Hidden (Her Immortal Guardians Book 1)

by Bella Edwards

  Grant shrugged. "And we help how? I don't want to get involved."

  "I only need the eyes and ears of your people. I am not asking them to do anything," Gabe said.

  "But by asking us, you're asking us to align with you against him," said Garrick, dark brows pulled together. "And I don't want to take sides."

  Garrick's gaze travelled towards Lorelei, and she swallowed as she met his eyes. Eyes obscured by pupils as black as death. "You never said it was a girl. What were they thinking vesting it in her?" His tone betrayed amusement.

  "She is a woman, so the power is inherently stronger in her than in a man," said Jonquil.

  Garrick spluttered. "I should've expected that feminist crap from you."

  "Perhaps because you look for answers in darker forces?"

  "Better than dancing around trees," he snorted.

  The unity amongst the council was already shaky. Jonquil did not respond.

  Gabe cleared his throat. "I never said the Host was a girl because I've never told anyone before which human held the Key. The more people who know, the harder my job. Until now, I've chosen to trust few. Now I have to place trust in others and hope we desire the same outcome."

  "Which is?" Nathaniel spoke, his voice low.

  Throughout proceedings, he'd sat perfectly still listening to everything but keeping most of his attention on Lorelei. Each time she glanced over at him, his strange pale eyes met hers, and she shifted in her seat.

  "Preservation," Gabe said simply.

  "Preserve the status quo?" asked Nathaniel

  "For as long as we can, yes."

  "Right so we ask our kind—each of us—to look out for her? Then what do we do if we see her threatened? I'm not getting involved.” Garrick placed his phone on the table.

  "You don't have to look out for her. I don't want you to communicate who she is. I need you to let me know what is happening amongst those Caleb has around him—any changes or suspicious things. I can no longer manage all of it." Gabe sounded weary.

  "Yeah, so ask witches, shifters and a dead guy to help," muttered Rowan.

  "Dead guy?" blurted Lorelei.

  Rowan gave her a mocking smile, pointing at an unimpressed Nathaniel. "Technically. But still living."

  Lorelei's reality took a further step backwards.

  "Yep," continued Rowan, malicious glee in her voice as she indicated each of them. "He's dead, he's a werewolf, I'm a shapeshifter, she's a witch, and he's a warlock."

  Blood drained from Lorelei's face to her stomach. Rowan smiled at the reaction.

  "Nice. Pigeon hole us," said Grant gruffly.

  "What's a shapeshifter?" she asked Rowan, composing herself.

  "Well, we don't only turn into dogs." She glanced sideways at Grant who scowled back. Lorelei wondered how they put up with the Rowan's immaturity.

  "What do you shift into?" asked Lorelei. "A cat?"

  "Meow," chuckled Garrick and Rowan glowered.

  "A lot of things," Rowan retorted. "So, watch your back."

  Rowan's superior attitude grated Lorelei's nerves—supernatural creature or not she refused to be spoken to in that way.

  "Are you threatening me?" asked Lorelei.

  "I wouldn't waste the effort," snapped Rowan.

  "Stop," said Gabe. "That's enough. This is the kind of conflict Caleb counts on and doesn't help any of us."

  Rowan huffed then looked at her fingernails, turning so her back was to the proceedings. Lorelei couldn't understand how this person had been chosen to be representative of her kind, were they all like her?

  "I bet you have fun trying to control this Host," said Garrick, laughing. "Though I guess it could help you if she's willing to go two rounds with shifters."

  Gabe ignored him. "It has taken a lot for me to come to you and reveal the Key to you. I think you can all see why I need to and why she's different."

  "I can see exactly what your problem is," said Nathaniel, raising an eyebrow at Gabe.

  "And the next Host? And the one after that? This isn’t our problem," Garrick said.

  "She's the last," said Jonquil quietly, and all turned to stare at her apart from Gabe who nodded.

  "The last?" Garrick said.

  "What's the bloody point?" exclaimed Grant. "If everything is going to end, anyway?"

