by Brianna West
I breathed quickly, suddenly feeling lost as I searched through every room and stalled when an abrupt, body-shattering sensation ripped through me.
Someone was here.
I pivoted, searching around the room I’d finally come into. I knew the sensation and called out to it, voice softened by both excitement and fear. “Vlad?”
Translucency was a natural camouflage of our kind and required seeing eyes to find us when we were relaxed and unconsciously became invisible with it. However, we had the ability to strengthen that particular ability and make it incredibly difficult to see us even when one might try. But, since I was born from a strong Spiritum Bellatorum bloodline, I could easily see the form melding in with the background as he leaned up against a nearby wall.
Pale eyes watched me for short breaths before the figure came away from the wall and took color. A long, dark coat that was embellished with silver thread hugged along a slender, almost sickly appearing form as he strode forward hesitantly. Expensive footwear and perfectly preened outerwear were signature to my always well-fashioned brother, considering he took great pride in his appearance.
A figure that wasn’t exactly effeminate but not quite masculine either moved fluidly towards me, practically floating over hardwood floor. Gleaming silver hair that was styled in all directions around his milky skin and flesh-colored lips took shape as he solidified further. But probably the most striking about Vlad was the glowing pale eyes that were disturbed by a halo of red around the pupil.
So, he had gone Dark.
“Sister,” Vlad greeted in a low voice, peeking towards the hallway I’d just come in from, “You shouldn’t be here.”
“Here, with the Guardians? Or here, as in the mortal realm, dear brother?” I took a few steps towards him, but he recovered the space with his own retreating steps. “I do not know the reason for your betrayal, Vlad, but I know I can convince Big Brother to pardon it if you just return home.”
“Home,” Vlad repeated, sneering, “There is no home there, Nyla. You and I both know it. Living every day as someone you will never be, I can’t do it anymore, and neither should you.”
My expression faltered, façade falling in face of the vulnerability on Vlad’s face—the rejection he was clearly feeling. “I will be your home, Vlad. Remember? Always.”
Vlad’s glowing eyes narrowed, his jaw grinding down as his gaze flicked over to the hallway again. We both knew that Bernard would come, and soon. “Go back. Leave this place. Leave me, Nyla. They will find you if you stay, and there’s nothing I could possibly…they aren’t to be trifled with.”
I reached for him, heart breaking with his fragile tone. “Vlad.”
“Go, please, Nyla. I can’t protect you if they find you,” Vlad said brokenly, stepping away with his eyes determined. He was truly afraid for me, that much I could see.
“You’re the only person in this world I would never want to see harmed, but even I wouldn’t be strong enough against them. They want you. They know what you can do. It’s too late for me. There’s no escape for me anymore.”
A sharp sensation struck my chest, right into my lungs, stealing my ability to breathe as Vlad whispered the last few words to me, beseeching me. But before I could ask who was after me and why he couldn’t escape, he was gone. In his stead, Bernard was propped up against the door frame, smiling as he always did. Yet, his smile wasn’t radiant. It lacked its usual characteristic playfulness.
He knew.
Shaking away my distress, I straightened my spine and peered across the space at the Guardian who neither said a word nor moved. “My brother…”
“I saw,” Bernard said shortly, pushing off the door frame and striding into the room, “Didn’t want to stay for some pie or something? These men, always running off as soon as they get what they came for.”
There was the normal flamboyant inflection to his voice, but I knew from his expression that he had caught the tail-end of the conversation and was thinking through what it might mean.
He would never ask, because Bernard, like myself, had an outward persona to maintain. However, he was clever enough to ask the right questions at the right time; this much I knew from the last week in his company. His ploy was to appear uninterested and idiotic, but there was always a reason for each statement, every chosen word and unassuming question he put forth.
