Chapter Twenty-four

“… at least another twenty-four to forty-eight hours, and that’s assuming she regains consciousness soon with no signs of disorientation or more serious injury. Your fiancée was badly hurt, Mr. Livingston. I hope the police are able to find whoever did this to her.”

Fil didn’t particularly care if anyone ever found the remains of the Montreal cell of the Order of Eternal Darkness, but if they did, she hoped they found them in pieces. Tiny, charred bloody ones. With bugs crawling all over them.

Groaning, she forced her eyes open, tempted to pant from the exertion as if she’d just run a four-minute mile. Never in her life had she felt so exhausted and so filthy and in so much wretched discomfort. If she was in the damned hospital, the least the bastards could do was pony up the good medications.

“Felicity.”

She tried to turn her head, but just the intent was enough to make her cry out. She’d recognize Spar’s voice anywhere, could even tell by the timbre that it came from his human, not his gargoyle, chest, but when she tried to look at him, some sadist with a white coat and a penlight leaned over her and pried her eyelid up with a thumb.

“Miss Shaltis, do you know where you are? Can you tell me how you’re feeling?”

Since rolling her eyes was beyond her, Fil let the doctor check her pupillary reactions and satisfied herself by giving him the finger in her head. “I’m in a hospital,” she tried to answer, but the only thing that came out was “hospital” and that sounded like it had been croaked out by a dying frog.

“Good. And how are you feeling? Any pain?”

“Buckets full.”

“On a scale of one to ten. One being no pain and ten being the worst pain you can imagine.”

Since she could imagine a lot of things, including the feel of a knife slicing through her flesh and bone, Fil winced and settled for the low end of the scale. “Seven and three-quarters.”

“Okay, I’ll send a nurse right in with some pain meds. You’ve had a hell of a night. Multiple stab wounds, a broken collarbone, three broken bones in your hand, numerous contusions and lacerations, a mild case of hypothermia, and one hell of a concussion. Your fiancé said you were attacked by some kind of strange, violent cult. Do you remember anything about what happened?”

Well, she certainly didn’t remember Spar asking her to marry him, but she doubted that’s what the doctor meant. “Some,” she managed, figuring the truth was none of his business. “Still kinda foggy.”

“That’s not surprising, given the severity of your head injury. Someone is going to be checking up on you regularly through the night to make certain you can be roused and that you respond appropriately and without confusion, okay?”

“Okay.” Hell, she’d have told him to send in the Spanish Inquisition so long as they brought those painkillers he’d promised along with the rack and the thumbscrews.

“You’re a very lucky woman, Miss Shaltis, but you’re going to need time and rest to recover completely.” The doctor pocketed his little light and stepped back from her bedside. “The police have asked to speak with you, but I’ve instructed them to return in the afternoon, after you’ve had some time to get your bearings. Until then, try to relax, and I’ll send that nurse right in.”

“Thank you.”

Her eyes drifted shut, the effort required to keep them open simply too much for her to manage. She heard the click of the door closing, then a whisper of air before fingers settled tenderly against her cheek. Spar. Moving just didn’t seem like an option, so she couldn’t lift her hand to cover his, and she couldn’t turn her head to press a kiss against his hand; she settled for leaning into his touch just a little and whispering his name into the quiet.

“Spar.”

“I love you, Felicity.” His voice washed over her, almost enough to take the pain away, and she felt her lips curve into a smile.

“Love you, too,” she whispered, and slipped back into unconsciousness.

*   *   *

Fil woke again to the feel of something tugging on her arm and opened her eyes to see a nurse adjusting the IV line that ran from the pole next to her bed to the inside of her elbow. Within seconds, the claws of pain that had begun to flex into her withdrew, and blessed relief flowed through her veins. Also known as morphine. She sighed and let herself relax.

“Oh, good, you’re awake and not grumbling at me,” the nurse teased. “What a nice change of pace. I’m Jamie, by the way. I bet your fiancé knows by now not to try and wake you when you’re sleeping. You can be a real bear about that.”

Looking around, Fil realized the sledgehammers inside her skull had been downgraded to rubber mallets, and she no longer wanted to puke every time she moved. Progress! Unfortunately, she could also see that other than Jamie the nurse, she was alone in the hospital room.

