The Guardians (MORE Trilogy) by T.M. Franklin Page A

neighbor peeking through the blinds. “I was there Saturday night, but it was dark. I didn’t think  . . . ” She rubbed at her temples and tried to think back.
    “You were there?”
    “I saw him,” Ava said quietly. “I talked to him.” She looked up at Tiernan, eyes bright with tears. “I had a dream. I thought someone was going to hurt him.”
    Tiernan’s jaw tightened. “Looks like you were right.”
    She laughed humorlessly. “Yeah . . . yeah. Good to know.” She stood, tangling her hands in her hair. “What am I going to do? I have to go back. Turn myself in, right? Try and clear my name?”
    “I really don’t think that’s the best option.”
    “But if I don’t, they’ll think I’m guilty.” She threw her hands in the air in frustration.  
    “I’ve got news for you. They already think you’re guilty.” At her irritated glare, he huffed and rolled his eyes. “Look, you shouldn’t do anything until we figure out what we’re dealing with here. Whoever’s behind this isn’t putting all his hope in one witness who happened to see you at that house. Someone pushed his wife, maybe even pushed Simmons, too.”
    “Pushed? You think it’s Race?”
    “Well, something made her think her husband was having an affair that never happened.”
    Even in her panic, Ava felt a trace of relief that Tiernan seemed to believe her without question. “Who?” she asked, her mind whirling with possibilities. “The Council? Or maybe Rogues?”
    “No way to know for sure. At least, not yet.”
    “But why?” She looked up at Tiernan but he had no answers. Her gaze fell to her twisting fingers. “It’s got to be the Council.”
    Tiernan frowned. “Think about it. The Council has no reason to do this. Why would they frame you for murder?”
    “To get me to go to them for protection? Keep me locked up nice and tight in New Elysia?”
    “Not really their style. To harm an innocent human violates Race Law.”
    “You think that would stop the Council?”
    Tiernan fixed her with a steady look. “The Council isn’t perfect, but it is dedicated to upholding the Law.”
    Ava slumped back down onto the bed, her eyes fixed unseeing at the blank television screen. “So it has to be a Rogue.”
    “That would be my guess,” Tiernan said. “And if that’s the case, this is only the beginning.” He pulled a chair over and sat down to face her. “What do they want with you?”
    Ava sighed. The Council had asked her the same question endless times—she’d asked it herself—but she’d yet to come up with an answer. “I don’t know. Arthur, the Rogue who took me, he ranted about me having some higher purpose, being one of them. It didn’t make any sense. None of this makes any sense.”
    Tiernan considered that for a long moment. “It’s possible some of the Rogues are joining forces. Maybe they hope you can help them.”
    “Help them what?”  
    “Do what they do best. Cause trouble.” He sat back, crossing his arms over his chest. “At any rate, there’s nothing you can do right now. Not until we figure all of this out.”
    She raised a brow. “ ‘We’?”
    He shrugged. “The Rogues are a threat to the Race. Protecting the Race is my job. So . . . you just became my job.”
    “Lucky me.”
    “Look on the bright side,” he said, standing and crossing the room again to peer out the window. “You wanted to find Caleb. Now you know I won’t let you out of my sight until we do.”
    “I repeat,” Ava said wryly. “Lucky me.”

    Despite her anxiety, exhaustion won out, and Ava ended up curled up on the bed half-dozing as they waited for instructions from Andreas. The sun had just set when the call finally came, and Tiernan snapped his phone up off the table to answer it before Ava even realized it was ringing.
    The call was brief, peppered by a couple of “Yes, sirs” from Tiernan, and Ava was wide awake when he finally hung up.
    “Well?” she said as he stood up, shrugged on