Born of Silence (Immortal Guardians) (43 page)

The maid held her hands up in surrender. “I would have come right back. I just wanted to—”

He was done listening. Reaching out, he placed his hands on both sides of her head and twisted. Her body was lifeless in an instant and he let her drop to the floor. Another tremor rocked the house, the wall sconces clinking and flickering. Ekhart turned toward the door and opened it, sliding soundlessly inside.

All of the lights were on in the room. T
he bright pink of the walls, curtains and furry bedding
were
a vibrant contrast to the normally neutral tones of the rest of the house. Sitting up in the bed was a little girl with big brown eyes and hair the color of ravens. She still had on her princess crown from her play earlier in the night, her pink jammies crumpled from her sleep.

“Jessie,” he said, “w
hat are you doing up?” He walked away from
the door, heading toward her
.

“I’m scared, Daddy.”

“Oh,” he cooed, sitting down on the edge of her bed. She crawled up onto her knees and sat on his lap, wrapping her little arms around him as far as they could reach. “Don’t be scared.” He stroked her pitch-black hair as she snuggled her head against his chest.
Peering
down, he could easily see the birthmark that stood proudly on her left temple. It looked like a single flame, though it was much lighter than it had been when she was a baby. The birthmark
itself
was rather remarkable, changing color with her mood. And right now, it had specks of purple, proving that she was, in fact, scared.

He
continued to run his fingers through her hair, tickling her back, hoping to soothe her.
She was his
baby
,
the only thing in his world that was pure and good. Jessie looked and acted like any four-year old girl, but in reality she was well over four
centuries in age. “Well then,” he said. “Why don’t we take a little trip? Until the earthquake stops.”

She peered up at him, a small smile trying to curve her lips. “What’s an earthquake, Daddy?”

“It’s what happens when the ground shakes. Like right now.” An earthquake had to be much less terrifying for a small child than the thought of fire and explosions erupting below their feet. “Should we go for a drive?”

She
nodded emphatically. “Where are we going?”

“On a little trip. Should we pack some of your princess dresses?” He stood and set her down on her feet. Jessie skipped over to her closet, grabbing her favorite clothes
, which
were easily reachable on the bottom rack of her closet. Ekhart knelt on his knees, shoving dresses, clothes, sock
s
, underwear, and shoes into the miniature suitcase before zipping it up. “Okay, let’s go baby.”

He stood and held his hand out to he
r. Jessie leapt at him and he sc
ooped her up into his arms. He made a hasty retreat from her room and rushed down the hall, careful to keep the maid’s dead body from his daughter’s view. The house shook again, more forcefully this time, and he wondered if Pyro had had any luck at closing some of the doors. If he hadn’t, or if he’d been too late, then the entire operation would be blown to dust.

Ekhart descended the stairs at a fast clip; Jessie was in one hand, her bag in the other. He caught sight of someone rushing from the hall to the front door. “What
are you doing here?”

Damion’s shoes skidded as he halted and faced Ekhart. “I saw one of your demons take the elevator,” he said. “I trusted it as a way out.”

Ekhart reached the bottom of the stairs, his senses piquing as he saw Damion look at Jessie. He slid his daughter to the floor. “Do you need to go potty?” he asked her.

Jessie nodded and
skittered
off to the powder room, leaving him alone with the vampire. “This is all your fault.”

Damion’s eyes narrowed. “How so?”

“Your Guardians showed up.”

“
My
Guardians—”

“You know what I mean.” He let out an irritated sigh, flicking his gaze to the windows on either side of the front door. “Where do you plan to go, vampire? It’s almost daylight.”

“Which is exactly why I haven’t gone outside yet.”

“Here.” Ekhart touched his ring. “You need to get back to
Jersey
, make sure you beat the Guardians back.” His eyes lit on a burn mark on Damion’s right arm. He hadn’t noticed until now that the vampire was holding the arm close to him. “I trust you and your men will finish this now?”

Damion’s eyes
glowed with malice
. “I’m ready now more than ever,” he growled.

Ekhart nodded and twisted the ring one full turn. A portal appeared between them
,
and
giving
a single, tight nod, Damion stepped through, disappearing before Ekhart’s eyes.

“You should have let me go with him,” Pyro said, walking from the hallway.

“No.
We don’t know what kind of damage is going on down there. I need as many of my men with me as I can get.”

“Should I call the others? Have them come for us?”

Ekhart popped his jaw, considering their options. They could head to one of the other facilities. That would be the safest option for Jessie. “Go get the car. We’ll call them on our way.”

The bathroom door opened and
his daughter
walked out slowly. The ground shook and she hurried
toward him. Pyro, who had been heading
for
the door, stopped and turned toward her.

“Hi
,
Pyro,” Jessie said cheerfully. “Are you going on the trip with us?”

“Yeah,” he said, before opening the door and heading outside.

E
khart turned toward her
. “Did you wash your hands?”
It didn’t matter at a time like this, but structure was key.

“Mmm-hmm.” She nodded as he scooped her up again. She smiled at him as he walked toward the door. Her bright brown eyes and black hair caused a pang in his heart as he peered down at her. He knew the one responsible for the destruction in the caves. Two of his creations worked with the Guardians, but only one of them had enough anger and hatred to do this kind of damage.

And the girl who was so clearly her daughter was staring up at him right now, with fear and adoration gleaming from her eyes.

