Chapter 4 delivers the book’s central reveal, and it earns every bit of the buildup. A splinter in Sadie’s hand sends a phantom sting through Chip’s own palm, the first hint that something is already binding him to his niece in ways he can’t explain. Minutes later, summoned into the family study to meet a diminutive Gnome attorney and face his sister-in-law’s icy Aunt Allura, Chip learns his late brother and Lili chose him for a role he never agreed to and doesn’t remember accepting.

The scene that follows is one of the most satisfying reveals a series opener can deliver: Rose admits she placed a glamour on Chip years earlier to hide the magical world from him, and lifting it floods his mind with buried memories of werewolves and magic from a night he’d long since written off as a blackout. It’s a clever, well-earned way to bring both Chip and the reader into the supernatural world at the same time, without ever feeling like an info-dump.

By the chapter’s end, Chip learns the full weight of what’s being asked of him: his niece Sadie is the next in an ancient line of Fae royalty, his own blood has already begun magically binding him to protect her, and his brother’s dying wish, over Rose’s own objections, was that Chip become the children’s Guardian. It’s a fantastic hook heading into the rest of the book, forcing a man who’s spent his life avoiding responsibility to reckon with becoming exactly what his family needs.

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

jamiedavisbooks.com/books/unlikely-guardian/

 

Unlikely Guardian — Chapter 4

“Sadie, sweetie, why don’t you go and show me how you go down the slide. I think you’ve had enough time on the swing, okay?”

“Okay, Uncle Chip.”

I helped Sadie hop down from the swing and she scampered over to the wooden castle attached to the swingset. She climbed up the ladder and I turned to Mia. “I know you said we should stay a few days, but I think we won’t have to stay too much longer. It’s a long drive back to New York, and I want to get in early enough to review the new prospectus for our fund before bedtime.”

Mia ran a manicured finger in a light caress along my forearm. “I bet I can convince you to come to bed early.”

I was about to answer her, but instead I let out an involuntary “Owww” as a sharp pain in my hand caused me to gasp and rub at my palm. At the same instant, Sadie started crying at the top of the slide on the castle’s upper platform.

“Sadie, what is it?” I rushed over to her, ignoring the fading pain in my hand.

She held up her left hand. “I have an owie, Uncle Chip.”

Her hand was right at my eye level, and I leaned forward to look at it. She had a small splinter of wood from the castle platform in her palm.

“Oh no, you have a little splinter there. Let me take a look at it.”

She looked at me, wide-eyed with new tears forming in her eyes. “Make it better.”

“I will. Give me just a second and I’ll pull it out.”

She tried to jerk her hand away. “That will hurt, Uncle Chip.”

“No, sweetie, I promise as soon as I pull it out, it’ll feel better right away. We can’t leave it in there.”

I dug in my pocket with my free hand while I held on to her little wrist in my other. My limited edition Swiss army knife had a small set of tweezers in the case. I should be able to make short work of this.

Sadie’s tears flowed more freely as she started sobbing. “I want Mommy. Where is she? Tell her to come back, Uncle Chip.”

I choked back a sob of my own as I heard her pleas. “I’m sorry, Sadie. Your Mommy had to go away. But I’m here and I’ll take care of this just like she would.”

Sadie’s tears didn’t stop flowing, but she stopped calling for her mother at least. Blinking away a few tears of my own, I positioned the tweezers carefully. I only wanted to do this once. After all, I’d promised it would feel better right away and I was a man of my word.

“Sadie, when something like this happens, you have to remember to trust that the people who love you will always be there to take care of it, understand?”

She nodded, the tears slowing a little.

“Okay, let’s count to three together.”

Her little voice joined mine.

“One, Two, Three.”

With a flick of my fingers, I pulled the splinter from her hand.

“See, all done.”

Sadie nodded and held up her hand to look at the small red spot in the center of her palm. “It still hurts.”

“We’ll go and wash it with some cool water and put a small bandage on it. I’m sure you know where they’re kept, right?”

She nodded and leaned forward to clutch me around the neck as I lifted her from the play castle’s parapet. As she leaned her head on my shoulder on one side, Mia leaned forward to whisper in my ear on the other.

“That was the hottest thing I’ve ever seen you do. Hurry and find that Band-Aid so we can find someplace to be alone.”

I caught the playful wink she gave me followed by a swat to my butt.

“Come on Sadie, let’s find those bandages, then you can play with someone else while Uncle Chip attends to some important business.”

“What kind of business would that be, Uncle Chip?” Rose asked from a few feet away.

I hadn’t even heard her come from the house. She had a way about her that always seemed to sneak up on you. I guess that was one of the reasons I’d seduced her at Lili and Bobby’s wedding reception. I had to see what all that lithe stealthiness hid beneath the surface.

