by Wendy Owens
“When are you getting married?” Rachel asked.
“As soon as we can,” Mirada added, the smile on her face larger than any one Michael had ever seen her display.
“And the council finally approved this?” Uri inquired.
With those words the energy shifted. The smiles faded from Michael and Mirada’s faces as they looked at one another.
“What’s wrong?” Gabe quickly asked, sensing the change.
“The council’s gone,” Michael answered plainly.
“What do you mean gone?” Uri pushed.
Michael looked at him, holding onto Mirada with one hand and reaching out to grab Uri’s shoulder with the other. “You were right, it was a trap. When I got there, they were already dead.”
“No!” Uri exclaimed, pulling away.
“That can’t be,” Haim argued.
“Baal slaughtered them all. He demanded I hand Gabe over or he would kill me, too. When I refused, we fought. I barely escaped with my life. Luckily Mirada found me, and nursed me back to health. I’m still banged up, but I’m much better than I was,” Michael explained.
“Baal? You actually fought him?” Gabe asked, moving in closer. “What was he like?”
“As evil as they say,” Michael answered.
He watched as Gabe’s shoulders slumped forward, his mouth falling open, and despair washed over him. In that moment, Michael was confident Mirada was right. He couldn’t tell Gabe about the Guardians crown, he needed to hold onto that hope, at least a little while longer.
“What are we going to do?” Uri moaned.
Michael squeezed Mirada’s hand. She peered up at him; he nodded as if giving her permission. She looked to the group, “I know where the Guardians crown is.”
All eyes turned to her, she watched as hope returned to the small group. “What?” Dina was the first to ask the question.
Mirada explained, “Over the years, the weapon has been relocated many times, but in 1952, it was moved to the center of Mt. Rainer, in Seattle. It’s watched over by a keeper.”
For an instant, when she said the word keeper, Uri thought of Seraphine. He remembered her beauty. His heart ached, but he shook the memory away as Mirada continued. This was no time, he thought, to get lost in days gone by.
“The mountain is basically an active volcano. It’s decaying from the inside out because of the acid being discharged inside. Nobody would dare go near it and therefore, it’s the last place anyone would look for it,” Mirada explained.
Gabe shook his head, unable to shake his distrust of oracles. “And you’re telling us this why?”
Michael glared at him, angry he would even question his beloved. She reached up a calming hand, placing it on Michael’s chest, and flashed him a half smile, ensuring him she was fine with the question. Looking back at Gabe she replied, “Because I love Michael. And he loves all of you.”
“And how do you know about this?” Uri followed up, honing in on Gabe’s doubt.
“Come on Uri,” she began. “You of all people should know I know an awful lot of things. I choose not to share everything I know because sometimes people can abuse such information.”
“And suddenly you trust us?” Rachel asked, stepping in front of her husband.
“Hey! You guys need to show a little respect. Mirada didn’t have to tell us anything!” Michael said in a raised voice.
Mirada laced her arm through his, squeezing it tightly. “Michael, they love you, that’s why they’re so protective. And to answer your question Rachel, Michael trusts you, and that’s enough for me. I’m not saying the weapon is even still there. I’m telling you the last thing I heard about it, that’s it.”
Uri looked around at the group and then back to his leader. “Then we leave tomorrow. Tonight, we have a wedding to attend.”
“What?” Michael choked.
Dina, grabbed a hold of Sophie’s arm and volunteered their services, “Don’t worry, me and Sophie will take care of everything.”
“We will?” Sophie grumbled.
Sophie busied herself hanging the handmade tissue paper balls around the great hall, the boys had spent most of the evening clearing the floor of cots and bringing in the tables from storage. They had since gone in to watch the chef work on the last minute feast preparations, their mouths watering. Rachel had a table at the front of the room covered in cut flowers where she was attempting to make centerpieces.
Dina set the last of the dinnerware on the table nearest to Sophie. “How you doing?” she asked.
