Page 1 of Guarded (Hopeless Blessed #3)

NOAH

N ox had all the subtlety and timing of a wrecking ball.

“We think one of you is Jeremiah’s fated mate.”

Naturally, this proclamation unleashed chaos. There we were, outside the compound and preparing to defend Ezekiel and his human mate against one of the most corrupt Heavenly angels, and this was the moment Nox chose to drop this knowledge.

Honestly, I wasn’t even surprised—not because he was a demon. Iwasn’t as narrow minded as some of the other archangels who made up our unit. The Seraphim were God’s most elite soldiers, and I was proud to count myself among them.

However, that didn’t mean they weren’t judgemental. The animosity between angels and demons ran deep, sparked by a war that had happened long before my time. By angelic standards, I was young. Being only part way through my sixth century, I was practically a child compared to my peers.

Not that you’d know it, given how they were all yelling over each other .

“ How do you know? ”

“ Who? ”

“ Wait, you’ve kept this quiet all along? ”

“ What the fuck? ”

I sighed internally. I hadn’t been with the Seraphim long, but they already had my loyalty. There wasn’t a shadow of doubt in my mind that being part of this unit was preferable to Juniper by several thousand miles.

Mainly because of the difference in leadership. The others in Juniper…I missed them. For centuries, they’d been my family.

Now they were strangers.

I wasn’t lonely. The Seraphim had taken me into their fold without blinking an eye. Their kindness and acceptance were beyond anything I’d expected.

That didn’t mean they didn’t annoy me sometimes. Especially the twins—they had a special knack for speaking when they shouldn’t and wriggling under the skin of whoever they were talking to. If that was an enemy, it was great.

Around the rest of us…not so much.

I didn’t know who Jeremiah was, other than being Nox’s demonic friend, nor did I care.

Unlike some of the others, I hadn’t really thought much about who my fated mate might be.

It’d be nice, I supposed, to have someone I knew was destined to be mine.

To not have to constantly wonder where their affections lay, or to hide our relationship in the shadows.

I’d had enough of that withLyleto last me several immortal lifetimes.

At least with your fated mate, there’d be a pull towards them. A reassurance that they were meant for you. The other half of your soul .

It sounded great, but I didn’t mind if it took another hundred years to find them. So long as they truly wanted me, that was all I was concerned about.

Ezekiel cut them all off with a sharp whistle, probably thanks to the pained expression on Sam’s face. Along with OCD, Sam struggled with sensory processing disorder. Recently we’d all been making more of an effort to be considerate of our noise levels and his triggers.

The mere idea that a fated mate might be about to appear had them forgetting everything.

Typical with this lot, really. Skilled warriors they were, tactful they were not. Still, I was growing to love them like brothers.

And, like brothers, I wanted to give a few of them a wallop occasionally.

I was always careful to hold my powers back slightly, especially during trivial arguments. I’d given them enough of a display of my capabilities the day they’d hired me. Even that hadn’t been the full extent of my power though. I hadn’t touched the depths of it in a long time.

Hopefully, I’d never need to again. Others might think having a power like mine was a positive, something to be proud of.

In truth, it terrified me. If I ever lost control of it, if I crossed that line you couldn’t come back from, I could kill hundreds. Thousands. Not only that, but if anyone learned the true extent of what I was capable of, they wouldn’t love me for it.

They’d hunt me. What better bragging rights than being able to claim you’d executed someone as powerful as me?

It was why I kept it hidden, even from the Seraphim. Juniper, my old unit, mostly had no idea. Only Atlas, the second, knew what I was capable of. Lyle, however, didn’t. Despite having my heart, he’d never had my trust.

I really should’ve seen the red flags decades before I had.

I tuned back into the conversation to find Nox explaining where their theory had come from. “A few weeks back, Jeremiah came with the others to the house, but as soon as he saw it, he refused to enter. He took off and hasn’t come back since.”

“So?” Rami rumbled suspiciously. “That doesn’t mean he has a mate here.”

“He could see the house,” Nox explained, “before Micah lifted the wards.”

Fuck. The wards didn’t just prevent unwanted supes from entering our property, they also hid it from view entirely. Only the Seraphim could see past the wards to the house.

The Seraphim…and their fated mates.

Ezekiel was quietly explaining this to Sam, but my brain was fixated on a crucial detail. A detail that was going to send shock waves through his mate.

Whoever it was.

