My mother had told me about the options, but she had also told me the likelihood of me getting pregnant by a mortal was pretty much slim to none. There were very few female angels that were able to give birth to a healthy human baby. Not to mention the fact that they were only permitted to pair with others of the same breed. Apparently, when an angel did get pregnant, the gestational period decreased. Instead of the mortal forty weeks, the child was fully developed sometimes as quickly as twenty-five to thirty weeks.
Now there was a twist to the whole thing. While female angels were pretty much given permanent birth control, male angels still had the capability of getting a human woman pregnant. At least, that was what she had learned from the few like her in the world. That was where all the half-angels came from: they sprang from the pairing of a mortal woman and a celestial male. This was meant to increase protection of Earth from demon or other half-blood invasions.
There were very few cases where an angel had given birth to a human child. However, I was something that wasn’t supposed to be, so I guessed it could happen. It only takes once… My mother hadn’t heard of female demons, but there was always a possibility that my demonic self might be dominant when it came to the production of children. Still, the chances remained slim to none.
“Good.” Wesley’s father seemed satisfied. “If you do need anything, I put a pack of… you know… in the closet.”
Wesley steered me quickly upstairs before his father could say anything else.
“I am so sorry,” Wesley said fervently as soon as we were safe in his room. I could tell he was horribly embarrassed by the talk his father had just had with the two of us.
“It’s okay. At least he cares,” I said, touching his cheek then throwing my jacket on the couch.
“I have to admit I never thought about it, though, all those times that we… you know.” He ran his fingers through his hair.
I knew exactly what he was talking about and at the same time I appreciated his hesitation in saying the word.
“I wouldn’t be too concerned with it. I’m sure I’m perfectly fine,” I said, taking a seat on the edge of his bed.
Wesley got down on his knees and pushed my legs open so he could wrap his arms around me.
“If it was to happen I wouldn’t leave you,” he assured me, laying his head on my chest so I could play with his hair. “I mean, we already have a future together. Does it really hurt anything if we discuss that part of our lives now?”
I stared down at him but couldn’t bring myself to smile. He really wanted to discuss children now? I must be high on glue or something, because it just wasn’t going to happen. I wasn’t sure how to tell him that if he stayed with me having children would be a near impossibility.
“Right now?” I asked. “I don’t think it’s the right time. Think about it. We have college starting next year. If we plan to have a child right out of high school neither of us will get to go.”
“What if we don’t go to college?”
“Well, in that case we still have dreams that we want to complete before we have kids. For now I think we should just concern ourselves with being seniors. Not to mention that my mom is already anti premarital sex. She’d kill me. Seriously, she would kill me.” I struggled to keep my composure.
“I would prefer to marry you before we have kids, but I can be pretty persuasive.” He grinned at me. “Not that it looks like you need much of that.” He smiled wickedly. “Right now I’m in the mood for a movie and some quality cuddle time.”
“You are such a tease!” I threw a pillow at him. He let out a laugh and pounced on me.
“I’m the tease?” he said, wrapping his fingers in mine. “Have you seen what you’re wearing? When you bend over I can see all the way from boob to navel. Your outfit just screams take me.” He kissed my nose and pushed his forehead against mine. “By the way, I can feel your heart pounding.”
I pouted at him. “I thought you said you wanted to watch a movie.”
“I think I changed my mind. I am quite comfortable right here, crushing you.” He pulled himself up on his elbows and looked down at me.
“I’m glad that me being unable to breathe makes your day.”
His smile faded. “Let’s get married,” he said suddenly.
“Okay, Wesley, what meds did they give you? Because I think you’ve lost your mind.” I looked up at him and could see that he was as serious as a heart attack.
Without warning he jumped off me and ran to his desk, then pulled something out of the drawer. I rolled onto my side and propped my head up with my hand.
“No, I’m fine, I promise,” he muttered as he returned to the bed and lay down next to me. He lifted his hand to show me the ring he was holding. “My dad didn’t agree with me purchasing an engagement ring. However, he did okay a promise ring. This ring right here means that I will love you no matter what. It also means that when we are ready to take our relationship to the next level that I will fulfill my promise to you.” He slipped it onto the ring finger of my right hand.
“Shouldn’t it go on the other hand?” I asked, confused.
“Once we decide we are ready to name the date I’ll switch it over to your left. It’ll be up to you to say it’s time.” He smiled at me.
I kissed him sweetly and smiled as I looked down at the ring. What was I going to do with this boy?
“I don’t know what to say.” My voice cracked. I was on the verge of tears.
“Just say you will think about it.” He smiled at me before getting up to retrieve the remote. “I was thinking we could start with the original Dracula and work our way up from there. You like vampire movies, right?”
I shivered. I loved them, in fact. The problem was that now I had seen them first hand, so it sort of ruined them for me. Even though Bela Lugosi had made quite an impression on me, he wasn’t exactly the real thing. Perhaps it was just as well those who played vampires on screen did not know.