Sophie looked down at her, then up at Rachel, and then back to the ball she was hanging, “Fine.”
“Wow, yeah, really seems like it,” Dina jested.
“What? I didn’t say anything,” Sophie defended herself.
“You didn’t have to,” Dina replied. “How are things with Damon?”
Sophie refused to look at Dina, instead she made her way down the ladder, shifted it to the next location, and climbed up with another ball. “He’s fun,” she added, shrugging her shoulders.
Dina paused, considering her friend’s behavior. “But he’s not Gabe.”
Sophie quickly looked up to where Rachel was busy working to ensure she had not heard her friend’s statement. Once she was confident they were out of earshot, she looked back down at Dina with an angry glare. “Will you shut up? Nobody said anything about Gabe.”
“You didn’t have to,” Dina remarked. “I get it, nobody will ever be Raimie.”
Sophie thought about how selfish she had been. Her loss in love could never be compared to Dina. Her beloved died, was brought back from the dead, twisted into a monster, and then Dina must turn around and put an end to the creature he had become. Sophie shuttered at the thought.
“I’m not sure what’s worse, what I went through, or having to watch the man you’re still in love with be in love with someone else.” Dina reached up, squeezing her friend’s hand and then turned to walk away.
Sophie climbed down off the ladder, scurrying after her friend, grabbing the sleeve of her shirt, “Wait, I’m sorry. I know you’re just trying to be a friend. I shouldn’t be such a witch.”
“We used to tell each other everything Sophie. Now I feel like we barely talk,” Dina continued, her lips turning downward as her eyebrows lifted.
“I know, I don’t even know what to talk about anymore … with anyone,” Sophie explained.
Dina took her friend’s hand and guided her to a set of chairs at the back of the hall. “Come on, let’s sit down and actually talk like we used to.”
Sophie smiled; the idea of it did give her some comfort. “Do you ever feel like everyone is destined to find love except us? I mean look, even Michael found it.”
Dina smiled, “He did wait a long time for it. Maybe you have to be patient.”
Sophie paused, debating whether or not she should say the next statement that was on her mind. Finally curiosity outweighed her better judgment. “Do you think you’ll ever be with anyone again?”
Dina shook her head, “I’m different.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Sophie pushed, puzzled by her friends statement.
Dina hung her head, “I’ve actually given this a lot of thought. For me, no, I won’t ever be with anyone again. But you have to understand, it’s a choice I made because of what I did.”
“But it was an accident. You didn’t mean for any of that to happen. Nobody blames you,” Sophie argued.
Dina squeezed Sophie’s hand; she wanted to make sure she was aware that she had made peace with her decision. “You’re right, I never meant for any of the bad things that happened to happen. But that doesn’t change the fact that I knew right from wrong, I made the choice to bring Raimie back, and as a result a young girl lost her life. She will never have that chance to fall in love. Knowing something I did took that from her, I couldn’t live with it.”
“I think you’re being too hard on yourself,” Sophie noted.
“There ar
e some things in this life that can’t be undone, we simply have to live with the choices we make,” Dina replied plainly. Her statement reminded Sophie of the conversation she and Gabe had at Rampart recently. He had told her almost the exact same thing.
“I don’t want to love him anymore,” Sophie said.
“Love who?” Rachel asked, as she approached with one of the centerpieces.
“Umm ...” Sophie stammered, she was at a complete loss for words.
“Damon,” Dina quickly chimed in, trying to save Sophie from total embarrassment.
Rachel tilted her head considering what she had just been told, “I’m not really sure what to do with that information.”
Sophie blushed, though the conversation was awkward, it would have been far worse if Rachel had discovered that even now, Sophie still carried a torch for Gabe. “You shouldn’t do anything with that information, because you weren’t supposed to hear it,” she said continuing with the farce.
