Guardian's Joy #3 (9 page)

“You lost your job over this? Why would you
risk it?” Nardo couldn’t believe the little rabbit would come
forward like this.

“Honor isn’t reserved solely for the
Guardians, young man.” For the first time, he smiled and patted he
mate’s hand. “I still have a job and we have our own investments.
We aren’t destitute, my dear.”

“The writing’s on the wall. They will slowly
but surely ease you out.” She pulled a handkerchief from her sleeve
and dabbed her eyes.

“What will you do then?” Hope asked. She
reached across Nardo to pat Marta’s hand and was rewarded with a
soft smile.

“Marta is still employed and we have money
put by.”

Canaan, who had remained silent and
thoughtful through most of the meeting, now asked, “Where are you
living now?”

Marta took a deep breath. “We have an
apartment over my employer’s garage, but…”

Deter stiffened and shook his head slightly.
Whatever she was about to say, he didn’t want said.

Marta’s jaw hardened and her mouth stretched
in a determined line. “Yes Deter. They need to know how much this
will cost us.” She turned to Canaan. “I keep house for Maximillian
ad Doren, the Director of Moonlight Sanctuary and a controlling
partner of ad Norris Financial. How long do you think he’ll keep me
on once all this is traced back to Deter?”

Canaan nodded his understanding. “Looks like
I’ve been paying ad Norris a small fortune to ruin me. I’d as soon
pay it to you. Are you capable of taking over the job?”

“Yes, my lord Canaan, I believe I am. Up
until four years ago, I was the sole administrator of your
holdings. When would you like me to start?”

“Now. I’d like to have all this done before
they get wind of it. Draw up the necessary papers and get them to
me as soon as you can. Make sure you leave enough to cover those
invoices and don’t take a penny out of Council funds. From here on
in, our honorable House of Guardian’s is independent.” He turned to
Hope. “How close are you and Nico to finishing up the
renovations?”

Nico had purchased Grace’s house across the
alley and next door to Otto and Manon. In addition to her other
duties, Hope was assisting Grace in the renovations since it was to
be her home. She looked surprised at this change in conversational
direction, but then her eyes lit up and she grinned.

“Close enough to move out of the apartment
and into a guest room until it’s finished.” She squeezed Marta’s
hand. “It’s a nice little place on the third floor, but you’d have
free run of the rest of the house, and well, have you ever done any
nursing? I have this sister, you see…”

Deter raised his rabbit nose and sniffed
loudly. It was his signal that he had something to say. “As
tempting as that offer sounds, my lord, I think it best if we
remain where we are for as long as possible. These accounts are no
longer under my prevue and we’ll need to move carefully. We don’t
want to arouse suspicions. In the meantime, if there is anything
else I can assist you with…”

Their House of Guardian’s would be changing
again. Canaan’s new life with Grace had renewed a life for Otto and
Manon and opened the door for Nico and Hope. Broadbent had found
the courage to leave his pre-planned life to build a new one with
the Guardians and now Deter and Marta’s lives would be changing,
too. Nardo felt as if he was being left behind, which was a foolish
notion.

He’d become a Guardian and been able to
incorporate his skill with computers into that role. He had his own
business concerns and was ready to expand. He had good friends who
formed a close family group. Why then, did he feel as if everyone
else was moving and he was standing still?

Chapter 10

They could smell the meat cooking on the
grill as soon as they pulled into the alley and the headlights
caught the twins huddled over the grill on the deck that now
spanned the two houses joined to form one. Nardo rolled down the
window while they waited for the doors to the underground garage to
open.

“Steak?”

“Hot dogs and hamburgers. Nico and Broadbent
are picking up salads on their way home. Grace has been kind of
busy while you were gone. Oh, and we brought you a surprise.” The
twins laughed uproariously and toasted him with their beer.

“Just what we need, another surprise,” Nardo
mumbled as they pulled through into the garage.

Grace met them at the door with her finger to
her lips. She stood on tiptoe to give Canaan a quick kiss and
whispered, “We have a guest. I think she’s going to be all right,
but I wanted to talk to you before we decide what to do next. She’s
in the clinic. The boys found her and brought her home though I
think they had help.” She looked significantly at Hope and winked.
“They beat you to it, Nardo, and not a minute too soon. They found
your mystery woman and just as we suspected, she’s one of us.”

