Forging the Guild (The Protector Guild Book 2) Read online

  Forging the Guild

  The Protector Guild, Book 2

  Gray Holborn

  Copyright © 2021 Gray Holborn

  All rights reserved

  The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

  No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the publisher.

  Cover design by: DamoroDesign

  Edits by: CopyByKath

  Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Thank You For Reading

  About Gray

  Loved the Book?

  Chapter One

  Declan

  The vampire’s head went rolling down the hall, like a macabre child’s toy. I did my best to ignore the gross squelching sounds echoing around us—an almost impossible feat. With some careful footwork, I successfully avoided stepping into any of the puddles of blood. I wasn’t exactly squeamish, but if I could avoid bathing in the gore, I did. Atlas covered my six, but even with the absurd circumstances, I couldn’t keep the grin from my face.

  Six. The two of us had taken down a group of six vampires and werewolves, without suffering more than a few superficial scrapes and bruises. And the deeper ones would be completely healed up by morning. The surprise ambush worked like a perfectly-choreographed execution. We had two of them impaled through the heart before they even realized we were there. Even though Atlas was just as silent and hyper vigilant as always, I knew him well enough to know that he was equally smug. That sort of ratio was unheard of.

  And I couldn’t lie, I was pretty pleased with myself. Plus, it felt great to get to end a few of those fuckers before they had the chance to take down any more humans. I pulled my hair up into a high ponytail, cringing as I wiped a wet streak of blood off my neck. A gross ligament chunk or something flew from my hand to the floor, but I forced myself not to think about it. Hunting supernatural creatures from the hell realm wasn’t exactly glamorous work.

  The warehouse was a dark labyrinth, with winding halls and doors leading to different paths. Clearing this place was like a choose-your-own-adventure novel. Our guards were up, but the place was so quiet that I doubted there were any other monsters lying in wait. Beasts like these rarely opted for subtlety. A soft glow from down the hall offered enough light to see each step we took. But just in case there were more creatures hanging around, we slowed our pace, moving as silently as possible.

  Truthfully, we were extremely lucky with this win. Our intel suggested there was only a slight possibility that there were any wolves here at all—the fact that we found vamps working with them as well was going to blow the roof off our theories back home. Atlas was our team leader and if he’d been following protocol, we’d have reported the information in before taking the group down. But our team had a few grudges where this pack of wolves was concerned, and way too much ego to wait.

  We were lucky this time, and hopefully with the win, we wouldn’t get much more than a light slap on the wrist for breaking the rules.

  As soon as that thought crossed my mind, I pushed open the door and wished with all of my being that I could take everything back. That we had called in our findings and waited for instruction before entering the warehouse.

  The room was bathed in a swathe of warm light from a large chandelier and dozens of candles. A giant, opulent table stood in the middle of the room, covered with plates of delicious-looking food. Some of the cutlery and platters were littered along the floor, but so still and disregarded that it almost seemed intentional, like a surreal post-party painting. That was the least remarkable sight though, as I watched large puddles of blood sink into the dark carpet.

  As soon as I saw him, I choked on a cry and forced myself to swallow back the tears budding along my lash line. Wade, Atlas’s little brother, was lying on the ground, surrounded by the carcasses of what looked like three werewolves and a vampire. While we’d been busy dealing with the beasts in the lobby and exploring the north end of the building as discreetly as possible, Wade had been here, handling these assholes on his own.

  As if on autopilot, my eyes scanned the room again. Where the hell was Eli? Why did we think it was a reasonable idea to split up? We shouldn’t have entered the building without calling it in. Eli was right. Wade was right. God-fucking-damnit. Atlas and I had let our petty attempts at revenge cloud our judgment. Wade, if he—if this was on us—

  It wasn’t the sort of thing we could come back from, least of all Atlas.

  Atlas reached me in the short second it took me to take everything in; the only tell that he processed the scene came from a low, heartbreakingly pain-filled inhale. If Wade was dead, Atlas would never forgive himself. And then we would have as good as lost two members of our team tonight. All because of our fucking hubris.

  Leaving Atlas, I ran to Wade and crouched down before pressing my fingers into his pulse point. I couldn’t hear anything but a low whistle, as the blood rushed to my head; couldn’t feel anything except for a frantic pounding in my chest. There was so much blood, too much blood. My hands were shaking so badly that it took me several seconds to discern whether or not his heart was still beating.

  “He’s alive,” I said, the words tumbling out on a harsh breath. I half believed it myself. Alive. His pulse was breathy, far too weak. But if we got him on the plane fast enough, he might stand a chance. It was all we had.

  When I didn’t hear Atlas’s harsh steps behind me any longer, I turned around, afraid more creatures were gearing up for a second attack. What I saw nearly broke me. Atlas was huddled back by the door, staring at his brother with a vacant look in his deep brown eyes. It was almost like he couldn’t convince his legs to step further into the room. His usually stylishly messy hair was plastered in soft waves against his forehead from a layer of sweat. Even with his face slightly shadowed, I could tell that his usually tanned skin had lost most of its color.

