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

by Wendy Saunders

  His eyes dipped hungrily to the book she held in her hands.

  ‘You lie,’ he hissed, ‘you are deceiving me; you never would have brought Infernum to me.’

  ‘Are you willing to risk it Castor?’ she held up the book and his eyes followed it, like a dog being teased with a treat. ‘What if it really is the Hell book? Is it not worth one life that means nothing to you anyway? Give me the woman and I’ll give you the book.’

  Growling Nathaniel reached down and grabbed Temperance, hauling her to her feet while keeping a tight grip on her upper arm.

  ‘Give me the book,’ he held out his hand.

  ‘Give me the woman,’ she countered.

  He thrust Tammy toward Olivia as she tossed the book at him.

  ‘Olivia!’ Tammy stumbled into her.

  ‘Tempy you have to run,’ Olivia glanced across to Nathaniel whose eyes were burning as he held the book; she knew she only had seconds before he discovered she’d played him.

  ‘I’m not leaving you,’ Tammy shook her head, her voice slurred due to her swollen mouth and broken teeth.

  ‘You have to,’ Olivia hissed. ‘Listen to me, find Theo and tell him where I am.’

  ‘I can’t,’ she shook her head.

  ‘You have to, there’s no time,’ she grabbed Tammy and shoved her toward the edge of the circle. ‘RUN!’

  Temperance took one last look at her. Torn at the thought of leaving her but knowing they needed help she disappeared into the trees.

  Olivia watched as Nathaniel tore the scarf from the book and bellowed in rage, tossing the book across the clearing. ‘You think you can trick me with a pathetic book of spells!’ he thundered. ‘I will have the location of Infernum from you if I have to tear open your skull with my fingers and rip it out.’

  Olivia backed up raising her hands, she pulled them apart waiting for her bow to burst into flames but nothing happened. She tried again and nothing, she could feel her magic rippling just below the surface but she couldn’t get to it. She looked up to her dragonflies but even as their wings buzzed above her the multicolored flames seemed to drip to the ground like splotches of paint. She watched, her heart pounding in her chest and her mouth dry as her dragonflies melted and dropped to the ground.

  ‘What’s the matter Olivia?’ he asked coldly, ‘something wrong with your magic?’

  Even as she breathed she felt it, the sickness spreading through the ground beneath her feet like poison. She was standing in the middle of a dead zone; she couldn’t use her magic as long as she remained within its confines. She turned to run but before she could reach the edge of the circle she felt his hands grab her roughly, her skin crawling in disgust as he pinned her to him, his hand gripping her belly.

  ‘Say goodbye to your children Olivia,’ he whispered in her ear.

  The pain when it tore through her was like nothing she’d ever felt before. White hot, burning agony lanced through her abdomen. She felt her children's pain as they writhed inside her, unable to escape the heat. She screamed and suddenly she was falling, vaguely aware that someone had crashed into them, breaking Nathaniel’s hold her on. She threw her hands out as she went down, feeling the jolt in the heels of her palms as she hit the ground and rolled to the side, trying to stop her weight from pressing down on her belly. Her hands stung, where the harsh ground had torn through the tender flesh of her palms. Breathing heavily she looked up and saw her mother hit the ground in a tangle of limbs, catching Nathaniel off guard and taking him with her. Olivia lay stunned, trying to breathe through the pain in her abdomen; everything around her seemed so distant and had a strange tin like quality to it. Her eyes fell on something in front of her, something white fanning in the breeze. She blinked, the object slowly coming into focus.

  It was Hester’s Grimoire, the pages flipped open where it had fallen on the ground. She blinked again, certain she’d just seen something strange. Instead of the strange swirling spidery letters, the blank pages flickered. At first she’d though she’d imagined it but it came again, a familiar warm flicker of red and gold. It danced along the edges and rolled across the pages. The book was crawling with flames and they were calling to her, beckoning…the whisper began once again only this time it wasn’t in her mind, but right in front of her. Sucking in a deep and painful breath she dragged herself along the frozen ground, her fingers outstretched…

  Theo ran flat out, barely registering his surroundings or the faint tinge of burning in the air, nor the fact the sky in the distance was beginning to glow a sooty orange with huge plumes of smoke rising into the air. He was vaguely aware of Mac keeping pace with him but all he could focus on was getting to the Hollow, to Olivia and to his sister.

