The Immortal Guardians: Book II

Chapter Nineteen

We stumbled on our feet as we landed. I fell forward coughing violently. My head was spinning from having Travelled with Byron and Henri. It had been more taxing then I had originally thought.

Two supporting hands helped me up from the ground. I clutched my side trying to catch my breath. I turned and realized it was Byron whose hands were around me.

"Are you okay?" Byron asked me worried. His eyebrows were furrowed downward and his lips were twisted down.

"Yes. Just a little light-headed" I tried to smile. I stumbled on my feet trying to clear my head. He wrapped my arm around his neck as we walked up to the two story house. It was a nice family home. From the looks of it there was nobody home. The house was completely dark.

"Whose house is this?" Henri whispered. His eyes gazed over us.

"I don't know" I admitted to him. His eyes narrowed slightly but he didn't ask anything. We stepped up to the door. Henri knocked a couple of times.

The door opened and two large eyes looked up at us.

"Hi" Henri cleared his throat. "We are"

"Come in..come in" the door widened to let us through. I realized it was an elf letting us through. "We have been waiting for you."

"Thank you" I smiled at the elf.

"Are you hungry?" the elf had a neat dress and apron on. "Would you like to change out of your clothing?" she led us through to a living room. She motioned for us to take a seat. She glanced at Byron and I. Byron was still holding me up.

"Miss are you alright?"

"I'm alright, thank you. I'm just tired of the trip." Byron helped me take a seat.

"Dinner was about an hour ago" the elf squeaked. She reached over and touched my face. Her eyes grew large with worry.

"You have exhausted yourself. You need to eat something to gather your strength" she motioned for Byron to help me. "I'll get you some clothing and dinner" Byron put his hand securely on my waist and we followed her.

She let us to a backroom. I tried to zone in on the pictures on the wall as we walked by.

"Whose house is this?" I asked her. She turned to me blinking her large brown eyes.

"Abraxos" she replied. "Professor Curt's home" she looked confused that we didn't know whose house we were in.

Byron and I looked at each other.

"He sent the note" Byron whispered only for me to hear. "Does Rima know?" he didn't like the idea that we were in his house.

"Yes. Ares told me that he had spoken to her. They probably sent us here because they were probably expecting us to go back to school or someone elses home"

"True" Byron cleared his throat. "What is your name?"

"Veem" the elf answered. She bowed her head politely as we entered a small room. A fire placed had been started. Another elf was brining in some clothing.

"I'll bring you dinner shortly. Tun has some clothing for you. Please let us know if you need anything else. Abraxos said that he would sent some instructions shortly."

"Thank you Veem"

She grinned up at me.

"My pleasure" Tun and Veem disappeared back towards the front of the house. Henri started giving us some clothing. I gathered my things and went into the bathroom.

My dress was completely ruined. The bottom half was almost black with grime and dirt. My feet weren't any better. My hair was a complete frizzy giant mess. There were some fresh towels in the restroom and so I showered.

I emerged to find the boys standing on opposite sides of the room.

"You guys should shower" I told them. "It feels nice" I looked between them. It looked like they hadn't spoken to each other.

"I'll go first" Henri smiled at me but his eyes gave Byron a dirty look.

"How long are we going to have to wait?" Byron sighed with frustration as soon as Henri was in the restroom. "What are we going to tell Henri when he starts asking questions"

"The truth" I shrugged. I started to dry my hair with my towel. I took a seat across from Byron.

My feet hurt from having run barefoot. The worst part was that I still felt light-headed and weak.

"We just won't tell him who I really am" I dropped my voice even lower. "Every body knows that Professor Curt is my favorite professor and that I admire him"

"True." Byron sat down next to me. He took my hand.

I stopped drying my hair.

"Are you still feeling tired?" he brushed my wet hair from my face. His faced looked lined and his eyes were drooping. It was hard to believe that he was only 22 years old. He looked at least thirty years old.

"You need sleep" I touched his face briefly with my fingertips. "You are going to fall over any second"

"I won't sleep not knowing what is going on" he glanced around the room. "Especially if we were followed or worse they figure out where we are"

"Nobody will find Abraxos home" the elf appeared with a tray. "Abraxos has his home protected with undetectable charms. His wife Georgia won't be home until tomorrow afternoon. She is visiting him to find out what is going on"

"Could she be followed here?" Byron's voice hardened.

"Not to worry. Witches have their own way of travelling" she smiled at us. "Don't worry, nobody will find you here. We are completely safe and undetectable" she placed the tray down. It was broth with crackers.

She left us alone to eat.

"I feel better" I heard the shower turn off. Henri was going to start questioning us. As soon as he was out of the restroom, Byron went inside.

"Can you tell me what is going on now?" Henri looked annoyed with me. I nodded with a deep breath.

"What?" Henri jumped to his feet. "How-what...why?" he stared down at me. His eyes flickered to my right arm. "Why weren't they arrested? Isn't that why you have a Guard for"

"We can't" I shook my head. I had lost my appetite. "There are other things going on too, Henri. It is complicated"

"That isn't complicated, Iris. You were tortured by a Guardian and by the DUKE" he nearly shouted. He ran his hands through his hair. "They need to be arrested and sent to"

"The Counsel of Immortals can't be trusted" I told him. He dropped his hands. "The Ministry of Wizardry can't out right support us-there are other things going on as well"

"Like what" Henri opened mouth shook his head.

"I can't tell you" I admitted to him. "I would love to tell you Henri"

"Like how you knew to come here" he seemed to accept the idea. "Or how Byron seems to know more than me."

"Yeah" I sighed. I searched his eyes. He opened his mouth but he nodded. "I wish you could know, Henri"

"Me too" he smiled. "Is it better that I don't know?"

"Yes" I grinned at him. It was calming that he wasn't going to ask anymore questions. "It will be better for you in the long run."

"I guess" he grumbled, wrinkling his nose. "So now we have to wait"

"Yeah until Professor Curt's wife gets back with some news" I leaned comfortably into the couch. "You should eat" I pointed at the empty bowel left for him. "It is going to be a long night."