The Guardian King

Chapter Twenty-three

~ Phoenix

*

In an upscale townhouse on the outskirts of Edinburgh I’d finally tracked down my target. One particular depraved had been at the top of my hit list for weeks. This was not a kill mission, but an interrogation mission. I would be getting answers one way or another.

*

For the third time in ten minutes, I scanned the street for anyone, human or otherwise, who might spot me. The near moonless night aided my quest as I slipped out of the dark corner and moved swiftly around to the back of the house. An iron gate blocked my approach; a minor deterrent. I found the latch, took the padlock in hand, and with little effort, focused enough energy to heat the lock past melting point. I tossed the mangled mass onto the nearby grass, before pushing the gate open.

*

I hung back, scanning the exterior of the house for motion activated flood lights. Certain my path lay clear of traps, I crept up the porch steps and approached the back door. I could’ve easily forced my way inside if I wished, but my goal was stealth. With a hand over the lock, I telekinetically turned the deadbolt. Not all telekinetics could move unseen objects. It was a skill I’d worked years to develop.

*

Without a warning sound, I let myself into the townhouse. There were many things I’d expected to find when finally locating this specific depraved’s hideout… but a completely empty building had not been one of them. “Merde,” I muttered when I realized what the vacant house meant. My target had evaded me yet again.

*

I continued through every room in the house, hopefully seeking any small clue, but it’d been stripped completely bare. Some things, however, remained impossible to remove; scent for example. Inhaling every corner of the building, I desperately searched for a snippet of information. But I only confirmed what I already suspected. There’d been three previous inhabitants of the house, confirming they were indeed working in a group, a rare and disconcerting thing for the depraved.

*

Aggravated and disappointed, I left the house, allowing my mind to run over options for my next course of action. It had taken me a full week to run down the lead on the townhouse only to be knocked back to square one. Stressed, out of options, and completely depleted of all endurance, I had no choice but to return home with no new leads.

*

I hiked the mile south to where I’d left the borrowed motorcycle. The engine was oddly calming, vibrating though my entire body as I made my way back to Draden’s headquarters. The Scottish governor and I were good friends, and he asked no complicated questions when I reached out to him for information on the depraved I’d been hunting. After I returned the bike to the spot where I’d taken it, I went into the building and headed straight for the department of portal transport.

*

Active guardians did not work regular hours. Therefore, the DPT in all major guardian cities provided twenty-four hour service. I’d asked enough of Phyneas lately. I didn’t want to bother him just for the sake of portaling me back to Ilia. “Good evening, Your Majesty,” the older gentleman bid me, coming out from around the reception desk. “Where to?” He met me by the enormous gold-framed mirror on the far wall as I answered, “Home.”

“The Jewel of Ilia… as you wish.” He touched the solid surface, transforming it into a fluid state. I sent him a quick nod of thanks, before I stepped through the icy portal.

*

My feet landed inside the dark and deserted palace foyer. The exhaustion in no way relented by being home again, but my soul felt at peace from the gentle pull only the presence of my companion could give. As I’d done every night over the past week, I let the invisible tether guide me to Ember’s location. Since I’d been coming and going from the castle at all hours of the night, I typically found her tucked safely away in her suite. But twice I’d discovered her passed out in the library. This time her presence drew me to my own office of all places.

*

Curiously, I opened the door not certain if I would discover Ember asleep or awake. I stilled at the sight of her sleeping form, curled up in one of my club chairs, with an open book in her arms. My angel emanated serenity as her chest rose and fell in perfect rhythm, leaving me transfixed.

*

As I drew closer, I noticed she’d let her hair down for the first time that I’d seen. It spilled like a golden waterfall over the back of the chair, kissing the floor. The image of her unbound reddish-blonde tresses only added to her innocent appearance. The urge to experience the feel of it between my fingers got the better of me. Fibers of pure silk couldn’t compare to Embers soft locks. I became almost annoyed by the fact I hadn’t seen her in that state before.

