Her Guardian's Heart Read Online Free

the gun on Nick. He pulled the trigger. The bullet landed in the middle of Nick’s chest. I stood frozen, not sure of what to do. Nick touched the spot and then went ashen. The link between us shattered. Landon howled and ran toward him, shifting back to a man as he did.
    When Nick landed on the floor, I snapped back to reality. I gathered all of my power and threw it at my brother. It struck him directly in the heart. The smell of burning flesh filled the room. Eric collapsed to the ground. I ripped his amulet from his neck. It held a piece of the coven’s power, linking him back to it. I hurled it onto the ground. With the rest of my power, I forced it along the connection to the one who made it. I felt her scream in pain. The earth swallowed her whole. The darkness hidden away inside of me for so many years broke through the locks that I had kept it under. It liked the death and wanted more of it. Then Landon’s forlorn howl broke through my haze.
    I glanced over and saw my werewolf mate holding Nick in his arms. His lifeless form was losing its substance. I stumbled over to them, feeling the emptiness that now resided in my heart. I fell to my knees. I ran my finger over Nick’s cheek, feeling his cold and clammy flesh. There was nothing left of him. The spark inside of him had winked out.
    “No. No. Goddess, why is this happening to me? Why did you take him from me?”
    Landon glanced up. “Who was that?”
    “He was my brother.”
    “Why did he come here? Why did he attack us? What did he want with you?”
    Tears of loss, frustration, and anger over what had occurred flowed down my cheeks. I didn’t have the time to wallow in self-pity. When I looked into my mate’s eyes, I saw the same loss reflected there that echoed in my heart. “I thought I put it all behind me. They locked me up when I was little because of the things I could do. They thought that I was a liability, but the goddess had chosen me to lead the coven. They were afraid when the darkness inside of me got out. I nearly killed my mother. They punished me and tied me up. When the darkness got out again, I had killed several of the coven members. Charles banished me when I was old enough. So I ran. Only a few can handle the mantle of the goddess. It seems the one who they had picked didn’t cut the mustard. I guess my family decided that they needed me, even with this darkness inside of me.”
    Landon slammed his fist against the floor until it shook. “I don’t care about any of that. Why didn’t you anticipate this? Nick is dead because of you! We let you into our lives. We loved you. How could you do this? How could you get him killed this way?”
    How could he be saying this? I reached for Landon to take him into my arms. But he shied away. The distance between us stretched wider. “Please don’t pull away from me. We need each other now. I didn’t know this would happen. Landon!”
    Landon gently laid Nick down by the crystal garden in the center of the house under the skylight that let in the moonlight. Nick’s body disintegrated to ashes. The bullet that killed him must have been wooden. I ran my finger over the outline of his body and knew that I’d never be able to see him again. That was the loss that killed me the most. I summoned the earth and asked it to cradle Nick in its womb and hoped that the goddess was holding him.
    Please take care of him.
    There was no answer. But I sensed her ominous presence close by. I had already done enough and taken two lives. Now mine was destroyed. I tried to take Landon into my arms, but he shook his head.
    “You should’ve told us so we knew what we were up against. It doesn’t matter if you were our mate. Nick would’ve been better at this than me.”
    “What’s going on?”
    He met my eyes. “We’re bonded now. Mated. Nothing can break that. I can’t believe that this is happening. Fuck!”
    The tie between us started to fray. Landon erected a wall between us. I tried to grab on