Guardian (35 page)

“Land the plane, Damon.” It was an order. A cold, solid order given by one in charge. His eyes trailed from her to the wound, still shocked, still uncertain.

Yes, she’d taken the advantage.

He hauled himself up and stumbled toward the cockpit, but stopped. “No!” he screamed in defiance.

Nikki angled the weapon toward his arm. Her eyes flashed back to his. “I’ll take you apart one piece at a time if I have to, but you are going to land the plane.”

He shook his head and braced for the shot.

But her adrenaline had seeped out through every pore, leaving her weak. She couldn’t pull the trigger again. Nikki sank to the floor. It was over.

Vessler would bleed to death, and she’d go down in a cargo plane filled with titanium and kill a mass of innocent people. She imagined the plane hitting a park. Children, families, all dying together in one giant fireball. Nikki pulled her thighs to her chest and, still holding the gun, wrapped her arms around her legs. Across from her, Damon worked to tighten the tourniquet around the fresher wound. His breathing was unsteady, and it seemed that all the blood in his face was escaping through the bullet holes in his legs.

“Checkmate,” she mumbled, and put her head down. She pressed her eyes into her knees so hard, it hurt. She thought of her dog, Bo, her parents, the karate tournament where she won a national title. She wouldn’t allow herself to think of Mace. That was too painful and it might be enough to change her mind.

Suddenly, his presence was there all around her. Warm hands closed gently on her shoulders and he uttered her name.

Mace?

When Nikki looked up, he was standing between her and Vessler. Have we crashed? Am I dead?

Mace slid the gun from her hands. “Come on, Nikki. It’s time to go home.”

Confused, she let herself be lifted from the floor. If this is death, it’s quite nice. But the smell of blood, the scream of the plane engine, and the wind from the open door proved she was still part of the world. She focused on Mace: he was life, he was hope, and she was safe. Her relief turned to fear as she scanned his arms, bloody and scraped.

“It’s time to go,” he said, and placed a steadying arm around her.

“How’d you get in here?” She looked from side to side, confirming they were still inside the plane.

“I wasn’t able to get in until you opened the door. I’d tried to leap inside and kept hitting the side of the plane and bouncing off.” He moved her gently toward the open door.

“The plane’s filled with titanium,” she said.

“I figured that out. We need to hurry. Raven can’t hold the plane up, only slow its decent. The titanium is taking its toll.”

The wounds on Mace’s body were from trying unsuccessfully to leap inside the plane?

He tightened his grip on her. “We’ll have to jump, and it’ll be a bit bumpy until my wings can open.”

Nikki grabbed the side of the door. “Wait.” Her gaze traveled to the front window. “Mace, if Vessler doesn’t land the plane, it will strike downtown St. Louis. People will die.”

Mace gave a long, surrendering sigh. He released her reluctantly and moved to Vessler. Grabbing him by the shirt, he lifted and dragged him to the cockpit. After removing the dead pilot, he dropped Damon before the controls. Mace leaned down, leveling his face with Vessler’s. “It’s the people she’s saving, not you,” he growled.

Vessler grinned through a sweat-smeared face. “Keep telling yourself that, boy.”

“And don’t even think you’ll get to keep the titanium.” Mace returned to Nikki and together, they jumped.

They stayed in the air until the plane touched down in a field inside the busy St. Louis metro area. She’d expected Raven to follow them, but he hadn’t.

“With any luck, Vessler will bleed to death,” Mace said.

“Well, my luck hasn’t been dependable lately.” Nor her instincts. She was going to kill Vessler. It seemed impossible, but she’d actually planned to murder him. Nikki put a hand to her temple where a headache pounded.

To Mace, nothing stood in their way now. But Nikki wasn’t who she used to be. When they touched down and he reached to steady her, she pushed gently from him.

“What’s wrong, Nikki?”

“Everything, Mace. You don’t know what I was going to do.” “Michael told us he’d met you last night.”

When he moved to get closer to her, she stepped back. “I was going to kill Vessler. It’s sort of a blur now.”

“I know you’ve had a huge internal monster to fight, but Nikki, I think Vessler was poisoning you.” Mace shook his head. “Or drugging you.”

She frowned.

“Raven told me that Omega can inject a serum that will cause a violent creature to be docile. Maybe it would work in reverse too.”

“And I’m the creature.”

“I’m just saying. You were pretty obsessed with that designer water Vessler gave you. Could he have been dumping something into them?”

“Could he? Sure.” But her actions couldn’t be completely blamed on some unknown drug. She’d wanted revenge. Had been desperate for it. So much so it made her crazy inside. No, she couldn’t simply blame drugs. She had to be responsible for her actions. Actions that almost included taking a life.

“You’re alive, Nikki. You’re okay now, and you’re a Halfling. It changes everything.” Mace looked so full of hope, it made her want to cry. Mace always believed the best. Especially of her. But once again, she would set him up to fail, because she wasn’t who she once was, and she saw no way to go back. Vessler’s promise haunted her. “This isn’t over.”

Mace used his thumb to rub away the worry lines on her forehead. “It never is.”

“If Vessler lives, he’ll continue his quest.”

“But you know what you are now. He can’t have you.”

“I’m spoken for?” If it were only that simple. She’d changed forever in the last few weeks. Who knew if Mace would even be interested in the new, damaged Nikki she’d become?

“Exactly.”

“Well, don’t think you’re going to get the blessing of my legal guardian.”

“How about if I’m your guardian?”

“No.”

He flashed a frown.

Her headache lessened enough to allow the tiniest smile. “You’re way too bossy.”

“Is that right?”

She nodded. “And you’re always trying to protect me instead of teaching me how to defend myself.”

He raised his hands in surrender. “I promise to help you learn to defend yourself. Although what I just saw in the airplane would suggest you need little instruction.”