“Where did he go?”

“Just downstairs, hon,” Jamie hurried to assure her when she saw Fil’s frown. “Your friends stopped by for a visit and they convinced him to pop by the cafeteria to get something to eat. He hadn’t left your side in almost twelve hours! Poor guy needed to get some food before he fell down. A guy that size needs a lot of fuel.”

Fil relaxed and gave the other woman a smile. “You’re right. I’m glad he’s eating.”

She was, now that she knew he hadn’t left for good. Losing him might be inevitable, but she hoped they’d at least have time for her to get back on her feet and jump his bones one last time before the threat passed and he slipped back into his stone sleeping bag. She wasn’t ready to let him go.

Jamie patted her arm and stepped around the end of the bed. “I’ll be back later, hon, but just buzz the desk if you need anything.”

“Thanks.”

She watched the nurse bustle over and open the door, then step back with a laugh.

“It looks like your entourage is back, Felicity. You’re quite the popular girl around here.” Jamie shook a finger playfully at the group gathered outside. “Now, you all be careful not to tire her out. She needs to rest, not party, so in fifteen minutes I’m coming back and kicking you all out.”

Fil heard the familiar sound of Spar’s growl followed by the nurse’s hasty amendment. “Not you, Mr. Livingston. Of course you can stay as long as you’d like. Excuse me, I need to, ah, I’ll check back later.”

Ella pushed her way into the room, laughing all the way to her side. “Fil, you need to put a leash on your guard dog before he bites one of the staff here. He’s been a grouch the whole time.”

Fil reached up to return her friend’s careful hug. “Hey, you’re okay, right? You guys weren’t hurt?”

Wynn stepped up to the foot of the bed and rubbed Fil’s foot reassuringly through the blankets. “We’re all fine. You got plenty hurt for the lot of us. Well, my ankle’s still sore and swollen, but nothing new. You’re the one we’ve all been worried about.”

“Well, I’m fine,” Fil assured her, then made a face. “Okay, actually I’m not so much fine as I am beat to shit, but I’m recovering, so that’s the pretty much the same thing, right?”

“It is not.” Spar’s growl sounded fierce, a perfect match for his scowl as he settled himself carefully onto the bed at Fil’s hip. “You are seriously injured, Felicity. In fact, you nearly died. You are never to do such a reckless thing as throw yourself in the path of a murderer ever again. Do I make myself clear?”

Fil looked from her Guardian’s expression of stubborn command to the rest of the group. Behind Spar, Kees stood with one arm wrapped around Ella and his chin bobbing in vehement agreement. Ella herself was rolling her eyes and elbowing her lover in the ribs, while Wynn looked straight at Fil with one eyebrow cocked and her lips pursed in an obvious bid to keep from laughing.

“Yes, I think we’re all clear there,” Fil drawled, deciding to see the humor in the big warrior’s obvious concern. It was either that or bean him over the head with her IV pole for acting like an overprotective idiot. “But since I don’t plan to get kidnapped by another murderer for as long as I live, I don’t think that’s going to be a hard promise to keep.”

“Good.” Spar’s face softened, and he leaned in to brush a soft kiss over her forehead. “I will hold you to your word, little human.”

“Speaking of murderers, though, what happened to the nocturnis?” she asked. “I mean, aside from the cardinal.”

“The cardinal?” Spar frowned. “You mean the Hierophant?”

Fil shook her head, then winced and went back to keeping still. “No, that wasn’t the Hierophant. I thought he was because of what I saw in my vision, but it turns out I was wrong. He told me the Hierophant wasn’t here in Montreal and told me he was sort of an adviser to the Hierophant, like a cardinal to the pope. That’s why I called him that.”

Spar and Kees exchanged glances. “That is unfortunate,” Kees grumbled. “We had hoped that with him dead, the Order would be weakened, but if he was merely a member of the high priesthood, the impact of his death will be much smaller. The cell here will suffer, but the Order’s plans will likely continue without much interruption.”

Her heart sank. “So what did we really accomplish then? The Hierophant is still alive, and before I lost it, I remember hearing Wynn say that wasn’t even the demon that ended up killing Ricky and the cardinal, so we basically failed.”

