UnGuarded (34 page)

I laid back, my hair spilling out as I
settled against the soft cottony fabric. It was dusk here—wherever
that was—and the sky swirled with vibrant shades of blue and
purple, splashed with tinges of yellow and gold. There were only a
few remnant clouds, and they seemed to gather around the setting
sun as if it were pulling them below the horizon with it. I
stretched my arms over my head, twining my fingers together, then
extending them as far as they would go while I inhaled deeply. As I
exhaled, I felt the sheet move beside me. I rolled to the side,
finding Darius.

“Hey,” I said sweetly. “I was wondering when
you’d get here.”

My guide’s legs were stretched out in front
of him, and he crossed his right leg over his left as he replied,
“Did you find your friends?”

“No…but I, uh, I think I know where they
are.”

His red eyes locked onto mine, and I wanted
nothing more than to look away. But I held my ground and returned
his gaze. “I believe they’re still on Rhea.” I swallowed hard, then
forced myself to ask the looming question in my head. “Can I orb
someone with me while I’m…uh…
ghost-like?
”

He compressed his mouth and said
nothing.

That made my whole body shudder with a fresh
blast of nerves. But I ignored the tightness in my stomach and
pressed him again. “What I’m asking is if I can bring them back to
Earth
undetected
.” A little emphasis on that last word so
he’d know I was trying to follow his rules.

“Yes,” was all he said, and it was all I’d
wanted to hear.

My anxiousness eased up, and without
thinking I leaned over and threw out my arms to hug my guide. But I
stopped with my arms in the air and slowly brought them back to my
sides. “Sorry, I was just really happy with your answer,” I told
him. Aside from combat training, we’d never touched before, let
alone hugged, and I felt awkward about almost doing it.

He seemed to notice my inner struggle, but
he didn’t do anything to reassure me. But after a beat, he finally
asked, “When are you going?”

I shrugged. “I figured I’d go now, since
this thing”—I shook my wrist, exposing the tattoo—“hasn’t flared up
yet.”

“Remember to stay…”

“Unseen,” we finished together.

“I have one more question,” I stated
uncertainly.

Darius’ gaze was hard again, penetrating,
and unreadable. It took me a minute to find the words I wanted to
use. “There’s a demon that I have some issues with, and I’d really
like to kill him.”

“No” was his instant reply.

“Darius…”

“You must always listen to the ankh. If it
tells you to kill the demon, then you may. But you cannot kill him
of your own regard.”

Fine. Not exactly what I was hoping to hear,
but at least I did get some good news. Finally, I nodded in
submission. “Okay.”

Darius jumped up in one rapid move and held
out a hand to me. “Come.” That one word spoken with authority and
conviction and I took his hand right away. He pulled me up, saying,
“I think we should go over what we practiced before you go to
Rhea.”

“Why do I need to practice more fighting? I
can’t use that unless I’m like this.” I gestured up and down my
body with my hands.

“I’m not referring to physical combat.” He
turned on his heel and headed off through the expansive meadow.

I chased behind him, my boots whisking in
the short, plush grass. “What do you mean then?”

“Your mind still has much control to learn.”
He stopped walking and spun around to face me, eyes penetrating.
“What if your friends are in danger? What will your emotions
provoke from you? I fear your control. Or should I say lack of
control?”

“I knew it! You’ve known all along they were
trapped on Rhea and you never told me!”

His gaze narrowed. “Should your friends not
be there, I would not be worried. I am only preparing you in the
event that they are.”

The word
liar
built up on my tongue,
but I swallowed it back and took a few deep, lasting breaths, then
rotated my neck until it popped. “Fine. Let’s get this over with so
I can go.”

My guide turned around and headed off
without saying another word. The vast open field seemed to go on
for miles and it felt like hours that I followed him, but since I
didn’t have a watch I had no idea how long it really was. Finally
the terrain became rocky and uneven. A few times I tripped and
needed to use my hands to push up off the rocks. It was almost full
night, the sun barely clinging to a lower corner of the sky, and
all those vibrant lights had dulled as the darkness moved in to
swallow them. I was just about to ask, “Are we there yet?” when
Darius finally stopped. He didn’t turn to face me, just held his
hand out to the side, gesturing for me to come stand beside him.
Once I did, my breath caught in my throat.

We stood on the edge of an incredibly high
cliff, overlooking the most beautiful scenery I’d ever seen. The
faint light the sun gave out cast hazy shadows on the landscape
below us. The view reminded me of the Grand Canyon—only this ravine
wasn’t a desert-like place. It was robust with tree-covered hills
and a few small lakes separating them. Soft light glistened on the
massive, shiny, granite-like stones that jutted up in various
places like beacons lighting the way. There was a waterfall
somewhere off in the distance. I could hear the raging water
splashing into the depths below, could sense the moisture building
in the air, but I couldn’t see it with my eyes. A serene
peacefulness washed over me, and I let it embrace me. It was the
most beautiful feeling I’d experienced in a long while, and I
wanted it to take over and thrive inside me.

All of a sudden, I was giggling and I didn’t
remember having started. But it continued, the joy of the moment
spreading through me with a pleasant burn along my flesh. And I
savored it. I reveled in it. Rapturous laughter now spilled off my
tongue, making it hard to breathe, and I grabbed my chest as if
that would help me. Darius’ hand was on my back, steadying me,
supporting me, and, oddly, comforting me. It was the first time my
guide had ever touched me in a compassionate way. He was always so
hard, so tough to read, and impossible to really feel close to. But
in this moment, I felt close. For the first time he felt like a
friend.

