The Guardians Chronicles

Keira woke to a timid knock-knock at her door.

She squinted at the clock, groaned, and shuffled out of bed in her pyjamas. When she opened the door, two small bodies practically bounced in place.

“Morning!” Justin beamed. “Are you ready? Are you? This is my friend, Amber. Aunt Vic said we can take you on a tour!”

“Of the whole castle!” Amber added, curls bouncing.

Keira barely had time to drag on jeans, boots, and a sweater before they’d latched onto her hands and hauled her down the corridor.

“Aunt Vic says she’s sorry she can’t do it herself,” Justin reported importantly as they clattered down the stairs. “She’s busy with Council stuff. And the Draaken are doing, you know, Draaken things. So you get us.”

“An upgrade, if you ask me,” Amber said gravely.

Keira smiled. “I’m honoured.”

Amber, it turned out, was no amateur when it came to chatter. By the time they’d crossed the first courtyard, Keira knew that Amber was from the nearby village, her parents worked at the castle—her mother in the kitchens, her father as groundskeeper. She loved playing hide-and-seek with Justin and her dearest wish in life was to become Draaken.

“It’s possible because my cousin twice removed is in,” she explained.

Also that she was nine-and-a-half years old and hated, with the burning passion of a thousand suns, her curly red hair.

“But I love your hair,” Keira said honestly. “It’s gorgeous.”

Amber stopped dead, eyes going wide. “Really?”

“Really. It’s like… copper fire.”

Amber blushed scarlet, then beamed. Just like that, Keira knew she’d made a friend for life.

“Come on, slowcoaches!” Justin called from ahead, already bounding up a winding stone staircase.

“Coming,” Keira said, trying not to wheeze as they climbed yet another flight. “Do you two have lungs of steel or what?”

“It’s okay, Keira, we don’t have to race,” Amber said, glaring up at Justin. “Slow down!”

“Here we are,” Justin declared at last, shoving a wooden trapdoor upward.

They climbed through into open air and out onto a narrow stone eyrie atop the highest tower. The world fell away on all sides.

Keira’s stomach lurched. She grabbed the nearest section of wall, breath stuttering in her chest.

“Are you all right?” Justin asked, leaning over the low parapet without a flicker of concern.

“Yes,” Keira managed. “Just… give me a second. Heights and I have issues.”

“I’ll hold your hand,” Amber said solemnly. She slipped her small, warm fingers into Keira’s. “It’s really beautiful up here. Just don’t look down.”

“Solid advice,” Keira muttered, and let herself be coaxed forward.

She fixed her gaze on the horizon and the vertigo eased. Beyond the walls, the rolling sea of green forest stretched in every direction. To the west, jagged blue-gray mountains rose above the tree line, their peaks blurred by distant mist.

“Germany is that way,” Justin said, pointing toward the mountains.

Movement on the perimeter wall below caught Keira’s eye. A figure in camouflage paced along the battlements, binoculars raised.

“What’s he doing?” she asked.

“Oh, that’s one of the Draaken,” Justin said. “Look, there’s more.”

He pointed them out one by one—sentinels posted at intervals along the walls. Now that she knew to look, Keira could see them everywhere, blending into stone and shadow, eyes turned to the treeline.

“Marco says we have to be extra vigi—” Justin screwed up his face. “Vigi… something.”

“Vigilant,” Keira supplied, suppressing a smile.

“Yes, that.” He didn’t seem offended. “So there are guards all around, in case Daemon’s people try anything. Oh look, there’s a Council person coming now.”

A glint of black moved between the trees. A limousine eased onto the drawbridge and crossed into the courtyard below.

A tall woman stepped out, all long limbs and poise. Victoria descended the front steps to meet her, kissing her on both cheeks and taking her arm. Even from this height, the warmth in the gesture was clear.

“Justin, was that Zina’s aunt?” Amber asked, leaning so far over the parapet that Keira’s pulse spiked.

“I think so,” he said. “We’re a bit high up to be sure.”

Amber turned to Keira. “Zina’s aunt is very famous in Africa. She used to be a model, and now she helps poor children. Aunt Victoria always says, ‘there’s a woman with her head screwed on right.’”

Amber frowned, brows knitting. “What does that mean? Our heads aren’t screwed on, are they?”

Keira laughed. “No. It just means she’s very smart. And she uses her brains to do good.”

“Oh,” Amber said, mollified.

“Okay, enough sky-gazing,” Justin announced suddenly. “There’s loads more to see.”

He vanished back through the trapdoor.