“That is not true,” Spar said, grasping her chin and forcing her to meet his gaze. “We might not have killed the Hierophant, but we removed one of his counselors, and we destroyed the inner circle of the Montreal cell. For now, the Order will not be able to act within this city at least. No more bodies will be found in the park, because no one else will die here. That is something.”

“But the demon is still out there. We weren’t able to send it back to the prison it crawled out of.”

“If the demon was never here, then we never had the chance to do so,” Spar reasoned. “It appears that the cell here was funneling power to the Defiler through a remote connection. The demon itself remains in hiding and guarded by the cult. While that means we did not force it back to the abyss, it also means it still lacks the strength to confront us. Believe me, if it had been able, it would have joined us on that island and attempted to consume us all. With so much magical power gathered in one place, it would not have been able to resist. That means we still have time.”

Kees nodded. “Time to continue locating the rest of the brethren and to gather whatever Wardens might still remain to our sides.”

Ella glanced at Wynn with a sympathetic expression. “No leads yet on your brother, I’m afraid, but I promise I won’t stop looking.”

Wynn offered a crooked half smile. “I know, Ella. Thank you.”

“On a more positive note, I do have some interesting information about a statue that sounds very familiar.” Kees and Spar looked at Ella hopefully. She just continued to grin at Wynn. “How do you feel about checking it out for me?”

The witch looked surprised. “Why me?”

“A little birdie told me you’re not from around here, that you actually live in Chicago,” Ella said. “Don’t you think it would be a good time now to take a trip home?”

“You think there’s a Guardian in Chicago?”

“I think that’s just exactly what I want you to find out.”

*   *   *

Fil enjoyed seeing everyone, especially seeing them all alive and unhurt, but she didn’t protest when Jamie returned to shoo them out. They had made their plans—Wynn would tie up the loose ends of her position at the university and head back to Chicago as soon as possible, while Kees and Ella returned to Vancouver to pick up the trail of the missing Wardens—but Fil needed time alone with Spar. She needed to have him to herself for a little while longer.

And she needed to tell him what was really in her heart.

She waited while he closed the door behind her visitors, smiling at him when he returned to her side. Rather than perch on the narrow slice of mattress at the side of the bed, he pulled up a chair and sat, leaning forward to clasp Fil’s hand in his.

She squeezed his fingers and tried to swallow past the lump in her throat. She had so many things she wanted to tell him. She wanted him to know that her heart was his, that it didn’t matter how much or how little time they would have together, that it didn’t matter that she knew he would have to leave her one day. Fil needed him to know that she was tired of being afraid of what life would be like without him. All she wanted to do was savor each moment they had together and store up the memories to keep her warm when they had to part.

None of the words would come, though. All she was able to manage was a whispered, teary, “I love you.”

“And I love you,” he murmured, “sweet little human. I will love you until the end of time. So why do you cry? Does love not make you happy?”

“Of course it does,” she sniffled. “It makes me ecstatic, but it also makes me miserable, because one day you’re going to be gone, and my heart is going to shatter into a billion tiny pieces that will never fit back together again.”

Already feeling the cracks, Fil turned her face into her pillow and wept.

“Felicity. Felicity, sweetness, no. Hush.”

She felt his arms come around her, felt him gather her up and slide into the bed to cuddle her in his lap. She clung to him like a kitten, curling her fingers into his skin and holding on tight. Her tears soaked though the material of his shirt, turning the light-gray color almost slate. He held her gently to him and pressed his cheek against her hair. He crooned soft, soothing nonsense words and simply stroked and petted her until she lay limp and exhausted, but quiet, in his arms.

“Now,” he murmured, shifting to lean back until he could look into her swollen, red eyes. “What is this ridiculous belief you have that makes you think I would ever leave your side? I have claimed you as my mate, Felicity. You are mine, and I will be by your side for the rest of our lives.”

A fresh wave of tears threatened, and Fil had to bite her cheek to force them back. “You know as well as I do that’s impossible, Spar,” she said, forcing the words past the tightness in her throat. “You might be immortal, but I’m not, and one of these days you’re going to win this battle and go back to sleep until the next time you’re summoned. I love you, and I’m going to keep loving you even while you’re sleeping, but I’m going to get old, and eventually I’m going to die.”

