The Last Guardian Rises (The Last Keeper's Daughter) Read online

  “You should have known.”

  Krieger didn’t argue. “The Keeper’s role was no longer necessary. I was not as attentive to your family, to Catherine’s line, as I should have been. As with many things, one does not know the exact moment of obsolescence. If I had known, the past would be very different. I should have cut my ties with your family long ago.”

  “Then we would have never met.” Lily drained her glass and placed it on the table. “I realize it’s not rational. I just want someone alive to blame.”

  “And now?”

  “Martha and the Ancient have helped me through it.” Krieger cocked his eyebrow, and she added, “No, not together, but I talk with each of them.” She started to walk towards him and stopped herself, instead wrapping her arms protectively around her chest. “I need to tell Martha and Jo about you. Keeping this secret from them is eating away at me.”

  She was afraid he’d deny her request. Actually, he was surprised she hadn’t broached it earlier. “They are your family.” He had them watched, protected. They were not a threat, or rather they would never be allowed to be a threat. It would make his life simpler if they joined the Other community.

  She exhaled loudly, letting her arms drop, and for the first time tonight gave him a genuine smile. “Thank you.”

  “Then you see a path for us to move forward.”

  “Omitting important information is the same as lying to me. I have to know that you will tell me the truth of things.”

  He wanted to reason with her, but that would be as pointless as quarrelling with an infant. Few individuals wanted to know the truth of things. Most avoided the truths they saw in their own mirror. “And will you–” Krieger dipped his head slightly and forced the words out, “Will you reciprocate and tell me the truth of things?”

  Provocative with certainty Lily tossed her long white hair back behind her shoulders. “I will.”

  He could hear the unsaid “but” and waited for her to finish.

  “I won’t be ruled by this bond. I will love who I wish.” Lily stepped back from him.

  His anger flared and bashed against his self-control like a beast provoked. “Haven’t I already freed you from that aspect of the bond?” Do not lose your temper. Remember your agenda. “No, let me finish. If I had not shared my blood, you would be dead. Is that what you wanted?”

  “No,” she said, dropping her gaze to the floor.

  “Then stop punishing me for saving your life.” He inhaled, a habit from when he was human, to calm his emotions. “Tell me if there is someone you wish to be with. You owe me that.”

  Lily’s hand reflexively went to her neck where his mark glowed. “There isn’t anyone else.”

  Liam and his vantors reported the details of her days. Who she saw. Where she went. He knew that her bed was not warmed by another, and yet, he still felt relief at her words. Had he finally cracked her thick shell of defiance? Was this a new beginning? “I need you by my side at the council meeting.”

  “He will be there, won’t he?” Lily bit down hard on her lip.

  “You will be as safe there as here. Lucien or I will always be by your side. I am not foolish enough to take you amongst members of the Royal Houses of Vampire, and this Grigori, without taking extreme care of your person.”

  She sucked her lower lip in and he almost groaned with desire. “If I gave myself to another vampire what would you do?”

  Krieger mentally recoiled. “I would endure.” Why had she said vampire and not another man? Was she speaking of Lucien? “Have you closed your heart to me?”

  Her reaction was instant. She moved directly in front of him and pressed her palm against his chest. His arms engulfed her.

  “Tell me all is not lost.” He lowered his head to that sweet juncture between her neck and shoulder.

  “This scares me.”

  Krieger kissed along her neck until he found her lips. Their flesh melded in the intensity of mutual desire. His tongue skirted her bottom lip, begging for entry. Tentative at first, she opened her lips shyly and their tongues danced until there was nothing but where they touched.

  Lily’s fingers twined in his hair and pulled him down to her body. One-handed he started to lift her, to take her and lay her out before the flames of the fire.

  Before her feet left the floor, she pushed back from him. “I’m sorry.”

  Krieger’s dark side silently roared in anger and frustration at relinquishing what he’d lusted after for so long. He held her softness against his hard body with arms strong as iron.

  “Please.” She tried to untangle from his hold.

