The Surien Series Blood Guardian (10 page)

“Symarah!” Kassie called out in a panic the second Jareth flashed her back to the beach house.

“I promise she is fine, she's with Daire,” Jareth assured her, as she frantically headed up the stairs toward the bedrooms.

“I don't care, I want to see her with my own eyes to make sure Vaiden's little bitch boy didn't hurt her. I swear if he laid one finger on her I'll kill him myself!” Kassie ranted as she reached for the door handle to Sym's bedroom.

Daire growled in frustration as he dressed Symarah in the clothes he had picked out earlier and righted his clothes in an instant with a wave of his hand.

“Let's not mention the knife, we wouldn't want to scare her any more than she already is,” Daire said.

“Thank you Daire,” Symarah said, as she kissed him gently on the lips.

“Are you okay?” Kassie asked, as she ran into the bedroom and locked Symarah in a death grip of a hug.

“I'm fine Kass,” she answered, as she hugged her friend back. She was lucky to have such an amazing friend who cared for her so much. She truly loved Kassie with all her heart.

“So now we're not even safe in the daytime?” Kassie asked, looking from Daire to Jareth in disbelief. “How are we going to defend ourselves against Vaiden's minions?”

“You will both be assigned a day walker,” Jareth stated.

“It's the only way to keep you both safe,” Daire agreed.

“What is a day walker?” Symarah asked.

“They are a society of mortals who protect the innocent from unden during the day,” Daire answered.

“Centuries ago, when the demmic first realized that they could turn humans into slaves, they would send these slaves to capture their victim in the daylight and lock them in a cage until nightfall. Then the demmic would wake from their slumber and drain the blood of their victim,” Jareth explained in more detail.

“I thought humans, mortals I mean, are not allowed to know about you,” Symarah said.

“The Day Walkers Society was established by loved ones of the demmic's victims. All day walkers are descendants of these victims,” Jareth said. “Once they found out about the suriens they contacted us and offered to help us with unden during the day when we we’re not able to hunt.”

“We should have assigned you both a day walker from the beginning,” Daire scolded himself.

“It's not your fault.” Symarah walked over to him and put her hand on his arm. “You have to stop blaming yourself for all of this Daire, you're not responsible for Vaiden's actions.”

“Yeah, it's not your fault that V is evil, I mean you guys have the same curse as he does and I don't see either one of you draining innocent bystanders like a juice box at a second grade soccer game,” Kassie said.

“I'll go make the call then,” Jareth told Daire, “they should be here before dawn.”

“I think it's time we reconsider going to Delmar to look for Vaiden,” Symarah suggested.

“No, it's too dangerous,” Daire said.

“As dangerous as being in my own backyard in the middle of the day?” Symarah gave Daire a pointed look, not wanting to alert Kassie to the fact that she had just been stabbed in her own backyard.

“I'm afraid I have to agree old friend; that might not have been Vaiden's only unden. He could have many slaves.”

“Fine, but I go alone while you and the day walkers stay with the girls. This could be exactly what Vaiden wants, to lure us to Delmar while the girls are here, unprotected,” Daire reminded Jareth.

“I don't want you going in there by yourself,” Symarah said.

“It's the only way to ensure your safety,” Daire told her. “Even with the day walkers, you will still be no match for Vaiden if he attacks while Jareth and I are in Delmar. I have to go alone, it's the only way.”

“Daire please,” Symarah pleaded with him, “how do you know this isn't his way of catching you off guard?” “Maybe he was just giving you someone to protect so that you would take unnecessary risks with your own safety. You'll be alone and who knows how many demmic will be there to back him up?”

“If I get into any trouble I'll call Dacian and his brother. I'll be fine.”

“Jareth, please talk some sense into him,” Kassie begged.

“I'm afraid I have to agree with him on this one. It's too dangerous to leave you two alone with nothing but day walkers to protect you.”

Daire took Symarah's hand and looked deep into her eyes. “Remember what I said,” he told her.

Symarah knew exactly what he was referring to; he had promised he would never do anything to hurt her, and looking into his eyes she knew he would do anything to keep that promise. She could see it in his eyes, how much he cared for her. She knew there was no point in arguing with him on this one but she had no intention of letting him go alone. One way or another she would find a way to prevent that from happening.

