"I think so, her and Peter are to marry in the fall," Uri regretted having to inform his friend of his old love's pending nuptials.

"Peter? But I thought you ..." Gabe began.

"I tried to tell you then, old friend. When you set your sights on Sophie, she was no longer an option for me," Uri explained.

"I'm so sorry. I should have been there that night," Gabe moaned.

"And if you had, perhaps you would be dead, as well." Uri cautioned Gabe's wishful thinking. "After we escaped, it was actually Michael who insisted we leave you alone. He thought you were safer at that point without us. I guess he was right."

"So, what happened to everyone else?" Gabe asked.

"The Guardians were pretty much scattered all over the Earth. Some in safe houses, others fled to the remaining Guardian training facilities. Haim has not left my side since all this began. We're pretty much on the front lines out there and somehow that man never lets me down. He's like a machine. Dina went with Sophie that first night to Iron Gate, where she remains with her."

"And Raimie?" Gabe inquired.

Uri looked down, sitting in silence.

"Uri? What about Raimie?" Gabe asked again.

Unable to speak the words, Uri simply shook his head no.

"What happened?" Gabe gasped.

"He never made it out of Rampart, not really."

"Oh, G.o.d," Gabe struggled to catch his breath. "What about Dina? She couldn't have taken it well."

"She doesn't talk about it. You know how Dina is. She's the head potions mistress now at Iron Gate, youngest ever. When it comes to Dina these days, she's all business, I suppose," Uri said, not interested in explaining the horror that was Raimie's end. Uri made up his mind long ago that Raimie died in that explosion, that creature that was in his body and killed that girl was not his friend.

"I can't believe he's gone," Gabe mumbled.

"I know, sometimes it's like he's going to show up and head out on a mission with Haim and I. Still hard to believe," Uri continued, telling Gabe all about the constant war and battling that had broken out between the Guardians and the demon world. He explained how Michael had been given a seat on the council and he had a vote in every decision that was brought before them, but he still remained a heavy influence in the war on the ground. When the two finished discussing their old mentor, Gabe sat calmly.

"So, why are you here then, if not to bring me back to Rampart?" Gabe asked.

"Well ..." Uri gave Gabe a stare as if to size him up. "Do you remember the prophecy?"

"Oh, please, man. Don't tell me you came all the way here to waste my time with that nonsense," Gabe groaned.

"Gabe, we found her," Uri simply stated.

"Wait ... the prophet is a girl?" Gabe gasped in disbelief.

"No, we found the girl that's going to be the mother of the prophet," Uri explained.

"Hang on a second, I'm confused. She's pregnant?" Gabe questioned.

"Well, not exactly."

"How can you not exactly be pregnant?" Gabe asked.

"She's going to get pregnant and the child she has will be the prophet," Uri tried to explain, realizing he wasn't shedding any light on the situation.

"Do you know how crazy you sound?" Gabe growled.

"No, now hear me out. When Rampart was destroyed, they captured the oracle. All these years we a.s.sumed she had been killed during the attack, but Haim and I picked up on some intel that they had been using her for information," Uri elaborated.

"Why does it not surprise me that she has been giving information to the enemy?" Gabe snarled.

"That's not fair, Gabe. She has been their prisoner all this time. We have no idea what they have put her through," Uri pleaded.

"I suppose," Gabe conceded. "So what did she share?"

"That's how we found out about the girl. The demons had already located her and they were heading in for the kill. We managed to grab her and run just before they arrived. Needless to say, she has been struggling with all of it. Unfortunately, we did have a couple of demon run-ins that forced her to understand all too quickly what kind of war she's in the middle of. It's been a long road just to get here."

"And what does this have to do with me?"

"Well, I just thought ..." Uri stammered, surprised by Gabe's reaction. "With us finding her and the prophecy, I just thought this would change things."

"You must have forgotten one part of that prophecy. If this girl's baby lives, I die. That means you just thought you would come back here and I would be happy to march off to my death. I may not be afraid to die, Uri, but that doesn't mean I want to!"

"Well, no, it isn't like that," Uri insisted.

"Then what is it like?"

"We've tried everything to hide her, but they always seem to find us. I was running out of options. I just thought with the prophecy you would ... I don't know, somehow know what to do."

"I'm not a Guardian anymore, Uri, I left that life."

"You're right, I'm sorry- I'll go and tell her," Uri said, standing and walking to the door.

"Wait! What? Did you bring her here?" Gabe asked, infuriated.

"Yeah, I'm sorry. I didn't think it would be a problem."

"Well, it is! She needs to go. You both do."

"I'm sorry, we'll go," Uri said, bowing his head and opening the front door.

