Sunshine: Tales of an Assassin

Chapter Nine

***Lydia's POV***

    I had sent Katrina and Nathanial away because I wanted to be certain of what was going on before going any further into this mess with anyone else.  More intel had crossed my desk, and it seemed that Gabriel was only really only a small fry at this point, that something larger was going on, and if what I had read was correct, Katrina wasn't going to be going by her normal name for a while.  After they walked out and shut the door, I looked at Matthew and Kai, debating who to question first, but Matthew beat me to the punch.

    "Cora was causing problems this morning again, and she's not even attempting to be subtle anymore, I'm not sure how much longer it will be until she escalates and actually attacks Sunshine.  I'm sure she's already reported her version of events from this morning to her boss."

    "That....woman is a menace.  I can see why her clan was willing to do so much for so little if it meant getting her out of their hair.  Tell me, do you really think that Adam is sleeping with her or not?  It's the only thing I can think of as to why he always takes her side so much."  I heaved a sigh knowing I was going to have to put an end to this somehow, and make sure that she stayed away from my people, the tough part was that not many people actually knew who Katrina reported to.

    "I can honestly say I'm not certain of it.  He's always been a softie and hates conflict or drama, so I think if he can just agree with things and go back to his computers, he's happy.  Low powered witches tend to avoid problems and just want to be left alone, since they usually are considered one slippery step above humans and Cora is abundantly clear on how she feels about them."

    "Damn, well, I'll straighten him out or I'll go to his boss and straighten them both out."  I was rubbing the back of my neck when Kai decided to comment.

    "If I wasn't certain I would get food poisoning from the amount of unnatural things she uses, I'd offer to eat her.  Insulting the partner of a dragon is grounds for someone to be imprisoned, and if she attacks Sunshine, it would be something she would be executed for.  May I ask why you all keep calling her Sunshine?  The name melds with her but doesn't at the same time, I've never felt something like this before, it has power, only for her, but I can tell it isn't her true name."

    "I'll answer that Kai, if you would answer two for me first, and I wouldn't ask unless it is important to know first."  I waited for his nod of agreement. "One, why did you state she is the partner of a dragon rather than a potential partner, and two, how are you able to sense the name being wrong but right?"

    "Dragons do not have potential partners, we can only have one mate at a time, we either accept or reject them, end of story, we do not get to choose among a number like the other races.  Sensing her name being wrong is a dragon thing, but as her partner I should be able to sense something of her true name, though I cannot.  I can tell you that she is what you think she is, it was confirmed."

    Matthew was being abnormally quiet, watching the two of us with eyes narrowed slightly, and I couldn't help but jerk to full attention when Kai stated that he had confirmation of what she is.

    "The passage...she is one?  How did you get confirmation of that, and how do we know it is reliable?  Even your mother didn't remember the information and is still looking for more."

    "No one can force their dreams on a dragon, yet she was in a shared dream state with me.  One of the ancient goddesses was warning us to be strong, she could hear the conversation between Sunshine and I that was strictly done mind to mind, and she kept referencing the Guardian, which I knew could not be me.  Now the name please."  Ancient gods meddling now was not what I needed, and something I'd have rather avoided.

    "Her name is Katrina, and she works directly under me handling different difficult situations, when she is on a mission and working her handle is Sunshine.  She will not respond to Katrina while she knows she is on any mission, only Sunshine.  Matthew as her handler picked it, evidently the name struck him day one when she was being tested.  Yesterday we found out that she had suddenly acquired several potential mates of different races at once, something that shouldn't be possible for a human, which is what lead me to your mother."  Kai nodded, his eyes narrowing slightly at the mention of other mates, even if they were only potentials, but after a brief moment as he thought of something, he relaxed again.

    "If you'd seen what I saw when she was testing, you'd have called her the same thing, Lydia.  Have you ever seen what she is like when she is really working?"  Matthew commented from the side, and Kai looked at him, his head c****d to the side, waiting for an explanation.  "When Katrina is not Sunshine, she lacks confidence, and has some anger issues, but is very quiet, and tends to hide in the shadows.  When she is working or as she sees it, correcting an issue, she can get extremely energetic, and even if she has to pretend otherwise, she lights up when she gets the chance to do so.  Her test was what she would do if some perverted man larger than her kept trying to do something with her and abuse his power, had she given in, we would have kept her in a different division of the company, but she didn't.  She was polite and smiling the whole time, with cheerful voice she brought down a wolf shifter more than twice her size barely doing more than a wrist lock, and use of one of her gifts. She had a grown wolf crying and begging for forgiveness in under two minutes all while she seemed to be talking about a beautiful sunny day."