As I caught myself scanning her in the tight black dress once more, she shook her head. I realized she’d caught me at it. Her disapproving smirk said it all. Looks like she remembered that interlude during her sister’s reception, too.

“What happened to Sadie?”

“Nothing to worry about, Aunt Rose,” I said. “She got a splinter, but I took care of it. Now we’re off to find a bandage.”

“Perhaps your friend can take care of that for the moment? Then Sadie can play with her friends inside. One of the neighborhood moms stopped by with another casserole and she brought her kids with her. Sadie can hang with them while you come with me. There’s some family business to attend to.”

“What kind of family business?”

“My aunt has arrived with the Counselor. He’s got some paperwork for us to look over.”

The last thing I wanted today was to go over my brother’s will or other family business. “Isn’t that something that could wait a few days? I can conference in from New York.”

“No, it must be done today. It’s overdue already.”

Her eyes flashed, which must have been a trick of the sunlight reflecting in them. I felt a sort of mental tug at my memory, then it passed. Rose’s eyebrows lowered and her mouth opened to say more.

I held up a hand to stop her. “Fine, if it’ll keep the family happy, I’ll do it today. I still think it could wait until another time, but since your aunt went to the trouble of bringing the lawyer here today, let’s get it over with.”

I leaned over to Mia and shifted Sadie in her direction. “Mia, babe, be a love and take her in to get a bandage and to play with her friends. I’m sure the other mom in there knows where Lili kept things.”

“Certainly, but don’t be too long.” She held my gaze for a long time before she carried Sadie inside.

“Wow,” Rose said. “She’s pretty obvious with the way she undresses you with her eyes.”

“Jealous? You had your turn already. Did you want another shot?”

“Not even a little. Now come on. The Counselor is an important person and shouldn’t be kept waiting too long. He has other, uh, clients to attend to.”

“After you.” I extended my arm and followed behind, allowing myself to appreciate her dress once again.

“Eyes level, if you don’t mind.”

I laughed at her understanding of exactly what I’d been doing as we walked into the house. If she wasn’t such a ball-buster, there might have been a chance for us.

Rose led me through the living room and dining room before turning down the long hallway beside the stairs. I remembered Bobby and Lili had a study back here with their personal desks. It was probably the best place for a meeting like this one.

I entered behind Rose. I recognized the stern-faced woman as Lili and Rose’s Aunt Allura. She was the matriarch of the family since their parents were long passed. The other person in the room had to be the oddest person I’d ever seen. He couldn’t be more than four and half feet tall. He had a bald head and a long grey beard and mustache. He had spectacles pinching across the bridge of his nose and his eyes peered up at me through them, watching me the whole time I walked in.

“You must be the family lawyer.” I extended a hand. “I’m Chip Proctor.”

“I’m the Counselor.”

He didn’t take my offered hand, so I dropped it back to my side. Something about his piercing black eyes sent a shiver down my spine, and I decided to get this over with as soon as possible.

“I have to be leaving for New York soon, so can we hurry this up?”

The Counselor glanced up at Allura. “What is he talking about? He acts like he doesn’t know his role in all of this.”

Rose laughed, though there was no mirth in her eyes. “Oh, he doesn’t. He never paid much attention to what his brother and sister-in-law were up to. It doesn’t surprise me that he’s oblivious to the obvious.”

“What are you talking about? I came down here to visit every time they invited me and dropped in by surprise a few times to boot. I knew my brother and his wife very well.”

The small man pointed to Rose. “You administered the test. We have the blood sealing his place as the Guardian to prove it.”

“Yes, well, I didn’t see any reason to leave him clued into the hidden realm, so I cast a glamour on him.”

Allura shook her head. “You shouldn’t have done that, Rose. It will only make all of this that much more difficult.”

“I still held out hope my sister would come to her senses and appoint another in his place.”

“And yet, she did not do so.” Allura’s hard eyes glared at Rose. “When had your sister ever changed her mind once she’d decided something?”

Rose squirmed a little as she answered. “There’s always a first time.” She pointed at Chip. “Besides, he’s completely unsuited to this role.”

I stepped forward, trying to wrap my head around my place in the conversation. I held up a hand interrupting the others. “I’m sorry. I’m standing right here. What test? What hidden world, for that matter? And where did you get my blood?”

“Remove the glamour, Rose,” Allura said. “You set it in place so it must be you.”

Rose let out a disgusted groan. She moved to stand directly in front of me. She raised her hand over my head, and I flinched a little.

“Relax, you baby. I’m not going to hurt you.”

“I know that.” I let out the breath I’d been holding and met her eyes with a level gaze and tried out my best bravado. “What are you going to do, cast a spell on me or something?”

“No, silly. Remove one. Now hold still.”

