The Guardian (Callista Ryan Series) (9 page)

             
Before Callie had even begun to measure the bruises this Guardian had just printed upon her ego, Shay stepped out the door and soared away. The newest woman finished sizing Callie up, looking displeased, and turned to follow Shay.

             
Alex turned, pinning Callie with his pure brown eyes. Callie swallowed, recognizing the predatory gleam there. “What are you doing?” she asked. He took a step towards her, closing the short gap between them. “Hey, I asked you—wait, what…I don’t think so!” she said, backing up a step as he reached for her. “Don’t even think about it.
Alex
!” she cried as he scooped her effortlessly into his arms. “Let me go!”

He didn’t listen, choosing instead to leap into the air
.

“
Hey
!” she screamed as they began to weave through the branches.

             
She could barely watch as the tree trunks and errant branches and huge leaves threatened to ram into them as they plowed through the forest. She threw her arms around his neck, terrified that he would drop her, and buried her eyes in the crook between his neck and shoulder, unable to watch. Each time a leaf grazed her arm, she nearly jumped out of her skin, sure that they had at last hit a tree. But each time, they continued along at rampant speed, Callie trapped in the arms of what she could only compare to a lunatic driver.

             
She felt the soaring wind at her cheek, and peeked forward, watching the foliage zoom past them in fast-forward. After what could have been hours, a house broke through the trees with sudden clarity. It looked much the same as Shay’s house, though the shape was a little narrower in the branches.

             
Callie waited for Alex to fly them to the front door, only he began to circle around back instead.

             
“Where are we?” Callie asked.

             
He held a finger to his lips, cradling her in one arm. When he found a space he seemed satisfied with amongst the tangles of open branches, he halted swiftly and sank to a wide branch. He set her down on top of the branch, carefully adjusting her so that she balanced easily before he let her go.

             
“Stay here,” he whispered. She would have protested, but then noticed the way he was looking at her. She nodded, unsure why there was such sadness in his dark features.

He flew away then, and she heard voices to her right.

              She saw that the branch he had placed her on led to the house she had just seen. The house was settled not five feet away from her, though it was slightly hidden through the mossy leaves. She gently parted the leaves, inching her way along the branch until she could reach forward and touch the wooden walls of the house.

             
She leaned against those planks and managed to stand upon the broad branch, and then leaned slightly to her right. A window similar to the one in Shay’s house was carved into this wall, and Callie peeked through it to see who was inside.

             
“Emeric, please, don’t do this,” a girl begged. Callie saw the girl standing in the center of a tense circle of people, including Shay, Emeric, the blond woman, and a red-haired woman whom Callie had never seen before.

Callie noted with shock the sparkling silver color of the red-haired woman’s wings.
The girl looked to be a few years younger than Shay, and wore brown braids which swung over her shoulders. She was tall compared to the other women in the room, though shorter than Emeric. Her back was to Callie as she faced Emeric. “Please. I haven’t done anything.”

             
Just then, Alex appeared in the doorway, as though having just flown in. He bowed his head in greeting, and then joined the circle. Callie edged forwards, trying to see more clearly. “I apologize for the delay,” he said briskly. He looked at the red-haired woman with a solemn expression. “Adeline,” he said then, by way of greeting.

             
“Alexander,” the woman said. Callie craned her neck, but could only see the wild red curls of this new woman’s hair, and nothing else.

             
“Well, shall we get on with it?” Emeric asked. “Shay, if you would.”

             
Shay stepped into the center of the circle, and the girl shied away at first. Shay paused, and then approached again, and this time the girl held still as though accepting her fate. Shay pinched the upper curve of one of the girl’s wings, pulling it outwards so that it unfolded. Shay peered more closely at the base of the wing, carefully lifting certain feathers this way and that, before replacing it into its natural fold. She then stepped to the opposite side and proceeded to perform the same examination on the second wing.

             
Once through, Shay circled around to the front of the girl and peeled open her jaw. The girl released a shaky breath as she opened her mouth, allowing Shay to see inside. The action reminded Callie of being in a doctor’s office, having a strep test performed. After a few moments of this, Shay stepped away, and nodded.

             
The girl let out an unexpected scream then, as though having been handed a death sentence. Callie gasped at the shock of it, and several heads in the room snapped to look towards the window. She managed to duck behind the wall just before any eyes found her.

             
After a moment, the voices continued. “You’re sure?” Callie heard Emeric ask. She slowly returned her face to the window to witness what was about to happen.

             
Shay nodded again. “The girl is definitely a Siren,” she said. “The bases of her wings have already begun to take on a silvery sheen; no doubt the will be covered within the decade. And her vocal folds show signs of increased oscillation from the call. She is no longer a Guardian.”

             
Callie frowned at the verdict. She couldn’t understand it, but from the girl’s reaction, it was the worst possible outcome.

             
“No,” the girl sobbed. “Please, I promise I won’t become one of them. I’ll be good, I swear. Please don’t make me leave with her.”

             
Alex’s fists clenched, his forearms swelling as the muscles protruded in his anger. Shay had stepped away from the girl now, and appeared disinterested in her pleadings. Emeric was emotionless, his body relaxed.

             
“I’m sorry,” Emeric said by way of answer.