  "We don't know how this will end. The prophecies are unclear. Maybe the outcome still depends on the choices we make." Jonquil turned to Erin standing in the doorway. "Erin, can you attend to the business I mentioned? See how long the ritual would take to prepare if Gabe agrees."

  Erin nodded. The fact Erin avoided Lorelei's eyes as she did increased the unease lining her stomach.

  Jonquil turned back to the other council members. "Okay, so now we talk."

  Chapter Fourteen

  Erin turned and left the room, closing the door quietly behind her. Lorelei's heart hammered in her chest. If Gabe agreed with what? Their chairs were close together, but Gabe deliberately sat towards the outer edge of his chair, his legs positioned away from her.

  Lorelei glanced around, wriggling in her seat. Even though the room was set up casually, she'd been pre-judged by at least one of the council members, and she wished she'd found out more about them before she agreed to come. Safety wasn't her concern, Gabe had been clear about his role. But she now understood his trepidation at involving such a disparate group, risking the knowledge of her form and her whereabouts.

  "Can you tell me about the Prophecy? Whose books did it come from?" Gabe addressed Jonquil and Garrick.

  "Nothing to do with me," said Garrick and pointed at Jonquil.

  Gabe looked at her expectantly. "Did you bring the book with the information you think alludes to her?"

  Jonquil shook her head. "No, they wouldn't allow me to—the book is one of our most important and is never removed from the Enclave."

  "But you have seen it? The words?" asked Gabe.

  "I have seen the words and one of our most gifted sisters interpreted the text. It's only recently we found how to translate this part. Other texts recently came to light that have the lexicon to enable translation."

  "If the text is new, how do you know you've translated it correctly?" asked Garrick. "You know these so-called prophecies can easily be misinterpreted. Especially when you want to find answers."

  "I would not say we’d found this information if I had any doubts."

  "Yeah, but from what you said it's a bit vague, isn't it?" Rowan remained distant from the group but wasn't going to cease criticising those around her.

  "I have a full translation which I'll show to Gabe. Yes, the translation is vague, but these things often are. If a prophecy is too precise, it becomes dark magic and the prophecies may be purposefully fulfilled."

  Garrick snorted in amusement. "Which is your way of saying you think it's about the Key, but it might not be. That's helpful."

  Jonquil chose to ignore him and continued, looking only at Gabe. "There's no time, date or place indicated. But it clearly states that when the Key is in the female Host, she'll be the last."

  "But what does that mean? She'll be the last because he'll get the Key? If that's the case, why are we sitting here? Nothing we can do will stop him from opening the Gateway and unleashing Hell. Literally." Grant leant forward, elbows on the table, eyes bright.

  "I don't know," said Jonquil.

  "I have an idea," said Rowan in a low voice. "Isn't it true that if the Host dies the Key passes to the next?"

  Next, to her, Gabe stiffened. "What?"

  "Well, if she's the last, and she dies then the Key is gone, right? Kill her."

  Nausea rushed through Lorelei in a wave as nobody reacted to Rowan's words, not even Gabe. Were they shocked into silence or considering this a possible course of action? She couldn't understand why Gabe wasn't saying something. She blinked against the spinning room.

  "That is a very simplistic way of looking at the situation, Rowan," said Jonquil, looking kindly at Lorelei. "An
d I don't think it's the answer."

  Gabe looked straight ahead, the muscle twitching in his cheek Lorelei recognised each time he tried to hide what he thought.

  Garrick sat straighter, more engaged with events, eyes darting from person to person waiting for the next response.

  "I can see this was a mistake," said Gabe, standing and pushing his chair back.

  Alarmed, Lorelei readied herself to follow.

  "Gabe, sit down, no-one's listening to the silly girl," said Nathaniel. "Rowan's too young and stupid to understand. She hasn't lived long enough to see the complexity of the situation. I, on the other hand, have some awareness from living in this world for almost as long as you have, Gabe." His attention turned to Lorelei. "And I can assure you, beautiful Lorelei, that your death is not imminent."

  Red crept up Lorelei's neck at his words.

  "You know what? I am not having anything else to do with this meeting," said Rowan. "I will not sit here to be insulted by that blood-sucking demon just for trying to find a solution!"

