Page 33 of Guardian Lovers

He reached for his cell phone, but I shook my head. “There’s no signal down here. Just go!”

He nodded, scooped up the two smallest children, who were awake but dazed, and said, “When we got up to the surface again, cake and ice cream all around!”

With a banging of small feet, Santa and the children departed. I moved to Rebecca’s side and caught her hand. We were both down to the bottom of our energy reserves, but if we could manage for a few more minutes, at least the others could escape. After that—I didn’t want to think what would happen after that.

Rebecca kicked the rampaging rocking horse onto its side. As it bounced and whinnied furiously in its attempt to get upright, she thought, “The demon started as a human, so he should have a nervous system. Can you destroy nerves well as heal them?”

I blinked. Killing wasn’t something most doctors studied. But maybe it would work here. “Let me take a look.”

Still holding Rebecca’s hand, I stepped forward and reached through my shield to grab the gnome’s wrist. It was as thick as a human neck, and when I touched, agony coursed through me. Startled, he looked at my gripping hand, then bent and opened a mouth full of razor teeth to bite my hand off.

I did my best to keep my hand away from his teeth as waves of agony shuddered through me. Since we were bonded, Rebecca gasped, too. But my scan revealed that whatever kind of creature he had become, he still had nerves to make his ugly body operate. Drawing hard on Rebecca’s magic, I blasted hunter attack power through him like a flame thrower, burning the neural network to charred black threads.

The gnome spasmed backward and howled with ear shattering force. As the homicidal toys stopped in their tracks, his wrist crumbled under my hand. I watched in horror as he disintegrated into a pile of black ash. I had just used my God given healing power to kill a living being.

I folded onto my knees and threw up. Then slowly, like a marionette whose strings had been cut, I collapsed into darkness.

“Drink this,” Rebecca ordered.

I realized that she was supporting my back and tilting a thermos of warm coffee to my lips. Feeling desert parched, I swallowed automatically. Starbucks mocha latte. She must have filled up her thermos at the airport before starting her chase. I’m glad she hadn’t offered it earlier, because I needed it even more now. Another swallow, and I began to feel warmth and strength returning.

A few blinks brought Rebecca’s worried face into focus. “Shouldn’t you be as flattened as I am?” I croaked.

Relieved, she sat back on her heels. “Close, but you did more of the heavy lifting.” She placed the thermos into my hands.

Using both hands, I drained the rest of the latte. We were on the floor outside the railroad car, so petite Rebecca must have dragged my gangling body outside. I was grateful not to have to see the demonic toys and the horrible pile of black ash.

“Let’s get out of here,” I said, my voice working a little better. “I imagine that by now Santa and the kids are on the surface trying to explain all this to a policeman. Did you have a chance to adjust their memories a bit?”

She nodded. “They’ll remember a simple kidnapping and a very fast rescue. Exciting and scary, but no real harm done.”

I struggled creakily to my feet. No harm done? We were now bound together for as long as we both lived.

“Is that such a bad thing?” Her thought was shy.

For the first time I had the leisure to study my companion in mayhem. Rebecca had an elfin face and light gray eyes. I reached out to touch her tangled dark red hair to see if it was as silky as it looks. “Not a bad thing at all.”

Just looking at her made me feel better and stronger. She was also, I realized, the hottest babe I’d ever seen.

“That’s rather rude of you, Simon.” Rebecca’s mental words were prim, but infused with warmth.

“Sorry. I’m new to this mind talk thing.” A little uncertain, I continued, “You realize that we have the next thing to an alchemical marriage?”

“My parents have an alchemical marriage and I’ve always wanted the same, but I never met a man I could imagine that happening with.” Her smiled quirked up enchantingly. “To be honest, I would never have picked you as the ultimate partner, but now that you’re here…” She blushed. “You seem just right.”

“I never thought I’d want to be with a scary Guardian hunter, but I see that I can be useful patching people up in your wake.” I put one arm around her, then the other. As she settled against me, I realized I’d never felt so good in my life even though I was exhausted. We’d risked our lives to save lives, and I sensed a lifetime of reward ahead. There was still so much we didn’t know about each other lives, but our souls—those were in harmony. “I don’t ever want to let you go.”

She breathed a soft laugh. “I don’t think you could get rid of me if you tried. We hunters are very stubborn.”

“Let’s just leave and let Santa sort out the kidnapping. I’m too tired to talk plausibly to policemen.” I rested my head on the top of her head. “I have a hotel room with a nice king sized bed not far away. Care to join me there? We can further our acquaintance in the morning when we’ve both had some rest.”

“An excellent plan.” She brushed a swift kiss on my lips, and I realized I wasn’t quite as exhausted as I thought. She continued, “Writers like me can write anywhere.”

“Good. Have you ever been to Boston? I think you’d like it.”

She laughed, and the crystalline delight of that sound resonated in every cell of my body. “I love Boston!”

“We’ll spend Christmas in New York, then I’ll take you there,” I promised. “Merry Christmas, Rebecca.” I grinned. “I’m thinking of Charles Dickens. You’re my ghost of Christmas present.”

She smiled back with deep promise. “And you’re my ghost of Christmas future!”