Hell and Back: The Protector Guild Book 4

by Holborn, Gray

  He was still shirtless, though he thankfully had his pants, and the predator beneath the surface still peered back at me from his eyes.

  We stared like that for what felt like forever, our eyes locked on each other, our bodies locked together. It was terrifying and exhilarating and calming.

  Everything at once.

  “Good, it’s working,” a soft voice said as I reluctantly pulled my focus from Atlas to stare at its owner. Khalida was kneeling beside us, her eyes were still mysterious and velvety black, but back to their usual form. A warm smile pulled at her lips as her hand reached for mine.

  I jumped slightly at the contact, though I wasn’t sure what I was afraid of. She squeezed my fingers gently, like we were old friends meeting for the first time in a long while. There was a familiarity to the gesture that raised the hair on my arms.

  “You’re alright Max. You did well,” she said, as her eyes narrowed slightly, making her look more stern, older somehow, “but you must work on your control in the future. You give too freely, too strongly. It will be your demise if you don’t learn to harness your energy soon. Power exchange is a complicated process, it can be your undoing if you allow it to be.”

  She sounded like one of those wise, old creatures from movies and TV shows, not like a girl only a few years older than me. I wasn’t entirely sure what she was going on about, but I sank back against Atlas and looked around the room.

  Declan stood above us, her expression tense, but not uncaring, as her eyes bounced from me to Atlas to Khalida in quick succession, like she didn’t know who was the real threat and where to center her focus or her fear anymore.

  Darius leaned against the wall. He still looked worse for wear, but I could tell that his strength was returning to him slowly, even if the normal expression and light behind his eyes was absent. Unlike Declan, it seemed like he couldn’t—or wouldn’t—look at me. Instead, he was staring off into space, locked in his own battle. His jaw was tensed, his shoulders stiff, his body no longer filled with that lazy carefree posture he always seemed to affect.

  And then, as if suddenly remembering, I tore through the room with my gaze until it landed on him.

  Eli.

  He was awake now, sitting against the wall where he’d fallen, only his posture was straight and the pallor of his face was gone. He was still caked in dried blood and dust from the debris and fallout, but his cuts looked days, maybe even weeks old now. And his eyes weren’t filled with that alarming distance and haziness that had been there moments before.

  I choked on my breath and unwrapped Atlas’s hands from my middle, my fingers shaking with exhilaration as they met his.

  For a second, I wasn’t sure he would let me go, but after a long moment of resistance, he dropped his legs and his arms and pushed himself back. It was like he went from not wanting to let me go to not getting away from me fast enough, all in one moment.

  Ignoring him, I crawled towards Eli and swept my hand over his forehead and cheeks, almost unable to believe my eyes. The cuts were echoes and shadows of what they’d been before. At this rate, he’d be healed back to normal in hours.

  But I’d seen what Claude had done to Darius, seen the effects it had on Eli. How was this possible?

  “You did this?” I asked as I craned my head back to look at Khalida. What the hell was she? I still couldn’t wrap my mind around the idea that a power like hers existed. If we could harness it—if she could teach us how she did it or what she was—we could save countless lives. We didn’t need to sacrifice young protectors like we did, didn’t need to lose so many, so young, to the demons they battled.

  She nodded, bobbing her head up and down once, as her lips tightened into a straight line, like she could sense where my thoughts were going and didn’t fully approve. “You did this too, Max.”

  The realization of her words left my mind filled with a numb emptiness. And suddenly I couldn’t bring myself to look Eli, Atlas, Declan, or even Darius in the eyes. Couldn’t bear to see the fear or disapproval or disgust that would be written there. Because now I knew with absolute certainty that I wasn’t like them. That, in a lot of ways, I recognized parts of myself in Khalida that I hadn’t seen, that I wouldn’t find, in The Guild.

  Shame licked at the back of my throat, down my spine. But there was pride, too. Khalida saved Eli, and by extension she saved Darius too. And I helped. So whatever I was, whatever strange and wrong parts lived inside of me, they couldn’t be all bad. Not if they could protect the people I cared about from harm.

