Guardian Demon (GUARDIAN SERIES)

by Meljean Brook

  Like Caelum had to Taylor.

  “Yes.”

  “So she’s the Queen of Hell.”

  “Not yet.” Khavi suddenly appeared beside them, and her voice thrummed with power. Her arm had grown back. “Right now, I’m just the caretaker. But showing the demons this will help.”

  She grabbed Lucifer’s head and vanished again.

  Taylor laughed and looked up at Michael. His gaze was sweeping the sky behind them, and she felt his relief.

  “And not one dead,” he said.

  Not a miracle. Just amazing planning. And sheer luck.

  Michael glanced down at her. His gaze fell to her lips, then Guardians were all around them, hugging and cheering.

  And so the kiss would have to wait. That was all right, though, Taylor thought. They had enough time.

  But Michael ignored the others and kissed her anyway.

  * * *

  Cleanup came first. And then the teleporters had the task of taking three thousand vampires and fifty Guardians back to their homes.

  When the giant mirrored wall was gone and every trace of the demon soup buried deep enough that no humans would ever dig it up, when all of the bullet cartridges had been vanished into her hammerspace and every inch of the shipyards examined for wayward evidence, Taylor joined Savi and Colin at their nightclub.

  Almost every vampire who usually frequented the club had been at the shipyards. Now many of them showed up, along with the Guardians and humans who made San Francisco their home. Hugh and Lilith and Sir Pup, who drooled over Colin’s table with one head and chuffed out a laugh with another. Drifter and Charlie stopped by before heading up to Seattle, and Jake dropped Alice off while he finished taking the others home. Irena lived up in Siberia somewhere, but she and Alejandro apparently weren’t in a hurry to get there. She sat with him at a table in the corner and drank a full bottle of tequila—not for the alcohol, she said, but for the fire. Rosalia arrived with Deacon just before dawn, and though every vampire should have been heading to bed, her presence meant that the celebration extended into the morning instead. With her crimson skin and glowing eyes, Ash got a few strange looks when she arrived, but she was totally oblivious to them as she tugged Nicholas onto the dance floor. Though a ridiculously handsome billionaire, Nicholas was also kind of an icy-hearted jerk, but his expression when he looked at Ash was anything but cold, and when he wrapped his white-feathered wings around her as they danced, Taylor thought it was the sweetest thing she’d ever seen.

  God. Taylor loved these people. She loved being a Guardian. It was crazy to think that just a week earlier she’d considered Falling. She couldn’t imagine being anywhere else.

  And she wished Joe had been here to see this. He was the only thing missing. He would have loved hearing about the battle.

  Former Cop Rides a Dragon and Burns Satan to a Crisp.

  Not a bad headline. A little bizarre. But that was her life now.

  This was her life now.

  She felt Michael arrive before seeing him. He stood beside the table, still wearing his armor and wings and Lucifer’s blood. Her gaze lifted to his.

  Pure obsidian.

  “Andromeda Taylor,” he said softly, and I love you echoed beneath. “Would you like to get some air?”

  So that I can claim you for mine, again and again.

  She leapt for him. “Please.”

  * * *

  Taylor expected hard and fast, but it was slow, slow.

  Because they finally had so much time.

  Michael tasted her everywhere, every inch of her skin a feast, and as he tasted her his hands drove her repeatedly over the peak, and she was shuddering and languid and wrecked when he finally slid deep. She clung to him down the long, slow fall into the abyss. Breaking apart as they hit the bottom, but her soul still entwined with his when she shattered with him.

  * * *

  Then made whole again with the next beat of her heart. And he held her, just held her, in their huge bed in an empty temple that was already so full of memories and hope.

  But after a while, they weren’t alone.

  Taylor felt Michael stiffen against her, then she looked up and her heart swelled, full, so full it was terrifying, so full that it pushed tears from her eyes, even though she’d sworn that she was done crying.

  Michael had been right. Belial hadn’t looked like an angel. The demon had been painfully bright, but it didn’t hurt to look at the angel standing before them, though the glow was the same.

  So beautiful. Three pairs of wings that seemed to shimmer, as did the shadows and light of its skin. Eyes of day and night, gold and dark, and a smile both warm and merciless.

  She loved it.

  Michael rose with her in his arms. His voice was hoarse with joy and love as he said, “Michael.”

  The archangel. The one who had crushed Michael when he was young, then healed him.

  “It was well done,” the angel said, and his voice was a harmony of warmth and comfort. “All of you.”

