Bernie (Guardians In Love Book 3)

by Brianna West

  Slightly taken aback by the magnitude of information, I watched her curiously, unable to do much more than nod my head to express my comprehension of what she had imparted to me.

  Bernie opened his mouth, but Itzel quickly spoke up, cutting him off and causing the large man to shuffle beside me with uncharacteristic agitation. “The poison was meant to both track and paralyze you. It’s a new poison, so it required someone with a keen ability for creating antidotes within a very short timeframe. And, as you might’ve figured, the paralyzer worked in some ways. It worked a little too well and could’ve seized your ability to breathe if left in your system for too long. However, the lure was unsuccessful, so the demon won’t be able to track you here. No one knows about this place. It doesn’t have any connection with the Guardians, which is how I think the demon found you.”

  So she was clever, powerful, and kind. She shared a good deal with her brother, Carl, from what I’d already gathered during my short time with him.

  “But, my heavens, I never would’ve imagined a princess of the Spiritum Bellatorum showing up at my doorstep with this sorry excuse of a full-grown man right here. Nearly gave me a heart attack.”

  It was evident that Itzel was chatty, but for some odd reason, maybe my growing affection for her, I didn’t mind it at all. Quite the opposite, actually. I was eager to hear whatever it was she had to say. Must be the inherent effect of this family, since Bernie had a way of drawing my attention and imprisoning it with his speeches.

  “And if it’s not rude of me to say so, you’re just breathtakingly gorgeous! And from what Pavel told me before he slipped away with that interesting angel, Simon, you’re just as powerful as you are beautiful.”

  Bernie’s lower lip was pushed out, mumbling under his breath before he was straightening up with a goofy grin when Itzel’s eyes tracked back over to him. “Itzy, she’s mine,” he said, as if the words would somehow lay claim to me, “You can’t have her!”

  Have me? Have me for what?

  Unable to understand what he was on about, I watched the beautiful, yet violent strike down Itzel delivered to the large Guardian, taking him to the floor with her strength. Which was evident in the tremors left in the wake of his impact. I peered over the side of the bed, seeing that the wood floor had been cracked all the way through and had claimed half of Bernie’s massive body, trapping him there.

  “What did I say about that ridiculous nickname?!”

  Bernie shook his head, clearly hurting after the blow. “I sure did miss you somethin’ fierce, Sis.”

  Their sibling love was so pure.

  Itzel sighed with resignation. “Sure you did. Look, I bailed on work just to come out here, so I need to get back before the boss-man catches wind of the charm I put on my office. Stay here. Let the princess recover. I’ll give that clever angel of yours a call once I’m out of the area.”

  Her words drew my stare over to her with a snap, leeching me of my previous amusement at how easily she beat Bernie down and replacing it with the reality of her words and the anxious feeling they instantly created.

  I hadn’t forgotten about my facade and how it was being systematically broken down by the self-proclaimed cowboy. I’d meant it when I requested a new escort, because being alone with the Guardian would assuredly lead to another transgression. I no longer trusted myself, and being here after what had previously transpired might elevate those feelings tenfold.

  Two kisses…well, one kiss and one unbelievably intense make-out session had already occurred. If left in Bernie’s care any longer, who knew what I might find myself being lured into.

  “Might I speak with Simon?” I asked quickly, catching both by surprise when I nearly clamored right off of the bed.

  Bernie’s expression darkened, startling me silent and giving Itzel a reason to suspect something. His amber eyes and smiling face no longer carried the signature joy they often did when his good humor was about. Instead, there was a sharpness that struck me straight through the chest and left me unable to speak another word.

  Though I’d seen him with a similar expression, I’d never felt it to such a degree, and definitely not to the point where I wanted to retreat and discard my intention to flee these growing feelings between us just to give the Guardian a reason to return to his normal jubilance.

  But I couldn’t let our relationship go on. I needed to find my brother and return to my kingdom. I wouldn’t be able to, I worried, if I felt any deeper for Bernie. I might betray myself like I had just the night before, leaving me both vulnerable to him and another attack.

  I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t betray what I had a responsibility to—tying myself to Anric and living out my life in our kingdom as the princess of our kind. Even should I manage to sever my promise to marry Anric, I couldn’t abandon my men. I was their captain. I was their leader. I couldn’t betray them.

  I couldn’t betray Big Brother.

  Finding my resolve, I stood from the bed, intent on seeking out a new Guardian. Unfortunately, my legs were much weaker than I first believed and I stumbled to the side before Bernie quickly captured my falling body and cradled me against his side.

  The warmth of his body enveloped me and took hold of my will to flee his embrace. I basked in it despite my earlier resolve not to run away with my feelings for him. Closing my eyes for a brief moment, I imprinted the way he felt and his incredibly alluring scent into my memory—hoping that, unlike the memory of my mother, it would live on inside me for the rest of my days.

  This was my final transgression.

  “You’re too weak to be doing that, darling. Can’t you just lie down and look pretty for a second?” he asked, getting a weak jab to his side as I quivered against him. He coughed a small laugh. “We both know you can’t discipline me right now, so you might as well listen.” He swept me up under the knees, making me inadvertently gasp as Itzel watched the two of us, quiet, from where she stood.

