Kela's Guardian by B.J. McCall Read Free Book Online

serve a higher authority.”
    “I’ve never been a religious person.”
    Ansara caressed her cheek with his forefinger. “You’ve seen evil and you know it must be vanquished. All guardians have that in common.”
    Recalling how fearlessly he’d taken on the pack of vampires, she said, “I’ve seen you fight. I’m no guardian.”
    “You have the heart of a warrior. The rest is training.”
    Her mind spinning, Kela sipped her wine. “Will you teach me how to destroy vampires? One in particular needs to be vanquished.”
    “After I’ve completed my assignment, I’ll try. I don’t have control over my orders.”
    “What is your assignment?”
    “To destroy the demon Vakkar.” His gaze dropped to her chest. “May I ask how you received the cross?”
    Kela grasped the cross, locking her fingers around it. “You want it too?”
    “I’m not trying to take it from you, Kela. I’d like to know how you obtained it.”
    “My father gave it to me on my twelfth birthday.”
    “Tell me about your father.”
    “He was a biblical archaeologist. He found the cross in the remains of an ancient temple he’d excavated. He made me promise to wear it always. He said it would keep me safe.”
    “Why did he think you needed to be safe?”
    “He was frightened of something. He said everything was fine, but I knew he was afraid. A few days after he gave me the cross, our house caught fire. He never made it out. Arson was suspected, but unproven. I was at school. Wearing the cross is like having part of my father with me. It’s all I have.”
    “What about your mother?”
    “She worked at his side for years. During the temple excavation, the ground caved in and my mother was killed. Most of the uncovered temple was destroyed. I lost both of my parents within the span of a few months.”
    “Do you know anything about the cross?”
    “I know it burns vampires. Is that why you wear crosses?”
    “Some are weapons,” he said, running his fingertips over his belt. He held up his hand to show a band of crosses around his wrist. “Some I have earned.”
    “Like army medals?”
    He nodded. “This war is ancient. I’ve been fighting it for a very long time.”
    Kela touched the cross dangling from his ear. “And this one?”
    “It denotes the power I serve.”
    “Which archangel do you serve?”
    He raised an eyebrow. “You’re familiar with the structure of heaven?”
    “The temple my parents excavated was filled with frescoes. My father was very excited about the depiction of a male angel with huge wings, holding a sword. It wasn’t Michael, but an unknown archangel.”
    “Warrior angels rarely reveal themselves to humans.”
    “The frescoes were destroyed when the temple caved in. My father believed the excavation was deliberately destroyed, but he couldn’t prove it. The loss of my mother and the temple was a heavy blow to his spirit. He gave up fieldwork. We returned to the states. He was writing a book and often gave lectures about good and evil, heaven and hell. He believed both places existed.”
    “But you don’t?”
    “Faith didn’t save my parents. My belief in hell, in pure evil has returned. How long have you been a guardian?”
    Ansara set his empty glass aside. “Using Earth time as a measurement, it’s been centuries.”
    “You’re immortal?”
    “I can die only at the hand of a demon.”
    “I was hoping you were invincible.” Kela finished her wine and set the glass on the end table. “The vampires had me. If you hadn’t shown up, I would have died, or worse.”
    Ansara clamped a hand on her shoulder, squeezing gently. “You’re not alone in this battle.”
    For the first time since this ordeal began, Kela had someone who didn’t think she was crazy. Someone to stand by her side. She buried her face against Ansara’s chest. The rhythmic beating of his heart soothed her as much as his words.
    You’re not alone.
    She’d lost her parents, her fiancé and her best friend, but now