Dangerous Guardian

By Mandy Rosko

Bastion is a Guardian with an awesome flaming sword, a hot girlfriend, and a mission. He's been hopping from world to world, saving lives, killing dictators, and looking good while doing it for years, but the job that once brought him so much joy has a dark feel to it that he can't shake. With infinite worlds to jump into and countless rules to follow, what difference is he actually making? When the woman he loves is killed in a random mugging, no, just no. Absolutely unacceptable. Bastion will do the one thing he is forbidden from doing to get her back because screw the damn rules.

He'll jump to world where Alyssa is still alive and save her life, throwing everything about her world into chaos as someone else dies to take her place.

Alyssa, at first unsure of this new version of Bastion, can no longer bear the thought of being without him, but now over a dozen guardians are coming for them. Coming to punish them.

To punish Bastion for breaking the law of the sword, and to punish Alyssa for not dying like she was supposed to.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Mandy Rosko
• Release date: Apr 19, 2018
• ISBN: 9781386305293

Mandy Rosko

USA Today Bestselling and award winning author Mandy Rosko loves writing paranormal romances with werewolves, dragons and people with special powers. She is the author of the Things in the Night Series, Night and Day, and the Dangerous Creatures Series.She does M/F, M/M, a touch of medieval under her other pen name, Rizzo Rosko, and pretty much anything else she's in the mood to write (which makes things confusing for readers since that means she's too much of a flake to stick to any one brand).Favorite authors right now are anyone who writes dangerous and tortured heroes ;)If you want to keep up to date on the sexy guys in my hot new releases, then sign up for my Newsletter and receive a free copy of The Vampire's Curse: http://mandyrosko.com/contact.htmlAnd on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MandyRoskoRomanceThings in the Night Series:The Vampire's CurseThe Legend of the WerewolfThe Shepard's AgonyThe Dragon and the Wolf (A prequel novella)Night and Day Series:Night and DayThe Calm Before The StormAll Hell Breaking LooseBook Four Coming Soon!Dangerous Creatures:Burns Like FireA Shock To Your SystemAs Cold As Ice Coming December 8th 2015

Book preview

1

I swear to God, there’s nothing better than killing Hitler four times before lunch.

Bastion O’Day stretched and rolled his shoulder. The knot from the first jump he’d done that morning still hurt. The jump hadn’t gotten to him so much as the landing. Dunno. I got Stalin twice.

Medad looked at him. "So? And don’t give me that he killed more people shit."

Why? It’s technically true.

Medad glared at him. Bastion grinned, reached out, and rubbed his hair. "I’m just messing with you, kid. I know killing Hitler is fun. Though I am right."

Medad threw Bastion’s hand off his head. Yeah, yeah, whatever. He recovered quickly, however. He was always in a good mood after killing Hitler. Don’t tell anyone, but I think someone got a picture of me doing it. I’m going to be in a history book somewhere.

He sounded way too pleased about that, despite the fact that it was against the rules.

A few technicians arrived. Bastion and Medad straightened, allowing the lab rats to measure their height, their waists, and check their eyes and mouths before handing over their vitamins.

Bastion popped his into his mouth and headed down the ramp, the metal clonking heavily beneath his boots. Uh huh, don’t say that too loud. I might think you want someone to overhear you.

Not really. Medad definitely avoided eye contact when he said that, and he glanced over at one of the technicians. A skinny brunette. She had her goggles on as she checked out an antique gun beneath a special microscope.

It was obviously old, but the fact that she had it meant there was something off about it.

Maybe it was a ray gun. Maybe it wasn’t a gun at all. It could be a PEZ dispenser for all Bastion knew. He’d heard of worlds where there were flying cars but no one knew what the Internet was. Worlds where gold was such a useless garbage commodity that it could be purchased for a few pennies per ton.

Supposedly, that was how this facility had been funded, and Bastion had seen enough to know that when talking about the infinite, literally anything was possible.

Bastion was more interested in the redhead behind her. The two women worked well together. Alyssa was beautiful, even with those thick eye-protecting goggles on and her fire engine red hair done up to keep from contaminating anything.

She was like a real life Mary Jane Watson. Bastion never got tired of looking at her.

