Connie Hall - The Guardian

Their gazes held. She stared into his silver eyes, stark against thick black lashes. His eyes were cold, sheen-less bits of granite, the color of that strange moon tonight. She couldn’t find one glimmer of human vulnerability in them. And they were too direct, too bold, hiding something behind them. Coupled with that deceptively smooth voice, he could be lethal around women.

His head turned into the light and she noticed a faded scar that spread small talons over his right jaw.

His nearness made her feel vulnerable somehow. She wasn’t one to lose her cool over a guy’s touch. Her eyes narrowed suspiciously at him as she found her voice. “You must be Agent Winter.”

Award-winning author Connie Hall is a full-time writer. Her writing credits include six historical novels and two novellas written under the pen name Constance Hall. She’s written two Silhouette Bombshell novels and is thrilled to now be writing for Nocturne.

An avid hiker, conservationist, bird watcher, painter of watercolors and oil portraits, she dreams of one day trying her hand at skydiving.

She lives in Richmond, Virginia, with her husband, two sons and Keeper, a lovable Lab-mix who rules the house with her big brown eyes. For more information, visit her website or email her at conniehall_author@comcast.net.

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Dear Reader,

Imagine a world where supernatural beings exist, where good and evil forces clash. Far stretch, you might say. But ask Fala Rainwater what she thinks. She’ll tell you evil thrives among us in many forms because she’s a shape-shifter and a detective and she battles it every day.

And not just any shape-shifter. She is in line to become the Guardian, keeper of white magic, defender of goodness, destroyer of evil. But is she thrilled by her fate? No. She thinks it’s ruined her life.

That is, until she meets Stephen Winter, a dark warlock who is out to destroy her. He works for a highly covert government agency and knows how to keep a secret.

Bye for now and happy reading!

Connie Hall

Special thanks to

Camelot McAren and Sandra Greenman. I don’t deserve such good friends. Always to Norm and the boys. And to all American Indians, past and present. May your Trail of Tears fade, but never be forgotten.

This Patomani Indian legend has changed little over the centuries. It goes as follows:

Long ago, the Creator formed Mother Earth. He sent the Maiden Bear to rule over all Earth’s creatures. Steam and brimstone spewed from the newly formed bowels of the Mother, and from that fiery brine emerged all evil, along with a race of sorcerers. Tumseneha was the father of them all. These sorcerers fed upon the misery, gluttony and lust of mankind, using humans as fodder for power.

The Maiden Bear saw that she could not control Tumseneha’s hunger for war, blood and souls, so she prayed to the Creator for help. He blessed the Maiden Bear and made her a god. She in turn fashioned the underworld to trap Tumseneha and all his kind.

As eons passed, the Maiden Bear grew weary of seeing man’s destruction of Earth, her tears forming the great rivers and oceans. She knew she must depart this sphere or drown it in her sorrow. But she could not leave her post unprotected. So she gifted her powerful magic to the first Guardian and gave the courageous female brave dominion over Earth’s evil. This perpetual honor is passed down through the first Guardian’s bloodline. After the Maiden Bear knew that the world was safe, she returned to her celestial throne to prepare a special place for each Guardian when her work here is done. She resides there with the spirit guides where she can be seen in the sky to this very day, watching over Mother Earth and each Guardian.

Prologue

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Patomani Indian Reservation, 1927

Tumseneha struggled within the human vessel, but couldn’t break free. Staked leather bands trapped the human’s wrists and ankles to the ground. The physical pain wasn’t his to feel, though he perceived it through the young man’s physical awareness; the stinging heat of the fire in the nostrils and lungs, bowed spine bent over the mound, tearing of skin beneath the leather bindings. No, what he felt was on a higher realm, the spiritual ancient power encompassing him. It battled with his own strength, bound it, and compressed his essence into a burning cinder within the human body.

“No, please,” the young man screamed over the roar of the fire.

That had been the human’s plea, not his. He would never ask for mercy.

The human gazed beyond the circle of flames, and he saw through the eyes of the young man. Ancient ones stood behind the flames, circling the human. An orb of glowing energy emanated from them. He sensed the origin of its power: the cursed witch. He couldn’t see her face for the brilliant white swords of light jutting from her body, but he knew what she looked like. He knew all her kind intimately, for they were the bane of his existence.

He could feel her white magic warring with his own black darkness. Shaman spirits from throughout the ages inhabited her body. She had the ability to call them forth at will. She was the Tsimshian, the Guardian, the only person on earth who owned the power to destroy him.

She stepped forward and clutched a heart-shaped wooden charm. She opened the box, pulled out an effigy of a bear and raised it above her head. Her power shot up to the magic talisman and through it, burning like thousands of suns.

“From night you are born and from light you shall be bound. I call forth all the magic of my ancestors. We banish you, Tumseneha, and send you back to the underworld where you belong. You will never again walk the earth and feed off darkness.”

She unsheathed a dagger, stepped through the ring of fire and sliced an area over the human’s heart. The human’s spine arched from the pain.

“Let the blood flow, and let it cleanse the earth and this innocent.”

“No, no, no.” Tumseneha felt the energy crushing him.

She continued to carve the bear symbol over the human’s heart. Blood glistened on the tip of the knife and oozed down the human’s chest. With each drop of blood spilt Tumseneha felt his power draining, being sucked into a current beyond his control.

At the moment she completed the symbol, darkness caught him and pulled him into the vortex. “I’ll have my revenge,” he vowed as the darkness melted over him like molten lava.