Guardian (6 page)

“Well, Captain will be pleased to know you two have rearranged the cups.”

That now irritating voice, thick with an Australian accent, interrupted her blissful moment. She refused to drag her eyes from Mace.

“Not sayin’ I’d have chosen the galley floor for storage, but I never claimed to understand Yanks,” Sky said, his casual tone laced with humor.

Mace let out a long, surrendering sigh and rose from the floor, leaving a cold void beside her.

“It was Nikki’s idea,” he teased and threw a wink down to her. “Never argue with a woman about a kitchen. You’ll lose every time.”

Nikki blinked up at him. What just happened?

Sky dusted his hands together. “Well, if what I just saw was punishment, sign me up.”

Ugh. Nikki felt nauseated. Maybe it was being the object of this discussion, or maybe it was the movement of the boat. Either way, she needed air. The kitchen that only moments ago was like an oasis of comfort suddenly became a stuffy, oxygendepleted closet.

“You look green,” Sky said, concern and a bit of amusement twinkling in his eyes. “Come on, let’s take her above.”

Sky and Mace each offered her a hand up, and together they headed toward the stairwell. “Should I stay down here and finish the job? Ocean will expect it to be done,” Mace said.

“Nah. What can he do? Fire you for insubordination? The supplies will keep. Everyone should get to watch land shrink away.”

Mace stopped. “Still, Ocean is counting on us. I’ll stay down here and keep working. Take care of her, Sky?”

Nikki’s stomach churned. “I don’t feel well.”

Sky hurried her along. “Nikki, it’s time for you to learn about one of my favorite sailor’s traditions.”

“What’s that?” she said.

“Introducing the contents of your stomach to the sea.”

She hadn’t vomited. Yet. But at least the wedge sandals lifted her to the perfect height to hang her upper body over the railing. Being above deck helped ease her stomach, however, as did feeling the wind rush through her hair, drying the sweat on her temples. She’d never known herself to be seasick. But she’d never been on the ocean in a sailing yacht, either.

“Are you going to be this antisocial for the entire trip?” Raven asked, leaning over the railing to stare down at the water with her.

“Not in the mood for your sarcasm right now, Raven.” The boat rolled over waves as they made their way through a pass. Sky had warned her it would be a bumpy ride until they cleared the jetties. White peaks smacked the side of the boat like tiny explosive water bombs. Every now and then, one would reach high enough to coat her face in a spray of seawater. It felt amazing.

“Just for you, I’ll try to resist all cynicism.”

He threw her a patronizing glance before returning to his study of the water below. Oh, she hated that look. Not the patronizing one—the hidden one, the one only she seemed to see. The extreme longing deep in his dark-blue gaze. It was that bottomless yearning that made Raven who he was. And on many levels what made him hard for her to resist, because she shared his profound need, felt its intensity. Simply put, she lived it. It’s what made them different from everyone else.

And what made them the same.

Nikki wasn’t sure if her stomach was completely settled or if this new sensation was masking its upset. Raven was the only one she’d met who mirrored her own tortured soul. Two misfits, two outcasts, one common quality: misery.

He leaned closer. Too close, but that was part of Raven as well. “I’ve been worried about you.”

She barely heard the words he whispered against her hair. Nikki closed her eyes and slid a few inches away. Why couldn’t he leave her alone? Why couldn’t he stop looking at her with those eyes that read through her cover stories and peered straight into her soul? He saw the confusion, the deception. Saw that she was a contradiction of life.

Within moments his hand was on her back, warming a spot in the center. And why can’t he maintain his infuriatingly moody personality when I need him to? Instead, he changed, chameleon style, to exactly what she needed—and exactly what she didn’t want.

The hand gently slid up and down her back.

Nikki strained against it, but the last time he’d reached out to her like that—after she’d slayed the hell hound that killed her dog, Bo—flooded her mind. She’d left Mace heartbroken at the football field hours before, essentially telling him she’d chosen Raven.

She hadn’t. The choice had been meant to protect them both: Mace’s soul was on the line and she couldn’t bear to be the cause of its ruin. She and Mace had tried unsuccessfully to break things off before, but every scenario ended in … well, like the incident in the galley. So she’d done the only reasonable—albeit deceitful—thing she could. She led him to believe she loved someone else.

It wasn’t completely a lie. She really did love Raven, but it was different. At the time, she believed Raven was safe. He’d spent plenty of time helping earth girls fall for him, and he knew how to walk away unscathed. She wouldn’t be the cause of his destruction. She’d just be another girl to add to his list. And yet.

He’d held her gently, comforting her after she killed the hell hound. He’d stroked her hair and her back while she cried. His voice had closed out all the pain, and she remembered the sensation as his soft words feathered against her cheek and ear.

And she remembered the realization he was praying. For her.

That revelation had rocked her. Had he prayed like that before? Did he do it often?

The sails grabbed the wind, and the rustle knocked her back into the present. She straightened her spine and faced Raven. “I need time. I’m still trying to deal with what happened to my parents. Please don’t ask me to sort out my feelings for you and Mace on top of that.”

The long strands of his dark blond hair flew around his forehead and slammed against his cheeks. A hint of a smile appeared, but only for a second. His eyes trailed her face, moving methodically over her features. “I can give you time.” An entire conversation silently passed between them.

“Will you?” she said, finally.

“As much as you want. No matter how long you take, the outcome will be the same. You and I were destined to be together, Nikki. Eventually, you’ll realize that like I have and stop running.”

Running. She’d like to run. But girls on boats had little room to run, and humans who fell in love with Halflings had few choices. None of which led to a happy ending.

Time, she could use. And maybe a solution would present itself before she destroyed her guardian angel.

Both of them.