“I need a partner, Mace. Not a boss.”

“Okay, okay. I get it. If I was over the top, it’s just because I love you.”

Oh.

“You were saying?” He gestured with an upturned hand for her to continue.

“No more damsel-in-distress heroics?”

“No more. You’ve been called to be a leader, Nikki. I owe it to you to help prepare you.”

“Still, I don’t think of you as my guardian.”

“No?”

“You’re my angel.”

He led her to a river’s edge. For a long time they listened to the cadence of water against rock. “Think we can rest now?” she asked, but she knew she wouldn’t. She needed to discover who this new Nikki was. Maybe Mace could still love her. But she doubted it because …

Because she was too much like Raven.

A week after Zero reported Nikki was safe and back with the other Halflings, Raven stretched back, resting his hands on his stomach. The sky looked different from his ruins. Closer somehow, and more like an ally than a distant onlooker. The North Star winked at him. He thought of Debra the horse and Adam Cordelle. Huh. His list of friends had been reduced to a pathetic guard and a mutant mare. Wow, the depths one can sink to over a female.

Female. Nikki. A Halfling. Could life be any more ironic? I fall for a human, ready to give up everything for her, only to discover the human’s been a Halfling all along. To top it off, now that loving Nikki won’t lead to my damnation, I get to watch her spend eternity happily ever after with Mace.

The rocks at his back bit into his flesh like tiny piranha chewing away at his strength, mocking his stupidity. It was easier when she was a human and the real threat was heaven or hell. He could have beaten Mace at that game.

But now everything had shifted. For Mace, Nikki had represented the one weakness that could send him to the pit. For Raven, she’d represented something to live for. He’d sink into darkness, of that he was certain. His eyes had been dimming into the blackness of the forever damned for years. Until Nikki. For all his unrestrained life, he’d allowed himself little time to ponder the hideous consequences of his actions. And he wouldn’t now, either. Because this, this empty hole of an existence, was horrid in its trappings.

What could possibly be worse? The shrieking moans from those on the other side shot into his mind. And even now their tenor leeched the blood from his veins. No, there were things worse than a broken heart.

Maybe tonight would be the night. Maybe he’d awaken with the Dark Prince whispering a soothing lullaby of revenge into his ear. Maybe he’d be the one to hunt the Halflings …

Raven clamped his arms around his head and shut his eyes tight, interlacing his fingers and squeezing out the demonic influence. With solid intention, he threw his eyes open and stared up. The North Star again, once a symbol of a promise, was now a small-but-guiding drop of radiance. “Help me,” he whispered.

He’d prayed on many occasions. Hey, he served the Throne. When you’re packing fully automatic weapons, you don’t reach for the hunting knife. But Raven had never prayed for himself. It felt weak, somehow, to petition the One who’d commissioned him. A lack of faith in the omniscience of the Great Stabilizer.

A fisted hand fell to his heart; the physical pain, dull but constant, surprised him. Could he talk about Nikki to the quiet sky? Would his voice hold or shatter like ice under too much pressure?

She’d be at Viennesse by now. Will had moved the group there once again, opting to keep them in Europe until the dust cleared around Vessler. Another week, maybe two, then they would probably head back to Missouri. Raven hadn’t gone with them, but he’d felt her leave; a strange sensation, one he could only liken to having a section of skin ripped from his body.

And so he’d followed. But he stayed at the castle ruins rather than go home.

“Look, I try not to bother you too much.”

Silence.

“I, uh …” He was surprised at how hollow his voice sounded, how spent. “I just need to know that she’s going to be okay.”

Nothing.

His lungs filled and emptied. Filled and emptied. “So, is Nikki going to be okay?”

A dazzling light whirred before his eyes, and for a moment Raven thought someone must have snuck up and whacked his head, though he felt no pain. He leapt to his feet, hoping the blood would move with him.

In the center of the light, a being took shape. It was clothed in layers of glory, and he knew it had been at the Throne.

For once, Raven’s voice was gone.

The angel was the size of Will, but smelled like the place where life particles danced until the One called each to an individual purpose. He’d only dreamed of such a location, but knew of its magnificence and power somehow inherently. For Halflings, the midplane was the closest they’d ever get to heaven. For most, it was enough.

The angel stood toe-to-toe with him, eyes alight with the fire of the One he served. He was … waiting for something.

“Uh,” Raven uttered. “Why are you here?”

“To answer your question.” There was little emotion or inflection in the being’s voice, just pure, smooth, and resonant words.

A question? What had he asked? What was he even thinking about? Nikki. “Is Nikki Youngblood going to be okay?”

The angel’s answer sparked and ignited a fire of fear throughout Raven’s being. “No.”

Raven’s mouth dried instantly, as if all moisture had been drawn from his body with the single word. He needed more information, but the angel was turning away like he intended to go.

Raven leapt forward and seized him, arms closing on the angel’s waist. But the magnificent being flicked him off. This was not an evenly matched confrontation. New plan. “Why not? Why won’t she be okay?”

“Because a Seeker has been released from the pit.”

Raven’s knees buckled and crashed against the rock-strewn ground. Fear and urgency pinched his lungs into crumples, making him unable to pull even the smallest of breath.

A Seeker.

Released to hunt Nikki.

Suddenly, the angel was offering the same hand that moments ago brushed Raven from his garment. Powerful golden fingers drew him to his feet.

Still, Raven was too stunned to speak. The angel turned once more, this time slowly, as if awaiting another ambush.

“Wait,” Raven finally mustered, throwing his remaining oxygen into the plea. “Why did you tell me?”

Was that a slash of a smile that appeared? “Because you asked.”

And then the angel was gone.

Raven was left with one hammering thought. He had to get to Nikki before it was too late.