Cherish (The Guardian Series Book 3)

by K. B. Wheelock

  “Your highness, “Jake said. “I have questioned them and would like to speak with you in private regarding the issue.”

  The King looked at Jake and nodded. “I’m glad that they are safe.” He looked to where Rose, Niall, Gris, and the girls kneeled. “I imagine that you are exhausted after the ordeal. I think we can cancel the feast for tonight so that you can rest.”

  Rose sighed, then realized how loud it sounded in the quiet field. She hoped that he hadn’t heard her. But as she looked up, she saw him smiling at her, and he nodded. She felt her cheeks heat. How embarrassing.

  “Thea, could you show them to the main tent? I have had beds made for all of them. I wasn’t sure if you would want your room in the Keep or to stay with the group, so both are ready for you.” He turned to Jake and smiled. “Your normal accommodations are there for you and Snowden.”

  Thea looked up to her brother, “Thank you, Ailar. We appreciate you forgoing the feast. I will speak to you after you and Jake have spoken?”

  “Yes. Please come to my private rooms. We have much to catch up on since your last visit.”

  Thea nodded and stood to lead Rose and the girls to the tent. Rose stopped to kiss Niall and Gris.

  “We’ll be there later after we speak with the King. Once the girls are asleep, we’ll fill you in on everything.”

  “If I’m still awake,” she said with a yawn.

  Laughter followed her as she walked to catch up with Thea.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Jake

  They followed the King to his personal tent that stood behind the stage with his throne. Jake remembered the first time he had seen the large red tent with yellow trim. He had found a young Thea hiding in the warehouse that he’d just purchased. She had fled her home, not knowing if the enemy she had brought into the Bog had killed all of her family and friends.

  It had taken some convincing, but with Snowden at his side, he was able to convince her to return home and fix the wrong she had done. Her father had had the utmost confidence that they would succeed, and they did. The Mhularuka were not a challenge to a Hellhound.

  That trip had been the first of many. The old king had become a close friend, his death creating a void that still hurt almost thirty years later when Jake thought of him. He missed the chess tournaments and just talking with him.

  A cough brought him back to the present with a jolt. “I’m sorry, Ailar. This tent brings back memories.” He felt the hot prick of tears and swallowed a lump in his throat.

  “Yes, it does, old friend,” Ailar replied, turning away from Jake.

  He wasn’t sure if the King was giving him a minute to compose himself, or if he also battled memories.

  “What can you tell me of this attack on your grandchildren?” the King asked as he composed himself on the cushions scattered around the rug that lay in the middle of the tent. He gestured around the area indicating that they should seat themselves. Snowden immediately curled up next to the King. Jake followed to sit on the other side of Snowden.

  “One minute the twins were running around, the next they were gone. I was able to sense them through the bond I have with them and followed it to an odd structure for the Bog. It was a mound made of stick and dirt that went over the river.”

  Ailar interrupted him. “You are sure of that? It was stick and mud and over the river?”

  “Yes. Is that important?” Niall asked.

  “It may be. If it is where I think, then it sounds like the ancient keep of the Three Nations. I didn’t even know it existed still. It was said to have been lost to our people after the betrayal of the Mhularuka. But that is a story for another day.”

  “By the time we got to the mound, the girls had things just about under control. Naza stood over the water, her hand outstretched, a dead Nixie lying there. Asha had one man with the tornado, and Snowden was holding the other one down. I don’t know if they could have held the two off for long, but they did enough,” Jake told his old friend. While he had been speaking, a servant had brought in small cups and a tea service. He sipped the hot liquid. There was nothing like the hot ming berry tea the Brownies drank.

  “With Snowden’s encouragement”—the King’s snort had Jake smiling—“the two Mhulurika told us their story.”

  “We are not just Mhularuka. We are the last of the ancients. Our blood is the only pure blood left of the Three Nations. We have walked these lands for many years, and it is time that they be cleansed. The fact that the King”—he spat on the ground at the word ‘King’—“has let such infidels as these into the Bog is the final nail in the coffin of the Great Brownie race,” the man said, venom in his eyes.