“I will return safely,” he promised her.

“You damn well better.” She decided to drop it for now.

“Then it is settled,” Jareth said, “we will give you time to get to know your day walkers first.”

“And I'll contact Dacian, give him a heads up,” Daire agreed.

CHAPTER 7

The girls had spent the last two weeks getting acquainted with their day walkers, Conner and Duncan MacCailin. Conner, the oldest of the two brothers, was assigned to Symarah; leaving Duncan with Kassie. Although they had just met it was as though they had known each other for ages. They were like old friends. Conner loved helping Symarah with her reading classes and the students absolutely adored him as well. Duncan shared Kassie's fondness for movies and they spent the majority of their time at the Royal Palm Theater. The brothers looked nothing alike. Conner stood 6 feet tall, with short blond hair and green eyes, while Duncan was 6 feet 5 inches, with spikey black hair and ice blue eyes. Their personalities were quite similar though, both men enjoyed cutting up and making people laugh. Their laid back demeanor was in sharp contrast to their fighting abilities. The girls had seen them train in the back yard many times; fighting against one another, they were ruthless. They fought more like Daire and Jareth than mere mortals, it was hard to believe that they were only human. Having seen both men in action before, Daire and Jareth were quite confident that the brothers could hold their own against any unden that Vaiden could throw at them. Since the girls hit it off with their day walkers so quickly, Daire decided it was time to take a little trip to Delmar.

“I still think it's a trap,” Symarah said. “I think this was his intention all along, to get you to come after him without Jareth to back you up.”

“What if his plan is to get us to leave the two of you alone?” Daire reasoned.

“What if it's not?” she pleaded.

“I can't take that chance Symarah.”  Daire looked deep into her eyes. “I won't take risks with your life, or Kassie's.”

“But you're willing to risk yours.” Symarah shook her head. The situation seemed hopeless. Vaiden would attack tonight she was sure of it, either way someone she cared for very much would be in grave danger. 

“Dacian and his brother are on standby, one thought from either of us and they will be there in the blink of an eye,” Jareth assured her.

“It's the only way Sym; we have to end this. We can't spend the rest of our lives looking over our shoulders and having babysitters to keep us safe,” Kassie reminded her.

“I know you're right Kass.”

Symarah turned to Daire and locked him in a hug so tight he almost couldn't breathe. He was a little stunned and deeply touched by her concern.

“Remember your promise, come back to me safely.”

“I am a man of my word and I never break a promise,” he said as he kissed her softly and took a step back.

“Keep them safe Jareth and don't hesitate to call for Dacian if you need him, I'll return as quickly as possible,” Daire said as he closed his eyes and focused his mind on Delmar. Just before he flashed himself out Symarah grabbed his arm and focused all her thoughts on Delmar as well. By the time Daire realized what she had done it was too late, they were already halfway across town in a back alley somewhere in the heart of Delmar.

“What are you doing?” Daire scolded.

“I couldn't let you come here alone,” she answered.

“I'm taking you back right now,” he said as he reached for her arm.

“Like hell you are.” Symarah snatched her arm out of his reach.

“Symarah please, it's far too dangerous.”

“In case you hadn't noticed, I am a grown woman and I'll do as I please. Besides, if you take me back I will just find a way to sneak out and drive right back out here and then I won't have you to protect me, so it's safer this way,” she said defiantly.

“Stubborn woman.” Daire raked his hand through his hair and growled in frustration. “Fine, but if you're going to stay you'll need to blend in,” he said.

“What do you mean?” she said, looking at him in confusion.

“We are surrounded by crack houses, drug addicts, and prostitutes; you stick out like a sore thumb.”

Daire was right, she looked as if she'd just stepped off the cover of a fashion magazine; the cost of her shoes alone would be enough to buy half the drugs in the neighborhood.

“You're right, I guess a Vera Wang jumpsuit and a pair of Jimmy Choo pumps don't exactly say crack whore do they.”

“No, not exactly,” Daire laughed at the idea of Symarah being anything like a crack whore.

“So what do we do?” Symarah asked, concerned that she had already blown their cover.

Daire waved his hand in front of her and her outfit instantly changed. She now wore a crimson bustier made of satin, a ridiculously short black school girl skirt that barely covered her ... assets, and a pair of black suede knee high stiletto boots.