  I scowled at the Guardian, but as I was unfortunately finding, I was still too weak to do much more than that. So instead of wasting my energy, I allowed him to put me back on the bed, internally squealing with how amazing it had felt to be swept quite literally off my feet. Like I was the same kind of princess featured in all those human stories Big Brother told when I was young and still full of naïve hope.

  “I’ll have him call the house phone,” Itzel said slowly, peering at her brother as he stiffened, “Or do you think that unwise? You’re the Guardian in charge of her, as little as it pleases me to say so.”

  Bernie’s eyes flashed before he was smiling as he always did, shrugging his shoulders. “She’s just tired.”

  “She can speak for herself,” his sister admonished before I could utter my annoyance at being spoken for. “As her Guardian, what do you think? I know y’all have a mission you’re on.”

  The only people that had ever spoken for me were my brothers and Anric, and it never ended well. I appreciated that Itzel was the first to the verbal smack down, because my thoughts at present were in disarray after hearing the dark note to Bernie’s voice when he spoke to her.

  “I am seeking—” I started, but Bernie was quickly interjecting.

  “We are, but she’s got someone after her. Right now, her safety is priority.”

  His speech cut through the air like a blade, silencing the room with the near growl he gave way to. Chuckling, as if trying to distract from the loss of his temper, Bernie scratched the back of his head and took a seat beside me.

  “Plus, I don’t want to give her to anyone else. ‘Specially not you. You’ll bewitch her with your pretty eyes and awesome power moves!”

  She already had. So internally, I was giggling hysterically.

  “I don’t chase after every pretty face that I come in contact with,” she sassed back, harrumphing adorably, “Just because I attract more women than you do doesn’t mean I bewitch them.”

  Bernie’s brow scrunched down. “Yes so! You make googly eyes at them, and before th
ey know it, they’re in love with you. Straight or not.”

  “You’re just jealous,” Itzel said, unbelievably childish in tone as she tapped her foot with irritation and gestured at him with only her middle finger. It was an odd gesture to say the least, but I was sure it had meaning. “Wait…you idiot, that has nothing to do with this!”

  Bernie laughed, pointing rudely. “Does too! I don’t want you making moves on my darling.”

  “She’s royalty. I wouldn’t even dream of it, you stupid cowboy!” Her face was fuming, but because Bernie had a hold on me, she didn’t attack him like she clearly wanted to. “Besides, just what makes you think she’s your darling?! You’ve known her what, four days?”

  “Two weeks,” Bernie argued shamelessly, expression smug.

  Itzel pinched the bridge of her nose, shaking her head. “Same thing!”

  “Love comes swiftly to those who wait,” he said, making my lips twitch despite being the main reason they were arguing.

  Itzel coughed a laugh into her hand. “That’s not how the saying goes, stupid cowboy.”

  Confused, I merely listened. It wasn’t my place to intervene in an argument that was very quickly sounding like some sort of sibling rivalry between the two of them. The green eyes that had first entranced me rested on my unmoving form, seeking something in my expression. As clever as these siblings were, I was genuinely fearful that they could see right to the core of me. Her face distorted slightly in contemplation before she walked forward, brushing through her golden hair.

  “Stay a while,” she said to me, her voice entreating, “Whatever is going on, you can’t figure it out by running away. I know it’s rude of me to say so, but think on whatever it is. You need to recover before you can do what you need to do here anyway, and that’ll be a few days at least. For as much of an idiot as Bernie is, he’s also just as powerful and will protect you. I have no doubts about that.”

  Taken off guard by the genuine kindness in her words, I found myself nodding in spite of my earlier resolve to find another Guardian.

  “If in a few days’ time you decide you want to give Simon a call, I’ll make sure this idiot doesn’t get in your way,” she added, smiling affectionately while knocking Bernie on the head with a brutal fist. Pivoting on her heel, she walked off and left us alone in the room, ceasing the fight inside of me with her absence.

  Bernie had me by the shoulders as I stared at the door Itzel had just left through. “Don’t fall for her, too. Please? Please, princess?!” His eyes beamed sincere worry at me.

  Unable to stop them, the giggles burst from me at his fearful expression. After everything, I couldn’t find it in me to feel ashamed of my loss of composure. Part of me excused it away by saying that very soon I’d be with another Guardian and then back in my kingdom, never to see Bernie or the Guardians again. Another part of me knew that there was very little that could be done once that first barrier had been broken when I had first giggled at the self-proclaimed cowboy.

  Bernie’s face lit up with excitement, utterly beside himself with my raspy giggles as I turned my face away to stifle them into my hand. “Can I take that as an opening?” he asked, voice lifted with expectation as he leaned his face towards mine, a clear intention to kiss me in the movement.

  My magic whipped up around me and then exploded against him, sending him colliding with the bedroom wall. “No you may not,” I said, still smiling in spite of my rebuttal.

  Chapter Twelve

  ~***~

  I sat on a sofa that was much more comfortable than it had originally appeared to be the first time Bernie had escorted me into the main receiving room of the home. A home infinitely smaller than I’d been expecting. However, what the small dwelling lacked in size, it recovered with the warm, comfortable furnishings within.

