The Guardian (9 page)

Chapter
Eight

Cassie admired the large house as they walked towards
the front door. The golden brown hardwood floors were smooth against her bare
feet.
 
Cassie looked at the beautiful oak
woodwork around the doorframes and along the walls. “Is all of this yours?”
Cassie ran her hand along the chair rail as she studied the detail of the wood
work. Someone had spent a lot of time working on this house.

“Yes, it is all
mine
. My
father built this house, and some of the finest craftsmen made the woodwork for
it. My mother grew up in New England, and loved the woodwork of her childhood
home. My father built her this house.”

“What a sweet thing to do,” Cassie said while looking
closer at the hand carved detail.

Michael smiled. “He loved her very much, and they both
wanted something to pass down to us. Lana, my sister, lives in another part of
the house.
 
That is the part of the house
my father built for my grandmother. She had her own living space, where she
could be taken care of, yet
have
her privacy.”

“She isn’t married?” Cassie instantly regretted
blurting that out. It was none of her business, and Michael’s face turned grim.

“I’m sorry,” she apologized. “It is none of my
business.”

Michael rubbed her back slightly, “Your question is a
valid one, and you have a right to know. She was mated to a protector over in
Sierra territory. He was killed by a
morchain
.”

   
“What is a
morchain
?” By the look on Michael’s face, Cassie guessed
they were not friendly.

“They are a lot like what you would call a wraith.
They devour souls, and with shifters they leave behind a bloodthirsty killer.
The protectors of that territory were forced to hunt him down and kill him. His
best friend, Jacob, was the one that killed him.”

Cassie gasped in horror. “How could he do that to his
own friend?”

“Steven was already gone when Jacob caught him. Steven
was murdered by a
morchain
. Jacob and the other
protectors of that territory hunted it down and killed it as well.”

“Are there a lot of them?” Cassie looked around the
town as if she expected one to come out from between the buildings at any
moment.

“Thankfully no.
They do not
breed; they are created. No one is sure how the first ones appeared. They are
very violent even with each other. When two get together they fight, rather
than procreate.”

Cassie was going to say something, but she stopped to
stare in open-mouthed appreciation over his car. He had a 1967 black Chevy
Camaro SS. “Oh my
lands, now this is
a car.” She
circled around it and took in every detail of the perfectly restored car. She
knew it had to be since there was no way this car was kept in this kind of
condition for over 40 years.

“I guess you like cars?” he asked with a proud smile.

“I do. My grandpa, Uncle Dave, and
myself
used to always work on cars and go to car shows together.” A twinge of sadness
hit her over those days that were gone now. Dave had moved away and barely
spoke to them now, and her grandfather was in no condition to be working on
cars or walking the aisles of car shows.

“Come on, I can hear your stomach rumbling. Let’s get
some food.” He walked her to the passenger side door and opened it for her. He
held her hand until she was seated in the car, and then he belted her in. He
looked her in the eyes as he latched the belt,
then
leaned in for a kiss. Instantly Cassie was no longer thinking of food or cars.
Her body was heating up, and she wanted another serving of Michael. Her arms
circled around him and found his dark hair. It was soft and felt like silk as
she ran her hands through it.

Michael moaned and deepened the kiss. His hand braced
himself against the seat as he consumed her mouth. He broke away with a growl.
“I can’t get enough of you, but this will have to wait until after you eat.
Your blood sugar is dropping.”

She wondered how he would even know that as he closed
the door, but soon her attention was fixated on the interior of the car. She
barely noticed him get in, but she shivered in delight when he started the
engine and they drove down the gravel drive towards the highway.

Cassie struggled not to drool over it as he drove
through the winding mountain pass into town. The interior was in perfect
condition with black bucket seats in the front and a bench seat in the back.
The car had been modernized, but held onto all the classic elegance of the
Camaro. She caught Michael watching her out of the corner of his eye as she ran
her hand along the smooth leather of the seat. This was no factory job. It was
very expensive leather. “Did you do this restoration yourself?”

“Yes, I found this beauty in a junkyard and knew I
could bring her back with a little work.”

“I am in awe of the work you have done.” She held on
to the seat as he took a corner. She sank into the seat as it molded around her
with the g-force pulling on her.

“Thank you. It helped me to fill my time in between
duties to the territory.” He easily steered the car through another corner, and
the car handled mountain curves with ease.

“Do you have a lot that you need to do?” She was
hoping he would not think she was being nosy.

Michael shrugged. “Sometimes, but mostly it is a lot
like any position of authority. If there is a dispute I settle it, or if a
shifter needs judging I do it. Our Goddess has the last say, but I have never
had her disagree with a judgment before.”

“Can you force shifters to do things?” She remembered
the power she felt flowing through her when he’d held onto her head and
commanded her to change. Was that the power of a shifter or had he done that?

“Yes, I control shifting, I can tamper with memories, and
I can sense when someone is innocent, to name a few of the gifts I have been
given for serving
Ilithyia
.”

“You tamper with memories?” She was a bit in awe of
that.

Michael nodded. “If a human sees something they should
not have I can make them think they saw another animal, or they drank too much
and had some strange dreams.”

“Why?” She thought she may already know, and the
answer didn’t sit well with her.

“Imagine if it was common knowledge that there were
humans in the mountains that could shift into animals? Most humans who hunt are
no different than we are.”

Cassie looked at the scenery as they drove by. They
were high up in the mountains now so not many peaks were visible anymore. Some
were in the distance, but the winding highway wrapped around solid rock walls,
brownish dried vegetation, and trees.

The road leveled out, and they passed the hand painted
sign that read “Welcome to Pleasant Cove”. It was not much longer before the
highway widened for the main street she had seen the night she was dropped off
at the motel.

