The Lost Years (The Guardians Book 4) (20 page)

Uri didn’t speak, soaking in Sophie’s suggestion.

“Well? What do you think?” Sophie pushed.

“I’ll think about it,” Uri said before turning and walking away. Just before he was out of ear shot, he called over his shoulder, “You really should tell Gabe that the old Sophie’s back.”

Before she could reply, he was gone.

Uri sat silently in the corner, watching his old friend as he tossed and turned, sweating, tormented by some nightmare. For the past five years, he had seen glimpses of Gabe as he witnessed his new life from a distance. Until this moment, he had always respected Michael’s instructions to not interfere. His mentor had warned him that Gabe had already made his choice, and to take that away from him would defeat what they meant as guardians.

He couldn’t shake Sophie’s words though, and now found himself thinking quite differently. The rules changed when Uri found Sera. Gabe needed another opportunity to decide if he wanted to fulfill his destiny, his last decision to leave had been made when he was a boy.

Uri stayed in the shadows, silent as Gabe awoke, rubbing his eyes, and stumbling to the nearby table, fumbling for a cup. He walked over to the pitcher and then froze. Uri grinned, sure he had caught sight of him. To his surprise, Gabe did not react, in fact, he said nothing. He watched as Gabe stared hard into the darkness, squinting, confirming in fact there was someone sitting in the corner, staring back at him.

“Are you alright?” Uri finally asked.

Gabe shook his head, still saying nothing.

“Clearly you’re not … what’s with the lumber jack look by the way?” he asked with a laugh.

“It’s you!” Gabe cried. “Uri, how did you find me? I can’t believe you are here.”

“You look great, Gabe,” Uri’s said in a soft voice before slapping him in the arm repeatedly.

“Thanks, you too. How’s everyone? Is Michael still with the council? What about Haim? Still an ox? Oh, and you can’t leave out Raimie and Dina? Are they still just as in love as ever?” Gabe rattled off the questions without a breath.

“Gabe, can we sit?” Uri requested.

“Of course, sorry, I don’t really get visitors, so I only have the one chair I made,” Gabe said as he turned and nestled down onto his bedding.

“You made this?” Uri questioned in disbelief, inspecting the stool closer.

“I sure did, built this cabin, too,” Gabe boasted.

“I don’t believe it,” Uri shot back, looking around him.

“Well, this wasn’t my first attempt, but I have to say, I think I might be a natural at this carpenter thing.” Gabe replied as Uri moved the stool closer and carefully took his place on top of it.

“You really do look great, man. I am amazed at how well you are doing,” Uri added with a soft smile.

“It’s all because of Haven.”

“Haven? Who is Haven? She hot?” Uri asked.

“Not much has changed, huh?” Gabe replied with a chuckle.

Uri laughed as well, shaking his head.

“It’s not a who, it’s where. I call this place Haven because that’s what it has been for me this past year,” Gabe explained, glancing at his home lovingly.

“And the demons never found you?”

“Copper. The mountains are filled with it. It seems to block the trackers. I pretty much stay off the grid myself. Speaking of, how did you find me?” Gabe asked, eager to discover the hole in his security.

“Do you remember the bag of potions Dina gave you?” Uri asked.

“Yeah, of course, it’s over there,” Gabe replied, pointing to the worn burlap sack in the opposite corner.

“Did you ever notice the charm on the strap of the bag?” Uri questioned, a slight grin on his face.

“Yeah, I assumed Dina had forgotten about it when she handed me the bag. I don’t see what … wait … oh, that tricky girl! The charm has a beacon spell on it, doesn’t it?” Gabe laughed as he thought of his clever friend.

“Leave it to Dina to always be three steps ahead of anyone,” Uri added.

“Well, I have to admit, I am a little shocked you waited five years to come after me. Really, why even bother after five years?” Gabe said.

“Well, that was the plan,” Uri said, glancing down at the ground.

“Huh?” Gabe looked up at his friend puzzled. “What was the plan?”

“After Dina told us you left, Haim and I were preparing to come after you,” Uri explained hesitantly.

“Changed your mind?” Gabe asked.

“Before we could finish our preparations, Rampart was attacked.”

“What? No way,” Gabe scoffed in disbelief. “How bad?”

“It was so fast. Baal’s legion, which we thought had been thrown off the trail, in fact had discovered our exact location. Inside of an hour, the entire compound was gone.” Uri’s voice cracked as he retold of that night.

“That can’t be,” Gabe insisted.

“That Bishop guy the council sent us was a joke. He was one of the first ones killed. We transported as many as we could, and others fled on the alicorns, but we lost so many souls that night.”

“Sophie,” Gabe gasped.

“She made it. She’s actually living at Iron Gate these days,” Uri explained.

“Did she ever get her memories back?” Gabe asked hopeful.

“Nope, never,” Uri hated to lie, but it wasn’t his truth to reveal.

“Is she happy?” Gabe added.

“I think so, her and Peter are to marry in the fall,” Uri regretted having to inform his friend of his old love’s pending nuptials.

“Peter? But I thought you …” Gabe began.

“I tried to tell you then, old friend. When you set your sights on Sophie, she was no longer an option for me,” Uri explained.

“I’m so sorry. I should have been there that night,” Gabe moaned.

“And if you had, perhaps you would be dead, as well.” Uri cautioned Gabe’s wishful thinking. “After we escaped, it was actually Michael who insisted we leave you alone. He thought you were safer at that point without us. I guess he was right.”

“So, what happened to everyone else?” Gabe asked.

