast. Instead of actually flying through the air this time, I just stumbled backward several feet and landed ungracefully on my butt.

  “Better.” Owen nodded approvingly.

  After several more attempts, I was blocking most of his attacks—although they still tended to knock me off balance a bit. We moved on to adding counter-attacks, and when I’d gotten decent at that, Owen called a time out.

  “You’re a quick learner,” he told me approvingly, as I rolled my neck. It was strange to feel physically exhausted but not be at all out of breath. He’d also promised me that as I got better at harnessing ether, it would be less taxing on me. I was definitely looking forward to that day.

  “There’s much more you can do with energy, but it takes time to master the more intricate tricks. The blunt force blocks and attacks are easiest, and often the most effective in a fight,” he added. “One more lesson for tonight. And this one is fun. Fade in.”

  I raised an eyebrow as I followed his command. I had a feeling this hulking Scotsman and I might have slightly different ideas about what constituted “fun.”

  “The first and easiest lesson any Guardian learns is how to fade out. I’ve seen you do it, so I know you know how. But that skill can also be used in a fight. Hit me.”

  I didn’t even hesitate. He’d said not to ask your opponent if they were ready, right? I threw a punch at his face—it was wonky and threw me off balance, but at least it was fast.

  But before my blow could land, he
faded. My punch went right through him, and I stumbled forward. As I struggled to re-orient myself, I saw Owen’s giant block of a fist sailing toward my head.

  Oh goody. My first fistfight.

  Instinctively, I faded just a split second before he hit me. His fist passed harmlessly through me, and I stepped back. “Holy shit!”

  “Well done. That’s the speed you need to be working at!” Owen clapped his hands. “Fading won’t block a blast of energy. But it can be very helpful in a hand-to-hand fight. Think of it as bobbing and weaving. But instead of just moving your body in space, you’re moving it in and out of the dimension of the person you’re fighting. You can use this trick against humans or demons—just fade to whatever plane they’re not on to evade their blow.” He hesitated. “The sticky bit is, this style of fighting makes it very hard to disguise what you are. It violates the Guardian principle of staying hidden from humans, so it should only be used when extreme circumstances warrant it, or in places where no humans can see.”

  I nodded. Personally, I thought their “stay hidden from humans” rule was stupid, though maybe that was just because I sucked at it. But wouldn’t it be so much easier to do our jobs if we didn’t have to worry about being seen? We could be like superheroes, and humans could actually call us when they needed us.

  By the time we arrived back at the hospital, the sun was almost up. Pearl was sitting attentively by Alex’s side, and she looked up happily when we entered. “How did you do?”

  Owen answered for me. “She did excellently. Alex is in good hands.”

  The two of them beamed at me, and I gulped.

  Boy, I hoped he was right.

  17

  The phone in my hand felt like a lead weight. If I’d still been capable of sweating, my forehead would’ve been damp.

  I bit my lip. I’d broken the “stay hidden from humans” rule a few times already, but that had mostly been accidental. This would be deliberate.

  Alex had spent the day resting and watching terrible TV. Seth had come by to visit, and while he was here, the doctor had stopped in to tell Alex that he’d be released tomorrow. Seth had quickly offered to drive Alex home, which was a huge weight off my mind. I couldn’t exactly volunteer to do it myself.

  Now Alex was sleeping peacefully, and I was hiding in the en suite bathroom clutching his phone. The dim light from the screen filled the small room with an eerie glow. Before I could lose my nerve, I punched in his code and dialed Sarah’s number.

  “Hello?” Her voice was a bit groggy on the other end of the line. It was almost midnight, and she’d probably fallen asleep early after studying. The sound of her voice made my own catch in my throat. I hadn’t realized how much I missed her until now.

  “Hello?” she said again.

  “Sarah? It’s me.”

  There was a long pause, and then her tremulous voice asked, “Cam?”

  “Yes.”

  “But you’re—”

  “No, I’m not dead, Sarah. I’m—I can’t explain right now, but I need your help.”

  “I don’t understand. They said you died.”

  I sighed. Like I’d expected, she wasn’t really able to get past that part. It’d taken me a while too, so I understood how she felt. I took a breath and dived into the story I’d prepared.

  “I’m not dead. I’m in a sort of—witness protection program thing. But I have a little problem and I need your help.”

  “Oh my god, Cam!” Her shocked southern accent rang through the phone so loudly that I put my hand over the speaker, afraid that Alex would hear.

  “I know. Sorry I can’t tell you more, but it’s really better if I don’t. It’s just, I’m kind of limited in where I can go, and I need something. I wanted to see if you could help me.”

  “What can I do?”

  And that was Sarah. Her brain worked faster than just about anybody I knew, and she didn’t waste a lot of time asking the same question over and over, which was why I’d taken the risk of calling her. I hated to ask for help from anyone, but after what happened to Alex last time I’d left him alone, I couldn’t do this on my own.

  “I need you to go to my apartment. You still have that spare key I gave you, right?”

  “Yeah, I do.”