She blinked when she saw another little man like the
one she’d seen while walking down the sidewalk. In the light of day he really
was an ugly little guy. No wonder he was so grumpy. His nose was huge, and his
grey hair poked out every which direction. His clothes looked like dyed burlap
sacks that had been sewn together rather crudely, and his shoes looked to be
leather. “Who is that? He sure is in a bad mood a lot.” Cassie craned her neck
to keep her eye on the man.

Michael laughed and took her hand in his. “That little
fellow is
Orfallyn
. He is one of a handful of trolls
that live among us.”

Cassie laughed, really laughed, for the first time in
days.
“A troll?
A real troll?”

“Yes, you may have seen some fairies as well. We have
more fairies living among us, than other magical beings.”

“I did. She was playing in the pollen.” Cassie smiled
at the memory of childlike happiness on the fairy as she jumped in the flowers.

“Fairies are very childlike in their play. Imps you
have to be careful of. They like to cause trouble. They will get into an office
and change all the settings on the computers, and may even cross electrical
wires so the wrong lights come on.”

Cassie was so busy thinking about these magical beings
she had never seen before that she did not notice they had pulled up to the
restaurant.

“Here we are. It is the fanciest place to eat in town.
Marsha is an amazing cook, and thankfully loves to make a lot of her delicious
food.”

Michael got out quickly and got to her side before she
got the chance to get her seatbelt off. He opened her door and held his hand
out to help her out of the car.

“Thank you,” she said, smiling at him.

Michael opened the door of the restaurant then put his
arm around her. Cassie shrank into him a little when so many of the patrons
turned to look at him. Some did double takes and had shock on their faces. Many
of the older couples in there smiled at them. Some looked at her as if they
were judging her by her appearance. She picked at her clothes and hoped she
didn’t look like a ragamuffin. If they only knew what she had been through the
last twenty-four hours, then maybe they would not judge her by her looks.

Michael ignored them and led her to a table.

“You are a popular guy around here,” she murmured
after he sat down across from her.

“I am the guardian. Many shifters and humans alike are
interested in everything I do.
Including taking a mate.”

“So this mate thing.
What is
it?” Her stomach
flip-flopped
a little as he regarded
her.

“In our case, it is
Ilithyia
herself pairing us. Do you feel a draw to me you can’t understand?”

“Yes.”
 
She had
since she had
been wanting
him since the moment the
pain was gone. Even now once she’d had a chance to have sex with him it was
still there, an undercurrent of desire that made her want to stay at his side.

“That is a soul bond. It is rare, but when it does
happen the mated pair shares an unusually tight mating bond.”

“So, we are mated then.”

Michael nodded. “I mated you when I changed you, and
not only for the pain relieving effects of mating. I claimed you with the bite
as well.”

“What if I said no?”
 
Cassie asked. So far she had no desire to run out to the hills, but she
was curious to know if she did leave, would he chase her.

“I doubt you could. Not only are you a shifter now and
need to be around others of your kind, but
we are
soul
mated. You would not like being apart from me. Still I love a good hunt, so I
would hunt you down and claim you all over again.”

Cassie shivered in delight at that thought. “You would
huh? Maybe I should run for the fun of it.”

Michael opened his mouth to reply, but their waitress
appeared. “Hello, Michael.” She smiled at him and put her hand over his as if
they were close. Michael took his hand away. “Hello, Amber. Why don’t you ask
Cassie what she would like first?”

Amber glanced over at Cassie and gave her a glare. “Sorry,
I didn’t see you had a...” She paused and looked Cassie up and down with
distaste.
“Friend.
What would your friend like to
drink?”

Michael squeezed Cassie’s hand as he looked at her.
“Amber, this is Cassie. She is my mate, not my friend, and she would like
whatever she tells you.”

Amber’s face reddened slightly, and she bowed her head.
“Sorry. Ma’am, what would you like to drink?”

“
It’s
okay, Amber. I would love
a sweetened iced tea please.” Cassie watched her walk away sullenly with a bit
of confusion. She had been polite, so why was the waitress acting like she
disliked her?

“I am afraid you may not have an easy time at first
with a few of the ladies here. There were several shifters trying to gain my
attention. Now word will spread that I have taken a mate, and those that had
chased after my status may be sore losers.” Michael sighed and looked around.
“The specials are written on the white board over there.” He pointed on the
wall where the specials for the day were clearly written.

“I take it she was one of them?” Cassie asked while
she read over the selections then looked at the woman that took their order. Amber
glanced at Michael as she poured the drinks as if her pride had taken a huge
hit.

“Yes, she and Kathy Lowry were both hoping very much
that I would mate with them. Their motives were purely status. They cared
nothing for me or the many shifters and humans I protect.”

“You could tell this?”

Michael nodded. “I can sense within a short amount of
time the soul of a person. Those two women have beautiful bodies, but their
souls are self-centered and arrogant. Not one that I would want to spend
another fifty years with.”

She looked closer at Michael. He didn’t look much
older than his mid-thirties. “How old are you?”

“I am fifty-eight.”

“No way, you look only a few years older than I am,
and I am almost thirty.”

 
Michael smiled.
“Shifters age slower.”
He looked up when Amber
returned with their drinks. “Thank you,” he said curtly.

Cassie could see that he was not intentionally being
rude, but making sure Amber knew that he would not tolerate anything from her.
Michael was looking at the woman as if he was reprimanding her. Cassie didn’t
want to witness the woman’s dressing down, so she looked at the board again.
She saw, among the available selections, beef brisket, lasagna, fried chicken,
and various hamburgers. All came with a salad, bread, and a choice of side
dishes.