“What are you afraid of?” I asked the man.
He was tall, about six five. His eyes were darker than the others which meant that he was their maker. He was the only pureblood of the group. His black hair had turned blue in the moonlight and his smile was the cruelest of all of them.
“Do you not think I know what you are trying to do, temptress,” he growled at me.
I looked down at him and crossed my arms over my chest. I clicked my tongue at him and he gave me a chilling laugh. I have been called many things over the years but temptress was never one of them.
“How about you tell me?” I suggested, grinning at him.
“The fire in your veins would kill me on contact,” he spat at me.
“How do you know it’s fire?” This saddened me. Sheridan had made this far more difficult than I had anticipated.
“I can smell the char on your skin.” He looked at his circle of cohorts.
“I thought that I had masked that smell.” I blinked at him.
“So what do you suggest we do about this?” Prudence asked. The vampires had been paying so much attention to me I had forgotten that Prudence was here as well.
“Tell me, why you are here? The wardens are not known for attacking stray covens.” The powerful one spoke to her.
“True. What if I was to tell you that she strayed? Would you believe it?” Prudence was trying another tactic.
“No. This town already has a warden. The redhead promised that nothing would happen to us as long as we kept to ourselves.” He spoke freely with her.
“Then let me ask this.” She took a step forward. I could see her fingers working as she concealed what she had behind her back. “I need an eye.”
“An eye?” he laughed.
“Just one eye. Nothing you wouldn’t grow back overnight.” She tried to sound sweet but her accent made her sound deranged.
“I’ve heard of you. You’re that priestess that was shot in Arizona.” He pointed at her.
“Something like that.” She looked displeased at the change of course.
“Yeah, I don’t think we will be parting with our eyes any time soon.” He said to her and glanced up at me.
“Have it your way.” She threw the electrical ball into his chest.
After that, all hell broke loose. Vampires were attacking, fire was flying, Kelly’s body was still motionless on the ground. The whole battle was nothing more than hair, teeth, and eyeballs. Only problem with the eyeballs was that none of them were parting with them.
The fight went on for a while. The lesser vampires fell rather quickly, turning to ash in an instant, pissing me off beyond belief. All that was standing between us now were two conscious females and one powerful pureblood.
Before the fire could even leave my fingers the unexpected happened. Marshall leapt from the tree above, his claws ripping down the face of the vampire. With blood drenching the forest floor, Marshall changed into his human form. Throwing his hand behind his head he said some words to himself and threw his fingers into the vampire’s eye socket, ripping out the pink eye with his fingers.
The vampire screamed as his hands flew to his healing wounds. That was our cue to leave. Grabbing Kelly, Marshall took the lead. Even as a man he had incredible speed.
We reached the Bentley in a matter of minutes, throwing our bloody bodies onto the expensive upholstery. I threw my head back on the headrest and breathed deeply.
“Rose is going to hate me,” I groaned. “I broke her promise.”
“All of that and you are worried about Rose. We just made enemies of them. I wouldn’t be surprised if every last pink-eyed coven didn’t flip sides,” Prudence laughed.
“What are they called anyway? I feel bad by calling them pink eyes.” I took another deep breath and put the key in the ignition. The car started and we were off again, heading towards the house. We were going to have to leave in the morning in order to make it to El Paso on time.
“Occhio rosa,” Marshall said. He hadn’t spoken since he had attacked the leader.
“And the others?” I said, speeding down the two-lane highway towards the house.
“Let’s take it one coven at a time.” He didn’t want to talk, that was apparent.
“What does that mean?” I asked, not even attempting the translating power I had inherited from my father. My body was tired.
“Pink eye,” Prudence giggled.
“Well that is original.”
“I will put it under a spell when we get back to the house to keep it from drying out,” Prudence said before we drove the rest of the way in silence.
I was going to have to ask Marshall what had happened to Kelly while we were in the woods. It did not appear that it was the occhio rosas that had attacked her. Something different had found Kelly and knocked her out.
I nearly screamed when we got to the house. Sitting in the driveway was Adam’s SUV. He was standing at the front door, waiting.
“What the hell are you doing here?” I asked, jumping out of the car.
“I should be asking you that, Dawn?” he yelled at me. His eyes were on fire, something that I had not seen in the longest of times.
“I’m on a mission,” I said, pushing past him and unlocking the front door. The rest of my companions were slowly getting out of the car.
“A mission?” he demanded, following me into the house.
“Yes. I have to find Sheridan.” I turned on him. My face was hot. I could feel the fire percolating. It was going to come flying in his direction at any moment.
“Why do you have to find the queen?” he demanded.
“Because I have to,” I growled.
Here it comes.
“Why!?” he screamed.
“Because she has Nadine.” The fire flew off me and hit him square in the chest.
Adam flew backwards and landed on the floor next to the front door. He whimpered for a second before getting to his feet. He brushed himself off and looked at the burnt hole in his shirt and frowned.
“This was my favorite shirt,” he said, glaring at me. “Now what do you mean she has Nadine?”
Chapter Twenty-Six: Round Two
Adam sat on the couch while I explained the whole story to him, leaving nothing out. He frowned the entire time, which really pissed me off. He also kept looking at his shirt and shaking his head. That was something that had never happened in the past. I had never attacked a friend.
