Ancient Guardians: The Uninvited (32 page)

Levi grinned. “Well, from this location,” he glanced over his shoulder at the large glass windows that displayed the view of the glistening ocean behind him, “you have the best view of the Aegean Sea.”

“And?” she asked.

Levi laughed softly. “And I prefer a location where I can better judge the room.”

Reece’s eyes widened with excitement as she leaned over the table. “So,” she whispered, “are there any aliens in the restaurant?”

Levi chuckled pulled his menu open. “As a matter of fact, there are two.” He dropped his menu down and smiled at her awed expression. “It’s nothing to be concerned about, of course, or I wouldn’t have brought you in here.” He looked at her hands, which were clenched to her menu tightly. “Reece, would you care to decide upon what you want to eat this evening so that I may order for you.”

She sat back in her chair and squinted at him. “We’ll finish this conversation in a minute.” She pulled her menu open and looked at it for a moment before she closed it. She sat back and took a sip of her wine. “I can’t understand any of this.” she said, “Feel free to order for me; you know what I like to eat.”

“Very well, then.” he said, as he brought his attention back to the menu.

Levi didn’t fail to notice that since they’d arrived in Greece, Reece had hardly eaten anything. So tonight, he planned to order various delicacies for Reece to sample.

Once the waitress took their order and left, Reece crossed her arms and leaned into the table. “So there are really two aliens in here with us?” she asked discreetly.

Levi sipped his wine and nodded. He leaned forward, keeping his voice low. “They mean no harm; they are from a dimension known as Torlief. They are a species of beings that are very intrigued with how humans interact and so forth.”

Reece lifted her chin. “Do they know that you’re a Guardian?”

“Yes. They also know that there are four other Guardians among them in the room as well.”

Reece smiled. “So this the way it’s always been? The people of Earth are just walking around with aliens among them all the time?”

Levi nodded. “Sort of. The ones who walk amongst humans are the ones who have the ability to shape-shift into human form.”

“Are there a lot of those types out there?”

“Yes.”

She stared at him in admiration. “And the Guardians keep all of them in line, huh?”

“That’s what we do.” He winked playfully at her. “As long as they pose no threat to any human, we allow them to enjoy their visit to the planet.”

Their food arrived at the table; however, yet Reece had shown no interest in the plate of food before her. She reached for her goblet of wine and sipped it, her thoughts obviously elsewhere.

“Reece, please eat. I can see the questions lining up one by one in your head.”

She stared at him with concern. “Reece, I didn’t mean to frighten you. You will be fine—they have no intention of harming you. These particular beings have no knowledge that you are the Key.”

Her eyes widened. “I just thought of something!” She placed her wineglass on the table, and then took a bite of her food, still deep in thought.

Levi sat there, clueless as to what could be going on in her mind. “Well? Are you going to leave me to guess about this revelation? What is it that you have thought of?”

After she swallowed her food, she stared somberly at him. “I didn’t want to say anything about this, because I didn’t want anyone to think I was crazy. Also, I didn’t want to bring all of it back up again; but now, I think all of it makes perfect sense.”

“What makes perfect sense?” Levi asked as he gazed into Reece’s perplexed eyes.

“Reece, whatever it is, I will not think you are crazy.”

Her expression softened. “You know when I stopped eating and then I got really sick? And then after that I was so mean to everyone?”

“Yes.”

“I think I know why I was having those terrifying dreams now.”

What?
he thought in concern. “Terrifying dreams?” he asked in bewilderment.

She ignored Levi’s concerned response, nodded and went on. “Maybe being at Castle Ruin somehow affected me subconsciously.” She said, mainly talking to herself. “Especially when we walked into that room and I saw all those terrifying aliens—” She stared over at the wine in her glass. “That has to be the reason for those dreams.” She spoke in a low voice, and then finally raised her eyes up meet Levi’s.

Levi gazed at her, still trying to follow her. “I wish you would have mentioned something to me about these dreams.”