As though she could tell there were eyes on her, Alyssa looked up, caught his eyes, and she winked at him. It was heart melting and almost enough to make his stomach untwist from the knot it had bunched itself up in, and because it made him giddy and stupid, he actually put his hands together in a little heart form and wagged his brows suggestively at her.

Alyssa and the skinny brunette next to her laughed at his stupidity. Worth it.

Still, the box in his pocket was going to burn a hole right through it if he didn’t look away.

I don’t want anyone to know, but it’s kind of impressive, right?

It stops being impressive after the hundredth time.

Bastion and Medad made it to the vault at the bottom of the ramp. It was really just a locked glass case. He pulled out his key, opened the doors, and put his sword onto the little hooks that held it in place. Sword Arthur went in the middle.

Medad put Sword Percival in its spot three swords down.

You don’t really think that, do you?

Kind of. I’ve done it too many times. It loses its appeal, and you’ll get bored of it eventually, too.

I doubt it, Medad said with the same dreamy eyes he’d had when Percival’s sword accepted him for their grand mission.

Either way, keep to your missions and don’t go looking for glory in any of those worlds. It’s too much paperwork and we do what we do for the good of the people, not so people will love us. Alex isn’t back yet?

The spot where Sword Galahad went was still empty.

Bastion glanced back at the technicians. Hey, didn’t Alex come back yet?

Not yet. Be patient, someone called back. Some lab rat who barely looked up from his clipboard.

He’s fine, Medad said. What could go wrong?

Bastion rubbed his jaw. How long have you been a Guardian for?

Medad’s spine stiffened. About a year, I guess. Long enough to know what I’m doing.

Yeah, and how old are you again?

Medad glared at him. This time it wasn’t some friendly thing like when they’d stepped out of the portal. Twenty-five. Old enough to know how this works.

Medad didn’t realize that the way he talked, the way he got defensive, showed off all the marks of a kid who hated being called a kid.

You’re still young enough to think you’re invincible. Thinking you’re invincible, especially when you have fire swords that let you jump world to world, is still dangerous. You can still fuck up. You can still die.

I won’t die and neither will Alex.

Uh huh, what do you think the last guy who held your sword said? Bastion pointed up at the glass case before walking away. He doubted he got through to the little shit head, but every once in a while, he needed to make things clear.

They weren’t gods. They saw and did some crazy shit every day, and if he ever went to a bar and bragged about murdering Hitler at least twenty-five times, Stalin thirty times, Mao fourteen, as well as putting an end to the Armenian and Rwanda genocides more times than he could count, he’d get cut off and maybe have the cops called on him.

Bastion needed a shower. He headed to the locker rooms, signing his name on the sheet next to the door before leaving.

Hey, Bastion!

Ignore.

He didn’t used to be such a prick. Bastion still thought his job was fun, and he wanted to keep doing it for as long as he could, but every once in a while, one of the younger guys who came in would say some stupid shit that would set him off, and he couldn’t fucking take it. He was officially the oldest Guardian at thirty-three years old. The next guy younger than him just turned twenty-seven two weeks ago.

He shouldn’t be feeling so old when he was still so young, but he knew that if he retired, or died, then someone else would be brought in and it would be official. His contribution to the Knights of the Round, and the men he’d come in with, would officially be gone.

Bastion!

He stopped short at the hand on his shoulder, pulling him back and yanking him around.

Madison?

Fuck.

Director Churchill, he corrected.

Madison shook her head at him. She wore the same white lab rat suit the other technicians wore, despite being in charge of this entire place.

You’re older than me. Stop calling me that. It’s weird.

He smiled back at her, though he wasn’t much in the mood for a chat. I’m barely a year older than you. And you’re my boss.

She folded her arms, but she managed to make it look as though she wasn’t chastising him. Uh huh. I saw you came out looking a little grim, and you gave it to Medad pretty hard.

Yeah. Bastion scratched the back of his neck. It was just a hard jump. I’ll make it up to him later. Sorry.

Don’t apologize to me! She almost laughed at him, then pushed some of that straight, dark hair behind her ear.

Well, I’m supposed to be professional in front of my boss.

She actually growled at him, her eyes narrowing. Uh huh. This boss might just kick your ass if you’re not careful.