Nardo wanted to push them aside and charge
back to the clinic, but he listened patiently while Grace described
Joy’s condition and waited impatiently while Grace assured Hope
that her sister was fine, Otto and Manon had been here to help but
had now gone home, they were grilling hot dogs because… Nardo
chewed on his lip, sucked on his teeth and tried to keep his feet
still. Canaan’s broad shoulders blocked him in from the right and
Hope stood to his left. Grace stood directly in front of him. Since
she was the smallest and therefore the most easily moved, he
stepped forward, picked her up by the waist and set her aside. He
heard Canaan’s growl and Hope’s smothered giggle.

“Leave him alone, big boy,” Grace said as he
pushed through the heavy door, “Don’t get in the way of a man in
love.”

Nardo stopped short on the other side of the
door. Love? It couldn’t be. Love at first sight was a romantic
notion women made up as a lead in to their sexual fantasies. It was
easier for them to believe in instant love than admit they saw a
guy across the room and immediately wanted to fuck his brains out.
Men were much more straightforward than that.

The curtained barrier was up and he eased his
head around it, not wanting to startle her if she was awake. He
needn’t have bothered. She was sleeping peacefully, the covers
tucked up snugly over her chest with her arms straight at her sides
and he lowered his eyes in shame when he saw the cast on her wrist.
He quietly took a seat in the folding chair beside the cot.

She looked different from the other night.
Her face was washed clean of the heavy make-up and now, with her
eyes closed, he could see how long her lashes were against the
silky smoothness of her skin. Her almost white hair was freshly
washed and combed flat. With her arched brows and large eyes, she
looked like a pixie.

He smiled when he saw the nightgown they’d
dressed her in. The high, tightly buttoned collar with the heavy
cotton lace around the edges was a sharp contrast to the slinky and
supple leather she’d worn the other night. In the leather, she’d
looked hard and fast and sexy. This snow white gown emphasized the
fragility of her features, the creamy richness of her skin and the
delicateness of the slender body it covered. She looked different
from the other night, more beautiful than he remembered and no less
attractive.

He soaked the cloth lying beside the basin
and squeezed out the excess water. Gently, so as not to awaken her,
he wiped away the perspiration that had beaded on her forehead. Her
fingers fluttered on the bedclothes and the corners of her lips
turned up in a relaxed smile. She sighed and settled back to
sleep.

He leaned down and whispered close to her
ear, “That’s right, sweet Joy, dream your dreams. I’ll keep you
safe and this time, I promise I’ll do it right.”

Love? It couldn’t be. How could you love
someone you knew nothing about? And yet he did know some things
about her, important things. He knew she was strong and she didn’t
give up. She had courage. She should have run screaming, if not
from him then from the demon, but she didn’t, even when she had the
opportunity. She’d stayed and waited for her chance to do what she
could when he’d given her no reason to. She knew what he was and
she’d seen him at his worst and still, she’d stayed.

“Supper’s ready.” Grace put her hand on
Nardo’s shoulder and gave it an encouraging squeeze. “I need to
take her temperature again, maybe take care of some private things.
You go get something to eat and when I’m through, you can take
over.”

He met Canaan, stuffing the last of a hot dog
into his mouth, as he came through the door. His Liege Lord grabbed
his arm.

“How are you?” he asked, after he swallowed
and wiped a smear of mustard from the corner of his mouth.

“She’s fine. She’s sleeping.”

Canaan chuckled. “Not what I asked. How are
you?”

“Me? Fine.” Nardo looked back at the door.
“Oh, I just wanted to make sure they brought home the right
one.”

“They always manage to bring home the right
one, son. Take it from me, I ought to know.” Canaan smirked and
winked in camaraderie.

“No, no.” Nardo waved his hand in denial.
“I’m not looking for that. I’m nowhere near ready for that.”

Nico barked out a rare laugh. “Ready has
nothing to do with it, my friend. Once bitten, you have no choice
but to succumb.”

Hope gave her mate a playful slap on his
shoulder. “You make it sound like death.”

