We weren’t sure if he was an ally or not. None of us had been able to get close enough to him to find out. Maybe he feared us, then again, who is going to be scared of three girls? The way he stared at Krista was downright creepy. I wasn’t sure if he was marveling at the work of a resurrected being, or if he was just enamored by her beauty.
I felt the air around me move again as my two-winged companions let their feet hit the ground. I heard Krista pull her whip from her back, and then the clang of Helen’s pitchfork on the road. I rolled my eyes at the sound. Don’t ask me why the woman chose a pitchfork as a weapon. I think she thought it was amusing and ironic.
“I wish he would turn back into human form,” Helen declared, perturbed. I glanced over at her as her wings tucked safely into their imaginary pouch.
“He’s not going to,” Krista’s melodic voice chimed in.
I enjoyed the way Krista spoke; it was classically feminine. After we resurrected her from Purgatory, it took her several weeks to master her gifts without consequence. I still don’t know how many times the allies had to reset their camps. All because their tents fell over due to one of Krista’s mini tornados.
“Naw, I think he will. Look how scared he is right now. He’s not going to attack,” I mentioned, keeping my eyes locked with the creature’s as he backed slowly away from the three of us.
There was a noticeable shift in the shoulders, and the cat’s eyes turned green. Slowly the body changed into that of a young man. I say young, but I’m sure he was far from that. He was probably frozen in time, as some of the other unfortunates that were inhabiting our back yard. He put his hands up and cleared his throat.
“Here’s the deal, magic man.” I started flipping the flaming sword in my hand. “We need to know what side you are on. If you are with us, welcome.” I said cheerily. “If you are against us, and I do mean this concerning your magic, then I’m going to have to kill you.” I smiled at him again and watched him shudder for a moment. I found myself hoping for the latter.
“No, no need for death. I’m with you, I say.” He stumbled over his words as he stepped toward us.
“What’s up with all the stalking?” Krista asked, wrapping the cracker of her bullwhip around her arm, and securing the handle behind her back.
“I can’t help it,” he pouted. “I have tried all sorts of magic to slow the transition, but sometimes, I cannot control what my body does.”
“Hey, that sounds like Dawn on a good day,” Helen teased, and I glared at her.
“How do I know I can trust you?” I asked, popping my neck.
“If I were a spy, do you think I would leave these people here alive?” he asked. His eyes were pleading for us to understand his turmoil.
“Fine. I will believe you,” I sighed, pulling the fire from the sword back into my fingertips as Minerva had taught me. “Just so you know, I have no qualms with killing you if for any reason I feel you are lying to me.”
“Is she always this feisty?” he asked, glancing at Krista who instantly blushed.
“You have no idea,” Helen replied monotone.
“What are you guys, the teenage musketeers?” He had to be joking with me.
“No,” Helen groaned.
Technically Krista was the oldest, but because of her preservation in Purgatory, she had returned to an eighteen-year-old body. This meant Helen was older, but not wiser.
“No? Then what are you?” the warlock asked, his lips curving in a smirk. It was nice to see he was getting comfortable around us. Even though it irritated me that he went about diffusing the situation with mockery.
“We are the Wardens,” Helen answered, and Krista broke out into laughter, both of us turning to look at her. The blonde glanced at us through her eyelids and shut up. I cracked a smile, getting what she was laughing about.
“I’m Dawn, the brunette is Helen, and the blonde is Krista.” I put my hand on the warlock’s shoulder. “We are not superheroes as Helen would have you believe.”
He let out a chuckle and looked at Krista again from the corner of his eye.
“I know about the Wardens,” he said as we walked down the road toward the waiting SUV.
“Does everyone in the world know about Wardens? Because just six months ago I had no clue who or what they were,” I pouted, hanging my head.
It seemed all the allies knew what I was before I could tell them. For several nights I was treated to stories about the previous women put in charge of protecting the first elements. I, apparently, was nothing like the last one. She had been full of power that not even I had been able to master.
“It’s pretty common knowledge in the Underground,” the warlock said, looking at me and smiling.
“I’m starting to learn that,” I grumbled as I opened the back door to the SUV. “Just so you know there is one more step to the test. You will learn it when we get to the manor,” I said as he climbed inside, and the door was secured behind him.
****
I felt like we were being used as nothing more than a glorified welcoming committee. When something came to town, we were supposed to hunt it down and find out if it was for, or against, us. So far, every being that had made its way to Harrisville had been an ally, excluding the demon who made her escape in the ambulance. However, I had gotten rather good at handling my mother’s broadsword.
We entered the manor with the warlock trudging behind us; his head bowed as he was introduced to my mother. She gave him a warm smile and reached out to take his hand.
“Welcome,” she said sweetly, her eyes flickering, and she nodded at me. Closing her eyes, she attempted to pull whatever she could from his memories. In the end, the warlock was as he said. I rolled my eyes, for once I would give anything to find a creature out there that wasn’t an ally.
