Page 29 of The Guardian (Dark-Hunter 20)
She had a newfound respect for his prowess as she watched him battle them. They would get a wound in here or there, but he paid no attention to it as he cut them into pieces with his sword.
Dang, he was a great fighter. Probably one of the best she'd ever seen. How awful it had to be for a man so strong and skilled to be forced to subjugate himself to the cruel whims of Noir and Azura. She hadn't realized the true horror of his predicament until now.
To know you had the ability to fight like that and to be tortured the way he was ...
How could he stand it?
He stabbed the last one through the heart, then turned toward her. The shield holding her fell and her high heels melted into a pair of running shoes. "Come, Lydia. It's not safe here anymore." To her complete shock, he held his hand out to her.
Hoping that wasn't a sign of the Apocalypse, she ran to him and took it.
He pulled her out into the hallway, where the sounds of fighting echoed loudly. An instant later, a full suit of armor covered her.
She looked up at the Guardian, who handed her a sword.
"Do you know how to use one of these?"
"Of course. Pointy end goes into the other guy, hopefully through the heart."
He inclined his head respectfully to her. She didn't miss the look in his eyes that said he half expected her to use it on him-like she'd done with her dagger the first time they met. The fact that he gave it to her when he didn't trust her said a lot.
"Who's attacking us?"
He sighed. "It looks like Thorn's people."
"Thorn?"
"He lives on the other side of the Divide. Normally he and Noir have a truce. But every now and again..." His voice trailed off as a winged demon swooped down at them.
Lydia caught the demon just as it went past, stabbing it through the heart.
The demon shrieked before it hit the ground behind her.
Without a single comment, the Guardian led her away from the fighting. She wasn't sure where they were heading until he opened a door and shoved her through it.
"What the hell?" a man growled in a tone so deadly, it startled her.
Her heart pounding in stark terror, she turned to see a tall dark-haired man on the other side of the room. He would have been every bit as handsome as the Guardian except for his eyes, which were so off-putting and unnerving they completely took him down several slots on the hotness scale. One was a vivid green while the other a deep, dark brown.
She shivered at the sight of them. And like the Guardian, the ferocity of his powers thrummed through the ether. She didn't know who he was or what he did here, but it was obvious he could eat her for lunch if he wanted to.
The Guardian locked the door and confronted the other man with his bloodied sword held out to his side. "You owe me, Jaden. Watch her and make sure she doesn't leave here."
Jaden laughed sarcastically. "Are you out of your freaking mind, Egyptian?"
The Guardian's nostrils flared. "It's the least you can do after what you did to me."
Whatever Jaden had done in the past caused him to wince. "I would ask if you have any idea what would happen to me if those assholes found her in my custody, but you know better than anyone the tab on that. Gods damn you for it."
"You're a little late, they already did." The Guardian glanced at her, then looked back at Jaden. "You're the only one here besides me who has the powers to protect her. Don't you dare betray me."
Jaden cocked his jaw as if he was considering betrayal after all. Or more to the point, putting the Guardian through a wall for daring to threaten him. "It's pathetic when you and I have to become allies." He sighed in disgust. "My enemy's enemy, I guess ... Fine, I'll watch her. But only because it's you. I wouldn't put my ass on the line for anyone else."
The Guardian inclined his head to him, then used an expression Lydia hadn't even known he knew. "Thank you. I won't forget this."
His face unreadable, Jaden looked past the Guardian to the doorway. Shouts and metal clanking against metal and stone echoed through the wooden door. "What's going on out there?"
"I'm not sure. I'll be back as soon as I can." The Guardian left them, then slammed the door closed, and bolted it from the outside.
Like the Guardian's, this room was dismal and bleak. Only Jaden had a fire blazing in his stone hearth, and his bed looked like he actually used it.
Jaden's gaze darkened as he scanned her from head to toe in a less than friendly manner. One that made her hackles rise.
"Seth doesn't know, does he?"
She scowled at his question. "Who's Seth?"
Jaden twisted his face up into an expression that questioned her mental capacity. "Hello? The Guardian who was just here, the big-ass guy with red hair, holding your hand and stupidly threatening me? Did you miss seeing him somehow?"
So that was the Guardian's name ... Seth.
Strong and sinister, just like the man who bore it.
Jaden rolled his eyes. "He never told it to you, huh? Typical ... Just typical."
"He said no one used it."
"They don't."
"Then how do you know it?"
Jaden laughed cruelly. "I know everything. Unlike Seth, I have my full powers most of the time. And you're really lucky he doesn't."
"How so?"
"'Cause when he finds out you're a jackal, he will kill you where you stand and bathe joyfully in your blood."