Her eyes brightened. “I really think that’s why I had those dreams, because of those creatures in the council.” Her lips twisted, “I do understand that there are other dimensions out there. I know that you are not human.” She smiled. “And even though I’m aware of it all, it’s like I forget how scary it really is to me. It’s a little unnerving to know that there are other beings not from Earth or Pemdas in this room with us. I keep forgetting that all that crazy stuff that people have always speculated about is real. That’s what freaked me out so bad in the council! I witnessed it with my own eyes; weird creatures that I would never have believed existed, and it was definitely a frightening experience.”

He reached for her hand that was resting on the table. “Reece, I am deeply regretful that you had to suffer through the council, but I wish you would have told one of us that your dreams were tormenting you; we could have helped you.”

She stared down at her plate. “I couldn’t. I would wake up from the dreams and be completely disoriented and scared. I decided to write them down instead to see if I could make sense of the dreams.” She looked up at him. “I didn’t tell anyone because I thought that they’d go away.”

“Did documenting the dreams help you in any way?”

“Yes, but after I started writing them down, I would read what I wrote and then become sickened for dreaming such horrible things.” She stared at Levi remorsefully. “They were mostly dreams about you being violent.” She inhaled and brushed her thumb over the back of his hand. “I hated those dreams I had about you.” She said through her teeth. “That’s why I forced myself to stay awake, so I wouldn’t have them. Then I completely lost my appetite, I couldn’t eat or drink anything. That’s where I got into trouble,” she stared out of the windows behind him, “and couldn’t tell the difference between dreams and reality.”

“This is why you were so frightened of me.” Levi replied, now understanding why Reece was so hesitant and defensive around him.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry for everything.”

“Don’t apologize, I am glad you told me.”

He gently rubbed his thumb over her hand. “Next time, you must let me know if you are suffering in such a way. It distresses me to know that you had to deal with this alone.”

Reece smiled at him. “Well, it’s all in the past now, and I’m sorry I brought it all up again.” She shrugged. “The thought came to me when I got the eerie feeling that there are other aliens in the room with us.” She raised her eyebrows at him. “But I promise you, no matter how weird the dream, I will tell you next time, because I’m not going through all those emotional outbursts again—ever!”

Levi smiled in relief as she brought her attention back to her food. “As I said, you have nothing to apologize for; and yes, you must tell me of these dreams if they return.”

After dinner, Reece suggested spending the rest of the evening walking along the shoreline outside of the restaurant. There were couples walking about; however, it wasn’t too busy, leaving Reece and Levi in perfect solitude as they took their shoes off and strolled along the shore.

Levi stopped, turned, and embraced her. “Remind me to thank Harrison for his excellent wardrobe planning with the hotel staff. I believe this is my new favorite dress; you look unquestionably ravishing in this particular shade of red.”

Reece smiled and wrapped her arms around his neck. “We’ll have to let Jasmeen know that then, won’t we?”

Levi bent down and placed a tender kiss on her forehead. “Indeed.” He kissed her nose. “We shall.” Reece tilted her head up and offered her enticing lips to him, and he gladly accepted.

“There you two are!” a familiar voice called out.

Levi groaned softly as he ended their kiss and stared over Reece’s head. “Harrison,” he informed her in a low, annoyed voice.

Reece laughed, squeezed him tightly, and kissed his chin. “Looks like you can thank your cousin for his wardrobe planning now—instead of later.”

“All my gratitude for him left a moment ago.” He reached down for her hand and smiled. “Come—let’s go see what he needs.”

As Harrison strode briskly toward them, he held both his hands out and smiled widely. “And so everything is as it should be.” He stopped in front of them and grinned at Reece. “You two had nearly driven me mad over these last few days.”

Reece chuckled softly. “Thanks for putting up with us.”

“You are very welcome, and it appears that you did need to return to Earth for a while. I’m glad it helped,” Harrison responded.

“It really did.” Reece said.

