Guardian's Hope (41 page)

The woman named Grace was coming down that
rusty old fire escape and it looked like she had some half naked
girl with her. Joseph stepped out onto the sidewalk.

“For Pete’s sake,” he yelled into the phone,
“You’re not being watched at the back of the house!” He saw Grace’s
head snap up and she froze. “Just wait a minute!” The guy at the
back of the house stared at him for a minute, shrugged and
continued around the corner. “Okay then,” he yelled into the phone.
Grace got the message and continued on down.

There was no way the two of them were going
to make that drop. Joseph hurried back and stood beneath the broken
ladder.

Grace smiled and blew him a kiss. She lowered
the woman to him, she was only a bag of bones, and then held up
three fingers before she began the climb back up. Three more? The
woman on the ground said nothing. She didn’t look like she had the
strength. He took her to the forsythia and sat her on the
ground.

“Don’t move,” he said and ran back to catch
the next. He did the same, again and again. The fourth was tied to
Grace’s back and it took some maneuvering to get her to the ground.
He’d just gotten her settled by the bush when two more men rounded
the corner of the house. He froze and Grace did, too. The men idly
checked the bushes next to the house, but never looked up.

When the two men turned the corner, Grace
signaled with her hand and Manon began the ascent. She was no more
than four or five rungs down when the rung broke or her foot
slipped. It didn’t matter. The older woman hung there, suspended
and even from this distance, Joseph heard her frightened gasp.

Grace skimmed up the ladder once more, helped
Manon find her footing and the two descended together. The younger
woman signaled to Joseph to stay where he was, dropped unaided and
helped Manon gain the ground. They ran to his hiding place.

Manon grasped his hand. “Joseph, mon ami, you
have indeed become dear to me,” she said breathlessly. “You must
take these poor creatures to hospital. Say that you found them
huddled on a street corner somewhere far away from here. They will
not protest.”

“I’m not leaving you.”

“You must. One is on the point of death and
we must save her if we can. I will call for help. My phone? I’ve
lost my phone!”

“Here,” he held it out to her, “You left it
in the car. I dialed three and got someone named Otto. I think he’s
on the way.”

“You are truly the hero of this night. Go. I
will shield you from sight. Take these women to hospital.”

She sounded so worn, so tired, but she
insisted that he go and Grace helped him get the women to their
feet. They still didn’t react or speak but when he told them to
move, they did. He herded them like ducklings and carried the
weakest in his arms. He got them into the car and sped off.

Manon collapsed on the ground. “I must call
Otto and then we must go back to help Hope.” She smiled weakly. “I
am getting too old for this.”

Four motorcycles roared up the street,
followed closely by an Escalade that took the corner on two wheels.
The Guardians had arrived.

*****

Hope didn’t believe he was taking her to
Faith and when he first escorted her into the bedroom, she was sure
of it. Her finger wove the pattern madly, building power. She
wouldn’t go without a fight. Her eyes darted around the room,
looking for possible weapons. The room was neat and tidy except for
the disheveled bed and she swallowed a shudder as she thought about
what went on in it.

“You say you’ve wanted this reunion so badly,
yet you haven’t even bothered to say hello.”

She turned to look at Damon and then to where
he pointed. Hope couldn’t hold back her gasp of distress. Faith sat
huddled against the wall between a tall dresser and the door. She’d
been hidden by the open door. Her knees were pulled up to her chest
with her arms wrapped tightly around them. She didn’t look up and
her hair fell in a web of tangles to her chin. She was naked, with
welts and bruises of varying age and color everywhere.

“You monster.” Hope knelt in front of her
sister and brushed the hair from her vacant, staring eyes.

“You don’t know how right you are, but you
will,” Tyn sniggered.

Hope wove the pattern faster and faster. She
now understood the Guardian’s rage. She felt her own building and
building. She wanted to destroy this monster and she would gladly
take its head.

A disturbance from downstairs took Tyn’s
attention. He smiled, all teeth. “You two get reacquainted. I’ll
settle this and be back.” He slammed and locked the door on the way
out.

