Bound by Revenge (Guardian Series) (23 page)

“Don’t get all high and mighty with me.” He growled, staying true to his course even though he was desperate to pull back and explain everything to the woman he loved. “You were just as bad as me. We both forgot to be true guardians. We were too busy pretending we were human. And now look what’s happened. An innocent human got taken because we weren’t watching him.”

Could she have been so wrong about the man in front of her? Sam questioned her judgment. She had been sure that he was different, that he wasn’t the average demon. She thought they shared hopes and dreams and that they belonged together. And now this. He turned on her the second she needed his support the most.

The man in front of her was nothing like the one she’d spent the day with. The one who comforted her, listened to her, cooked for her and tended to her every desire. This was the man she stayed far away from. The one she fought against so many times. The heartless cruel selfish, male version of Morgan.

“Well, we won’t
pretend
anymore.” Her heart clenched inside her chest. “But we still need to save Tom. It’s our job. The only reason we’re here at all.”

“I guess we agree on something.” Vance’s tone chilled her straight through.

They stood face to face in the office, Vance stone-still and Sam quivering visibly in anger and agony.

Vance couldn’t believe the words that came out of his mouth. They cut through Sam with the harshness that he intended. But she had no idea of the pain they caused him too.

He had watched Sam for years, following her from place to place. Always working as her foil, making strides for the stability of the universe. In a way he had considered them a team from day one. Neither would have been a success without the other. And he took real pleasure in almost everything Sam did. In the way she cared for her charges, in the way she laughed, in the way she moved.

And he had lusted for her just as long. The long legs that lead up to curves that could kill would torture him forever. He thought he’d do anything for just one more taste of her sweet skin.

But something had changed. Seeing the kid’s room really got to him. Tom was just a human. He would be defenseless against the leanthans, never mind if he had to face Morgan. She would tear him apart if the mood struck her. Vance had no doubt in his mind. She was as fickle as she was evil. And he knew not to trust his hopes that they’d willingly let Tom go when it was all over. Morgan would never leave a loose end.

The guardians were Tom’s only hope. They needed to save him. They couldn’t afford any distractions and just as Morgan pointed out a relationship was a distraction like no other. All Vance could think about was Sam. The thought of losing her, of her being harmed in any way gnawed at him, terrified him that he’d do something reckless in order to protect her.

How could he go to war like that? They’d all end up dead. Especially since Morgan was all too quick to threaten Sam’s life over the relationship. And anything that Morgan could use to her advantage, she would. Manipulation was her forte, after all.

When Vance sought her out, he knew it would come down to this very moment. The loss of everything he cared about. Hopefully it would be enough to save the kid and of course Sam.

To help them all, Vance knew the only thing he could do was push Sam away and let her think he was still the demon she’d always suspected he was. It would make her hate everything about him and make her regret any feelings that she had allowed herself to have. She would harden again; immortals were good at cutting the world out. At least Vance hoped that were true. The thought of Sam with anyone else was even worse than the thought of himself living without her.

“You don’t have to worry. I don’t want anything to do with you, ever again.” Sam felt like a teenage girl as the words slipped through her lips. The logical next step would be to storm out, slamming the door behind her.

And as much as she wanted to, that wasn’t really an option. They still had a job to do. And they needed to work together to save the boy.

Sam was relieved when the sharp knock at the door interrupted them.

She stomped over and pushed Vance out of the way as she passed, then opened the door.

Abby and Alex walked in. Abby looked back and forth between Sam and Vance. “Are we interrupting something?”

“No. We were definitely done.” Sam was eager to have something else to think about. “What’s the plan?” She asked and pulled her hair back into a ponytail using the elastic she always kept around her wrist. When things got out of hand, Sam always felt better when she put her hair up, hoping a little control over her personal appearance would translate to a little control over other aspects of her life.

“We’re going to C & R Enterprises. Not the downtown office. The warehouse headquarters.” Alex started. “Dad said he’s been watching them for a while and that’s where they’ll most likely take Tom.”

“So are we going in?” Vance asked.

“We’ll go in after dark. Dad just wants us to do a little recon. See who’s there. What they’re doing and all that.” Abby said with confidence.

Bradley sent the others over to the warehouse to scope out the situation there. But mostly to get them out of the way.

He couldn’t believe he put his own son at risk without realizing it. He had been naïve enough to think they wouldn’t touch him until he decided to join the guardians. That’s why he refused to tell him about his destiny until after his graduation. In retrospect, Bradley knew that that very decision was what put Tom in danger. It left him without the necessary strength and skill to save himself from the immortals who took him.

In all of his time as a guardian, Bradley had never faced a situation like this. He had been allowed to live as a human for so long, he learned to behave like one. He learned to love like one.