“Yeah.” I smiled. I didn’t see how I could tell him I had suddenly gone off them.
“Alright! Are you ready for the fun?” He kissed me briefly on the lips and laughed.
“What are you on?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Nothing.” He rolled his eyes. “I’m just happy to be with you.”
Chapter Seventeen: Nightmares
Wesley wasn’t the same after the attack. I don’t think I was the only one who noticed it, either. Everyone was on high alert that something could happen to him at any time. He would wake in the night screaming, gripping tightly onto me and crying. I would spend the next hour playing with his hair and telling him it was all going to be okay, reminding him that I was there to take care of him.
“Dawn?” he would whisper as he emerged from yet another terrible dream.
“I’m right here.”
“Good.”
“You remember any of it this time?”
“Nope. Nothing. Same as usual.”
He could never remember what he saw in his dreams, no matter how many times I asked him. Mine, on the other hand, had taken a turn for the worse. Until then Wesley had been the antagonist in my nightmares; now he cowered behind me while I was forced to protect him. All the strength had been drained out of him. The strong figure he once was had been reduced to a shell.
The redhead made further appearances in quite a few of my dreams. She would scream at Wesley in German and he would clamp his hands over his ears and rock back and forth until I intervened. I always came with flames at the ready. These dreams were a torture to me, and I was glad I was the only one having them. What were the chances that we were in the same dream, right?
Wesley did his best to conceal the agony his dreams caused him. When he was awake, you wouldn’t have guessed that anything was haunting him at all. But I saw how they left him tired and noticeably weakened.
My mother had accepted the fact that we were a single unit now, and she insisted that we spend most
nights at the house. After a short debate with Mr. Jensen, my mother got her way. I kept getting this odd feeling that he actually knew what she was. Whatever the case, he never fought against her for long. He soon gave up and agreed that she knew best.
On one of the bad nights she came running into my room and put her hand on Wesley’s head, searching for any indication of what was hurting him.
“Do you remember anything?” she asked him when he woke.
“No.” He looked sad. “I am trying, Mrs. Weathers, but I can’t remember a thing.”
“It’s okay, Wesley. I just wish that whatever it was would leave a trace of something.” She patted his shoulder, then gave me a stern look and nodded toward the kitchen.
I took her cue and slid out of bed, kissing Wesley on the forehead before leaving the room to join my mother.
“What is it?” I asked quietly.
“Whatever is messing with him is strong magic.” She sat down at the table and put her head in her hands.
“Why do you say that?” I had yet to see anything stump my mother.
“It’s like he instantly forgets. There is a split second of recognition and then all of it is wiped out.” She glanced up at me. “I have never experienced anything like it. I mean, I know nightmare demons, but I don’t think they are capable of this.”
“So you don’t think it’s a demon?”
“No, I didn’t say that. I just don’t think it’s a nightmare demon.”
“What do you think it is, then?” I was really getting tired of not knowing what was going on with Wesley.
“I think it’s a very strong being. Tell me, Dawn, in your dream when you and him are on the plain, what is after you?”
I rubbed my eyes. “Usually it’s just the redhead, the girl we saw in the woods.”
“Interesting. I wonder if I was right about her...” My mother was speaking to herself.
“Right about who?” I had the distinct feeling we were going in circles.
“Nothing, honey. Go back to bed. I need to call an old friend.” She pulled out her cell phone and motioned for me to leave the room.
I wandered back to my bedroom and crawled in next to Wesley, snuggling up close.
“She figure anything out?” he asked.
“No. Trust me, she will. She always figures things out.” I kissed him softly.
“My dad trusts her, says she’s the best in the business.”
“Go back to sleep, Wesley. I’ll be right here if you need me.”
“That’s the thing. I’m not really tired anymore.”
He pulled my face closer to his and hungrily pressed his lips to mine.
***
The next morning my mother startled me awake.
“Dawn! Get up!” she demanded.
I opened my eyes to find her standing there with a frown on her face.
“What?” I asked, yawning.
“Get dressed and meet me in the front yard.”
I looked at Wesley and frowned. We had been up most of the night and the last thing I wanted was to leave my warm bed, but I dutifully got up and threw something on before joining her at the front door.
“What’s up, Mom?”
She shot me a distracted look that I could make nothing of.
“I want to try something tonight when you get home.” Then she turned back to look down the road, as if searching for something.
“What?” I asked. It was a bit chilly and I was only wearing a thin jacket.
“You can remember what happens in your dreams. It can’t be possible for the redhead to attack both of you at the same time, so I’m wondering if she is able to split her image in two, so you see one thing and Wesley sees another. I want to try to see what he sees, but I need both of you sleeping to be able to do this. I need you to persuade Wesley to let me get in his head.”
“Yeah, sure. Anything that will help, Mom,” I said.
The idea sounded like it might work. Right now, I would try anything to find out what was haunting Wesley.
