by Maya Daniels
My mind is railing with her, calling the Guardian her killer. Has she really gone insane? When she called me lover, the way she had called her mate before she was killed, if the scrolls about her are to be believed, made me call her heart of my heart in return. How do I go back from that? And to my utter disbelief, I realize the words I spoke are the truth. She is my heart.
“I can smell them on him!” Snapping, she bares her fangs at me, no trace of the humor left. “Can’t you smell their stench penetrating the walls around us. It makes it difficult to breathe.”
Jerking back like she has punched me, my eyes widen at that. Why the fuck didn’t I think of that? Of course, she’ll be able to smell the scent of their bonds. And now I feel like an idiot for doubting her even for a second. While we twiddled our thumbs, she’s been protecting our nest without even knowing what she’s been doing. And I made fun of her for that.
“You can smell them?” Marcus snarls, coming to the same conclusion judging by the look on his face.
“Oh, yes. Their blood is tainted by the one they serve. Their greed for power was stronger than their love for their souls.” April looks at each of us in turn, locking with my gaze last. “Have you all grown weak and mellow? Have you lost your ways so much that you can’t smell the stench of evil?” Her lips twist in displeasure “They destroyed my body and mutated my blood, but they could never touch my soul. Have you sold yours too for a taste of immortality?”
“I’m the one that searched for you to put an end to their reign. My soul has not been tainted, and neither is theirs.” Swinging my arm, indicating Marcus and Andrei, I scowl at her. “Not all of us are your enemies.”
“No.” Laughing softly, she sends a shiver down my spine and the erection that subsided jumps like an eager puppy at her whim. “You are definitely not my enemy.” Coming closer, her hands splay over my chest, gliding over my pecks and abs.
“But I do remember your words, lover. Even when the human part of me is more dominant, it is still me you are talking to. And let me tell you a secret.” Lifting on her tiptoes, her lips graze the shell of my ear when she speaks. “Sarai tu ad obbedire.” Pulling away, she winks at me when she tells me it’ll be me who will obey her, throwing my words in my face. “E lo supplicherai. Oh, come lo implorerai.” After threatening me that I will be begging to obey her, she switches seamlessly back to English. “But first, I must deal with the tainted one.”
“Let us see who he has bonded with, then.” Clenching my fists, I grind my teeth to control the urge to strip her naked and fuck her senseless in the hallway. “Lead the way.”
The walls of the indoor pool area reflect the shimmering glow of the water, creating patterns of swirling blue all around us. Each sound is amplified with every shift of a foot, or the rustling of clothing, bringing attention to the exact point where all of us are. The vermin is hiding, not moving for a second to give up his position.
With a wave of my hand, I get the attention of the three people with me. April raises an eyebrow in question, amusement twinkling in her eyes. Pushing down the need to grab her and keep her behind me, I lock eyes with Marcus, pointing at the far right of the pool. Nodding, he starts moving in that direction as stealthy as a cat. Glancing at Andrei, I send him directly to the white and blue columns standing between the door and the pool. Leaving April in the middle of the area so she can intercept him if he tries to run for the door, I slink to the left. April narrows her gaze but stays silent where she is. When I reach the far-left corner, I straighten up, shove my hands in my pockets, and clear my throat.
“There is no way out of here.” Sounding nonchalant, I make sure I walk firmly, the heels of my shoes clicking on the mosaic tiles. “Luckily for you, we saw her coming at you. We won’t let her harm one of our own.” April’s eyebrows hit her hairline, an incredulous look on her beautiful face. I smirk at her. “You can come out now,” I call to the Guardian.
I figured he doesn’t know what we know now, and if I play ignorant, we might get more answers than cornering him. With the knowledge that he is about to die, I’m not sure he will be willing to share any information. It’s worth a try.
Marcus glides between columns, him and Andrei twining around in the shadows like wraiths. He shakes his head, indicating he has no visual on the Guardian. A frown forms on my face with that information. There is no other exit here. It’s impossible for him to have snuck out without us seeing him.
