Fallen Embers (Fallen Guardians #9)

Chapter 12

Chapter

Twelve

They reappeared in the small paved, plant-scaped backyard of her two-story apartment, the chilly night enclosing her. Without a word, Nia opened the door Lore magically unlocked and walked into her home.

The lamps on the side tables next to the couch came on. Lore again. The soft light illuminated the kitchen shadows, faded sofas, and the side stairs leading up to the bedroom. The familiar details of the home she’d lived in for the past four years and loved did nothing to ease her.

She’d been gone for nearly a week, but it felt like months. Everything felt different. She shut it all out, just needing to get through the coming days.

Lore followed closely behind her. His enticing warmth wrapped around her like an embrace, one she badly needed?—

No, she wasn’t going down that route. God, she wished he’d never kissed her because something had fundamentally changed inside her, and she had no idea how to fix it, how to feel normal again.

Now, she had to go to the funeral and pay her respects to a grandmother who’d ignored her for most of her life. Memories flooded her of the day when she’d been packed off to Nan’s after her parents’ death…

“It seems you are now my responsibility,” Nan Cora said. With her white hair pulled into a severe bun, her eyes were dark holes in her thin, pale face. Nia’s heart fluttered like a trapped bird.

“These are my rules. Follow them, and we will live in peace. I don’t like unnecessary disturbances to my days. No friends over unless they pass muster and are scheduled. Meals will be served in a timely manner. Your maid will instruct you on those hours.”

Struggling to hold back her tears, Nia gulped as she stared at the grandparent she’d only met a handful of times, too terrified to say a word.

“If you need anything, within reason, your maid will see to it.” Then, her hard stare held Nia’s. “I don’t want to hear about demons.”

She’d been so young, grieving the loss of her parents and desperately needing comfort, but that wasn’t forthcoming. Nan had exuded such coldness, sometimes Nia wondered if that was why her father had taken his family and moved out of the mansion.

She’d had so many questions, but it made little difference. Nan had refused to answer and never would even if she were still alive?—

A ringing cell hauled her out of a painful past.

With a shaky inhale, Nia fished out the device from her jeans pocket, frowned at the strange number, then answered. “Yes?”

“Rania Deveraux?”

“Who’s asking?”

“This is Steve Landry, attorney for Cora Devereaux. You are a hard person to reach,” he said, his tone as frosty as the wintry air. A flood of heat swept through her at his accusatory tone. “Your grandmother passed yesterday. Her funeral is tomorrow at eleven, and the reading of the will takes place directly after the service at the mansion.”

Choking back the retort that her friends had reached her in Romania, she muttered a cool, “Thank you,” and ended the call.

“Nia?”

She shook her head, crossed to the kitchen, and dropped her phone on the counter. With a trembling hand, she got a glass of water and gulped it down, all the while aware Lore hovered opposite the counter separating the kitchen from the living room.

Not even the chilled liquid calmed her.

“Grief can be a lonely affair.” His gaze skimmed her tight features. “I’ve heard talking can help at times.”

Talk? And highlight her shortcomings? Yeah, no.

She’d never been the kind of granddaughter her grandmother wanted, one who didn’t see demons. God knew she’d tried for a long time to explain to Nan it didn’t mean something was wrong with her , but it had fallen on deaf ears. And had made dinners a trial.

Besides, she didn’t want to reveal the truth of her loneliness, living with her grandmother.

“I have to go to the clinic.”

“Why?”

Nia set the glass down. “I intern there. I have to check on the animals in my care. And no, we are not flashing to the clinic and freaking out the people there.”

She picked up her cell from the counter, swiped to the Uber app, and booked a ride. Two minutes until arrival.

“We need to leave.” She headed for the front door.

“Nia, wait.”

Her expression neutral, she faced him.

He strolled closer, the soft glow from the lamps turning his hair into a fiery halo. “You’re back in the French Quarter. What do you think will happen if you go out that door?”

“Oh, you mean Kas? Well, then you wouldn’t have to hunt him down, would you? We’re taking a cab.” She whirled away, opened the door, and walked out. “You can sit with the driver.”

A short while later, she scrambled out of the Uber.

Sit with the driver?

She should have known better than to tell him what to do. Hell, she should have selected an SUV.

After being packed tight like sardines with Lore squashed next to her, his thigh pressing against hers, his arm slung over the back seat, she was burning up. She didn’t know if her confounding, growing powers were the cause of this wretched problem or her ever-present awareness of Lore was responsible for her lust skyrocketing.

She should have just let him flash them. The torment of being so close would have lasted mere seconds.

Exhaling roughly, she skirted the crowds and hurried to the glass front door, where the neon pink sign with paw prints signaled Paws Vet Clinic.