    I'd heard the reports on how well she had done, but not how she did it, and shrugged, Katrina had never worried me, she was loyal and had a code of morals that she would not break, and we tested her to see how she would react.  The name made sense to me, and I saw Kai nodding while looking thoughtful.

    "Now, would you all mind filling me in on my dark princess since you seem to be trying to dance around it.  Throwing aside the issues of me being her handler, I actually care about that girl and I want to know what you two are talking about."

    Explaining where I'd gone last night, and who Kai was and why he was here took a little time, but as I explained about what the book had said about Guardians, Matthew looked startled for a moment but then started nodding along.  Kai added more details about the dream and what had happened, what he could sense this time, as well as before, while Matthew simply looked thoughtful for a moment, then looked at us both with a touch of pain and fear in his eyes.

    "I've actually heard of Guardians before, kind of a family legend, and one that I'd mostly forgotten, seeing how I'd never seen such a thing, and it had happened so many generations ago that I'd have sworn it couldn't be real.  One of my distant ancestors evidently had a sister that was linked to a Guardian, or so it's said.  They never really had to many details about Guardians, only that the one who had been so blessed to mate with one of our family had in the end been a cursed and tortured hero."

    I watched Matthew as he struggled to remember the story that he'd been told, and how he seemed to be struggling with something else as well.

    "Evidently one of the dark gods was trying to find a way to walk the earth again, to rule it, but a Guardian had woken, and was slowly eliminating those trying to help the dark god.  I remember thinking how odd it was, they spoke of the Guardian and his three mates, but that didn't seem right to me, while we may be granted more than one to choose from, having more than one mate, and his were different races at that, didn't seem right, it could only be a fairy tale."  Matthew was rambling a little, and I wasn't sure if it was due to not wanting to continue the story, or being lost in memory.  

    "Why was he considered cursed and tortured?"  Kai asked, his voice softer than normal, and I could sense him trying to calm Matthew, who looked him dead in the eye as he continued the story.

    "One after another, his three mates, an angel, a bear shifter, and a wolf shifter, all three were captured by those who had served the dark god, and one by one they were tortured and killed, slowly driving the Guardian insane, or so I'm told.  My ancestor's sister held out longer than the rest, trying to buy time for the Guardian to end things, which from what I understand she did, though the Guardian was driven insane by what happened, his rage was targeted at the followers of the dark god, he didn't hurt a single innocent, but his rage could not be contained.  He went on a suicide mission, directly into the heart of the enemy territory where he felt his mates die, and took out almost every one of them.  When others went to find what happened, they found him, not far from his mates, and buried them all together.  My family has passed that down, always stating that we should remember their sacrifice and pray that another Guardian never needs to wake again, for that would mean the dark gods are as well."

    "Matthew, I hate to ask this, but do you know if any of your clan has any other records relating to that or Guardians?  I've a feeling that we will need as much information as possible as fast as possible."

    "I'll ask, and see what I can find out, be just a moment if you don't mind me stepping out for a bit."  Matthew stood and walked to the door, waiting on me to nod my approval, which I gave before looking at Kai who seemed a bit lost in thought.

    "What are you thinking there Kai?"

    "You were keeping her on missions and not answering to her true name to prevent any potential from claiming her, and she has multiple potentials as well as myself evidently.  The Guardian in the story had three mates, was that based on his strength, or what he had accepted that accepted him?  If there had been more accepted, could he have been stronger, kept them all safe, or did he only have the three that accepted him?  His tale leads me to believe that we were correct, even without the dream last night, but it leads to more questions than it answers for me.  Was the dark god one of the lesser, or one of the greater?"

    I shook my head at the practical nature of dragons, though Kai was on a level all of his own which I couldn't help but wonder at sometimes.  He lifted a quizzical brow towards me as I shook my head.

    "You focus on an unconfirmed story from ages ago to question things we may never get the answer to, ignoring the fact that your mate may end up having multiple mates.  Most of the males that I am familiar with would still be focused on that point and growling 'mine' provided they hadn't fully rejected the potential at that point."

    Kai shrugged "I cannot control how many mates she may have or need as a Guardian, but should that story be true, and if the number of mates would make a difference in her survival or death, than I would be more inclined to try to stack those numbers to get her the best chance of survival.  Having seen her this morning, and shared those dreams with her, while I may not know too much about her, I could not reject her or walk away from her.  I can accept that I may have to share, uncommon though it is, and I would rather share than risk a choice that would leave my mate dead."

    I thought about what he said, and wondered if I could have been so open minded were I in his shoes, and felt certain that I wouldn't be able to.   All I could wonder now is if the others would see it that way as well, would they do what would grant her the best chance to survive, or would their egos cause her downfall?  I would have to pray to the powers that be that they were better people than I.