Guardian

by S.B. Rodgers

  Chapter 38

  Several days had passed since that stormy night, and Abby had finally settled into her new home. Aiden had surprised her with an early-morning announcement on Wednesday, pulling her from her temporary bed in the library and taking her to a wing of the house she had never seen before.

  With Fern, Gabe and Elijah, he had shown her to her brand new room. He had stayed up half the night painting and decorating the room to lavish perfection—it looked like a princess’ bedroom, and with Gabe and Fern’s urging, she had happily moved in.

  It was now Thursday, and she was finally heading back to school. The site of much of her pain and frustration. The place where she had been alone for so long, but this time she was not alone. She walked into the school, the hallways already buzzing with activity, surrounded on either side by her friends. She walked hand in hand with Gabe. The past was gone, and their bond was closer than ever now.

  Gabe squeezed her hand gently as they came to a stop in front of her locker. “English first today,” he glanced at Fern and Elijah “Why don’t you two go check in at the office? Transfer students have to fill out a lot of paperwork, in my experience.”

  Fern grinned “Alright, we can take a hint; we’ll leave the two lovebirds alone for now!”

  Gabe’s glare slid right off her as she turned and sauntered away, pulling Eli along with her. “I can’t believe her, my own niece talking to me like that…”

  “Wait, your niece? I thought Fern was your cousin.”

  “Well, no. Technically, she’s my niece—Aiden’s not so much my ‘uncle’ as he is my ‘brother-in-law’, but because of the age gap, it’s easier to just call him my uncle. I avoid more long-winded explanations that way.” He laughed.

  “Geez, families really are complicated.” Abby murmured. She didn’t have anything like cousins or uncles. As far as she knew, her parents had been her only family. Of course, she thought, people don’t just pop out of nowhere…

  Gabe noticed her troubled expression and changed the subject. “Hey, Abby, we ought to get going. The bell’s gonna ring any second now—“ As if waiting for his signal the first bell rang, starting the slow shuffle of students towards classrooms.

  Abby grabbed her Hamlet text and notebook, shutting her locker firmly. “Alright, let’s go.” She said, walking as close to him as she could on the way to English. Her pretext, if anyone asked, was that the halls were crowded and she didn’t want to get separated. No one asked, however, not even Gabe, who just held her hand reassuringly, letting her lean on him.

  * * *

  Elijah manoeuvred his way around the throngs of students. Fern was filling out their forms in the office, leaving it up to him to scope out any dangers in the school. Having met Fern’s mother and grandmother, he worried about himself—her grandmother seemed alright, rather sweet actually, but Farrah…Farrah terrified him. If Fern turned out like her—no, no, that was impossible. Not his Fern. Never.

  He was so fixated on this train of thought and memorizing the layout of the school that he didn’t notice the queue of curious students forming behind him, quietly following him as he shifted from place to place.

  One of them finally spoke up, startling him. “You new?”

  Elijah whipped around, only to be met with two identical haughty smirks. He recognized them with distaste, which he tried to keep from showing on his face. Gabe had told him about the twins. Abby’s former stepbrothers, who had helped the demon ruin her life. “Ah…yeah.” He said flatly, not completely trusting his voice not to betray his disgust.

  The boy extended his hand. “Tyler Keller. Saw you come in with Gabe and that cute blonde chick. She your girlfriend?” He didn’t mention Abby, didn’t act like she even existed, much less cohabited with him.

  Elijah stared at the group of adolescents, icy blue eyes emotionless. These mean little children…he didn’t want anything to do with them. Just thinking about talking to them after what they had done to a nice kid like Abby made his skin crawl. Tyler’s hand hung in space, waiting to be shook.

  Fern came into view, appearing from around a corner, a few papers in her hand. “Eli!” She hurried up to him, beaming excitedly. “Guess what? I got our schedules, and we’re in Abby and Gabe’s English class! Isn’t that exciting?!”

  Her hand wrapped around his tight fist, tugging him forward gently “Come on, baby. Abby’s waiting for us.” She lead him away down the hall, leaving Tyler and his group standing there dumbfounded. Tyler stared after them, pulling his hand into a fist and lowering it slowly.

