Soul Guard (Elemental Book 5) (4 page)

She smiled darkly. “I can work with that.”

I woke to a gentle pressure
on my chest and a semi-familiar presence. Undines were the first elementals I
had ever met and easily the most helpful, since they represented water.
Although they could appear however they wanted to, I had only seen them six
inches tall with fairy wings.

There were only two undines I knew; Adesra and the
one who had tried to seduce me by disguising herself to look like Remington.
Unfortunately, she ended up poisoning me. When I opened my eyes, I was
unsurprised to see her sitting comfortably on my chest. She looked very similar
to Adesra, except her hair, eyes, dress, and wings were purple, whereas
Adesra’s were blue.

This time, however, she was frowning at me with
disapproval. “When did you start wearing clothes in your sleep, Devon Sanders?”
she asked.

I moved my hand slowly to pat my jeans, relieved that
she hadn’t magically removed them. I hadn’t bothered to take them off before I
fell asleep. “What do you need?” I asked. She flapped her wings and floated up
into the air, so I sat up. “What are you doing so far from the lake?”

“I came because you are the only one who would be
willing to help us. Adesra was destroyed.”

I felt a little stab of shock and horror in my gut,
followed by the attention of my familiar as he wondered what was so bothersome.
“What happened? I didn’t know elementals could die.”

“We cannot die, Devon Sanders. That would require us
to be alive. Adesra was destroyed by a man of hate and greed. You know the
being I speak of,” she said. I nodded, knowing the elementals were afraid to
say Krechea’s name. “You must defeat him before he destroys everything that
this world is made of.”

“I will. How many elementals has he killed?”

“Only Adesra.”

“Why would he kill her?”

“To get to you,” she answered. I didn’t speak, so she
went on. “Dothra wizards are creatures of trickery, Devon Sanders. You must
question everything you see and everything you hear.” With that, she vanished.

I got up, dressed, and found my cell phone missing.
When I stepped out of my room, I wasn’t surprised to see Scott eating breakfast
at the coffee table and watching cartoons. Henry set two plates of food on the
table and returned to the stove to put the dishes in the sink. I got us both
coffee and paused when I saw the time.

“You looked like you needed the sleep,” Henry
explained, still facing the sink.

I set the coffee on the table. “I don’t buy that.”

He sighed, grabbed a notebook off the counter, and
sat down. “You left your phone on the table last night and Regina called,
demanding you pay for her hospital bills. I told her I would call her back when
you woke up.”

“If she calls back, tell her that the only time I
would pay for her hospital bills is if I get to put her there myself.”

He checked the notepad. “Mrs. Thomas called and said
that her husband is going to a business meeting in D.C. this week, but the hotel
he’s supposed to be staying at said they never heard of him. She wants us to
spy on him because she thinks he’s going to spend all week with a secret
girlfriend.”

“Mr. Thomas is a wolf shifter, but he’s faithful to
his wife.”

“Wolf shifters are known to dislike hotels. He’s
probably sleeping in the woods,” Henry said.

“He’d need a shower. I bet that’s why he has a gym
membership; even if he doesn’t need the gym, they all have showers.”

“A man who didn’t want to reveal his name over the
phone called and said that his company has been hacked and he thinks one of his
formulas was stolen. Lastly, Stephen called and said he needed our help.
Discreet help.”

Stephen was the only vampire coven master I knew and
fortunately, he didn’t hold it against me that I hated vampires when we first
met. I knew from the students at Quintessence that he was a patient and kind
ruler, yet absolutely ruthless towards his enemies. Like Hunt and Maseré, he
was a deceptively wise man, although he and Hunt both had a tendency to cause
chaos just for fun. Since he took in Marcus after my friend’s conversion into
vampire-hood, I felt I should at least listen to his problem.

“Okay. Call Darwin and ask him to pick up the
nameless man’s case. I’ll send Rocky to spy on Mr. Thomas just in case.”

“You named your familiar Rocky?!” Scott asked
excitedly, jumping up and down with childlike energy.

“Are you sure you wouldn’t rather I go? Nobody would
recognize me and I can turn invisible.”

