The Guardian's Grimoire by Rain Oxford Read Free Book Online

like an old tattoo.
    “Is that gonna go away?” I asked, still panting. The
skin around it was numb, but pink from irritation.
    “No.” Edward pulled the neck of his shirt down so I
could see his mark. It even managed to look slightly Japanese. “Can you stand?”
    I nodded, but didn’t try. “Why didn’t you tell me it
was going to hurt like that?”
    “The buildup for it is worse. I was warned about the
pain, but I was marked as a baby; I don’t remember. Do you still hurt?”
    “No, it’s just numb. Is your book going to be that
bad?”
    “The pain was caused by becoming a Guardian, so
signing other books will not be painful. You should try to stand.”
    I stood just fine… in my head. In reality, I got
halfway up before falling face first into the grass. I screamed out a few words
I would normally have been ashamed to say and Edward pulled me back into a
sitting position.
    “Magic really won’t help you fight if you can’t stand
up.”
    “I can, just give me a minute,” I said. Edward looked
around, almost like a predator sensing another predator. “Do we have a minute?”
    “At least a few, but they know we’re near. I believe
they’re searching for traps.”
    “Maybe we should have set some. Do you feel a little
like a worm on a hook?” The stare he gave me made me roll my eyes. “Never mind.
Help me up.” I reached out my hand and he took it.
    “I can help you get up, but I can’t help you stay
up.” He pulled me up to my feet with surprising ease, even when my body felt
like lead to me.
    “Yeah, I know,” I said.
    Edward turned to peer into the woods behind him. He
didn’t need to tell me; I had heard the twig snap. I thought I heard leaves
rustle before thunder drowned everything out. I glanced up as thick raindrops
fell from the clouds. A storm had come.
    Edward grinned with relief while the rain made his
hair stick to his face. “The gods are good.”
    I nodded and scanned the forest. “So, how do I make
the lightning strike?” I asked.
    He looked horrified at the idea. “Don’t try; it takes
too much control. Just focus on defending yourself.” There was another sound
ahead, but Edward looked behind us, toward the skateboarding area.
    It was too late by the time I could turn around; the
creature was there. I could feel the cold radiating from it and suddenly, I was
back on the ground. Instead of it coming down on top of me, there was a
blinding light and deafening noise that sent the beast rolling away. Then it
caught its footing and was gone before I could even identify what had attacked
me.
    Edward grabbed my arm to pull me back up. “This was
possibly a very bad idea.”
    “What’s the fun in life without a few bad ideas?
Mistakes and bad ideas caused a lot of scientific breakthroughs.” I knew I
would have rambled if I weren’t so out of breath. We looked around and judging
by Edward’s posture, we were surrounded. “How many are there?”
    “Still only three. One is very angry.” There was
silence. “And one is walking away. The other two are circling.”
    How come I already knew that? “I think I can
feel them, Edward.”
    He spared me a doubtful look. “That’s very unlikely,
for it takes skill and training.”
    “You were just saying I had one of those two. I don’t
feel any different, though, I just think I can sense them. It’s like that
feeling you get when you’re being watched, except it’s stronger.” I looked
behind me as he did. From the black shadows of the pine trees came forth a
beast I really wasn’t expecting.
    I believed that if a dark god was going to send some
creature to retrieve something, the god would be creative. I was expecting a demon
of some horrifying disfigurement or even a shapeless spirit of black smoke. I
was wrong.
    My first impression was that it looked like a giant,
scaly cat. However, as it came to a stop under a streetlight, I could see very
little resemblance. Its head was much flatter and its ears were sharp and