Forging the Guild (The Protector Guild Book 2)

by Gray Holborn

  The vampire was standing up now, studying me with rapt attention. I could tell from the smug look on his face that he was pleased I was lost for words. He enjoyed controlling the situation and my reactions to it.

  “Hellhounds are rare,” he continued, tilting his head as he spoke. His mismatched eyes shone with a apathetic intelligence that sent shivers down my spine. “I doubt the protectors have ever had one under their scrutiny before. They almost never enter this realm, and when they do, none who wish them harm live to act on it. It’s very curious, really. Why would a hellhound be so interested in a female protector? Why allow himself to get captured and tortured, just to be in her vicinity?”

  Guilt churned low in my belly. This infuriating vampire was right. Ralph was here because of me. He’d allowed himself to be captured because he wanted to make sure I was safe. I didn’t know why the hellhound was acting as my guardian, but I’d do anything to sever the connection if it would help him escape and get back to his own world.

  “I don’t understand,” I said, my voice soft, almost a whisper. I knew that I should ignore him, that listening to a monster was a terrible idea. Even entertaining the idea of a conversation with such a creature was a terrible idea. But still, as I brought my eyes up to meet the vampire’s, I took an unintentional step closer to him. “Ralph—he’s not evil. He hasn’t harmed anyone. He’s saved a protector. He’s not like the other realm beasts.”

  The vampire’s jaw tightened at that last sentence, before going preternaturally still. I had a feeling that if there wasn’t magic glass separating us, My head would now be separated from my spine.

  After a long, terrifying moment in which I couldn’t even force myself to breathe, we watched each other. Then, just before I felt like the tension between us would explode, he took a step back into his own cage, the darkness shadowing him slightly. “Yes, of course. Because all other realm beasts are evil.”

  I was inching closer and closer towards the vampire, until I was mere feet away from the glass separating us. It suddenly seemed so tenuous, so fragile, and I shivered at the thought of it shattering. My hand unconsciously feathered against the bitten spot on my neck, all remnants now long healed. Something deep down told me that where the other vampire had failed at breaking me, this one would succeed if given the opportunity.

  With a sigh, he shook his head softly, like I’d disappointed him somehow. It was odd, to feel like I’d disappointed a creature so evil and dangerous. As soon as the mood crossed my mind, I shook it away, unwilling to dissect it.

  “You’d do well to question the world you’re living in, Max Bentley.” His voice was callous and cold, all teasing dissolved from his tone.

  The fragile moment between us snapped immediately, and my eyes pierced his—he was too far back into the darkness now for me to see them clearly, but I remembered the vividness of his one dark eye and one golden eye to picture them clearly enough. “How do you know my name?”

  His lips curved slowly, briefly revealing the soft, white points of his canines as they shifted from his gums. I shivered and had a feeling he enjoyed making me uncomfortable. He tilted his head before turning his back to me. “You should go. Don’t believe everything you are told here, little protector. And trust no one.” His words grew so soft I couldn’t be sure whether it was him or my imagination that uttered a final “especially me.”

  I heard the now familiar voices of the two guards who’d almost caught me outside of Wade’s room. With a last look and farewell to Ralph, I left and made my way back towards my room. One thing was certain—I was getting Ralph out of there sooner rather than later. And if Cyrus and Seamus wouldn’t help, I’d do it myself.

  ***

  For the first time in as long as I could remember, I was angry with Cyrus. After confronting him in the morning about Ralph’s treatment, he more or less ignored me, insisting that he’d handle the situation as soon as he was able. And then he dodged every question I asked about Wade and what happened with their mission, demanding that I stay out of team business until given express directions otherwise. Without another word, he’d brushed me off and joined Seamus for meals. For the next several days, he’d kept vigil outside of our suite for part of the night, like he knew I would try to visit Ralph again. He was always strict when we were growing up, but never cruel. Keeping Ro and I so in the dark since our arrival was starting to dance dangerously close to cruel.