  His fingers gripping her tighter, Michael only nodded.

  “We feared for you, for everyone. But you, Michael—you have never asked us for anything. We want you to know that we did not abandon you. We wanted to offer our assistance to all of you, but we were told to wait.” Another smile curved the angel’s beautiful lips. “We were told that we should have more faith in humanity. It was a lesson well learned.”

  That the angels had learned? “That wasn’t why we did it,” Taylor said.

  “We know. But actions often have unexpected—and welcome—outcomes, Andromeda Taylor. As you know as well.”

  When she’d tied Michael’s threads to hers. “Yes.”

  “So why have you come?” Michael said.

  “Because there are many actions that we would like to perform, and we have been given leave to perform them. We do not like to unduly influence the lives of humans. But one who lives as a Guardian and who sees what you do will be influenced, regardless. So there is little harm done, and we are gladdened to do these things.” The angel’s gaze rested on Michael. “Some of your friends will find that their marks have deepened, and their lives will be longer than expected.”

  Michael seemed baffled for a moment, then his eyes glowed a sudden amber. “Hugh and Lilith?”

  “Yes.”

  So even though they were human, they wouldn’t die in a hundred years? “Is this a reward?”

  The angel looked to her again. “No. It is what makes us happy.”

  Probably because he didn’t want Lucifer and Lilith in Heaven at the same time.

  The angel’s smile widened. “That would have been a fine reason, as well. I am not certain who is more of a challenge—the father or the daughter.”

  He’d heard her mind, Taylor realized. Oh, God.

  No, no. Not that.

  Oh, gosh.

  The angel’s laugh resonated through the temple, but his gaze was somber when he addressed her again. “I cannot give what you would ask now.”

  She had been about to ask. A new ache opened in her heart. “You can’t bring Joe back?”

  “I cannot,” he said, and the warmth in his voice did little to ease the pain. But perhaps nothing could ease that. “In the years to come, he will return and you will meet him again.”

  How long? But it didn’t matter. It was too long, because Joe wasn’t here now.

  “I wish that I could ease that pain for you, Andromeda Taylor, but that is beyond even our power. Only time will soften it.” The angel looked to Michael. “And time will bring you new challenges. The Morningstar will rebel again. It is his nature.”

  Michael nodded. “How long?”

  “In a mountain’s age. You will still have much to do. There are many demons who will never bow to Khavi’s rule.”

  So they’d still be busy here on Earth. Good. As lovely as lying around Caelum and soaking up the sun and making nonstop love with Michael sounded, Taylor knew she’d go crazy if she just sat on her
hands.

  “And so I leave you with my gratitude,” the angel said. “We will meet again, Michael and Andromeda Taylor, when the time comes.”

  Then he was gone, and Taylor wanted to cry again at the loss. And she wanted to scream, because he hadn’t answered anything.

  Michael held her closer, burying his face in her hair, breathing deep. Then he suddenly drew back, staring down at her. “Andromeda,” he said hoarsely, “the Guardians are not the only ones who have been unduly influenced.”

  And they were in her mother’s apartment a second later, and her mom was in the hallway, sitting on the floor and sobbing hysterically into her hands.

  “Mom! Oh, my God!” Taylor rushed toward her, but this was all wrong.

  Her mom only cried when she was happy.

  Shaking her head, her mom pointed to a bedroom. Jason’s.

  Heart in her throat, Taylor rushed to the door and stopped dead.

  Her brother’s eyes were open. Not that horrible, empty stare. But giving her the look that said all this crying was really unnecessary.

  “Hey, Andy,” he said. Thin, pale. Hardly more than a whisper.

  “Hey,” she said.

  * * *

  They didn’t tell him anything about wings or fangs. She was engaged to Michael Smith—and yes, he did run around in a toga.

  When they finally returned to Caelum, Taylor could hardly fit a thought in her head. Everything was too much. But Michael knew just what to do, and he wrapped his arms around her and held her tight.

  And there were too many emotions to fit inside her heart, too. But this one was easy to find, so much bigger than all of the others.

  “I love you,” she said.

  “I love you, Andromeda Taylor.” Eyes glowing amber, he captured her face in his hands. “And I will never let you go.”

  She was counting on it. “So this is forever, right? Our souls entwined, our bodies as one, and always ready to kick demon ass.”

  Michael grinned and his head lowered to hers. “For all eternity,” he promised.

  That sounded perfect. Eternity, together.

  And it began with a kiss.