The Wardens Boxed Set

by Heather D Glidewell

  “What part of ‘they are human’ do you not understand?” He was pacing the room. “It is one thing to love a human, but it is another to actually claim them!”

  “I think Aaron claimed me more than I claimed him,” I ventured.

  I saw horror cross my father’s face. I couldn’t believe what I’d just said; it made my stomach turn.

  “Please, Dawn, I don’t need details!” he snapped. He sounded disgusted.

  “So what was that?” I asked again, sitting up as I felt my strength increasing.

  “That was you being dumped, for the most part,” he said quietly.

  “But I dumped him.” I had been the one to end the relationship, so why was I the one who had to deal with all the pain?

  “Very well, let me be frank on this one. Wesley was claimed by you, and he claimed you in return, without even knowing what he was doing. It can be something as simple as saying ‘I love you’ or ‘I’m going to spend the rest of my life with you.’ It binds the two of you together. It’s kind of like a binding contract between a human and a demon.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “It is his way of giving you permission to possess him.” He appeared lost in thought for a couple of seconds then he rolled his eyes. “I am more human-like now due to the whole sent-to-Earth thing. I used to be primarily demonoid, which is very different. I had the ability to seem solid to humans. They could touch me and feel me, but I had the ability to possess their bodies as well. If I claimed them I was able to make the contract binding. This meant I could possess their body any time that I wanted until the contract was broken or somehow made void.” He smiled a half smile, as though satisfied that this explanation was way better than the one he had first given.

  “Are you serious?” I felt my heart pounding and let out a sigh of relief at being aware of the sensation once again. “Are you telling me that I could have controlled Wesley?”

  “Oh, dear God, child, no. You do not have the powers to even remotely be able to control him. Miranda is part demon, so she has the same ability to claim him as you do. It was probably done in the same manner that you did it. The difference is, she has the power and knows how to control him. If she says jump, he asks how high.” He blinked and seemed suddenly uncomfortable with the way the conversation was going.

  I groaned. “That’s not good.”

  “When you and Wesley split neither one of you let the contract go. Understandably, he didn’t know he had one with you, but it was still there. Pretty much when Melissa told you that he was gone your body felt at that moment the breaking of the contract. Most likely the whole ordeal was premeditated. Miranda knew that his family would come to us, therefore she saved the breaking of the contract for such a time.” He looked sorrowfully at me.

  “I still don’t understand.” I crossed my arms over my chest.

  “Honey, he let you go. It doesn’t mean he doesn’t love you still. It doesn’t mean that he will be gone forever. However, I’m not going to lie: he’s with another woman, so there is a good chance it is forever. I would assume that Miranda was able to get him to agree to her charges and that he is now hers.” He looked miserable all of a sudden, like he was remembering something. He put his hand to his chest. “He broke your contract. You no longer hold a claim over him, and he no longer holds a claim over you. However, because you’re a dumb teenager”—he glared at me again—“you already allowed another human to claim you. And, I hate to say it, whether it was him you wanted or not, you reciprocated the claim. You can deceive him all you want to but that boy will not feel anything. As a demon, you can hold multiple contracts with many other beings. However, if he breaks it with you then we are back here again. Unless the breaking is mutual; then you will both just go on with life as normal.”

  “How do you know when a contract has been claimed?” I asked softly.

  “Well, time seems to stop. If there is already a claim on the human, you will probably hear an agonizing scream from the demon who made the prior claim. If there isn’t a previous arrangement, time just slows and then rapidly picks back up.”

  I sighed. That explained how I was slowing time. But why hadn’t I been told any of this before? If I had known earlier half of the things that he had just told me I would have joined a convent to avoid exposing myself to such excruciating pain.

  “So now what do I do?” I asked helplessly.

  “The only thing that you can do in a situation like this.” He looked at the floor. “You are just going to have to wait out the contract. Sooner or later the boy will break it. I wouldn’t suggest rushing into a third one after this one dissolves.” He touched my knee. “Besides, we have more to do now then we have ever had to do. Just because the contract is broken between you and Wesley doesn’t mean that we can’t save him.”

  “You think we can save him?” I asked him with sudden eagerness.

  He smirked. “I think we have a good chance of it, yeah. Lilliana may be one of the all-powerful on Earth, but she is one of the weaker beings in Hell. I knew this one demon who turned a whole city to ash because someone stepped on his toe! The whole city and all its people. Poof!” He laughed. “Oh, I could tell you stories about my side of the family, but I prefer not to be more damned than I already am so they will have to wait till later.”

  “Dad?” I asked, standing up. “If I claimed Wesley and Aaron, what happened with John?”

  He looked at me for a second like he was spooked by the question. “John was human once, but he isn’t anymore. His heart does not beat like it should. Whatever made him the way he is broke his human nature in two. What he did to you was in no way a contract. He claimed you, yes, but it isn’t binding in any way. You are safe on that one, honey.”

  My father gave me a reassuring smile as he followed me into the kitchen where I gave Melissa a big hug and Greg a pat on the shoulder.