Hope leapt to her feet, throwing open drawers
and ransacking them, looking for something to throw over her
sister. She found a sweater and tossed it to her, followed by a
pair of sweats that would probably fall off that poor emaciated
body.

“Faith, come on, we have to get out of
here.”

She went to the window and when it wouldn’t
open, she blew it out with a flick of her hands. Below was a
rooftop, a porch of some sort off the room at the back of the house
that she’d been unable to identify.

She ran to the bed and grabbed the sheet.
Starting the tear with her teeth, she ripped a wide swath, tied it
to the bedframe and tore another.

“This’ll get us to the roof. We’ll figure
something out from there.” She pushed the bed over to the window,
tied the two strips of sheeting together and threw the free end
out. It ended short, but was close enough. She turned to Faith.

Her sister hadn’t moved, hadn’t noticed that
Hope was tearing the room apart, had made no effort to dress.

“Oh, sweetheart, I know this is hard, but you
have to move. He’ll be back any moment.”

She ran to Faith and dressed her without
resistance. She pulled her to her feet and dragged her to the
window. The sweats were already around Faith’s knees. Hope wasted
precious seconds tearing another strip of sheet to belt them to
Faith’s waist. Tearing another wide strip, she tied a wide loop and
brought it up between her sister’s legs. She could hear the yelling
downstairs, but who knew how long it would last. Finally she hauled
her makeshift rope back into the bedroom and tied the end to the
one attached to Faith. She heard footsteps pounding up the
stairs.

Hope threw both hands out and used all her
stored power to move the dresser the few feet needed to block the
door. It wasn’t much, but it would buy them a few minutes of time.
The effort exhausted her. She tried to call Grace with her mind,
but she had no energy left to do it and calling Nico had been
fruitless. She was on her own.

She pushed Faith to the window and wrapped
her sister’s hands around the sheet. “Hang on,” she ordered and
remarkably, Faith did. Hoped lifted her, shocked anew at how frail
she’d become, and hoisted her through the window, lowering her as
slowly as she dared. When Faith was sitting on the roof, Hope
climbed out and followed.

*****

Canaan almost lost the Ducati when Grace
stepped out into the road. It was Nardo’s foot that saved them.
Grace was pointing to the house and screaming that Hope was still
in there. Dov and Col skidded to a stop a few feet away, waiting
for orders and a plan of attack.

Nico tossed off his helmet as he sped by. It
skidded past the bikes and cracked against the curb. He spun,
gunned the engine and opened the throttle. He took the bike over
the curb, up the sidewalk and stairs and crashed through the front
door.

“Free for all!” Dov yelled as he ran to
attack a demon who’d been thrown over Nico’s bike and out the
door.

“Duck!” Broadbent screamed and Nardo ducked
without thinking. A shining silver disc flew over his head,
spinning across the yard and into the neck of a demon rounding the
corner. “I remembered!” the professor called as he ran past Nardo,
“And this time I’ll take the heart.”

“Otto! Take clean up.” Canaan ordered.
Neighbors were peeking out and Otto could still make them forget.
He pointed to Grace and Manon. “You two, get in the car and don’t
move.”

Col saw a shadow move at the back of the
house. The demon was looking the other way at something toward the
back of the yard. This was way too easy. No fun in that. He roared
to get the beast’s attention and charged head on.

Nardo and Canaan ran into the house together.
One demon was already turning to dust in the hallway. They could
hear the pounding of footsteps and a roar overhead. That had to be
Nico. A head poked out and disappeared behind the stairs. The two
Guardians followed. There was nothing in the kitchen. They checked
the rear entry, but the yard was silent and they returned to the
house. As they re-entered the kitchen, Canaan touched Nardo’s arm
in a signal to stop. He pointed to the floor and cocked his head to
listen. There it was. Someone was in the cellar, trying to quietly
open the hatchway to the outside. Nardo nodded. He’d heard it,
too.

Canaan motioned for Nardo to go back outside
while he searched for the cellar door. It only took a moment to
find the door leading down underneath the stairs going up.

