Guardians (Chosen Trilogy Book 2) (10 page)

Lysette Cohen loved Vienna. Though a resident of Monaco, a refugee of a battle with her ex-husband, she always wished she could have set up her life somewhere in this beautiful old city. She didn’t know if it was the architecture, the history, the museums or the friendly people that called to her, but call to her they did. Of course, now that she
’d joined Aegis in their fight for human existence all that became a moot point. There would be time and money enough later to uproot.

A clever and astute mind reader, Lysette had found it hard to join with her Chosen brethren during the battle on Miami Beach.
Outing a traitor was easy. Fighting warrior demons not so much. So now she found herself part of another team. Ceriden the vampire and Jade the elf were here, both enormously powerful beings. Marian Cleaver was here, the badass boxer and troubleshooter from Miami. And Lucy Logan was here too, simply because she was one of the Chosen and Ceriden wanted to keep her close. Lysette didn’t totally trust the vampire’s motives, but didn’t even want to think about trying to read the Uber’s mind. Who would want to experience the contemplations of a vampire?

As was her wont
, Lysette had attached a series of private nicknames to all concerned. It helped her focus. So Cleaver became Chopper—for more reasons than one—and Ceriden became Bill. Not that he looked much like the vampire out of
True Blood
, but Lysette could only fantasize. Jade’s name was short and snappy enough not to warrant a change and Lucy would always be Lost Girl.

Despite the love her father gave her, this girl would always crave her mother’s love. She hungered for it until the need made her sick, weak. Until everything she could become and everything she had around her didn’t matter anymore.

Lysette despised the mother that would abandon her young daughter. She thanked her lucky stars that her own husband had betrayed his intentions long before they had gotten around to having kids.

So now Lost Girl walked with the vampire kid
—Ethan—Bird Face to her because he reminded her of an annoying, pecking pigeon the way he clung to Lucy. Ethan was young and lonely to be sure, but he was still temptingly dangerous to a sixteen-year-old girl. The Aegis team left the airport and drove immediately to where the latest sighting of the hierarchy demon had been reported, not wanting this long trip to be another wasted journey. Lucinda, the head witch back in Florida, gave them the most recent intel: A ‘serpent’ had been sighted twisted around the heights of St. Stephen’s Cathedral. On any normal day the streets would be thick with tourists around here, but today only the foolhardy remained.

Lysette
took a sharp breath as they approached the Gothic and Romanesque style church. Though the spires and arches and mosaic roof were all impressive and eye-catching they were nothing when compared to the twenty-foot serpent curled around the tallest tower. Its body was huge; its wings, when occasionally unfurled, were of enormous wingspan; and clawed feet hung down on every side, flexing carefully as it eyed potential victims gathering below. Strings of drool fell slowly from its jaws, unwinding as they went and pooling on the ground below. Such was the power of its grip, a continuous trickle of rubble and shale fell from the spire.

Cleaver stared up, slowly unbuttoning his duster. “Jeez. That thing
’s gigantic.”

Ceriden sent a shocked look across the line. “Demons this powerful can portray any image they wish. I have absolutely no idea how we
’re going to engage it!”

“Well
, you’d best think fast,” Lucy whispered. “’Cause it looks kinda hungry.”

Lysette read the panic in her mind and placed a hand across the girl’s shoulder
s to help calm her down. “You have power,” she said softly. “Make ready.”

Lysette wondered if she dare probe the demon’s mind. The last time she
’d done that, Emily Crowe’s dark visions had almost unhinged her, but they’d also found out the woman’s diabolical plan. Was it worth the risk?

Fear stripped the evaluation from her mind as the dragon-like creature move
d. Its coils slipped around the spire as it stretched, rising up; the wings opened with a whiplash crack, gently buffeting the air. Its snout lifted and let loose a scream of defiance, right up at the heavens. A great chunk of masonry, one of the peaked spires, cascaded down and crashed through the roof of a building below.

