Bernie (Guardians In Love Book 3)

by Brianna West

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  ~***~

  “To convince one’s enemy, one must first convince those closest to them.”

  My brother’s words echoed inside my head as Bernie’s eyes shot open and his semi-transformed body pulsated with golden power. My heart was throbbing with silent victory, the earlier tension leaving my form as the secondary strategy I had in place was set into motion. One in which I hadn’t agreed to initially.

  ~*~

  “I will let him overpower me,” I had said before we arrived on site, assigning each their designated task.

  Vedric and Bastian would secure the area around the land, making sure that no other slipped past the barrier that Bernie would help erect before joining Zane and Myra. We knew that if we acted in line with my strategy, we would capture the demon without incident. Or so I hoped.

  I had employed similar strategies before, but never with a foe at the level of this high-demon. What I knew of them, however, I could guess that they weren’t impervious to such oversights when something they desired greatly was laid out before them.

  Which had brought me to my next action, offering myself as bait for the demon to be drawn towards. From my dealings with the demon who called himself Master, I knew that his yearning to capture my ability for himself made him take calculated risks to acquire me. He knew I was talented, clever, and well trained, so he would be even bolder with his risks. Which was to our benefit in these circumstances.

  “If he believes he has won, then he will be vulnerable when he summons the portal. He would do it in haste, which would be our opening. In that short opening, you will take position and drain his energy, Myra. The window to act will be only a few seconds or so, but with your abilities, all the time you will need.”

  Myra’s purple eyes ignited with the compliment, her quick nod all the assertion I needed to continue.

  “I will likely be bound by his magic, so I will need you to break it down the moment he is subdued, Vedric.” The troll leader grunted, his hammer shifting as he gave a nod of understanding. All business surprisingly.

  Bernie’s eyes had flashed with obvious refusal. “No,” my Guardian interjected abruptly, “I’ll be the prey.”

  “He could very easily kill you before he comes for me.” I shook my head, touching Bernie’s face without thinking. When I realized the error, my hand fell away and I cleared my throat, regarding the group seriously. “The risk is greater letting him claim Bernie first.”

  The four others nodded, not one of them questioning my decision—something that had warmth spreading inside my chest as I internally celebrated the acceptance of the uniquely talented group of Guardians.

  “If he wants you to go willingly, princess, he’ll use me as leverage. It’ll work better because he’ll be looking for me nearby anyway. Ain’t no way I’d leave you alone, and he knows that.” Bernie smiled roguishly, tipping his hat before kissing my lips quickly when I’d finally looked over to him, prepared to argue.

  Oh mother, his lips were magic!

  My eyes narrowed furiously as the whining from Vedric insinuated that they had seen the swift kiss. “The risks far outweigh the benefits, Bernie. We do it the way I initially detailed.”

  Bernie’s smile never faltered. “Guess you’ll just have to tie me up and leave me here then, ‘cause I ain’t letting you play bait.”

  “You have no other choice,” I responded, keeping my building exasperation from affecting my voice, “I was made leader of this mission, and I intend to do it the way I believe best.”

  Bernie’s smile grew broader. “Well then, I’m looking forward to getting tied down by my sexy, macho princess. To a bed, I hope.”

  ~*~

  Orange, red, and gold circled and trapped the demon while purple fog crept across the ground as the rest of the team appeared in a wide circle. The demon’s face was stricken as Bernie got to his feet and retreated several paces away, forehead perspiring. The pain of the demon’s magic was etched into the deepened lines of his face and visible tension in his body, but I knew that it was his intention to never show how greatly the attack had injured him. I knew that pain myself, so I could imagine just what he was experiencing as he scuffed up a cloud of dirt in his hasty, yet calm retreat from the demon now imprisoned in vines of the Guardian’s magic.

  Bernie retrieved his hat, fanning his face with a smile at the surrounding team. “Like a moth to the flame,” he proclaimed with a grin.