“I’m meeting up with a friend this afternoon to discuss some possibilities,” my mother went on. “I don’t know when I will be home.” She gave me a hug and walked to her car. “I love you, Dawn.”
“Love you, too, Mom,” I said slowly, wondering where she was off to.
“Everything okay?”
Wesley appeared at the door beside me, shielding his eyes from the sun. I was starting to feel its effects, too, and walked back inside.
“Mom wants to try something different tonight,” I told him.
“What’s that?”
“She will be observing us while we sleep tonight. She thinks.” I dried up, not knowing quite how to tell him my mother wanted to probe our minds to see if our dreams were connected.
“Dawn, you don’t have to be coy about your mom’s gift.”
I looked at him in surprise. “What do you mean?”
Could he really know?
“I don’t know how she does it, but when she touches me I get this feeling she can see what’s in my head.” He laughed uncertainly.
“Really?”
Now it seemed it was Wesley’s turn to struggle to explain things. “This morning when I woke up screaming for you she was there in an instant. When she put her hand on my head I just knew she was looking for whatever was hurting me.”
He didn’t seem in shock, but I searched his face for the smallest hint of amusement.
“Oh.” It was all I could think of to say.
“So, yeah, she can try whatever she needs to.”
Well, that was that, then!
“Okay. Good. I’ll tell her.” I smiled at him sweetly.
“So does this mean that you too have some awesome secret superpower I need to know about?” he teased.
Yeah, I can shoot fire from my hands and erupt into red flames.
“Nope, I’m just normal, me.” I said sadly, wishing that I could just tell him.
***
It was late in the evening when my mother came to me and asked if we could proceed with the plan.
“Alright, you two,” she said once the two of us were in bed, “I’m going to be right here if you need me for anything.” She laid a sleeping bag out on the floor and plopped down on it, stretching.
I prayed quietly that this would have results.
“How is this going to work, Mrs. Peterson?” Wesley asked cautiously.
Had he just been in my head? I had told my mother how he had figured out what she could do by touch and that he had no worries about her plan. She hadn’t seemed surprised. There had to be far more to the story concerning the Jensen family than she was telling me.
“Well,” she started, “I’m going to sit here and watch you fall asleep. Once I see you are in REM sleep I am going to place one hand on Dawn’s head and the other on yours. That way I can see what is happening on both dream plains.” She gave him a reassuring smile.
“Okay. Hope it works.” He smiled back at her and lay down.
I’ll admit it was weird at first, having my mother there, but when I fell asleep it seemed no time at all between my eyes closing and them opening again in the astral world.
I wasn’t in the bar as I had been before. Instead, I was standing in an old house. The lights were off and everything had an eerie glow. I turned around and took in the room as a whole. Wesley was sitting cross-legged on the bed with an odd look on his face.
“Where are we?” I asked him.
“This was my room,” he answered.
“When?”
“When I was sixteen.”
He got off the bed and went to the door, opening it to see what was on the other side. The whole house seemed to be in darkness.
“Why do you think we are here?” I whispered, following him closely.
He exited the room, gripping my hand to make sure that I was with him. We made it to the bottom of the stairs before everythin
g went to Hell. The redhead rushed at me, shouting and screaming. Wesley dropped to the ground holding his head and shrieking.
“See what you do to him!” I yelled back at her as the fire percolated in my wrists.
“What I do to him?” she retorted in her broken English, which was becoming harder and harder to decipher.
“Yes, you!”
I felt the fire let go and suddenly everything around us went up in flames.
“If you had left things alone it wouldn’t be like this!” the redhead screeched.
“Leave what well enough alone?” I demanded as the fire burned.
“Him! He was mine, and you stole him.” Her mouth twisted into a sneer.
“There was no stealing. He came to me willingly,” I growled.
“Only because he had visions of you.”
“Miranda?” I asked, my eyes burning.
“Who else would I be?” She smiled a devious smile and the world turned to black.
My mother pulled me from the dream as fast as she could. I could smell the fabric at my sides burning. She was afraid that I would erupt into flame if she let me stay there any longer. Wesley was crying out for me and I was on him in a second, soothing him and whispering in his ear. My mother’s hand was still planted firmly on his head and her eyes were as white as milk.
“All I see is darkness,” she muttered. “There is a voice, but I do not know what it says. It’s speaking in another language.”
My mother released Wesley’s head as he shot awake midscream. By the time he was able to see her, her eyes had returned to normal.
“What was it?” he asked, his heart was racing as he twined his fingers with mine.
“Darkness,” she said slowly, looking at me. There was more to it than just darkness, I could tell.
“What does it mean?” I asked.
“I have no idea. I’m going to have to make a few more calls and look up a few things and maybe I’ll be able to tell you more.” She got up and left the room, leaving us alone.
“Something’s up,” said Wesley, stroking my face.
“I know, but she will fill in the holes and tell us what she thinks.”
I kissed him on the cheek and lay back down. We slept with our hands locked together.
The Wardens Boxed Set Page 14