  After I filled Ro in though, he was fully on team Ralph and we were knee-deep in trying to plan my hellhound’s prison escape. That said, since we were both still extremely green in protector and Guild life, we hadn’t exactly gotten very far with our plans.

  “I’ll see if I can learn more about the research side of things from Sharla and her team,” Izzy said, perking up and happy to be included in our plans. Unlike Cyrus, Izzy was more than willing to listen to my concerns and complaints. When I finally came clean to her about Ralph and what really went down the night of my vamp attack, she was so excited to be included that she instantly forgave me for not telling her the truth immediately. And, like Ro, she was hellbent on helping us get Ralph out of there, no questions asked.

  The three of us stretched, preparing for our first sparring matches of the day. We’d taken to primarily fighting each other and the members of Ten. After spending so much of my life fighting Ro, it was invigorating to be exposed to everyone’s different strengths and weaknesses. I could feel my strategies strengthening each day as I studied individual partners. My body felt like a sponge, absorbing every new move and matching with the best response.

  “I haven’t heard too much about what goes on in the research area,” I said, bouncing on the balls of my feet to get my blood flowing. “Why don’t we learn more about it in class?”

  Izzy frowned slightly, considering as she squared off with us. “Yeah, that’s pretty standard. The research portion of The Guild is the one I’m least familiar with. They don’t really tell us much about it as students and you have to have extreme security clearance to get a position down there. But I’ll do some digging. Jer’s dad is actually pretty high up, so maybe he’ll have some insight. He’s our best chance for learning more without actually being recruited into their work.”

  I beamed at her, happy that she was so willing to help, even if it meant bending some rules and protocols. In the meantime, it was decided that I’d devote myself to the company line as much as possible, at least for now. Long enough to get Cyrus off my back and long enough for me to convince people to divulge info about The Guild without fear of me breaking more rules. Ro would do the same.

  I ducked my head when Ro threw a relatively sharp punch. Our sparring form wasn’t great, since we were mostly using it as smoke and mirrors for our conversation. But I’d been so lost in thought that I’d almost allowed him to get a hit on me—something that hadn’t happened much since arriving here. I wasn’t sure if it was because of the extra training sessions, but I could feel myself getting better at anticipating attacks, and where the wins between me and Ro used to be pretty split, they were now resoundingly in my favor.

  “Dammit,” he muttered, bouncing back on the balls of his feet, fists raised. “Almost had you on that one.”

  Atlas passed us, frowning briefly before studying Izzy and Ro’s form. He corrected Ro’s posture, redistributing his weight and center of gravity a bit, before moving towards another group.

  I could feel the muscles in my jaw tightening as I watched him.

  Atlas had gone back to ignoring me since the clandestine meeting in Wade’s room. I’d pestered him and Eli to no avail, trying to get an update on Wade’s condition, but Six seemed to have a new philosophy: ignore Max at all costs. They’d even left me to spar with Ro and the members of Ten most days, rather than resuming their surveillance of our training. It was odd and I was uncomfortable with the new dynamics. Silly me to assume that Atlas and I had made any progress in our bonding over Wade’s condition. If anything, things seemed to be going in the opposit
e direction.

  Eli though, that was new for me. He was the flirtiest of the bunch and so it was especially strange that he was suddenly brushing me off. His generally warm temperament had cooled significantly and while Seamus was as welcoming as ever to me and Ro, Eli had backed off.

  While I didn’t necessarily miss the overly flirtatious banter, it rubbed me the wrong way that his demeanor had changed so much. And I wasn’t entirely sure what I’d done to facilitate or deserve it.

  I watched them both weave around fighters, adjusting here, observing there, and let out a long exhale. I could see the exhaustion carving across their expressions, both Eli and Atlas had a worn tension around their eyes.

  All at once, I felt like an ass. This probably had nothing to do with me. They were worried about Wade, worried about their teammate. And while he was below fighting off the remnants of whichever creatures he’d encountered, the rest of his team was supposed to go back to work as if nothing happened.