Nico put his arm around her shoulder and
pulled her close to whisper, “Ah, precious, experiencing a little
death with you is well worth it.”

Hope squealed and hid her head in his
shoulder.

Dov rolled his eyes at his twin. “This is all
your fault.”

“My fault! It was your idea.”

“You drove the car and since when did you
start listening to my ideas.”

*****

“You assured me the experiment could be
controlled.”

“And it was. You were the one who insisted I
take it off premises.” The black clad man turned his back to his
host and poured himself another drink from the crystal decanter. He
smiled. The Director of Moonlight Sanctuary lived a very
comfortable life. In the very near future, it would be his
life.

“I assumed you would acquire secure
facilities.”

“We had secure facilities until you reneged
on our agreement. The result was this unfortunate accident.”
Salvador shrugged.

“A member of Moonlight Sanctuary? A young
woman of good family? That is not an accident. It’s a tragedy of
the first magnitude.” Maximillian took a seat behind the massive
desk. He pressed his manicured hands together and closed his eyes,
collecting his patience. “The victims must be human. I thought I
made that clear. And what if one of those Guardian brutes had
captured him? Have you thought of the consequences? We could be
ruined before we even begin.” He shook his head and said
petulantly, “You said you would handle this. You said it would be
foolproof.”

Salvador ad Primus, a Captain under the
command of the High Lord himself, understood the need to deal with
the Maximillians of this world. Their motivations were different
from his. They saw the creation of a new world order only in terms
of their own localized, self-important desires. The development of
their replacements, true believers, would take time. Meanwhile, he
was forced to deal with arrogant asses like Maximillian ad Doren.
Salvador understood it. That didn’t mean he had to like it.

“I’m thinking about pulling out all
together,” the fool continued to babble. “As I made clear in our
initial negotiations, I cannot afford to risk all this…” He waved
his hand to indicate the fine fabrics, plush carpeting and deep
comfortable seating. “…without the assurance of complete
success.”

“You have it.” Salvador was losing
patience.

“No. I have a dead young woman and grieving
parents clamoring for answers. I have a Chief Constable eager to
launch an investigation and a Governing Board to answer to.”

“You risked nothing by joining us and gained
everything,” the High Lord’s Captain hissed, slapping the top of
the desk for emphasis. “Instead of whining about what’s gone wrong,
you need to make it right.”

Affronted, Maximillian rose from his desk,
shoulders straight, head held high. He was the Director of
Moonlight Sanctuary, one of the wealthiest and most secure
Paenitentia enclaves in the United States. He was soon to be
appointed Advisor for this district. Maximillian ad Doren did not
whine.

“Exactly. And I shall make it right by
withdrawing my support from the project.”

“No, you won’t.”

Salvador Ad Primus moved so swiftly around
the corner of the desk that ad Doren stumbled back into his swivel
chair. The chair overbalanced and would have fallen if Ad Primus
hadn’t caught the headrest. He snapped the chair upright and bared
his fangs to the Director’s startled face, pleased to see surprise
turn to fear.

“Did you think you were the only Director we
approached?” he snarled. “Ad Nestor? Ad Llewellyn? Are these names
familiar?” Ad Primus curled his lip in derision. “Such tragic and
untimely deaths. Funny thing, before they died, they lost young
women of good family, too. Several of them, in fact.”

Ad Primus stood back, relaxed and retracted
his fangs. He straightened the Director’s tie and brushed down the
front of his suit. And then he strolled to the front of the desk
where he’d stood before.

“Your young woman of good family was supposed
to be an example. Maybe you need another.” It was a lie, but an
effective one.

“You said it was an accident.” Frightened as
he was, Maximillian was outraged. Who were these people to so
callously take the life of one so sweet and innocent? “How dare
you?”

“How dare I? Quite easily, I assure you. And
I will continue to dare until you meet the terms of our agreement.”
Ad Primus kept his face neutral as he looked around the room. How
had this pompous ass risen so high? It wasn’t a Captain’s place to
question the High Lord’s choices, but once the Nonveniae’s goals
were accomplished, Salvador would be in charge of this sector and
this buffoon would be one of the first eliminated.