  “Atlas, did you hear me?” I whisper-yelled as I fished through my clothes for my phone. I dialed Eli’s number, desperate for him to pick up. If he was as bad off as Wade was, we didn’t stand a chance of getting them both back in time. I glanced around the room again, making sure that Eli’s body wasn’t hidden by one of the corpses.

  Atlas shook his head and steadied his eyes on me, staring as my words slowly filtered through his mind. I could see the tearless sob pulse through his body.

  “Where the hell are you guys?” Eli’s deep voice whispered into the phone. I let out a desperate breath. He was alive—okay. Or at least okay enough to answer the phone call with that annoying, bored sarcasm of his. “I can’t find Wade anywhere and I don’t have visuals on any baddies.”

  Quickly, I filled him in, trying to provide directions to our location with the brief knowledge I had of the building’s layout. Rather than risk him running into any remaining rogues, I told him to mee
t us back at the plane.

  “He’s alive,” I said again, loud enough for Atlas to hear. I wanted so badly to provide a soft comfort, to snap him out of it, without giving him too much hope. Hope could be a dangerous promise sometimes. “I don’t know how bad it is. He’s beaten up. Badly. But he’s alive. We need to get him out of here. Now.”

  All at once, my words breathed movement into Atlas’s limbs and he pushed through the room, narrowly avoiding tripping on a dead wolf. He blinked twice, staring at the angles of the wolf’s body.

  In death it looked like a grotesque stuffed animal, and I swallowed back bile, my brain briefly considering whether this was one of the wolves who had killed Sarah, who had fractured our lives once already. Who had destroyed Atlas’s. And now, again, here we were. It was like we were living on this unforgiving, painful loop. It was a carousel ride I wanted off of immediately.

  When he reached me, his knees buckled. As if he wouldn’t let himself hope, wouldn’t let himself believe me, he pressed his fingers against Wade’s pulse, unwilling to let himself breathe until he felt a steady hum.

  “Help me get him out of here, Atlas,” I said again, my words low but firm. “We need to get back to The Guild. He looks bad.” I could carry him on my own, if I had to, but we’d go faster if I had help. Atlas was the strongest on the team.

  I glanced briefly at the wounds seeping with blood. It was impossible to tell how bad they were, and all I could smell was death. I tensed my hands into fists, hoping that the odor was from the wolves and vampire and not this kid who had been like a little brother to me for most of my life. With a nod, he picked Wade up, sharing the weight with me. We made our way swiftly out of the warehouse and back to the plane. My mind fluttered briefly over the fact that we didn’t meet any other creatures on our way out. Why had they just left him there like that—still breathing and clinging to life? Any other mission, this would have set off warnings, but I didn’t have time to focus on protector mode right now.

  “Jesus,” Eli said, as he caught up to us. His face was pale and the usual mirth that covered his features was gone. It was like looking at the ghost of Eli Bentley. “Is he—Jesus, please tell me he’s alive?”

  We climbed into the plane and took off as soon as the door closed. “For now.”

  As soon as the plane safely left the ground, I hooked Wade up to an IV, setting up a shoddy transfusion. It was protocol to keep blood on hand in the back refrigerator for moments like this. Unfortunately, in our line of work, this sort of thing happened all too frequently. Protectors, especially those of us who focused on field work, had a short shelf life. While we were significantly stronger than humans, our senses and strength didn’t come nearly close enough to being on level with the monsters we hunted. That’s why protectors were put into field teams—strength in numbers helped even the playing field a bit.

  Eli helped get him hooked up, his fingers pressed gently against Wade’s pulse as he waited for signs of improvement. I could tell by his steady focus that Eli’s usual flight anxiety was completely eclipsed by fear for his teammate instead. I let Eli take the reins since he was the best at field medicine in our group. It was a surprising skill of his. Eli didn’t take his work or The Guild nearly as seriously as the rest of us. But when it came down to it, he could cast his cynicism aside and do what was necessary. Hell, if he actually put more effort in, he could probably give even Atlas a run for his money.

  After we did everything we could for him with the supplies from the plane, we sat back down, monitoring him closely for any change. Protectors healed extremely quickly, especially compared to humans, but I had a feeling we wouldn’t see much improvement from Wade before we got back.

  My shirt was soaked through with his blood, the strong metallic smell making it impossible for me to let my mind wander too far from him or the visuals of that room—the strange opulence of a feast mixed with the gore of a horror film.

  I turned to Atlas, frowning at the look on his face. I could read his thoughts as if they were my own. If Wade didn’t make it, he would be done with The Guild, with us. He was done losing everyone he was meant to protect. Every protector had their hard limit—the point of no return that broke them—and Wade’s life would be his.