  It seemed so cruel, so callous. If I were either of them, I wouldn’t want some random new girl pestering me with questions either. With a steady breath, I promised to back off too, to not take their detachment so personally. For now, I knew that Wade’s condition hadn’t changed. That would be enough for now. It had to be.

  Izzy cleared her throat, and I jumped up to avoid Ro’s low kick before turning to her. Everyone in the gym was still and staring just beyond us. Ro and I were the only two still fully invested in the session.

  “What? Did I miss something?” I asked, wiping the stray hairs out of my eyes. I was coated in sweat, gross. Izzy’s lip tweaked briefly into a grin before she nodded her head behind us.

  I spun around to see what the big deal was. At the large entryway doors, Cyrus was standing next to Seamus, the two of them together drawing most of the room’s attention. And I could understand why, could suddenly see what others saw when they looked at the two brothers. They were imposing dudes. Seeing them together, I was struck again by how much they looked alike. Cyrus was clearly the older by a few years, and he didn’t have nearly as warm of a disposition as Seamus, but they were both imposing and slightly terrifying if you didn’t know any better. Hell, maybe even if you did know better—I’d grown up with Cyrus and he still sort of terrified me every now and again.

  Catching his dark eyes, my stomach clenched with guilt and I broke eye contact. I wasn’t used to holding a grudge and it was uncomfortable staying frustrated with him. When you grew up only having two people in your whole world, you did everything you could to keep them close. Since moving here, it seemed like an invisible line had snapped as we all tried to find our place in this new environment. While it was probably healthy for the three of us to have some separation from each other, to branch out, I couldn’t help but feel an unwelcome sense of loss.

  Maybe if I found a way to bring Cyrus over to team Ralph, it would start to close the distance, just a bit.

  “As many of you are aware,” Seamus said, his deep voice echoing over the room, the strength he exuded capturing everyone’s absolute attention, “attacks in the human world have increased over the last few years, but drastically so over the last few months. We aren’t really sure why, but in light of recent...events, we’ve decided to take some extra precautions for all of our students and to make your training more hands-on. This is, after all, the very thing we are training you for.” Seamus glanced briefly at Cyrus and then nodded towards a tall woman who was standing behind them. “Headmistress Alleva and I believe that it is of utmost importance that we get protectors in the academy trained and prepared as quickly as possible, so that we can get you all out there doing your jobs.”

  Cyrus cleared his throat quietly, but it was a tick I was familiar with—he didn’t completely disagree with what Seamus was saying, but he also wasn’t completely on board either. I didn’t know Seamus well enough yet to read his tells, but I had a feeling that whatever they were about to present us with was the result of some very tense conversations between them.

  “And,” Seamus added, nodding to Cyrus, “Cyrus and I also believe that the safest way to do that is to pair you up with already successful alpha and beta teams stationed on our campus here.”

  “Yes, thank you Seamus, I’ll take it from here.” Headmistress Alleva stepped up next to him, her one bondmate standing on her other side, and I was struck by how uncomfortable Cyrus suddenly looked. To the untrained eye, one which wasn’t familiar with all three emotions the man usually showed, nothing looked like it had changed, but I caught the subtle tightening of his muscles, the momentary clench of his right fist. I arched a brow, trying to imagine what Cyrus’s life was like before me, before Ro. Where did he fit in this world of protectors and why did he try so hard to leave it—only to return decades later?

  Alleva was striking, and looked like an older, more refined version of her daughter. She had straight blond hair, cut into a short bob, with piercingly blue eyes that were so bright they almost looked fake. Her expression screamed no-bullshit and intimidation, but not in an unkind way, like I’d experienced so often with Reza. Alleva looked like she’d seen some shit and pulled herself through it with a quiet, imposing strength. I couldn’t help but admire the way she carried herself, rigid posture and all.