“I’m going to think you have something to hide.” Musing, I keep sauntering around the pool. “I don’t like it when those I call mine hide things from me.” Continuing conversationally, I scan every shadow and hiding place I can find. “With the Council dismantled, you will make a poor choice to stand against me. I would hate to think you have decided to do that.”
My words bounce off the walls, the vast body of water making my deep voice sound ominous. There is an echo in the air from the pool itself, like the water is a living entity having a voice of its own. Still, no other sound can be heard, irking me to no end.
“Nothing,” Marcus snarls after searching all around the pool and coming to my side.
“How is that even possible.” Confused, Andrei walks up too, darting his eyes all over the place.
“Have we checked if there is a hidden door in this place?” Glaring at them, I can’t hide the growl in my words. “I thought the two of you knew this place inside out.”
“There is no other entrance or exit but the door.” Flinging his hand angrily at the said door we used to walk in here, Marcus’s face twists in anger.
“Of course, there isn’t.” April’s soft words make us all turn to her.
She smiles at us like the cat that ate the canary.
Bending her knees slightly, she sprints towards us, and I brace for the impact, my mind whirling with her unusual behavior. But if I learned anything this night, that is to never question her actions again. She spreads her arms like she is about to embrace me, and my jaw hits my chest. Her grin grows at my reaction, and when I expect her to fling herself in my arms, she jumps off the floor. Her foot hits my thigh, pushing her away from me, higher in the air, while I stumble back a few steps, barely catching myself before I topple over the chair behind me. Stunned, I lift my head, following her with my gaze. She propelled herself high enough to reach the ceiling. Now her arms are wrapped around the waist of the Guardian, who to my utter disbelief is spread out like a cross, clinging to the roof over our heads.
Looking down at me, April smiles brightly, swinging her legs and rocking in the air, while the man she is gripping like a pull-up bar is sweating profusely and trembling in fear. Giggling like a girl, she keeps swinging her legs and rocking higher and higher. My body coils up, ready to catch her if she falls. From where I’m standing, I can judge that she will drop right in the middle of the pool, and my anxiety ebbs slightly. Not that I think she will hurt herself, I just don’t want her to even twist a leg. Ridiculous, I know.
“Oh! Look what I found.” She chuckles, tilting her head up to look at the Guardian. “Well, hello there. Do you come here often?” Peals of laughter burst out of her.
I glance at Marcus and Andrei with a disbelieving look on my face. Andrei has a hand wrapped tightly over his nose and mouth, his eyes bulging with the strain of holding back a laugh. Marcus, on the other hand, looks like he is about to shit his pants. Eyes rounded, he keeps breathing harshly, small snorts and choking sounds coming out of his chest. I must not look better than them because as soon as my gaze connects with theirs, they both burst out laughing so loud that my ears hurt from the echoing sound around us. Unable to help myself, I start chuckling as well, until all of us are roaring and pounding our thighs.
“When you’re done laughing, I’d like a little help,” April calls from the ceiling and, holding a hand over my aching stomach, I look at her. “I feel like a monkey.” She giggles.
“Okay, monkey. Come down, you made your point.”
Unbuttoning my shirt, I shrug it off before ki
cking off my shoes. When my hands go to the buckle of my pants, I look up to see all laughter has left April’s face. Her eyes track the movements of my hands intently, and the Guardian starts whimpering when her hands tighten around him. Unwilling to test my luck, I leave my pants on and jump into the pool. When I’m right underneath her, I call out to her.
“Let go. Come down.” Lifting a hand up, I curl my fingers in invitation.
“As if I’m going to release my prize.” She lifts an eyebrow before twisting in the air and yanking with all she’s worth on the male.
I throw myself away from the two hurling bodies coming right on top of my head. Going underwater for a moment, I emerge, flicking my hair away from my face to see where they ended up falling. A bark of laughter comes from me when my vision clears, and I see April straddling the Guardian’s shoulders with her thighs, up to her hips in the pool.
“Look who I found.” She grins before grabbing a fistful of his hair, yanking his head back. “I think he was dying to tell us a secret. Weren’t you, asshole?”