Rachel wasn’t pleased with Sophie’s reply. “Well, too bad he’s my brother, and that’s what sisters do. First off, I didn’t realize you guys were so serious. I had no idea you loved him. Second, if you love him, why on earth would you want to stop loving him? He’s such a great guy, and he really seems to like you.”
Sophie hopped to her feet, as if outraged by the questions. “I said I wasn’t going to talk about it with you.” And with those words she stormed out of the hall.
Rachel looked down at Dina, her mouth hanging open. “All right. Come on, there is no way she should have reacted like that, am I right?”
Throwing both hands up in the air defensively Dina answered, “Hey, it’s none of my business.”
“Oh no, not so fast. Unless you want me discussing this with my brother, you’re going to tell me why she doesn’t want to love him,” Rachel demanded, aggravated with the sidestepping.
Dina felt her chest flutter. This was about to blow up into a much bigger issue than it needed to be. “You promise if I tell you you’ll let this drop.”
“Scouts’ honor,” Rachel said lifting her fingers in a salute.
Dina smiled, she could see why Gabe loved her so much, she was quite adorable. “Things are getting real now. We’re at war and Sophie can’t deal with losing Damon if he was hurt or something. Or worse, what would it do to Damon if he lost her.”
“Oh my God, I had no idea she cared for him that much. I feel like such an idiot. I’ve been so hateful to her. I should apologize,” Rachel commented.
“No!” Dina exclaimed. “I mean, she didn’t want you to know, and, well … you promised me you wouldn’t say anything. I’m the one she’ll be mad at.”
“No, of course, you’re right,” Rachel said shaking her head. “I won’t say anything to her. Thank you so much for confiding in me. It’s comforting to know Damon has someone who cares so much about him.”
Dina feigned a smile and watched as Rachel walked away, placing the centerpiece in the middle of the table and heading back to the front of room to retrieve another one. Walking to the back of the room, Dina turned and looked at the festive styling of the hall. Her heart ached. What she didn’t tell Sophie was that even though she had reconciled herself to being alone, she missed love. She missed the conversations with that special person. She missed the smell of them, the one that made you relax as soon as it filled your nostrils. She missed a lover’s embrace. This was her burden now though, a prison of her own making.
The stars were high in the sky, the night lit by magical floating lanterns. Just outside the grand hall the masses were gathered, too many to possibly have seats. There was a mixture of refugees and Guardians, throngs of people, grateful for how Michael had touched their lives at one point or another.
“Wow, you clean up nice,” Mirada heard Calysta’s voice behind her.
“I was wondering when you’d show up,” Mirada remarked, turning around to get a better look at her sister.
“I wasn’t sure if you’d want to see me,” Calysta replied hesitantly.
“What? I thought you were mad at me,” Mirada replied.
“Not for a very long time. In fact I missed you. So the dress fits well,” Calysta continued.
“You’re the one that sent it to me? It showed up in my room and there wasn’t a note.” Mirada said, smiling, her heart full at the gesture. “I thought once you found out I was marrying Michael you’d be furious.”
“I realized a long time ago, that was a girl’s infatuation, nothing more. If he makes you happy then, I’m glad. Since I’ve come to Iron Gate he has actually been ... pretty great. I know the council was pressuring him to lock me up, but he stood up for me,” Calysta explained.
Mirada reached out and pulled her sister in close. It was a feeling neither had felt in more time than they cared to remember.
Pushing herself away and straightening out her dress, Calysta wiped away a stray tear with the corner of her hand. “Okay, that’s enough of that, let’s not get all crazy here.”
Looking out at the scene in front of them, Mirada grabbed hold of her sister’s wrist, her legs going weak for a moment. “I can’t believe this is happening.”
“I can’t believe Michaels’s crew can put something like this together so quickly.” Calysta laughed.
Mirada laughed, “Yeah, same here. I’m a little blown away by it all. All the lights look like tiny little crystals scattered throughout the sky.”
“You deserve this,” Calysta added softly, squeezing her sister’s hand. As the music began, signaling the wedding march, a tear ran down Mirada’s cheek.