Cleaver slipped out his shotgun. Due to the privacy of Aegis’ planes and the timely nature of their work they were allowed to fly between borders without too much scrutiny. Nothing slowed them. Nobody hindered them.
Every single one of the world’s governments were playing catch up with the recent worldwide revelations of Ubers, Gorgoroth and the hierarchy demons.

I
t fell. It didn’t fly, it didn’t swoop; it fell right off the heights of the cathedral and plummeted at them, clawed feet outstretched. Lucy ducked and scuttled backward. Ethan did the same. Jade stared up, transfixed, until Cleaver tackled her roughly around the waist.

“Get the hell back!”

Ceriden almost lost his footing as he too rushed clear. The colossal dragon landed like a transit van pushed out of an airplane at a thousand feet. Paving flags shattered under the impact. The entire square heaved, throwing everyone off their feet. Stained glass windows shattered. Cracks ran up surrounding stone walls, a running stitch of wanton destruction.

And from the dragon’s mouth came the most cultured of voices.

“Oh, my. It seems I misjudged the landing.”

C
huckles followed. When Lysette looked up she saw the great beast shaking some misshapen lump from between its toes.

“Sorry, old chap. Bit slow off the mark were you?”

Lysette scrambled even further back. Cleaver was on his knees at her side. “It’s Abaddon,” he said, indicating his earplug and Bluetooth set-up. “Just got word . . . not that it helps us at all.”

“How can we fight something like this?”

“I know!” Ceriden shouted. “Follow me.”

T
he vampire king set off at a hard run, straight toward the creature’s half-open mouth. Lysette balked at first, then caught the crazy, high-stakes gamble Ceriden was playing as the unguarded notions ran through his head.

. . .
demon’s at Saint Stephen’s for a reason . . . artefact must be inside . . . it’ll need to shrink down to get at it . . . I hope . . . or we’re dead . . . oh, dear . . . oh, damn . . . craaaaaa—

Lysette shut it out
right there as Ceriden ran past the snuffling serpent. Its eyes blinked, but otherwise it made no move, preferring instead to survey the extent of its destruction.

“My, my. Such fragile structures.
As are their builders.”

Abaddon heaved and shoved one foot beneath its bulk. Lysette saw her chance and ran hard in Ceriden’s footsteps, taking advantage of the gigantic beast’s slowness. She grabbed Lucy and herded her ahead, letting Ethan take care of himself, though the vampire boy never lost more than a stride on her. By the time Abaddon
realized what was occurring the team were through. Cleaver shut the cathedral door behind them, the clunk echoing loudly in the great vaulted space.

Lysette stopped and stared in awe.
The interior was a masterpiece, a stunning work of art. Nevertheless, she knew from her love of Vienna and its rich history that this wonderful building had only been saved from an intentional destruction by the brave pluckiness of a German captain. When ordered to destroy it by his Kommandant, Josef Dietrich, to “Fire a hundred shells and leave it in just debris and ashes,” he had disregarded the order. Such was the gallantry of some men and the spitefulness of others.

A tiled mosaic floor led down the
center of the cathedral, flanked on either side by glass cabinets, ornate pews, carved figurines, candelabras and curious niches full of more works of art. At the far end of the cathedral the distant golden high altar shined its glory, the representation of the stoning of the church’s patron, St. Stephen.

Stephen was regarded as the first
martyr.

Lysette allowed the wonder of the place to wash through her. Then she turned to Ceriden. “Abaddon could be looking for anything. It could be anywhere. What are we supposed to do?”

At that moment the doors shook, the building rocked and a great shriek rang out. Lysette ducked instinctively but nothing happened. They were greeted to the sound of beating wings, the screams of trapped onlookers, and then another shriek, this time further away, higher. Lysette looked fearfully up toward the roof.

“Oh no. It’s not
. . .”

They waited, moving closer to the sides of the vast room. After what seemed an eternity Cleaver let out a long sigh.

