Book 1 of the Unlikely Guardian series opens with a jolt of pure action. Rose, a Fae relic hunter and royal arms mistress, battles a millennia-old demon guardian inside a hidden temple in Iraq to recover the Star of Azothine, a cursed sapphire artifact her family has hunted for years. The fight is fast, brutal, and beautifully choreographed, and it establishes Rose immediately as a formidable warrior comfortable operating far outside the human world most readers know.

The chapter’s real gut-punch lands the moment Rose emerges victorious. A phone call from her Aunt Allura delivers devastating news: Rose’s older sister Lili and her human husband Bobby have died in a car accident, leaving behind two young children, four-year-old Sadie and infant Addison. The abrupt tonal shift, from triumphant demon-slaying to grief and dawning suspicion, is exactly the kind of emotional whiplash that makes a strong series opener memorable.

What elevates the chapter beyond a simple tragedy is the ominous detail Rose can’t shake: the demon guardian’s cryptic warning that “others will defile you and yours” right before she left for the dig. Paired with Allura’s guarded question about whether the crash was truly an accident, the chapter plants a mystery that will drive the rest of the book, hinting that Rose’s family, and the secret royal Fae lineage they protect, may already be under attack.

📖 Meet the Fae royal family — get Unlikely Guardian on Jamie Davis’s site:

jamiedavisbooks.com/books/unlikely-guardian/

 

Unlikely Guardian — Chapter 1

I dove to the side just in time to avoid the hammer blow of the demon’s descending fist. This guardian spirit had been summoned more than a millennium ago to watch over the resting place of my current quest, the Star of Azothine. I’d been working at this dig location in central Iraq off and on for three years to uncover the hidden temple. Word had come two days ago they were close to finding the hidden temple.

The demon recovered faster than I expected, coalescing into its full corporeal form. Deep crimson scales covered it from head to toe. It stood upright, its horned head reaching the ceiling nearly fifteen feet above the floor.

A clawed finger pointed at me as I rolled back to my feet. “You defile this place, Woman. Know that others will defile you and yours.”

What a strange thing to say. I took several steps to the left as I tried to circle around closer to the altar behind the demon. “I came for the Star of Azothine. Let me have it and you may go back to your eternal rest.”

A loud, bellowing laugh was the only response I got. The demon charged at me; arms outstretched to crush me in a clawed embrace.

I realized I’d moved into a corner which gave me few avenues to escape past the massive arms. My only option was to run straight at the temple guardian.

The move caught it by surprise. The creature stumbled a little in an effort to slow his advance and bring his arms in faster to catch me.

I slashed to the right and then back to the left before dropping to my knees and laying backward to slide between the demon’s stubby legs. The smooth flagstone floor aided my escape.

Rage filled the roar from the demon. It stomped its cloven hooves on the floor in an attempt to crush me beneath them.

I rolled to the right until I came up against the altar that held the object of my quest. There was no time to admire the large star sapphire set into the stone carvings adorning the front of the stone table. The demon had twisted around and raked a clawed hand at me.

“Uhnnn,” I grunted as one of the claws pierced my body armor. Fiery pain lanced through my side where the claw dug into my ribs.

I spun away, avoiding the grasping hand trying to close around me. My sword scored a deep slash down through the guardian’s wrist. The magical silver blade was the only weapon in my arsenal that could touch the creature.

The altar at my back, I twisted, and half climbed, half leaped to stand on the ceremonial table. It brought me eye to eye with the demon.

“Defiler, you will pay for corrupting this unholy place with your presence.”

“Yeah, yeah, why don’t you stop complaining and do something about it.”

The demon let out another angry roar that shook the pillars holding the ancient roof in place. Dust and bits of stone dropped from above. It ignored the impending collapse, instead charging at me once again.

This time I waited for the demon to come to me while I called upon my Fae magic to infuse the sword with even more energy.

When the guardian spread its scaly arms to strike at me, I dashed off the altar, leaping high enough to pass over the demon’s shoulder. As I passed, I stabbed deep into the creature’s neck, piercing the scaly hide with ease.

The howl that erupted turned quickly into a gurgling cough as black ichor fountained from its mouth.

I slid down the demon’s back, landing on the floor behind it.

Clawed hands clutched at its throat as more of the demonic blood spurted from the open wound I’d left in passing. It fell to its knees where it wobbled a little before falling over onto its side.

I watched it for several seconds to be sure it wasn’t going to rise again, then marched past the guardian’s corpse to stand in front of Azothine’s altar. I wiped my sword blade on a rag from my pocket then sheathed it.

The gem set in the altar called to me. I had spent so long tracking this artifact down and now I had found it. All of that garbage about the curse upon those who found it now set aside. I’d performed the necessary rituals to dispel the curse and wash any effect from me. That should be enough.

