The Guardian (The Gifted Book 1)

by C. L. McCourt

  "We?" He and his friend? Or were there others?

  "Me and my friend Daen, the author of the journal you just read."

  "Help me? Why do I need help?" Did they know something she didn't? Did they know she was being hidden? Had someone found out? If they were here to help, wouldn't Grennal know? The king would have told her, wouldn't he? Maybe there wasn't time.

  Did she really not know, Randall wondered? Something wasn't right. Should he tell her about the trackers? No. That would only scare her. Or maybe she already knew? Maybe that's why she'd evaded them for so long. He knew he needed to be honest with her, but he could go only so far right now. "Daen was sent here to help you. Help you how, we don't know for sure."

  Sent here, she wondered? From where? From Luxatra? What was happening? This couldn't be good. She needed to think. She needed Grennal. "Can I think on this? Get back to you?"

  Randell felt the wash of disappointment roll over him and knew Daen would go nuts if he didn't call soon. "I was hoping I could introduce you to my friend today. There's more we need to tell you. Please. It's important."

  "I'm not sure." Why was he pushing her?

  Randell knew he'd pushed too hard. He needed to back away, let her come to him, so to speak. He leaned back in his chair. "Okay. Tomorrow. I understand. You don't know me. You need time to think." He glanced around the shop. "How about we meet here early tomorrow morning? Say 9:00 a.m.?"

  Rhea glanced around the room at all the people. Having people around was good. If he and his friend meant trouble, they wouldn't be able to do anything here. That put her at some ease. "Fine. Tomorrow at 9:00." She stood and left the shop without another word.

  Randell breathed a sigh of relief. He could see she was telling the truth, and she appeared to be calmer. He could no longer see the bright blue glow that had surrounded her earlier while she was under stress.

  ~~~

  Randell opened the door to a dark apartment. "Daen?!"

  There was no response.

  He threw his keys in the bowl by the door and his bag on the sofa, listening for any sign that Daen was home, but there was nothing. He wasn't there. He had wanted to tell Daen about the meeting in person, but he couldn't wait any longer. He dialed Daen's cell.

  Daen felt his phone vibrate and checked the caller ID. Randell. He answered with a whisper, "Hello."

  "Where are you?"

  Daen sat at a corner table in the student center food court, near a vending machine and behind a newspaper. He whispered, "Student center food court."

  "What are you doing there?"

  "At the moment, hiding." Daen had been anxious for Randell's call. He'd wanted to be close by if she agreed to meet him that day, so he'd ventured to the student center to wait. He could be at the coffee shop in less than five minutes, if need be.

  Randell tensed. He'd had a feeling something was odd. "From what? What's going on?"

  "The two men you saw. They have me trapped and they don't even know it. As soon as I move, they'll see me."

  "What do you need me to do?"

  "I've been thinking about that and I'm not sure how to get out of this situation unless they leave."

  "What are they doing?"

  Daen tipped the corner of the paper down slightly to check on their status. "They're eating. The big one keeps glancing around as if he senses something. I'm next to the soda machine and I think it's interfering with his gift. But as soon as I move, the gig's up."

  Randell grabbed his keys from the bowl, "I'm on my way. Stay on the line with me." He ran to his car and headed out. Seven minutes later, he was pulling into a parking spot near the center.

  "I'm on the way in."

  Daen pushed out a forceful whisper, "No!"

  Randell stopped midstride, "What do you mean no?"

  "I don't know how sensitive this guy is. For all we know, he'll pick up on your gift. We need something to scare them off."

  Randell paced on the sidewalk next to his car. "Like what?"

  "I've been thinking. They might get nervous if a couple campus cops show up."

  "And you want me to call them? What do I say? I can't make a false report."

  Daen knew Randell was right. That would just attract unwanted attention to them as well. Before Daen could think of an alternative, the men stood. "Wait. I think they're leaving. Don't let them see you."

  Randell got back in his car and waited.

  Daen watched the two men pause at the entrance to the food court. The larger of the two scanned the room again, his eyes narrowed into slits of concentration. He slowly turned, following his friend, who had already left.

  Randell watched the men exit the building. "They're heading for town."

  He watched them cross the street, away from where he sat in his car, and disappear between two buildings. "It's clear. You can come out."

  A few minutes later, Daen slipped into the passenger seat of Randell's car. "I don't like this." Daen's jaw clenched as he stared out the windshield.

  "What happens if they find us? Are they like you? Can they hurt us with their gift?"

  "No. But they wouldn't think twice about killing us. The fact that they're here just reinforces the reason I'm here. They must be hunting Rhea." Daen turned to look at his friend. "What did you find out?"

  "She's being cautious but has agreed to meet up tomorrow morning at the coffee shop."

  Daen's tension eased only slightly. He rubbed his jaw while he thought about the meeting. "Three of us together in town? That could draw the hunters. Can we call her, change the meeting location?"

  "I don't have her number, and even if I did, changing the location at this hour might scare her off." Randell stared at the spot where the men had disappeared. "What would you do if this was Luxatra?"

  The corner of Daen's mouth twitched. "I wouldn't be hiding, that's for sure. If they got close ... well, let's just say I wouldn't be worried."

  Randell seldom got to see the guardian in Daen. He'd gotten glimpses of him during practice sessions, but nothing like what had just flashed before him. He was surprised by the intensity with which Daen's colors had flared. He didn't know if he should be in awe or afraid.

  Daen took a deep breath. "Let's go home. We'll see her in the morning, explain what's happening, and get her to safety."

  Randell started the car. "Safety? Where?"

  "I'm not sure yet."

