The Guardians Complete Series 1 Box Set: Contains Mercy, The Ferryman, Crossroads, Witchfinder, Infernum

by Wendy Saunders

‘So what exactly is it you need from me?’ he asked.

  He followed Nathaniel’s gaze to the rumpled form at the side of the room. ‘You don’t expect me to wear that?’ he asked in disgust.

  ‘An unfortunate necessity my friend,’ Nathaniel replied.

  ‘A pig suit?’ he scoffed. ‘I’d rather go back to hell.’

  ‘As I said it’s a necessity. I need you to blend in.’

  ‘But they stink,’ he looked at Nathaniel who remained silent, his expression unmoved. ‘Very well’ he hissed, stalking towards the corpse.

  His body began to undulate, his skin rippling and softening and as he reached the body his form began to melt. He leaned over and poured himself into Stephen’s chest leaving no wound. The corpse jerked once and then settled. Suddenly his eyes opened, no longer pale blue but now pure black like Nathaniel’s. He sat up abruptly then climbed to his feet. Stretching out his arms and staring at his hands, he walked across the room. His movements were stiff and jerky at first but as he moved they smoothed out into a fluid gait.

  ‘Urgh,’ he said in disgust, his voice now sounding just like Stephen’s. ‘Human flesh is disgusting; it makes my skin crawl to be wearing this.’

  ‘It will not be for long my friend’ Nathaniel reassured him, picking up a bottle of wine and holding it up in front of him questioningly.

  Zachary didn’t bother to answer, nor did he wait for Nathaniel to pour him a glass. He simply plucked the wine from his hand and drank straight from the bottle, not stopping until it was empty.

  ‘Better?’ Nathaniel asked in amusement.

  ‘Not even slightly,’ he grumbled, ‘I still have a disgusting taste in my mouth…now tell me what is going on.’

  ‘We have time travelers.’

  ‘Really?’ his eyes widened in surprise, ‘that’s rare. How are they managing it?’

  ‘They have Seth’s compass,’ his darkened expression was suddenly murderous.

  ‘Are they human?’

  Nathaniel nodded.

  ‘There’s only one way they could be in possession of the compass,’ Zachary mused thoughtfully.

  ‘Hades had to have given it to them.’

  ‘But why?’ Zachary shook his head, ‘he doesn’t get involved in the human world. He doesn’t like them very much. In fact, from what I hear he hasn’t been topside in over two thousand years.’

  ‘The only reason he would involve himself is if we are getting close to finding a way to free my brother,’ Nathaniel surmised.

  ‘Maybe’ Zachary replied thoughtfully, ‘so who is it? Who has the compass now?’

  ‘A woman, I’m not sure who she is yet. I think her name is Olivia. I first encountered her ten years ago.’

  ‘And you allowed her to slip through your fingers?’ Zachary shook his head. ‘You’re losing your touch.’

  ‘Hardly,’ Nathaniel retorted acerbically, ‘she disappeared that night but she’s finally resurfaced.’

  ‘So grab her and question her,’ he shrugged.

  ‘It’s not quite that simple.’

  ‘Why?’

  Nathaniel started at the beginning. He told Zachary of the Wests and his search for them, how he believed he was getting close. He went on to explain about Salem and the witch trials, James Wilkins and the Becketts, particularly Theodore and his connection to the girl. How there were two of him, a past version and a time traveling version. He told him about the Grimoire and the fact that it was found in James’ house but he was certain it belonged to the woman and finally he told him that she could conjure Hell fire.

  ‘That’s not possible’ Zachary frowned, ‘no human has ever been able to conjure the ancient fires.’

  ‘And yet she did, and not by some fluke or accident. I saw her with my own eyes. She drew a bow of Hell fire from thin air, loaded with a bolt of pure black flame.’

  ‘And you’re sure she is human?’

  ‘Yes,’ he shook his head frowning, ‘I touched her skin. I felt her heartbeat pound beneath my grip, she is human. But there is something else there, something I don’t understand, a vast well of power as yet untapped.’