Her hand hovered a few inches above my forehead, and I resisted the urge to stare up at it, holding my eyes on her striking green ones. They flashed again, brighter somehow, like they had outside, only this time there was no sun to cause the glow. She muttered a word I didn’t know in a language I didn’t understand.

A white-hot flash of light washed across me. It wasn’t in the study, though. The room was as shadowed as it had been when I walked in. This was inside my mind. As it faded, a few distant memories from five years before drifted up to the surface, like a corpse floating up to bob in a river current.

“Werewolves, and magic. They’re all real. You tricked me into that biker bar and…” I stopped trying to wrap my head around it all. “That was the test you’re all talking about? You tried to get me killed.”

Rose laughed. “You were never in any real danger. Besides, you passed the test, even though I was sure you wouldn’t.”

I rubbed at my right palm with my thumb. “You cut me and took a drop of my blood. I remember it all now. How did you do that?”

“Magic, Chip. Werewolves, supernatural creatures of all kinds, and magic, they’re all real. Now you know the truth of the world around you because you’re about to be let in on this family’s greatest secret and you have to be aware of everything, so pay attention.”

I glanced at Allura and the Counselor guy standing off to one side. I pointed to the shorter of the two. “And him?”

“He’s a Gnome,” Rose said. “They make the best Counselors in matters like this because they’re immune to most magical suggestion. That makes them trustworthy witnesses to legal actions.”

“So, what are you, a witch? That wouldn’t surprise me, I guess.”

“Oh, goodness, no. Witches and warlocks are humans who can use magic. Our family is Fae, a type of fairy, I guess you’d call it, though we’re not a variety with wings and such.”

Allura interrupted. “We are not anything like fairies, Rose. Do not dumb it down for him. He must come into this with his eyes open, or the Guardianship will not take hold.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Chastised, Rose returned her attention to him. “Chip, it’s like this. Lili and I, along with Aunt Allura here, are part of a line of Royal Fae dating back several millennia. Our family has sort of been in hiding for the last four hundred and eighty-odd years waiting for the next great Fae queen to be born. That has now happened.”

Allura said, “Our family has been entrusted with this duty for centuries, Charles.”

I winced as she used my given name. I hated my given name.

“We had hoped to help the queen grow into her ascendancy without incident, but our cause has been revealed to some who would seek to harm the family. That is what has brought us to this moment.”

I stared at the old woman, trying to process everything she and Rose had just said. My returned memories from five years ago combined together with what they’d just revealed to me in a rush of awareness. I struggled to put it all into some semblance of order in my mind. As I did, something Allura had said struck me.

“Wait a minute. You said someone tried to harm the family. That means you think Bobby and Lili’s wreck wasn’t an accident at all.”

Rose shook her head.

Allura said, “Almost assuredly not, though we’re looking into proving our suspicions to be positive.”

I looked back at the closed door back to the hallway. I could almost sense Sadie playing out in the family room. She seemed to be running in a circle and I started to get a little dizzy. How did I know that?

“And Sadie is…”

Rose sighed. “That little girl is the next Fae queen, provided she lives to the age of eighteen.”

My eyes tracked along the wall as Sadie walked from the living room into the kitchen. “How do I suddenly know where she is?” I held up my hand, staring at it and remembering the splinter. “How did I know she was hurt earlier?”

Allura nodded. “The binding has already begun. Your blood is strong for a human. Your family comes from old stock, full of their own power. Let us complete the process so you may become the Guardian your brother wished for you to be.”

The way she said that I could hear the emphasis on the capital G in the word. “Wait a minute. I can’t be the guardian to the two little kids. I don’t know anything about raising children.”

“See,” Rose said. “I told you he was unsuitable to the job.”

The Counselor cleared his throat. “And yet, Princess, both your sister and his brother chose him.”

“Wait, princess?”

Rose waved off the question. “We don’t generally do titles anymore. Only those who serve the family still use them.”

“But you’re a princess? I suppose Lili was the previous queen?”

“No, there is only a Fae queen every five hundred years,” Allura said. “Both Lili and Rose are princesses, as am I, though from another generation.”

“Well, then maybe Rose should be this Guardian you’re talking about.”

“I wanted to be, but my sister overruled me. It has to be you, Chip. Let the Counselor explain all this to you and then you’ll understand better.”

I walked over to sit in the swiveling black leather chair in front of my brother’s desk. I gestured to the Gnome to begin whatever it was he had to do while I wrapped my mind around what was happening. I didn’t plan on accepting, but arguing the point was getting me nowhere. It was time to regroup and then try something different once they’d laid their cards on the table. This wasn’t my first legal negotiation.

I could handle this. Right?

📖 Loved Chapter 4? Get the full story — get Unlikely Guardian on Jamie Davis’s site:

jamiedavisbooks.com/books/unlikely-guardian/