  “Good.”

  I told her what I needed, and she agreed to meet me at the hospital in the morning on her way to class. I was a little nervous about telling her where I was, but since the doctor had said Alex would probably be discharged tomorrow, I wouldn’t be here much longer. I didn’t want Sarah poking her head around, trying to find out where I was hiding. Trouble seemed to follow me like a shadow these days, and I didn’t want her getting sucked into it too.

  After swiping the screen to delete her number from his caller history, I slipped back into the room and set the phone quietly on the small bedside table. Then I faded out and settled in for the rest of the night, watching the slow rise and fall of Alex’s chest as he slept.

  Time was obviously relative, because although the first few seemingly endless nights had made me seriously wonder if I could hold on to my sanity without so much as a nap for the rest of my existence, I was starting to get used to it.

  I’d given up the struggle against being a creeper, and spent most of the night openly staring at Alex. It probably wasn’t healthy, but I refused to think too hard about that.

  Around eight, I crept down the hall and darted into an empty room to fade in. Then I headed downstairs to wait for Sarah. I hated to leave Alex alone for even these few minutes, but at least we were still in the same building.

  Ever punctual, Sarah was already waiting for me when I got downstairs. All I saw was a blur of blonde hair before she threw herself at me, hugging me so tight I felt my ribs shifting. She pulled back, and her tear-filled eyes made mine well up too.

  Oh geez. Maybe this had been a really terrible idea. I had some sense already of why Owen regretted finding his wife and son. This hurt a lot more than I expected it to.

  “Are you okay?” she whispered. “Are you safe, at least?”

  “Yeah.” Big fat lie.

  She nodded, her eyes shining with relief. “Good. I miss you, but I’m glad you’re okay.”

  “Me too. I—” I stopped. I really didn’t know what to say. There was too much emotion and not enough words. So instead, I just said, “Thank you.”

  “Of course. Here you go.” She passed me my savings debit card, then caught my hand. “Are you sure there’s nothing else I can do?”

  “No, Sarah. Thank you for this. It means so much to me.” I hesitated. “Actually, there is one thing. This probably goes without saying, but don’t tell anyone about this, okay? Don’t mention I called you, don’t mention I’m… alive.” I stumbled over the word. It felt less and less real every time I said it. I definitely wasn’t alive anymore, whatever else I may be.

  Tears glistened in Sarah’s eyes, and a million questions seemed to be building up behind her pursed lips. But she simply nodded and swept me into another bone-crushing hug. When she turned to leave, an ache bloomed in my chest. I doubted I’d ever see her again.

  Doing my best to shove down the emotions threatening to overwhelm me, I headed back upstairs. I had been thinking about it nonstop ever since he’d mentioned his crappy insurance, and the guilt over what had happened to Alex had led me to cook up this crazy plan. I’d never been a big spender, preferring to save whatever extra money I earned for a rainy day. Well, that rainy day had come, and even though I no longer had any need for the small nest egg I’d built, Alex did.

  As I approached the patient services desk, the older woman sitting behind it glanced up. She was wearing pink scrubs, and her lipstick was creeping into the small lines around her mouth.

  “Can I help you, sweetheart?” She looked askance at my outfit. I’d never found the time—or a reason, really—to find new clothes to replace the ones Pearl had given me. But there was no denying I looked out of place in the hospital, with its white walls an
d friendly pastel color scheme.

  “Yes, I need to pay a bill. For Alex Knight, in room 308.”

  She looked a little confused, but typed the info into her computer. “It looks like he’s about to be discharged. You wanted to pay his full bill?”

  “Yes.”

  “All… right. We’ve submitted claims to his insurance, but they—“

  “Don’t worry about that. I’ll just pay all of it.”

  “Well, sweetie, the bill is over eighteen thousand dollars,” she said, in a somewhat disparaging tone. My eyes almost bugged out at the number, but I refused to give her the satisfaction. That was my entire nest egg. If I’d been in Alex’s place, I could’ve afforded to cover my medical bills, but it would’ve completely wiped me out. At least I’d save him from having to worry about money, especially since he would probably have to take some time off from teaching until he was fully recovered.

  “That’s fine.” I grinned smugly at her shocked look as I passed over my debit card. I hoped it still worked.

  When the payment went through, she shot me another look, seeming to re-evaluate her initial assessment of me. If only she knew that was my life savings.

  I signed the receipt and turned around to head back to Alex’s room—but jerked to a stop. Alex was walking right towards me, clearly headed for the patient services desk.

  Shit! How on earth had he gotten checked out and dressed so quickly?

  Evelyn, his downstairs neighbor, had also stopped by to visit him yesterday and brought him a fresh change of clothes. He looked much better now that he was up and walking around. His gait was a little uneven because he was favoring his right side, but if not for that, no one would ever guess that he’d been stabbed just a few days ago.

  And… he was still walking toward me. I had completely seized up, staring at him like an idiot. He noticed me and hesitated, giving me a small, somewhat quizzical smile.