  ~~~

  Rhea headed straight for the dining hall after her meeting with Randell. The walk across campus from town had been a blur. One minute she was in town, the next she was standing outside the dining hall debating whether to eat there or splurge and order pizza in her room. Before she got a chance to make up her mind, Beth grabbed her wrist and pulled her towards the door. "Come on, one more time before you go off to make your fortune."

  Rhea stumbled after her. "Okay." Her mind was still in a haze at the news she'd just received. Someone else from Luxatra was here and they wanted to meet. How did they know? Her story, she thought, the one she'd written for class. She'd used Luxatran names and places. What were the odds of that ever happening; that a replacement professor would read a past assignment of hers and just happen to have a friend who knew the characters in her story? Pretty far-fetched, but it had happened.

  Beth was oblivious to what was plaguing Rhea's mind as she rambled on about the final she had taken that day. "Rhea?" Beth waved her hand in front of Rhea's face. "Rhea?"

  Rhea blinked. "What? Sorry. What did you say?"

  "I asked how your final went. Are you just getting back from it?"

  "Yeah." Without thinking, Rhea just let her mouth ramble forth her thoughts. "I went by the coffee shop after. I met Randell there."

  Beth's face lit up and she whispered, "You met Randell for coffee? Like a date?" She clapped her hands. "Oh, this is good."

  Rhea cringed, finally realizing she'd said too much. "No! It wasn't like that." But what was it like? She couldn't tell Beth what had really happened. Crap! Now what shoul
d she do? Then she remembered the pitch he'd given her in the hall. "He's working on a project and wanted to talk to me about one of the stories I did for class. Apparently it would fit well with what he is doing."

  Beth still hadn't wiped the grin from her lips. "And what is this project?"

  "I'm not supposed to say. You know how professors can be protective of their work."

  Beth waved her hand dismissively, realizing she wasn't going to get anything juicy from her friend. "Fine. Fine. Whatever you say."

  When Rhea got to her room after dinner, she started to go through her school notebooks and papers, filtering out the ones she would toss from the ones she would keep. She'd already packed most of her room with boxes she'd bought from a box sale in the dorm lobby. The entire time she worked, however, her mind was on the journal Randell had shown her and the meeting to which she'd agreed.

  She sat on the floor near her desk, occasionally glancing underneath, hoping Grennal would show. It was a long trip for her to make, a couple days of travel. Rhea had never understood why Grennal didn't move closer to her school. When she asked, Grennal simply said she couldn't move and wouldn't go any further.