  “So, what was your plan?” Jake asked. “There are three of you and how many Brownies? Add in that you are attacking the party that the King’s sister leads.”

  The other man glared at his friend then at Jake. “They do not know of us, so it wouldn’t be that hard. A party here disappears, a traveler there. It might take years, but we don’t care.”

  “So, what happens after you have cleaned the Bog up?” Jake asked.

  The two men looked at each other, then at Jake. “After?” the one that Snowden sat in front of asked.

  “Yeah. After you rid the swamp of all the Brownie and Nixie, what will you do?” Niall asked.

  “I–I don’t know,” he said.

  “They weren’t exactly the brightest bulb in the lamp.” Jake said. “I tried talking with them as we made our way here, but the only thing I could get out of them was that they each had a Nixie for a parent and a Brownie as a grandparent. That’s how they were able to move around the Bog undetected.” Jake paused to sip his tea. He really must remember to ask for some to take back to the human realm.

  “I don’t think that there is further threat to the kingdom, but it might not hurt to have your men check it out,” Jake told him.

  “What will you do with them?” Niall asked.

  “Why, execute them of course! The question will be how. Mhularuka can be tricky to kill, more so if they have mated with a Nixie.” The King stood and started walking around. “Drowning isn’t very humane, and if they do have any Nixie traits that wouldn’t work. The Mhularuka tend to be immune to fire. Hmm, yes, I think beheading will work.” That settled in his mind, he sat back down.

  “Sir?” Gris asked.

  “Yes?”

  “Will you need us to be here for the execution? We really need to get to the portal to the safe house,” Gris told him.

  “Oh no. The only reason we would need you is if we were to have Snowden do the execution. But we can handle them fine.” The King nodded at them.

  “Thank you, sir.”

  “Boys, why don’t you head over to your tent. I am sure Rose is wanting to know the details. I would like to talk with my friend here for a while. I don’t know how long it will be till we see each other again.”

  “Sure, Dad. Leaving early, right?”

  “I’ll make sure to ring your bell bright and early.” The look on the boys faces told him he had said that wrong. “I mean the bell on your tent, boys. Yeesh, get your heads out of the gutter. That would be gross.”

  The twins looked at each other and burst out laughing. “Night, Dad,” they said. They turned to face the King and bowed. “Thank you, your Highness.”

  He nodded to them, and the boys left the old friends alone.

  “So, old friend, what is it you want to say that you didn’t feel your boys should hear?” Ailar asked.

  Jake smiled. “We have known each other too long. Something that the Mhularuka said bothered me. Before I tell the boys, I wanted to talk with you since you know more of this realm than I do.”

  Ailar nodded for him to continue.

  “While we walked here, the Mhularuka said something that bothered me. My understanding is that to enter a portal or the realm, you have to have a Brownie escort.”

  “Yes, that is true. The only exception is if you have Brownie blood, or a portal is key
ed to you.” He confirmed Jake’s suspicions.

  “The Mhularuka said that they had been approached to provide entrance to the realm, but when they said they couldn’t operate a portal, the man left in a huff. I think someone is trying to access Empyrean.”

  Chapter Twenty

  Rose

  The next morning, they left early, and the trip was thankfully uneventful. By the time lunch hit, they were walking through the portal to the safehouse.

  “Thea, you have a beautiful home. But I’m ready for some twenty-first century amenities. Mainly that of a nice long, hot bath,” Rose said as she went and sat on the couch. She toed her shoes off and started rubbing her feet. “I can’t remember when I last walked that far. I feel as if my feet are going to fall off.”

  “Yes, I have to agree. There are times when I am home that I wish for some of your amenities. I wish that I could bring all the Brownies here just to ride a roller coaster.”

  Rose smiled at her friend. “Something tells me that many of the Brownies are not as adventurous as you.”

