The Wardens Boxed Set

by Heather D Glidewell

  “John grows more and more suspicious of me. However, he will not let things go until you are his. He seems to think that you are going to be what sets him free from her. I have seen his future, and you are nowhere in it.” He coughed and a bit of blood came out of the corner of his mouth.

  “Where are you?” I asked, wiping it away.

  “We are about a hundred miles outside of Albuquerque. Been here for the last week.” He coughed again. “I have to go, Dawn. This is draining me more than you can imagine. If I can get the strength again I will find you.” He kissed my forehead and disappeared into the darkness.

  ***

  I shot up crying, the sobs ripping my body in two. Adam threw his arms around me and rocked me back and forth, telling me that it was all going to be okay.

  “He knows he’s dying.” I sobbed into Adam’s shoulder.

  “Where are they?” he asked me as he rubbed my back.

  “He said about a hundred miles outside of Albuquerque,” I said as the sobs slowly subsided.

  “What the heck is there in New Mexico beside desert?” Adam pondered. Then he pushed me back and looked earnestly into my face. “That’s it!” he exclaimed, jumping off the bed and racing into the living room.

  I rubbed my eyes and got out of bed to follow him. When I entered the room he was sitting next to Shawn and talking as fast as his lips would allow.

  “She’s following the Rio Grande. There are parks and towns all along it. Those little towns would be perfect territory for her to do her recruiting, and the mountains are ideal to hide up in and do her training. I’m guessing she must be between Mesa and Albuquerque, New Mexico. Probably made a stop in the mountain forests around Lincoln, where it’s cool and there are large areas of open land.”

  “How do you know this?” Shawn asked, bewildered.

  I cleared my throat. “Wesley was able to project to me on an astral plane. He didn’t have much strength and it was only for a few minutes,” I said, my lip quivering.

  “Astral projection, huh?” Shawn seemed impressed. “Hopefully he wasn’t followed. Not that any souls damned in Purgatory would want a sick body to inhabit.”

  “Is that good?” I asked, confused. I had always been able to project.

  “It’s very good for a half human.” He frowned. “He probably used all his strength to give you his message. That’s why he was only able to hold on for a few moments.”

  “Well, now we have a location.” I said quietly.

  Shawn got up and wrapped his arms around me in an awkward hug. “Yes, and now you are a wreck.” He smoothed my hair and rested his cheek on the top of my head.

  “I’ll be fine,” I whimpered as I felt another fit of tears coming my way.

  “There’s so much goodness in you. You can stop hiding behind the dark exterior,” he whispered in my ear.

  I pulled back and looked at him, startled. What was that supposed to mean?

  Chapter Seventeen: Xic

  Midvale was a ghost town after the death of Mr. Walsh. We had our classes at the old Elementary School and then simply went home. There were no afterschool activities; we weren’t even allowed to go the bathroom alone. Thankfully the board was able to get us larger tables for the rooms so we didn’t have to use the small child-size desks.

  Shawn had told me about how sometimes the Carriers didn’t know what they were. They carried with them the power of their element, but had no idea how to harness it. He was afraid that the three who had been brutally murdered were connected by one common thread, that within them was a piece of an element. It didn’t matter what element it was; all that mattered to him was finding out.

  Shawn and I kept the fact that we were related away from everyone else at the school. My very handsome brother was the talk of the female crowd and it wouldn’t be in my best interests to take away his popularity. He had met Kim, a quiet girl in my Physics class, and asked her to the prom. She had seemed shocked at first but had then agreed hurriedly, with a huge smile on her face. Kim was, like me, an outcast. I knew very little about her, but she had always been friendly enough to me.

  Shawn had a theory that if he could just touch something that belonged to the three dead scholars he would be able to know if they were “storage boxes” (as he called them) for element fragments. Being in the Elementary School made this difficult since all our stuff was still back at the high school, inaccessible behind rows of caution tape. If he could prove that the creature killing people was after those who unknowingly harbored an element we would be able to pinpoint who was in danger. So he concocted a stupid plan that involved both me and Adam breaking into the High School with him and pointing him in the direction of Noreen and Nathan’s lockers, plus getting him access to the principal’s office. The plan went well enough until things started getting a little weird.