  Rhea finished sorting her papers and got ready for bed. She turned off her light and started to crawl under the blanket.

  "I only have a minute," said the voice that drifted quietly from under Rhea's desk.

  Rhea almost jumped out her skin. "Grennal! You're here?!"

  "I just wanted to see you. How are your exams going?"

  "They're over, but forget that. Listen. I just found out there's someone from Luxatra here. He's supposedly a friend of my new professor, Randell."

  "Wait. What? What did you say?" Grennal glanced from side to side, checking her surroundings.

  Rhea knew she needed to talk fast. It looked like Grennal was going to have run at any minute. "I have a new professor. His name is Randell. He showed me a journal written by a friend of his. Grennal? It was written in Aduraun. He let me read a page. His friend wrote about being here a week and about needing to help someone, a woman. Grennal, the entry was from twenty-four years ago."

  Grennal couldn't believe her ears. This was not supposed to have happened. No one was to know Rhea was there. How had they found her? Wait. How long ago? "When did you say?"

  "The entry was from May 1988, twenty-four years ago. Grennal, he's been here longer than I've been alive. How is it he was here before me but still here to help me?"

  Twenty-four years in the world of shadows. Grennal quickly did the math in her head. That would be about nineteen Luxatran years. She thought back nineteen years and remembered what she had been doing before Rhea was placed into her care. She'd been miserable, heartbroken. If she hadn't had Rhea to focus on, to care for, she didn't know what would have come of her.

  "Grennal?"

  Grennal snapped out of her daze. "Right. Did Randell tell you anything else?"

  "Just that his name is Daen and they want to meet me in the morning. He said he had more to tell me."

  Grennal gasped. "It can't be."

  From the sound of Grennal's voice, Rhea knew her last statement reflected hope rather than disbelief. "Grennal? What's going on?"

  "What did you say? You're meeting them tomorrow?" Grennal could barely contain her excitement, her hope.

  "I don't know. I said I would, but what do you think? Do you think it's safe?"

  "Meet them. Be cautious. Find out if Daen is a Guardian. If he is, trust him. Do as he says. If not ..." Grennal's head jerked to the right, "... be careful." And then she was gone.

  "Grennal?! Wait!" Grennal was gone. Rhea was on her own if Daen wasn't who Grennal thought he was.

  28

  Guardian

  The sun was bright and the May breezes were warm against Rhea's skin as she crossed campus, heading for town. She had set out early, thinking it would be better to wait at the coffee shop than to continue to wear a hole in her dorm room rug from her pacing.

  She didn't have to open the door to the coffee shop to see the place was packed. The carryout line was all the way to the door and the tables out front were full. She stepped away from the door as she slid inside and scanned the room for a table with three seats. She'd spent a summer waiting tables once and knew the signs of people about to leave. Across the room she saw the signs.

  Rhea casually but quickly crossed the shop to stake a claim on the table that would soon be vacant. Within a minute, they were standing and she was sliding into her seat at the table.

  The table wasn't in the best location, nestled close to the glass-door refrigerator that held bottled drinks, yogurts, salads, and such, but it was a place to sit.

  Johnny was working again and took her order as she sat down. With time to kill, she opened her journal and started to add more detail to what she'd already written. She was in her own space, oblivious to those around her and the amount of time passing. It was a skill she'd picked up somewhere along the way, and it was now second nature.

  "Rhea?" A gentle male voice broke her concentration.

  Rhea lifted her eyes from her journal and found herself looking at Randell's smile. "Hi." She closed her journal and shoved it into her backpack. "Please sit."

  "Thanks." As Randell took his seat, a tall, athletically built man was revealed. "Rhea, this is Daen Mallaur, the friend I told you about."

  She recognized him right away. He'd been the one in the hall after the last class. Now that she was getting a better look at him, she could see that he was young, not much older than she. This didn't make sense.

  Daen sat down next to her. "Is something wrong?"