“Beastie’s gone,” he said. “And get this. Team Cheyne grabbed an artefact off old Astaroth over there in Hawaii, and now they have a theory. They believe that each of these artefacts used to
belong
to each demon, before they were turned. Y’know, when they were still one of us. That’s why the pieces draw them, call to them. It’s like an old memory. But sometimes memories need searching out, sorting through, and then clearly identifying. We’re of the belief
that’s
why the hierarchy demons appear to be hunting, searching in the same spot and returning again and again. They know the thing’s there, but it takes a while to locate it. So . . .” He extended an arm toward the doors.

“Abaddon will be back
,” Ceriden said.

“Yeah.”

“So we need to prepare.”

“I’d say.”

Ceriden let out a long, pent-up breath and headed back toward the doors. “Then follow me.”

Lysette sup
pressed a shiver. Not far out of Vienna, where the hills rolled gently and formed the foothills and gateways to even loftier places, a castle perched in shadow, its high spires pointing to a place its occupants could never go. Reminiscent of the Cinderella castle in Disneyworld, it contained none of the cheeriness of a theme park and none of the safety.

It was a vampire fortress, a black bastion for night
crawlers and bloodsuckers. Ceriden’s first undertaking was to take them there. His second was to warn them to always be on their guard and never walk alone. Lysette saw the way Ethan grinned at his king’s words and, young or not, resolved to watch the little kid like a hawk.

Once inside, the dark menace of the place fell over them. Cleaver consciously unfastened his duster and kept a hand close to his shotgun. Jade walked on the balls of her feet, always ready to leap into action.

“Don’t worry,” Ceriden said to them, constantly vigilant himself. “New country. Different house. But I am king. There are many vampires here. A sizeable security force.”

“And my master
. My king,” Ethan said happily. “This is
his
place.”

“Ah, yes.” Ceriden stuttered a little. “Strahovski. He
’s the king of Europe and number two to my reign. He is . . . a tricky old chap.”

“Tricky?” Lysette echoed with arched eyebrows.

“Think of me as David Beckham and him as Roy Keane. That might help.”

“It would if I followed bloody
soccer. I don’t. Do you two have a problem?”

“Strahovski is unruly.
We have some rivalry, nothing too nasty, but best left unpoked. He is a wild child. If Britney was a man and had fangs she would be Strahovski.”

Lysette tried to imagine it. Failed. “So we’ll play it by ear then.”

Ceriden nodded. “That sounds good to me.”

The black castle groaned and echoed to the sounds of good-natured vampiric shrieks. The fanged creatures congregated to watch them pass. Their nostrils flared. Lysette thought about Daniel in the lion’s den. She thought about poor old Ken and his group, walking the byways of
hell.

She moved deeper
into the castle.

Lysette
tried hard to hide her incredulity when she was shown to a room, given clear and firm instructions never to wander the halls alone, and advised to cover her windows with the provided drapes, despite the fact that her room was at least ten stories high.

When her entourage and friends were gone she locked the door behind them and basked in a moment of peace.

No voices in her head. No obvious danger. No nervous, desperate rush to be someplace. And there, right in front of her, the opaque plastic doors that screamed glorious revitalization to her mind.

Shower!

Feeling excited, and more than a little foolish, she skipped toward it, shedding clothes as she went. Blouse on the bed, trousers on the floor. Everything else landed wherever it bloody well landed and then she was inside. The first blast of water was freezing cold, making her shriek, but then the temperature rose and she was laughing at herself, luxuriating under the intense force of streaming water. The sensation was wonderful.

How long had it been?

She didn’t like to think. All she needed was the sumptuous warmth and to close her eyes and let the water wash away all the recent memories—at least for a while. The heat and steam rose around her. For a short time she let the pounding water massage her shoulders and her back, her face, her hair.

Bliss.

Afterward, she wandered back into her room wrapped in a white towel. If nothing else these vampires ruled by Strahovski knew how to look after their guests. The bed was made up with fresh sheets. A plush white robe lay on the pillow. Lysette dropped the towel and snuggled into the robe.