“As will I, my sweet mate. I will not return to sleep, not now that I have found you. Like the first of my kind, I will remain with you until we each have grown old, and we will pass from this life together.”

Hope made Fil lift her head, but confusion made her shake her head at Spar. Then, of course, pain made her grimace, but she was too tough to let that keep her from dragging an explanation from her cryptic Guardian.

“Spar, what are you talking about? Since when do you get a choice about sleeping and waking? I thought Guardians could only wake when they were summoned, and that they had to go back to sleep as soon as the threat they were summoned to face had been defeated. For Pete’s sake, you’re the one who explained it to me! Well, you and Ella.”

“And did Ella not explain to you the story of the first Guardians?”

“What. Bloody. Story?” She gritted the words out through clenched teeth.

“Ah, perhaps this will make everything clear.”

Pulling her back against his chest, Spar cradled Fil in his arms and proceeded to blow her mind. He told her the story of the first Guardians, about how their stony hearts had not cared about the humans they had been summoned to protect, and about how after many battles, their apathy had led them to ignore the summons of the Wardens. He explained how the Darkness had threatened to take over the whole of the earth until one day a woman of power had knelt at the feet of a Guardian and prayed to the Light to wake the protectors of humanity once again. He explained how the Guardian had broken free of his statue-cage and claimed the woman as his mate, and he explained how the same thing happened until nine Guardians had claimed nine human women of power as their own.

Then, while her jaw practically bounced off her knees, Spar explained how when the battle was won, those first Guardians refused to return to sleep and be parted from their mates. He told her how the Guild had been forced to release them from their service and summon new Guardians to take their place.

“From that point on, anytime a Guardian has found his true mate and claimed her as his, the magic has released him from his service and granted him a mortal life to live with his beloved.”

Fil heard the words, but she could hardly believe them. After all the time she’d spent trying not to love him, fearing the pain she would feel when he left her, now he was telling her that he didn’t have to leave? That they could be together for the rest of their lives?

“Are you serious?” she asked, her voice trembling almost as hard as the hand she lifted to his face. “Can you really stay with me? Can we really be together like normal people and have a life together? No crazy naps and stone sleeping bags?”

Spar chuckled and pressed a kiss to her palm. “I am serious. You are my mate, Felicity, and even the power of the Light must bow to the ultimate magic of love.”

She felt a smile begin to stretch her lips as her heart threatened to burst inside her chest. “You love me,” she breathed, and she wanted to laugh with the sheer, encompassing joy of it.

“And you love me,” he answered, his own smile wide and bright and full of promise for their future together.

Their wide-awake future.

“I do,” Fil said. This time she did laugh, the sound bubbling up like springwater, fresh and pure and clean. The look in her eyes, though? She had a feeling that might be just the slightest bit dirty. “Want me to show you how much?”

Spar chuckled and a glint of fang peeked out from between his lips. “I do, but I want you to get well even more, little one. That way, once you have recovered from your injuries, you can show me with great—”

He stole a heated kiss.

“—attention—”

Another, and this one had her toes curling inside her hospital-issued gray socks.

“—to detail.”

His final kiss left her breathless, with her head spinning from more than a simple, if pesky, concussion. Only the way the pain of her injuries bit through the blessed veil of her mediation when she reached to wrap her arms around him returned her to sanity.

“Fine,” she pouted, seeing the way his eyes narrowed when he detected the signs of her discomfort in the lines around her eyes and mouth. “But if I’m going to have to wait, I expect you to be coming up with some creative ways to show me how much you love me back.”

Spar chuckled and rose, shifting to deposit her gently back on her hospital bed. “Oh, sweet little human,” he purred, bracing his hands on either side of her head and leaning over her with his expression full of love and heat. “I have existed for more than a thousand years. I have ways of showing you that you couldn’t possibly have dreamed existed.”

“Hm, I can hardly wait.”

He kissed her softly, his mouth lingering on hers for a moment before he brushed his lips across her cheek in a touch full of tender promise. “Patience, my love,” he whispered. “We have a lifetime together to explore.”

“A lifetime,” Fil echoed, sighing happily. “That might do. To start.”