“Hang on,” I said slowly. “Did Jeremiah know this? That only mates can see through the wards?”

Micah exchanged a look with Nox before responding. “We believe so. He asked if we’d already lifted the wards and, when Nox confirmed we hadn’t, he suddenly took off.”

He confirmed my worst fears. “So, at the very least, he suspects his mate lives here. And his response was to fuck off somewhere far away?”

Silence lingered for a beat as all the unmated archs thought through what that meant.

Jeremiah believed his mate to be here, but he hadn’t done what he was supposed to do. He hadn’t followed the pull. Hadn’t introduced himself. Hadn’t started along the path to the fabled happily ever after that having a mate was meant to entail.

It spoke fucking volumes about his intentions. Clearly, this was someone not ready for or desiring any of that.

Finally, Nate spoke, summarising what we were all thinking. “Well, whoever his mate is, I feel sorry for him. Fancy knowing they’re that close to you and running away. You’re supposed to run to your mate, not from them.”

Rami started to speak, but I didn’t hear him. Someone was approaching. Lots of someones.

Powerful someones.

Every head snapped towards the gate, powers rising and shields snapping into place.

Standing there, out of nowhere, was Gloria.

All thoughts of fated mates and erstwhile demons vanished as I focused on the mission. Protecting Sam. Having Ezekiel’s back.

Stopping whatever fucked-up vendetta schemes Gloria had planned for today.

The others seemed surprised that she was coming after our unit with such a vengeance.

I wasn’t though. Having lived outside the Seraphim for so long gave me something the others lacked—perspective.

They might be aware that others were jealous of their position and coveted it for themselves, but I didn’t think any of them grasped the lengths they’d go to, to take it for themselves.

Only Micah, our leader, seemed to have an idea of how precarious our situation was.

Lyle had made it clear that day on the beach.

I shoved him back into the farthest corner of my mind. Where he belonged. We’d both spoken our truth there amongst the sand dunes .

“ I’m done being your dirty little secret, Lyle. I’m done lying for you. And I’m done fighting for you. ”

For too long, I’d chased a man who didn’t love me. Who used me when it suited him and cast me aside when it didn’t.

Never again.

I stayed quiet as the rest of the Seraphim countered each of Gloria’s increasingly desperate strategies.

My skills weren’t needed, not yet. Instead, I counted the soldiers behind Gloria, calculating how many of them I could take out in a single hit.

The angles I’d need to unleash my power at to stop it hitting those on our side.

Grim relief washed over me. The odds were in our favour. I might not have wanted to reveal the full scope of my powers, but I would to protect the Seraphim. To save Ezekiel’s mate, I’d do whatever it took.

We all deserved love. And we all deserved to have others go to the mat to defend said love.

Gloria’s intentions became clear when she tried to insist Sam cross the wards without Ezekiel. “Enough of this posturing. Human, you have thirty seconds to step over here, or we will take it as a declaration of war against Heaven and God herself.”

Fuck her. If that was what it took to protect our own, that was what I’d do. From the expressions on every face around me, they felt the same damned way. There was no way we were letting her hurt Sam. No fucking chance.

But the threat hit Ezekiel differently. It was his mate under threat. His mate being exposed to danger.

And he was losing it.

Sam noticed it first, which made sense given their bond. He grabbed Ezekiel’s chin, forcing his gaze to his. “Zeke, it’s going to be okay. ”

Zeke. The name only Sam was allowed to call him. I tensed as I felt the crackling power rising in Ezekiel. Shit. The name wasn’t enough to pull him back, not now.

Micah noticed as well. “Sam, take a step to the side.”

I raised my shield, along with several others. Ezekiel was approaching that place we were always warned about. The one where you lost control of your powers, taking out everyone around you. Our second had always struggled with his temper, but he’d never crossed that line.

But with his mate’s life under threat? He was closer now than ever.

Ironically, Lyle had stepped over that line while trying to drag Nox and Micah back to Hell. Micah had been shocked when he described it to me. I hadn’t been shocked. Knowing Lyle’s temperament, I was amazed it hadn’t happened earlier.

Ezekiel was roaring at Micah as our leader tried to reason with him. Lightning was crackling around his hands as his control slipped further.

I exchanged a look with Nate, tilting my head towards Sam. He nodded in understanding. Our powers reached out simultaneously towards the human, ready to protect him. It’d leave us exposed, but that didn’t matter.