Uri was surprised that when he opened the door, Rachel was standing directly in front of him. It was clear she had been listening to their conversation.

"h.e.l.lo ..." she whispered, looking over Uri's shoulder at the stranger. "I'm Rachel."

Uri said nothing as he watched his friend fidget for a moment, at last speaking, "Hi, Rachel, I'm Gabe. Why don't you two come in and rest for the night."

With those words, Uri was certain their lives would change forever.

Eight months after Gabe and Rachel met...

"What are you thinking about?" Rachel asked softly, reaching her hand over Gabe's shoulder and sweeping her arm across his strong, bare chest.

"Huh- Oh, I didn't know you were awake," he moaned, reaching up and taking hold of her slender fingertips.

"I can't sleep; something seems to be upsetting my stomach," Rachel answered.

"Are you all right?" Gabe asked, releasing his hold and shifting in the bedding to face her.

"It's nothing that bad, probably just something I ate," Rachel dismissed his concern. "So, tell me, what were you just thinking about? You seemed lost in thought."

Gabe pulled on Rachel's shoulder, motioning for her to lie down, resting her head on his lap. She willfully did as he requested, curling her toes in delight as he began to stroke her forehead with the back of his fingers.

"I was thinking about the night we met," Gabe finally added.

"Are you serious?" Rachel asked in disbelief.

"Yeah, I wish I had known that night how much I would come to love you. I hate that we missed out on a single moment of being together."

"What? No way!" Rachel snapped. "I wouldn't trade that time for anything. I loved getting to know you."

"Rachel Harwood!" Gabe exclaimed . He loved the sound of her married name as it rolled of his tongue. "I was all over the place, you can't be serious. One minute I was nice to you and the next a complete a.s.s."

"Well-" Rachel began with a grin. "Yeah, you could be an a.s.s. But that roller coaster we were on was quite exciting."

"I suppose it was," Gabe relented, the memories rushing over him like warm bath water.

Quiet loomed in the room. Both were comfortable with it, content with the intimacy of their bodies just being near one another. Their breathing was in perfect sync.

Several minutes went by like this, until Rachel decided a question was pressing enough to ask. "Do you think we'll find it?"

"What?" Gabe asked before it dawned on him what she was inquiring about. "The crown?"

Rachel nodded, looking up at him with her oversized brown eyes.

"Yes, I know we will."

"How can you be so confident?"

"Because I love you. If we need The Guardians Crown for us to be safe, then that's what we will get," Gabe replied, no doubt in his voice.

"I love you, too," Rachel whispered.

Arching her back, she used the momentum to sit up, slipping off the robe that had been secured around her curvy body a moment ago.

"Oh, my," Gabe snarled, raising one eyebrow.

"Shut up and kiss me," Rachel commanded, wrapping her arms and legs around his torso.

When his lips touched hers, she stiffened, their pa.s.sionate kissing causing her to moan. He took advantage of her open lips, easing his tongue into her mouth slowly, exploring a moment before thrusting it deeper. Pulling back, he caught her lower lip between his teeth and tugged gently. She squealed in delight.

In the next moment, Gabe leaned forward, causing Rachel to fall back onto the bedding. His embrace wandered, his fingertips exploring the crevices of her body. She sighed heavily, moving into his touch. His stomach pressed against hers as her back arched in pleasure, his hands dancing around her inner thighs.

Moving inward with great intensity, his pulse maddened her, the pace keeping her guessing as to his next move. Pressing his lips against her ear, he reaffirmed with a whisper, "We'll find the crown because I can't lose you."

As always, there's a team that makes my books what they are: To my cover artist, Claudia Lucia McKinney of Phatpuppy Creations.

A huge thank you goes out to my editor who helped make this book better, Chelsea Kuhel. And also I want to thank Ashley for the first run through of the book.

A shout out to Fictional Formats for another amazing job, my book would be ugly without you.

And lastly, thank you to all my fans who have continued on reading the series. You have given me the opportunity to fulfill a lifelong dream.

Wendy Owens was raised in the small college town of Oxford, Ohio. After attending Miami University, Wendy went on to a career in the visual arts. After several years of creating and selling her own artwork, she gave her first love, writing, a try.

Since 2011, she has published a young adult paranormal series, The Guardians, which will contain five books total.

Wendy now happily spends her days writing-her loving dachshund, Piper, curled up at her feet. When she's not writing, she can be found spending time with her tech geek husband and their three amazing kids, exploring the city she loves to call home: Cincinnati, OH.

The Guardians Complete Series.

Book One Sacred Bloodlines.

Book Two Cursed.

Book Three The Prophecy.

Book Four The Lost Years.

Book Five The Guardians Crown.

Stubborn Love is her debut New Adult novel.

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