  Pictures of the two Guardians hung along the walls; many of the images of Bernie smiling exuberantly as he always did and Carl’s face distorted by a gloomy sort of expression that was quite fitting of him in spite of the expression of genuinely kind regard I had grown to expect. With this knowledge, I could surmise that Carl didn’t care much for the moment-capturing images that my kind would never be allowed to take part in.

  The images of Itzel were accompanied by her kind smile and confidence that was apparent even in the images of a smaller, much younger version of her. The brilliant color of her eyes was captured in every version of herself, projecting a self-assurance I was still completely taken with.

  Many of the images were of the two people I’d come to know in a few short weeks and the small but unfathomably strong Itzel, showing them in the midst of playful battles, covered from head to toe in mud. And my personal favorite, an image of the three, nestled in a bundle of blankets, sprawled legs and arms over each other in a pile while clearly slumbering. Regardless of the time spent in their care, something inside of me responded to the images I’d seen framed along the wall, down a set of narrow stairs.

  I was part of a world that refused to revisit the past for anything that served little to no value. Moments shared between siblings, accomplishments celebrated with smiles and embraces, these sorts of memories were kept to oneself and never displayed for others to look upon. It would be considered trivial and meaningless to relish in one’s past with images like these. For this very reason, among many others, I wished I’d been born into this world.

  Maybe then Vlad would have felt welcomed. Perhaps even loved. Maybe I would’ve allowed myself to collect and store personal triumphs. Maybe even hang them on the walls of a home of my own choosing.

  No, what ifs were for the weak and unaccomplished.

  Eyes downcast, I exhaled a resigned sigh and glanced at the nearby window. The longer I ventured inside this world with the Guardians, the more I pined for another life lived. It was unlike me. I was taught from birth to never want such things. And yet, here I was, still yearning for what I would never have.

  Another breath escaped me as I rolled my shoulders back, an achy heaviness still occupying my body. Thankfully, it was much improved from the state I’d woken in. In my hands, a warm cup rested, cradled between my palms with a liquid that had become a silent comfort during the weeks I’d been in Bernie’s care.

  From what had been disclosed to me earlier in the evening, we had come to Bernie’s childhood home. His mother was away on business and wouldn’t be back for a few days. Until her return, it would be Bernie and I, alone, as I still needed to recover from the poison I was just healed from. The Guardians were aware that I’d been taken to an undisclosed location. And until it was discovered how I was found so quickly, my location would remain secret, only to be known by a few.

  Since Anric had yet to return, there was no reason for me to worry over such matters. However, I was eager to return to my quest of finding my runaway brother, even more so now than ever before. The demon was clearly someone powerful. If my brother was at the will of the high-demon, then the longer we took to find him, the more danger he would be in.

  My heart panged inside my chest, searing heat into my throat with the mere thought of Vlad being injured. Especially since it was evident they intended to capture me. He would likely be tortured and forced into helping them, probably at this very moment.

  As much as it pained me to be so weak and unable to restart my search, if it were one of my men, I’d be ordering the very same thing—rest and recuperate. To take on a foe of this demon’s magnitude, I’d need to be at my best. In my current state, I’d be easily captured, and that would make my rescuing Vlad in any way an unattainable goal.

  Back straight and eyes securely fixed to the weathered window beside me, I did my best to remain silent in face of a pounding heart and twisting stomach. I swallowed, keeping my stare fixed to the darkness outside the window, wordlessly marveling at the twinkling stars that speckled the sky beyond the clear glass. The beauty of it eased the tension inside my body over my eagerness to get to my brother, and it helped calm my heart as I focused on breathing and no
t thinking.

  “Nyla,” a husky, almost inaudible voice called out, shocking my body enough that I was forced to overexaggerate a breath to conceal my surprise, “Why are you all the way over there? This is the first cozy night you and I’ve had together, and you choose to sit all the way over there? You’re making this cowboy real sad.”

  My eyes trailed away from the window, finding beautiful amber irises luminescent despite the dim light coming from a singular lamp atop a side table. Bernie had leaned in closer, his bare arm stealing my gaze as the muscles strained under the weight he forced onto it. It glistened with moisture from the bath he had previously taken, illuminating his skin in a way that captivated my stare and held me prisoner to it. The tension along his forearm was evident with the intense shadow being cast from the lackluster light the lamp created.

  Everything about this man entranced me.

  “Need I remind you that I am a lady and currently spoken for, Bernard?” I asked, desperate to deny myself the visage, but unable to control my stammering heart and wandering eyes as they trailed shamelessly up his arm to where his chest constricted with hard, gorgeously toned muscle.

  Oh my god, he wasn’t wearing a shirt!

  Water made its way down his chest before Bernie was wiping it away with a towel. I nibbled my lower lip as the muscle strained and his abdominals tautened with his sharp swiping motions to remove the residual bath water before he was throwing the towel into a nearby bin. He celebrated his apparent success with both arms in the air, pointing at the bin with a childlike expression.

  “You should take a bath while you can, princess. If you’d like, I can help you wash up.”