  ***

  Melissa and Greg spent several hours with us that night discussing what had taken place with Wesley. There had been a fight the week before that had caused Wesley to storm from the house, threatening to leave and never come back. Greg had had enough of Wesley never being home. Accusations had been thrown around between father and son. Greg had ended up telling his son that their home was not a boarding house for his stuff, that if he planned on leaving he needed to get on with it. His father had stubbornly refused to believe the boy would actually go through with it. When he had come home from work, however, to spend some time with Wesley and discuss the situation, his son was nowhere to be seen.

  Wesley had packed up everything that had been his, including taking several pictures of him and Melissa. The only things that he had left behind were some photos of me and him taken during our time together. They were some silly cellphone snapshots that we had playfully printed and tacked to his wall so that we would always remember that we belonged together.

  “I’m so sorry, Dawn,” Greg said.

  “It’s okay, sir. I wouldn’t have expected him to take them with him.” It hurt to say it but it was true.

  “You know, dear”—he paused and reached out to clasp my hands—“I don’t know what happened between you two. I wish I could give you some answers about why he did what he did. Just know that you are always welcome in my home.”

  “Thank you, Mr. Jensen. That is far too kind of you.” I gave his fingers a squeeze and fought to control my emotions.

  “He’s a stupid, stupid, boy. That girl just isn’t right for him. She’s doing something to him. I just wish I could pinpoint what it was.” Greg’s eyes welled with tears.

  It broke my heart to see just how much damage this was doing to Wesley’s family. Wesley wasn’t thinking of anyone else but himself, and that was infuriating. Whether or not his leaving had been consensual, nobody deserved to feel this much pain.

  My mother and I followed the two of them home that night to make sure they were okay. We were going to stay with them to protect them in case
someone, or something, came snooping around. It had been my father’s idea to offer this protection. Greg knew that our family was gifted, and he trusted my parents with his whole being. I believed that in a way Melissa also understood, but she was too young to fully comprehend the measure of power that the three of us had.

  When we got there the first place I went was Wesley’s room. Opening the door I nearly fell to my knees at how empty it looked. Every last poster had been taken from the walls; all that remained was a stripped bed, two nightstands, and the couch that used to sit facing the now missing TV. It was almost too much to bear. Even in this empty state, the room held so many memories for me, though it was missing the one key ingredient to give them life: the day he gave me the promise ring, the day he told me that he loved me, the day we discussed children and our future. With nearly everything gone, it almost left me wondering if any of it, even Wesley himself, had been real.

  Could it be possible that he was just a figment of my imagination? Was I really somewhere back in Texas dreaming an elaborate dream?

  The heartbreaking feeling that I had experienced that day was still with me. Even though the pain had faded, the memory of it was constant. He had let me go. Had he done it because he wanted to? Or had he done it because he had to? Either way, it was done. The contract my father had so nervously told me about had been broken. Wesley no longer had a claim on me.

  Why did it still hurt?

  I felt a pair of soft arms circle my shoulders and my mother’s chin rested comfortably on my shoulder.

  “What are you thinking about?” she asked me as I wrapped my hands around her wrist and gave her a squeeze.

  “Everything,” I said as a tear escaped my eyes. “Why does it still hurt?”

  She sighed and turned me to face her. I could see sadness in her eyes, a pain that nobody but my father would ever understand.

  “Your father and I were madly in love for centuries. I don’t know if it was the fact that we were not supposed to be together that made it so exciting, or if it was really love.” She wiped the tear from my cheek.

  “Centuries, huh?”

  “I assume your father told you about the bond that you shared with Wesley.”

  My heart sank. It was hard enough having this talk with my father, but not my mother as well. And not on the same day. But I nodded and just crossed my fingers that she would not pursue the discussion.

  “Your father couldn’t stop being a menace, just as much as I couldn’t stop being a goody-goody. He had his mistresses, pretty girls that would do his bidding. I couldn’t understand that it was his nature. He had to have the attention in the beginning, to be the one in the spotlight. So, after two years of seeing how he really was, the love was gone. But it still hurts. I look at him and I see the man I fell in love with, that dangerous demon that I would sneak off to be with.”

  “How long did you hurt?”

  “It’s going to hurt you for a long time,” she went on, ignoring my question. “Ten years from now you will look back at Wesley and all these emotions will feel fresh again. The guilt never leaves; neither does the connection. Your bond may be broken, but you two are as much a part of each other’s future as your father is of mine. You move on, yes, but you never forget.” She gave me a weak smile and hugged me to her chest, running her fingers through my hair.

  “I love you, Mom,” I said, weaving my arms around her waist.

  ***

  We slept in the living room on a lumpy futon. My mother’s hand kept slapping me in the face as she turned over. I was unable to fall asleep so I got up and decided to take a walk outside just to get some air. I had just stepped outside the door when I felt a familiar hand grab mine. I turned swiftly to my left and, to my shock, found myself staring into the sad, sick eyes of Wesley himself.

  “Why are you here?” he demanded, pulling me round the side of the house. His hands were freezing and his eyes were darker than ever.

  “I have my reasons—” I began, but he put his finger up for me to be quiet.