He loved every member of his family. It devastated him when his wife had decided to leave. But he understood. She wasn’t strong enough to know the truth. She wouldn’t have been able to understand. She probably wouldn’t have even believed it. And when she died, it tore him apart.

But his children were everything to him. They were more important to him than even his role as a guardian. And now his two worlds collided. He was left to decide whether to react like a father, to rush in to try to save his youngest son, or like a guardian, to go in with a calculated plan and work with his team to best face down their threat.

When he sent the others to the warehouse, he cemented the decision in his mind. He was going in alone. He couldn’t waste any more time. He couldn’t risk Tom’s life for another moment, not knowing what kind of torture they had in store for him. Or even if he was still alive.

Bradley had no trouble tracking down Morgan at her estate. He could always sense the presence of any demons or angels in his town. That was one of the things that made him a great guardian. He could tell as soon as one of the immortals set foot anywhere in Ruthers. It allowed him to track every move they made, even if it were just in passing.

Morgan had been here a while. She came in the same day Vance arrived, though he knew they didn’t show up together. Bradley had summoned Vance as soon as he decided to start building a new team. It had taken him years of research to pick his elite squad. He followed different groups around from town to town to see how they interacted with each other and to study their own particular skills.

Vance’s abilities were unique even among the immortals. He could control matter, like many others, including Morgan. But he could also manipulate the human mind. More importantly, Vance had something else that separated him from other demons. Something that was necessary in a good guardian. Empathy.

Sadly, Vance didn’t even know this much about himself until he joined the team. He had prided himself on his success as a demon which gave him little room to explore any emotions other than pride.

Even after he arrived, Vance was incomplete without his girl. Sam was the one who brought the goodness out in the demon and only the two together could be strong enough to save the world from the threat it faced.

Confident that the team he assembled could handle any situation that could arise, Bradley had set out to face Morgan by himself.

The estate appeared just as it had any other day. The tall iron gate was closed to protect everything inside from the influences of the outside world. Just as he’d done tens of times since Morgan’s arrival, Bradley scaled the fence. He used a tall oak to assist in the process. He jumped down, onto the property and landed in the small field just behind the line of matching cottages.

He could feel the vibrations emanating from within each of the structures. They revealed at least ten other demons bustling within, who were preparing for battle. Bradley didn’t think twice about them, as each was merely a minion of Morgan. None of them held the strength or power that could defeat him.

He was after Morgan and he could almost see her within the guest house across the property, her vibrations were so strong. She would rue the day she decided to go after Tom.

Bradley had always been eager to keep the peace. Even with this war on the brink, he still believed there was a chance that the leanthans would stand down, given the proper persuasion. The leanthans were his brethren after all. They were immortal beings, adapted over time into their own species, just as the guardians were.

The generally docile species wanted nothing more than a quiet life on earth and the ability to live among the humans. But humans were fickle creatures who always segregated those who appeared different. The leanthans never had a chance.

Demons were the hardest immortals to control. Their natural affinity towards chaos amplified their desire to break free to start their own factions outside the rules of the group. For years now, the number of these factions had increased. They worked with humans, organized crime groups to begin with, but they slowly spread their influence across all spheres.

They had one ultimate goal, to have the humans attack the leanthans without realizing it, and get the leanthans to turn against the humans. The whole world would erupt in anarchy as a result.

They’d decimate large numbers of both species, along with the many guardians in the process. All of this just for fun. For the sheer enjoyment of the chaos, the hatred, the fear. All things the demons had learned to relish.

The faction, now led by Morgan, was the first to attack in this area. Though he could only imagine how many others were out there, led by the equally malicious demons, hell bent on causing trouble. Morgan’s strategy was unique; turning the leanthans on the guardians was an unexpected move.

Today, he’d make an example of her to show them all what it meant to take on the guardians and warn all other groups not to follow her lead.

He ducked behind each building as he passed. He ran quickly across the main drive, so as not to be spotted. No guards pursued him on his path and he jumped through the open side window of the guest house, undetected. He had made it inside.

Examining the room, he could tell that he’d entered a bedroom space. One that didn’t appear to have been lived in some time. The bed was neatly made, with a brocade comforter lying diagonally across. The ornately carved wood on both the headboard and on the wardrobe beside it was large and heavy. Nothing about this room portrayed Morgan.

While she was plenty old enough to appreciate the antiques, her style was modern and simplistic. She never valued unnecessary decoration. Everything she surrounded herself with was for function alone.

This was not her residence.

She must be staying in the main house
, Bradley thought to himself as he passed across the room heading to the door. No matter where she actually lived, Morgan was here now.

Morgan stood in the living room, listening to the footsteps approach. She’d been waiting for Bradley to arrive. She knew he’d come. That’s why she stayed behind.

She wanted the chance to fight him alone with none of his guardians by his side. It was her best shot to kill him. And she wasn’t above taking advantage of that golden opportunity.