  “How is it possible that vampire blood can even do this in the first place?” Declan asked, her gaze crossing to Atlas as she stared at him for support. I could see her worldview crashing down around her in the depths of her eyes. “Wouldn’t we have known that already? I mean I’m sure that our research teams have fed or injected vamp blood before. They study these creatures after all, so I’m sure that includes running countless tests on their blood.”

  Darius let out a dark chuckle that drew our attention back to him. He glanced past me and narrowed his eyes at Declan like he blamed her for the world burning down around him. “Study is a very loose term for what they do down there.”

  Khalida’s brows turned inward as she glanced at her friend. It looked like she wanted to go to him, to provide comfort, but she didn’t know how. Whatever he experienced down in the labs was out of her reach and he was an entirely different person now. I saw the sadness in her eyes, as the gulf between them opened up.

  “They’ve taken our blood and studied it under microscopes, sure. But blood bonds have to be willingly given and taken directly from the vein. It is a magic that does not work without consent or intention. I’m sure there was a period where they had subjects ingest the blood to see what would happen, to see if it had any curative properties.” He shrugged nonchalantly, his brow arching, “but they then likely killed the vampire without a thought. And in the process, killed their own, none the wiser. Your kind is not only a cruel species, but an unintelligent one as well. I’m not surprised they’ve never learned whatever it is that they are searching for in those labs.”

  My stomach felt impossibly heavy as I realized how accurate that assessment probably was. Even if protectors did somehow learn about the power behind blood bonds, I doubted they would willingly chain their lives to the very creatures they swore to destroy, the very beasts they loathed with every fiber of their being. Many protectors would rather die a thousand deaths than make that kind of concession.

  “And these bonds, they last until you both die?” I asked, glad for the temporary distraction from whatever was going on with me. It was much easier to focus my attention on Darius and Eli, even on Khalida.

  Darius nodded, meeting my eyes for the first time since I exited my trance. For a moment, I couldn’t look away. It was like I was seeing him for the first time, recognizing myself in him. Both of us were misfits, outcast and different from the groups to which we were supposed to belong. Neither of us fit. Perhaps this was why he’d always seemed so intrigued by me—he saw himself.

  I cleared my throat, trying to shake away the strange connection. “Why would you do it?”

  “Doesn’t matter now, does it, little protector?” he grinned, leaning into the bite of that nickname. Had he always known that I wasn’t quite what I thought I was? He’d teased sure, but had he been certain? “What’s done is done, and now your protector and I will be latched to the grave—however close it may be.”

  “There will be time in the future, to discuss things,” Khalida said, standing now that she had more of her energy back, “hopefully. But for now, the sooner you all can leave, the better things will be for you. I can’t protect you forever, and neither can Claude.”

  “More like he won’t,” Darius said with a grunt of disgust.

  Khalida’s eyes hardened on him and my eyes widened with shock when I saw him sink back into the wall, like he was chastised by just one glance. Who was this girl? Why did the Fang Twins cower
in her presence?

  “Have a meal, clean up and rest if you can, and then meet back in this room within two hours. I will have convinced Claude to escort you all safely by then.” She turned towards me and grabbed my hand in hers again. I followed her pull a few feet away and strained to hear as she whispered into my ear, “I don’t know what you are Max Bentley, but there is a dangerous power in you. I can’t define it, but I can sense it. And it is imperative that you learn to harness and control it before it destroys you and those you care about. This, above all else, should be your primary mission.”

  She squeezed my hand with a gentle pressure before turning and leaving through the door.

  The second she was gone, I turned and stared at the ground, not quite able to meet anyone’s eyes, until my vision was blocked by a sturdy body.

  Eli wrapped his arms around me and squeezed. “Thank you, love. For whatever you did, even if we don’t quite understand it yet. I won’t forget.”