I knelt and pulled my camp knife from my belt. Using the tip, I carefully pried the gemstone free until it fell into my outstretched palm. It nearly filled my hand. This would be an excellent addition to the museum foundation my family had set up long ago.

The gemstone slid easily into my pocket as I turned to make my way back out through the narrow gap in the cavern discovered beneath the dig site. As I crawled out on my hands and knees, I remembered the strange pronouncement from the demon during the fight. What had the guardian meant by others defiling mine. My what?

I reached the surface, emerging from the tunnel inside the white tent erected to ward off the scorching Iraqi sun high above. My dig master stood waiting for me. He was loyal to me and my family, as his family had been for centuries before.

“It’s good to see you made it back, Rose.”

“Do I detect a hint of doubt I would return, Taren?”

“Why, because you foolishly opted to enter without any backup?”

“I was the only one who had been cleansed of the curse from the temple’s guardian.”

“Well, you survived, so it’s a moot point.” He picked up a small metal box with a velvet-lined interior.

I dug the gem from my pocket and dropped it inside. When it landed in the cushioned center of the box, it flashed blue as it settled into the cushioned interior.

Taren’s eyebrows shot up. “Did you—?”

“I did. It’s nothing. I dispelled any potential magical harm before entering.”

“You think you did.”

I shook my head. “I’m a powerful enough spell caster to have detected anything that might have eluded my protections.”

He closed the box, which clicked as the simple locking mechanism engaged. “I’ll put this with the other things you want forwarded to the museum for exhibit?”

“Yes. It should be the center of the new collection in London.”

A soft buzzing sound came from the table at the far side of the room.

Taren smirked. “That’s your personal phone. It’s been buzzing off and on like that since you went inside.”

“You didn’t answer it, did you?”

“No, your instructions to leave your things alone were perfectly clear.”

I nodded. “Good. Take the box to the truck. They’re packing it to go to the airport today.”

“As you wish.” Taren bowed and left the tent.

The phone buzzed again with an incoming call. I went over and pulled it from my shoulder bag laying on the table. The screen read “Allura.”

If my aunt was calling, it couldn’t be good news. I swiped to open the call and turned it on speaker so I could get out of my body armor and inspect my injuries from the fight.

“Yes, Aunty, what is it?”

“Rose, you need to return to the States right away.”

“Why?” The anxious tone worried me. Allura was never fazed by anything.

“It’s your sister.”

“What’s happened to Lili? Is she okay?”

“Rose, she’s dead. So is Bobby. They died in a car accident last night. I just received notification from the authorities since they couldn’t reach you.”

I crumpled into the camp chair beside the table, trying to wrap my head around the news. Lili was dead, along with her husband. How? Immediately another question occurred to me.

“Are we, are we sure it was an accident?”

“That’s what the human police are saying, but you know my thoughts about such things. You need to come home and look into it.”

“Who’s taking care of the children? Has someone told Sadie yet?”

“No, she’s just four. I told her that her parents are away for a while.”

My heart sank. Sadie and her little brother Addison were orphans now. My older sister and her human husband were gone forever. I wiped at the tears filling my eyes.

“I’ll catch the first flight back. I can be there in twenty-four hours.” I paused while I ticked off the items the family needed to do. “Has anyone contacted the brother?”

“I left a message with Chip’s answering service,” Allura said, referring to Bobby’s jet-setting elder sibling. “They assured me he’d get the message.”

“I will want to talk with you about him. I know Lili and Bobby had plans for him should something like this happen, but—”

“That is a matter for the Counselor when the last wishes in the will are formally read. I will not entertain any interference from you, Rose. Lili was the senior of the two of you and it pertains to her children. She and her husband have the final say.”

Allura’s voice had a tone of finality I recognized. She wouldn’t accept any further discussion on the subject.

“I’ll send you my flight details as soon as I have them arranged. Can someone pick me up at the airport in Baltimore?”

“I’ll see that a car is sent for you.”

“Then I’ll see you when I get back. Take good care of Sadie and Addison until I get there.”

“I will always protect the future Fae queen, Rose. That has been our family’s purpose for almost five hundred years.”

Allura hung up the phone on her end, cutting off the call. I sat there staring at the blank screen for several minutes before I shook myself and pulled my sleeve down over my hand to wipe at the tears streaming down my face. There would be a time to mourn my older sister. First, I intended to find out if this was truly an accident or not. My thoughts went back to what the temple guardian had said during our fight. Had something defiled me and mine, as in my sister and her husband?

The answer lay in a small town in the center of Maryland. I intended to find out.

📖 Loved Chapter 1? Keep going — get Unlikely Guardian on Jamie Davis’s site:

jamiedavisbooks.com/books/unlikely-guardian/