The Guardian’s locket was blowing up! She had received half a dozen alerts in the last hour, including a broadcast message that was sent to all of the Guardians, and she wasn’t sure which one to act on first.
Alpha and Mate argument. In need of mediation at home of Mate.
Broadcast Alert: Council of Paranormal Creatures security breach identified. Be alert for attacks by rogue Guardian.
Alpha at village. Danger.
Hunters gathering for final kill. Time is running out to accomplish assignment.
Mate at home. Danger.
If Alex was at the village and Nina was at home, it was probably too late to mediate their argument. So the Guardian mentally crossed that off her list. The broadcast message was more of an FYI thing, so she dismissed that as well. That left Alex and Nina in danger in two separate locations and the Hunters gathering forces to off them both.
The Guardian decided to grab Nina first and stash her in a safe house before finding Alex and sending him to claim her. In the meantime, she would do her best to throw a wrench in the Hunters’ plans.
~~~
Liz was still upstairs talking to her brother when Nina heard a knock on the door. Was Alex back already? She opened the door to a surprise visitor.
“Hannah! What are you doing here?”
“I need you to come with me, Nina. You’re not safe here.” The bubbly, impeccably groomed blonde was gone and in her place was a disheveled, almost-frantic waif.
Nina stepped outside and closed the door. She didn’t want Liz to come snooping into the conversation. “This really isn’t a good time for me, Hannah. Maybe we could go to lunch on Monday and talk about whatever’s bothering you.”
“This can’t wait until Monday,” Hannah said, grabbing Nina’s arm and tugging. Nina didn’t even budge an inch. “Nina, you have to trust me. I need to get you away from here. I need to get you somewhere safe.”
Nina planted her feet even firmer on the ground. “Why should I trust you after you stole my job promotion and my boyfriend?”
Hannah stopped tugging. “I don’t expect you to understand, but I did those things to help you. If you were still with Bruce, would you have ended up meeting Alex? And if you had a recruiting career rather than a low-level admin job, would you be willing to walk away from it without a second thought?”
Nina’s head was spinning. How could Hannah know about her and Alex or that he wanted her to go away with him?
Trust no one.
She pulled her arm away from the petite blonde, who continued to ramble. “Seriously, Nina, I can’t believe you wanted to marry that guy. Bruce has got to be the worst lover I’ve ever had. Plus, he’s so boring. I have no idea how that guy ever landed a job in sales because he has absolutely no talent for schmoozing. Pretending to be his fiancé has been painful, to say the least.”
Nina though Hannah was making some very valid points, but didn’t say so. “Who are you?” she demanded.
“Whether you believe me or not, Nina, I’m a friend.”
She took a chance by baiting Hannah with a dangerous question. “Are you a bear shifter, too?”
Hannah didn’t even flinch. “No, I’m a Guardian. My job is to help ensure that paranormal beings, like shifters, are protected.”
Nina laughed, but not with amusement. Alex had mentioned something about guardians, but she couldn’t remember quite what it was. “Guardian as in ‘Angel’?”
“Not exactly,” Hannah responded, “but if it helps you trust me, let’s go with that.”
“I’m not a shifter or any other type of ‘paranormal being’, so why are you interested in me?”
Hannah looked exasperated. “I have an assignment to do, okay? If I fail, you and Alex probably die, and it won’t be pretty for me either. Every minute we stand here arguing is another minute I don’t have to get to him in time.”
Nina almost believed her. “Do you know where Alex is?”
Hannah nodded. “He’s at the site where his village used to be. The Hunters are coming, Nina.”
Nina sighed in resignation. “Let me grab my purse and keys. I’m driving.”
“That’s good,” Hannah said, “because I don’t have a car. My mode of transportation is a little more direct.”
Nina threw a confused glance over her shoulder at Hannah’s comment before shaking her head and grabbing her purse from the house. Liz would probably wonder where she disappeared to, but she would explain later.
Once the two women were in the car, Hannah started barking directions. “Head toward the freeway. I need you to get on Interstate 405 heading east.”
When Nina took the Interstate 5 North onramp, Hannah grabbed her arm, making the car swerve dangerously close to the other lane. Thankfully, they didn’t hit another vehicle.
“Where are you going?” Hannah shrieked.
“To Alex’s village.” Nina had watched every newscast about the fire and had read every article, including the one that had pointed out the exact location of the blaze. She had too many unanswered questions to blindly follow Hannah’s directives.
It was possible that her coworker wanted to lure her to some remote location and do away with her permanently. Besides, if Alex was in trouble, she wanted to help. If he got the mental health care that he clearly needed, maybe they would have a chance to be a real couple someday.