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

by Wendy Saunders

  ‘Go and talk to Jake, he may be able to help.’

  ‘No offense Roni, but I don’t know how he can. If she won’t talk to me, she probably won’t talk to anyone.’

  ‘Yeah but how many other people do you know who can read minds?’

  ‘Oh,’ Theo frowned, ‘I’d forgotten about that. Is he able to control it yet?’

  ‘Why don’t you go speak to him about it,’ she patted his arm companionably, ‘he’ll be able to explain it better than I can.’

  He nodded in agreement.

  ‘Before I go,’ Theo fished the damp piece of paper out of his pocket, ‘I was wondering if you could take a look at this for me, see if you recognize it?’

  Roni took the piece of paper and unfolded it, revealing a slightly smudged sketch of a looped cross which also had a serpent wound around it.

  ‘It’s an Ankh,’ she frowned studying the paper, ‘it came from the ancient Egyptians and filtered down through other races and religions. At its most basic it represents life, but occasionally it can mean balance, life and death etc…I haven’t seen one with a serpent wrapped around it before though. Is it important?’

  ‘I don’t know,’ he shook his head, ‘I saw it in a dream. My dead father, my biological father I mean, had it branded onto the inside of his wrist.’

  ‘A dream?’ Roni looked up at him, ‘do you think it was a premonition?’

  ‘That’s what I’m trying to find out.’

  ‘Okay leave it with me and I’ll see what I can do,’ she told him, refolding the paper carefully.

  ‘Thanks Roni,’ he smiled in relief. ‘I’m going to head over and see Jake now. Is he at the station?’

  ‘He should be,’ she tilted her wrist to look at her slim gold watch.

  ‘Okay then, call me if you find anything.’

  Roni watched as he disappeared back through the archway to the room, before heading up to her office. Once the room was again empty Cally reappeared, her eyes narrowed thoughtfully and her fingertips lightly playing with the small fiery blue pendant at her throat.

  So they’d figured out the connection to Castor and Pollux, she mused, but they’d hit a wall; stupid humans and their lax record keeping. She bit her lip and frowned, they were running out of time. She was going to have to break a few rules and pray that Zeus wouldn’t find out.

  Jake looked up at the knock on his office door.

  ‘Come in,’ he mumbled as he unscrewed the cap of an aspirin bottle.

  Theo walked in and closed the door behind him, glancing around as he took a seat opposite the desk.

  ‘Nice office,’ he smiled, ‘congratulations on the promotion by the way.’

  ‘Thanks,’ he grumbled, shaking out some pills into his hand and swallowing them down with a mouthful of cold coffee.

  ‘You okay?’

  ‘Headache,’ Jake pressed the heels of his hands into his eyes to block out some of the light. ‘Stupid telepathy, I’ve decided I don’t want it anymore. At first it was kinda cool you know, being one of the X-men, but the reality is, it sucks. It’s constant headaches, being woken up in the middle of the night and constantly being hounded by every random thought within a two mile radius.’

  ‘Is there anything I can do?’ Theo asked in concern.

  Jake shook his head miserably.

  ‘I was going to talk to Olivia about it but I didn’t want to put more on her at the moment, she’s got more than she can handle going on right now.’

  ‘If you’re in pain Jake, I know she’d want to know.’

  He shook his head, looking up at Theo with bleary eyes.

  ‘It’s okay, the pills help, I should have taken some earlier but I was caught up on a case.’

  ‘How long has this been going on?’ Theo asked worriedly.

  ‘It started after last February, you know when we cast the net over the lake and called the corners. It’s like, I don’t know, it flipped a switch in my brain. Roni says my gift was lying dormant and tapping into that vast amount of power shocked it awake. From that moment on it just kept getting stronger, which wasn’t a bad thing, although I learned some things about the residents of Mercy I’d really rather not know. I was slowly learning to control it; I almost had a handle on it, until about a month ago.’

  ‘A month ago?’

  ‘Yeah, I don’t know what to tell you Theo, it’s like someone threw a switch and amped up the volts. It’s so strong now I can’t tune it out. I don’t know what’s happening but I’m telling you something really weird is going on in Mercy,’ Jake frowned.