  “Do you smell that?” Shawn said, putting his nose in the air.

  “Yeah, it smells like…” Adam stopped.

  “Sulfur,” I said slowly, turning on my heel and putting my back to Shawn’s.

  “What does that mean?” Adam asked, his eyes shooting up and down the deserted hallway.

  “It means trouble,” Shawn said, twining his left hand with my right to keep me close to him.

  “It means a demon,” I added, looking at him before the dark pull in me began to surface. “Adam, I need you to find a classroom and go in and lock the door. They aren’t after you so you should be fine.”

  I felt my eyes start to burn, which meant the change was coming. Shawn was fueling my spark.

  “You might need me,” Adam said uncertainly.

  “The human has a point,” Shawn said, his grip on my hand getting tighter. “Whatever you do, though,” Shawn’s head shot to the side, “don’t let him touch you.”

  “Dawny, Dawny, Dawny.” The voice was so familiar, but the face that went with it was hidden in the shadows.

  “Xic?” My brother said, peering into the shadows on my side. His eyes had gone black, so I assumed mine were as well.

  “Shawn?” the demon said, stepping into the light.

  “We meet again, old friend,” Shawn answered. I could feel his hand tightening.

  “Yes, we do.” Xic smiled, his mouth curving in an unnatural way. “Did you ever think of my little proposition?” He was addressing me now, but looking at my brother.

  I could hear Adam breathing behind me. I didn’t know if he was terrified or just marveling at what he saw. Nothing like receiving a front row seat before the world ended.

  “Yes, I did. I am going to have to decline,” I hissed, shaking my head. That was when I caught sight of my eyes in the reflection of a classroom window. One was white the other black… how odd.

  “I was so hoping you would join me,” Xic said, pouting. “I see you found another flame-bearer.”

  “So?”

  “Why always on the defensive? Guys, put your fire away. Nobody needs to get hurt,” Xic said, moving his hands towards us.

  “Did you kill these people?” I demanded. So much anger was building in me.

  “Me? No. Murder isn’t my thing. Alright, I like a good suicide here and there but no, definitely not murder. I’m here just like you.” He grinned again. “I was hoping you would take me up on my offer to rule Purgatory with me, but I understand.” He put his hands in the pockets of his slacks.

  Shawn seemed to relax a little but remained on his guard.

  “You told me to leave Lilly the Earth and to rule with you in the land of the dead,” I said. “But I don’t believe you are in this on your own.”

  “My daughter, as I assume your mother told you, is mad. I mean, a stark raving lunatic. I blame the fact that there are three strands of blood in her veins. Oh, but trust me when I say there is absolutely no goodness in that girl’s heart. She’s as ruthless as her mother. She will take down her prey in due time.” He frowned at me. “Lilly wants your Wesley to assist her in taking over the world.
If the purebloods are all dead the hybrids and half-breeds will be free to rule the Earth. No need for Heaven, no need for Hell. Evil would exist as good, and good would exist as evil. Do you see what I am saying here?”

  “So you have a lot to lose if your daughter actually wins,” I said.

  “I didn’t know that at the time that we first talked. Lilly had said she wanted to rid the world of the elements, but she didn’t mention that she meant to do it in order to make the pure weak.” He looked sad, like his own daughter had betrayed him. “I blame Sheridan, really, for all the issues that Lilly has. You know, for about ten years she was locked up in bedlam. One of her ‘toys’ had her committed when she bit him. That asylum was good for business as a matter of fact; all those tortured souls... she was able to claim quite a few of them.” He looked at Shawn. “It is odd to see you here, Shawn. You never seem to stick to one place long enough to be found. Always on the run, this one is. Either from his father, the ghost of his mother, or some girl’s husband who found out he was sleeping with her.”

  “You two seem like you are quite chummy,” I murmured to Shawn through clenched teeth.