  Rhea's brows were scrunched towards her nose as she tried to understand what was happening. She didn't answer so much as she thought out loud. "You're close to my age."

  Daen pressed his lips together, holding back a laugh. "I'm older than I look."

  Rhea looked to Randell. "The journal entry you showed me yesterday was dated 1988." She looked at Daen. "Sorry. I was expecting someone who had written in a journal about the same time I assume you and I were in diapers." She gave Randell a stern look. "What's going on?"

  Randell didn't refrain. He laughed loudly. "Oh! Trust me. He's the one." He leaned forward and whispered, "He's a lot older than he looks."

  Daen gave his friend an indignant look through his own laughter before exclaiming, "Hey! I'm not that old."

  "Perspective, Daen. To us ..." Randell waved his hand around the room "... you are."

  Rhea watched their exchange, feeling a little bewildered. "Excuse me. Would you mind telling me what's going on?" Rhea had started to feel nervous.

  "I apologize. Let me finish my introduction and you'll understand. This is Daen Mallaur, Guardian of the Libraim."

  Daen gave a slight bow. "Nice to meet you."

  Guardian ... he was the guardian, like Grennal said, but she hadn't said anything about a ... whatever he said. "I don't understand. Guardian of the what?" She glanced back and forth between the two of them as they stared back at her in disbelief.

  Randell leaned forward and whispered over the table, "Rhea. You're safe with us. You don't have to pretend."

  Rhea wasn't sure what to think. There were obviously some misunderstandings. They might know she was Luxatran, but they were also assuming a lot more. "I'm not pretending. I don't know what a guardian is or a ... whatever you said. Why don't you fill me in on what you think you know about me?"

  Daen took the lead. "The journal you read is mine. I came to this world, from Luxatra, almost twenty-four years ago. I was sent here by the Libraim to help a woman. We believe you are the woman I was sent here to help." There. His cards were on the table. Now, how would she react?

  Randell realized something wasn't right. How could she know Aduraun and not know about the Libraim? Randell didn't wait for her response. "When did you get here?"

  Rhea knew it was time to come clean. She'd heard what she needed from them. Grennal had said to trust the guardian. "I was brought here
when I was an infant and adopted by people of this world. What I know of my world I learned from Grennal. I see her in the shadows. I've only recently learned that she has kept a lot of things from me over the years. So, forgive me, I don't know what a Guardian of the Lib— what did you call it?"

  Daen answered, "Libraim. It's the core of our existence. It sustains life and helps maintains balance in our world."

  Rhea tried to process what that meant. It sounded simple enough, but she doubted it.

  Before she could ask for further clarification, Daen leaned forward. "You weren't raised in Luxatra but you read and understood an entry in my journal? How?"

  "Grennal taught me."

  Daen said, "You mentioned her. Who is she?"

  "Um." She wasn't sure how to explain. She didn't know the whole truth. "For a long time, I thought she was a talking ... well ... um ... she looks a little like a dog."

  Daen lifted a brow. "A talking dog taught you Aduraun?"

  Rhea expelled a laugh. "If you'd asked me a few months ago, I would have said yes. I recently learned that it's an illusion. She can change her appearance."

  Daen stiffened; he could barely take a breath. It couldn't be. He'd seen the similarity the first time he'd seen Rhea leaving the classroom. He saw it now. Each time he wanted to deny the similarities, but this new information—a woman, who could change her appearance—he couldn't ignore it. Could Rhea be ...? Was it possible? He had to know. "You said you were adopted. Did Grennal tell you who your biological parents are?"

  Rhea shook her head. "No. She doesn't know."

  Didn't know or wasn't telling, Daen wondered? Would she put her own daughter into another world to be raised by someone else? It couldn't be true.

  Johnny stepped up to the table to take their order, but Daen declined. "We can't stay. Please bring the check."

  "You're leaving?" Rhea glanced between them.

  "No, we're leaving. It's not safe to stay in one place for too long. I believe there are trackers hunting you. We need to get you to someplace safe."