  ‘Theo!’ Mac panted as he slowed, ‘Theo, can you smell that?’

  Theo skidded to a halt; now that he had stopped the smell of burning was much stronger.

  ‘The woods are on fire!’ Mac breathed heavily.

  ‘Can you tell which direction it’s coming from?’ Theo turned in a circle, ‘is it coming from the Hollow?’

  ‘I can’t tell from here,’ he shook his head.

  ‘It won’t make a difference to you,’ a new voice intruded, ‘because you’ll soon be dead, just like your dear brother.’

  Theo looked up at the man standing opposite him, a long thin scar running through his empty eye socket.

  ‘Zachary,’ Theo growled.

  ‘I’m so pleased you recognize me,’ he smiled coldly, ‘after all, this time around I’m not wearing a disgusting pig suit of human flesh.’

  ‘I can’t say it’s an improvement,’ Theo replied.

  ‘Theo?’ Mac drew his gun.

  ‘I’ve got this Mac,’ he answered, ‘get to the Hollow.’

  Casting a quick look at both men, he nodded to Theo and took off into the trees.

  ‘I’ve waited a long time for this,’ Zachary replied, pulling a long curved sword from an ornate lacquered scabbard in his hand. Discarding the sheath he turned the blade over in his hand, staring at it in pride, ‘beautiful isn’t it? A 14th century Katana. I took it from a Samurai who, according to legend, used it to kill an ancient and powerful witch. It is said her evil spirit lives in this very blade,’ Zachary looked up at Theo, his one remaining eye glittering maliciously. ‘I consider it rather fitting, considering I’m going to kill your wife with it.’

  ‘I don’t think so,’ Theo replied coolly. He felt the cool liquid metal running down his arm and as he closed his fist it wrapped around the familiar hilt of his blade, only instead of the wicked curved hunting knife Olivia had originally given him, it was now the full length broadsword Hades had changed it to, at the Crossroad. He adapted his stance and raised his weapon. The hilt warmed and melded to his grip, the black blade glowed in the dim light, the elegant ancient script etched into the blade glowing with purple Witch fire, silver Spirit fire, gold Earth fire and the cool blue black of Hell fire.

  ‘It’s not quite as impressive as mine,’ Theo smiled slowly.

  Although he’d never really lifted such a massive broadsword before, nor had he had any formal training, back in the tunnel leading to the Crossroad he’d barely had to do anything of any notable skill level. The tunnel had been so crammed with demons, all he’d had to do was swing it and he was bound to hit something.

  This was different; this was one on one, the settling of a debt. Zachary had taken his brother’s life and now he was going to pay for it. Theo drew in a deep breath and as he did so, he felt a strange calmness descend upon him, as if all the knowledge and skill he needed was already there, deep inside him and suddenly he understood. This was Hades’ gift to him, not the sword; he’d given him the deep seated skill and ability to protect Olivia.

  Swinging the sword comfortably he smiled at Zachary.

  ‘Whenever you’re ready to die,’ he told him slowly, ‘I’m ready to oblige you.’

  Zachary’s lips peeled back in an angry snarl as he leapt toward
Theo. His downward blow met Theo’s upraised blade with a clang of metal, which reverberated through the still wood. Zachary fought with a single minded steely determination; centuries of conflict had honed his skill and his thirst for death. If he was surprised at Theo’s skill with the blade he didn’t show it. They fought in ever evolving circles, each trying to lure the other into overextending or making some small tiny error with would give an advantage.

  The woods began to fill with the acrid stench of smoke, and the air filled with smog. It wouldn’t have been a problem if Zachary hadn’t already been fighting at the disadvantage of having already lost one eye.

  The opening when it came was such a small thing. Zachary misjudged his thrust, overextended and placed too much weight on one foot. Theo spun, knocking the Katana to the ground and plunging his sword into Zachary’s chest. He dropped to his knees looking at the blade protruding from his chest. He looked up at Theo, his mouth falling open, a thin line of bloody drool hanging from his lip.

