Page 24 of Rekindled Prophecy

He grinned. There on the desk was the folder with the photographs. Good. She had discovered that. Maybe now she would start to question his repeated presence in her life. Of course, considering the evidence, maybe she would think he was merely a supernatural stalker.

Shrugging, he peeked out the window. Greylyn had already disappeared into the main house. Too bad, catching her in the act could have been fun. But for now, he had other concerns.

Damn Jensen! Kael recognized his handiwork with the shadow creature that assaulted Greylyn. The dark guardian had not been difficult to locate either, so he could not feign it was a coincidence he was in town. It had been over a century since they had been on the same continent, and if Jensen were lucky, it would be over a century before they encountered each other again.

After pummeling his pretty-boy face into an unrecognizable mass of flesh, blood, and tissue, Jensen had confessed. Their mutual boss had sent him. Orders were to maim the guardian angel, but not to kill. Odd considering their boss’s stance on this particular guardian angel. Standing orders From Olivier were for her protection. No harm. He needed her alive and well. Now Lucifer was another story. That was what caused Kael more concern. Had the order come from Satan himself, it was business as usual. But no, Olivier pulled Jensen’s strings.

As for the question of why Olivier changed course this late in the game…Jensen, as usual, knew nothing.

Kael cursed himself for not killing him outright, but deep down he knew the attack had been directed at Greylyn as a test for himself. Trouble was, there was no way to know whether he passed or failed.

Collecting the scattered photos and putting them back in the folder, Kael pondered the situation. “What the hell are you up to, Olivier?”

***

Surprisingly, Kael had not sought out Greylyn. She managed to throw her clothes back into her room and changed for a much-needed run. Running sucked. She never liked it but right now she needed the exercise, adrenaline, and space away from Gaelic Haven to clear her mind.

The sound of her sneakered feet against the pavement leading into town had a calming effect. After about a mile, adrenaline took over. The rest of her run was on physical autopilot as her brain began to process her findings.

There had to be at least a hundred or more pictures of her in that folder, all from various places over the years. One of the photos had even been an old black-and-white from a speakeasy in the 1920s. She smiled. Half the fun had been getting dolled up in that red-beaded flapper dress with the excessive black fringe and matching beaded headband. The lower heels had been easier to run in, too. And she had run a lot that night.

Her job made comfort more important than fashion, but occasionally, she enjoyed being fancy. That had been one of those times. The dance music had been incredibly loud, the prohibited alcohol had flowed freely, and the pack of sly werewolves running the joint had been easy to take down.

What are you up to, Kael?

Her feet pounded the pavement until she found herself at the top of a high hill looking down onto the Shenandoah River. The banks of the river were flooded from the recent storm. The roaring of muddy water rushed violently downstream anddrowned out the sound ofcars on the nearby interstate. Her leg muscles quivered as she made her way down to the edge of the water to rest on a fallen tree.

None of this makes sense.

True, Kael had appeared as her nemesis more times than she could recollect. He was the only one she had encountered more than once. He always seemed to enjoy tormenting her. Always a smile and a sarcastic quip, but he never tried to kill her outright. Something always held him back.

Wait! What?

The realization stunned her. Not once had he taken lethal action against her. He had beaten her bloody to the point she had wished for death, but he always stopped. Killing a guardian angel was difficult…damn near impossible…but Kael never delivered the fatal blow. Last night would have been the perfect way to finish her off. The shadow creature could not have taken her out. Not completely. You needed a better weapon than creepy black air to wipe her out. Still, the creature could have inflicted enough damage to put her out of the picture for a while. Instead, upon Kael’s arrival at the koi pond, the shadow had vanished.

Why hadn’t he taken advantage then? Instead, he had hauled her out of the water and essentially tended to the gash along her forehead. He could have easily swiped her own weapon from its holster at the small of her back, disabled her, and then ripped her heart out of her chest. Instead…

He saved me last night.

No, that was improbable. Maybe he just did not want the shadow to have all the fun, tormenting her as her lungs filled with pond scum.

The follow-up question plagued her even more.

Why haven’t I tried to kill him either?

No answer.

Taking one last look at the muddy river water as it rushed past, Greylyn was startled to see a lone wolf directly across the river from her, staring with intent silver eyes. Its fur was unnaturally gray, like the color of refined steel. Something about the eyes seemed off. In addition to their unusual color, they conveyed more than the primal intelligence of an animal. It was as if the wolf were sizing her up as a human would evaluate a racehorse before placing a bet.

How long had it been watching her?

The wolf nodded as if answering an unspoken question, before it turned and raced back into the dense forest.

A little shaken, Greylyn high-tailed it back to the inn, sticking to the paved road. She did not even bother to put up a glamour so humans who witnessed her blur by at an unnatural speed would not see anything. Hopefully, she would at least get back before the bride and groom arrived.

Chapter 11

Here Come the Bride & Groom