  Rowan jumped to her feet and approached the door.

  "Rowan, please stay, we need to make a joint decision," said Jonquil, standing too.

  "When have we ever managed that? Every time we meet and try to agree on a course of action over small things, it never works. So how are we supposed to reach agreement on something this big? Half of us don't agree prophecies exist."

  She yanked open the door and left, slamming it behind her.

  Jonquil sighed and sat, indicating Gabe should do the same. Gabe remained standing with a hand on the back of Lorelei's chair. Her skin prickled where he almost touched her, and he shifted his hand back to his chair, looking ahead, as if aware of the same sensation.

  "This is bloody stupid," muttered Grant. "She's right."

  "Do none of you see the gravity of the situation? Do you not care that Caleb could decimate the world we live in?" Nathaniel spoke again, voicing Gabe's position.

  "We don't know what will happen if he does open the Gateway and takes over," said Garrick. "The situation is somewhat inevitable and, to be honest, if it means I need to pick sides I would go with the stronger side."

  "Which is unity," insisted Nathaniel, sitting forward. "He has followers, but they are with him for their own reasons. There's no real alliance there."

  "All he cares about is power," said Gabe in a voice tinged with regret.

  Lorelei again considered their relationship. Their similarities in appearance bothered her still. Why did Caleb try to help her and was kind to her when all she represents is the Key—the solution to his needs.

  The room quietened. Lorelei's heart still raced, following Rowan's suggestion they kill her, and she chewed her thumbnail.

  "I think we need to discuss what Lorelei wants," said Jonquil and Lorelei looked up in surprise. What difference did it make what she wanted? She was merely the Host of the thing they were arguing about.

  "Me?" She heard herself squeak and closed her eyes in annoyance. "Do I have a choice?"

  "I told you yesterday. I can't make you do anything you don't want to do. Of course, your choices can make things harder for me," said Gabe. "But you agreed to come here, and I agree you should have an input."

  Lorelei cleared her throat and looked around at the remaining council members. Was their reaction to her what Gabe expected? The atmosphere calmed since Rowan left, but the animosity between the remaining members reflected in their postures. She could understand why Gabe shied away from revealing anything to them.

  "Gabe and Caleb are the same...species?" she asked, looking from Gabe to the council members.

  Gabe stiffened in his chair. "Yes."

  "Then you take it—the Key—instead of Caleb," said Lorelei to Gabe, eyes brightening.

  Gabe looked at her as if she was insane. "What?"

  "That's not possible, Lorelei," said Jonquil

  "Why not?"

  "Nobody can hold the Key but the Hosts," growled Gabe. "That's the point."

  Lorelei paled at his anger. "Well sorry for not knowing anything but the half story you gave me."

  From the corner of her eye, Nathaniel laughed, and she scowled at him.

  "Can you hide me?"

  "Hide you?" Gabe's growl turned to surprised concern.

  "I want none of this to have happened. I want to forget about who I am and get on with living a human life. I don't want to be part of this world you've shown me. Is that possible?"

  Everyone looked at Jonquil. She wasn't the most forceful personality in the room, but she seemed to command the greatest amount of respect.

  "I've been considering something similar since Erin told me what was happening around the Host," said Jonquil. "There are spells to shield your whereabouts from everyone apart from humans. But that holds more dangers."

  Jonquil looked at Gabe as she said this, looking for a response. His mouth twisted, but he said nothing.

  "What dangers?" asked Lorelei

  "We won't know where you are either. None of us. It's a risk," said Jonquil.

  "He has human followers? They can find her?" asked Grant.

  "Yes, but supernatural forces cannot touch her even if they did," replied Jonquil.

  "Then why didn't you do this before to stop Caleb finding the Hosts? Isn't that the easiest answer?" Lorelei couldn't believe how they missed something so simple.

  "Gabe?" Jonquil gently pressed him for a response.

  Gabe sighed, turning his body, so he faced her. "There is something obvious you're missing, Lorelei," he said softly, his brow creased by a frown. Lorelei searched her tired brain for the answer and couldn't find one.