  Fern pointed out a large poster on the wall as they entered a stairwell. “Oh, that looks like fun!” She stopped in front of it reading intently “Christmas Snow Ball, huh? We should go, Eli! We should all go, Abby and Gabe too!”

  Elijah smiled silently at his enthusiastic fiancée. She calmed him down every time, took away the negative emotions like they were never there. He couldn’t help himself. He pulled her into a tight hug from behind. “I love you. So. Much.”

  She relaxed against him, looking up at him with her big blue eyes. “Same here.” She smirked. “But we’re going to be seriously late for class. So come on, or I’ll sic my mum on you.”

  * * *

  It was going to be okay. She breathed in deeply, exhaled slowly through her mouth. Her hand reached out for the door, then stopped as she hesitated, resolve wavering. Gabe grabbed her hand, speaking softly into her ear. “I’m with you, it’ll be fine.” She nodded, pushing open the door and stepping into the cafeteria for the first time in a year.

  She glanced around the large room; no one really looked at her, focused on their own food and conversations. She spotted Fern and Elijah, already seated with their trays in front of them. Fern waved her over, giving her a friendly smile as she approached. “Took you long enough! We got the best seats in the house from what I’ve heard.” She patted the table softly “Pull up a chair, Abby!”

  Abby grinned happily—it had been such a long time since she had been in here, and she knew that the table Fern had taken over was the “popular” table. She used to sit there, next to Raph and her stepbrothers, but, thinking back, this felt so much better. So much more real. So right.

  Gabe walked ahead of her, pulling the chair out for her. “Your seat, miss.” He announced, his charming smile warming Abby from the inside out. She sat down, thanking Gabe as she did. She breathed in deeply again—the scars in her heart were slowly closing over with every little thing Gabe did. The feelings she had pushed away so violently a few weeks ago, the feelings she had chalked up to infatuation and her own stupidity had re-emerged, growing with each passing moment. She could no longer deny it. She loved Gabriel Ward, and there was nothing she could do about it. She wouldn’t tell him, though. Experience was a harsh teacher, and she wasn’t willing to put her heart on the line just yet.

  Chapter 39

  Lucifer sat on his throne, looking down at the group of men and women standing before him. He had gathered his Generals and the most notorious Thieves and Hunters together in one place, for one reason. He heard Draven shift slightly beside him, standing at his usual place but looking somewhat deflated.

  And rightly so, he thought. It was his child, that pale-eyed bastard who had botched his plans, ruined it all with his clumsiness. His spies on earth had just handed him information on what had happened in Fong’s restaurant, and that the archangel had seen it all. The girl was bound to have more protection than ever. Mammon would pay for that, Lucifer seethed. This he would make certain of.

  He swallowed his rage, presenting a cool, confident front. Lucifer caught Draven’s eye, who nodded back at him. Draven cleared his throat, any chatter in the room fading instantly. “I trust you all know why you have been gathered.” He stated, eyes roving the assembled faces. “You are the best in your fields, the best that Hell has to offer. His Majesty only requires the best of you for this mission. The Hunter Mammon has betrayed us, derailing the plans we have set in motion
. He must be punished for his crimes.”

  He coughed, his voice faltering a bit. Lucifer smirked—he felt no sympathy for Draven. His son’s failure was his failure. Indeed, he was lucky that Lucifer hadn’t made him pay for this with his own life.

  Draven continued giving the most difficult orders he would ever have to. “Mammon is to be brought back alive. His dogs are to be disposed of, in whatever fashion you please. The ones to do this will be well rewarded and stand in the king’s favour.”

  Draven glanced down at Lucifer, who nodded. Draven took a step back, and all eyes turned to their sovereign. “To continue with the mission itself, I will need a team of you to—“

  The ornate double doors at the far end of the room burst open with a violent explosion of orange light. The assembled fell back, wincing at the sudden brightness. Lucifer raised his eyebrows in surprise; he had not been expecting this, certainly not in the middle of one of his rare speeches.