The receptionist glanced at them, then shot up from her seat. “Nia? Oh, thank God you’re back. We were so worried. Gil told me what happened. Are you okay?”

“I am. I just want to check on the pups and my other patients. This is Lore.” She did the intro. “And that’s Libby. I won’t be long.”

Libby’s eyes widened. Nia wasn’t surprised. The angel drew everyone.

“Hi,” her co-worker said, sounding a little breathless.

“I won’t be long,” Nia threw over her shoulder.

Maybe Libby could entertain him, give her some time alone to assimilate. Regroup.

Little yaps drew her down the passage, past the doors to the food-prep area, and to a brightly lit room. The two tiny bicolored brown and black pups were settled in a blanket-lined basket near the cupboards on the floor.

“Hey, you,” she rasped, throat thick with emotions. “I missed you both so much.”

She settled on her knees and gently stroked their silky pelts. Their warmth drew her, and she scooped up the smaller one, no bigger than her palm, and cradled him to her chest, taking comfort in his little, wiggling body.

She kissed his head. His wet tongue licked her chin.

Her eyes blurred. She hated Kas for ruining her life, and more, she hated herself for agreeing to that date.

“He would have still followed you, regardless.”

Nia jerked at the sound of Lore’s low voice. She cast a sideways look at his highly polished dress shoes next to her. “Stop reading my thoughts, please.”

“I’m not. You’re projecting your anger loudly.” Lore hunkered down beside her, distracting her yet again. His calm, silvery-green eyes skimmed her face. “Shield your emotions, Nia. You don’t want to draw the demon to this place.”

Hastily, she bolted her emotions—something she was used to—leaving her feeling bleak.

He caressed the whimpering pup in the basket, and it quieted. His gentleness made her wish he’d just stayed in the reception?—

“Nia?” At her boss’ voice, she shot to her feet, cuddling the puppy to her chest.

Gil Herbert stood in the doorway, scratching his bearded jaw. His short gray hair stuck up in its typical electrified state, and his buttoned lab coat strained over his stocky frame. His warm gray eyes were dark. “Is everything okay?”

“For now.” She stroked the puppy, trying to steady herself. “I wanted to see you and check on the pups.”

“They’re doing fine. That little one’s finally feeding.” He nodded to the bundle she carried, his gaze shifting to Lore hovering behind her. With him so close, it revved her up in ways that made her simultaneously want and hate him for making her feel this way.

“Gil, this is Lore. He’s a…a bodyguard.”

Lore likely gave Gil his cool stare, or maybe not, since her boss nodded and cast her a troubled look. “That stalker is still out there?”

She nodded.

“Nia.” He stepped into the room. “Why don’t you take some more time off?”

Her throat tightened, not surprised he didn’t want her to endanger the clinic in any way, and she couldn’t blame him.

“Don’t worry,” he said softly, eyes warm. “It’s early January. You can still clock in your remaining hours and finish your internship.”

But Gil also paid her a small wage. Now, she wouldn’t even have that.

She forced a smile and handed her only comfort back to him. “Thanks, Gil. Please keep the pups for me. I’m taking them both.” Whenever she got her life the heck back.

Her throat tight, she walked out of the clinic with Lore at her side.

The crowd surged along on the sidewalk, pushing her closer to Lore. Though the clinic was away from the tourist side of things, some of them still bled through.

She halted, feeling adrift.

“Where to?” Lore asked. “Back to your home?”

“No. Satire.” She needed to be with people who cared about her, so she didn’t feel so alone.

The blinking, bright neon pink and green lights from the shops lining the street amped up her headache.

Lore put a palm on her back. “Come.” He ushered her down the busy street with new urgency, and Nia had to run to keep up with him. “What is it?”

“The demon is close.” He grasped her hand, hauling her along.

Oh, shit.

Lore rounded the bend into a dank alley, their booted feet splashing in the water running down the asphalt, probably from a broken drain pipe. Some distance away from the entrance, he stopped. Stacked crates rose high on one side of them.

Nia let go of him and gripped one of the crates, her other hand pressed to her heaving chest. “What now?”

“We wait for him.” His cold stare remained on the busy street they’d left behind. “Then I kill him.”

Nia rubbed her hot face, fear strangling her. “What about his minions?” she whispered. “You didn’t sense any demons close to my home or the clinic, did you?”

“No.” His focus shifted back to hers and softened a tad. “Neither he nor his minions will come within breathing distance of you.”

Dammit, she hated this, hated that she was prey for the demon jerkwad. “Look, he won’t come when he can probably sense you with me. Wait here. I’ll head farther down the alley. Shield yourself, or whatever it is you do. When he appears, you come and get him.”

“You will not be bait.” His tone brooked no argument. “I can find him. You, however, will be unprotected if I go after him.”