“Will you walk me down?” she asked Calysta with a smile, who gladly nodded in the affirmative, and Mirada took that first step towards her new life with her family at her side.
Stepping from side to side, shifting his weight between his feet, Michael wiped his sweaty palms on the back of his suit jacket. He never imagined when he had asked Mirada to marry him early that afternoon, that he would be standing there that very evening, preparing to say his “I dos.”
Only a week ago he was going throughout his day, the knowledge that he would never be with Mirada again a fact he had accepted and come to terms with. If it meant keeping her safe then he would die alone. There was, after all, nobody else for him out there. She was his one true love.
“You look quite dapper, sir,” Sophie said softly, coming up behind her mentor, briefly touching her hand to his shoulder.
Michael looked down at her, a smile beaming across her face. A navy colored dress with a vintage cut to it hugged her frame, and her auburn hair was pinned up away from her face. “Thanks, you look quite lovely, too.”
“I just wanted to say congratulations,” she offered, before turning to leave.
“Wait, Sophie, won’t you talk with me for a moment?” Michael inquired. “I’m afraid I actually am quite nervous.”
“You? I don’t believe it,” Sophie smiled as she replied.
“No, really. I feel like there’s an anvil on my chest,” Michael added. “Either this is nerves or I’m having a heart attack.
Sophie furrowed her brow, “Let’s hope nerves.” Sophie hesitated then added, “You know sir, you can still get out of here if you’ve changed your mind.”
“What?” Michael gasped, before laughing slightly. “I haven’t changed my mind. I think it’s all happening so fast I’m a little overwhelmed, that’s all.”
“Of course. Well this is a rare side of you indeed,” Sophie commented. “You’re always the rock to us, the dad that we can come to for support. And now … well … you’re a hot mess.”
Michael smiled. “Thanks. But seriously, I’ve always thought of you like a daughter. I couldn’t imagine this day without you and the others here. And by the way, I saw the hall, you and Dina did a great job.”
“Thank you,” Sophie said softly, looking away. It felt like her insides were being shredded. On one hand she was excited a man who had raised her and taught her everything she knew had at last mana
ged to find love. On the other hand, with each happy union she witnessed, she could feel her chance slipping away.
Michael could see the distressed look on her face. “Are you all right?”
Sophie smiled up at him, hesitating for a moment, and then the wedding march began. “Show time,” she chimed, relieved for the opportunity to exit.
Sophie stepped to one side, blending in with the crowd. She watched silently as Mirada came walking down the stone path, her eyes locked with Michael as she glided. Across from her she caught site of Gabe, he and Rachel were staring into one another’s eyes. The romance that lingered in the air had clearly swept them up in it.
She wasn’t able to look away, captivated by their display. Rachel’s eyes seemed to actually be sparkling. Gabe looked entranced by her gaze. Since Gabe and Rachel’s wedding day, Sophie had been telling herself she would let Gabe go if Rachel made him happy, the problem was she didn’t believe she did. How could Rachel make him happy if deep down he still loved Sophie? She thought that, until now. With a deep exhale Sophie forced a smile. Her beloved was truly happy, and somehow, she would have to learn to make that be enough for her.
The nine people filed into Michael’s office, one at a time and gathered into a circle near the oversized stone fireplace. Gabe noticed the way Mirada still gazed at everything in amazement. It was all still so new to her, the way the Guardians worked. He remembered when he first came to Rampart and the feeling he had of being overwhelmed. Michael’s office there had been even more extravagant in style with the domed ceiling and mural.
The previous commander at Iron Gate, Patina, had been relocated, given a full time position on the council. After Michael convinced the council he would do more good at Iron Gate, than residing with the council, he returned and moved into Patina’s old office. It was very similar to his space at Rampart, except the room was absent of the dome.
“All right everyone, quiet down, we have some important information I need everyone to hear,” Michael commanded and instantly the room fell silent.