  “There was a time, in 1792, when he saved my life,” Shawn said quietly.

  “What did he save you from?” I whispered.

  “His daughter,” Shawn growled.

  “Sharing secrets are we?” Xic sighed. “You know, the mortal shouldn’t be here.” He pointed at Adam, who had remained quiet the whole time.

  “He’s not going anywhere,” I said, sparking.

  Shawn grabbed my hand and squeezed it to make the tingling stop.

  “But what do I care about a human? He’s a good soul, anyway; no way is he going to wind up in Hell. Innocence is a virtue, Dawn. You should have thought of that before giving yours away so quickly to that boy. What was his name?”

  “That is none of your business,” I said defiantly.

  “He thinks about you still, if that eases your pain at all. He often wonders where you are and how you are doing.” Xic sighed again. “At least he didn’t give his soul to you like the other two nincompoops.”

  “Are you trying to detain us from some other mission?” asked Shawn. “Because we have some things we would like to do. Though it has been a pleasure catching up.” There was more than a hint of disdain in his voice.

  “No, no, not detaining. More like… preventing. If you find out that the three who died were element Carriers it could bring war between angels and demons. Lilly would have no reason to kill us because we would be killing ourselves.” Xic groaned. “I am quite attached to myself, thank you. I have no intention of being sent into oblivion.”

  “What kind of creature tears the face off a boy and leaves a girl drained in the woods?” Adam demanded, stepping forward.

  “The human speaks,” Xic muttered, putting his hand to his chin.

  “If this was Lilly’s doing then it would have to be a hybrid of some sort,” Adam said. There was a confidence in him that I had never seen before. Not many mortals would dare to address a demon so boldly.

  “The bodies were bloodless?” Xic asked.

  Adam shook his head.

  “But the face was torn off… that almost sounds like a were-vamp.” Xic looked at Shawn. “Remember that were-vamp we met in Paris in the early nineteenth century, the girl with the violet eyes?”

  “Yeah, I remember her,” Shawn admitted.

  “She said she was the last of her kind in existence.” Xic smiled cruelly at Shawn. “And then she died.”

  “You’re telling me that there are such things as were-vamps?” I asked. “Who came up with such a stupid name, anyway?”

  Adam glanced at me. He didn’t seem shocked by the appearance of my eyes; in fact they seemed to comfort him.

  “Well, they did exist,” Xic corrected me, starting to pace up and down. “I suppose it is possible that another one was born. We thought we had wiped out a lot of races, only to find that there was one who escaped.”

  “What if you let us find out if these people are element Carriers and we then figure out if it was the work of a were-vamp?” asked Shawn in a reasonable tone. “I promise you no war will begin. This is just something that I need to know.”

  “You were always good to me,” Xic said, sighing. “Fine! But just this once, Shawn. If you double-cross me again I will not be so nice the next time we meet.”

  “Again?” I asked, glancing at a blushing Shawn.

  “Long story,” he said. “Has something to do with a girl, a chicken and lots of alcohol.” He turned back to Xic. “I promise you, old friend, no war. This may be what the creature is intending to do, to start a war between the purebloods in the sky and underground while the hybrid creations fight for the rights to the land. Because one thing is for sure, out of all the purebloods, humans die the easiest.” Shawn let go of my hand as his eyes turned back to their normal brown.

  “Why did you want Dawn?” Adam demanded as he registered that the danger was over.

  Xic looked at him dumbfounded. “Have you seen her? Have you felt the power within her? If she flipped over to the darkness she would be… well, she would be perfect.” He purred at me and a shiver ran up my spine.

  “She can’t shift to the darkness without killing the light, you know this,” Shawn said, giving his hands a vigorous shaking.

  Xic shrugged. “A man can wish. It worked with Sheridan.” He looked sad for a second. “Too bad she went and ruined what we had by getting pregnant.”

  “Well, if you had kept it in your pants she wouldn’t have,” I said, feeling the anger fading from me. I grabbed Adam’s hand, knowing that everything was going to be alright, for now.