  Black, undulating runes preceded her into the hall, her pale gold hair standing on end behind her and crackling in the black and orange charged atmosphere. Her eyes were no longer their alluring hazel—they glowed a persistent, bloody red. She was still beautiful, the most beautiful woman Lucifer had ever seen. But now she was more creature, more beast than woman. She stood in the still-foggy doorway, breath huffing unevenly as she stared straight at him. Her face was swollen, her eyes and nose red, her skin paper-white under the twisting tattoos.

  She stumbled forward, picking up speed with each jerky forward motion. A few of the assembled demons reached out to stop her, to grab her and protect Lucifer. Without even looking at the hands that reached for her, runes shot out, twirling around the men and hoisting them high into the air, slamming them against the vaulted ceiling and dropping them carelessly.

  The remaining demons looked to Lucifer, who silently held up a hand. He was thoroughly impressed. He had always known that Aria was powerful, there was no questioning that. Draven would accept nothing less than volcanic power in his mate, but he had never seen her use quite this much.

  “Magnificent,” Lucifer whispered, a smile tugging at his lips. Her emotions brought out another facet of her power, sending her into overdrive. He would have to remember this. That power could be useful in the future, and he knew how to fuel that fire, now.

  She stood in front of the platform, staring up at him with crazed red eyes. Lucifer stared her down, watching as her rage melted in her fear of him. She shed her power abruptly, casting it off like a skin and reducing her to a begging, pleading mother, crying out for mercy for her only son. Lucifer stared at her impassively, eyes cold if not slightly amused.

  It was pathetic, really. Aria was so powerful, capable of so much chaos, but so meek and easily humbled. She whimpered at his feet, screaming for her son’s life, insisting that he be given another chance.

  Lucifer could sense Draven’s agitation as the agony rose within him. His Head General stepped forward, rushing down the steps to his wife’s side and pulling her bodily to her feet. “Enough, woman!” He shouted in her face, holding her up by her wrists. “You’re making things worse; just accept it—“

  Aria stopped crying, her eyes flaring red, the black runes crawling across her face as her pain and rage took over. “Do something, you insufferable coward!” she spat venomously at her husband, clawing the hands that dangled above her head in his grasp. “He’s your son…DO SOMETHING!!”

  Draven released her, giving her a look of pitying disgust. Lucifer could hardly contain his laughter; this was more entertaining than he could have ever imagined. Aria’s hand slashed out, slapping Draven across the face, hard, the sound echoing loudly throughout the throne room.

  Her nails curved, scratching across his cheek, leaving shallow bloody gouges. “Coward.” She hissed, storming from the hall, past the crowd of startled onlookers. Draven held a hand up to his torn flesh, staring after his wife with the gaze of a broken man.

  Lucifer inhaled, eyes roving the crowd again. “Now that that little…tantrum is over, let’s get back to the plan.”

  Chapter 40

  The activity in the house was overwhelming to Abby. Her father’s house had always been more subdued, and even when Kiki had been hosting galas, no one had bothered with her.

  She entered the foyer with Gabe. Fern and Elijah walked a few steps ahead of them, in deep conversation with one another. Fern was talking excitedly about dresses and tuxes and what colours they should wear to the ball…It was less than soothing to Abby’s ears. The last time she had picked out a dress was that time with Raph, and she knew how well that had turned out—she shook her head. Thinking about it wasn’t going to do any good.

  Elijah and Fern stopped in their tracks as they approached the kitchen. Gabe hurried up to them, looking over their shoulders. “What’s the holdup?” then, in delighted awe, he and Elijah gasped one word at the same time. “Whoa.” They moved into the room as if entranced, looking around in wonder.

  Abby stepped in behind them, thinking that she had to be in the wrong house. Instead of the acrid smell of burning food that usually filled the air, there was the warm, heady scent of vanilla. There were no piles of dirty, blackened dishes and no smoke fogging up the kitchen. Instead, the room was cleaner than she had ever seen it in the days she had been living there. The burnt stove had been scrubbed to within an inch of its life, and now gleamed dully in the weak afternoon sunlight.

  The counter, too, was sparkling clean, the polished granite reflecting back the platters upon platters of food that covered the island’s surface. There was everything from fruits and vegetable trays to little finger sandwiches and several different desserts.