****

Dani woke, recognizing the
fog
that she’d b
een accustomed to over her nine-plus
-
year stay at the Institute. For the first few seconds of consciousness, she feared that she was back in the caves, that Garrick and his friends rescuing her was all a dream. But as soon as the thought came to her, she knew it was wrong. For one thing, she could feel the warmth of Garrick’s hand as it wrapped around hers. She could sense his nearness as though her blood sang in her veins. And she also realized that she couldn’t move.

She
blinked open her eyes, catching sight of Garrick as he sat next to her
. “Garrick?” she croaked.

“Shh, baby
.
Everything’s
fine
.”

“I
can’t move.
”

“We’ve got you wrapped up pretty tight.”

She looked down at herself then, expecting to see a full body cast. When she didn’t, she narrowed her eyes.

“Gregory wrapped your wings so they wouldn’t jar your spine.”

“But why can’t I move anything else?” So far the only things moving on command were her eyes and her mouth.

“You can’t move anything?” he asked, his head inching closer to hers.

“I don’t think so.”

Now
hi
s eyebrows lowered as he looked over her body. “I was certain…
.
I mean, you moved your toes in your sleep.
You’ve got to be able to.
Try to focus.”

She
focused on
her right foot, willing it flex. When nothing happened, she slammed her eyes shut in anger. “I can’t.”

“Hey,” he said, his face even closer now than it had been before. “You just had surgery on your neck and back a few hours ago. It’ll come.”

H
er gaze clash
ed
with Garrick’s. He couldn’t fool her
. She could see the fear in his eyes
as if he’d actually told her that she might live out her days as a cripple. To live in yet another type of prison.

Would that mean he wouldn’t want her anymore?

That thought alone brought tears to her eyes. She couldn’t live without him. She needed him as much as she needed oxygen.

“Ah,” an elderly voice said from the doorway. “I see our patient is awake.” He strolled into the room, pushing a wheelchair. “I picked this up in case she’d like to get out of this old, stuffy room.”

“Gregory,” Garrick said, smiling at the old man.
“Do you think she’s ready to get out of bed?”

“Well, last I checked she was healing quite nicely. Let’s have a look, shall we? Will you tilt her?”

Dani lowered her eyebrows angrily at him. Why did she suddenly feel like an old piece of furniture that someone needed to move out of the way? Garrick did as he said though, gently pulling her toward him so that
Gregory
could inspect whatever wound was back there.

“Ah, yes,” he said
, sounding pleased
. “She’s healing just fine. There is almost no
visible
wound left.
Only time will tell f
u
rther in, I’m afraid.
”

“Really?” Garrick and Dani replied at the same time.

Garrick snorted and gave her a half-smile before
facing
Gregory. “You think I can take her on a tour of the house?”

“Soon,” he replied. “Her neck
may
be healed in a few hours.”

Garrick thanked the old man as Gregory left the room. “How are you—”

“I’m sorry,” she interrupted.

He blinked once. Twice. “What?”

“I’ve ruined everything. I’m so sorry.” Tears trickled from her eyes. She remembered too late that she couldn’t move to flick them away, and they sluiced into her hair.

“Dani, you haven’t ruined anything.”

“Yes
,
I have. You told me to stay out of trouble and I just ran into it anyway. And now I’ll never walk again and you won’t want to be with—”

“Don’t. Say. It
.
Don’t you ever even think those words. Ever.”

She released a slow breath, wi
sh
ing the tears
would
stop forming in her eyes.

“I will always want to be with you,”
he
continued. “From the day I met you, you’ve been a part of me. I didn’t live until I met you, Dani. Getting kidnapped and meeting you was the best thing that ever happened to me.”

Dani stopped breathing, shocked at the pain emanating from Garrick’s voice. She could feel the truth in his words.
She could almost feel her heart reach out and grab his words, clutching them to her breast, never wanting to let them go.
“But you were tortured.”

“And beaten,” he agreed. “And gods know what else. But I’d do it all again if it meant I could be with you.”

S
he sighed. “This doesn’t make sense. I’m part Harpy. How can you
care for
your enemy?”

He snorted, lowering his face until their foreheads were touching. “You could never be my enemy. No other Harpy would have risked her life to save mine. Well, no Harpy would risk anything for
anyone
. But you did. You’re beautiful and kind, and even though you’ve had a
lot harder life than most
, you still have a big heart. And I…” H
is fac
e
morphed
before her eyes, showing an expression that
told her
he wasn’t quite sure he wanted to say something. As quickly as it came, the expression vanished, his decision made. “
Do you remember how I got you here?”

Dani looked around the room, trying to recall what had happened. “You made a door, that led us here.”

He nodded. “Do you remember what you said to me as we stepped through?”

“No,” she said, suddenly curious.

“You called me your ‘magician’. Do you know why you called me that?”

“It’s sort of something I can just see. I don’t really know why though.”

His face morphed, as though she’d said something that shocked him. “Like, you can see a part of my soul?”

“Yes.” That was exactly the way to describe it. She’d recognized it in him a while ago, not really knowing what it was. But now that he mentioned it, she recalled seeing something similar—and yet so, so different—in Nitro. It’s just that when she looked at Garrick, “Magician” came to mind, just as “Death” came to mind when she’d seen Nitro’s fury.