  My focus never fully deviated from the demon’s face as I took a few steps towards him while the demon was drained of his energy by the Fade fog now creeping like coiling vines around his body. With him greatly weakened, slowly losing strength inside the magic that bound him, I knew that there was very little he could do to defend himself. However, I stayed wary of our surroundings in case he hadn’t come alone. I collected my weapon from the floor and circled the creature with a calm stride.

  “What is your true name, demon?” I demanded of him, resting the heavy blade on my shoulder as Bastian and Zane circled the opposite direction. Not one of us was letting our guard down. “For what reason do you seek my power?”

  The red eyes of the demon watched me, but he didn’t speak out. Barely moved at all. I could see from the strength in his gaze that there was very little I would get out of him. Sighing, I signaled Myra, and her face grew immediately solemn but resolute as the fog billowed and swallowed more of the demon’s body. His red eyes flickered to black, and then closed as he grew lifeless inside the magic holding him.

  Vedric grunted unhappily. “Well, that was boring. I thought he’d put up more of a fight. Talk about a disappointing end of the night.”

  The troll came to stand beside me, watching as Bernie inspected the fallen creature before its body gave out and inwardly crumbled in on itself. Blood pooled where it had once been laid out and ash kicked up into the air before disappearing on the wind. When the quiet once more occupied the space, except for the occasional sound of blowing wind that was whistling through the trees, I felt an abrupt, sharp sensation run down my spine. Body frozen, I was instantly on alert.

  Something was here.

  Bernie’s eyes glowed vividly as the rest of the Guardians promptly postured for a fight. We could smell it. Feel it. Even taste the darkness oozing into the air with its pungent, disgusting presence practically suffocating us. It was a sensation that couldn’t be described adequately into words with the feeling of dread it put into my stomach. I knew it in the instant I felt it that we were surrounded by a group of Fades. But even more than that, there was something greater lurking in the shadows.

  “Oh yeah, that’s what I’ve been itching for!” Vedric hollered with exuberance before throwing his hammer down onto the ground.

  The earth trembled, and wave after wave, it rippled out around us, taking out every tree and rooted vegetation in the immediate vicinity. I had avoided it effortlessly, landing with my massive weapon drawn. A set of light eyes glowed among the purple ones; the enemy’s powerful essence palpable in the air as I kept my stare locked with his. But when I noticed the platinum locks and an ice-blue gaze, I was taken by complete surprise by the sight.

  A massive frame, muscular and perceivably powerful, was one of the first things I noticed about the stranger. He was lightly clothed in a thin fabric that was pure white, the tunic only partially buttoned and exposing a strong, deeply grooved chest.

  It was safe to say he was a handsome man, but I wasn’t stricken by that alone. His pale, iridescent eyes that harbored the faintest specks of gold fixed to me from where he stood, glowing radiantly in the darkness. His golden body and cool indifference expressed how little he worried about facing a group of Guardians. But when white-feathered wings that had been tainted by black appeared and stretched briefly at his back, a sudden spark of terror cut through my chest.

  “An angel?”

  The face that met my gaze was not of kindness. It was not of welcome or rescue. It was a face of an enemy who had come f
or one singular purpose; one he would do anything to make happen. I didn’t have to be clever to know just what that purpose might be as he stared overtly at me, barely acknowledging the others.

  “A Dark angel.” Vedric laughed beside Bastian, shaking his head. “Guess we found out who that devious angel was that helped with the recent jailbreak.”

  “Shut up before it gets you killed, you bloody imbecile,” Bastian hissed as he drew the long sword he carried and stood his ground beside the other two.

  I couldn’t breathe in face of a Dark angel. It was a sight that I never expected to see, nor did I ever imagine I would be fighting. This was a battle that not one of us could win. Not even with our collective effort.

  “Caius,” my Guardian growled in his throat, instantly beside me with a barrier that encircled us just as white light sliced through the air in a fierce assault.

  The gold barrier trembled with the force, flickering in and out as white light continued to brutally assault it. Vedric’s yellow magic sparked through the air like lightning, barely reaching the angel that stood amongst Fades as their purple fog crept slowly across the ground.