“The Guardians were pretty much scattered all over the Earth. Some in safe houses, others fled to the remaining Guardian training facilities. Haim has not left my side since all this began. We’re pretty much on the front lines out there and somehow that man never lets me down. He’s like a machine. Dina went with Sophie that first night to Iron Gate, where she remains with her.”

“And Raimie?” Gabe inquired.

Uri looked down, sitting in silence.

“Uri? What about Raimie?” Gabe asked again.

Unable to speak the words, Uri simply shook his head no.

“What happened?” Gabe gasped.

“He never made it out of Rampart, not really.”

“Oh, God,” Gabe struggled to catch his breath. “What about Dina? She couldn’t have taken it well.”

“She doesn’t talk about it. You know how Dina is. She’s the head potions mistress now at Iron Gate, youngest ever. When it comes to Dina these days, she’s all business, I suppose,” Uri said, not interested in explaining the horror that was Raimie’s end. Uri made up his mind long ago that Raimie died in that explosion, that creature that was in his body and killed that girl was not his friend.

“I can’t believe he’s gone,” Gabe mumbled.

“I know, sometimes it’s like he’s going to show up and head out on a mission with Haim and I. Still hard to believe,” Uri continued, telling Gabe all about the constant war and battling that had broken out between the Guardians and the demon world. He explained how Michael had been given a seat on the council and he had a vote in every decision that was brought before them, but he still remained a heavy influence in the war on the ground. When the two finished discussing their old mentor, Gabe sat calmly.

“So, why are you here then, if not to bring me back to Rampart?” Gabe asked.

“Well …” Uri gave Gabe a stare as if to size him up. “Do you remember the prophecy?”

“Oh, please, man. Don’t tell me you came all the way here to waste my time with that nonsense,” Gabe groaned.

“Gabe, we found her,” Uri simply stated.

“Wait … the prophet is a girl?” Gabe gasped in disbelief.

“No, we found the girl that’s going to be the mother of the prophet,” Uri explained.

“Hang on a second, I’m confused. She’s pregnant?” Gabe questioned.

“Well, not exactly.”

“How can you not exactly be pregnant?” Gabe asked.

“She’s going to get pregnant and the child she has will be the prophet,” Uri tried to explain, realizing he wasn’t shedding any light on the situation.

“Do you know how crazy you sound?” Gabe growled.

“No, now hear me out. When Rampart was destroyed, they captured the oracle. All these years we assumed she had been killed during the attack, but Haim and I picked up on some intel that they had been using her for information,” Uri elaborated.

“Why does it not surprise me that she has been giving information to the enemy?” Gabe snarled.

“That’s not fair, Gabe. She has been their prisoner all this time. We have no idea what they have put her through,” Uri pleaded.

“I suppose,” Gabe conceded. “So what did she share?”

“That’s how we found out about the girl. The demons had already located her and they were heading in for the kill. We managed to grab her and run just before they arrived. Needless to say, she has been struggling with all of it. Unfortunately, we did have a couple of demon run-ins that forced her to understand all too quickly what kind of war she’s in the middle of. It’s been a long road just to get here.”

“And what does this have to do with me?”

“Well, I just thought …” Uri stammered, surprised by Gabe’s reaction. “With us finding her and the prophecy, I just thought this would change things.”

“You must have forgotten one part of that prophecy. If this girl’s baby lives, I die. That means you just thought you would come back here and I would be happy to march off to my death. I may not be afraid to die, Uri, but that doesn’t mean I want to!”

“Well, no, it isn’t like that,” Uri insisted.

“Then what is it like?”

“We’ve tried everything to hide her, but they always seem to find us. I was running out of options. I just thought with the prophecy you would … I don’t know, somehow know what to do.”

“I’m not a Guardian anymore, Uri, I left that life.”

“You’re right, I’m sorry— I’ll go and tell her,” Uri said, standing and walking to the door.

“Wait! What? Did you bring her here?” Gabe asked, infuriated.

“Yeah, I’m sorry. I didn’t think it would be a problem.”

“Well, it is! She needs to go. You both do.”

“I’m sorry, we’ll go,” Uri said, bowing his head and opening the front door.

Uri was surprised that when he opened the door, Rachel was standing directly in front of him. It was clear she had been listening to their conversation.

“Hello …” she whispered, looking over Uri’s shoulder at the stranger. “I’m Rachel.”

Uri said nothing as he watched his friend fidget for a moment, at last speaking, “Hi, Rachel, I’m Gabe. Why don’t you two come in and rest for the night.”

With those words, Uri was certain their lives would change forever.

Eight months after Gabe and Rachel met...

“What are you thinking about?” Rachel asked softly, reaching her hand over Gabe’s shoulder and sweeping her arm across his strong, bare chest.

“Huh— Oh, I didn’t know you were awake,” he moaned, reaching up and taking hold of her slender fingertips.

“I can’t sleep; something seems to be upsetting my stomach,” Rachel answered.

“Are you all right?” Gabe asked, releasing his hold and shifting in the bedding to face her.

“It’s nothing that bad, probably just something I ate,” Rachel dismissed his concern. “So, tell me, what were you just thinking about? You seemed lost in thought.”

Gabe pulled on Rachel’s shoulder, motioning for her to lie down, resting her head on his lap. She willfully did as he requested, curling her toes in delight as he began to stroke her forehead with the back of his fingers.

“I was thinking about the night we met,” Gabe finally added.

“Are you serious?” Rachel asked in disbelief.

“Yeah, I wish I had known that night how much I would come to love you. I hate that we missed out on a single moment of being together.”