You probably could right now.

She was as petite as they came, but he was that tired. His bones felt brittle and thin as he stood there.

Her expression became more serious. Are you in any pain?

I was just going to hit the showers. I’ll be fine.

Madison eyed him, as though judging whether or not she believed him.

He sometimes felt sorry for her. Her father used to run this place, but he was gone now. She was everyone’s boss, but she also tried to be their friend.

The problem was that it was difficult to be the friend and the boss at the same time. She was not only the boss, but the daughter of the founder, and she looked like a boss, too. Despite wearing the lab coat and working with the others away from her office that overlooked Stonehenge, it distanced people from her, regardless of her best intentions.

Okay, well let me know if you need some time off, okay?

Sure thing.

I mean it. I don’t want you falling apart on me.

He winked at her. I’m too young for that.

She shook her head at him, hands on her hips, and almost smiling as she allowed him to head off to the shower.

Truth be told, her comment about falling apart hit him hard.

He’d thought he would do this forever, but enough friends had died or retired, and at such young ages, that it proved he wasn’t the soldier or hero he’d thought he was when he was twenty-two and Arthur’s sword decided he was worthy enough to hold it.

It was just a sword, and when he died, or walked away, it would wait until it was ready to decide someone else was worthy enough to hold it. Because for all the mass murderers Bastion killed, for all the genocides he’d stopped, he wasn’t special.

Hey, Bastion. You okay?

Bastion stepped up to the desk where Bob handed out towels and water bottles to the Guardians who needed a little TLC in the sauna. Yeah. I landed wrong that first jump in Germany. You got anything for me?

Bob smiled at him. Just the thing. He reached down beneath his desk, pulling out a blue pack. Take this.

Bastion took it. It felt cool to the touch, like there was gelatin in it. What is it?

One of the Guardians brought it back from one of the worlds they jumped to. 38-C or something. Open it up and pour it into your bath, sit in it for about ten minutes, and you’ll feel amazing.

I can’t use it in a shower?

Bob shook his head. ‘Fraid not, but trust me, I used it for my hip the other day and I still feel great.

Does anyone know what’s in it?

Does it matter? It’s safe enough for the people in 38-C to be using.

Makes sense. Bastion squashed down the urge to argue more on that point. The people of 38-C might have super immune systems, but if it had been tested enough and deemed safe for people in this world to use, then Bastion was going to. Hey, thanks, Bob.

Bob waved at him as Bastion headed down to the tubs. Not a problem. Enjoy!

He was a little overly happy to be a receptionist, but everyone here tended to be on the happy side. Why wouldn’t they be? They were doing amazing work. Saving lives. It was like being a part of Doctors Without Borders, but with better equipment, a billion times more funding, and less depressing because they weren’t forced to watch people die as much.

Every night everyone went home knowing not just one person had been saved, but millions had been saved. Bastion used to get so much more satisfaction out of his job than he did. He had no reason to complain or be upset, and yet he was.

He went into the private bathing room.

TV on.

The flat screen that made up the entire far wall lit up. The news. Bastion normally hated the news, but this time he didn’t immediately change channels.

The blond reporter was interviewing some elderly people on a grassy stretch of land—some of the last tourists, whether British, American, or Indian, who had seen Stonehenge before it vanished.

Bastion poured the blue goo into his bath. He watched as the liquid completely took over the water, turning it into a near Jell-O like texture. He pressed his finger to the top of the water, shocked to feel it almost solid. He could slide in it.

Bob better not be messing with him about this stuff.

Bastion lifted his leg and stepped into the blue slime. He cringed, but kept going. He’d made it this far. He wasn’t going to turn back now.

I tried writing my name into the rock, but the security guard stopped me. Wish I’d gotten the chance now.

Bastion released a noise that was half a groan, half disgust as he sank up to his chest in the blue sludge. He settled against the back of the tub, felt like an idiot for a split second, and then spasmed and moaned when he suddenly, and without warning, felt beyond great.

Bob hadn’t been kidding. There were a hundred massaging hands all over his body, soothing away the aches he’d built up from the bad sleep he’d had last night and the fall on his shoulder this morning.