“No, you and I are going to go help Stephen.” I
updated him on Julia’s situation and told him to call the motel, book another
few days, and get a message to her that I’ve been delayed. After eating, I took
a shower and got ready to go.

“Are you sure it is safe to leave Scott with Maria,
after what happened to Regina?” Henry asked when I entered the living room.
Scott was practicing in a penmanship book that my mother had given him.

“Well, we can’t take him with us. Isn’t the sapling
still running? Maybe Hunt can watch him there.” As soon as the words were out of
my mouth, my instincts warned me against it. “On second thought, I think
leaving him with my mother is the safest place.” Especially since the little
cottage she was in was set up by Marcus and her live-in nurse was one of
Maseré’s wolf shifters. Nobody would know by the shifter’s unassuming
appearance that he was an experienced warrior.

“Why can’t I go with you?” Scott asked, approaching
the table and crawling into his father’s lap.

“It’s too dangerous, Kitten,” Henry said. “Why don’t
I take him to Maria’s and you take the expressway to Stephen?”

By “expressway” he meant the shadow pass, which was a
very dangerous, very quick means of transportation that I was supposed to be
able to do since I got one of the four keys of a magic tower. Unfortunately, the
key didn’t come with instructions. “Why not just call him and ask him what he
needs?”

Henry sighed. “Because Clara believes you and Astrid
had a falling out and she wants a chance to seduce you.”

I gave him my best deadpan stare. “That’s why you
don’t want to be there when I go.”

He shrugged. “You seemed to have gotten over your
prejudice against vampires. Clara is a female who isn’t Astrid.”

Clara and I had gotten off to an even worse foot than
Stephen and I. Hunt’s second in command when I first started at Quintessence
had been trying to get vampires on her side to overthrow Hunt. Not realizing
that Stephen was good friends with Hunt, she tried to recruit the coven
master’s daughter. Clara went along with it in order to protect the alliance
between Hunt and her father, but she did so without explaining the situation to
the headmaster. Thus, when I was hired to investigate murders that appeared to
be the fault of vampires, I had no idea she was on Hunt’s side.

“Glad you feel that way, because you’re going to be
there to make sure she doesn’t try anything.”

*          *          *

After fighting Regina every day of our marriage, I
just wanted to be done with her by the time we got divorced. For that reason, I
didn’t fight for anything and she got my house, which had been passed to me
from my mother. When I discovered how bad my mother’s assisted-living home was
treating her, I regretted letting Regina get the house.

Her health began deteriorating when I started
attending Quintessence, but she was doing better without Regina and her
previous live-in nurse around. The problem was that she still couldn’t do
things like go to the store or take care of utilities. Fortunately, Maseré’s
pack was able to help.

While I was at Quintessence, Maseré found my mother a
three bedroom, two bath house in a quiet, safe neighborhood near my apartment.
The décor was modern, yet not her own. I was pretty sure it was what they put
in homes to give them more sell-appeal. All the yard and housework was also
taken care of.

What really helped was her new live-in nurse, Kyle.
Darwin did an extensive background check on the young shifter and told me to
never let him go. I thought the man was too docile to be a wolf when I first
met him, but Maseré and Darwin both promised that wasn’t the case. Henry was
with the guy for five minutes before assuring me Kyle was more than strong
enough to protect my mother.

As Henry got Scott situated in the spare room and
Kyle cooked dinner, my mother and I visited in the kitchen. Both my mother and
Kyle adored Scott and loved when he stayed with them. Of course, everyone loved
the kid.

“I really hope you will visit more after the
wedding,” she said.

I winced. “What wedding?” I hoped she didn’t think I
was getting married.

“Regina’s wedding. Kyle told me she was marrying one
of his brothers.”

I looked at him. “I didn’t know.”

“Don’t worry; I’m not even considering letting her
near Maria,” the shifter promised. “I’d like to talk to you about your mother’s
medicine.”

I nodded and followed him to the bathroom. Talking
about medicine always depressed her and she preferred not to hear it. “Are they
giving her nightmares again?”

