Page 12 of Rekindled Prophecy

Even with their combined guardian angel super strength, the iron constraints were difficult to break. Straining with everything she had, she finally yanked the post that held the group captive out of the ground. At least now they could run away from the fire if they ran together.

While she focused her attention on freeing the prisoners, Jasper sprinted towards Kael and Robespierre to unleash his own fury against those responsible for the destruction of his beloved homeland. Robespierre at one time may have had noble intentions for ridding France of an evil tyrant but selling out to the darkness led to where it always did: death and destruction. Now France suffered for it.

Kael sidestepped Jasper’s assault, leaving the politician to fend for himself against the enraged guardian. He did not seem interested in protecting the man he used to cause this mess. He did not so much as lift a finger as Jasper pummeled him to a bloody pulp. Greylyn almost felt sorry for the man as she worked to unleash those he had intended to serve up to the guillotine’s blade. Almost, but not quite.

She was a bit alarmed that Jasper might break his oath as a guardian angel. Killing humans, no matter how repulsive or nefarious they were, was strictly forbidden. At least that was what he preached to her from her first day as a guardian. Occasionally teaching them a lesson, while not killing them, was allowed – at least that was Jasper’s excuse.

After freeing the last prisoner, she jumped into action, her anger fueling her body to face Kael. She preferred to take on the smirking, evil guardian by herself. He seemed happy to watch the carnage from the cannon assault, as well as Jasper’s battering of the cowering Robespierre. First, she needed to pull her friend away from the human who was starting to look like a bruised banana in his yellow silk shirt and light brown knickers.

Her nemesis had other plans.

“Love,” he added a tck-tck-tck noise while shaking his finger. “Let the boys play.”

For a moment, he held her roughly by the upper arm while staring intently into her face, almost mesmerizing her with the way the flames reflected in his eyes, like topaz glinting in a furnace.

Attempting to clear her head, she shook it slightly. She hoped it came off as a firm “No” instead of what it really was, a sorry attempt to break the spell his gaze cast over her.

Thankfully, the mushrooming black smoke enveloped them both, making further eye contact impossible. Taking the opportunity, her fist flew out to find its mark square on Kael’s chiseled chin. A normal man would have come away with a broken jaw, but he was far from normal. Instead, her fist throbbed from the impact. Her other fist immediately shot forward. This time it did not connect as he grabbed both her wrists to stop the assault. Unable to break free, she swept her foot out to take out his legs at the kneecaps. He staggered but did not fall.

Greylyn continued to rain down her own form of terror on the evil being in front of her while the fire raged around them. Despite her fierce onslaught of kicks, he refused to actively engage in the fight. He simply held a defensive stance, as well as a tight grip on her wrists. Not so much as a grimace of pain.

Another cannon blast obliterated the spectator stands behind them. Burning wood flew into the air. They both ducked down to avoid the main debris, but cinders fell over them like rain, catching Greylyn’s clothes on fire. Thrashing only fueled the flames, incinerating the coarse material as it melted into the underlying skin. Kael kept his hold on her with one hand, while the other came down to tamp out the fire on her arms and then her legs. Her boy britches riddled with blackened holes now showed her burned and blistering skin underneath.

Defiant, her head shot up and instantly she stopped struggling. Kael’s expression unnerved her. His eyes were wide with what appeared to be concern, even fear. He inspected her for further damage, his hands lightly patting her clothes. Once his gaze came back to her face, he stopped and heaved a huge sigh. A smile returned to his lips.

Not sure what to make of this side of her enemy, Greylyn stared. The ground shook underneath them as the podium threatened to give way. Kael’s arms wrapped around her as they waited for the inevitable crash that never came.

The sounds of the pandemonium around them burst through to shock Greylyn back into the moment. Kael’s hold on her tightened. Unable to break away, she realized a physical attack would not work. He was too strong. Her past dealings with Kael had not revealed any weakness for her to exploit. Her mind raced for a strategy that would.

Obviously, he had an investment in the politician a few yards behind him who now lay a blackened mess on the ground.

“Don’t you need to check on your little plaything over there?” she asked with more than a hint of smarminess.

For a split second, his grip on her arms relaxed. It was enough for her to break free. With his focus temporarily on his prized human whose soul would certainly rot in hell soon enough, she shoved him with all her strength – right into the inferno that raged just behind him.

The sound of Kael’s skin sizzling permeated the air and a howl erupted from the flames.

Must feel like home.

Not wasting a moment, she rushed over to Jasper to stop him from murdering Robespierre. It took every ounce of supernatural strength she could muster to pull her friend away. His brilliant ice-blue eyes flashed a wildness she had never witnessed in all her time serving alongside him.

However, the sight of Greylyn seemed to have the necessary effect of breaking through the rampaging wrath in his heart. Looking down at the battered, barely breathing body lying on the ground, he gave an exaggerated shrug. All he said was, “Oh well!” before spitting on the wounded man and walking away.

After the executions were halted and Robespierre assumed to be near death, Greylyn and Jasper hurriedly left France to return to their normal guardian angel duties. This trip had not been an assignment. This had been personal.

It was not until they were back in England when they heard the horrific news. They had not stopped Kael and his human puppet, Robespierre. Somehow, the politician recovered almost overnight from his beating. The fire failed to stop the dark guardian’s quest to bring suffering, bloodshed, and chaos to the people of France.

As the FrenchReign of Terrorplayed out a little later in June of that year, the rest of Europe looked the other way. The only positive news came in July of the following year when Robespierre was executed, and a more moderate political regime came into power.

Blame for all that destruction partly, if not mostly, belonged to Kalman Ocaliot, but the name would not even be recorded in the history books.

***

How and why could he still plague her over two centuries later? She did not know. But here she was…faced with her nemesis once again. They had nearly killed each other repeatedly, but neither one ever finished the job. She could fight him again and again, but it would not change the way her body thrilled at his presence. Despite knowing what she knew about him, her physical reaction to him was one of desire and passion. It would be her undoing one day. Of that fact, she was certain.

But it would not be today.

Chapter 5

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