Bound by Revenge (Guardian Series) (34 page)

“She’s definitely alive.” Vance’s chest burned as she saw Sam’s reaction. Her brows furrowed and her lips pulled tightly at the edges, all before she stopped breathing. It was a combination of disappointment, fear and heartache.

“Is she still in Ruthers?” Sam’s voice was strained.

“Yeah, she’s still in town. If she weren’t, I wouldn’t be able to sense her.” Vance pushed back his cuticles and picked at the skin around his nails. “She’s not gonna leave us alone, you know.”

“I was afraid you’d say that.” Sam groaned. “So I guess that means you’re off bed rest. We need to get everyone else up to speed.”

Sam bounded down the stairs with Vance behind her. The first floor was completely vacant. Down one more flight of stairs, Sam found everyone.

Abby was in one corner, beating the living hell out of a heavy bag. Alex was standing over Tom, spotting as Tom bench pressed more than three times his weight. And Leus was by himself on the treadmill in the far corner.

“Alright, kids.” Sam yelled over the sound of machinery and grunting. “I know we’ve all suspected it, but Vance confirmed that Morgan
is
alive.”

It seemed she was the only one who had any real hope that Morgan was dead. All Sam was able to pull from the others was a quick glance. Though Leus added a no-shit laugh.

“Um, yeah. Well. We need to start practicing together.”

“Split up!” Vance’s voice soared easily over the racket. And unlike Sam’s, everyone stopped to pay attention.

“We’re gonna rotate. Leus, Sam and I will be working one-on-one with each of you. Half hour and then we switch. It’s your best shot at learning how to fight like an immortal. Cuz, I’m telling you, Morgan is gonna make sure her guys are beefin’ up their skills.” Vance pointed at Tom. “You’re mine.”

Sam grabbed Abby and Leus headed off with Alex.

The basement looked like a war zone for the rest of the evening. Just about every weapon that ever existed seemed to be in use somewhere in the room. And if it wasn’t in action, it was lying on the floor or in the corner waiting until someone grabbed it.

For the first time since they all came together as a team, they actually worked that way. Before, they each faced their own opponent. But after a few hours of practice, they learned to work off each other, attack as a group and defend the same way. This was what they’d need to beat Morgan.

Chapter Twenty-five

The bottom of the door dragged lightly across the wooden floor as Vance slipped into Sam’s bedroom. She was taking advantage of one of the few quiet moments the guardians had since they reignited their training program. Now, more than ever, they all knew the importance of training together. They knew what they would be facing and how dangerous it was.

While it looked like Sam was asleep, lying quietly horizontally across the king bed, Vance knew better. The second he touched the doorknob, Sam woke up. There’d be no sneaking up on an angel.

Vance tiptoed across the room with one hand behind his back and pretended alongside Sam that she was still sound asleep.

Just as he got to her side, she reached up and gave him a playful slap to the side of his ass.

“Oh, that’s what I get for trying to be nice. I should probably just go downstairs and spend some time with someone who actually wants to hang out with me?” Vance chuckled low in his throat and looked down at Sam.

She had two long indents across her cheek from where the comforter had folded underneath her.

“I’m sorry. It was an accident.” Sam cooed and rolled over onto her back to look backwards at Vance. “What’s going on?”

“Not too much. Just bored with no one to entertain me.”

“Hmmm. I might believe you a little more if you weren’t holding your arm behind your back and acting so suspicious.”

She used her legs to push her backwards across the bed in an attempt to crane her head around Vance, but he backed up and swung to the side.

“Should I be scared?” Sam popped from her back onto her hands and knees and bared her teeth. “Cuz I think I can take you.”

“You must still be sleeping. There’s no way you’re thinkin’ straight.” Vance leaned over and nipped Sam’s lip.

“Well, I think I like where this could be leading, but it still doesn’t explain what you’re hiding.” Sam squinted one eye and stared Vance down.

“Dum da da dum.” Vance sang off-key as he swung his arm around to reveal a small cupcake sitting under a two inch mountain of lavender frosting. A little pink flag stuck out of the top. The navy blue lettering said Happy Birthday and it had a sparkly balloon next to the writing.

Sam couldn’t breathe for just a second. She felt like a house had fallen on her chest.

“It’s my birthday.” She mouthed looking at the perfect little cake.

“No shit. That’s why I brought you a birthday cupcake.” Vance handed the cake over and Sam took possession of it and held it delicately with both hands as if it were the most fragile object in the world.

“But I never told you it was my birthday.”

“I know.” He said, as he watched Sam’s strange tenderness to the inanimate object.