  ‘I think you’re right,’ Theo replied quietly, ‘we’re all feeling it. My dreams and premonitions are getting stronger and suddenly Mercy is flooded with spirits again and this time for some reason Olivia is able to see them.’

  ‘The gateway’s not been opened again has it?’ Jake asked in concern.

  ‘No,’ Theo shook his head, ‘at least Fiona says it hasn’t. She’s not sure what’s going on either, but from what I understand there’s a lot more creatures creeping into town too. Mercy has always drawn people with supernatural abilities but now it’s like it has become a hot bed of supernatural activity. It’s building up to something…something big.’

  ‘That’s what I was afraid of,’ Jake sighed. ‘I think we need to call another emergency meeting of our freaky little Scooby gang.’

  ‘That’s probably not a bad idea,’ Theo murmured. ‘There’s something else I need to tell you.’

  ‘What is it?’ Jake asked, sensing his friend’s unease.

  ‘I had a dream last night and it’s not the first time, but it’s the strongest it’s ever been.’

  ‘You think it was a premonition?’

  ‘I don’t know,’ he blew out a breath, raking his hand through his wet hair, pulling it back from his face to stop the water from dripping in his eyes. ‘God I really hope not. I’m hoping it’s just a paranoid nightmare caused by the stress, but…’

  ‘It doesn’t feel like a nightmare, does it?’

  Theo shook his head.

  ‘Why don’t you tell me what you saw?’

  ‘I saw Boothe’s Hollow,’ he looked up at his best friend in worry, ‘Nathaniel had Olivia and he was hurting her, he was…’ he drew in a tight breath as his mind was cast back to the moment he felt the agony of his unborn children boiling to death in their mother’s womb.

  ‘I think this conversation calls for a drink,’ Jake opened his desk drawer and moving some files aside. He pulled out a bottle of Johnnie Walker and a couple of glasses, filling them both and handing one to Theo.

  ‘Nathaniel was killing both her and the babies,’ he admitted slowly before downing the contents of the glass, ‘but more than that, my sister was there too. Temperance was bound to the remains of the tree; she’d been badly beaten and her throat was cut.’

  ‘Tammy?’

  ‘I had to choose between them,’ Theo shook his head. ‘I could only save one of them.’

  ‘Jesus,’ Jake breathed heavily as he took a swig of his whiskey, ‘hell of a choice.’

  ‘You want to know the worst part?’ Theo looked up at him, ‘it wasn’t a choice at all.’

  ‘You saved Olivia,’ Jake guessed.

  ‘It wasn’t even a conscious thought, it was instinct,’ Theo gripped his glass tighter, choking on another wave of guilt and disgust. ‘What sort of person does that make me; that I would sacrifice my sister, my own blood, without even thinking about it?’

  ‘It makes you human, Theo,’ he sighed. ‘I know you love your sister, but Olivia? She’s as necessary to you as oxygen. I don’t think any less of you for it and trust me Tammy wouldn’t either. She would understand.’

  ‘I don’t want her to understand,’ he replied quietly, ‘I don’t want her to even know, or Olivia.’

  ‘I won’t tell anyone,’ he promised, ‘but there is one person I think you should tell.’

  ‘Who?’

&nbs
p; ‘Mac,’ Jake told him pointedly. ‘If there is one person who is devoted to the safety and wellbeing of your sister, it’s him.’

  ‘Mac?’ Theo repeated. ‘What am I missing here?’

  ‘They have a history…a personal one,’ he answered quietly, ‘and one that’s not quite done. There’s still something there between them.’

  ‘Mac?’ Theo repeated again, ‘how did I miss that?’

  ‘It’s not just you,’ Jake told him, ‘I’m the only one who knows.’

  ‘He told you?’

  ‘Not exactly,’ Jake shrugged, ‘I work with the guy and I’ve got this…’ he tapped his head slowly, ‘going on. I pick up on things from time to time. I asked him about it, he’s not exactly being very forthcoming but he didn’t outright deny it. He’s in love with her, he always has been. He’d give his life for hers in a heartbeat.’

  ‘I had no idea.’