  ‘Wait a minute,’ Zachary held up his hand, squeezing his eyes shut as he riffled through Stephen’s memories. He turned over every memory of Logan and Theodore Beckett before going back to study the face of the woman Stephen had seen just hours earlier heading for the Wilkins house.

  ‘Hades obviously has some interest in this girl if he gave her the compass, but it’s not only that. She is able to use it, not just to cross distances but to jump through time. Even your brother wasn’t able to make it do that.’

  ‘I know,’ Nathaniel scowled.

  ‘We need to get our hands on that girl,’ Zachary’s eyes narrowed.

  ‘That’s why I summoned you’ he answered. ‘I don’t want to involve Beckett and Wilkins yet; their involvement is peripheral at best. It’s the girl, she’s the center of everything. If we can break her I get the feeling she’ll be a gold mine of information and not only that I think she might be able to help me find the Wests.’

  ‘What makes you think that?’

  ‘Because of the Grimoire, it belongs to one of the West women. I felt it when I touched it the very first time,’ he looked down to the healed burn scars which marred the palm of his hand. ‘If she had this book in her possession it means she has some sort of tie to that family. It’s all connected somehow.’

  ‘So we need the girl.’

  ‘Yes,’ he answered, ‘but I don’t want Beckett interfering. Right now I don’t have any interest in him. That may change but I don’t want the trail to lead him here, to lead him to me. I need time with her…uninterrupted time.’

  ‘Consider it done’ Zachary smiled coldly. ‘By this time tomorrow she’ll be yours to do with as you please’.

  Chapter 16.

  Olivia peeled the muddy gown from her body, pushing it awkwardly past her petticoats. Glancing down at her hands she cringed at the dirt embedded under her nails. Trying to ignore them as best she could, she started to pluck and pull at the strings of her petticoat. She looked up as Theo entered the room, carrying another bucketful of cold water.

  ‘Where’s James gone? I heard him leave.’

  ‘He said he had some chores to do out in the orchard.’ Theo closed the door and dumped the contents of the bucket into the cramped bath tub he’d dragged into James’ room so that Olivia could bathe in privacy. ‘But I think it was an excuse to give us some time alone and him some time to think.’

  Olivia sighed heavily as she dropped down onto the side of the bed.

  ‘We’re doing it to him again aren’t we?’ she frowned.

  ‘What?’

  ‘Dragging him into our mess, putting him in danger,’ she breathed out slowly. ‘When I think about what Nathaniel put him through and what these last ten years have been like for him, I feel so…’

  ‘Guilty?’ he finished for her as she nodded. ‘I know, I do to.’

  ‘We keep bringing this to his door,’ she frowned. ‘I just wonder...’

  ‘Wonder?’

  ‘Where it’s all going to end?’ she replied as Theo pulled her to her feet and unlaced her petticoat for her, letting it pool on the floor. ‘Last time he was arrested and tortured, what if this time it costs him his life?’

  ‘I know,’ Theo replied quietly as he gazed down into her troubled eyes. ‘I’ve asked myself the same question a dozen times since we got here.’

  ‘And?’

  ‘I don’t see how we can do this without him,’ he sighed reluctantly. ‘I want the best for him, I want him to be safe and happy but also selfishly I want to spend as much time as I can with him. I mean, if by some miracle we manage to stop your mother and the two Nathaniels and return to Mercy, I’ll never see him again.’

  ‘I know,’ she stroked his arms comfortingly, ‘but this is getting too dangerous for him. We need to retrieve the books from Nathaniel, we can’
t leave Hester’s Grimoire in his possession. Which means, as crazy as it sounds, we’re going to have to break into his house. I don’t think we can risk James with that kind of exposure. We may have no choice but to distance ourselves from him, for his own good.’

  ‘Olivia’ Theo shook his head, ‘we can’t go after the book, at least not right now.’

  He saw her frown and open her mouth to object as he rushed ahead. ‘I know the book is important but so is Hester or have you forgotten the deal we made at the Crossroad? We came back here to stop your mother and the present day Nathaniel from tracking down Hester and her family. Now, as important and powerful as her Grimoire is, it’s nothing compared to what will happen if either your mother or Nathaniel get their hands on Infernum. You know what’s at stake. We can’t lose sight of that, especially not now we’re so close. The Grimoire will have to wait. Hester has to be protected at all costs because…’ his voice softened as he cupped her face in his hands, ‘if anything happens to her, you’ll never be born and you and I will never meet. I can’t let that happen. Hester has to be our priority, we have to find her and stop your mother.’