The warlock turned to nod at us as my mother led him to the back yard. Hopefully, someone out there would be able to assist him in finding his place in the world. I think out of all the allies we had seen over the last few weeks, we were receiving an increased number of hybrids. The Queen was quite particular about who she wanted in her world, and these were the ones that did not make the cut. These were the bad experiments, those that did not take the blood mix correctly, creating monstrous creatures; many of which could not complete a full transformation. Our newest member was going to fit in nicely with the other nomadic crossbreeds.
Amongst the purebloods and rejected hybrids were element Carriers. Their gifts were varied, depending on the generation of their core element. Many of them were unaware of what was in them, making them an easy target to the Queen’s advances. Even when their stamina was at its peak, their gifts were unparallel to ours. They were trained in self-defense, no matter what generation they were, not a single soul was to be lost.
We learned one thing about the different generations, while their powers were weak compared to the others; if one of us touched them, they were fully charged in seconds. For a few moments, they were able to pull power from us and amplify what they already knew. Shawn found this fascinating and would run by charging the other Carriers during drills.
There was another amazing discovery when it came to the shards. They were not just inside mortals; they were also inside of the supernatural and the paranormal. We had a member of the fae that was able to work water as well as any second generation, even a warlock that could manipulate the weather similarly to Krista. It was amazing how this little world worked.
The back yard was full of tents and other temporary homes. We had classes and sessions, told war stories, and roasted hot dogs on an open fire. We were large and continually growing. With each new being came a unique gift. Angels and demons remained silent for the most part. Occasionally we would hear that Ramiel or Mara had stepped in. When the stories started to hit the Underground about the Hybrid Queen, many felt compelled to find the Wardens. Those that knew of the element shard within their core ran for aid. They knew there was an invisible target on their backs.
My fa
ther’s plan to remove Wesley from the New Mexico camp was taking a little more time than they imagined. They needed stronger combatants, those with training. So far, we had a total of six ‘elite warriors.’ These men and women were bred to fight. They were loyal to my father and often stood guard outside the wards. They were the first line of defense.
“Max!” my mother called, running up to a man with blue hair and hazel eyes. Max had been our first warlock to come to the compound. He was amazing with his power and wowed us in the first hour of his presence. In no time he had become like family, my mother trusted him entirely.
“Angie,” he replied with a smile, turning to look at her.
“Max, this is …,” she paused. “I’m sorry; I didn’t ask your name.” She turned to our friend and frowned.
“Jeremiah,” the man answered, giving her a nod in understanding.
“Max, this is Jeremiah; he is new to the manor. Dawn and the girls picked him up in town. He’s a shifter with tremendous magical powers.”
Max’s eyebrows raised. “Oh. Welcome, Jeremiah. Please come with me; I will introduce you to the others.” He took the other man by the shoulders and led him to a small group. I watched as they graciously accepted him. If anyone could help Jeremiah, I knew it was Max.
My mother turned to me and smiled.
“I’m proud of you girls,” she stated.
“Yeah. We do what we can,” I said faking modesty.
I longed for that first real battle, one where I could try out my new skills. However, I had a feeling it was coming soon enough.
“I think someone inside is waiting to see you. It’s getting late anyway; you and the girls need to get to bed,” she said, walking past me. I looked back toward the house and took off into a sprint. I tore into the living room and dived over the back of the couch, landing on top of Adam.
“Well, hello there. It’s great to see you guys made it back ok,” Adam said, wrapping his arms around me. “So, I take it there’s another mouth to feed?”
“Yeah. For once I would like to use the sword instead of using it like a boomerang,” I groaned, rolling off of him and onto the floor. “What are you watching?”
“Some movie about the rise and fall of Rome. I think I fell asleep somewhere between the first five minutes and the last half hour. I have no clue what is going on.” He laughed. “I tried to stay awake to see you when you got home.”
“I’m here,” I grinned at him.
“Your mom said it wouldn’t be long till I can go out with you. She wants me to build a bit more confidence. Apparently, I’m still a bit jumpy when I see all these beings coming to the house. The vampires bug me the most; they look at me like I’m their next meal.” He sat up, making room for me to sit on the couch.
“It’s not that interesting yet,” I uttered, jumping up and sitting next to him, wrapping my arms around his. Adam and I had a special relationship. I did things with him that I didn’t even do with Aaron or Wesley. The thought of both of them made my heart hurt. I was still dealing with the emptiness inside of me. Even though Adam had a way of making it better, he didn’t mend the void that had been created from losing both of them.
“You heard from Aaron?” he asked me.
It was as if he knew my mind was wandering. I shook my head in reply. It had been two weeks since the last email and nearly three since he last called.
“Don’t worry; he will come around.”
“I don’t think so. Edmund made a trip to see him and said that he was doing well – he’d even made friends with a young girl his age. I think I have officially been forgotten,” I sighed. I knew it was coming. I was ready to become a memory; at the same time, I was finding myself counting the days until I saw him again. Edmund had said it would be sooner rather than later. He still would not tell me what Aaron and his family had become, no matter how hard I pressed him for more information.
“Well, it was worth a shot.” He gave me a reassuring smile. “You want to watch Halloween and pretend to be scared?”
“You always know what will make me feel better,” I laughed as I got up to find the DVD amongst the stacks that we had accumulated since the start of June.