“Now that everything is cleared up, and you two are happily in love again, some of the men and I were about to go exploring the wonderful nightlife in Greece. You’re welcome to join us.”

“Harrison, it’s bad enough that I have to deal with this nonsense alone on Earth with you on our missions; why should I allow you to drag Reece into the middle of your crazy adventures as well?” Levi said.

Reece wrapped her arms around Levi’s waist, “I think we’ll pass on your offer, the three of us have spent enough time together already.”

Harrison laughed, “Very true,” he turned to leave, “you two enjoy the rest of your evening.”

After Harrison left, Levi and Reece continued to walk along the shoreline. “This really has been a wonderful day.” Reece said as she held Levi’s hand.

Levi leaned over and kissed her on her temple, “I couldn’t agree more.”

R
eece was up early the next morning preparing for the day to be spent with Levi. As she left her room, she saw that the door to Levi’s room across the way was open, and his bed was neatly made. The aroma of coffee filled her senses, enhancing her excitement for the day ahead of them.

As she walked past Levi’s room, she noticed him standing out on his balcony. He was leaning against the railing, holding a cup of coffee, and quietly staring out at the ocean. Reece came up from behind him, and wrapped her arms around his waist tightly.

“Good morning,” she said, as she kissed the back of his shoulder.

Levi rose up and brought his arm around her. “Good morning. You are up early. Did you rest well?”

“I did.” She glanced over at the coffee he held in his hand. “You know, I think this is the first time I’ve seen you drink coffee,” she said with a laugh. “And come to think of it, I haven’t had a cup of coffee in a long time.”

Levi offered her a sip. “Try it first; Harrison tends to make it stronger than most would like.”

She did, and she shivered at the bitter flavor. Levi laughed softly as he raised the coffee mug to his lips.

“How in the world can you drink that?”

“I’m used to it,” he answered with a grin.

Levi’s expression changed unexpectedly, and the humor left his face. He stared somberly into the dark coffee and sighed.

“Levi?” Reece ran her hand across his back encouragingly. “Is everything okay?”

He exhaled. “Everything will be fine; however, we are being forced to return to Pemdas today. As of now, we remain unaware of all the details. Samuel contacted me late last night, and it appears that Armedias has formed an army outside of the vortex that connects Armedias to Pemdas.”

Reece stared up at him, bewildered. “An army? Why? They can’t come into Pemdas, can they?”

“No, they can’t cross the barriers without our horses. That is why we are unsure about what it is they are planning. We will know more after we return. As of now, my father and Samuel are uncomfortable with you being on Earth, and we must return you to the safety of Pemdas.” He looked at her with a tormented expression.

“Is Armedias the dimension that Michael Visor is in?”

“Yes, and he is leading their army.”

“Why do you think they’re doing this?”

Levi set his coffee mug on the railing and reached for her hand. “We knew something like this would likely happen when we took their priestess into captivity. When we encountered her on Earth, she was very interested in your residing in Pemdas.”

Reece stared out at the ocean. “So they want me?” she looked back at Levi, “Because I’m the Key.” She said dryly.

Levi nodded. “It is why we must return you to Pemdas as soon as possible. We need to come to some form of agreement with Lucas, Armedias’ ruler, as well.”

“So when do we leave?”

“Harrison is in the process of arranging our departure by noon, maybe earlier, now that you are awake.” Levi stared intently at her, and appeared to be troubled by more than he was telling her.

Reece raised her hand gently to his face. “This isn’t what is really upsetting you, is it?”

Levi turned and pulled her into an embrace. “I am concerned for you. It appears that you are happiest on Earth. I fear that everything we went through these past weeks was due to a form of depression from you being forced to reside in Pemdas. I believe the nightmares you were having were a result of that as well. You should be able to have your freedom to return to the world you are most comfortable living in; however, you cannot.” He kissed her softly on her forehead. “You are unable to enjoy an entire week on Earth, and now it is perfectly clear to me that I cannot give you that happiness and freedom if you wanted it. It bothers me greatly.”