  Chapter Two

  Max

  “Seriously girl, you freaked me out,” Izzy said, her candy-apple red lips twisting into a lopsided grin. Her short dark hair bobbed slightly as she flung a slice of pizza around with each word. Izzy was one of those people who always seemed so completely full of life; her eyes always dancing with mirth, her light brown skin constantly glowing with warmth. “I mean, I have these grand plans to turn you into my best friend, and then you immediately go and almost die on me. Not cool, my dude, not cool. From now on, you travel with a buddy at all times.”

  About a week ago, I was attacked by a vampire outside of the local Guild-owned bar. And she was right, I did almost die, but here I was. Glamorous? No. But it sure as hell was one way to create a splash in this school.

  Ro chuckled, his left dimple carving into his cheek. He had taken a liking to Izzy during my days of rest. Something about her constantly pestering him for updates about me had him convinced she was good people. He’d also collected the field team of his new crush, Arnell, as dinner company, though I was surprised to find that he was all but ignoring Arnell tonight. Every so often, I’d see them catch each other’s eye, but Ro would break contact almost immediately, quick to join a conversation with almost anyone else at the table.

  “Won’t happen again,” I promised, shaking off my concern over Ro. I’d find out what happened between them eventually. Ro was the sort of guy who would open up, but only on his own terms. As his sister, I found the waiting period to often be infuriating, but I’d learned well enough to leave him to his process.

  Izzy winked, her gray eyes dancing with mirth. “Somehow I doubt that, Max. You’re the type to draw trouble in at all opportunities. I can tell. Next time, just make sure I’m there to join in.”

  Arnell awkwardness aside, it was strange to see how well Ro had begun to fit in with everyone while I was in the infirmary and under house arrest. And even more strange to feel like I’d missed out on a lifetime of events when I’d only been on ‘bed rest’ for a few days. I couldn’t complain though, falling into a group over now that I was back was really nice. I’d been getting so many suspicious looks since I returned and had been the center of so many rumors, that it was a relief to have a group of friends I could surround myself with.

  And weirdly, I felt great. Vampire bites almost always either killed or permanently damaged protectors. But the bite on my neck had disappeared in less than a day. It was nothing short of a miracle.

  Ro and I arrived at The Guild just a short week or so ago, and I was surprised to find that I felt so at home here, so attached to people already. I barely knew Izzy, but I could already tell that she was one of those friends who would be an important part of my life. And while I didn’t know all of the members of Team Ten super well, I liked them a lot, liked being absorbed into their group and odd little chosen family.

  Ro and I were adopted by our grumpy guardian, Cyrus. Before moving to The Guild, I’d spent my entire life living deep in the woods, with almost no opportunities for socializing or learning about the world of protectors.

  Protectors were descendants of angels and our whole purpose in life was to protect humanity from vamps, wolves, and various demons that escaped from the hell realm. We were also charged with keeping the supernatural world a secret, which meant that Cyrus avoided socializing with humans like the plague. Since we didn’t grow up around a protector compound, that meant Ro and I only really had each other for company. Until now.

  Shaking my head, I turned back towards Arnell and Sharla. I didn’t know either of them particularly well, but they both had something about them that drew me in. They both fought like badasses, but there was a softness to their personalities that seemed quite rare for protectors to hold onto.
This lifestyle had a tendency to harden people at young ages. But like Izzy, Arnell and Sharla just radiated warmth.

  “How often does your team go out on missions?” I’d been frustrated by Atlas’s outright rejection of me, but I liked all the members of Ten—even Jer, who had toned down the overt flirtation a bit. Maybe they’d let Ro and I shadow them some time soon.

  I had learned during my lessons that at nineteen years of age, The Guild let protectors-in-training observe missions from safe distances, and occasionally even join teams as graduates. Kind of like job shadowing, only significantly more dangerous. My birthday was still a little over a month away, but I was itching to watch a real mission. Especially after getting cornered by a vamp—I wanted to fast forward and get to butt kicking.

  “Generally, we get called out every two weeks or so.” Jer was the one who answered, his unusual reddish black hair reflecting the cafeteria’s light. His warm, honey-colored eyes met mine and I forced down the blush threatening to take over. He had a way of studying me closely, a feeling that left me jittery with nerves more often than not.

  I didn’t know him well enough to know if those nerves were the start of a blossoming crush or not. My experience in that department was seriously lacking.

  “But,” Sharla continued, picking up where he left off, “it really depends on whatever situation we’re responding to. Since there’s been such an increase in supe activity lately, we’ve been getting called in more frequently. All teams have.”

  I suppressed a shiver at the reminder. During my time at The Guild, I had learned that there had been an increase in vamp and wolf attacks in recent years—but that the number and strength of attacks had been increasing at an unprecedented rate this year especially. In fact, the monsters were even starting to boldly infiltrate protector boundaries, something they’d never done before. It was why my attack had come as such a surprise. Rumors and theories had been spreading through campus like wildfire, and unfortunately, I was at the center of all of that attention. But the layer of fear coating The Guild was impossible to ignore. There was talk that they were going to institute a new rule that wouldn’t allow students to leave campus without having a member of an official team present, just in case.