  “Why do you fear this?” He inhaled the floral fragrance of her hair. “Is it my size? Are you afraid I would hurt you?”

  Her flush turned to a blush and she averted her eyes. “I’m afraid of myself.”

  Relenting and hating the loss of her, he relaxed his arms and let her step back from their embrace, only allowing himself the feel of her skin through fingertips grazing along her arms.

  “How can you love me? I killed your brother. What if I’m evil?” She ran her hands over the tops of her thighs. “What if I’m the cause of the rift, the gates opening? Maybe it would be better for everyone if you had let me die.”

  Her words rocked him back on his heels. This was her fear? “My brother lost his soul.” He went to her and cupped her face in his hands. “You did what had to be done. What I should have done. There is no evil in you, my love. Only the loss of you could ever hurt me.” His thumb captured a lone tear. “You must trust in me.”

  Her lovely eyes were bright with emotion. She lightly kissed his hand before leaving his touch to stand next to the fire.

  “If I can help, then I want to go with you to the meeting.” She gazed at Catherine’s portrait. “It’s silly but I hate to leave the archives.”

  He hadn’t realized the intensity of her connection with them. It was said the Elder had this same ability. They all assumed Huthwiat, the Elder, was dead. How that was possible was inconceivable to him. The Elder had always been. He was the Supreme Being who had ruled over all the Others and vampires. Long ago when the Great War between the humans and the Others was fought, there had been five Elders, and then, there was only Huthwiat who alone had ruled amidst his archives, with the doorman, Mathers, at the Legacy Foundation in London.

  Hadn’t the Elder traveled from his home, bringing Detective Hunter with him, to Krieger’s castle to see Lily with his own eyes? No one who had witnessed their meeting would forget how the two of them had stood facing each other, their hair whipped around by a ghost wind and then, implausibly, their levitating slightly into the air. There was no denying that the Elder had recognized something within Lily and that she resembled him with her long white hair and her opaline skin that glowed. “Do all books speak with you?”

  “No. It’s…” Lily stared off into the now raging storm outside. “Well, I can’t explain it.”

  There was something indecipherable yet sad in her gaze. How long can I rein in my carnal yearning for her? What would I do if she gave herself to another?

  “Catherine was forged with a will strong as steel. Throughout the ages I’d see her smile, or a gesture, or even the color of her eyes in her offspring, but never before has anyone possessed her strength of character. Not, that is, until I met you. It seems fitting, doesn’t it? The alpha and omega of the Ayres line should both be female lionesses.”

  “There’s a poet inside that warrior body of yours.”

  It took him a moment to realize she was teasing him, and for the first time, in a long time, they both laughed together.

  The Guardian Rises

  Jason’s shift was almost over. He rubbed his weary eyes, forcing them to focus on the gauges of the continuous mining machine. He was part of a team on an exploratory mission in Western Australia. The mine had been shut down decades before because of a cave-in that occurred in the early fifties. A new consortium thought it could now be reopened and made profita
ble again. He and Andy, a fellow American contractor, were working two thousand meters below the surface, making their way laterally towards what they hoped would be a large coal vein.

  They’d worked through an old section of the mine that hadn’t been affected by the flood waters and had just pushed into virgin territory and, in just a few more meters, would call it a day. It was hard work, dangerous work, but they were paid well, and in three months Jason had earned more than he would have in two years back home. Soon he’d have enough money to buy a nice piece of land with a house, plenty of room for his wife and baby girl. Maybe he’d partner with his dad and run a few head of cattle on the grasslands.

  He didn’t realize how much he’d been daydreaming until a violent lurch slammed his back against the seat. The tortured grinding of the tungsten steel bits seeped through the protective headsets he wore.

  “Fuck!” Andy, his partner, screamed. Jason yanked off the headset, letting it fall around his neck. “Shut her down. Do you hear me?” Andy yelled.

  “Yeah, I hear ya,” Jason yelled down into the mouth piece.

  “Back her up.”

