Dark Guardian Read online

  Dark Guardian

  Viking Soul Book 3

  By Rachel Medhurst

  Please note that the author is English so spelling is in British English.

  Copyright © 2017 by Rachel Medhurst

  This book is dedicated to Jamie

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  CONTENTS

  1

  2

  3

  4

  5

  6

  7

  8

  9

  10

  11

  12

  13

  14

  15

  Mailing List

  Acknowledgements

  Copyright

  Author

  1

  Underworld Threat

  PAIN EXPLODED IN my cheekbone as the vampire’s fist ploughed into my face. Turning to the side, I spat blood onto the floor before turning back to him.

  “Do you know how good it is to be able to practice with someone who’s strong enough to face me?”

  Grinning, I held my arms up ready to attack. Kalic, the vampire who’d helped me defeat the Fallen One only a week ago, sneered, his long canine teeth digging into his lower lip.

  “Don’t think I’ll go easy on you,” he replied.

  Pouncing forward, I swiped my left arm, missing his head. With my other fist, I uppercut him straight in the ribs as he gloated about the near miss. An intentional diversion, of course.

  “I wouldn’t expect it any other way. How long, exactly, have you been alive?”

  Kalic’s feet stopped bouncing, his eyes shadowing as he turned away. Taking the opportunity to use his emotions against him, I lunged at his back, my arms wrapping around his neck. He spun, trying to throw me to the ground. My grip was tight around his neck as I attempted to wrench it without success. The vampire’s body was almost as indestructible as mine.

  “Bastard!” he barked, rushing backwards to smash me into the gym wall.

  It wasn’t my gym, so I didn’t cringe when the mirror smashed, the glass fragments tumbling to the floor.

  Laughing, I squeezed his windpipe. The memory of Loki almost choking me to death popped into my head. Oh, that was such a long time ago. A time I rarely thought about.

  My back slammed into the ground as Kalic bounced down. The clever git had thrown a wrestling manoeuvre.

  Allowing my arms to release him, I lay panting on the mat.

  “What the fuck...?” Kalic was on his feet, already rebounded off my body. “You gave up.”

  Shaking myself, I jumped up. Instead of going to the vampire again, I collected the towel that hung on the wall, wiping the sweat off my face.

  “I...my memories keep popping back. It’s not happened before.”

  It had been a week since the scene in the club’s basement. Kalic had offered his underground training club for meetings with the leaders of the underworld. It wasn’t that I trusted the vampire, but we had a common goal.

  Kitty had been manipulated by the Fallen One all along. Her vendetta against Chloe had been real, which was why she had stalled everything. If she had taken me to the club before I had been rescued, things would have been very different. Without my sword, or Chloe fetching it for me, I would have still been looking for the Fallen One. As it happened, it had worked out perfectly.

  “Being seven hundred years old, I feel your pain. My memories are mostly hazy, considering I’ve been drunk on either alcohol or blood for most of them.” The quirk of his lip reminded me of an old friend of mine. Someone who had died from old age a long time ago.

  Closing my eyes, I chugged down some water. If my concentration was going to be broken by random memories, I needed more training. And, maybe a spell.

  “Chloe asked if I’ll train with her.” Kalic broke into my thoughts.

  Pursing my lips, I lowered myself onto a wooden bench in the dimly lit room. The walls were stone, carved in the days of the war. The tunnels under the city were dangerous alleyways that had connected the main buildings of the city. The small tunnel that led off the main room had a curtain and a warning sign to stop people from venturing down it.

  “I don’t think that’s wise, she’s not ready.”

  The vampire raised his eyes as his tongue flicked over a canine. He was obviously hungry. But, hungry for what, exactly?

  Shrugging, he took out a carton of juice, downing it in one. When he chucked it on the floor, I cringed from the droplet of blood that landed on my joggers. A sensible vampire with a supply of blood kept in juice cartons. How civilised.

  “Have you explored the tunnels?” I asked, picking up my jacket and tugging it on.

