Page 400 of Evil Hearts

“Good.” Dorian clapped him on the back. “Elias, you’re our strategist. Find the weak points, the cracks we can slip through.”

Elias inclined his head. “Every fortress has a flaw. Even the undead can’t escape that truth.”

“And you?” Lysander arched his brow. “What’s your role, oh fearless leader?”

Dorian’s smile was a blade in the dark. “I’ll be the bait.”

Shadows stirred, and Aldric stepped into the courtyard. Three heads turned, a ripple of surprise transforming into respect.

“Father.” Dorian bowed his head. “We didn’t realize—”

Aldric raised a hand, stalling the apology. He laid it on Dorian’s shoulder, a benediction and a bridge.

“You’re ready.” His gaze held the weight of centuries, the hard-won wisdom of a guardian. “I’ve watched you grow, seen the strength in your heart. The city chose well when it called you.”

Dorian swallowed, his Adam’s Apple bobbing. In that moment, Aldric saw the boy he’d once been, gap-toothed and eager, begging for one more story. One more chance to prove himself.

“I won’t let you down.” The words were heavy with promise. “We’ll keep the city safe. Keep our family’s legacy alive.”

“I know you will.” Aldric squeezed once before letting go, a silent passing of the torch. “Now go. The night won’t wait, and neither will the monsters.”

Lysander slung an arm around Dorian’s neck, breaking the somber spell. “You heard the man. Let’s go kick some undead ass.”

Laughter chased their footsteps as they melted into the dark, a new generation of heroes bound by blood and stone.

Aldric watched until even his keen eyes could no longer pick out their silhouettes. A gentle hand slipped into his, fingers intertwining. He glanced down into Elena’s luminous face, reading the trust and love shining there.

“They’ll be alright,” she murmured. “They had a good teacher.”

“The best.” He pressed a kiss to her knuckles. “Though I suspect their mother’s influence played no small part.”

Elena laughed, and the last of the ancient shadows fled before the sound. Dawn was still a distant dream, but in that moment, the night held no fear.

After all, the guardians were on the hunt once more.

Elena turned her gaze to the city sprawled beneath them, a tapestry of shadow and stone. The cathedral’s spires stretched like fingers yearning to brush the stars, and she couldn’t help but marvel at the intricate beauty wrought by human hands. Hands like the ones that now drew her close, strong and sure.

Aldric’s lips found hers, a searing kiss that ignited memories in its wake. Memories of a night not so long ago, when passion had burned away the last of their doubts and fears. When they had come together on this very rooftop, beneath the watching moon.

She melted into him, into the solid heat of his body and the tempest of his desire. His touch was electric, tracing patterns of fire across her skin, and she arched into it with a breathless sigh.

“Do you remember?” he murmured against her throat, his voice a rumble of distant thunder. “The first time I held you like this, the first time I tasted your skin? It was right here, well a little further back on this roof.”

“How could I forget?” Her fingers tangled in his hair, silken strands of midnight. “You were my mystery, my forbidden desire come to life.”

He chuckled, a sound that vibrated through her very bones. “And you were my salvation, the key to a heart I thought long lost.”

Their lips met again, hungry and eager. The world fell away, narrowing to the slide of tongue against tongue, the rasp of stubble against delicate skin. Clever fingers found the zipper of her dress, tugging it down with agonizing slowness.

They didn’t make a point of public affection, but there was something about the church roof that always brought them together like this when they were alone.

“Aldric...” His name was a prayer, a plea. “Please.”

“Shh, my love.” His breath whispered across the shell of her ear. “We have all night, and I intend to worship every inch of you.”

He drew back just far enough to slip the dress from her shoulders, baring her to the caress of the night air. Elena shivered, though whether from the cool breeze or the heat of his gaze, she couldn’t say.

She stared at him as Aldric drank her in, his eyes molten emerald in the darkness. “Beautiful,” he breathed. “So very beautiful.”

---