And then the moment ended as swiftly as it
had come. My guide sat down on the edge of the cliff, staring out
at the breathtaking world below us. His legs were crossed in front
of him and his palms rested on his knees facing the sky. This time,
I didn’t need his invitation. I sat down next to him, copying his
stance. Our eyes were closed, our breathing deep and slow. Moments
later, I could feel his mind inside me and mine inside him. We were
one, opening our hearts in silent prayer. Asking for strength,
guidance, and control just as we had done before.

Then surprisingly, Darius requested loyalty
to one another. I could feel his desire to trust me swirling inside
my own head, and before I could stop it, guilt pushed to the
surface and interspersed with our already shared emotions. I
startled, jolting out of our incorporeal connection, tears forming
in a rush of regret. I stared ahead because I couldn’t handle
looking at my guide—even though I could feel his eyes burning the
side of my face. “I’m sorry,” I offered with a strained voice.

“What did you do?” He didn’t sound mad, but
worse than that—disappointed.

“I needed to confirm my suspicions of Rhea.
I was able to do most of it without being detected.” I hesitated,
nervously shrugging my shoulders, fighting the tears that
threatened to choke me. Then I told him about my confrontation with
Croix.

“You mustn’t show yourself to anyone,” he
scolded.

“I know.” I peered over at him. “I’m
sorry.”

“Sorry won’t keep our identities protected,”
he went on, raking me with his hardened gaze. “If others find out
about you, about us, we risk them learning of what we do. Darkness
and light alike do not favor anyone who can tamper with their
works. If they learn our identity, they will seek us out.”

“We can’t die. You said so yourself.”

“But what they will do to us will make us
pray for death.”

“I can see a demon trying to torture us, but
a guardian angel?”

He looked away, exhaling slowly. “Most of
all…guardians. If we interfere with their ability to protect their
human charge, they will attack us with the full force of their
inner light.”

The memory of my encounter with the guardian
in Caitlyn’s old dorm room flashed in my head. And he hadn’t even
attacked me. It had been the run-off of his power he’d thrown to
the demons that had brought me to my knees—and kept me there until
he turned off his light. My body shuddered and I rubbed my arms
with my hands. My throat constricted, making it impossible to
speak—not that I really wanted to anyway.

“Take me to him,” my guide requested, all
his anger seeming to have faded.

“Take you to who?”

“This Croix. The one who knows what he
cannot know.”

I felt my eyes widen. “What are you going to
do?”—my voice laced with panic.

“I’m going to protect us.”

“No!” I exclaimed, scooting over and
grabbing Darius by the arm, shaking him. “You can’t kill him! You
told me we could only kill when the ankh allows us!”

Darius brought his wrist over toward me,
exposing the same black tattoo that was on mine. “I will protect
this power at all costs. Once I go to this vampire, the energy will
be there for me to harness.”

So the magical symbol wouldn’t lead him to
Croix since technically Croix hadn’t done anything to disrupt the
balance—yet. “Please,” I begged. “Let me talk to him. I can explain
our situation. He won’t say anything to anyone.”

Darius’ eyes glowed brighter, the eerie
redness seeping over the lines of his lids. “Can you guarantee his
silence? Are you able to bet your life, and mine, that he can be
trusted?”

My mouth opened to say yes. I desperately
wanted to say yes. But I couldn’t get the word off my tongue, like
it was frozen in the depths of my throat. Could I trust Croix? Even
though he was Cole’s friend, I just wasn’t sure that I could trust
him with a secret such as this. All it would take was one little
slip of the tongue, him telling someone that he’d seen me and then
blabbing on about the outfit he’d seen me wearing. Would those
details be enough to endanger me? Maybe. And at that moment grim
reality hit me. I knew with a one hundred percent certainty that
Croix would tell Cole. And if Croix would tell one person, he’d be
capable of telling more. It was just the simple way gossip worked.
My insides rolled with regret, wishing I’d never shown myself to
Croix. If only I’d been more patient, perhaps I still could’ve
gotten the information I needed. But I was in a hurry, and now it
would cost someone I knew their life.

“It is a hard lesson to learn, and I am
sorry for what must be done,” Darius said with a gentle tone.

“Please. There has to be another way.”
Because Croix’s death on my shoulders was too heavy for me to
bear.

He assessed me, his expression tight. When
he didn’t say anything I knew his threat was final.

I nodded by way of my answer, glancing down
at my lap. At last, tears spilled down my cheeks and I lowered my
head to hide them. My hair fell forward and Darius brushed it back
with the softest of strokes, then pulled me into his arms and held
me as I cried.

28

THE CAVE THAT LED TO EZARIAH’S LAIR was
swarming with demons. But since none of them could see me, I was
feeling pretty lucky. I hugged the rocky wall as I floated along,
keeping my diaphanous body concealed within the shadows. Being in
my ghostly form kept me from stepping in those murky puddles with
the slimy bottoms, and the rest of the slick, rocky path. The
demons—all lower-leveled and mostly soldiers—carelessly marched
back and forth, several holding torches with flames dancing and
pulsing as they moved. Suddenly, a few fights broke out all at
once. One soldier demon was blindsided, a Frankenstein-like demon
punching him in the side of the head. The soldier demon growled a
warning and carelessly flung the lit torch toward the other. When
that happened, the torch struck another soldier’s face, and that
commotion caused several others to get involved. You simply
couldn’t have this many demons in one room without some head
bumping, so to speak. Unless, of course Typhon was still here to
whip them into shape. But their foolhardy behavior had me doubting
I’d see the master demon, and for that I was relieved. Mostly
because Darius had told me that without the ankh’s power, I
couldn’t kill him. I rolled my eyes at the thought, and started
moving a little faster.