  My throat choked up, like it was trying to swallow an iron ball, and I felt tears slowly begin to coat my eyes. He wasn’t disgusted by me, wasn’t afraid of me. He was thankful. Maybe even glad I was different, if only for this one moment. I looked at him, blinking until the image of him went from blurry to clear. Familiar.

  I nodded, unable to form words with my own gratitude.

  Eli turned away from me and scratched awkwardly at the back of his neck. “And er, thank you too, vamp. You didn’t have to do what you did. And I don’t understand why you decided to go and tie your life to mine. Only thing that comes to mind is that they scrambled your brains even more than we realized down in that dungeon.” He cleared his throat and paused briefly, “I mean, sorry. I’m sure your brains are perfectly fine. Better than average, even.”

  I stifled my own laugh, caught up in the absurdity of the moment as Eli pulled me to his side and draped a heavy arm over my shoulder.

  “Whatever the reason, thank you. And I’ll—er—try not to die anytime soon,” he finished with an awkward shrug before mussing up my hair and turning from the room. “Going to go shower some of this gore off of me before we go plunging into the depths of hell, I guess.”

  The room was silent for a long moment as the four of us who remained eyed each other warily, none of us exactly clear where we stood with each other anymore.

  Declan glanced at me, her face warming slightly with a small smile, before she walked towards the door. “Whatever happened there took a lot out of you, Max. I’ll go scavenge for something in the kitchen before I pack up our items.”

  Atlas nodded once before following her out the door, leaving me alone with Darius.

  “Are you alright?” I asked, eyeing the dried blood coating his face. I felt uncomfortable suddenly, uncertain how to be alone with the creature in front of me. And equally uncertain how to be alone with myself.

  He winked before stumbling in my direction, replacing his arm where Eli’s was one minute before, and directing us towards the door. I stumbled as I fell over a pile of splintered wood. As I steadied myself, with Darius’s help, I glanced around the room. Glass and furniture parts littered the floor. I gasped in amazement that in the chaos of the last few minutes, I’d almost forgotten about the fact that he and his brother had all but brought the ceiling down upon us all.

  “You healed me up some when you healed Eli. Not all the way, mind you, but enough. So I’ll live,” there was a hollowness in his words as he danced around my real question.

  We both knew that he’d live. He was a vampire, difficult to kill. I was mostly asking about how he was doing mentally. I’d watched as he battled through whatever darkness lingered inside of him, watched as the rage and bloodthirst seeped from his eyes.

  He squeezed my shoulder gently as he walked us towards the kitchen, weaving casually down the labyrinth of halls, and I relaxed some. It was a small sign, but somehow I knew that’s what it was—a sign.

  He wasn’t completely back to his normal headspace, as chaotic as it was, but he was on his way. And for now, that meant he was alright enough.

  10

  Max

  Food helped everything. And after filling up on enough steak and potatoes to fill a small family, I was seeing the world with a new, crisp clarity.

  Things weren’t exactly back to normal by any means, but we all seemed to have entered into a silent agreement that we wouldn’t linger too much on what happened between me, Khalida, and Eli. With an impending trip into hell, and a moody twin vampire to deal with, we had enough on our plates without adding to the drama.

  Once we were all relatively rested, packed, and full, Khalida dragged Claude into the entryway.

  His eyes narrowed as he studied the five of us, and while I could see the depths of hatred that lingered there, he remained silent.

  Khalida gently patted his shoulder, like he was a child getting up the nerve to apologize to his enemy. He stood still, glowering instead, which she seemed to take as apology enough.

  And honestly, since he hadn’t tried killing Eli or his brother again, maybe she was right.

  “I have a feeling we’ll all be seeing each other quite soon,” she said, a genuine grin splitting her face.

  I remembered the fear on everyone’s face when she brandished her scythe around, and could still almost feel the tingling of her power calling to me. It was strange then, that the gentle and sweet girl in front of me was one and the same.