Will worked with Nikki on her martial arts skills for the remainder of the morning. She was getting her sea legs, and Ocean had instructed her to watch the horizon whenever possible to lessen the queasiness. It seemed to be working, but the coastal sun was warmer than she was used to, and by noon she’d worked up a sweat. General sailing labor was going on around her. They worked the boat in shifts: girls in the galley, boys on the deck, and vice versa. Nikki’d slid out of her sandals when Will called her over. Good thing; the movement of the boat coupled with her sweat and the heel of her shoes could have been a deadly combination.

“Are you ready to begin?” Will asked. He didn’t seem to be sweating at all. An angel thing, she guessed.

“Begin what? You’ve been working with me for the last two hours.” He’d asked to see some of her blocks and strikes, and had recognized the style immediately, even tweaking her form. Sensei Coble would be proud.

“It’s time to begin the most important lesson you will ever learn.”

“Ever, huh?” She brushed her arm across a slick forehead. “That’s a pretty long time.”

“I walked the earth when only wood and mud-fashioned houses existed. I’ve seen her lands crumble into the sea while others emerged from the depths. I’ve witnessed every war and every victory there has been, and I can tell you, without a doubt, this is the most important lesson you will have the privilege to learn. Ever.”

Wow. What was it about angels and the monologues? It was staggering, though. To think Will, a heavenly angel and guardian to the male Halflings, had roamed the earth for all of recorded time. And to do that without ever dropping a bit of sweat—go figure. The Halflings were capable of sweating, at least. Nikki had to corral her concentration to keep from glancing behind her, where Mace and Raven worked with their shirts off. Really nice view out here on the ocean.

“Are you ready?” Will said.

It seemed too good an opportunity to pass up. “May I ask a question first?”

“Certainly.” He gestured with the palm of his massive hand.

Her eyes narrowed. “Remember, a heavenly angel can’t lie.”

His eyes narrowed in response to hers, and he crossed his arms over his chest. “It’s hardly necessary to remind me. Lying isn’t a part of my makeup. Go ahead.”

“Why are we on this boat? Besides the heavenly angels showing up and telling you we needed to come.”

“You mean the conversation you were listening to?”

“Uh, yeah.”

“You need—”

“And don’t say I need training. I know that’s part of it, but there’s more.”

“Your perception is growing. Good.” His intake of air seemed to suck the oxygen from everywhere around her—quite a feat when you’re continually slammed by fresh gusts of wind. Will’s gaze traveled across the deck, and Nikki was sure he was going to refuse to answer. But then he began to smile, and she glanced behind her to see what he was smiling at.

Mace and Raven were at the far end of the boat, one on one side of a horizontal post, one on the other. They moved in tandem over some giant lever, while their muscles flexed and released. A sheen of sweat covered their skin.

“My Lost Boys needed to learn how to work as a team again.”

His Lost Boys. His … sons. So that was it. The confines of a ship would bridge the gulf between Mace and Raven. It made perfect sense, really. And Will’s plan seemed to be working. “Pretty smart, aren’t you?” Nikki said, her attention divvied between the boys and Will’s pride as he watched them.

“I’m experienced, but that should never be confused with natural intelligence.”

“Whatever. Sounds like splitting hairs to me.” Nikki rocked back on her heels. “You’re without a doubt one of the best fathers I’ve ever known.”

Will’s eyes darted to hers, his face falling into concern.

“What?” She wanted to step back, but with the railing so close there was nowhere to go.

“I’m not their father,” Will said, and it seemed as though speaking the words was almost … painful.

She gestured with an upturned palm. “I know you’re not their real father, but as you know from all your time on earth, an adoptive dad can be much more of a father than a biological one.”

Wide fingers fidgeting, shoulders jerking slightly, a tiny head shake. It was weird to see a heavenly angel so … out of sorts. But really, if Will didn’t think of himself as the Halflings’ father, well … That was it. He did. She knew he did. “Look, you don’t have to admit anything to me.”

He scratched his head, nervous tension flying off his body like showering sparks ready to combust. “There’s nothing to admit. I’m a caregiver. The boys are in my charge. I am commissioned to do my best by them.”

Nikki laughed right out loud. She hadn’t meant to, but all that energy seemed to gather around her, and when she breathed it in, it took over. “I’m sorry, Will,” she said, swiping a tear. “I know they aren’t your sons. They aren’t even brothers.” Neither were Sky, Ocean, and Dash, she’d discovered. Though that’s what the three called each other. In fact, they called Raven, Mace, and Vine brother as well. No one was safe from the title. On occasion even she’d been referred to as brother by Dash. Nikki had given him a playful-but-dirty look the second time. He’d mumbled that she’d been the one to say she wasn’t a female.

“Humor is a great tension reliever, so I’m told. But make no mistake, Nikki. The boys and their ability to work together is only one small part of this journey. Much of what will happen in the next several days holds you as the central piece. This is no game.”

And just like that, all the joy dissolved.

Will moved away from her, maybe to give her time to absorb. Instead, she shook it off and followed him to the front of the boat, where he wrapped his hands tightly around the railing.

“Where are we headed?” she asked. The blue expanse of ocean stretched beyond forever. “Where is this voyage taking us?” There was a new gravity to her tone, but she didn’t care. Life was nothing if not volatile.

Her question pulled Will’s attention from the water. “France. We’ll pull into port there then make our way to Viennesse.”

“But you don’t think this voyage across the sea will be without struggle, do you? Will, what do you think is going to happen?”

“I don’t know,” he admitted. “It was important to the Throne that we be on the boat. Now that we are, I only sense that we should be … ready. You, especially.”

He really didn’t need to drive that point home any more. Maybe a change of subject would be best. “You said Viennesse. That’s your ancestral home, right?”

“Not mine. The Halflings’.”