“Then we’ll be here forever!” She shot him a frustrated glower and stomped off, Lore’s growl following her.

Steam hissed from alley grates, adding to the stench. Grimacing, Nia kept her breathing shallow, marching deeper into the dark alley, Lore behind her.

Dammit. This wasn’t going to work. Lore refused to leave her alone, and Kas would know the angel who broke his neck was close by.

She stopped, shut her eyes, and imagined the park close to her home. The next minute, she was there beneath the low-hanging, moss-covered branches of the massive oak trees. Their dense canopy barely let slivers of moonlight through?—

“Nia!” a snarl reverberated, and Lore appeared in front of her, wings snapping out like otherworldly flames in the dark. “You are being reckless.”

“I can’t continue like this, scared to go home because Kas could appear at any moment. A single error of judgment, and I’m still paying for it.” Her throat swelled with despair. “I want him gone from my life. This is the only way I know how to end it.”

He closed the few yards between them, wings vanishing. “No.”

“Yes! He wants my blood?—”

“He will not touch you.” His gaze chilled to shards of ice. “Not on my watch.”

There was such coldness in his voice that Nia frowned. Why did she have a feeling he wasn’t just talking about Kas? Before she could ask him, he gently brushed her lower lip with his thumb?—

She stopped breathing.

He stilled as if realizing what he’d done. He lowered his hand, fingers fisted.

Her throat tight, she turned away, the hollowness within her expanding. “I can’t do this. I’m going home.”

Nia ducked under a low branch and cut through the massive trees. Lore followed.

She just needed a minute alone, but that wasn’t going to happen. Pointless hurrying when she could never outrun him. She rounded a gigantic tree and crashed into a man jogging. “Sorry.”

“Don’t be.” Suddenly, he snagged her arm. “Got you?—

Nia smashed her fist into the guy’s face, fed up with people grabbing her.

Lore seized him by the throat, hauling him away.

She barely registered the pain in her knuckles, blood drumming in her ears.

“A minion,” Lore muttered in disgust at the human he held.

“Kas,” she whispered, her knees shaking. She flung her throbbing hand against the tree trunk to keep upright.

Lore dropped the man, and he fell like a limbless corpse. Blood dripped from his nose. Only then did she become aware of the man’s glassy-eyed expression. He sat and shook his head as if to clear it.

“Wh-what happened?” he groaned, gingerly touching his bloody nose. He peered at his messy fingers. “I’m bleeding.”

“Go home,” Lore ordered. “Forget this happened.”

The man stumbled to his feet. With a blank look, he wandered off?—

The earth beneath their feet shuddered and cracked open.

Lore pushed her behind him, his wings spreading in a rustle as a horde of demons burst free.

“Oh, shit!” Nia gasped.

Their massive forms wavered between human facades and demonic ones—scaly gray skin, sunken faces, short horns jutting from withered flesh.

“Give us the human,” one demanded, his voice like the layers of dirt he’d crawled out of. “She belongs to our master.”

Oh, hell no. “I belong to no one, you damn turds!” Her hands clenched, the heat within surging in her fury. Before she could snatch her dagger from her boot, Lore grasped her arm. “Stay behind me. I’ll keep you shielded.”

While she could feel his power swirling around her in a protective barrier, how the hell was he going to fight them off with her attached to his back like a sloth?

“The human!” the growly one’s demand grew.

“Screw you,” Nia snapped from behind Lore. “As if I’d hand myself over like a damn parcel.”

The horde leader snarled, and the buzzing grew. Nia peeped under Lore’s wings as a barrage of fiery demon bolts targeted them. Flames hit the invisible shield around them and fizzled out.

Of course, these bastards didn’t care that humans were nearby.

Her angel’s growl reverberated through the trees. No , he wasn’t hers.

Lore flung out his hands, unleashing his power. The white, laser-like flash rolled through her as it slammed into them.

Screeches echoed. A few scattered and ran while the rest collapsed into piles of ashes.

More demons appeared, red eyes glittering in the dark, tails swishing in their fury.

A gleaming longsword appeared in Lore’s hand. He retracted his wings and arched the weapon over his head. A wave of power lit his heavenly blade and swept through the park, consuming the demons.

Sheesh. Naturally, he didn’t need to fight when he could stand there and do that .

Mist billowed through the trees and around her, startling her. Nia spun, unable to see beyond an inch of her. “Lore?”

An arm slammed around her midriff, jerking her backward, all the air rushing out of her lungs. The acrid odor of sulfur stung her nose.

“Got you.”

“No…” She tried to wrench free. Her gaze snapped over her shoulder, colliding with the burning red eyes of the demon who stalked her.

Her belly heaved, dizziness swamping her.

“Lore...” His name escaped in a desperate wheeze as darkness closed in…