  ‘You’re right’ Olivia sighed, ‘I know you are, it’s just I was trusted with the Grimoire and I failed. I allowed it to fall into the hands of a demon. The whole family destiny thing they’ve been shoving down my throat since the moment I set foot back in Mercy, was about how my family were the guardians of the Hell book, Infernum and how it’s our responsibility to keep it protected and hidden. Well how can I do that when I can’t even keep a book of spells from falling into the wrong hands?’

  ‘Livy,’ he stroked her tangled hair back from her muddy face, ‘that wasn’t your fault.’

  ‘Don’t sugar coat it Theo’ she scowled, ‘you can’t call extenuating circumstances on this one. I was supposed to keep it safe and I didn’t, end of story… I failed.’

  ‘You’re too hard on yourself,’ he shook his head.

  ‘I can’t do this’ she whispered, ‘it’s too much, all this expectation and destiny crap. I can’t help feeling Hades, Diana, Bridget, Aunt Evie, all of them have backed the wrong horse. I’m not the person they’re making me out to be.’

  ‘I know it all feels a little overwhelming; you’ve had a lot thrown at you in a very short space of time.’

  ‘I just can’t do it’ she shook her head, her eyes filling as she tried to breathe through the oppressive weight which settled firmly on her chest. ‘It’s too much pressure, I feel like I’m going to break. Any moment I’ll just shatter, dragging everyone down with me.’

  ‘You won’t shatter,’ he wrapped his arms firmly around her, pressing her against his warm body. ‘Do you remember what you said to me the other night?’

  She looked up at him, her brow furrowing thoughtfully as she shook her head.

  ‘You said when you found out the truth about your parents the only thing that kept you from falling to pieces was me.’ He tilted her head back, his thumb tracing the line of her jaw tenderly. ‘That hasn’t changed and it never will. I’m right here holding onto you and I won’t let go, not ever.’

  ‘You’ll stay with me?’ she whispered.

  ‘Always,’ he murmured brushing his lips softly against hers.

  ‘I just want to go home Theo,’ she spoke quietly.

  ‘I know,’ he released his hold and stepped back slightly. ‘Look, you’re tired and dirty, why don’t you have your bath. You’ll feel better for it, then we can decide where we go from here.’

  ‘I suppose,’ she sighed.

  ‘You might want to heat the water up though, it’s a bit cold.’

  Olivia let go of him and knelt down next to the tub, dipping her hand into the freezing water and shivering. Allowing her magic to pool in her fingers she watched in satisfaction as, after a moment, small tendrils of steam began to rise from the water. She let her hand glide through the water which was now somewhere between warm and pleasantly hot. She looked up and caught Theo’s amused expression.

  ‘What?’

  ‘You would have saved me so much time,’ he shook his head. ‘You have no idea how long and painstaking a task it was to warm the water to bathe Tempy when she was younger. That’s why she was dirty more often than not.’

  ‘’Well I can’t stay dirty’ Olivia grimaced, ‘it’s making my skin crawl. When we get back to Mercy the first thing I’m doing is getting in the shower and I may not leave it for several days.’

  She lifted her arms as Theo grabbed the bottom of her shift and lifted it over her head. Taking hold of his hand to steady herself she lifted one foot and stepped into the tub. It was small and cramped but the water felt so good against her skin. Wrapping her arms around her knees she let out a sigh of contentment.

  ‘James said he left your spare clothes from last time in the chest, so at least you’ll have something clean to put on afterwards.’

  She nodded as she watched him retrieve a small jug and a linen cloth which he handed to her along with bar of soap. Dunking the cloth into the water and wringing it out she scrubbed her face until her skin was flushed and pink.

  ‘You really don’t like being dirty do you?’ he chuckled kneeling down next to the washtub and dipping the jug into the water to fill it.

  ‘And I suppose you do?’ she tilted her head back so he could rinse her hair.