  Like most protectors around campus, she was dressed head-to-toe in black, but where most of the people I’d encountered were in combat or athletic gear, she was in a pressed suit with crisp, neat lines. She wouldn’t have looked out of place in a corporate board meeting, with bone structure that was sharp enough to carve out features in magazines. If she didn’t have such a heavy badass energy about her, I would say that she looked out of place in this wide-open gym, filled with sweaty teenagers and young adults. But I recognized her instantly for what she stood for—the very thing so many of my peers were striving to become.

  She swept a passing glance around the room, her eyes sharpening as they passed over her daughter, and I had the distinct feeling like we were all being thoroughly assessed—Reza especially—though I had no idea what for.

  “As the protector in charge of the academy portion of this branch,” she said, her voice echoing loudly throughout the vaulted room, “I have enlisted the support of Seamus and Cyrus to reach out to their teams this afternoon. As I’ve known most of you for almost your entire lives,” her penetrating blue eyes flashed briefly to me before continuing, “I’ve taken the opportunity to match you up with the team I think you’d currently fit best with and learn the most from. Our goal is to seamlessly fold you into whichever team you might inevitably join, though changes can and surely will be made before things are finalized. Practical experience is the best way to learn and by acting as passive team members now, we hope that you will more easily transition into active participants in a fraction of the time.”

  Seamus cleared his throat quietly and opened his mouth like he was going to interrupt. Brave man. I wasn’t one who was easily intimidated, but Alleva radiated girl boss energy.

  “And,” Alleva added with a sigh and discreet eye roll, like she was tolerating a younger brother, “Seamus and Cyrus are of course welcome to make any tweaks they see fit, as Seamus, at least, knows the team chemistry the best. It will be a group effort.”

  I caught Ro’s eye, his brows were furrowed as he studied Alleva. When I looked over at Izzy to see if she knew about this, she shrugged. And judging from the hard line of Atlas’s jaw, everyone in the room was unaware of this new strategy. Why were supernatural creatures suddenly flocking to the human realm in droves? And why were attacks so high? Judging by the fact that I’d been attacked by a vampire and a werewolf in less than one month’s time, I guess I shouldn’t be surprised by the fact there was an increase. While rushing students through to field work didn’t sound like the safest approach, I was all for getting more hands-on experience. We could fight each other all day, every day here, but that didn’t compare to working with a team against supernatural creatures in the field.

  “Has anyt
hing like this ever happened before?” I quietly asked Izzy as Alleva, Seamus, and Cyrus started making the rounds through individual students. I tried to ignore my nerves and the way that my stomach tightened at the idea of more or less graduating early. There was excitement lacing those nerves too though—my whole life I’d looked forward to fighting off monsters and protecting humans. Now, it looked like I would finally be given the opportunity.

  She shook her head, her normally pixie-like features harder and more tense than usual. “Never. I knew that things were worse than usual, but they must really be bad if they are rushing training like this. Seamus has always been pushing for academy training to get extended by a year or two.” Her grey eyes followed him as he walked from student to student. “For him to be on board with this—well, that’s not a great sign.”

  “Are they going to split us all up, you think?” Ro asked, his tone apathetic, but I could tell by the way he tugged on the hem of his shirt that he was legitimately anxious about it.

  I rolled my eyes and shoved his shoulder lightly. “Don’t worry, big brother, I’ll be fine if I don’t have you hounding me at all hours of the day. Somehow I’ll survive.” Still, while I said that, I really really hoped that I’d end up with the same team as Ro or Izzy. “Besides, even if we’re split up, it’s not like we’ll be spending all hours of the day with a pro team. I’m sure they have a ton of stuff to do, and it’s not like they’re all on missions at all times, you know?”

  Team Ten hadn’t been on another mission since the one Ro joined, and Team Six seemed to be hunkered down for a good while, especially after their last encounter didn’t go as planned. Wade was still in the hospital and we hadn’t heard any news either way about his recovery. I pushed the concern from my mind—I’d been doing really well at keeping the image of his body lying prone on the hospital bed at bay. He’d be okay. My brain refused to process the chance that he wouldn’t. For now, I just figured that no news was good news. And that would have to be enough.