Moonlit Guardian

by Crystal-Rain Love

  “I’m fine,” he answered, maintaining his post.

  “You haven’t eaten today and it’ll be a long time before you get another chance. Now sit. Eat.”

  He scanned the restaurant once more. They were in a private room at the back of the building but he didn’t want to take any chances. His scan complete, he pulled out a chair across from Kimiko and sat.

  The server immediately appeared with a menu. “Order when ready, sir,” he said and stepped back, hands folded before him as he waited.

  Draven quickly read over the menu, noting that most of the food had been ruined by all the extra stuff thrown into each dish. “I’ll take the salmon with a baked potato, just butter.”

  The server took the menu and disappeared.

  “I figured you for a steak man,” Kimiko said, sitting back in her seat, observing him.

  “I am when it isn’t covered in fancy sauces.”

  She grinned. “I know what you mean. I’d kill to eat at a regular steakhouse or burger place but when you have this life you’re expected to eat all this overpriced gourmet crap.”

  “Why?”

  “Because it’s the best.”

  “If it’s the best then why do you wish to eat somewhere else?”

  “My other security guards were glad to be able to get into these restaurants. They didn’t question it.”

  “I question everything,” Draven replied. “And I didn’t take this job to get into fancy places.”

  “Why did you take this job? Are you a fan of the music?”

  “It’s decent. Your voice is good when you sing, but that had nothing to do with why I took the job.”

  Kimiko let out a choked laugh, her eyes wide. “Wow. You actually just said that.”

  “What?”

  “I’m used to people complimenting me.”

  “My job isn’t to compliment you. It’s to protect you. Besides, I didn’t say you were horrible. Your voice is nice when you sing.”

  “But the songs suck.”

  “I didn’t say that.”

  “You didn’t have to.” She sipped her ice water. “My songs may not have some great philosophical meaning to them, but they are entertaining. They sell. People love them.”

  “You don’t,” Draven commented, picking up on her defensiveness. “But that doesn’t matter to me. I’m here to protect you from bodily harm, not your own self doubt and need for adoration.”

  Asshole.

  Kimiko seethed as she exited the restaurant, Draven at her heels. She’d at first found his indifference refreshing, thinking maybe she’d finally met someone who saw her as a person but he didn’t. He saw her as a joke, a sellout. Just another pop star with garbage to sell.

  “I need to be in front.”

  She rolled her eyes as Draven tried to get around her at the exit, and walked right through the doors as the doormen held them open for her.

  “It’s not as if someone’s going to shoot me on the str—”

  The gunshot blasted as she was hurled to the pavement, Draven’s weight on top of her. He shielded her with his body as the dark car that had been parked across the street sped off, tires squealing.

  “You were saying?”

  2

  “OK. We have the script reading rescheduled for tomorrow. We’ll have to squeeze it in but the important thing is that they aren’t holding this against you.”

  “Yes, that’s clearly the important thing,” Draven murmured from his post at the door, making no effort to hide his disdain.

  “Yes, it is,” Kim said, turning toward him. “Kimiko isn’t just a person, Mr. Gregory, she’s a business. If she isn’t making money, her employees aren’t getting paid. That would include you.”

  “And you.” He looked at her pointedly.

  “It’s fine,” Kimiko said quickly, noticing the outrage in Kim’s eyes as her mouth opened to respond, and sensing things would get very ugly very quickly if she didn’t put a stop to this conversation. “I’m happy to do the script reading tomorrow. Right now, I just want to sleep so unless there’s anything absolutely important that needs to be gone over right now, can we call it a night?”

  “Make sure you go over the script,” Kim ordered, dropping the script on the coffee table in front of her before vacating the chair across from her. “And try not to stress. You don’t want to be all tired looking during your photo shoot tomorrow. This one’s for the upcoming album.”

  “I thought the last shoot was for the album.”

  “That was the regular album. This one is the deluxe version with the bonus tracks.”

  Kimiko rubbed her temples. She didn’t understand why they were doing the photo shoots before the tracks were even recorded or an album title was created, but whatever. She’d learned life gave her fewer headaches if she just went with the flow.

  Kim left, but not before spearing Draven with a hard glare. For his part, he did a great job of ignoring her obvious displeasure with him, remaining silent as she left the room.

  “You know, she’s the one who hired you.”

  He raised an eyebrow.

  “So you should be nice to her if you want to keep the job.”

  “So you’re telling me I work for her, not you?”

  “Something like that.” Kimiko leaned forward and picked the script up from the coffee table. She flipped through it, skimming only the highlighted lines she was supposed to memorize. She gave the script two minutes of her attention before tossing it back on the table.

  “Memorize the lines already?”

  “I don’t need to. The part is mine, even if I suck.” She noted the ever so slight judgment in his eyes. “I’m not being conceited. I just know that my performance doesn’t matter. Every movie I’ve been offered has been on behalf of the studio, not the directors. They never give me anything that takes great acting skill and even if I blow the weak lines they give me, they wouldn’t care because they will have earned back every dime they’ve spent making the movie and then some during the opening weekend. My fans will see any movie I’m in and I have a lot of fans.”