  Kalic looked around the room, his dark gaze tracing the gym equipment, before settling on the entrance into and out of the room. A door stood at my back, leading up a flight of concrete steps to Kalic’s shop.

  Yes, he owned a shop selling sweets. I had to check twice when I first glanced at the address he had given me as we left Jack’s club the week before. Apparently, Antonia was a confectioner. It was her passion.

  And what Antonia loved, Kalic loved. He had told me the story of how they’d met in Poland, their lives enmeshed by a poor society. When Antonia had confessed that a wealthy man had offered her a lot of money for one night with her, Kalic agreed. They both knew that they would live a better life away from poverty.

  That night had turned Antonia into someone new. And, not in the way Kalic had hoped. The money had been exchanged and so had blood. Antonia changed into a vampire within days, her body shivering, close to death.

  Kalic hadn’t known what to do, but had stayed strong for the pair of them, vowing to stay by her side, no matter what; a declaration that he may or may not have regretted since. Now that Antonia was a vampire, she wanted him to join her. The thought of her love dying from old age had driven her to change him in the night, without his consent.

  “I have taken a wander down the tunnels. This entrance is protected by a spell, so no one can enter, or leave, through it. Except when I allow.”

  Checking behind the curtain, he shuddered slightly. Ah, a vampire that feared what was in the tunnels? That was something I wanted to know more about.

  “I have to go. Chloe is waiting upstairs with Rusty.”

  Nodding, Kalic slapped my shoulder before turning towards the door. He hadn’t even broken out in a sweat. Although, he couldn’t, considering he was dead. Me on the other hand...the aroma of sweat rolled off me as I trotted up the steps, behind my new training buddy.

  “Ah, there you are. We’re going to be late if you don’t...Woah, you did work out well, didn’t you?” Chloe was usually so polite, but the more time she spent with me, the less she held back.

  She stood by the case of handcrafted chocolates, her hair shoved into a messy bun. A long maroon dress with a lace bottom encased her figure, her black leather jacket the only thing that didn’t look like she was a sweet girl with good fashion sense. My eyes were drawn to her lace up boots as she bent to retie one.

  “What happened to your old clothes?” This Chloe was...stylish.

  “Nothing, I still have them. These are my clothes. You judged me on my outfit the first day we met. I’m a woman of varied taste.”

  Straightening, she grinned at Antonia, who handed her a small bag, blatantly full of chocolate. What was it with women and that food? It was an obsession I had never understood.

  Rusty came over as I shook my head. Bending towards him, I grinned when he shoved his nose under my armpit and sniffed.

  “Eww, Rusty, stop!” Chloe’s face screwed up, her disgust evident as she dug into her bag of chocolates.

  Ruffling the dog’s fur, I spoke directly to hi
m. “See? She doesn’t understand the male scent, Rusty. We’re the dominant race, we need to check out the masculine competition.”

  “Dominant race?” Antonia snorted, her light brown eyes sparkling when she glanced at Kalic. “Would you agree, kochanie?” Darling.

  Hah, I never imaged that I would remember all the languages I had learnt over the years. It was a skill I had been slacking, considering how many people spoke English now. It had been a shock over the ages, the English language growing out into the world, filtering into most countries.

  Holding his hand up in surrender, Kalic feigned disinterest. “You know how much I adore the female race, my love. Don’t get me involved.”

  My frown went ignored as Chloe jabbed a finger in my direction. “See? He doesn’t understand females like you do, Kalic.”

  “Let’s go, shall we?” I said, interrupting what was about to become a full blown, probably sexist, conversation.

  Chloe glanced at the clock on the wall, her eyes widening when she saw how late we were. “Yes, thank you for the chocolate!”

  Antonia waved as we exited the shop. Kalic followed us outside, checking up and down the busy London street. “Trygger, some of the others want to make a move on Martin. The Hagalaz is a dangerous idea. Not because the people are powerful, but because they’re a hindrance. We’ve been living unhindered for many years.”