*

She breathed deeply, snapping me out of my thoughts. I then proceeded to do the same as I did the two previous occurrences of discovering her asleep out of bed. A smidge of guilt grew in my gut as I gently laid a hand on her arm and used a fraction of my paralytic ability to prevent her from waking. I didn’t relish using my ability on her, but every night I found her asleep out of bed, I couldn’t ignore how tired she looked. The effects would wear off quickly and with any luck, I’d never have to answer for overstepping my bounds.

*

I withdrew the book, Encyclopedia of Guardian Abilities; Known and Suspected, from her relaxed grasp and set it on the mantle. With great care, I pulled her petite frame into my arms and allowed myself the pleasure of absorbing the exchange of energy the contact of our skin created.

*

With Ember unconscious in my arms, I moved silently through the castle toward her suite. After a flick of my finger, the door opened. With careful movements I passed from the den into her bedroom where I gently placed her in bed. The maids had turned down the covers, making my job a little easier. When I rolled her onto her side, a soft whimper made me freeze. My concern grew that I’d hurt her in some way.

*

When Ember’s body relaxed again, I flipped on the soft glow of her bedside lamp and proceeded to look her over. What I’d overlooked in the darkness of my office, were the bruises along her arms. My entire body seized with rage. “Who did this to you, mon ange?” I whispered in anger. Still under the effects of my ability, she did not stir.

*

After I drew the blankets over her body and extinguished the light, I retreated in haste from the room. I had my phone in hand by the time the door clicked shut. Growing increasingly angry with each ring, I picked up my pace back to the office. “Get here now,” I gritted into the phone when the line connected to my advisor.

“Majesty, where exactly is here?” he asked sleepily.

“My office.”

“Right away.” Phyneas was ordinarily a lighthearted person, one of many reasons I valued his friendship. When one led the life I did, one had a tendency to take things too seriously. I needed Phyn to balance me out. However, another reason I valued his friendship, he knew when to be serious.

*

I re-entered my domain the same time Phyneas stepped through the mirror. Without bothering to greet him formally I went right into my tirade, “Explain why in hell my companion is covered in bruises.” Phyneas ran a hand guilty through his shaggy red-brown hair and sighed with regret, somehow further stoking my fury. “Answer me!” I bellowed.

“I told you progress in her training has been slow, that includes combat training.”

“What in The Creator’s name has that got to do with it?”

“Your ex managed to land more than a few blows during the last couple sessions.”

“Putain!” I swore. “I should have known better than to involve Sadie in Ember’s physical training. But that doesn’t explain why you haven’t healed her.”

“I tried! More than a dozen times I tried. Ember stubbornly refused to let me.”

“Why on earth would she do that?”

“She wants to heal her bruises on her own or let them serve as motivation to train harder.”

*

I paced the room for a moment before I replied, “I knew she was tenacious, but this is too far. I cannot allow this!”

“I knew you’d say that. But when it comes to reasoning with her she’s as stubborn as you, Nic.” My anger abetted at his comment and I couldn’t stop the soft smile that overtook my face.

“You like that, don’t you?” Phyn asked, having observed the shift in my countenance. “That she’s as stubborn as you?”

“It’s a sign, and a very good one at that. I’m much too unyielding to have a meek companion. She may possess the goodness of an angel, but she also possesses great strength of will.”

*

“Nic, I’m sorry I couldn’t convince her to let me heal her,” Phyneas said, “and that I let her get hurt in the first place.”

“You can make it right by going upstairs to her suite right now and ridding her of all injuries. She should still be under the effects of the paralysis.”

“You paralyzed her?!”

“Only a little, so she wouldn’t stir when I moved her. I found her asleep in my office.”

“What was she doing in here?”

“I don’t know, but we can contemplate the possibilities after you have done as I asked.”

“She’s going to be pissed at me, you know. When she wakes and sees that her bruises are gone.”