“Now that is my area of expertise, my redemption. Let us dry off first.” The smile is stuck on my face until I have to question the mole.
April
I must’ve blacked out for a moment because I find myself curled up in a chair in one of the kitchens of the hotel. Stainless steel appliances are gleaming in the bright light, containers placed neatly on counters, and pots and pans hanging from hooks on the walls while swaying gently on a nonexistent breeze. Squinting, I focus on the blond man I was chasing. In the center of the kitchen, there is a large gas stovetop. The guardian is stretched on top, all burners lit at the lowest setting and burning his back. Marcus and Andrei stand opposite each other, one holding the arms and the other gripping the legs of the whimpering man.
Sebastian is walking around slowly with his hands in his pockets, a bored expression on his face. Bile rises in my throat from the stench of burned hair and skin that permeates the air around me. It doesn’t seem to bother anyone else, so I swallow thickly to push it down, then uncurl my limbs from the chair.
Three sets of eyes snap in my direction.
Just the Guardian keeps his tightly shut with a pinched expression on his face. An argument on his behalf is on the tip of my tongue, but I bite my words, remembering that there was something wrong with this guy. Something I can’t really put my finger on. At least I remember most of the night for a change, so there is that. Suck it up, April, I tell myself sternly and hesitantly walk closer to the gas stove.
“I don’t like the smell.” Wrinkling my nose, I glance at Sebastian.
There is a look in his dark gaze that flip flops my stomach and makes the blood pump faster through my veins. Raking my brain to see if I’ll remember anything I’ve said or done to invoke such a look, I’m left empty. After witnessing the guardian run from us, I remember precisely zilch. Nada.
“You don’t have to be here for this, my redemption.” Sebastian moves his hand slowly, lifting it as if reaching for me, but he thinks better of it and lets it drop to his side. “You can wait upstairs. As soon as I have something, I’ll come find you.”
“I didn’t say I don’t want to be here.” Irked that he thinks I’m squeamish, I frown at him. “I’m one of the monsters now, remember? It doesn’t bother me. I just don’t like the stench, that’s all.”
After staring at me intently as if he can read every thought in my head with sheer will alone, Sebastian flicks his hand towards the gas stove. Andrei releases one of the legs he was holding down and twists a dial, turning the burners off. If I expected the Guardian to feel relieved, I was left disappointed. His whimpering gets louder, and to my astonishment, I realize he is gaping at me in terror.
“There goes that idea,” I mumble under my breath, and all three of them chuckle. Assholes.
Sebastian walks to the side of the room, rummaging through drawers until he turns back to me, holding a gleaming knife as long as my forearm. Lifting an eyebrow, he waits until I jerkily nod at him before sauntering back to the kitchen island. With one last glance from the corner of his eye, he turns his attention back to the Guardian.
“You were just about to tell me who sent you here.” Casually poking the tip of the knife with his thumb, he cocks his head. “If you are hoping that I will kill you, you are mistaken. You will wish you were dead before that happens, so speak. I tire of you.”
“No one. I swear it.” Trashing to free his limbs, the Guardian trips over his own words. “I was bonded to the Council before she was reborn. I came on my own will…no one sent me. I have nothing to tell.”
“Yet, you run when you see her.” Drawling, Sebastian grins menacingly. “It screams of loyalty.”
Faster than I can blink, he stabs the knife through the Guardian’s stomach. The tip of the metal grinds on the stove under the man’s back embedding in it. As if he didn’t mean to do it, Sebastian jiggles the knife, huffing. The high-pitched scream echoes through the kitchen, hurting my ears. The scent of fresh blood makes my fangs slide down, and I find myself panting, unable to look away from the red liquid gushing out from the wound.
“I have nothing to tell!” The Guardian screams, frantic with fear.
A peculiar smell mixes with the stench in the air. It’s so different from everything else that curiosity pulls me closer to Sebastian’s back. Pressing my hand on his shoulder, I lean over him, sniffing like a hound dog. It disappears too fast for my liking.
“Ask him again.” Murmuring, I don’t take my eyes off the Guardian.