Nardo saw the hatch open a few inches and he
stepped back against the house, out of sight. It opened again, a
little more and then was thrown open so fast, Nardo had to jump to
get out of the way. He leapt across the wooden door now almost flat
against the ground and tackled the demon before it had a chance to
turn fully around. Its neck snapped with a satisfying crunch as
Nardo grabbed its head with crossed arms and twisted. He tossed the
demon onto its back and plunged his fist into its chest. His roar
echoed through the neighborhood as he held the heart high. That
roar was repeated again and again as the others defeated their
opponents.

Canaan’s quarry heard the fight at the
hatchway, changed its mind about using that exit and made for the
stairs leading up into the house where it ran headlong into the
Liege Lord’s blade. Canaan’s upward blow sent the demon over the
rail and onto the floor below. The Liege Lord followed over the
rail to land beside the creature. Showing no mercy, the Guardian
plunged his fist into the wound of the still breathing demon and
tore out the heart. His scream of victory matched the others.

Nico followed the one he knew to be the
leader up the stairs. It shimmered and changed on its way to the
landing. He threw himself forward and caught a foot before it
reached the top, but the clawed appendage lashed out, catching
Nico’s face. It scrambled away on all fours, bellowing at another
for help. Nico roared and followed, stumbling in his haste.

He was met by the second demon with both arms
and talons extended. Nico was running, crouched low to regain his
balance and he used the position to ram the demon’s midsection. He
felt the claws anchor in his back but he continued forward until
the wall stopped them both.

Tyn ran to his bedroom door, letting the
minion fend off the Guardian alone. This battle was lost, but the
way to victory lay beyond this door. He’d heard the warrior scream
her name as he rode through the door. He’d heard him shout it again
as he slaughtered the first minion. All he had to do was get to
those two women. With them at his side, he could buy his way to
freedom.

He tried to force the key into the lock, but
the claws of his demon made maneuvering difficult. He willed his
hand into human form. The lock clicked and he turned the knob and
pushed. The latch released, but the door wouldn’t budge. He
screamed in frustration, kicked at the door and put his shoulder to
it, pushing with all the force of his muscular legs. The door
opened a few inches. Surely the two puny bitches didn’t have the
strength to hold it closed. He renewed his efforts and the door
opened another inch. Now he could see the highboy shoved against
it. His scream of rage mingled with his minion’s scream of pain.
Tyn turned and ran, across the hall and into the waiting room, up
the stairs to the minionettes. They weren’t worth the two sisters,
but they had to be worth something. He could bargain. These
Guardians had honor. They wouldn’t risk human lives. He’d use that
to his advantage.

He charged from room to room. Where were
they? He flipped a bed on its side. They were hiding. They had to
be.

“Come out here!” he ordered, but there was no
one there to obey. He heard the Guardian on the stairs.

The window! There shouldn’t be a window. That
had to be the route they’d taken. He ran for the room where he’d
seen it and met Nico in the short hall. The warrior carried two
blades which he spun with mesmerizing agility and he walked without
hurry. The bastard knew he’d already won. Tyn did what he’d always
done. He ran.

Nico followed him into the room, eyes blazing
gold and fangs bared. For the first time in his life he wanted to
rip the throat from his victim as those sharpened incisors were
designed to do.

“Where is she?” he growled.

Tyn glanced at the window. He’d never make it
out in his current form. He needed to buy time to transform back to
human.

“Where’s who?” he asked insolently and began
the transformation. He circled the warrior, watching the
blades.

“You know who. Hope.” Nico circled back and
blocked the door.

He pretended to think about it as he
completed the change and gave the Guardian his most leering grin.
“Ah, the red head,” he sneered, “She wasn’t as tasty as her sister,
but I’m afraid I spoiled her for anyone else, unless you’re into
fucking the dead.”

As soon as the words left his mouth, he knew
it was a mistake. The Guardian’s features turned to white marble,
the veins in his forehead and neck like feathered streaks in the
stone. His eyes blazed and the blades stopped spinning. Tyn dove
for the window.

He felt one of the blades slice into his back
and he was falling. His arms pinwheeled and one hooked on a rung.
He made no sound until his body slammed against the metal ladder
and his shoulder wrenched from the socket. He screamed in
agony.