So, I’d have to be a step ahead and tread lightly to keep the secret of my power. The secret my brother, Yaniv, never intended to be known to anyone outside of himself and Vlad. I hadn’t used it, so there was very little I needed to hide. But if whoever Vlad feared knew of its existence, it could very easily be the reason why the high-demon came in the first place.
But I wouldn’t run. I’d stay and fight, and I’d convince Vlad to come home.
~*~
The next several days passed without incident and without word from either my brother or the other Guardians. I was surprised, to say the least, that Bernard kept his distance for a change. He appeared occupied with something, always tapping away on a device he called a laptop with his phone frequently held between shoulder and ear. I’d never seen him so hard at work, but I helped keep the distance by sticking to my training regime, out in the sunlit backyard of the safe house in a place he referred to as Texas.
My intense training helped focus and center me on the task at hand. My inability to do more was starting to wane on my patience, so I needed to train to feel something—do something—instead of wait around the Guardian I already felt way too much confliction towards.
However, on the third day, just as I managed to suit up in my usual simple, movement-permitting attire of choice, Bernard threw the back door of the small, quaint home with white trimming and a much more weathered look than I was used to. He hollered out into the air with a jubilance I hadn’t seen on him since the first day we had met.
Holding onto his hat, he took two steps at a time down from the back porch, where he had at one time tried to convince me to sit with him on a swing situated near the side. One he was subsequently thrown into without hesitation when he insinuated that the swing was a place ‘where only lovers sat.’
“Hoo-wee!” He stumbled on the last step, taking a roll in the dirt before he was back on his feet again with gusto, “Let’s go on a date!”
I truly admired how utterly ridiculous he was without one iota of shame or reluctance.
My sword glinted ominously as I lifted it off my shoulder and spun it deftly in one hand. Bernard’s face dropped, his shirt drawing my gaze for a moment to another unique, often blatantly vulgar phrase across the front of a shirt that was a color very few men I knew wore. Pink wasn’t a color I knew favorable among those of masculine nature, though it was inwardly one I favored greatly but could never wear.
“Pretty in pink?” I asked, not hesitating to seek an explanation today.
Bernard’s eyelashes fluttered as he bit his lower lip, feigning bashfulness. “Aw, princess, it’s so sweet of you to say so.” I opened my mouth, utterly confused, but Bernard went on quickly, excited in the movement of his body as he took a few steps towards me. “We’re going out tonight!”
“No,” I rejected sharply, turning on my heel to hide the heat coming into my cheeks in response to the adorable man behind me. “Need I remind you of the last time you overstepped your bounds?”
Bernard chuckled lightly before coming to my side, sighing happily. “But the swing’s all better. And so is my backside, if you’re wondering,” he said, laughing loudly when I offered him a sideways scowl.
I was starting to feel a fuzzy sort of sensation in my stomach, the heat in my cheeks nearly giving me away as I swallowed and turned my face away from him again and instead kept my gaze to the beautiful horizon of the human world. It was what I’d often do when I found myself overcome by emotion, especially where Bernard was concerned. It was getting more difficult with every interaction to hide my uncontrollable responses to the things he would say and the pure elation he wou
ld show towards me at any slip in my usual feigned nonchalance.
He was more perceptive than others credited him.
“I have to train,” I said in a moment of weakness, attempting to distance myself further by heading towards a clear patch of earth a hundred feet away.
My arm was quickly captured, causing me to twirl and slip nimbly underneath the arm holding onto me before I was lifting the large Guardian with only my back and sending him hard into the ground in one fluid movement. He coughed just as he hit the floor, face to dirt, with his arm securely held in my hand and lifted dangerously behind him. With just a little force, I’d surely break it.
“Holy! I give, princess! Gimme a minute to explain!” he shouted with another cough, dirt wafting up around his pinned body.
He was so cute when he was flustered and desperate to convince me. I would admit that it gave me an inappropriate rush to have the huge Guardian scrambling and pleading me to hear him out while I pinned him violently to the floor.