“Who sent you to spy on us?” Sebastian yanks on the knife, repeating the question.
“No one…I came on my own to join you.” The Guardian shouts, pain lacing his words.
“Lies.” Clenching my jaw, I inhale deeply.
The same smell wafts off him in waves. I don’t know how I’m so sure, but everything in me says those words are a lie. Marcus and Andrei are watching me like I’ve sprouted another head, but Sebastian has a calculating look when his head turns to me. Without looking away, he slams the knife in the Guardian’s stomach, only a few inches from the previous wound. Seeing me watching, he smirks.
“I don’t want to sever his spine.” Turning back to the screaming Guardian, he chuckles, raising goosebumps over my arms. “Not, yet anyway.”
“Please…” the Guardian whimpers.
“You better start talking,” speaking softly, Sebastian pulls the blade out slowly. “Try no lies this time.”
“Kali!” screaming the name, it’s like the gates were broken on the secret he was trying to hide. “Kali sent me.”
“Why? So Khan can find our weak points and attack?” Snarling, Sebastian stabs the man’s thigh in anger. “What have you told them?”
To my disbelief, the Guardian starts laughing like a lunatic.
“Khan?” Crazy laughter raises the hairs on the back of my neck. “Khan is the last of your concerns, Italian.” Sneering, the man’s eyes are feverish with madness. “He is just a puppet that my mistress uses. You think you are almighty and safe here?” Turning those wild eyes on me, he laughs in my face, blood and spittle flying out of his mouth. “You think she will save you from what’s coming?” A wet cough sprays blood over my face, making me jerk away from him. “You are too late. I will wait for you in Hell!”
He mumbles something in a language I don’t understand. It sounds vile and guttural, the words harsh and snapping in the air like a whip. My heart jumps in my throat, making me dizzy, but I have no time to worry about that. A blast of air sends all of us flying, hitting appliances and counters with loud crashing sounds. My body screams in protest, the bones breaking and mending at the same time, and I almost blackout. Shouts reverberate around me, but I can’t take my eyes away from the bloodied man on top of the island. His body spasms, jerking and twisting in unnatural angles until it explodes, sending gore, guts, and body parts like projectiles at us. Covering my head with my arms, I curl up in, hoping not to get as much debri stuck on
me. When silence finally spreads, with my ears ringing like a church bell where I’m crouched, I unfold my arms and look around.
“Minchia!” Sebastian rushes, pulling me up and checking me for injuries, his hands roaming my body from head to toe so he can assure himself that I’m whole. Marcus and Andrei amble towards us, limping and swaying as they do. I still stare at the spot where the Guardian literally exploded by saying a few words, my jaw touching my chest in shock.
With trembling hands, I grip Sebastian’s forearms, opening my mouth to ask him what the hell that was. My words are stuck in my throat when the hotel shudders around us, and an enormous explosion sends me down on my knees.
“Marcus!” Sebastian growls, pulling me off the floor along with himself.
“On it!” Marcus disappears with Andrei right on his heels.
“What the fuck was that?” I hate the fearful sound of my voice, but my ears are ringing, and I can’t stop my hands from shaking. Even my teeth are chattering, the extended fangs piercing the skin of my lower lip.
“I will check as soon as I get you out of here.” Swiping his thumb over my lips to clear out the blood, Sebastian looks troubled.
Anxiety makes me shift on my feet like a frightened rabbit. Sebastian never looks troubled. I mean, the guy glared at the Council while wrapped in chains and locked inside a crystal coffin for fuck's sake. If he is edgy, then the rest of us should run around screaming in fear.
“Like hell you are leaving me behind, buddy.” Yanking my arm out of his grip, I wipe my sweaty and gore-covered hands over the equally disgusting jeans. “Eww, I have that guys guts all over me.”
My comment did what it was intended to do. His lips quirk at the corners for a second, and I blow out a breath. I can do this. You are a monster, April. A badass one. Reminding myself that I’m no longer a human hiding from the creatures in the world helps. Not much, but at least I stop shaking and my teeth are not making a clinking sound.