  Serena hummed a cheerful tune as she pulled a batch of perfect-looking chocolate chip cookies out of the oven, while Farrah stood over the island’s double-sink, peeling potatoes into a large pot of water. “Is your mom throwing a dinner party?” Abby whispered to Gabe, who was still looking around the room in glee.

  Serena chuckled. “Not at all, dear! I just thought you kids might be hungry after school and could use a little snack.” Gabe gave a strangled cough, nearly choking on his laughter. Abby looked at the counter full of food. Little snack?

  “Well, it all looks so amazing, Nana. Thank you!” Fern said, hugging her grandmother after she had placed the hot pan of cookies on a rack to cool.

  “What are those?” Abby asked, pointing at the tray of cupcakes that were iced white with piped pink letters that, altogether, spelled out “Welcome Home Abby.”

  “Those are your celebration cupcakes, of course, dear.” Serena said, coming around the island to pull Abby into an oven-mitted hug. “Oh! I’m sorry!” She said as she pulled back suddenly, trying to dust the flour off of Abby’s dark blue uniform that had transferred from her apron.

  “Don’t worry about it.” Abby smiled, patting herself down quickly and sitting down on one of the high wooden stools. Gabe sat down next to her, as did Elijah on her other side.

  Fern started talking about the ball again, telling her mother and grandmother all about it, down to the shoes she thought might look best. “It’s Saturday night!” was her grinning response to Farrah’s question about the date and time. Serena and Farrah exchanged a look as Fern launched into talk about hair.

  Gabe turned to Abby. “So, are you excited about the ball?”

  Abby set down the strawberry that had been halfway to her mouth. “Should I be?”

  Gabe rested his head on his hand, leaning against the granite countertop. “Well, I just wanted to know what my date is planning to wear?” He reached over, plucking the “A” cupcake from the tray and placing it in front of Abby. She looked at him in astonishment. “So what colour are you thinking, because we have to co-ordinate.”

  Abby stared at him for a moment before finding her voice. “A-are you asking me to the ball?”

  “Why would I want to go with anyone else?” he said, grinning.

  Abby tried to calm her r
apidly beating heart, and picked up the cupcake, taking a bite to stall for time to think it over. She swallowed the sweet morsel almost immediately. It didn’t need thinking over. “I’ll go with you on one condition.” She said, trying to sound stern.

  “Anything.”

  “You can’t wear a pink tux.”

  Gabe burst out laughing. “As you wish.” He finally said, grabbing another cupcake from the tray and tapping it against the one she still held in her hand. “No pink tuxes, I promise.”

  * * *

  Gabe walked Abby through the foyer; they were planning to study together in the library to catch up on the missed days of course work. Gabriel Sr. entered from the living room, gesturing to Gabe. “Junior, can I have a moment of your time?”

  Gabe looked from his father to Abby. “Go ahead, I’ll be right there.” She nodded, walking around the corner.

  Gabe turned back to his father, who spoke as soon as Abby was out of sight. “What’s this I hear about a ball?” he asked, giving his son a stern look. “Your mother was so excited about shopping for it that I could hardly get a word in edgewise, let alone ask for the details.”

  Gabe politely explained the situation to his father. Sometimes his mother’s enthusiasm was a hindrance instead of a help, he thought.

  Gabriel Sr. folded his arms, letting out an exasperated breath. “I don’t know about this, son. I don’t think it’s a good idea.”

  “But, Sir—“

  “Just hear me out. The demons know where she is, that much is painfully obvious. And if I know Lucifer half as well as I think I do, he will use this ball as the opportunity he needs to get to Abby. We need to stick together—the three of you children are no match for the powers of Hell.”

  Gabe glowered at his father. “So you don’t think I can handle this, is that it? I can protect her!”

  “Your dad’s right, Gabe.” Elijah said behind them, walking up to them on silent feet. “Sorry to interrupt you, Sir. But I agree with him, Gabe. We can’t take the chance of something happening to Abby. We don’t know what she is yet, but we know two things—she’s powerful, and Hades wants that power. Now isn’t the time to get hot-headed. She’s more important than your pride.” He stared at Gabe with his calm, pale blue eyes.