  “What a beautiful little creature you are,” the angel said with an eerie smile, focused solely on me, “You will be the weapon to conquer them all, I have no doubt about that. Quite unfortunate that you have yet the understanding of how to use it. But with a little time and effort, that can be remedied.”

  His words had made my blood run cold, instantly understanding that he knew I couldn’t overcome him with my ability. There was little I could do against an angel of his magnitude. And as I watched with slow-growing dread as he easily rebuffed each attack aimed at him, returning none of them and instead keeping his focus on me, I comprehended how little it would take for him to kill my companions.

  He was merely toying with us. Enjoying himself and his ability to twist my insides into knots with his words.

  The grip I had on my sword tightened as I prepared myself for a battle I was sure to lose. However, I never ran away. I never would. I would fight until my dying breath. If he captured me, I would escape. If I could not, I would take my own life before he could use me to take another’s. Because, if it was one thing I wasn’t, I wasn’t their bloody weapon.

  My resolve steeled just as Bernie took hold of me, his fierce eyes pleading me along with his words. “Run away, darling. Get away as fast as you can. We’ll cover you.”

  “No,” I rejected strongly when his words finally registered, my blue and grey power seeping out of me and pulsating as I was determined to do whatever I could to take the Dark angel down with me, “I fight beside you.”

  Bernie’s tiger eyes closed as his jaw clenched, growling his frustration. It was only minutes since the angel had arrived and attacked, but it felt like forever as Myra and Zane worked in unison to take out the three Fades teleporting in and out of view, while Bastian and Vedric paired up against a foe they were not powerful enough to defeat. We all knew that we were greatly outmatched even with our number.

  White-feathered wings with veins of black webbing through them spread out behind the one called Caius, his piercing gaze giving me pause for a brief moment before I found my strength again. I flitted to the space behind him, letting my body become invisible and camouflaged as my weapon cut through the air straight at the lightly clothed back of the angel.

  White light burst and hit me before my blade could make contact, lofting me high into the air before I was falling back towards the earth. I somersaulted, landing with grace and my weapon hitting the earth with heavy force. Twisting upwards and swinging my weapon around my body in a wide arc, I hit the ground with it, creating rolling waves with the attack before I was lunging off the ground and back towards the angel who flapped his large wings and hovered just a few feet above the floor.

  “Nyla!” Bernie called out, searching for me.

  It was clear that I was also invisible to his eyes as his partially transform body heaved in great pants and tensed when he couldn’t find me anywhere. Before I could go to him and ease his worries, the world around us lit up with bright light before I was hit by another swift attack that sliced straight through my abdomen and sent me colliding and skidding over the hard, uneven earth. Pain suffused my body, taking it hostage and stealing my ability to breathe while the torturous assault continued for several minutes before I was released.

  I didn’t see anything at first. Instead, I heard the desperate yells of the Guardians I’d fought with. Their voices were distorted, but I heard the intense panic in them, which immediately put my broken body into motion. I rolled onto my belly, coughing through the echo of pain, and then got to my feet, staggering. My eyes followed the sounds, trailing lazily behind me as another explosion of light drenched our surroundings in white. When it faded, my heart was in my throat and my feet couldn’t move fast enough.

  Bernie had a dagger hilt-deep in the angel’s chest, his transformed body held aloft by his neck. Caius had a sword drenched with red blood stabbed through the Guardian’s body, barely any of the silver blade exposed in the front. Instead, the part of the blade exposed was behind Bernie and also coated with dark red, which nearly took the strength from me when I saw it.

  Bernie’s blood.

  Oh god, oh god.

  Everything inside of me had gone numb with the sight. My thoughts scattered and were impossible to catch. My heart thudded painfully inside my chest, while my pulse throbbed loudly in my ears. Everything hurt or burned. All of it, every part of me, was out of control. I wanted to scream. I wanted to tell Bernie I loved him at the top of my lungs out of concern I’d never get to say the words again.