  Chloe cleared her throat. “Well, it was actually Victor, the Fallen One, who caused all the hassle last week. Martin hasn’t made a move...”

  “Yet.” My sharp tone made Chloe blink twice before she squared up to me.

  “I thought you were the mighty Viking warrior. Why are you suddenly afraid of humans? Even if they are descendants of Odin.”

  Kalic’s grin widened when I scowled down at the female. Her challenge was obvious in her stance. Prove her wrong.

  What was it with Chloe and having to prove myself? I had never had to do so with anyone else before.

  “Let’s go,” I snapped, saluting Kalic as we moved away. “I’ll be in contact.”

  The vampire bowed his head before he ducked back into his shop. I still couldn’t get over the blatantly obvious trap of luring people in with sweets...probably to suck their blood. Vampires, they were pretty ruthless.

  We had planned our visit with the warlock to coincide with my training session with Kalic. His own shop wasn’t too far from the vampire’s, which was suspect in itself. Kalic had mentioned bringing the underworld above ground. I hadn’t disagreed with him in that moment, just because I had slaughtered the Fallen One only moments before, so I didn’t want to start another fight. However, I was pretty sure that London would be ruined if his plan came about.

  “I’m worried,” Chloe said, leading Rusty around a group of tourists. “This whole idea of Kalic’s. Bringing the dark up, it...worries me.”

  She must have read my mind. Which was something I detested considering Freya had been the only being able to know what I was thinking. Not that Chloe could hear my thoughts, but the more I trained her, the more we became in tune.

  “Why does it worry you?” It was better to hear her ideas than to project my own.

  “Well, I’ve seen the way darkness eats at something or someone from the inside. London has a balance. If the darkness comes up, it will influence everyone and the light will fade. Which means, humans will die. Creatures of all kinds will live...but with no light to feed off, especially the Dark Crawlers...then what will happen?”

  A female woman smacked into me as I went to dodge her. She laughed, stroking my arm as she carried on her conversation on her phone. Walking away, I winked at her, laughing at myself when her face burned bright red.

  “Were you just listening?” Chloe’s voice interrupted my fantasy of grabbing the woman and taking her somewhere more private for a quick... “Trygger!”

  She stopped, her hands going to her hips. People dodged around us as we stood in the middle of the pavement. The lunchtime rush hour was not the best time to visit the warlock, but he had insisted. It was the only break he got from his shopfront.

  “Sorry.” Moving to take Rusty’s lead, I paused when the smell of dead flesh reached me. Heat filtered into my veins, alerting me to the threat.

  Chloe tensed, looking around us. She could sense the Dark Crawler, too.

  Great, a distraction I didn’t need when we were already late.

  “He shouldn’t be able to smell us in this crowd,” I said, grabbing hold of Chloe’s arm and propelling her towards the shop. “If we get inside quickly, we’ll lose him.”

  Rusty trotted along beside us, happily following my lead. Chloe looked over her shoulder, her awareness on full alert, which was good.

  The warlock’s shop came into view, the big pointy hat in the glass window a tell-tale sign that we had found our destination.

  Thrusting through the door, I slammed it closed behind us.

  “Do you think he knew that we were out there?” Chloe asked, grabbing my arm when she looked around the shop.

  Following her gaze, I froze, plastering a fake smile on my face. A group of tourists stared at us, their beady eyes roaming over our outfits. I wore my normal jeans and leather jacket, my hair tied at the nape of my neck. Glancing at Chloe, I eyed the maroon dress covered by her own jacket. Her messy bun had loose strands, flowing around her heart shaped chin. Did we look that odd?

  Rusty wagged, his tail bashing against a box of warlock toys. Maybe they were staring at us because we had brought a dog into the shop.

  “Ah, welcome!” The warlock came forward, his footsteps slow.