  “True.” Xic pondered. “Very well, so what do you want to know?”

  “The girl,” said Adam firmly. “She was eighteen. She was found dead in the woods, throat slashed, no blood.” He reached in his pocket and pulled out a picture of Noreen that he had taken from Nathan’s locker. As he handed it over to Xic, he was careful not to touch him.

  “She’s pretty.” Xic stared. “Dark earth.”

  “Why do you say that?” I asked.

  “Her eyes are hard. Her mouth is set. Even when she smiles she looks angry. Besides, I know her face, can’t tell you from where, but I do know it.” Xic handed the picture back to Adam. “Next?”

  “The boy. He was also eighteen. He was found dead in the woods with his face ripped off. It took two days for them to identify the body.” He reached into his other pocket and pulled out a prom photo of both Noreen and Nathan.

  “Oh, aren’t these two an odd pair,” Xic exclaimed. “Here you have dark earth and white water. These two were a couple?” he asked. He registered my confusion. “Have you never felt pulled to someone? Like the force was so strong you couldn’t keep away?”

  “Yeah…” I said slowly, trying not to expose my weakness.

  “These two should not have had that.” Xic handed the picture back. “Anyone else?”

  “We didn’t get into the principal’s office so we don’t have anything to hand you of his,” Adam said, holding up empty hands.

  “Now, that is a tricky subject. Your Mr. Walsh was a pureblood,” Xic said, crossing his arms.

  “How do you know that?” I demanded.

  “Because he used to run around with me and Shawn back in the mid-1800s during his first run on Earth. He was one of the few angels that I actually enjoyed spending time with.” Xic’s face fell. “I came here for his funeral, but apparently I arrived a few days early so I figured I would check out the school. I didn’t realize that the other two murders could somehow be connected to this one, because his death wasn’t at the hands of a were-vamp. It was something else.”

  “What was Mr. Walsh?” I asked, my heart racing. So it was true an angel could be killed!

  “He was a watcher. He’d been a watcher for many, many years. He always enjoyed working in the school system. Good man.” Xi
c sounded genuinely sorrowful.

  “You can’t judge a book by its cover, Dawn,” Shawn explained. “Some of the most caring beings I have met in this world were demon-born. Some of the most sinister and evil have been angel-born. It all really depends on where their heart goes. The Creator knows all, but does not interfere. God will smite an angel only if he feels that it needs to be done. Same with Lucifer. There is always a loophole. That is why I told you that you have so much goodness in you that you can stop hiding behind your dark exterior.”

  “What just happened here?” Adam said, his eyes widening. “One second you’re all ‘stay behind us we will protect you.’ Now all of a sudden this demon is our best friend?”

  “I wouldn’t say ‘best friend,’ exactly,” I said, smiling.

  “More like… jaded lovers,” Xic broke in, blowing me a kiss.

  I rolled my eyes and squeezed Adam’s hand.

  Chapter Eighteen: Old Friends

  “Well, that was interesting,” Adam said as we got into his SUV. It was after dark now. We had spent several hours in the High School going through plans and discussing the wonders of the elements.

  “You’re telling me,” I said, climbing into the back seat and fixing my ponytail.

  “Xic was always eccentric,” Shawn said as he got in the passenger seat. “You should have seen him during the Romantic Period. Always the odd one.” He shook his head.

  “It’s hard to think that he’s the father of Miranda.” I shivered. “I suppose her mother is ruthless, even if her father is crazy.”

  “She’s a nutcase, too,” Shawn said flatly.

  “You said he saved you from her,” I said as Adam pulled out of the parking lot.

  “Yeah, she has a thing for hybrid mixes, as if you didn’t know already. She was all set on changing me till she figured out I was a fire Carrier. Then she just wanted to kill me,” he said, with a shrug.

  “She really doesn’t like fire, does she?”

  “If vampires bite a fire bearer they burn internally. The fire is in our blood, after all.” He laughed. “I really liked that girl till she tried to murder me.”