Page 2 of Guarded
It was why I kept it hidden, even from the Seraphim. Juniper, my old unit, mostly had no idea. Only Atlas, thesecond, knew what I was capable of. Lyle, however, didn’t. Despite having my heart, he’d never had my trust.
I really should’ve seen the red flags decades before I had.
I tuned back into the conversation to find Nox explaining where their theory had come from. “A few weeks back, Jeremiah came with the others to the house, but as soon as he saw it, he refused to enter. He took off and hasn’t come back since.”
“So?” Rami rumbled suspiciously. “That doesn’t mean he has a mate here.”
“He could see the house,” Nox explained, “before Micah lifted the wards.”
Fuck.The wards didn’t just prevent unwanted supes from entering our property, they also hid it from view entirely. Only the Seraphim could see past the wards to the house.
The Seraphim…and their fated mates.
Ezekiel was quietly explaining this to Sam, but my brain was fixated on a crucial detail. A detail that was going to send shock waves through his mate.
Whoever it was.
“Hang on,” I said slowly. “Did Jeremiah know this? That only mates can see through the wards?”
Micah exchanged a look with Nox before responding. “We believe so. He asked if we’d already lifted the wards and, when Nox confirmed we hadn’t, he suddenly took off.”
He confirmed my worst fears. “So, at the very least, he suspects his mate lives here. And his response was to fuck off somewhere far away?”
Silence lingered for a beat as all the unmated archs thought through what that meant.
Jeremiah believed his mate to be here, but he hadn’tdone what he was supposed to do. He hadn’t followed the pull. Hadn’t introduced himself. Hadn’t started along the path to the fabled happily ever after that having a mate was meant to entail.
It spoke fucking volumes about his intentions. Clearly, this was someone not ready for or desiring any of that.
Finally, Nate spoke, summarising what we were all thinking. “Well, whoever his mate is, I feel sorry for him. Fancy knowing they’re that close to you and running away. You’re supposed to runtoyour mate, not from them.”
Rami started to speak, but I didn’t hear him. Someone was approaching. Lots of someones.
Powerful someones.
Every head snapped towards the gate, powers rising and shields snapping into place.
Standing there, out of nowhere, was Gloria.
All thoughts of fated mates and erstwhile demons vanished as I focused on the mission. Protecting Sam. Having Ezekiel’s back.
Stopping whatever fucked-up vendetta schemes Gloria had planned for today.
The others seemed surprised that she was coming after our unit with such a vengeance. I wasn’t though. Having lived outside the Seraphim for so long gave me something the others lacked—perspective. They might be aware that others were jealous of their position and coveted it for themselves, but I didn’t think any of them grasped the lengths they’d go to, to take it for themselves. Only Micah, our leader, seemed to have an idea of how precarious our situation was. Lyle had made it clear that day on the beach.
I shoved him back into the farthest corner of my mind. Where he belonged. We’d both spoken our truth there amongst the sand dunes.
“I’m done being your dirty little secret, Lyle. I’m done lying for you. And I’m done fighting for you.”
For too long, I’d chased a man who didn’t love me. Who used me when it suited him and cast me aside when it didn’t.
Never again.
I stayed quiet as the rest of the Seraphim countered each of Gloria’s increasingly desperate strategies. My skills weren’t needed, not yet. Instead, I counted the soldiers behind Gloria, calculating how many of them I could take out in a single hit. The angles I’d need to unleash my power at to stop it hitting those on our side.
Grim relief washed over me. The odds were in our favour. I might not have wanted to reveal the full scope of my powers, but I would to protect the Seraphim. To save Ezekiel’s mate, I’d do whatever it took.
We all deserved love. And we all deserved to have others go to the mat to defend said love.