  “You cannot be around my family! I know about you and your parents. I know what you are. So does Miranda.”

  I crossed my arms in a gesture of defiance. “Do you know what she is?”

  He glanced aside, checking we were unobserved. “You put them in danger just by being here! You and your mother, the saint of the pearly gates, need to leave. If you don’t she’ll kill them. Is that what you want?” he demanded.

  “No, never!” I exclaimed.

  He put his hand over my mouth to shush me. “Why do you think I’m not here anymore?” I sensed his growing anger.

  I removed his hand from my mouth. “You disappeared again, Wesley! Only, this time you took all your stuff.” I started to shake. I was getting colder the longer he touched me.

  “Yeah, and I managed to get away from her long enough to run by tonight to say goodbye to them. Only instead of just them I find my ex-girlfriend crashed out in the living room.” He looked lost. “You know, you could have told me what you were.”

  “And what exactly am I, Wesley?”

  “You’re just like her,” he hissed.

  “I’m nothing like her!”

  “She said you would say that.” He looked around again. “She’s after you next.”

  “Well, let her come. I’m not afraid of her,” I scoffed.

  “You should be. Listen, I couldn’t save my mother, it was already too late for her, but I can save them. And I can save you.” He looked around once more then, to my complete surprise, seized me by the back of my neck and pressed his lips against mine.

  The kiss was intense and felt like all the other kisses that we had shared. All the love was still right there. When he pulled away from me he smiled for the briefest moment before turning on his heel and walking away. I stood there shaking and open-mouthed, groping to understand what exactly had just happened.

  When Wesley had vanished from sight I went back inside in a daze and woke my mother to tell her what had occurred. She seemed concerned, and a bit alarmed, but insisted that we would not leave till morning, when I would go to school. I lay back down and wrapped myself under the warm blanket that Wesley’s father had provided and drifted off into very confused sleep.

  ***

  I was sitting in the damn bar again, sipping a drink that smelled very fruity, when she walked in. Her red hair was pulled back and she was dressed in jeans and a gray fitted t-shirt. She took a seat at the table across from me and smiled her signature grin. I tried to pay no attention to her, but she was being persistent.

  “You don’t know when to leave things alone, do you?” she said, crossing her legs and glaring at me.

  “Everything was fine until you came along.”

  “Oh, please, Dawn. Nothing was alright. All you were doing was lying to him.”

  “And what exactly are you doing to him?”

  She waved her hand, dismissing my question. “How did you like it?”

  “Like what?”

  “The pain,” she said simply, looking at her nails. “That heartbreaking pain where you know that you have lost the one that thing was keeping you going.”

  I looked at her in disbelief. “You invaded my dream to ask me that?”

  “Why wouldn’t I? I mean, you won’t let him go. He’s not yours anymore, he never will be. His soul belongs to me.”

  “Why does it matter, Miranda?” I asked, keeping the fire that was raging through my blood at bay.

  “Because you just don’t stop! He’s mine! He has always been mine. I will turn him, then he will forget you ever existed. You can find another human to claim. But you are tangled with his family. You are tangled with his past. I cannot have a measly meal without your stupid face turning up!”

  Here was the anger I had been hoping for.

  “It sounds more like you can’t forget me,” I pointed out. “Is there something I need to know about, Miranda?” I took another drink from my
glass and smiled sweetly at her.

  “He forgets I can see in his head. It took me months to get his mind to cooperate in the first place. When he dreams, he dreams of you. I am so tired of seeing you all the time!” She was seething and her green eyes had turned red with anger.

  I could feel my dark side giggling. I was ready.

  “Then let him go. You’ve done it before. Tell me, how did you get him to let me go?”

  “I threatened to kill his family.” She smiled. “That one always seems to work. I threatened that if he did not switch his claim to me I would kill you, your parents, and his whole family. It wasn’t till after the claim was made that I told him you were just like me. He already knew it, from that day at his house.”

  “I’m nothing like you!” I yelled at her, fingers burning, flames ready.

  “You are everything like me! The only difference is that instead of angel blood in my veins I have vampire. We both know what it is like to grow up not knowing which side is dominant, or who we are going to be that day. We both know what it is like to be betrayed by our own blood. We are both halflings. The only difference is,” she paused, seemingly for effect, “I will live longer than you.” A smile played on her lips as she stood, orbs forming on her palms.

  I prepared to strike her down, excited, elated that it was finally about to happen. Then it dawned on me. No matter how many times we struck each other on this astral plane, there was no way either one of us would be able to throw the final blow.

  “I will find you, Miranda, and when I do I will turn you to ash,” I declared as I let the fire fizzle back into my wrists.

  She looked at me levelly and her smile faded as the orbs on her palms faded.

  “There is nothing either of us can do on this field,” I told her. “Either way it goes, we will both open our eyes when we wake and nothing will be different.”

  “As you wish, Raven Princess,” she retorted. “However, you’ll have to find me first.”

  She let out a laugh of hatred and disappeared in a cloud of smoke. I coughed and sat down in my chair, then set about forcing myself to wake.