  Nathaniel spoke again. "Him. Gabe won't be able to watch you. It prevents him from seeing you too. Do either of you want that?"

  His question was loaded, Lorelei knew from his raised eyebrow he didn't only mean on the level of Watcher and Host. Gabe looked at the table face expressionless.

  But to Lorelei this was the logical answer—she would be invisible to and protected from Caleb, and she could live out her life until the Key passed to someone else. Easy. If these decisions were hers to make, she should make them—and she certainly didn't believe in prophecies.

  "It's what I want," she said, facing the council members directly.

  "If we’d left here without this choice, what did you intend to do?" asked Gabe. "Would you do what I asked and go where I wanted if I could keep you safe?"

  Lorelei looked at him in wide-eyed horror. "Er...No. I need to live the life I want. I can't live one in fear of what's around the corner."

  "Lorelei won't accept this, Gabe," said Jonquil. "I think she will only agree to something which allows her control over her life."

  Gabe rubbed his furrowed brow. "And this is possible? To hide her? But the prophecy...If I fail..."

  "If we don't do as she wants, and she then refuses to do what you ask, this could put her in danger. Then you would still fail," said Nathaniel. "I think your time isolated from those who occupy this world is counting against you. You underestimate the struggle you'll have with this girl."

  Nathaniel and Gabe stared at each other across the table, Gabe stony-faced at Nathaniel telling him truths he didn't want to hear.

  "Sounds fine to me," said Grant, slamming his palms on the table in agreement. "Then we don't have to be involved anymore. I'm not picking sides so her being off the radar is perfect."

  Garrick remained silent until they looked over at him. He shrugged. "Probably easy enough to do with the right magic. After all, she's half-hidden, anyway. Beyond the Key, she's only a human."

  Jonquil smiled broadly. "And I'm sure Rowan will have no problems with this solution. Right." She clapped her hands together. "Preparations!"

  Some tension left Lorelei's shoulders. The possibility of returning to her old reality once seemed lost, but now she held hope. Glancing at Gabe, she tried to gauge his real feelings. Impossible—he stared straight ahead, eyes expressionless as if he wasn't in the ro
om anymore. His lack of reaction worried her. She knew her words hadn't been what he wanted to hear. Did he wish he’d never brought her to the Council?

  "We need to talk, Lorelei," he said brusquely, standing up.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Lorelei looked down at the water, the small stream trickling slowly over smooth grey pebbles. Sat with Gabe, she wondered if he'd talk to her any time soon. He'd been silent for so long that she was sure he'd forgotten her presence with him.

  "I come here quite often," he said finally. "When I need to think."

  "I do that."

  Gabe turned. "Do what?"

  "I like to go and sit somewhere quiet, somewhere away from the world if I need to think. There's a meadow not far from my house. I go there sometimes, ever since I was a child. In the summer the grass grows so high that I can lie in it, hidden from the world, and watch the clouds." Lorelei warmed at the memory, the simple life of her childhood.

  "I know," he said and smiled.

  She frowned at him. "Of course, you do; I forgot you stalk me."

  Gabe's shoulders tensed. "No, I agree with your comment about places like this making you feel alive. I haven't followed you to your meadow. I don't follow you everywhere, because I don't need to."

  Lorelei cast her eyes down, embarrassed by her abruptness. "Sorry."

  "It's okay. I think you mistake the situation when you talk about me watching you. My visits to you were fleeting. In and out of your room in seconds. I only needed to detect you were safe when I felt something might be close enough to threaten you. The only time I stayed more than a few seconds was the night you saw me when you were a child. You were frightened, and this concerned me. But after that night, I never came close to you again until a few days ago."

  Casting her eyes down, Lorelei thought back to the teenage nights, embarrassed she'd imagined him in a romantic way back then. It would be creepy anyway, if he'd watched her growing up, then started looking at her with the desire she caught in his eyes sometimes.

  "I know you sensed me, perhaps glimpsed me, but I wasn't interested in who you were then, only the Key you held. I'm not a stalker, or whatever you called me."