  The man was old, his dark skin wrinkled as he extended his hand. I took it, keeping my face blank when a spark of magic caught, like a mini electric shock. Humans always believed that when they touched metal, or sometimes each other, the little shock they got was static electric. They had no idea that it was actually magic.

  “My name is Isaac Senior. Please, call me Senior.”

  Rubbing my chest, I looked at Chloe when she gasped. “You’re...you’re Isaac’s father?”

  The man’s tired eyes closed briefly as he nodded. Chloe reached out, grasping his hands in hers and looking into his gaze when it focused on her. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t know.”

  A strange feeling blossomed in my chest when tears came to Senior’s eyes. He blinked, clearing them before they could fall. “Thank you, my dear. Come, let’s talk.”

  Studying the shop as he led us to the main counter, I kept quiet. The other customers whispered between themselves as they placed their items back on the shelves and left. Was it my imposing appearance that caused them to leave? Did they fear me?

  “Don’t fret about them,” Senior said, waving his hand in dismissal. “They’re foreign warlocks, they don’t understand why I would allow everyone into my shop. They’re very particular abroad, a little discriminatory, you know?”

  Ah, that settled that then. They would have known that Chloe and I were supernatural, but we were not one of them. To be fair, most of the separate groups of London stuck to their own kind too.

  Not Isaac Senior, it seemed. No, there was an inviting energy that radiated from him and his shop.

  The shelves were stacked with magical ideas, their order in disarray. A scent of incense wound around me, stimulating my nostrils. It wasn’t a familiar smell.

  “That incense is from India.” Senior looked at me just as I scrunched my nose.

  “It’s nice,” I lied, grinning when his greying eyebrows rose.

  Sitting behind the counter, Senior flicked his hand towards the door. The lock clicked into place, keeping customers out.

  Moving to stand in front of him, I waited until he had conjured up some tea and biscuits.

  “Senior...we’re here for two reasons. Our dog used to have an ability, but lost it when Isaac...” My sentence trailed off when Chloe glared at me.

  Clearing her throat, she picked up a steaming mug and smiled kindly at the old man. “We think Isaac spelle
d Rusty to have the ability to freeze people still when they made eye contact with him.”

  Senior nodded, his face absent of emotion. The warlock was hardened, like me. What was it with supernatural beings and their tendency to shut down? I had never noticed it before, not allowing myself to know anyone. But, it intrigued me now.

  “And the ability disappeared when my son was ripped apart by that...creature?” His sentence was spat between clenched teeth.

  Okay, maybe it was just me who had shut down my emotions.

  “Yes.” Chloe’s simple answer held the question we were asking.

  Senior sighed as he bought the rim of the mug up to his lips, the spiral of steam from the tea almost covering his face. “And, the other reason?” he added.

  Chloe looked to me and shrugged. She had no idea what I was talking about, she thought we were only there for the dog. Checking around the shop, I searched for what I needed. Thor’s power helped me by cataloguing the items quickly. Nope, it wasn’t there.

  “I’ve heard that there’s a magical item that can help a supernatural being jump into someone else’s dreams.”

  Small fingers dug into the arm of my leather jacket as Chloe involuntarily gripped me. Her mouth was parted slightly, her glossy pink lips wet where she had just licked them.

  My plan had formed in my mind the night before as I’d tried to sleep. I had heard of the item from a witch in passing many years ago. If it was true, I could use it to visit Martin’s dreams...and meet Odin.

  “Well, you won’t find anything like that here. There’s only one witch who owns an item like that.”

  Tempted to roll my eyes, I only just resisted. It was going to turn into one of those mystery experiences where I had to hunt the artefact down. How bloody irritating and predictable.

  “Theresa?” Chloe asked, guessing correctly.

  The nod of Senior’s head was accompanied by a grimace. He didn’t like the woman, it seemed. I wasn’t surprised. There was rarely any love lost between the two most magical races in the world.

  “As for your first request, I will happily give...” Senior gestured at the dog.

  “Rusty.” Chloe got down to her knees, laughing when Rusty licked her chin.