Releasing the arm, I rose to my full height and fixed my clothing as Bernard got to all fours and panted with relief. “You’re so quick to beat, princess.” He jumped up, covered from head to toe in brown dirt like some sort of child. “I like it! Okay, promise, I have a reason.”
I eyed him doubtfully. Something about his demeanor suggested that it was in relation to either the man-beast named Danny or my brother. Either way, I knew I must listen. Bernard watched as I let my massive weapon finally rest on the ground, letting out a small sigh of relief and perking up slightly when I regarded him seriously.
He took hold of his pink shirt, smug and undeniably adorable, as he smiled impishly. “Your brother has been affiliating with a few well-known Dark targets in California,” he said, amber eyes sparkling more than they ever had before, “So that’s where we’re going, princess. And then you and I are going on a little date to one of the places he’s been seen at.”
It sounded too simple. It felt like there was something missing from what he imparted to me, but I wasn’t in any position to ask. Still, it didn’t quite explain why he looked so happy about going.
“And you get to meet my man!” Bernard squealed with delight.
Heaviness occupied my stomach just as a fast, terrible burn swept through my chest the moment he said the words. And then, a lump lodged into my throat with the uncontrollable eagerness he expressed at the very notion of seeing this man he spoke of.
So, he was of that persuasion. I shouldn’t be so surprised, but a part of me truly believed it was just some kind of act and not truly who he was. Not that it mattered to me. I couldn’t be anything more than a visiting princess to him. Not to mention, I was betrothed to Anric.
But something inside of me had gone cold with his statement and overt enthusiasm. It was as if I’d started to have some sort of feeling towards Bernard, but I refused to acknowledge it as I nodded my head in an effort to dispel the heaviness occupying my body.
I felt sick. I wanted to run away. I didn’t want him to look at me as I tried to fight down the overpowering sensations taking hold of me.
“Very well,” I replied shortly, gripping my sword and bringing it to my shoulder again. Courteously, I added, “I would be very honored to meet your loved one. Vlad, he…well, I understand that there are men who feel for other men—”
Bernard’s expression suddenly morphed from its wild exuberance to crazed denial. Shaking his head and taking hold of my shoulders in a surprising turn of events, the Guardian implored me quickly, “No, no…uh, we’re not…I can see how you might’ve thought that was the case, but we’re not. I only have eyes for you, princess. Don’t you worry your pretty little head about that.”
Openly perplexed, I listened to his incoherent explanation. “But you stated that he and you were…am I misunderstanding something, Bernard?”
“Yes!” he shouted loudly, gripping me tighter, “Uh, I mean, no, it’s not exactly that you’ve—well, you’re right that I meant it like that. But, you see, not like that. A joke, miss, a joke.”
Unable to stop it from happening, I giggled abruptly. I could hear the soft, raspy giggle leave my throat as if I were another person hearing it. It was an out-of-body experience, and I knew the minute the giggle had left my throat that I’d regret it so much so that I might have to flee. Actually flee from it like I were a child.
Dread filled me when the sparkling amber eyes lit up so greatly that I feared they would blind me if they glowed any brighter. I shook my head, trying to somehow mask what I had done with the action. But it was too late. I had giggled for the first time in another person’s presence since Yaniv and I played when I was a child.
“Oh my stars! You are the cutest, most adorable—”
He took a direct hit to the stomach with the hilt of my sword, thrown with a sickening thud to the floor as a result of the power I put into the strike. It was the first time I truly felt bad for hitting him, watching as Bernard grunted and hit the floor, hard, and actually cratering the surface of it with the impact. But I couldn’t face him. I fled the scene and headed straight for the house, heart clamoring painfully inside my chest as I rushed through the door and haphazardly discarded my weapon for the first time since I had been gifted it by my eldest brother.
Oh god, oh god, oh god.
I pressed my back against the door of my given room, holding my face as I tried to figure out how to look at Bernard after this, or just simply be around him at all.