H
eaven.

A
voice intruded, tentative, faint, but unmistakably Lucy’s. She heard it only in her head, but the girl had to be close. As far as Lysette knew, her mind-reading capabilities didn’t reach more than ten yards or so.

Lucy wasn’t alone. She was with Ethan and not in her room. Lysette fancied the girl had probably just passed along the corridor outside her door, because the sounds gradually fade
d. A spike of worry ran through her. No way should Lucy be out there, even accompanied by a vampire.

Especially
accompanied by a vampire.

Lysette moved quickly toward the door
, eyeing her clothes in annoyance but, knowing she couldn’t spare the time to put them on, she settled for cinching the robe’s belt tighter then cracked her door.

She p
eeked out. The corridor was empty, dark mahogany panels making it seem even murkier. She slipped out, then wedged her shoe in the door to prevent it from closing and locking. The last thing she needed was to have to call out the vampire equivalent of a caretaker.

She moved down the corridor, unable to get the main instructions out of her head.
Never walk these corridors alone.
What choice did she have? As she approached the first bend, Lucy’s thoughts again popped into her head and she made herself slow down. Caution before stupidity.

Ethan was talking to her. The excitement in his voice was as clear as a Caribbean sky. “Strahovski is cool. A majorly cool dude. He love
s newbies like you. I’ll take you to meet him soon.”

Lucy asked how many vampires lived here.

“Hundreds. At least.”

Lucy then asked how many
shades lived here.

“Dunno. Hundreds, I guess. Don’t worry, you’ll be fine.”

Lysette wondered what the hell that meant. She was about to slip around the corner and interrupt their midnight rendezvous when Ethan continued his line of thought in a much more somber tone.

“Used to be a lot more though.
In the old days.”

“Old days?” Lysette could hear Lucy normally now. They were just beyond the curve.

“We’re told not to repeat this too often but, hey, you’re young and pretty and I’m young and dumb so what can they do?”

Lucy giggled. Lysette held her breath.

“Vampires . . . well, all Ubers actually, live a lot longer than guys like Ceriden and Strahovski would have you believe. The pretty much
don’t die,
they just fade away slowly as they grow tired of this world. Tired of living. They withdraw, retreat to an unknown, quiet place and are never seen again. But they live on.”

“How many?”

Ethan let out a breath. “Thousands. Tens of thousands.”

“And their
shades?”

“Are let go. They are no longer required. The Withdrawn no longer need blood sustenance. They even co-exist with each other. It is said they have gone beyond all worldly concerns.”

“Wow.”

“Yeah. Wow, right?
C’mon, let’s head to Strahovski’s room.”

Lysette was about to step out, a reprimand already on her tongue, when
a strong arm slipped around her waist. It encircled her like a band of iron, the fingers ending up inside her robe and touching her bare skin. Lysette jolted then bucked like a spooked horse, but found that she could barely move.

A set of dry lips brushed against her left ear. “Should you be out of your room, sweet meat?”

Lysette screamed. The arm locked her body in as a wet tongue found her earlobe. She was panting, heart racing with anger and fear. In her turmoil she totally forgot about reading her assailant’s mind, something that might actually have helped her.

Lucy came around the corner first, looking startled. Then Ethan, an expression of fear on his face. When the two popped into sight the man holding her backed off. Lysette turned quickly and found herself staring at a handsome, stubble-strewn face, the most remarkable feature being the piercing pale blue eyes.

The man held up his hands. “Hey. I was playing with you. It’s all good fun.”

Lysette shuddered, still thinking about his fingers touching her bare stomach.

“You shouldn’t be out here alone,” he said again.

Lysette turned to Lucy. “I need to have a word with you.”

She grabbed the girl and walked off, taking care to put plenty of space between her and the new vampire as they passed in the corridor. Then she put her head down and headed straight for her room.

“Stay
in there,” the man said to her back. “I hear there be monsters out here.”