Messenger (Guardian Trilogy Prequel 1) (28 page)

“You…,” Eran said as a smirk began to form, “won’t be anywhere
near
the cooking.”

For the second time that morning, my mouth fell open.

He laughed boisterously before soothing my pride. “Actually, they’ll be heating up oil so it wouldn’t be edible anyways.” That didn’t alleviate the insult.

“Regardless, I don’t believe you will be happy any other place than on the frontline. Am I correct?”

I was still frowning when he made his pronouncement, but once it registered with me I couldn’t stop the smile that surfaced. “You’re getting to know me.”

“Better than you think,” he mumbled under his breath, which was curious to me. Before I could ask what he meant by it, he continued. “So I believe you and I would be best suited as sentries. We will act as guards and inform the camp when they attack again.”

“If,” I said.

“When,” he insisted.

“So, you are willing to let me be our first line of defense?”

He smiled stiffly, telling me that while he didn’t like it he knew better than to argue with me on it.

“Are you up to the task?” he asked.

“Are you playing with me?” I countered, and he laughed.

“What…,” someone said snidely while coming up behind me, “could you possibly find humorous?”

It was Jerod, by the sound of his tone. I turned to greet him and his guardian.

“Ganzorig,” I said, “we haven’t been introduced.”

“You need no introduction,” he said, his voice rumbling up from the depths of his lungs.

Neither did he. His gruff tenor suited him, considering the man was several feet taller than the rest of us, with most of that height marked by scars from previous battles.

“I’ll tell you what’s
not
funny,” Jerod went on as if no one had spoken, “is the fact that I’ve been assigned washing of the plates and bowls. I’m trying to participate for once, but I’ve seen the plates and bowls and if that’s what it takes then going it alone is looking far more appealing…”

In a much more succinct and agreeable way, Ganzorig re-worded Jerod’s request. “He wishes to be re-assigned.”

Despite Jerod’s typically rude manner, Eran remained stoic as he answered. “I think we can accommodate you…”

“Jerod,” Jerod snapped, making his self-worth abundantly clear.

“Jerod,” Eran began again. “We do have a need for someone on buckets.”

“Buckets?” he said, trying out the word as if it were a taste in his mouth. “Does it have anything to do with
cleaning
them?”

“No.”

Jerod tipped one shoulder up and swiveled his head toward it with flare. “I suppose I can try…”

„Buckets,“ Eran reiterated.

“Buckets,” Jerod finished with a roll of his eyes.

Buckets
, I thought,
buckets
…

Remembering back to Eran laying out his plan in the tent, he had mentioned buckets. It was the hauling of water from the river, which was located up and over the hill from our camp. I didn’t think Jerod would be too happy once he learned he had traded one dirty physical act of labor for another, and something told me that Eran knew it. When I realized this, I had a difficult time holding back my grin.

Jerod’s scowl didn’t recede, but he did turn around to leave. He made it two steps before Claudius brushed by him, knocking him in the shoulder hard enough to spin Jerod partly around.

”Pardon me,” Jerod huffed.

Claudius ignored him. With face flushed and eyes wild, he explained the urgency in no unclear way. “Bailey has gone missing. She asked for privacy as she changed clothes. When she didn’t come out and didn’t respond to my calls, I went in and found her gone.”

In an instant, Eran’s amusement at teasing Jerod was gone. He was now the stone-faced warrior I knew him to be. “Were there signs of abduction?”

“No. No openings in the tent. No upturned beds.”

“And you’ve checked the camp for her?” I asked.

“I did,” he assured, “and she’s nowhere to be found.”

“Oh my…,” Jerod muttered sarcastically. “She didn’t…Say she didn’t.”

We didn’t pay any attention to him.

“Then she left on her own regard,” I deduced. “Could she have gone with anyone?”

“No one else is missing,” Eran pointed out.

“How do you know?”

“Hoffstedler just assigned roles,” he explained, and I saw his point. It was an unintentional checklist.

“And he’s the one you might want to ask first.”

At that, Eran’s forehead creased with suspicion as he pivoted to face Jerod. “And why would we want to do that?”

“She told Hoffstedler that someone should try to negotiate a peace agreement with the Fallen Ones before someone was hurt.”

Without mentioning it, I wondered if the “someone” she had been referring to was Eran. I had seen her flustered when Eran entered the camp struggling to detain Seti and based solely on the fear in her eyes, I was certain that had been the first time she had seen Eran immersed in a fight, with a Fallen One or otherwise.

“And what did he say to her?” Claudius asked, ominously.

Jerod didn’t seem to pick up on Claudius’ edginess as he blithely explained, “He told her that her idea must be the most moronic in the history of existence.”

I couldn’t imagine Hoffstedler having that kind of reaction.

“Of course, he didn’t use precisely those words,” Jerod admitted, which made more sense. “She became upset and said something about him not caring a wit about anyone but himself – which could be true – and then said something about Eran and how she was the only one who cared for him – which I highly doubted – and she left sulking.”

“And took matters into her own hands,” Eran said, summing up the conclusion. “How do you know this?”

“I told you,” he stressed, “I have a talent for discovering the truth.”

Eran’s lips pierced in irritation. “How did you come across this truth?”

“I overheard it.”

“You mean you were eavesdropping,” I said.

“I
overheard
it,” he repeated tersely, which meant my assumption was correct.

“How long has Bailey been gone?” Eran asked Claudius.

“An hour, but…”

“She’s fast,” they said, their voices overlapping.

“We need to find her before she finds them,” Eran concluded.