“Thank all the gods,” Keira muttered, following quickly. Anything that involved less open air and more solid stone around her got her vote.

They wound back down into the castle’s interior, walking along long corridors softened by thick rugs in rusty reds and browns. Iron brackets jutted from the grey stone walls, holding ancient-looking torch sconces.

“Those are really old,” Justin said, seeing where she was looking. “It would be so cool if we still used them, but we’ve got electricity now.” He said the last word with a faint air of disapproval, like electricity was a disappointing replacement for dragons.

After another turn and a short flight of stairs, they stopped in front of a pair of wide wooden doors.

“The library,” Justin announced grandly, flinging them open.

“Oh,” Keira whispered, and stepped inside.

The room was large and full of light, windows spilling sunshine across rows of tall shelves. Books occupied every possible surface. Leather-bound tomes lined the walls from floor to ceiling and more stacks teetered on tables and chairs, as if stories were breeding in the night and multiplying.

Her fingers itched to reach for the nearest spine.

“I’ll have to come back,” she murmured.

“You should,” Justin agreed. “The history books are here. They’ve got stories about all the Wildes who were in the Draaken.”

She blinked. “There were Wildes in the Draaken?”

“Yeah. Ages ago. You can read all about it.” He’d clearly lost interest in dusty tomes, though. “Come on. We still have to show you the school.”

They dragged her away before she could so much as pull one book free.

Another long corridor led them past a series of paintings. Keira slowed, drawn to splash after splash of colour and light.

“This one is my favourite,” Amber said, stopping in front of a painting of three boys sitting on a beach, their backs to the viewer as they watched three small sailboats on a restless blue sea.

“I’ve never been to the sea,” Amber said quietly. “Is it really as big as Justin says? He said it never ends.”

“It feels like it never does,” Keira said. “But it has shores. Just very far apart.”

Amber nodded thoughtfully, then Justin’s voice echoed down the hall.

“Come on, you two, we’re going to the school!”

Keira exchanged a smile with Amber and jogged to catch up.

“Isn’t the school closed right now?” Keira asked as they turned another corner.

“For classes, yes,” Justin said. “The initiates all went home because of the Council. But the Draaken still use it when they’re here.”

After several more turns and a short stairway, Justin pushed open a single plain wooden door.

They stepped out into bright sunlight.

Across a small cobbled courtyard, another limousine was just pulling up. A man in a grey suit climbed out, barely glancing at them as he hurried toward the main entrance.

“Who was that?” Keira asked.

“Simone’s Family rep,” Justin said with the same casual dismissal.

“Of course,” Keira murmured. Everyone seemed to have some ancient bloodline or title here. Everyone except her, who’d been the last to know what she even was. “Are any other Wildes coming? Besides Aunt Vic?”

“No.” Justin shook his head. “Council’s just the Elders. One rep per Family. Victoria’s it, for the Wildes.”

“Any Wildes in the Draaken now?” she tried.

“Not right now,” he said. “But there are loads of Wildes who are Guardians. They help with weather stuff, healing, finding lost things—you know.” He kicked a loose stone. “I’d like that. I lose things all the time.”

“Same,” Amber said, snorting.

“But yeah,” Justin added. “There were Wilde Draaken before. You can read about them in the records. The library has everything.”

So much I don’t know, Keira thought. So much I should have known years ago.

The weight of it pressed down on her for a moment, the realisation of just how far behind she was. Who she was supposed to be, compared to who she actually felt like.

Her anxiety must have shown, because Amber slipped her hand into Keira’s again and gave a small, fiercely earnest squeeze.

“It’s okay,” the girl said. “We’ll help you. There are lots of people and, well… other things, who want to get to the Akasha. It’s important you know everything so you can help stop them.”

Other things. The words lodged under Keira’s skin like splinters.

“Here we are,” Justin said, oblivious to the shiver that ran through her.

They’d stopped in front of a small, squat stone building. It was low and plain, more like an overgrown shed than a school.

“This is it?” Keira asked. “It’s… tiny.”

Amber just giggled behind her hands, eyes dancing.

Justin rapped out a pattern on the door—three quick knocks, a pause, two slower. A second later, the door swung inward on silent hinges.

“Come on,” he said, vanishing into the darkness with Amber right behind him.

Keira followed, more cautiously. The air inside was cool and still. A staircase dropped away immediately, spiralling down.

The children’s voices echoed below her, growing fainter with each step. Small, softly glowing orbs were fixed at intervals along the wall, casting a muted golden light.