  ‘That was for Logan,’ Theo whispered, as he pulled out the blade with a steely hiss, ‘and this… is for me…’

  He swung the huge sword easily in an overhead arc and as he brought the blade down he sliced his head clean off, sending it rolling into the trees. Zachary’s body slumped to the ground and began to harden; curling in on himself his remains solidified, turning to stone.

  Grabbing Zachary’s sword from the ground Theo slotted it back into its sheath and taking one last look at the curled up rock on the dirty ground he disappeared into the trees.

  Mac ran through the woods gun drawn, his only thought, get to the Hollow; get to Tammy. He was vaguely aware that the woods were filling with smoke but he didn’t stop.

  He was so fixated on the path ahead of him he didn’t see the dark figure come barreling out of the woods, until it took him out. He hit the ground, knocking the breath from him and losing his gun somewhere on the ground. He rolled to his feet his eyes locking on the dark figure in front of him, watching slowly as the figure removed his ski mask.

  ‘Simon,’ Mac growled.

  ‘Mac,’ he replied with a cold smile, ‘this is fortuitous. Here I was, just out here looking for our little Olivia and I happen across you, all alone.’

  He raised his own gun.

  ‘At least this saves me ordering another hit on you,’ he replied in amusement. ‘You have no idea how much trouble you caused me when you turned on us.’

  ‘I’m having a hard time feeling bad about that,’ Mac answered, his eyes flicking to the gun.

  ‘Well I’m not really one for monologuing so I’ll just say, don’t worry about Olivia; we’ll take good care of her and her babies.’

  ‘The hell you will,’ Mac growled, ‘you’ll not get anywhere near her.’

  ‘Maybe, maybe not,’ he smiled, ‘but it won’t be you stopping me, will it?’

  ‘Simon…’

  ‘Goodbye Macallister.’

  The shot rang out loudly. Mac glanced down at his chest, his brow furrowing in confusion, for a second he wasn’t quite sure what had happened. He looked back at Simon who was staring at him blankly, blood suddenly pouring from his mouth as he collapsed to the ground. As he fell Mac’s eyes locked on Tammy who was standing behind him, holding his gun. Her hand trembled as she stared at the corpse on the ground, horrified at what she had just done.

  ‘Tammy,’ Mac whispered approaching her slowly.

  Wearing only a thin blouse and pants, he could see that the material was saturated with her blood. Cruel metal looking screws were bolted into her left forearm, upper arm and shoulder, causing it to hang limp and useless at her side. Her face was swollen and bruised. Her mouth was puffy and her lip split, one eye was almost swollen shut.

  ‘Tammy,’ he whispered softly, ‘give me the gun.’

  Her eyes were fixed on the dead man as he slipped his gun from her right hand, holstering it at his side as he pulled his coat off and wrapped it carefully around her.

  ‘I killed him,’ she murmured numbly.

  ‘It’s okay sweetheart,’ he told her gently, ‘it was my gun; we’ll just tell them I did it.’

  ‘It’s not okay,’ she shook her head; ‘it’ll never be okay.’

  They both looked up as Theo sprinted through the trees toward them.

  ‘Temperance!’ he called out as he ran to her, wrapping her up in his arms and causing her to scream in pain.

  The jacket had concealed the worst of her injuries.

  ‘Tempy,’ Theo’s face creased in concern, ‘what did he do to you?’

  ‘It doesn’t matter now,’ she sucked in a painful breath, ‘you have to get to Olivia.’

  ‘Where is she?’ his expression hardened.

  ‘At the Hollow,’ she breathed quickly. ‘Theo, she’s with Nathaniel.’

  ‘Take this,’ he thrust Zachary’s sword at Mac, ‘do not leave Tempy, no matter what!’

  He didn’t wait for an answer but took off once again through the trees, heading toward Boothe’s Hollow and praying he wasn’t too late.

  29.

  Olivia crawled across the cold hard ground, inching painfully forward. Her vision narrowed and all she could see was the book, its flickering pages dancing with flames. She didn’t see her mother and Nathaniel wrestling across the ground, nor did she see Nathaniel’s eyes lock onto her, then to the book. His eyes widened in chagrin at the sudden realization of what he’d held in his hands and what he’d discarded so easily. He threw Isabel off him, stumbling to his feet his hand outstretched toward the book.