  But I was silent. Frozen. Immobilized by a fear so great that I didn’t know if I’d ever be able to recover. Nothing hurt so fiercely in all the injuries I’d incurred over my one hundred and fifty years as much as seeing Bernie stabbed through by a sword.

  Not one single moment in my life had hurt greater.

  I was going to scream.

  But I couldn’t give up. I couldn’t be defeated. Couldn’t let everyone here suffer. And instead of staying frozen, I called upon every bit of power inside of me and focused on doing what I already knew I could do—the special ability I possessed deep within, desperate to take charge and do what only it could.

  I ran without any idea of how far I should go. A sensation that felt almost as if I were shedding a heavy weight overcame me just as I reached the angel holding my love hostage with both hand and blade.

  Merging, I fell into him, occupying his body somehow with my own. I could sense his presence sinking and disappearing into the background the stronger my own grew inside of him.

  And as if I knew just what to do, I opened my hand and Bernie fell heavily to the floor, holding his stomach where the sword was still imbedded. I looked around me, trembling as I felt the power of the angel pulse through the body I was now in control of. It wasn’t something I’d been prepared to feel. It was electrifying and an unparalleled feeling to own so much incredible power that could be wielded without so much as a thought put forward.

  But I knew what I must do.

  “Go,” I ordered, turning my head to the three Fades who had appeared just as I looked over at them, “I do not need you.”

  Their confusion was evident, but they didn’t argue, just disappeared. When I looked back at the group of Guardians, who were prepared to assault me—very currently the me who was Caius, the supposed runaway angel—I knew I had to retreat with the angel still in my control. I wasn’t sure how long I would have before I returned to my body, so I was determined to put as much space between them as I could manage.

  “Take Bernie and go. Take my body with you. Tell Simon all that transpired with the demon and Caius. I will take this angel as far as I can. It will afford you the time to get away. I do not know how long I can control this body, however.”

  Vedric’s mouth fell open, while Myra and Zane were quickly helping Bernie to his feet as he groaned and h
eld his stomach.

  “I-I cannot promise I will wake from this, so you must make it back so that the angel is disposed of.”

  “What?” Bernie asked when I stuttered the last statement.

  Vedric was riddled with obvious confusion. “Hold on a sec—”

  “What do you mean you won’t wake up?” Bernie demanded, hissing as he tried to get up, “And I ain’t leaving without you. I go where you go, remember? I love you, and I will go wherever you damn well go!”

  My eyes grew hot as I watched Bernie fight through the pain to say the words. I couldn’t hold back the tear that fell as I pointed.

  “I love you, Bernie. It’s why you have to go now if we have any hope of saving anyone,” I stated firmly.

  Vedric’s eyes trailed from Bernie to where I stood. “Caius is sounding awfully like the princess right now.”

  “Vedric,” Myra said as Bastian appeared by her side, “Caius isn’t Caius. It is the princess.”

  “Say what?!” Vedric yelled before scratching his red hair with perplexity. “That’s both sickening and oddly enticing.”

  “Leave now,” I ordered again, attempting to disregard the piercing tiger eyes fixed to me.

  “What do you mean you won’t wake up?! Tell me right now what that means, princess!” Bernie demanded loudly as I spread out the wings experimentally.

  Good, they would move with my desire for them to.

  I smiled sadly at the man beseeching me, unable to tell him the truth of my mother’s death. “I love you.”

  A tender smile lifted my lips as Bernie’s face drew down, the statement making his shoulders stiffen into a visible hunch.

  My mother had died using her ability. Rather, she had never woken up. My father had sent her to take the body of a great king, and due to the strength of that king, she was unable to make it back into her own body. When she couldn’t make it back in time, or so my brother told me, her body gave out. My father never shed a tear. Never wished he hadn’t sent her, because she had fulfilled his wish and saw through what he had yearned the other king to do—kill himself and will his lands to my father.