“How did you know?” She brought the cupcake up to her mouth and took a slow lick of frosting.

“Well, it’s like this,” Vance sat down next to her on the bed. “We’ve known each other for a while, right?”

“Uh huh.”

“So, every year it’s the same. October 21
^st
you disappear. You’re not with the charge, you’re not with us. You’re just gone. So a few years back, I followed you out of curiosity. I wanted to know what was so important that you completely fell off the grid.”

Sam pulled the paper cup off the cake and took a big bite, leaving chocolate crumbs tumbling on her lap and a purple frosting mustache across her lip. Too hard to resist, Vance licked it off before continuing.

“And it turned out, you went to a tiny little bakery. I watched you sitting inside, eating a cupcake, chocolate of course. All alone.” Vance reached over and tucked a strand of Sam’s hair behind her ear so she wouldn’t get it covered in sugary frosting and chocolate cake.

“I didn’t get it that first year, but every October 21
^st
, I’d follow you. No matter where we were, it was the same. You’d sneak off, find a cute little bakery and indulge in the most decadent chocolate cupcake you could find. So I guess I just assumed it had to be your birthday.”

Sam held out the last bite of cake and popped it into Vance’s mouth. “It’s good, huh?”

Vance nodded and squeezed Sam gently above her knee.

“I’ve never had anyone to share it with before.” She cleared her throat and rubbed a smear of the frosting that was leftover on her finger on Vance’s nose.

“You’ll never have it all to yourself again.” Vance pulled Sam tightly against his chest and laid a long passionate kiss against her soft mouth.

“So how old are you, anyway?” He asked.

“Four hundred and ninety eight years young.” Her expression was cold.

“Ohhh.” He drew the word out as Sam’s expression broke into a sardonic smile. “I didn’t realize you were such an old bag. Maybe we should reconsider our little arrangement.”

“You’re an asshole.” Sam squeezed Vance’s cheeks together in mock anger. “You’re not too far behind me.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know.” The words sounded foreign through his smooshed up mouth.

“Thank you.” Sam made a similar fish face smacked a noisy peck against Vance’s before releasing him from her grip.

“You never fail to surprise me.” Sam leaned back onto the bed to rest for just a minute longer.

“Come on. It may be your birthday, but we have lots of work ahead of us. And it’s time to get back.” Vance swept his arms under Sam and lifted her up to carry her downstairs. 

Epilogue

“We could leave. Start fresh somewhere. There’s no one controlling us now.” Sam whispered timidly in Vance’s ear. “We could have a real life somewhere. We could even start a family.”

Her words cut deep through his soul. All he had ever wanted was a normal life. He wanted the kind of life the humans took for granted. He never even imagined that a family could be a part of that.

“Where would we go?” He prodded, trying to see how serious Sam was, or if it was all just conjecture.

“We could go anywhere. Anywhere but here. Anywhere you wanna go.” Her sadness filled him with a grief that he’d never experienced.

“So we’ll get normal jobs, buy a house and start a family?” He asked again.

As much as he wanted those things, he knew they weren’t possible. Not with what they were. They were created for a specific purpose. Their new role as guardians freed them from that binding tie but brought with it a responsibility greater than any other on the planet.

“Will we let our friends die?” He prodded, wanting Sam to make the right choice without him telling her what he thought would be best. He would do anything for her. If she needed to leave, he would. But it would be to the detriment of the other guardians and all of humanity.

“No,” she hesitated, “but they’re getting stronger every day. And now they have Leus here to help them.”

They both laughed at the ridiculous statement, knowing how long it would take for Leus to integrate into the group and gain the trust of the others, especially Abby.

“They can find others. There are plenty of other immortals out there.” Her eyes were wide and desperate as she pleaded with him to agree.

“You know how much time Bradley spent searching for us. How many immortals he tracked, looking for the best team he could build.” Vance clenched his teeth together. “A team that could work together and bring the right strengths to win this war with the least amount of innocent casualties.”

“I know.” Sam whined and leaned back against Vance. “You’re right. We have to stay here to protect Bradley’s legacy. His kids’ll never make it without us. They don’t know enough about the way our world works. I don’t even wanna try to imagine what Morgan could do to them if we weren’t around. It’d be the Tom thing all over again.”

Vance hugged her to his chest. He knew she would make the decision that was best for the world, even though it meant sacrificing the only things that could make her happy. That was one of the things he loved best about her. She was everything good in this world. And he would be by her side every day, every battle. To protect the one he loved.

Acknowledgments

Nina, thank you for helping me every step of the way, from my first spark of an idea to the finished product and every little detail in the middle.  I couldn’t have done it without you.