Bastion sank deeper into the mix. Up to his face, but no deeper than that. This stuff felt amazing, but he wasn’t going to try breathing it in. He was a Guardian, not an idiot.

Getting the best massage therapy of his life made him tune everything out, but every once in a while, he caught the words of the people on the television. How amazed they had been to see the structure, how sad and shocked they’d been to learn of its disappearance the next morning.

Some people thought it was taken by aliens. Others thought Merlin came back for it, completing it somewhere else.

They were sort of right.

Bastion couldn’t help but smirk. The entire world wondered where Stonehenge had gone, if they would ever see it again, and who could have taken it.

Meanwhile, Bastion and the other Guardians stepped in and out of its circle multiple times per day, holding the swords of Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, killing dictators in other worlds, and bringing back all kinds of amazing technology with them. Including this gel Bastion was sitting in.

He was going to have to get more of it before he brought Alyssa that ring.

Glancing over, he made sure the ring box was still on his pile of clothes where he’d left it.

He wasn’t about to risk that Murphy’s Law would hit him and it would fall off the pile, the box breaking open and the ring rolling out and into the drain on the floor.

Nope. Still there. Maybe there was some kind of relaxing drug in this stuff too, because Bastion was starting to feel like he could fly. The nerves he’d felt when talking to Medad were gone.

Today was going to be a good day.

2

Bastion stayed in that blue goo for a lot longer than ten minutes. He understood why he wasn’t supposed to stay in longer than that when his entire body came out dyed blue. Even when he showered, the color wouldn’t come off.

Oh. So that was why there was a time limit.

Didn’t matter because it was totally worth it.

Bob took one look at him and froze briefly. Though Bastion’s clothes hid most of the color, it was virtually impossible for Bastion to hide the blue on his hands, his neck, or around the edges of his face. Bob smiled knowingly. I did that, too. It’ll eventually wash off.

Great. That was exactly what I was going to ask you. Do you know when?

Took three days for me.

That was too long for Bastion, though it was still much sooner than he’d been thinking. At worst, he’d feared a week, but the ring box in his jacket pocket was still demanding his attention.

And he did have that date with Alyssa tonight.

You think if I were to soak for a little while in regular water it would fade a little more?

Maybe. You could try it.

Right. Bob definitely didn’t sound like he cared one way or the other, and Bastion had already spent a solid hour under the spray. He figured he’d gotten off about as much as he could.

Luckily, he knew Alyssa wasn’t the sort of woman who would care about this kind of thing, but that also wasn’t the point.

Fuck. If he didn’t feel so great, he might he might be more annoyed with himself, and with Bob.

Meeting your special lady tonight?

Bob was not an eighty-year-old man, but sometimes he talked like he was. Something like that.

Ah, well. Bob smiled knowingly. Don’t worry. The missus back at home seemed to like it when I turned blue for her. She thought it was cute, if you get my drift.

Bastion grinned. Yes, Bob, I get that you’re trying to slyly tell me that your wife liked playing with your dick when you turned it blue. Thank you for that advice, and the visual. I’ll save it for later.

Bob mock saluted him. Anything to help out a Guardian. Go enjoy your night, sir.

If Bastion had thought for one second that Bob was messing with him, the exchange might have ended a little bit differently.

Bastion just left. He pulled out his phone, and he nearly came to a stop when he saw Alyssa’s text.

Something came up. Raincheck?

What the hell?

He sent her back a text of his own.

He made sure to put in a little crying emoji to go with it.

Seriously? How am I supposed to get through the night?

He waited for her to see the text, and then reply.

Three hearts, and then a kissing emoji. Sometimes Bastion swore he and Alyssa only pretended to be a lot more immature than they actually were, because communicating like this was fun.

I’ll make it up to you. ;)

The winking face next to it let him know how she planned on doing that.

Bastion shivered. He debated sending her the next text. This was sort of good. It gave him the time he needed to get this blue colouring off him, but at the same time…

Right, he was a sucker and he missed his woman.

I turned blue for you and everything.

The reply was almost instant.

What?

Bastion couldn’t help it. He was in a good mood and he wanted to see if making his girlfriend laugh would get her to blow off whatever it was she was doing to come and