  Thea patted Rose’s shoulder as she walked to the kitchen. “You are right there. How about you go take a bath, while I make lunch? I am sure that the boys and I can keep the girls under control for a while.”

  Rose looked up the stairs in longing. “I couldn’t leave the girls so soon after their adventure. Plus, you’ll be busy making dinner.”

  “Go! We will be fine.” Thea shooed her towards the stairs.

  “Daddy! You back!” Asha yelled as two small human torpedoes ran into Cullen and Keyne’s legs.

  “Whoa there, girls! You almost knocked me over.” Culled laughed. He picked Asha up and threw her into the air. Her giggles filled the living area of the safe house.

  Keyne had knelt down to give Naza a kiss and was tickling her. “I missed my girls,” Keyne said, as he stood up and leaned over to give Asha a kiss on the cheek.

  “Daddy, we went Thea house! It silly and in dirt,” Asha said.

  “Nuhuh. It no in ground. It made of dirt,” Naza said. And the two little girls were off bickering about their trip to the Bog.

  Cullen and Keyne went into the living area where Rose was sitting watching their interaction with the little girls. She rolled her eyes. “Ever since we got back all they’ve done is talk about the Bog and argue. I think they’re missing the outdoors.”

  Keyne sat down next to Rose, his body flickering in and out. “We’ll have to see about fixing that.” He leaned in and rested his chin on her shoulder, unable to touch her the way he longed to. “Being away from you that long was too much for my body. I feel drained.”

  “Well, I have no plans for you to leave my side again,” Rose said as Cullen sat down on the other side of her.

  “I missed you, too. Keyne’s company leaves something to be desired,” Cullen said as he leaned over to kiss her.

  “I’m sure that it wasn’t that bad of a trip. The way you two act like teenagers when you’re together, I’m surprised you got home in one piece.” Rose smiled.

  “Just a lot of driving. We do have some stories to tell. Where are Gris and Niall?” Cullen asked. “Did you know Keyne is worse than a teenage boy when it comes to pranks?”

  Rose wrinkled her nose. “Niall went out to check in with some contacts to see what’s going on. Gris was down in the Pit last I knew.”

  The Pit was the name Rose had given the training room in the basement. They all knew how much she loved training. It had become a game to see who could keep her in shape and in fighting form. Gris had come up with the idea of Rose shifting to her mouse form and working on evading attacks that way.

  Niall had discovered that she had a very playful side when it came to hand to hand combat. It was fun seeing how she would try to distract her men by touching them and sliding her body against them.

  “So, how’re the twins handling the change in environment?” Keyne asked.

  “So far to them it is just a big adventure. But we’ll have to do something about them needing to run. I don’t like them playing in the Pit. Too many dangerous weapons down there.”

  “Maybe we can figure something out on the roof. I know at one point in time Gris and Niall talked about putting a garden up there.” Keyne massaged Rose’s shoulders as he spoke. Her moan of appreciation made him smile.

  “Hey,” Gris said as he came into the room. “How was your trip?”

  Cullen looked at Keyne. “It was . . . interesting.”

  “Interesting how?” Thea asked as she, Jake, and Snowden came out of her room.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Cullen

  Leaving Rose and the girls was killing him. He looked in the rearview mirror to see Rose standing there, watching them leave. He wanted to turn around and not leave the safety of the house. It would only be three days, maybe less if he could drive fast enough and didn’t need sleep. He didn’t think Keyne would be much help in the driving department, but he’d be able to help keep him occupied.

  Thea had packed them a large cooler of food, so they’d only need to stop for bathroom breaks and gas. Maybe a night at a motel would be a good idea. He didn’t want to get back to Rose smelling like a teenage boy after a six-day camping trip.

  “So, should we listen to that book that Thea got us?” Keyne asked.

  “What book was it?”

  “Kinsmen, Player One.”

  “Never heard of it.”

  “How have you not heard of this? It’s only a best seller. I love all of her books. The main character is such a smart ass.”

  “Hey, I am not into books. Give me a musical or opera, and I’ve probably heard of it.”

