She was twelve years old when she stopped growing. That was three hundred years ago. Naya never asked to become a vampire. Plucked from the brink of starvation by the ancient Edward, she was turned into an immortal predator trapped forever in a child's body-old enough to hunger, too young to be taken seriously. For centuries, she has played the role of obedient daughter while protecting a remote Transylvanian village, feeding only on the elderly and dying offered as tribute. But when Hungarian soldiers occupy the village in 1940 and massacre its people while Naya lies paralyzed in her coffin, everything changes. As she and Edward wage a bloody campaign against the occupiers, Naya discovers a devastating secret: killing her maker might finally set her free. Now she must choose between the monster she was made to be and the woman she was never allowed to become. The Guardian is a dark, emotionally charged tale of immortality's curse, the violence of war, and the extraordinary price of reclaiming a stolen life.