Back Home (Edited) Book 4 of the Guardians Saga

CH 8.3 Played For A Sap

The night was bittersweet. Gabe and Cale wisely slept elsewhere. Alex's heart was too pain-soaked to be joyous. But Alex's pain drove her power deeper into Rile than ever before. He didn't think he could be more fully hers than before, but he was. So he thought nothing of slipping away to secure a breakfast basket, not knowing that two females were watching from afar. As he made his way back to the tent, these tittering admirers flocked around him, running their hands over his shoulders, chest, and hips in a seductive manner, their wings coyly peeping out from their robes.

Meanwhile, an Agama female watched with envy as she tucked herself away inside the tent. Her jealous voice woke the disoriented and still-hurting Alex and whispered the poison that Rile had spent the night elsewhere. A jealous finger pointed out Rile, flanked by the giggling females running their hands over his shoulders, his chest, his hips, in a familiar way.

Rile felt a sudden rush of air around him and felt Alex speed-burst from the tent. A portal of both blue and red fire roared in the sky. Alex disappeared into it, and it snapped shut. His legs churned like pistons, carrying him to his brothers. Before Rile could reach his brothers, he found himself staring into a vortex of glimmering blue energy. Alex fell out of the portal and landed at his feet, her pale cheeks streaked with dirt and tears.

"Honor her for her sacrifice," the crystalline voice said before the portal winked out.

Rile's scream filled the air as he dropped to his knees, grief pouring from him.

**

With Alex cradled in his arms, Rile charged into his brothers' tent, sending up a spray of dirt and dust. "Cale! Contact that wretched Portal Guardian and find out what happened to Alex!"

Both Gabe and Cale sprang to their feet, unsheathing their daggers with a metallic ring.

Gabe scanned the tent for danger. "What did you say?"

Cale sheathed his dagger and rushed to her side, pressing two fingers lightly against her neck. "What happened to Alex?"

"I said: call the Portal Guardian! A mixed portal opened and Alex dove into it. A normal portal opened and this is what came out!" Rile indicated the limp form in his arms.

Cale felt her forehead and grabbed her wrist, pressing harder this time. "She's colder than I've ever felt her. I've never felt her heartbeat this slow before. Take her to the infirmary sunning tent," Cale said urgently, his voice raw with fear.

As they strode toward the infirmary, Gabe asked in a harsh voice, "Why didn't you stop Alex when a mixed portal opened? You know better than to let her enter one."

"Because I wasn't there when it opened," Rile snapped.

"Where in the name of the Portal Guardian were you at this time of the morning?"

Rile's jaw tightened. "If you must know, I was buying us breakfast."

Cale led them to the infirmary, where they laid Alex down carefully on a clean bedroll. "Do you think it's true?" Cale asked, brow furrowing. "That the Portal Guardian Called her alone?"

Gabe scoffed. "Of course not. It makes little sense that she would, and you said it was a mixed portal."

Rile knelt and laid Alex on the empty bedroll. "No, she Called her to the slaughter and dumped her at my feet with an 'honor her sacrifice' and that's it."

Cale blinked in confusion at his brother before they were interrupted by a loud booming voice – no longer a crystalline tinkling, but a roaring crash of power. "Hold. Do not accuse me of slaughtering my Guardians. That is the way of The Adversary. The darkness he marked Alex with was channeling his power as he attacked through her confusion and pain. Through the open mark, I had direct access to strike him a terrible blow. I saved hundreds of lives and Alex offered herself, despite the risk to her life. Just as any of you would have done. Do not demean her."