The Lost Years (The Guardians Book 4) (12 page)

“You do realize I’m a Guardian. There aren’t many secrets that are kept from us.”

“Oh,” Sera’s tone took on a devilishly snarky bite. “I didn’t realize I was talking to royalty.”

“That’s not what I meant. You told me before that the keepers are overseen by the elders. I was just trying to point out that they wouldn’t mind if I knew what your assignment was.”

“Is that right? Because now you speak on behalf of the elders?”

“Well, no, but—”

“If they wanted you to know about me, they would have already told you about me.”

“Jesus, fine!” Uri snapped, annoyed by her resistance.

“Don’t get angry at me.”

“I’m not angry. I just don’t see what the big deal is.”

“It’s not a big deal, I simply didn’t like the way you asked.” Sera grinned, pleased with the torment she was putting Uri through.

“So, what if I say please?” Uri asked with a sigh.

“Oh, how do you already know me so well?” Sera laughed. “Please is the magic word for me.”

“So, you’ll tell me?”

Sera considered her words carefully. “Let’s just say, I protect a very valuable weapon.”

“Seriously? What is it? Do you have it on you?”

“Not exactly. And please, don’t ask. I know I’m not allowed to say anything about it.”

“Fine—” Uri replied, but as hard as he tried, he couldn’t just leave it alone. “Can you tell me what kind of weapon at least?”

“Uri,” Sera said firmly.

“All right, all right, I’m sorry.”

Sera could see his disappointment. “Grr … you’re going to end up getting me in trouble, I can already tell. All I can say is that I’m protecting something very important, something that could possibly be used to shift this battle in good’s favor permanently.”

“Really? You’re going to toss me that after telling me you can’t say anything?”

“Well, I must admit, it’s fun to torture you with the information. I could tell you I suppose …” she added, watching him lean forward in anticipation. “But then I would have to kill you.”

“I doubt that,” Uri scoffed.

Sera grinned. Casually opening her palm, a flame ball formed. Moving her hand elegantly, she allowed the fire to dance about before extinguishing it as magically as she made it appear.

“Impressive,” Uri congratulated.

“Seriously, though, I can’t say anything else.”

“Okay, okay. I’ll stop asking about the weapon, although, I really do want to know. Can you tell me other stuff?”

“Like what?” she inquired.

“Who are you?”

“Me?” the vagueness of the question bothered her.

“Yeah. I want to know everything about you. Where did you grow up? What was your family like? When did you become a keeper?”

“Whoa, slow down. You sure do ask a lot of questions, don’t you?”

Uri smiled. “Only when I find the subject so interesting.”

Sera blushed. It was nice to have someone say such sweet things to her, it didn’t hurt that he was easy on the eyes either. She hoped her years of solitude hadn’t made her naive. “You’re a charmer, aren’t you?”

“I don’t know about that, but some people say I can be pretty relentless, so you might as well start sharing.”

“Honestly? I don’t know who I am.”

“What do you mean you don’t know?”

“I have no memory of who I was, of a family or a home. Hell, for all I know, I never had a history to remember.”

“That doesn’t make sense, everyone comes from somewhere,” Uri argued.

“I agree, but what I’m saying is that I have no idea where I come from. I woke up in a cave; the keeper who trained me is the only person I saw for years. She had no idea about my past, but she said she could offer me a future, a reason to be alive. At the time, that seemed better than nothing at all.”

“And now?”

“Now? I don’t know — I don’t think about it very much. I guess sometimes I think about how I wish I could find someone to love me until I’m old, but that isn’t the path of a keeper.”

“What? Are you serious? Keepers are forbidden from finding love?”

Sera stumbled over her words, “No — I —well, that’s not exactly right. It’s not like it’s a law or something, but our work keeps us consumed. There isn’t a time that we are not focusing on our objective. My mentor trained me; she taught me everything I needed to know to make sure I would be able to carry on the torch. Then one night I went to sleep and when I awoke, she was gone. I like to think she left to find a different life, one with a husband and full of laughter. But I can’t help thinking she simply faded away into nothing.”

“You can’t think like that. You have no idea what happened to her. For all you know she’s kicking it back on a beach right now, living up the high life.”

“I hope so,” Sera whispered.

“So, where do you live now?” Uri attempted to change the depressing tone of the conversation.

“Nowhere, I guess. I go wherever I’m needed in order to make sure the weapon I keep is safe.”

“What about friends?”

“I don’t really have any.”

“I don’t understand—”

“I interact with people, like you for instance, but I don’t tend to stay in one place long enough to really make friends. Unfortunately, I spend most of my time alone.”

“That’s about the saddest thing I’ve ever heard,” Uri said, trying to make it sound humorous, but failed in doing so.

Sera rocked forward onto her knees, slapping Uri gently on the arm, “Will you hush, I’m just fine with the way my life is. Friends would get in the way of what I have to get done.”

“How would you know if you’ve never had any? My friends are always there to help me and I know they have my back.”

“I can tell Raimie means a lot to you,” Sera added, moving in to sit directly next to Uri, linking her arm through his and resting her head on his shoulder. He liked the way it felt to have her so close and didn’t dare say anything that would risk her moving.

“He does. It’s not just Raimie though; I have Dina, Sophie, Haim, and Gabe. They’re all there for me when I need them and I’m there for them.” Suddenly, the situation with Gabe came rushing back. “Damn it, Gabe!”

“What’s wrong?” Sera asked, lifting and cocking her head to the side to stare at him.

“My friend, Gabe, we got into a big argument over a misunderstanding and he stormed off just before the attack. Hell, I don’t even know if he’s alive or dead at this point.

“Gabe’s fine, don’t worry about him,” Sera reassured Uri.

“What? How would you know?”