  ‘You forget that I grew up here and without a mother. The only time Logan and I bathed was when we got rained on,’ he smiled fondly. ‘With Tempy we did try to make more of an effort to keep her clean, being a girl and all, but the truth is she had as much of an aversion to washing as we did. Then again if we’d had indoor plumbing with hot and cold running water, not to mention showers, we probably could have been persuaded to clean ourselves every so often.’

  Olivia smiled as he took the cloth and soap from her and began to wash her back.

  ‘Tell me about Logan?’ she asked quietly.

  Theo’s fist clenched involuntarily against her back. She could feel the tension in the corded muscles of his forearm, but as his dark gaze settled on hers she reached out with damp fingers, smoothing the wrinkle which had appeared between his brows.

  ‘Not the way it ended’ she whispered softly, ‘go back to a happier time when you were children.’

  She watched as Theo visibly relaxed and resumed washing her back. A small smile played at the corner of his lips as he remembered.

  ‘He was so funny.’

  ‘Funny?’

  ‘You wouldn’t have thought it if you’d met him later, but as a child he had such an incredible sense of humor. He was always laughing and playing jokes on me. I used to say that he could never take anything seriously,’ Theo sighed. ‘He proved me wrong, very wrong.’

  ‘What was it do you think that changed him?’

  ‘I used to think it was the death of our mother.’

  ‘And now?’

  ‘I’m not so sure,’ he shook his head. ‘Maybe it was lots of little things that over time built up. I think it started with the death of our mother and the way our father treated us, the general atmosphere of fear and intolerance of anything different.’

  ‘Did he know?’

  ‘About?’

  ‘You and Temperance? Your magical gifts?’

  Theo shook his head frowning.

  ‘No, I thought I was protecting him, but I’ve often wondered if I made a mistake. Maybe if I’d let him in, he would’ve been more sympathetic to those who were accused. If he could’ve seen them as being just like me and Temperance and not servants of the devil.’

  ‘He sounds like a fanatic.’

  ‘Maybe if things had been different,’ Theo murmured, ‘but once Nathaniel got his hands on him, the Logan I knew was gone. It was always as if he were two separate people. I never could reconcile the loving, funny, loyal brother I knew, with the cold, cruel, angry and bitter man he became.’

  ‘I’m sorry,’ Olivia replied quietly, knowing
the words were inadequate.

  ‘Some things can’t be changed,’ he handed the cloth back to her.

  ‘That’s just it’ Olivia frowned thoughtfully, ‘I’m not so sure about that. Theo you do realize that sooner or later we may run into Logan?’

  ‘I know,’ he answered resignedly.

  ‘You need to prepare yourself,’ she warned.

  ‘I’ll be fine Livy’ he told her, ‘I’m not the same man I was the last time I saw him.’

  ‘Well he might not be either,’ she murmured.

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘Theo, we’ve changed the timeline, you said it yourself things are different. There’s no way we can predict how dangerous your brother is or what sort of man he is. He may not be the same man you remember.’

  ‘Damn it,’ he frowned.

  ‘I know’ she replied, ‘the problem is I don’t even know what it was we changed. It could be a million different things, it could even be something really tiny and we have no idea how far the damage has spread.’

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘When we get back to the future, it may not be the reality we left behind. We’re working with a completely different reality now to the one we knew. This is why we’re not supposed to mess with time, to prevent things like this from happening.’

  ‘What if we go back and change it back?’

  ‘We can’t’ she shook her head, ‘we don’t know what we changed and even if we could pinpoint it there’s the potential for us to make things even worse by just trying to repair one thing. All we can do at this point is go with it and try to limit our exposure.’

  ‘That’s easier said than done, for all we know your mother and the other Nathaniel are out there causing all sorts of damage.’

  ‘Exactly,’ Olivia laid back against the tub and drew in a troubled breath. ‘God I hate time travel.’

  Her gaze was drawn to the golden compass which lay innocuously nestled between her breasts against her damp skin. The night they jumped through time Nathaniel had recognized it, she realized with a start. Casting her mind back she tried to remember that moment. He’d said the compass had belonged to his brother.