Page 113 of Heartsong
With all of the humans inside, the front door was shut and locked.
The man stood starkly against the wall of his black-clad guards; a wool coat of light gray was unbuttoned, revealing a silky scarf and neckcloth. A waistcoat was buttoned beneath a suit jacket, and his trousers had a crisp pressed line down the center. Even to Frey’s eyes, he looked old-fashioned.
The man breathed an audible sigh as everyone settled into their place. “That’s better. This conversation warrants a bit of privacy. The world isn’t ready to know about us yet,fy ffrind,but soon it won’t matter.” He handed Anna off to a guard, forcing Frey to split his attention between him and Anna.
Stepping forward, the man said with great circumstance, “I’m Andrew Glendower of the Silures Pritani. My line is as ancient as yours, and through it we have kept the old ways alive. I have studied the arcane arts, and just like our ancestors, I’m ready to stand side-by-side with guardians to defend what is ours.”
A glint of light grew brighter in Glendower’s eyes with every word he said, and though many of the words were familiar to Frey, calling to a time when his kind lived in clanhomes and fought alongside human warriors, they filled him only with dread.
The man knows too much of our history—and he has Anna.
Perhaps Frey would’ve been interested in what Glendower said if not for that fact. The man could be one of the very druids who carved his kind and he wouldn’t care, so long as his Anna was in danger.
“And what is this to do with me and my mate?”
“Everything.” Drawing a little closer, Glendower smiled wide, all charm. “The fae destroyed so much that night. Those who weren’t turned to stone were slaughtered.”
“Don’t presume to tell me of my own suffering, druid.”
Glendower held up his hands. “Of course. I only meant that your kin weren’t the only ones attacked that night. The hunt rode through the Pritani villages, killing many of our people. What was left, the English nearly exterminated. But there were some of us who survived, who kept the old ways. We remember what the guardians truly are—not statues, but the greatest creation of mankind. A fusion of magick and earth never seen before.”
“You wish to wake the guardians.”
“Yes. We will rise again,” Glendower said, “to take back what’s ours. Our land, our magick, our power. All of it has been stolen again and again. But now, with guardians, we’ll finally take what’s ours.”
Anna sneered in disapproval. “You want super soldiers.”
“I want these warriors to live again and have what is rightfully theirs.”
“They couldn’t stop the Saxons. What makes you think a few dozen guardians can do anything against a modern military force?”
“Excellent question. This requires a demonstration.” Glendower held out a hand, and one of the guards placed a gun in his palm. Frey stepped forward, ready to defend Anna, but the gun pointed at him instead—and fired.
The gunfire crackled through the air, and the bullet hit Frey in the chest with such force, he stumbled back into the couch, the breath punched from his lungs. He heard Anna scream through his ringing ears.
Yet…though it stung, no blood gushed. Indeed, no wound had been made.
Into the stunned silence, Glendower said, “For starters, they’re mostly bulletproof. Smaller caliber, at least. The guardians’ skin retained some properties of the stones the rock-born were carved from.”
Anna’s mouth hung open in shock, and Frey himself was surprised, given what he knew of modern guns from the films he and Anna watched. He touched the place the bullet had ricocheted off, and though the flesh was sore and reddened, it was unbroken. He eyed the weapons strapped to the guards, considering. All had the smaller weapon Glendower had used but several also held larger firearms.
“Before you try anything, I’d like to make you an offer.”
His gaze fell back on the druid, though his other senses were trained on Anna. It’d be only three leaping bounds to get to the guard holding her by the arm. He didn’t worry about the human men or their weapons—even if he hadn’t been somewhat immune to them. His Anna wasn’t.
“Release my mate.”
“In a moment. First…” From his inner coat pocket, Glendower presented a simple leather strap. Tooled with a modern buckle, it was a simple collar. “I’d like you to put this on.”
He could smell the magick imbued within the collar from paces away. “It’s magicked.”
“Yes, I’m afraid it’s necessary for now.”
Frey howled in outrage. “I will not be the beast of someone who threatens my mate!”
“Without the collar, I can’t give her over. But know, I won’t hurt her. If the heartsong is lost, the curse can never be broken. Without her, you’d return to stone. So believe me, I understand how very precious your heartsong is.”
Frey’s stomach turned to hear another man talk of his Anna like that.