  Olivia’s hand stroked across the page and she felt the warmth spread up her arm and across her body. The pain disappeared and her vision cleared as she felt the power and magic wrap around her womb, protecting her children and soothing them. The pages felt soft, like liquid, as she pressed her hand into it more firmly and watched her fingers disappear.

  Nathaniel stumbled toward her. She looked up into his white eyes and snarling face as he tried to grab for the book. Suddenly a small golden ball of fur shot out of the woods, darting across the Hollow and leaping on Nathaniel. Growling loudly, Beau locked his jaws onto Nathaniel’s wrist and yanked his hand away from the book.

  Nathaniel grabbed the small dog and threw him across the clearing, not even noticing when he hit the ground hard with a yelp of pain and a crunch of bones. He tried for the book again but this time Isabel grabbed him, tackling him to the ground.

  Olivia thrust her hands into the pages and felt her fingers close around something solid. She tugged at it, lifting it from the strange liquid pages of the Grimoire. When she looked down she was holding a book of pure fire. Its cover was alive with flames but they didn’t burn, she could hear it whispering to her now, so loud.

  ‘NO!!!’ Nathaniel growled again reaching for the book but Isabel held on tight.

  Olivia’s heart pounded as she listened to it talking to her. The book flared in her hands, burning brightly as she gripped the edges and opened the book. A light burst from the pages, bathing her face and she smiled.

  She looked up at Nathaniel and her mother, lifting the book in her hands. They both watched in horror as the flames dimmed and banked. The pages began to blacken and curl, crackling as they dried out, until nothing was left but ash which tumbled to the ground from her fingertips.

  ‘NO!!!!!!!’ Nathaniel screamed. In an attempt to free himself from Isabel’s death like grip and reach the remains of the book, he grabbed Isabel and twisted her neck in a sickening crack which reverberated through the sudden stillness of Hollow.

  Tommy and Jake came charging into the clearing with Herne and Diana. Exhausted, wounded and splattered with blood they watched wide eyed as Theo crashed through the tree line and into the Hollow, followed closely by Tammy and Mac.

  Olivia didn’t even notice them, her eyes were locked on her mother as the life left her eyes and she dropped in slow motion, crumpled and lifeless to the hard unforgiving ground.

&nbs
p; For a second everything stopped; frozen in that one second of time all Olivia could hear was her own heartbeat.

  Her mother was dead, really dead and Nathaniel had killed her.

  Everything roared back into color, bright and painful and loud. She threw her head back and screamed so loudly it could be heard for miles. She speared her hands up to the sky as they burst into flames. The flames licked down her arms, down her body, consuming her until she existed as a creature of ash and fire. She could feel the power, the vast ancient power of Infernum; no longer separate it lived inside her, all the knowledge and magic of all the Hell dimensions, hers alone.

  She felt the ancient fires burning inside her, the heat and light of Earth fire, the cool agelessness of Spirit fire, the vast and inescapable power of Hell fire and the deep and ancient magic of Witch fire. There was only one left for her to master. She reached out no longer afraid, across the earth, deep down into Hell, deep into the pit where she found the most ancient and volatile fire of all, Demon fire. She grabbed onto it with both hands, felt the heady whip and power of it.

  The gateway across the lake burst open in an explosion of green fire and black shadows. Creatures and damned souls came pouring out, clawing their way across the freezing water, to land, to the face of the Earth which had lain undisturbed for thousands of years. Now it was theirs. The sky boiled with dark bruised clouds of purple, green and black.

  Olivia reveled in the power, her anger and fury bubbling over. All the pain came rushing out, she couldn’t focus. The second she embraced the power it consumed her, amplifying every emotion until it overrode every rational thought, she could only feel pain and anger and loss.

  Theo looked up at his wife in horror. She had grown to almost twice her height; her skin was translucent and made up entirely of flames. He was losing her, she was giving in to the fire, and it was consuming her.

  ‘Olivia,’ he shouted, heading toward her.