  ‘Still waters run deep and all that,’ he replied. ‘Look the point I’m making is, that even if it was a premonition, it’s not set in stone is it? It’s one possible outcome. If Olivia and Tammy do end up in Boothe’s Hollow, they are not going to be alone because we all have your back. It’s not about you choosing Theo, you don’t have to. Tell Mac, he’ll keep Tammy safe. leaving you free to take care of Olivia and the rest of us will protect all of you. We’re a team. A rather ragtag, beat up, weirdo motley crew of cops, murderers and misfits, but a team all the same.’

  ‘Thanks Jake,’ he blew out a breath, ‘I guess I didn’t realize how much I needed to hear that.’

  ‘No problem.’

  He picked up the bottle and slid it back into the drawer. Picking up some of his files to shove back in the drawer on top of it, one file slid free from the stack and fell onto the desk, opening up and spilling its contents.

  ‘What’s that?’ Theo frowned as he caught a glimpse of a crime scene photograph.

  ‘That’s the murder we had in town the other week,’ Jake scooped up the contents to put back into the file.

  ‘May I see it?’ Theo asked intently.

  ‘It’s pretty gruesome Theo,’ Jake frowned.

  ‘Just show me the picture Jake,’ Theo held out his hand.

  Shrugging, he handed it over, watching as Theo studied the photograph in concern.

  ‘Are there more?’

  ‘That’s pretty nasty Theo,’ he frowned. ‘I’m not here to amuse you with gory photographs of crime scenes.’

  ‘Not pictures Jake,’ he snapped, ‘murders? Was this the only one or have there been more?’

  ‘There was another one, just out of town, M.O matched this vic,’ he replied in confusion. ‘How’d you know?’

  ‘Because I’ve seen this before,’ Theo looked up from the picture, his dark eyes locking on Jake’s.

  ‘What? When? Where?’

  ‘In Salem Woods, 1695 the night Olivia and I saved Hester and Bridget West,’ Theo replied slowly. ‘Nathaniel tried to break free of the prison of flesh Isabel had stitched him into with powerful blood magic. The only thing potent enough to free him was a human soul. I watched him rip open Abigail West’s chest and tear out her soul.’

  ‘What?’ Jake whispered as the blood drained from his face.

  ‘By the time he’d finished with her, she looked just like this,’ he lay the picture down in front of Jake. ‘If I’m right, we have an even bigger problem because it means Nathaniel is feeding on human souls…’

  19.

  Nathaniel looked up, shading his eyes from the harsh glare of the desert sun. Circling high above a Red-Tailed Hawk screeched loudly, the sound echoing in the vast emptiness. He loosened his collar, ignoring the waves of heat. After all, heat didn’t bother him; he’d spent centuries in Hell, this was like a Sunday afternoon barbecue.

  He glanced around, wondering where Sabine and Saffire were. He looked down, his foot scuffing the hardened dried out ground. It was a dusty red color, cracked like an old oil painting. Looking back up, his eyes narrowing against the bright light, all he could see were dunes and salt flats stretched out for miles. In the distance he could vaguely make out mountains, but mostly it was just dried out lake beds.

  ‘Inhospitable place isn’t it?’

  Nathaniel turned and glared at the two tall, almost identical red-haired women, who’d suddenly appeared behind him.

  ‘I don’t like to be kept waiting,’ his voice broke the silence.

  Saffire shrugged, a half smile playing at her lips.

  ‘And I don’t like to be ordered around like a common foot soldier, so I guess that makes us even.’

  ‘You’re as insubordinate and stubborn as your sister,’ he grumbled.

  ‘Thank you,’ she replied.

  Nathaniel huffed out a breath. He wouldn’t have tolerated such disrespect from anyone else but the two sisters, as annoying as they were, were both incredibly loyal and incredibly talented. Talents he would need in the coming days.

  ‘Where are we anyway?’ he asked finally.

  ‘The Mojave desert,’ Sabine answered in amusement. ‘The humans call it ‘the Devil’s playground’.’

  ‘And we’re here because?’

  ‘We’re meeting someone,’ Saffire shrugged, ‘come on, we’re already late.’

  The two sisters took each other’s hands, turning away from Nathaniel and concentrating on the dusty desert floor in front of them. Sabine raised her hand slowly and strange spidery symbols began to appear. Blackened and charred they smoked slightly as if they were being burned into the hardened ground. After a moment Saffire raised her hand and more symbols began to materialize, some small, some large and all incredibly complex. Lines ran from symbol to symbol, crisscrossing and intersecting until it formed a massive complex circular chart across the ground, like a star chart of pagan symbols and ancient sigils.

