Guardian Demon (GUARDIAN SERIES) by Meljean Brook Page A

A novice Guardian had at least fifty years of training ahead of her before she became active. It might have been worse. Before the Guardians’ numbers had been reduced to a few dozen warriors and novices, new Guardians had trained for a hundred years in Caelum before they stepped foot on Earth again. Now they trained at Special Investigations headquarters under the tutelage of a human. After the Guardian realm had fallen apart, some novices began to keep apartments outside the warehouse headquarters, but aside from training and researching, they never saw any action. All for a good reason—Taylor might be able to hold her own against an unfriendly vampire, but a demon or nosferatu would slaughter her within seconds—but the next fifty years stretched ahead of her like an unending hell, five decades of being useless and frustrated.
    Maybe she wouldn’t be feeling this if she hadn’t begun her life as a Guardian differently. With Michael linked to her, she’d been out there slaying demons and nosferatu. Protecting humans. Working.
    That wouldn’t be an option now. And she wanted to work. She needed to be useful, to do something
more
than practice fencing and flying. She couldn’t be a detective. Both demons and Guardians operated under the Rules, which dictated that they couldn’t impede a human’s free will and couldn’t kill one, even in self-defense or to save someone else. A cop couldn’t do the job without breaking the Rules now and then, so working as a detective on the side was out. The one job she’d worked toward her entire life, the job that was in her bones and her blood . . . and she couldn’t be one.
    Instead of working, all that she had to look forward to for the next fifty years was Newbie Guardian School, while all of the humans around her—her mother, Jason, Joe—grew older and died.
    Jesus. How could she possibly come to terms with
that
?
    Taylor stopped. The tall, wrought-iron gate guarding the entrance to Savi’s house loomed in front of her. She’d made it here, but only now began to recognize why she’d come. Not just to get away from Michael. Not just to see her friend.
    She was done with being a Guardian. Done, done, done.
    But becoming a human again wasn’t a simple thing. There were rules that said how and when a Guardian could be transformed back—but unlike
the
Rules, these weren’t set in stone. Most Guardians had to wait a hundred years before they were given an option to Fall and resume their lives; the only other choice was to Ascend and await the judgment that would send their souls to Heaven or Hell.
    Taylor wasn’t ready to face judgment. She just wanted her life back—and Savi lived with the vampire who could tell her how to get it.
    Resolved, she pressed the buzzer at the gate and shot a toothy grin at the camera, which would tell Colin and Savi who she claimed to be but offered little real security. The array of thermal sensors in the console allowed a better confirmation of her identity. Demons registered hotter than a human would, and Guardians were a normal 98.6. Both vampires and nosferatu were colder than humans, but they couldn’t shape-shift and fool the cameras, anyway.
    “Please identify yourself.”
    Taylor recognized the crisp female voice. Maggie Wren, the butler—who would recognize Taylor as well. Even if Taylor hadn’t been a frequent visitor before her thirty-month nap, Maggie would have known her face. While still human, Taylor had investigated her for murder.
    The butler hadn’t done it. She’d been framed by a demon—and had taken the news that vampires, Guardians, and demons existed with far more aplomb than Taylor had. But then, nothing seemed to rattle Maggie. A former CIA operative, her ice-blond hair never strayed out of place, her glacial eyes saw everything, and her hands always remained rock steady.
    If Taylor hadn’t liked the other woman so much, she’d probably have hated her.
    “Special Agent Andy Taylor.” No doubt her