  Jason wasn’t too concerned. Andy was excitable and things happened, especially in this section which they knew would be challenging. The engineers had shown them the bad areas on the chart surveys the night before. Humming to himself, he disengaged and set the tracks so they could move backwards. The extra work at the end of their long shift made the whole process more laborious. Hot, sweaty, grimy, and hungry, he briefly wondered if he’d made the right decision to come here and leave his family, but he knew after a hot shower and a cold beer, he’d forget all about this, and instead be counting his money.

  “Looks good, move her to the right.” Andy had regained his normal volume. “The rocks got a strange coloring up ahead. I think we just need to maneuver over a little.”

  “Okay, ready?” Jason asked. He had to be sure Andy was in an area of safety before he engaged the gears. Otherwise his partner could be crushed.

  “Yep, let Big Mamma loose.”

  This time, Jason kept his mind on work. He was an easy-going type of guy, but right now, inexplicably, he felt anxious about the new track setting. Right away, the vibration felt different, and the drilling was too easy, like the machine was barely working as it ground its way through the rock. It should be working harder, much harder.

  “Shut her down.” Andy was screaming again and this time he sounded afraid. “Jason, Jesus man, you gotta get down here, quick. Don’t dim the lights, use the backup generator.”

  The fear in Andy’s voice heightened his own growing sense of anxiety. “Let’s just back her up and go up to the top.” Jason heard the break in his own voice. “This don’t feel right.”

  There was no sound through the headset. He waited a few more minutes. Nothing. Now the only thing he could do was the thing he didn’t want to do. Why would Andy not respond to him? Reluctantly, he hit the kill switch and swung over to the ladder steps, taking them slowly, until he could jump down to the mine floor. Up ahead, he could make out Andy. It looked like he was walking into an underground cavern, but that couldn’t be, the mapping of this area showed nothing but solid rock down here.

  “Shut up,” Jason said to himself. The lizard part of his brain was telling him to get the fuck out of here. “Don’t be a pussy,” he responded back to himself.

  “We ain’t unionized,” Andy yelled to him. “Hurry up.”

  Jason released a deep breath and moved to stand beside his partner. In front of them was a manmade structure. “What the hell?”

  Andy ran his hand over the smooth shiny surface. “It’s iron.” The machine bits had created a large ragged opening in the thick wall like a kid would rip away the wrapping paper on a Christmas gift.

  Jason felt pride in Big Mamma. “Fucking A, that’s my baby, able to chew up solid iron.”

  “There’s no corrosion, no disruption in the rock.” Andy leaned closer to peer inside the room.

  “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say that looks like a coffin.” Jason’s heart raced just like it had when he was ten and trapped in an elevator, alone.

  “Why would anyone put that down here?” Andy asked.

  “Maybe it’s something left over from when they mined this area before?”

  Andy shook his head. “No, this area wasn’t mined.” He pointed over to the left. “There’s the coal vein. This wasn’t on the geologist report.”

  Jason could almost see his reflection in the iron wall.

  “I think I can squeeze through here.” Andy was angling his shoulder through the opening created by the mining machine bits.

  “We should call this up.”

  Andy turned back to look at him. “We’re too far down to make contact now. I have to take pictures.”

  “Why?” Goose bumps rose on his arms.

  “Cause management will want to know why we didn’t reach our target for the day.”

  “Just take the damn picture then,” Jason snapped back. “They don’t pay me enough for this creepy shit.”

  “Is that a chain?” It was like Andy hadn’t even heard him. He’d already wedged his big body through the tear in the iron wall and was standing inside the room. “Man, this is cool.” He had his phone out taking pictures. “Stop being such a whiner and get in here.”

  “Stop fucking around!” Jason yelled. “We need to get out of here.”

  “Oh shit. I think it moved.”

  Jason took a step back from the opening. “What moved?”

  “The chain.” Andy looked back at him, his eyes wide.

  “Run!” Jason panicked. “Now!”

  It was too late.