“Perhaps she will assume she healed herself in her sleep.”

“And if she doesn’t?” he questioned. “I won’t lie to her.”

“I’d never ask you to. If she assumes it was you and gets angry, let her be. I don’t care. I will not have her walking around injured and in pain. Do you understand?”

“Of course, Majesty.”

*

Not a minute after Phyneas left the room, Gemma entered. “You’re keeping late hours, Gem,” I noted.

“I’ve been doing research,” she explained.

“On?”

“Annalise Ellison.”

“Ember’s mother. What is there to research that isn’t in her official file.”

“Its not so much her that has me curious, but that of her late husband.” Realization hit me and I said, “You discovered his file is missing.”

“You knew? Wait… were you the one who erased it?”

“No. But the day after the companion’s ball I also discovered it missing. I’ve been looking into it.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Because I’d hoped to find answers before it came up, but so far I’ve failed. I don’t plan to keep this from Ember, however, at the moment I fear giving her more questions than answers. I wanted to put her mind as ease regarding his death, but it would seem the circumstances are more mysterious than I originally thought.”

“So what do you plan to say to her when she asks? Because she was with me when I discovered the file had been erased and it’s all she’s been able to think about for the past couple days.”

*

I sat on the front edge of my desk and stroked the stubble on my chin in thought. All I wanted was to give Ember the full story about her father. She deserved that much. But something or someone appeared to be preventing me from doing that. “I think it’s time I finally gave Soren the meeting he’s been seeking,” I said. My publicist’s expression became uneasy as she asked, “Are you sure that is a good idea?”

“Jonas worked for his inner circle, it’s very possible that whoever is responsible for removing his file, did so under Soren’s orders.”

“Soren is quick to take offense, if you approach him with this, you’d better be tactful.”

“Excuse me? Have you forgotten who you’re talking to? I am the guardian king.”

“The king of guardians you may be, the king of tact, however, you are not.”

“I can be when it’s important.”

“Well, just in case, before you risk offending our previous monarch, let me talk to my aunt. As Jonas’ sister, maybe she can give me a lead.”

“Unlikely.”

“Please let me try.”

“Alright, you have one day. If you can’t get new information from Beth in that time, I will have to talk to Soren. I owe it to my companion to give her peace of mind. I can’t let her down.”

*

“If you don’t want to let Ember down,” Phyneas said as he re-entered the room. “Perhaps you should consider putting off further travel for a while.”

“I can’t, Phyn. You know I can’t.”

“I know what you are doing is paramount, but if you care about Ember you should consider delegating. She won’t admit it, but your absence is effecting her.”

“He’s right, Nic,” Gemma agreed. “This mental block she has when it comes to using her abilities, may be tied to your absence somehow.”

*

The revelation caught me off guard. “I should have realized that,” I muttered as I moved to sit near the fireplace.

“How could you have noticed?” Gemma questioned. “You’ve been preoccupied.”

“Because the irritability and exhaustion I’ve been feeling is exponentially worse the longer I’m away from her. That’s why I’ve checked in on her every night this week. But the idea that the same feeling of emptiness went both ways, never occurred to me.”

“If what you’re saying is true,” Phyneas said, “that must mean the bond between the two of you is growing stronger.”

“By the day,” I admitted.

“Then you need to tell her. Soon.”

“No. It’s not time yet. Our connection has to be undeniable from her perspective first.

“Then your absence will only draw that out. It’ll never be time if you continue the way you have been.”

*

“You’re right,” I conceded. “After I get more of the story on Jonas, I’ll ask Knox to step in on the depraved investigation.”

“What about the restoration project?” Phyn inquired. I looked from Phyneas to Gemma and back to Phyneas, before I softly stated, “Ember is the restoration project.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Author’s Note:

Merde - French swear

Putain - French swear

*

Chapter 24 coming Sunday, March 19th. :)

~ E. K.