  “So, even if you put out bad work, your fans will still buy it?”

  “Movies? Yes. They love me for my music, for my persona. Even when I do badly in a movie they think the world of me. As long as I keep putting out music I’m in good shape.”

  “So why do movies at all?”

  “Why is anything done in this world?” She laughed. “Money. Fame. Being somebody.”

  Draven shook his head as he walked over to the balcony and closed the doors.

  “What’s with the head shake?”

  “Nothing.”

  “You obviously have an opinion.”

  “I wasn’t under the impression I was being paid for my opinion.” He turned away from the balcony and stood straight, hands clasped behind his back, eyes forward.

  Again, she found his lack of focus on her annoying. “Share it anyway.”

  He shrugged, as much as his fierce protector stance would allow. “I just think it’s a sad life to have if all your needs are so material and being adored by strangers matters so much.”

  Kimiko sucked in a breath as if she’d been punched in the stomach. Immediately, her hackles raised, ready to strike back with any of the countless comebacks she had for so-called serious journalists who attacked her during interviews, ridiculing the quality of her music and acting, but the words didn’t come out. Draven wasn’t a journalist. He had no reason to bait her. He was simply a man speaking a truth she knew but did not want to admit to.

  “I did not mean to offend you. You asked my opinion.”

  Realizing she’d allowed her bruised feelings to show, Kimiko shook the hurt off and stood from the loveseat, wrapping the robe she’d changed into after her shower tighter around her. “I’m ready for bed.”

  “Good night.” He didn’t move from his post.

  Kimiko stared at him for several minutes until he raised an eyebrow in question, seeming otherwise oblivious
as to why she hadn’t moved.

  “This is the point where you leave the room.”

  He frowned. “My job is to ensure your safety.”

  “Right. You can do that outside the door.”

  “I could.” He nodded as if considering the option. “I could leave you exposed to whoever may enter the room through the balcony and kidnap you from your bed.”

  “Seriously?” Kimiko laughed. “We’re on the twelfth floor. Who’s going to kidnap me? Batman? Leave the room, now. I’m not sleeping with you watching me like some weirdo.”

  “It is my job.”

  “A job I could have ended with one phone call.”

  “You said Kim hired me.”

  She folded her arms over her chest. “That doesn’t mean I can’t fire you. I’m a superstar. I get what I want.”

  “Do you want to get hurt? Killed? You tried to stop me from performing my job correctly earlier today and you were nearly shot.” He stepped closer until he loomed over her. “Settle down, princess, and allow me to keep you alive to make your bad movies.”

  Kimiko’s jaw dropped. Not even Kim would dare speak to her in such a way and she was family.

  “Nothing to say? Good. Sleep well.”

  “Who the hell do you think you are?” Kimiko asked, gathering her wits.

  “Draven Gregory, bodyguard to a beautiful, spoiled superstar who hates all the things she’s supposed to love about her life, and man who has no intention of leaving her unguarded. Any more questions?”

  She stood there blinking up at his threatening presence, anger swirling with a flutter of excitement. He thought she was beautiful, and unlike the millions who’d called her the same word she actually believed him because he didn’t seem the least bit impressed by her.

  “I’m not leaving this room,” he said, moving around her to sit on the loveseat she’d vacated, “so I suggest you get used to me. I’m going to be your shadow for a very long time. You don’t have to like it. Your waking breath each morning will be all the thanks I need.”

  Kimiko moaned again, shifting in her sleep. Draven watched her, noting the way her fingers gripped her silk sheets as barely audible cries slipped through her slightly parted lips. She did this for a few minutes before settling down.

  He could wake her to end the nightmare, but knowing her schedule, she needed as much sleep as she could get, even if it was full of bad dreams.

  He rose from the loveseat and stretched, realizing the human form was not meant to sit still for long periods of time. As he paced around the room, waking his muscles, the hairs along the back of his neck stood on end. He froze, listened, cocking his head to the side. He sniffed.

  A predator was close.

  He spared a glance at the woman in the bed before walking over to the balcony, tracking the presence he felt. The cool night air enveloped him in its embrace as he stepped through the doors. The night was dark and dangerous, just like the threat he felt hiding in it. He searched it for the enemy but his eyes, despite being better than human, couldn’t penetrate the dark shield the night provided. There were too many dark shapes on the street twelve stories below.

  He closed his eyes and relied on his enhanced senses. He smelled the air, turning his head toward the familiar scent blowing past him on the breeze. He tuned out of the world, listening and searching only with his gut. There. On the street below him, to the right. He stepped to the edge of the balcony and opened his eyes, focusing on the figure on the street, partially hidden in shadow at the mouth of the alley between two other hotels.

  He couldn’t see the figure’s face but knew it was a man. He could feel the man’s eyes on him, feel the determination to conquer. He could sense that the man knew what he was, because he knew what the man was too. He felt his power from across the street and smelled him on the wind. It was a smell he’d gotten used to since leaving Imortia with Addix’s group, a smell that had surrounded him while he’d been taught the way of this realm. A smell that had been in this realm for over a hundred years but not many knew of.