  “I am going to give Thea the biggest kiss for not packing any of that froufrou garbage. Give me some good old action movies and rock ‘n’ roll.”

  “Turn the book on. Anything has to be better than your drivel.”

  A few hours into the trip, Cullen had to admit the book was pretty good. Some of the spots that he got into were things he could see him or Keyne doing. As a matter of fact, they needed gas, and one such situation was presenting itself.

  “Hey, Keyne, we need to get gas.”

  “You’re interrupting the book to tell me this why?”

  “Well, I thought that maybe you would like to role play a little,” Cullen said, looking over at Keyne. He was a little concerned with the ghost. He hadn’t been this far away from Rose this long before. He looked a little . . . pale.

  “Oh boy, you mean . . . ?”

  Cullen nodded his head, “Yeah. Market Roulette.” In the book, one scene had Jared and his friend entering a marketplace. They needed certain supplies, but Jared didn’t know how to ask for them, so they would play the version of Roulette that Jared and his friend had played.

  Pulling up to the gas station, Cullen filled the tank first. If the people running the gas station kicked them out, it wouldn’t do to have no gas for the getaway.

  “Okay, ghost boy, let’s go!” Cullen said as he turned his appearance more human, his horns, wings, and tail disappearing, and his skin turning to a more natural color.

  “I got the blindfold.” Keyne pulled a handkerchief out of the glove box. “It’s even clean!”

  Cullen groaned. If it had been anyone else, he would have never questioned if it was clean, but Keyne loves his jokes. The two walked into the store and headed to the back where the drinks were located.

  “I don’t know if we will both be able to do this, so while you have to grab what you touch, I will run and grab what we need,” Cullen told Keyne. They had already decided on the items they wanted, mainly iced coffee and some of those peanut butter and chocolate candies that were so good.

  Keyne tied the handkerchief around his eyes, and Cullen began to spin him in circles. Once Cullen felt that Keyne was suitably unsteady on his feet, he lined him up so that he could walk down the snack aisle.

  “Go!” he whispered and quickly left to get the drinks. He could hear Keyne knocking things over and the
attendant running towards where he had left Keyne.

  “You stupid idiot! Are you high? Get out of my store! Out, out, out!” she yelled.

  Cullen turned with the cups of iced coffee and walked towards the register. He didn’t dare to look at Keyne, or he would burst out laughing.

  The young boy who was working the register stood there with his mouth hanging open. Cullen tried to get his attention, but obviously Keyne was making quite a spectacle. He took a five-dollar bill out of his pocket and set it on the counter. Now that he was ready to leave, he turned to see what Keyne had gotten into.

  The owner of the store had a broom in her hand and was using it to thwack Keyne over the head. The only problem was that when she went to hit him, he suddenly wasn’t there. She would spin around looking for him, only to find him standing where she had last seen him.

  “Hey, Ghost Boy, let’s go?” Cullen said, not bothering to hide his grin. It might not have worked out as well as it did for Jared, but it certainly would make the highlights of their trip.

  Protecting the girls was all he wanted to do. He thrashed in his sleep, startling himself awake when his hand hit the steering wheel, the horn blaring in the quiet night.

  “Bad dream?” Keyne asked sleepily.

  “Yeah,” Cullen ran his hand over his tired eyes. “Demons were everywhere, climbing over each other. Black blood soaked the ground.” He looked at Keyne. “I don’t know what it means.”

  “Sorry, no help here. Sounds like a typical day anywhere demons are.” Keyne yawned.

  “Yeah, that’s the problem with visions. I wish I could paint what I saw. At least then, maybe we could get some visual clues.”

  “Hey, when did you stop thinking of yourself as a demon?” Keyne asked.

  Cullen looked at Keyne in surprise. When had he stopped thinking of himself as a demon? Started thinking of all demons as bad? His parents certainly weren’t bad. They’d been simple farmers. But Keyne was right, he didn’t see himself as a demon anymore. But if he wasn’t a demon, what was he?