Shawn had made several trips back to Midvale to check on things. The house was untouched, and little by little, he managed to bring back our clothes and other essentials. This included the collection of about a hundred movies that my mother and I had purchased while we were still in Texas.
The murders, for the most part, had stopped. Everything was functioning as it had before my mother and I ever lived there. People were not concerned with the empty house; they thought we were taking care of a family member. This was the same lie my mother had told the high school. Everyone was oblivious to the horrors that lurked amongst the shadows.
“You know we still haven’t celebrated your graduation, and your birthday is coming up,” Adam said as I popped the movie into the player and grabbed the remote.
“Yeah, well I’m turning nineteen, and I’m not too concerned with it,” I said quietly. “Besides, I’m going to start aging slower soon, so every year will be as if I’m celebrating my nineteenth for the next fifty years.”
“We don’t know that yet.” Adam groaned as I crawled on the couch and put my head on his shoulder.
“Mom said she hasn’t aged in eighteen years.” I rolled my eyes.
“Again, pureblood versus half-blood.” He poked my arm, and I growled at him playfully.
“This is our celebration,” I stated as Adam’s warmth overwhelmed me. In response to my comfort, I yawned. “You sleeping with me tonight?”
“If that is what my lady wants, that is what my lady gets,” he replied with a fake southern accent. I wanted to smack him upside the head.
“I sleep better when you are there.” I cuddled up closer and felt his heart quicken.
“Yeah, that’s because I’m oozing with awesomeness,” he laughed. “You just wish you were as awesome as me.”
“Oh, please,” I groaned.
“No, really.” He squeezed me. I was concentrating on his heart, pounding like it was about to break through his ribs. “I am the most awesome of the awesome.”
“Yes,” I said as if I was caving. “Please share with me your awesomeness.”
“One day, sweet princess, one day.”
Chapter 5
The Big OOPS
“I think it’s time for bed,” Adam stated, shaking my shoulder. I opened my eyes and realized that the movie had been over for a while.
“What time is it?” I asked slowly, sitting up and stretching.
“Somewhere around two, I think. I can’t make out the clock on the DVD player.” He groaned as he stretched. “We must have passed out when the damn thing started.”
I stood up, reached for his hands, and pulled him to his feet. He towered over me. Adam’s eyes softened, and I could hear his heart pounding again. I couldn’t take my eyes off him. I reached up and touched his face. He closed his eyes and leaned his cheek into my hand, a smile slowly forming. I felt my own heart start to increase, and I pulled my hand away in fear.
There was no urge to steal his soul, no desire to feed on his sins. The boy had only a few sins as it was; he was clean, with nothing that the demon in me wanted. He opened his eyes and looked at me again. I wrapped my fingers in his, led him up the stairs, and into my room.
I threw on my jammies in my closet and crawled under the covers with a topless Adam. I leaned my head on his chest and threw my arm across his stomach. It was amazing that our parents did not object to our sleep arrangements. It wasn’t like this every night, just on the nights when I would bring someone new to the manor.
I was always holding on to a fear that I had brought back someone bad, and I wanted Adam there to wake me if he heard anything. Not to mention he would be able to rouse me if for any reason I was summoned to an astral plane. I know my parents said that it couldn’t be done in the house, but stranger things had happened. With the increa
sing amount of power that was living on the property, there was no telling who was channeling what.
I propped my head on his chest and looked at his face. He had one arm up behind his head and was looking back at me with those beautiful brown eyes. He smiled at me and blinked. I stared at him in awe and saw the change in the way he looked at me. There was a longing there, and it was pulling me in. That was when I did the unthinkable, I crawled up and pressed my lips to his. He hesitated for a moment before winding his hands into my hair and pulling me closer to him.
The kiss was amazing, it sent sparks shooting from my toes, and I heard the light in me sing. The dark seemed to look out displeased, but for the first time, there was no hunger. The kiss was innocent and electric, and the way our lips fit together was as if they were meant to do this. I was meant to kiss Adam; I had always been meant to. I understood every odd feeling I had when it came to him. I wanted this, and I had wanted this for a long time.
Our lips pulled apart, and he had a bewildered look on his face. I tried to catch my breath before my heart leaped from my throat. I put my head back down on his chest, running my fingers in doodles on his flesh. I could still hear his heart pounding as his arms wound around my shoulders.
“Did that really happen?” he asked, his voice a whisper.
“I think it did,” I replied, putting my palm on his breastbone.
“Shit,” he said quietly as his breathing increased.
“Well, that wasn’t exactly what I thought you would say,” I stated, feeling dread tear through me.
Had I done something wrong? It had been over a month since Aaron and I broke up; it wasn’t like I was rushing into my next relationship. I didn’t know what I was looking for. I had to test the feeling in my soul, and I had been right.
“No, it’s good. It’s all good.” He patted my shoulder. “Let’s get some sleep. We can talk about this in the morning.”
“Sounds like a plan.” I leaned up and kissed him once more before nestling in and closing my eyes.
Wild Fire (Wardens Series Book 3) Page 3