  The three of them stepped across the boundary and into the circle, which pulsed and rippled as if they had stepped into a shallow pool. The harsh glare of the midday sun suddenly dimmed, making the world appear in shades of gray overlaid with a strange bluish cast. Even the hot arid desert air had cooled.

  Nathaniel glanced around; although their surroundings had not changed, it was obvious they had crossed over into the Otherworld, into a place between worlds. Although several manifestations of the Otherworld had been lost to the Void when he himself had destroyed four of the ancient crossroads, the Otherworld as a whole was vast and millions of pockets of it, such as this one, still remained.

  It was an in-between place, so vast and diverse it was nearly impossible to track anyone through it. This world of perpetual twilight was, in fact, the perfect hiding place. He stepped out of the circle, followed by the two sisters, the three of them moving silently away from the portal and deeper into the Spirit world. A Raven glided across the gray sky on silent, inky black wings, its desolate cry, when it finally opened its beak, an eerily hollow sound. Nathaniel watched dispassionately as it swept away in the cloudless sky up and over a strange domed structure.

  It had a strangely Turkish feel to it, as if the design had been borrowed from the Ottoman Empire, but what would have been bright colors of rich gold and blue in the real world were now muted with the cool gray blue palette of the Otherworld.

  They approached slowly, taking in the huge circular building. It didn’t have any walls, only columns which supported a huge domed roof. The floor as they stepped inside was ceramic, a busy interlocking pattern of gold, blue and green. In the center of the floor stood what could only be described as a throne, a huge black basalt monstrosity flanked either side by tall burning braziers which emitted a sweet sickly scent.

  Lounging indolently on the throne was a man with shiny jet black hair, so shiny it had a bluish sheen to it. His eyes, as he watched Nathaniel and the two sisters’ approach, were a pale icy blue. He wore a dark shirt with the first several buttons casually undone and dark pants, but what really caught the eye and demanded attention were the two hug
e feathery wings protruding from his shoulder blades. They must have easily spanned several feet in length when fully extended; as jet black as his hair they shimmered, looking smooth and impossibly soft and inviting.

  Beside him standing at the right hand side of his chair was another being, this one dressed much the same way, though his hair was a lighter golden brown, as were his eyes and his wings, which cascaded down his back, the tips brushing the ground lightly, were a creamy light beige and warm chocolate brown.

  Nathaniel stepped closer, glancing up at the interior of the dome which was heavily inlaid with gold.

  ‘A little ostentatious even for you Ash,’ his brow rose insultingly.

  ‘You think so?’ the man on the throne answered easily, ‘but there again, your kind are used to crawling around in filth and squalor aren’t you?’

  ‘What do you want demon?’ the man at his shoulder hissed.

  ‘Cyrus, be polite,’ Ash reprimanded him, although his tone was soft his gaze was as hard as steel. ‘Give him the chance to explain why he has again broken the terms of our association.’

  ‘I have information for you,’ Nathaniel began, ‘but first I want something from you.’

  ‘Carrion,’ Cyrus spat in disgust, ‘you don’t get to demand anything.’

  ‘Cyrus,’ Ash warned in a low voice, ‘we will never get to the bottom of this mess if you keep interrupting.’

  Cyrus’ eyes flashed dangerously at Nathaniel but he managed to keep his mouth shut.

  ‘Better,’ Ash smiled slowly, ‘now Nathaniel I think you’d better explain yourself a little better before my associate here loses his composure and drags you straight back down to Hell where you belong.’

  ‘Like I said I want something from you first.’

  ‘Nathaniel, Nathaniel,’ Ash tutted shaking his head, ‘you still have the negotiating skills of a lump hammer I see. What makes you think I will do anything at all for you, especially after last time? Not only did I hand you the locations of all five crossroads, but I gave you access directly to the very heart of Epsilon. You owe me…or have you forgotten?’

  ‘I’ve forgotten nothing,’ Nathaniel replied evenly, ‘I have information for you which will directly repay the debt owed to you and then more information in return for a small favor.’