“Well, I look like a wealthy crack whore anyway,” Symarah joked.

Daire waved his hand again, this time changing his own outfit. “And now I look like your pimp.”

As they started off down the alley Symarah couldn't help feeling over-exposed and utterly ridiculous.  They came to the end of the alleyway and took a left. There were addicts and hookers everywhere, the houses were falling apart and there was trash thrown all over the ground; it looked like the inside of a dumpster. The smell was almost unbearable. The whole place reeked of sex, filth and melting plastic. Daire led Symarah through the neighborhood, turning down several different streets before he finally stopped.

He's been here, I can sense him,” Daire said as he headed down another street, “just stay close to me.”

Daire led her to a small dead-end street in the center of Delmar.

“There,” Daire said, pointing to a dilapidated looking house at the end of the small cul-de-sac. As they approached the house, they didn't notice anything out of place. It looked just like all the other houses in Delmar, neglected and run down, but unlike the other streets, this one was deserted. It was quite eerie, as if everyone was too afraid to go anywhere near it.  Standing at the front door they noticed that although the house was in complete disrepair, the yard was relatively tidy. There was no trash lying about, no used condoms, no dead lighters, or empty syringes lying on the ground like the rest of the neighborhood. They entered the house through the unlocked door. Daire used his body to shield Symarah from any danger they may encounter. They carefully entered the living room and found it empty. They slowly searched each room of the house but found nothing. There wasn't even any furniture, it looked as though it were waiting to be moved into.

“This is definitely Vaiden's headquarters, I can sense him here,” Daire said as he looked around the bedroom in total confusion.

“Well, it's empty now, do you think he sensed us and left?”

“No, he didn't know we were coming.”

“How can you be so sure?” Symarah asked.

“Because if he'd known, he and his army would be here waiting to attack.”

Just then they heard the front door open and then close. Daire opened the bedroom door a crack and they watched as Farkas walked across the living room to the coat closet and disappeared inside, closing the door behind him.

“That's odd, why would he walk into a tiny closet and close himself in?” Symarah asked.

“Unless … ,” Daire said, as he opened the door and headed for the closet.

“Unless what?” Symarah said, following close behind him.

“Unless it's not a closet,” Daire answered, putting his ear to the door and listening intently.

“What else would it be?” Symarah asked.

“A portal,” Daire answered as he yanked the door open.

To Symarah's surprise, Daire was right. It was in fact a portal, but to where. They entered the closet and closed the door behind them. As they stepped through the portal they entered what looked like another small closet with a closed door in front of them. Daire slowly cracked the door open and peeked through. He saw an empty hallway. Opening the door the rest of the way, they stepped out into the long hallway and closed the door behind them.

“What is this place?” Symarah asked.

“It's a pocket realm,” Daire answered matter-of-factly.

“We can create small realms that exist alongside your earthly realm,” he explained, seeing the look of confusion on Symarah's face. “It is not a common practice as it is not permitted by the council and is punishable by eternal banishment or possibly even death. No one, aside from the council, has dared create a pocket realm for many centuries.”

“Eternal banishment?” Symarah said, a look of shock in her eyes. “To where?”

“One of the hell realms,” Daire answered. “There are several hell realms created by Athena, at the council's request, for banishment purposes.”

“Why so many?” Symarah asked. “Why not just banish them all to one hell realm?”

“Each realm is its own personal kind of hell, some are even banished to an empty hell realm where they are left to live alone for eternity.”

“That's awful.” Symarah was horrified.

“Well, the gods believe the punishment should fit the crime,” Daire answered with contempt.

“I take it you don't agree,” Symarah said, sensing his disdain.

“At times the gods can be just as barbaric as the demmic they have us hunt, they justify their cruelty by disguising it as justice, punishment for the crime committed.”

“And you don't believe they should be punished?”

“Punishment is one thing but torture is quite another.”

“So Vaiden has been hiding in a pocket realm all these years?” Symarah said, needing a change of subject.

“It would appear so,” Daire answered.

“Well that explains why he couldn't be found,” Symarah said.

“Yes, it does shed some light on the situation; shall we investigate?” Daire asked holding out his hand to her.

“What the hell, in for a penny in for a pound I suppose,” Symarah said as she took his hand and headed for the end of the hall.