She started counting steps to distract herself. At two hundred, she gave up.

The stair finally spilled into a narrow passage. It ran straight for a short distance, then turned sharply left. That was when she heard it.

A heavy crash. A shout. Something that sounded disturbingly like a body hitting a wall.

“Justin? Amber?” Keira called, heart leaping into her throat. She sprinted down the passage and rounded the corner.

“Here, Keira! Come sit with us!” Amber waved from where she sat next to Chloe.

The “danger” was a gallery.

Keira slowed, heartbeat still pounding in her ears. She stood on a raised tier of seating that overlooked a cavernous rectangular room below. The far wall was solid stone; the near one was a great pane of thick, transparent material that gave them a clear view inside.

On the other side of the barrier, two men circled each other.

Marco and Rafael. Both shirtless. Both sweating. Both entirely focused on beating the hell out of one another.

“What are they doing?” Keira blurted, taking the bench Chloe patted beside her.

“Training,” Chloe said. “The castle’s shielded, so when we use magick in here, the ripples don’t reach the Akasha. Perfect practice ground.”

“Oh,” Keira said, pretending that made absolute sense. “Like a squash court.”

“Only bigger,” Chloe said, amused. “And built to handle a lot more damage.”

As if on cue, Marco landed a brutal right hook. Rafael flew backwards and hit the glass hard enough to make the whole wall shudder.

Keira winced. “I see what you mean.”

“In the field, we need both hand-to-hand and magick,” Chloe explained. “If your opponent can throw you across a room with their mind, you’d better also know how to get them in an arm lock.”

Inside the training pit, Rafael pushed himself up and laughed, shaking out his shoulders. Then he charged. As he ran, he thrust his hands forward. An invisible shove slammed into Marco, pinning him against the far wall.

A heartbeat later, a flare of fire exploded around them, swallowing both brothers in a roiling ball of flame.

Heat licked Keira’s face, tangible even through the reinforced glass. She flinched back on instinct.

“Woohoo, go Marco!” Justin shouted, bouncing up and down in his seat.

“Go, baby!” Chloe added, completely unconcerned by the fact that her partner was currently engulfed. She leaned closer to Keira. “I’ll show you the rest of the school later. Classrooms are down that corridor.” She jerked her chin to the right.

Before Keira could answer, Rafael came flying out of the flames, hit another wall, and slid down in a groaning heap.

“Bloody hell,” he muttered, pushing himself back up.

“Everything all right down there, brother?” Marco called, grinning as he stepped out of the dissipating fire, chest heaving.

“Yeah, yeah,” Rafael said, chuckling as he rolled his shoulders. “Enjoy it while you can. I’ll get you next time.”

The two men met in the middle of the room and clapped each other on the back. Then they slipped through a side door, grabbed towels, and jogged up a set of stairs to the gallery.

“Oh, hi, Keira,” Rafael said when he saw her beside Chloe, running a towel through his dark hair.

“Morning,” Marco added, voice low and a little rough from exertion.

“Morning,” Keira replied, wishing very much that the floor would stop feeling like it was tilting under her.

Marco stood directly in front of her, bare-chested, sweat gleaming along the planes of his torso. The training lights picked out every line of muscle, every scar.

He is beautiful, her treacherous brain observed.

Her gaze snagged on the ink on his upper right arm—a stylised flame, sharp and fluid at once.

“It’s the same as Chetan’s pendant,” she said before she could stop herself, grasping for neutral ground.

Marco followed her gaze and nodded. “It’s the mark of the Firewalkers,” he said. “I told you Chetan was my mentor.”

“Right. Cool,” Keira said, and immediately wanted to crawl into a hole. Cool? Really?

“Would you like to join us for lunch?” Chloe asked the brothers, rescuing Keira from herself.

“Thanks, but we need to check on the perimeter teams,” Marco said. His words were for Chloe, but his eyes remained on Keira.

Rafael bent to kiss Chloe, long and thorough enough that the children dissolved into giggles and Keira dropped her gaze to her boots, feeling suddenly like she’d wandered into a private moment.

“Justin,” Marco said, ignoring his brother. “Maybe you can show Keira the pups this afternoon.”

“Yes, yes, yes!” Justin and Amber chorused, practically vibrating.

“Sure,” Keira said, latching onto the excuse. Puppies. Anything that didn’t involve being pinned under Marco’s blue stare. “I’d like that.”

And for the first time since stepping into the castle, the idea of spending an afternoon here didn’t feel entirely like a burden.