  She walked up to me, her lips turning down slightly as she studied Ralph. He was lying at my feet, gnawing on a bone he’d found somewhere. I was too afraid that it might belong to a human to question where he’d gotten it. Who knew what sorts of things were lying around in this house. As beautiful as it was, I was still under no illusion that the inhabitants were benign.

  “I don’t recommend that the hellhound join you on your journey.” She bent down to scratch behind his ears, earning a slobbery grunt in return. There was a warmth in her eyes when she looked at Ralph, and that, more than anything, confused me entirely. I didn’t understand where the good guys stopped and the bad guys started anymore—good and evil just suddenly seemed so blurred and muddled.

  “I thought you said that the hell realm was dangerous,” Declan said, stepping up next to me so that the length of her arm pressed lightly against mine. My body relaxed at the contact. “Wouldn’t it be best if we had all the power on our side that we could muster? ” She glanced down at Ralph, her stare firm and confident. “And while he might look and even occasionally act like a puppy, he’s pretty damn powerful. Probably just as powerful as the rest of us combined, if I’m being honest.”

  “The hell realm is dangerous,” Darius said, his eyes locked on his brother’s as if he was waiting for him to spring, assessing each and every muscle twitch, “probably even more so than I remember. But hellhounds are rare creatures, even there.”

  Khalida nodded, her face softening slightly with worry as she looked up at him. I wondered, briefly, what her relationship with the two vampires was. There was genuine warmth in the way that she looked at and treated Darius and Claude, and my stomach clenched at the realization that she might be part of the reason they despised each other. Had they both been in love with her? Was she the reason they hated each other with such passion? From the looks of things, it seemed that Claude won that battle, considering she was living with him now.

  My stomach tightened at the thought, and I tried to push the unknown emotion clogging up my chest away.

  “Exactly,” she said, turning back to Declan and shaking me out of my spiraling thoughts. “Hell is a dangerous place for all creatures, but even more so for protectors. Everyone you encounter will be your enemy. Even the creatures who aren’t usually filled with malice or bloodthirst.”

  “You’re afraid that walking around with Ralph will draw too much attention,” Atlas said, and I could feel him shift position to my other side. His tone was calm, objective, and I could tell that he was in protector mode. Surprisingly, he seemed to trust Khalid
a’s word and suggestion.

  Khalida beamed, like he was her star pupil, her eyes dancing with mischief. “You’re a smart one, wolf.”

  There was a flirtatious teasing in her tone that caused my skin to prickle. I dug my fingernails into my palm as they locked eyes, only releasing some of the tension when Atlas glanced down at me, brow arched in curiosity.

  I felt my cheeks heating under his scrutiny, so I pulled my focus away from him and back to Khalida. “So you want us to leave him here. With you?”

  The words came out sharper than I’d intended, and the brief flash of surprised pain on her face, had me instantly regretting my tone. She was terrifying as fuck, and I had no idea what kind of creature she was, but I couldn’t forget the fact that she’d welcomed us here. That she’d saved Eli and tried to make all of us feel at home, even while we were living with Claude.

  “Hellhounds do as they please,” Claude said, his voice gruff as he broke his silence for the first time. “If he wants to hang around with Khali, he will. Otherwise, he’ll go wherever he wants to go. We don’t keep intelligent creatures as prisoners. We aren’t monsters.”

  None of us missed the accusation, and I glanced at Darius to see his reaction. He was, after all, a prisoner. And the only reason he was helping us now was because we bribed him with the promise of freedom.

  “If he senses you’re in need,” Khalida said quickly, like she was trying to disseminate a bomb before it exploded, “and if he truly is your familiar, then he will come. But it is safer for you, and for him, if he remains hidden until then. As your powers develop, so will his. That is how these relationships work. And, while Ralph, as you call him, is remarkably powerful in comparison to the creatures you are used to engaging with, he is actually quite young for his species. I will keep him company in the meantime, if he so wishes.” Her face lit with a small smile as she ran her fingers over his head. “I’ve always loved dogs.”