"I can, Papa," she said.
"Try more than one. They're scattered all across our lawns."
She closed her eyes and concentrated again. She sensed Jule, her father, and hundreds-no, thousands!-of tiny signatures surrounding them. The energy came when she opened herself. Yully struggled to control the energies into her body, still leery of the invaders.
"You're glowing," her father said in a hushed tone. "I've been waiting for you for so long, Yully."
She opened her eyes and looked down. She didn't seem to glow to her own eyes, though she suddenly realized the rain no longer fell on her. Holding out her arm, she was fascinated to see the rain arc to avoid it.
"This was all I needed to know," her father said. "Now, into the house, before you fall ill."
He strode to the house, and she trailed, fascinated by the sensation of stepping over the energy sources. She released the energies, and they returned to their sources.
"How long did it take you to bury all these things?" she asked.
"Ten years or so," he replied.
"So you just randomly took things from the house and buried them?" She couldn't help her smile. "I can't see you in the rain digging a hole for a toaster."
"My dear, these aren't toasters," he said and echoed her chuckle. "They're Guardians and guardsmen who would've seen you dead. I didn't send their souls to the immortal realm, because I'd hoped you'd be standing here one day, able to drain the magic from them."
She froze, the warmth of the magic leaving her as fear replaced it.
"Father, there are thousands," she said, looking around her. She tried to assess how many there might be. "Tens of thousands."
"I guess I'd forgotten how many there were. The more the better. We'll need all their magics on the autumn equinox." He disappeared into the house, and she stayed where she was, horrified.
Guardians. He'd killed and buried Jule's kind. Jule, whose soul had somehow lingered in her body when she'd touched him, and who had become the only man she'd ever felt safe around. Even her father's magic was gone when she expelled it.
… you seem to think a Guardian of humanity is your enemy, Darian had said.
Her replacement cell phone rang, jarring her. She answered it with numb fingers.
"Hey," Jule said.
"Hey," she answered.
"I hear it in your voice. What's wrong?"