“No. Sorry, but I lied. It’s not her medicine I need
to talk to you about.” He shut the door. “The other day, she told me that she
really wanted you to make up with your girlfriend, that you haven’t been the
same since your fight.”

I groaned. “She never saw the bad side of Regina and
me.”

“I thought she was talking about Regina at first,
too, but then she told me your girlfriend was your childhood friend you grew up
with. She said your girlfriend lived next door to us but only came over one
time. She was… very unclear after that. I don’t know what she was talking
about, but I got a feeling I should tell you.”

I nodded. “Yes, thank you for letting me know. Give
us a minute alone.” I returned to the kitchen and sat down at the table. Her
easy-going expression was gone, as if she could feel the tension. “You knew
about Astrid?”

She reached over and patted my hand. “Of course I
knew about her; I’m your mother. You and her used to sneak off at night.”

“Why didn’t you stop me?”

“I liked what she did for you. You never had friends
in school and your father was no role model for you. When you met her, you
started smiling and you gained self-confidence. Your father was a cruel
bastard, so I couldn’t keep you from seeing her.”

“Was she the one who hurt you?”

She looked so sad that I wanted to drop it, but Langril’s
words repeated in my head. He suggested that Krechea’s familiar could have
killed Joseph and hurt my mother. Although it wasn’t likely, Astrid deserved
the benefit of the doubt. She didn’t remember what happened, and I thought my
mother hadn’t, either.

“It was John who hurt me.”

John had controlled her mind to make her leave
Vincent and tortured her relentlessly for years before she had me and he lost
interest. Vincent and Hunt took us to Joseph Sanders and altered her memories
to make her forget John. I know their intention was to give us a happy life,
but a stranger off the street would have been a better husband and father than
Joseph. Plus, whoever thought it was a good idea to alter her memories after
she suffered years of mind control needed to be slapped.

I took her hands and leaned closer. “I know he hurt
you, but I’m talking about the night Joseph was killed. Did Astrid hurt you?
Did she do this to you?”

“John did this. Joseph wasn’t your father. I know I
should have told you, but I… I forgot.”

“I know. It’s okay, I just want to know what happened
that night. And I’m sorry.” I felt horrible as I did it, but I released my
magic to invade her mind. I didn’t want to control her, but I needed to see her
memories. Having done this many times, I wasn’t expecting her to jump back. Her
chair clattered to the floor, I retracted my magic, and she backed up into the
corner of the room.

“No, no! Not again!”

“I’m sorry. That was stupid and I should have known
better. Please calm down.”

She shook her head violently. “No! I won’t go through
this again!” She grabbed a knife off the counter and aimed it at her own heart.

I reacted instinctively to take control of her mind.
“Stop!” I demanded.

She did, but the fear on her face was heartbreaking.
“I don’t want to go through it again.”

“I’m sorry.” I took the knife from her hand, set it
aside, and released my power. “He’s gone. John is dead. I have the same power,
but I don’t use it like him. I also know about Vincent.” Surprise overcame the
fear and she met my eyes. “I need to see that night, and to do that, I need to
see in your mind. If you say no, though, I won’t.”

“I can’t see it again.”

“Okay.”

*          *          *

Henry and I left and drove to Stephen’s coven. There
was a nasty looking storm off to the south, but Henry said it wasn’t heading
for my mother’s house. Even still, I couldn’t shake the feeling that something
very dangerous was close. “Maybe we should take Scott and my mother to the
university,” I said.

“Is your mother prepared to learn about the
paranormal?”

“No.” Actually, she apparently already knew, because
she was starting to remember what John did to her. Seeing Vincent was the last
thing she needed. “I guess not knowing what Krechea is after is making me
paranoid.”

Then, as soon as we were out of the city, the
sensation vanished.

*          *          *

It was a comfortable silence throughout most of the
drive. When we reached the estate, Henry parked right in front of the door and
we saw a wolf shifter guarding the mansion. The doorman glared at Henry, but he
didn’t say anything as we passed him. Inside was the same as usual; it had
modern amenities, high ceilings, blank white walls, and sophisticated,
uncomfortable furniture.