Her Guardian's Heart Read Online Free PDF

the prisons they are trapped in.” I followed Tannin through the kitchen to a covered porch. An older woman sat at a table with a pot of tea and teacups. One was empty. She didn’t look up when I went out onto the porch.
    “Sit down, my dear. Pour yourself a cup of tea. Tannin, will you give us some privacy, please?”
    I sat down in the chair. Tannin bowed and retreated into the house. I poured myself a cup of tea and inhaled the peppermint. I added a bit of honey from the tray. No one except my mates knew that I liked my peppermint tea with honey. I sipped it slowly and studied the horizon just as she was doing. I couldn’t bring myself to gaze at her yet. My stomach churned at what she might think of me. My palms were sweaty. My heart was about to escape out of my chest. I hadn’t been this nervous over something since I had taken the tests that were required to become the high priestess of my coven.
    “This is the quiet time of the day. The dark things wait for the Guardians to forget about them or to stop watching over them. But we never forget.” She turned to me.
    I set down my cup and met her gaze. When I saw her face, I saw myself reflected in her features. Her face was more angular. Her skin a darker hue than mine, but we were the same. Part of her hair was secured to her head in a rose clip and the rest hung down her back. Her features were strong, and when she smiled I saw myself. She reached her hand over the table and clasped mine.
    “You resemble your father. Although I never thought anything good would come from him. He had so much potential when he was a child. Then he was corrupted by the evil that lives inside our clan. He let it take over instead of keeping the balance within us. You are the best thing that could’ve happened. The horrendous thing he did to your mother brought you into the world. And you endured without even knowing what you truly are.”
    “What am I? What is this darkness inside of me?” I asked her.
    She smiled. Within her smile, I found a calmness resonating inside of me that I had been searching for all my life. “We are Guardians. We watch the doorways between the darkness. We stand at the edge of twilight and night.”
    “But what kind of Guardians? You said that my father succumbed to the evil inside of us. I have that darkness too. I’ve killed people with it. I’ve done horrible things. The more I delve into it, the more it becomes a part of me. I don’t want it to consume me.”
    She patted my hand again. “Hush now. That part of you protected itself. You feel it hovering on your consciousness. It’s a good thing that you sense the darkness. If it sits and festers, it can turn on you. I know how it was for you growing up. I know what happened to your mate. How things are now with the other one. You must not give up hope.”
    All of my walls were crumbling the longer I looked into her eyes. The shreds of hope I had been clinging to, that Landon would come around, were all that I had left. Hearing her say that I shouldn’t give up on him was the first thing that lifted my heart for a long time. She opened her arms to me and I went into them. Her warm embrace enfolded me. Everything that was bad about my family was replaced by this woman. She was my family now.
    I don’t know how long it was that I cried, but when I finally looked up, her shoulder was sopped with my tears. “Why did you take so long? Why come to me now when you knew about me all along?”
    She took my face between her hands. “Because it wasn’t our time. This is our time. Your wings have just begun to spread. It would’ve been different if we had reared you. I did try, Melina. I approached your family but was sent away by the man who raised you. I tried several times, but he sent me away. They would not let me take you. Even after they locked you up. I came again. The last time I did, they threatened to kill me. Their threats were weightless against what we are. But they didn’t know that,