  Too terrified to move, he instead waited for his life to flash before his eyes. That was what was supposed to happen, right? But he had no thoughts of his wife, or of his baby girl who he hadn’t met yet, or of his parents. Instead, he just stood there and watched as Andy was yanked into the coffin. There were no screams, no cries for help, only a gurgling sound that his mind could find no cause for. He was still standing there when a skeletal hand shoved the top of the box to the side and threw what was left of Andy to the far wall. He watched the lifeless body of his partner slide down, leaving a bloody trail, and then collapse on the floor.

  Jason blinked a few times; maybe this was a strange dream. Nope, when he opened his eyes Skeletor – that’s the name he’d given the thing sitting up inside the iron coffin – was still there. He knew he should feel something, but he did not. He should move, but he could not. The fight or flight part of his brain felt disabled or removed, and now he was left with only a numb sensation. Jason wondered if he’d gone insane, or if maybe the air down here was poisoned. I’ll be next, he thought, and like Skeletor had heard his thoughts, he turned his skull and stared at Jason through empty eye sockets.

  A tingling started in Jason’s right eye. No pain, only a warm fuzzy mass behind his eyeball, which seeped into his brain until he felt lightheaded. It continued down his neck and throughout his limbs until he stood there with a dumb smile on his face.

  Skeletor cocked his head to the side. He stepped out of the coffin. Jason saw him fully now. He was a corpse, not a skeleton. There were internal organs, muscles and tendons pulsing, growing, and stretching around his bones. Before his eyes, Skeletor was taking on form and flesh. The tingling sensation became a warm vibration sending shudders throughout his body. It intensified until his teeth rattled together so hard he thought they would shatter. His body shook like he was having a seizure and desperate to steady himself, he reached out to lean against the wall. A deep searing pain incapacitated him. He was no longer in control of his body. Something was inside him, moving, searching, with what felt like fingers feeling their way through his mind. Foam formed at the corners of Jason’s mouth and he tasted his own blood. He slumped down to the floor and waited to die.

  “Ah, yes,” a voice echoed in his mind. Jason could clearly hear it, but it was not his own voice. The p
ain dissipated, replaced by a warm wash of balm flowing throughout his body.

  “Your language was unknown to me,” Skeletor said.

  “What are you?” Jason asked. For many beats of his heart there was no answer from Skeletor, until he completely forget the question he’d asked.

  “Did the Elders send you?”

  The question jolted Jason awake. He blinked, watching as Skeletor opened and closed his jaw. He tested his fingers, stretched his arms, and rolled his neck. At first he walked with a lurching motion, but after a few steps his gait became smoother and when he knelt down in front of Jason, it was with a dancer’s grace.

  “Who.” Skeletor’s lips were filling in. “Sent. You.”

  It was all too much for Jason. Am I to die like Andy? “Oh, right, um, the company sent me. We…” He looked at what was left of Andy’s body. “I was down here working.”

  “Who is your king?” Skeletor asked. He spoke slowly, and was having difficulty with his s’s.

  A tiny portion of Jason’s mind starting screaming for him to run, to get away from this thing they’d uncovered. Again, he felt the sensation of tendrils moving around inside his mind. Contentment replaced his anxiety. It was better than any drug he’d ever tried.

  “Your king?” Skeletor repeated.

  “King, you mean who’s in charge.” Jason lost his train of thought watching the creature’s eyes change from red bloodshot wrecks to an ordinary shade of brown. “The president, I guess.”

  “What form of beast has brought you here?” He pointed towards the mining machine.

  “Beast, oh, that, it’s a machine.” Jason watched hair grow on Skeletor’s head, and just like his eyes, the color was an ordinary shade of brown. “Are you going to eat me now?” Jason asked, and then started giggling like a little girl.

  “You know nothing,” Skeletor responded.

  Was that a question? Jason wasn’t sure. He was having a difficult time staying focused; the stupid grin was back on his face. Did heroin feel like this? Because if it did, he could understand why people lost their souls to it.