“Who’s finding who?” Alban asked, strolling into our conversation, unaware of its gravity. He was eating a sausage, which left parts of his thick beard sticky and glistening.

“Bailey’s gone alone to negotiate a peace accord with Fallen Ones,” Ganzorig summarized. His voice was empty of inflection making it seem like he was talking about the weather. For me, however, hearing it put to words drove a chill up my spine.

My worst fear was coming true. These people had come here for me, to protect me, and now one of them had gone to keep it from happening only to put herself in exactly the danger I had been trying to help them avoid.

Alban picked up on the magnitude of what we were facing and tossed the sausage aside. Slapping his guardian’s chest, he said, “Me and Lorencio are here to assist.”

And I knew we had two more pairs of eyes that would be looking for her.

“I think…,” Eran said warily, “we’re going to need everyone.”

“I’ll spread the news,” Jerod said, adding, “I’m fairly good at it.”

“Tell them what’s happened and to meet back here at dusk.”

With a vain uplift of his chin, Jerod spun on his heel and marched off in the direction of the busier side of camp. Before he’d gone three steps, he peered over his shoulder to shout a command. “Come, Ganzorig.”

Ganzorig did, but not before he heaved a sigh and clenched his teeth in annoyance.

“All right,” Eran said, addressing the guardians. “We’re going to have to revoke our one rule for the time being…use your appendages. Do it inconspicuously and elevate yourself quickly. You might pass for a bird. I’m going west. The rest of you know what to do.”

As they dispersed, Eran began trudging toward the farthest tent, getting as far from the other camp as possible before taking flight. I did the same, slightly behind him and to the left. When we had cleared the tents, our appendages opened almost simultaneously and we sped upwards. I veered farther to the left, dropping my sight from him to the ground and beginning my search.

Several minutes later, Eran’s voice came suddenly from my right side demanding, “What are you doing?”

I discovered him to be so close our wings were almost touching. An irritated expression was planted on his face.

“I’ll give you one guess,” I said.

He sighed. “You’ll be safer at camp, Magdalene. You aren’t needed here, and in fact, your presence only aggravates the situation.”

I knew what he said was true and yet I couldn’t convince my body to turn around.

“She’s here because of me, Eran. She’s placed herself in danger because of
me
. If she’s hurt…,” I choked, “it’ll be because of
me
.”

“No,” he countered, “it’ll be because of the Fallen Ones, the same ones who will hurt you if they find you.”

“I understand the risk,” I replied flatly. To appease him, I suggested, “If we find her with them, I’ll consider going back.”

“But you won’t,” he said.

“No,” I agreed immediately after. “I won’t.”

We soared silently for the next hour with him making repeated glances and shaking his head at me, which I disregarded. There was enough to occupy me. We had to maintain a safe distance from the ground and yet stay close enough to avoid missing her. This was problematic when we came across cities. In daylight, we could be easily spotted if they evaluated us closely enough. But if anyone saw us, I couldn’t be sure. I wasn’t paying attention to them. I was looking for Bailey.

And we did find her, just as we passed a walled city tucked in a pouch of green hills and traversed the range for the other side.

“I see her,” Eran said.

Following his line of sight, I noticed two people in a clearing. We were far enough aloft that they could have been mistaken for someone else, if not for the appendage lying nearby.

Instantly, my stomach tightened, feeling as if it were flattening against my spine, shrinking away from the reality of what was below.

“You’re not going to want to see this,” Eran warned.

But I already knew that, and still I couldn’t stop my descent or tear my gaze from her.

She was lying by a stream, her limbs twisted in directions they shouldn’t have been. Her clothing was in shreds. There was very little blood; the injuries she had sustained were completely internal with the exception of her appendages. One of them was still hanging on, drooping to the side and off her body by the last stretch of tendon. The other was a few feet away, marred by mud.

The closer I came to her, the more wobbly my approach and the stronger the pain in my stomach became. By the time my feet touched the earth, I was bent over and clutching my torso.

I ran for her, stumbling, and fell to my knees at her side.

The sobs started seconds later.

I sat there, hunched, unable to see her through my tears. But the memory of her was entrenched in me. Her mangled body…her broken appendages…her lifeless eyes were all branded in my memory. It was a memory that would never be forgotten or diffused. It would be embedded in my consciousness for the rest of my existence.

Eran’s hand settled over my shoulder, cupping it, trying to offer some comfort.

My sobs shook me, stole my breath, and weakened me until I was hunched over Bailey’s body. And when Eran could take no more of it, he lifted me into his arms and arched his body until he was cuddling me against him. Firmly, he held me there, my legs unable to bear my own weight.

Time passed and my breathing steadied and my eyes drained. I found some ability in my legs and propped myself up. Yet all I really wanted to do was curl into a ball and will this all away.

“Can you sit?” he asked, thinking that standing would be too much for me.

“I…I…,” I said, but discovered that demonstrating what I could do would be easier.

Holding onto his broad, stable shoulders, I steadied myself on my legs. My face was still wet except for where it had been pressed into Eran, but I didn’t trust myself to wipe away the moisture. Instead, I took a step back and drew in a breath.

He evaluated me the entire time.

“I…,” I began again and failed, nodding that I was fine instead.

Releasing my arms, which he’d held out of prudence, he continued his patient study of me. When I didn’t collapse, he seemed to relax a little.

“I’m right here,” he said. “Right here.”

I nodded.

His appendages swept out and pumped once to carry him backwards over to the other side of the stream. He made a graceful landing and folded his arms across his chest as he seemed to settle into view the surrounding area.