             
“No!” the girl cried. “No, please don’t! It isn’t my fault. I didn’t mean to—I didn’t do anything
wrong
!”

             
Her sobs were wracking her entire body, and she was visibly quaking with fear. She had clutched onto Emeric’s shoulders in desperation, seeming as though she were about to buckle under the weight of his decision.

             
“I know, little one,” Emeric replied coolly, peeling her fingers from his chest. “But your place is no longer in this forest. You must go now.”

             
“Please, no,” the girl whimpered, even as he gently pushed her away from him.

             
A movement from the red-haired woman stole Callie’s attention. She had sprung into action, confidently traversing the room until she had reached the girl. Without sympathy, she clutched the girl’s wrist and began to drag her over to the door, even as the girl pulled against her with terrified shrieks.

             
Callie noticed with some surprise that Alex now stood, blocking the doorway. The woman stopped in front of him, and Callie took in the expression on his face. It was nearly indescribable, it bespoke so much. Most present was anger. But behind that, there was sadness. Disbelief. Bitterness. Callie felt her heart sink at the sight. Even behind the chilling amount of hatred he was exuding, he seemed vulnerable.

             
Finally, Emeric said one quiet word which commanded that Alex let them pass. “Alexander.”

             
Alex started, and didn’t move for a moment. But then, slowly, he took a reluctant step sideways, a heartbroken goodbye in his eyes. Callie wondered if the girl was about to die.

             
The red-haired woman leapt from the doorway, and Callie watched as she towed the girl through the air, undaunted by the fact that the girl didn’t even open her wings, still crying and struggling against the woman’s hold. They disappeared soon after, and Callie shuddered when she thought about what would happen next.

             
She planted her hands firmly on the windowsill, hoisting herself up onto the edge of it. She turned around, lifting herself more effectively as she slid onto it backwards. “What is she doing here?” she heard Emeric’s calm voice ask.

             
A warm pair of arms wrapped around her, drawing her through the window easily. She turned around once on her feet and saw that it was Alex. She stepped away from the window, into the room.

             
“What are you doing here, Callista?” Emeric asked, and she saw that he was looking at her unhappily.

             
“I—“ Callie began, but Alex cut her off.

             
“I brought her. We couldn’t leave her alone at the house.”

             
“Hey, thanks,” Callie said, sparing him a dirty look. “We all know you can’t leave the human alone. She’ll just jump out the window again, right?”

             
Alex lifted an eyebrow, as though to say
It’s happened before
. Callie sighed and shook her head, turning back to Emeric. He was no longer focused on her, however. He stared out into the forest, after the vanished girl, with a disconsolate gaze.

             
“Who was she?” Callie asked, uncomfortable with the somber mood in the room.

             
Emeric eyed her distantly. “We couldn’t allow her to be here, anymore. It was for her own sake,” he said, as though making an excuse. She wondered why he felt the need to justify his actions.

             
“Alright,” she said, holding up her hands in a placating fashion when she noted the fever behind his eyes. She wasn’t sure what to say; she had only known this man for the past few hours, and they hadn’t met under the best circumstances. Was she now supposed to comfort him?

             
She heard a shuffle of footfalls behind her, and realized that Alex was standing near to her now. Perhaps it was because he had saved her life today, but she was able to relax a little knowing he was there. She waited for someone to answer her question, and watched as the heat slowly drained from behind Emeric’s eyes. He seemed calm again, his chest rising and falling in smooth measure.

             
“Emeric?” she asked.

             
He cleared his throat, regaining control. “That, Callista,” he said steadily, “was a budding enemy.”

Chapter Six

Recollection

             
“What,
her
?” Calli
e
asked in horror.

             
She was sitting on the couch in what Callie now knew to be Emeric’s house. It was more extravagantly decorated than Shay’s; where Shay preferred minimalism and practicality, Emeric seemed to be a collector of fine things. The couch she sat on was made with red velvet. The dining table was built of dark cherry wood, gilded at the corners and along the legs with tasteful restraint. The portraits on the walls were what she could only assume to be original copies of great works, works by men named Apelles, Cimabue, and Van Eyck. She even recognized one of the paintings as being by Michelangelo; it was a picture of a woman holding a goose, the bird’s feathers appearing to grow out of her own flesh. Callie had stared at this painting for a moment too long. It seemed appropriate here, in this house, given its surroundings. Everything was luscious and indulgent, sparing no detail.

Emeric nodded
in response to her question from where he stood in the kitchen, and then walked over to the couch with two glasses of wine. He sat next to her, offering her one of the crystal goblets. She shook her head, wondering if he knew that she was only seventeen, or if he simply had no regard for the rules of her world.

             
“What do you mean, an enemy?” Callie asked, looking to Alex and Shay now. The blond woman had left soon after Callie had arrived. Shay sat across from the couch in a wide chair, while Alex sat on the windowsill, glancing occasionally into the forest. Each snap and pop of the fire that Emeric had lit startled Callie; night was an unfriendly time in this strange forest, especially now that there were enemies roaming around.

             
“They are named Sirens,” Shay explained, crossing her legs and leaning her chin against her palm. On second thought, Shay reached forwards and took the abandoned glass of wine, and then resettled into the chair.