Message Received

Silver's blood ran cold. There was no reason for his door to be open.

And whatever had come knocking had not been subtle. Had they tried to be secretive, surely they would not have been so clumsy as to announce themselves with such an error!

Which meant this person, whoever he was, wanted Silver to know he had come.

The Guardian closed his eyes and tried to sense the person inside his dwelling. But there was no one to be found.

'Perhaps Crispin brought a message for me and left because I was not home,' Silver tried to reason. But that reasoning made no sense. 'He doesn't know where I live. Messages come to the inn, not here.'

That did not mean that the spy couldn't easily discover the dwelling place of the Guardian. With his resources, it would have been easy. But surely Crispin would have gone through the normal channels first.

He struggled to think of another explanation for what he saw and came up short. There was only one way to find out what was happening.

A hundred thoughts flashed through Silver's mind in barely a moment before he buckled down to act.

His fist flexing, the Guardian pulled out a dagger from his cape and prepared to face whatever horror awaited him inside his home. Just because he did not sense a presence did not mean that there was no trap. He needed to be ready for anything.

Silver pushed the door. It slid almost silently on its hinges. The small creak at the beginning was fully intentional: to alert him if someone entered his home. Of course, that only worked if he was at home to hear it.

The Guardian paused. If there was a trap to be sprung, it was most likely tied to the front door. That was the only place where Silver was guaranteed to go. Normal people always used their door…not their window.

Silver wasn't normal.

After seeing no immediate death trap, the Guardian swept around to the window on the back of his house. With barely a shift in the shadows, Silver slipped over the sill and into his home.

Pressed up against the wooden wall. Silver looked for any sign of trouble. He found it immediately. Even though he had thought there was no person within, he was clearly wrong.

For just now, a human-sized shadow was silhouetted in the door, checking to see why it was open.

The person had been so silent and still earlier that SIlver had not even sensed them. It was impressive…and terrifying.

'Got you!' Like a striking snake, Silver surged forward and took hold of the intruder.

Pulling back the figure, Silver heard a gasp escape the lips of the interloper. The trespasser was much lighter than the Guardian had expected. Silver had put all his weight into the action of preventing an escape and now found himself faced with almost no resistance.

'What in the…' The Guardian braced himself for an unpleasant impact with the ground.

Because of his extreme use of force, the pair went sliding across the dirt floor and into the wall of the house. Scrambling, Silver climbed out from under his adversary and tackled the figure.

It only took a moment to secure both hands to the ground before looking at the face of the intruder.

Then he froze.

Even in the darkness, a soft purple light showed the face of a woman beneath her hood. She was smiling wryly at him, an expression he had etched in his memory since the last time they parted.

"It's nice to see you can still surprise me," she quipped. Her slender figure chuckled beneath him.

"Sage? Sage!" Silver was barely able to process what he was seeing.

Because they both wore Guardian's cloaks, they two could see each other's faces even when the world only saw a black void. Apparently that feature also worked at night.

So while the rest of the woman's body was shrouded in night, her face was clearer than day. The face of the woman he loved. He stared in shock.

"Not that I'm complaining, but I am curious if you are planning to get off of me any time soon?" Sage winked at him, and the dark-haired man felt his face turn crimson.

Releasing the woman's wrists, Silver scrambled to his feet and offered his hand to his guest.

Gently, Sage pressed her fingers into his palm. "From scoundrel to gentleman in an instant." She arched her brow at him in challenge. "I did wonder when—"

The lady got no further as her companion's lips pressed up firmly against hers.

Her cloak did not fight the man as he slipped the hood from her head and interlaced his fingers into her raven hair.

After a sharp intake of breath, she gave into his touch and wrapped her arms around his neck. Heat radiated from them as their passion nearly set the house aflame. For a moment, time stopped.

When Sage finally pulled back to breathe, her voice was low and seductive. "And we are back to scoundrel again, I see."

Silver held her tenderly around the waist, his other hand tracing the line of her chin. "I was sure you were a dream, and I wanted to get in as much as I could before I awoke."

"Well then don't awaken yet," Sage brushed a kiss across his lips, thoroughly enjoying the desire she felt while in his embrace.

Silver blinked. "You're really here! What are you doing here?"

"If you don't want me here, I can go," Sage pulled away only to be pressed up even closer to the other Guardian.

"Don't twist my words," he said softly, his voice full of affection. "You know how long I have wanted to see you. I am just very confused why you are here in my house…in the dark."

"It wasn't dark when I arrived." Silver gave her an even more confused look and she sighed. "If you let me go, I can explain. Your nearness is too wonderful for me to focus."

Silver reluctantly released the woman. He had to admit, his concentration on anything but her was gone as soon as he inhaled her scent and felt her touch. But a large part of him did not care.

Shutting the window, the Guardian lit a small lamp and flooded the dark room with light. Any composure he had left him. His jaw nearly dropped to the floor as the memories of the past invaded his thoughts.

For in front of him Sage stood in her full glory, looking just as beautiful as the last time he saw her. Maybe even more so…if that were possible. Her purple cloak hung loosely around her shoulders, accentuating her shapely figure.

"My love." The Guardian embraced her again, this time with deep affection. Together they found two chairs from the table and placed them side by side.

Then Silver brought her a cup of water. She took the cup in her hands, her fingers brushing up against his. A spark passed between them.

Silver pulled away and scratched the back of his neck, allowing his hood to fall from his face. The sudden flash of light was surprising but not unpleasant.

The flustered man cleared his throat. "So, uh. How…how long have you been waiting for me?"

"Long enough." Sage patted the chair next to him, beckoning him to sit. He glided in beside her and placed his arm across the back of her seat.

"I am sorry. I have had quite a crazy evening…day…week actually…or I would have been here sooner." Silver felt bad for making the woman wait, but how was he to know that she would be here? She hadn't visited in years! "Though you have yet to tell me: to what do I owe this pleasure?"

Sage reached into her cloak and pulled out a piece of paper. "I would have thought it was obvious. I received your note."