“I don’t— what I meant is that he’s a Guardian, I’m sure he can take care of himself,” Sera clarified.

“Yeah, I suppose. But I would feel better if I at least knew he was okay; he may not even know about Rampart.”

“I’m sure it will all work itself out with Gabe.”

“I guess. I just know he would want to be here for Raimie. So, do you like being a keeper?” Uri inquired, shifting his focus.

“That’s an odd question. Do you like being a Guardian?”

“Are you kidding? I love it. The rush of adrenaline just before battle, wiping demon scum off the face of the earth, I don’t think there’s anything else like it.”

“I’m not sure all Guardians would agree with you,” Sera prompted him to explore his feelings deeper.

“All that is bull. Who would want to live as a regular human? They live in darkness, never knowing what really is going on around them. I couldn’t stand to live a life of such blind ignorance.”

“Ignorance can be bliss,” Sera offered.

“I don’t agree with that, ignorance is just a weakness.”

“And you have no weaknesses, is that it?”

“I didn’t say that,” Uri defended himself carefully. “I just don’t want being a fool to be one of them.”

“You think humans are fools? Why protect them?”

“No, I didn’t say that— well— at least that’s not what I meant. I was trying to say I love being a Guardian because I’m blessed with the truth.”

“Well, in answer to your question, I don’t know how I feel about being a keeper. Since it’s all I can remember, there really isn’t anything I can compare it with. It’s simply who I am.” she explained.

“I have to say, Seraphine, I am very glad you are a keeper.”

“Oh yeah? Why is that?”

“Because I think otherwise, I may never have met you.”

“Oh, Uri,” she said before leaning in and giving him a peck on the cheek. “You really might be the sweetest boy I have ever met.”

“Probably,” Uri replied with a grin before falling silent, enjoying the momentary peacefulness and her presence.

Sophie stared at the spell book sprawled out before her; she wasn’t sure how long she had been looking at it. The evening had become a bit of a blur. Initially, she couldn’t stop worrying about Dina, but her focused shifted to Raimie when the healers came in to check on him. She overheard them talking. He was getting worse and there wasn’t anything else they could do for him. It could be anytime now. Sophie was certain Dina would not forgive herself if she missed her chance to say goodbye to her beloved, but what could she do? She had promised her friend she wouldn’t reveal her plan.

Unable to sit alongside Raimie any longer, Sophie made her way to the library at Iron Gate. It had been one of her favorite places to be at Rampart. Now that her home had been ripped away from her, being surrounded by the books at Iron Gate gave her a small piece of comfort. The library was full and bustling with loud refugees who clearly assumed the crisis warranted an exception to the natural library rule of silence. Sophie hadn’t thought about what she would do once she found the book that contained the tracking spell, she just felt compelled to find it. Now, here it was, the spell she needed to find her Gabe staring her in the face.

Dina wouldn’t waste a single moment of her life with Raimie, not now, not knowing how things would end. Sophie kept asking herself, what if Gabe was hurt? What if in the chaos Gabe had been captured, or worse? The scenarios continued playing out in her mind. Sophie was certain she had to know; she had to be sure he was all right. What she couldn’t decide was what else to say to him.

Sophie knew she broke his heart when she kissed Uri. Had she been herself, it never would have happened, of that she was certain. Part of her thought that she would simply tell Gabe that she remembered everything and she was sorry, that that would be enough and things would be like they were. But how could things ever be like they were? Rampart was gone, and now Ramie would soon be leaving them, as well.

Hopping up and scooping the book into her arms, she clutched it close to her chest and took off, dodging through the people and making her way out into an even fuller hallway. Lowering her head, she pushed through the mob, making her way to a small spiral stair case only wide enough for two people. Fleeing the masses, she climbed the narrow, dimly lit stone stairs. At last she reached the top and much to her delightful surprise, what met her was a small sitting room. On one side of the tiny room sat two chairs and on the other was a circular window. Looking out, she saw it overlooked the packed court yard below. She had found her own private hideaway in the chaos of it all; desperately, she hoped no one else would. The idea of having a place to escape to seemed priceless at this point.

Sophie looked at the chairs once more and decided the rug on the floor looked more comfortable than their antique wooden frames. Plopping down on to the carpet, she dropped the book in front of her. As it landed, a puff of dust rose, sending her into a coughing fit. When at last she managed to get her breathing back under control, she flipped the pages open to the tracer spell.

Sophie pulled the folded parchment from her pocket, opening it, she flattened out the ridges. She quickly realized it was an ancient map containing all the realms, earthly and not. Sophie decided she would have to choose her words once she saw him, for now, she just wanted to make sure he was safe. Carefully, she unclasped the necklace from around her neck, a small crystal dangling from it. The spell called for anything that would easily carry energy and a crystal was as good a thing as any. Dangling it over the map, Sophie closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and attempted to focus her thoughts on the spell.

The one who is lost, carries a charm

He is loved, please protect him from harm

Reveal a path, show me the way

So I might save him on this day

She opened her eyes, staring at the crystal for a hint of movement, but there was nothing. It simply dangled from her fingertips, no indication of where Gabe might be. Just as she was about to repeat the spell, it happened. The crystal began to circle counter clockwise, speeding up and increasing in intensity. At last it pulled itself from her fingertips and slid across the map, coming to rest on the far corner. Sophie leaned forward onto her knees and peered at the location, holding her breath in anticipation.

Much to her surprise, Gabe was not anywhere she expected him to be. She assumed he may return to New York, to where his home had once been, or at least the closest thing he had to a home. Though he had no strong connections with his past or any of his foster families, it was the only exposure he had to the world. Instead, Gabe had chosen to leave the earthly realm all together, speaking to the hurt and betrayal he must have felt. In fact, according to the spell, he was now in the Underworld, in a place called Baynar.