I was so bloody embarrassed. There was no way to recover what I’d lost of my outward persona now. I had giggled. Me, the one person who never did anything more than smirk in amusement. I was actually physically reacting to Bernard on such a level and there wasn’t a bloody thing I could do about it!
Biting my lower lip, I closed my eyes and tried to recover from the humiliation I felt, knowing that it wouldn’t be the last time if I continued to work with the self-proclaimed cowboy Guardian. That very reality was what terrified me the most. And for the first time since coming to the mortal world, I wished desperately for Anric to return.
Chapter Eight
~***~
I had been standing in front of the bedroom mirror for some time after I left Bernard injured in the backyard over the gradual disintegration of my perfect princess persona. I watched the glimmer of silver eyes as I fingered through soft pink-blonde hair, wondering over and over how I would manage to face him again after the out-of-character laughter. Or mostly, why I found a need to wear something that wasn’t my training attire for our venture to California.
The dress was so cute, though! I had wanted to wear it for such a long time but didn’t have a reason to until now.
For the sake of blending, I’d wear the soft pink dress that was tight around my chest, held up by a fabric halter, and let out around my shapely hips. Not the sort of dress a royal princess of the Spiritum Bellatorum would wear, but one I desired greatly to walk around in.
So adorable!
I was internally squealing while I fluffed out the bottom and felt my cheeks filling with heat as I watched the mirror image of myself shift to and fro, holding the hem of the pale pink and white trim dress whilst smiling broadly. It was the only time I’d ever allow myself to, because I was watched closely in my kingdom and was careful not to let my guard down. Here, no one cared enough to watch. Or at the very least, they didn’t have an ability to.
So, just this once.
And for some reason, I wanted to see Bernard’s smile when I came out wearing it. I wanted him to compliment me on my choice of dress. And most of all, I wanted him to think I was beautiful. Maybe even proclaim it in the unique inflection he was prone towards using with his loud, proud voice. Of course, I would punish him brutally for it, but the very thought of him seeing me wearing the pink dress made my stomach flutter with nervous excitement. These kind of thoughts filtered in after most of the distress over my previous slip had ebbed away.
Another thing occupying my thoughts was that he wasn’
t gay. Or at the very least, that’s what I gathered from his incoherent rambling earlier when I suggested he was after the enthusiastic declaration of his adoration for another man. It made me giddy in spite of the mortification of giggling in front of him. I wouldn’t be able to go back now, so might as well embrace what I could in the meantime.
Bernard wasn’t gay! I still had a chance.
Wait.
I shook my head, dispelling the thought. Regardless of whether or not he was attracted to men, I couldn’t possibly have any sort of lasting affection for the Guardian. I was a princess of the In-Between realm and he was a Promiscus Guardian of the mortal realm. We would never cross paths again. Couldn’t. I had no reason to come back after I found Vlad again and convinced him to return home.
And I would convince Vlad, because I knew just what to say. Whatever he believed may happen to me had nothing to do with his return home, and I’d remind him of that. Despite the conviction in his statement that I was being sought for my ability and there wasn’t any way he could escape, I had seen the wavering confidence in his expression. He wanted to come home, and had even considered it briefly before steeling his resolve not to.
I’d save him. I’d find him and save him from whatever he had entangled himself in, and then I’d leave the Guardians to my brother to create ties with.
Resolute, I balled my hands and nodded at my reflection. No more frivolousness. No more thoughts of Bernard and what I desired from him. No more cracks in my outward façade.
It all ended now.
My eyes shot over to the door as it clicked open and Bernard strode in, uninvited. He froze midstride, jaw dropping open slightly as I turned on him, suddenly frantic. I didn’t know if I should punish him first or yell at him to get out of my bed chambers until he sought my permission to enter. In the midst of my internal battle with how to adequately deal with the Guardian, he yelped gleefully and barreled over to me with a speed I hadn’t the focus to follow.