  The man in the shadows, the predator after Kimiko, was a werewolf.

  3

  Draven looked at his watch, noting the time. The Moonlight Agency had finally opened for business. He pulled the company-provided cell phone from his pocket and dialed the number, keeping his eyes focused on Kimiko. It wasn’t a hardship, given the body-hugging white dress she wore for her photo shoot. It fit her like a glove and the deep V-neck showed plenty of cleavage. High slits on the sides showed long lengths of leg as she posed in the clearing.

  The photographer had chosen the woods for the shoot and her makeup had been done in subtle, natural shades. This shoot was for the deluxe album, which would include acoustic versions of some of her songs. They wanted to show her natural beauty in a natural setting.

  “The Moonlight Agency.”

  “Put me through to Felicia.”

  “I’m sorry, sir. Miss—”

  “This is Draven Gregory, on assignment, and this is an emergency. Put me through to Felicia now.”

  “One moment.”

  Hold music started playing. Draven tuned it out as he scanned the tree line around the clearing. He’d been uneasy all day, knowing Kimiko’s stalker wasn’t some ordinary human, but someone more like him. Someone strong and powerful. A true predator. The area seemed safe for the moment but he refused to let his guard down. This shoot was too open, too accessible to someone who could take animal form and blend in with the natural wildlife.

  “Draven. To what do I owe this pleasantry?”

  “Cut the crap, Felicia. What the hell is going on?”

  “Excuse me?”

  “Who’s stalking Kimiko Lee?”

  “Well, Draven, that’s kind of part of your job to find that out. You or the police.”

  “The police don’t know about werewolves and I didn’t know that was what I’d be up against. What kind of game are you playing, assigning me to protect someone and assigning someone else to kill her?”

  Silence answered him.

  “Felicia?”

  “What did you say?”

  He growled, frustration growing. “You heard me.”

  “Draven, I didn’t send anyone after Kimiko Lee. That’s not what we do in this agency. We don’t hurt people, unless they’re asking for it. Aside from a few annoying songs that get stuck in your head, Kimiko Lee hasn’t done anything bad in her life, to my knowledge. Certainly not anything worth dying for.”

  “Then why is one of your wolves stalking her?”

  “What makes you think there is?”

  “I saw him late last night, standing across the street from her hotel, watching. I’ve been around your kind long enough to know the distinctive scent of a wolf. I felt his power.”

  “Shit.” The sound of fast typing filtered through the phone. “The werewolf line may have started with Zaira but we are not all one big happy family. There are wolf packs all over the world. Most of us came together to form one huge pack shortly before Addix and your people left Imortia to find us, but not all. There are rogue packs and just plain rogue wolves. Any of those wolves could be the one you saw, and if he is part of a rogue pack, he’s most likely not working alone.”

  “I was under the impression your agency found work for all the Weres.”

  “Unfortunately, no. Just like with humans, there are good Weres and bad Weres. The bad Weres aren’t welcome in our pack. Rather than stick around and be dealt with the pack way, they go it alone.”

  “And they stalk celebrities?”

  “They have to make a living like the rest of us. If a wolf, or a pack of wolves, is behind the stalking, they’re probably working for someone. If they’re working for someone, they’re probably working as professional hitmen which mean no one wants to just kidnap Kimiko Lee. They want to kill her.”

  “I figured that out yesterday when someone shot at her from a vehicle.” Draven frowned. “Damn.”

  “What?”

  �
��I didn’t sense a werewolf then. I didn’t sense a were-anything. The shooter was human. The wolf definitely isn’t working alone.”

  “What did the police say? Do they have any leads on who’s behind this?”

  “No idea. They didn’t seem very competent.”

  “They’re human. They’re limited in ways we aren’t. That’s why our agency is doing so well. We always outdo the competition. Do you need any help?”

  “Knowing exactly who and what I’m up against would be nice. Do you keep track of the rogues?”

  “Not really. When we get reports of rogues misbehaving we send a task force after them and they’re eliminated. I’m checking files now, searching for anything fishy. Did you get a good look at the wolf?”

  “No. I was on the twelfth floor of the hotel. He was on the street. He was powerful though. I could sense it.”

  “Again I ask, do you need help?”

  Draven thought about this as he watched Kimiko follow the photographer’s pose instructions. She sat on a grouping of boulders, structured to look like a throne. With her back arched and head held high, she looked like some sort of queen of the forest. He inhaled, smelling only normal human scents, and the natural scents of this realm. Trees, air, animals, and people. People who didn’t shift into animal forms.

  “No. If you send other wolves to help, I may mistake them for enemies. The wolf’s scent and power is what gave him away last night.”

  “If you change your mind, let me know, and keep me updated. These types of rogues can’t be allowed to exist. They jeopardize all of us. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

  “My job is to protect Kimiko Lee. My only responsibility is keeping her safe.”

  “That’s the job you’re being paid for. You also have a responsibility to your kind. Weres who use their abilities to hurt the inhabitants of this realm can not be allowed to live. Humans can’t imprison them. We have to stop them. I can send a team, Draven, if you can’t handle the Were.”