“So Sheridan is holding Nadine hostage until you get there and attempt to save her?” Adam frowned. If I didn’t know any better I would assume he didn’t believe me.
“She has these stupid riddles that I’m supposed to figure out. We are leaving in the morning for El Paso.” I looked at him. I was trying to imply that it would just be the four of us, not the five.
“That’s why I sent Rose back to the compound. I had a feeling you were going to need me,” he said coolly and I felt my body tense.
No!
“We don’t need anyone else, Adam. You have school starting soon,” I pointed out. He was the one who wanted to return to Midvale so that he could finish high school.
“It’s still a week away. We have time.” He looked at Prudence. “Nice to see that you came out OK.”
“Yes, Mr. Snyder, I am pleased as well.” She gave him a warm smile and then glared at me. I could see what she was trying to say but I chose to ignore it.
“Whether you like it or not, Dawn, you are stuck with me. I was chosen to protect you and that is what I’m going to do. You have already proven to me that I can withstand a warden’s blows.” He gave me a sly smile and I had an urge to smack him. I had never felt that towards Adam. I must have been overly stressed.
“I’m serious, Adam. I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself,” I huffed, crossing my arms across my chest and glancing at Prudence. She did not look pleased by my speech.
“Yeah, you showed that tonight when you
nearly wiped out a whole coven of vampires. Next time how about you tarnish your reputation another way.” His eyes narrowed. Apparently news of tonight’s events had made their way to him faster than I had anticipated.
“Yes, because being diplomatic was going to help me get my hands on a damned eye. Simply asking sure didn’t do any good,” I groaned.
I knew when he told me we were better off friends that it was going to change things between us. We never fought before Dallas. Now every glance I took at him he was glaring at me.
“Well maybe not, but you still didn’t need to kill all of them.” He looked at Prudence. “Can you talk some sense into her?”
“Honey, I was there. They really gave no other option but attack.” She shrugged. “I’m with Dawn on this one. Not that I condone anything but peaceful discussion but, when other lives are at stake, there will be some collateral damage.”
“So you are saying that those lives were sacrificed to save Nadine?” He raised an eyebrow.
“Humans are far more important than a group of vampires. Don’t forget his coven were hybrids; they were chosen from human families. Many of them were plucked from their beautiful lives and forced into darkness. So if it takes the death of five to save one then so be it.” Prudence sighed and patted Adam on the knee. “I’m going to let you guys talk. I already know the whole story so I don’t need to be in this awkward situation.”
She got up and left the room. Kelly and Marshall were both already asleep after asserting so much power in the evening.
“I don’t understand why you are fighting me on this.” He stood up and paced the room.
“You chose to leave. I’m not going to let you give up on your goal. You wanted to finish high school here so you should stay here.” I stayed seated on the floor, pulling my knees to me and wrapping my arms around them.
“Is that what this is about?” Adam huffed. “That talk we had before I left?” “You told me you were leaving in two days. I woke up the next morning and you were gone.” I looked away from him.
“Your mother thought that it would be best to head out. She thought something was about to happen. Apparently she was right, because I wasn’t gone long before something did.” He stopped pacing and stood by the wall looking at a picture of me as a baby.
“She apparently thought I could handle it if she brought you back early.” I was making excuses and I knew it.
“Why are you so bitter? Did you and Wesley have a fight?” His eyes flared as he turned towards me.
“I’m not bitter. And everything is fine between him and me. Couldn’t be better,” I growled.
“Yeah, sounds like everything is perfect.” He put his hand to his forehead.
“I’m sure you and Rose are doing fantastic,” I said softly. It hurt to say her name. I mean, I knew we were sisters by marriage and all, but still. She had the one thing that I had wanted.
Maybe Prudence is right. Maybe I am settling.
“She’s weak,” he shrugged. “I mean, she’s weakened. She will be fine, she seemed thrilled to be going back. I think my mother was driving her nuts.”
“So you send her back and hope that you can just hop in the car with us?” I rolled my eyes at him. This action seemed to piss him off.
“Let me put it to you this way. Either I’m in that car in the morning or I’m in the SUV behind it. Don’t put it past me for one second not to call Wesley and tell him where you really are,” he threatened.
“You wouldn’t.” My eyes widened.
“Don’t try me.” He gave me a warning smile. I could see the triumph in his eyes.
“You are playing dirty, Snyder,” I scowled at him.
“You are being stubborn, Weathers,” he bit back at me.
“This is ridiculous, Adam,” I pouted.
“Sucks not getting your way doesn’t it?” He looked at me with understanding.
“I don’t need to be protected.” I amused myself with this one. History had proven that, in some small way, protection would have kept me from nearly dying, being weakened by poison, and hijacked by the queen. I wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction. I was just fine on my own.
“On the contrary.” He put his index finger up. “You need plenty of protecting. Listen, I know this is hard for you. It’s hard for me too. We just have to accept that Fate is not on our side. You have Wesley, I have Rose, we are better off as friends.”
Why did he have to bring this up again? We had this conversation already. I didn’t want to think about it. All that kept going through my mind was Prudence and her nagging at me that I was with the wrong man. Apparently I wasn’t, since Adam specifically told me that we were not destined to be together. It just wasn’t on the cards for me and him.
“That has nothing to do with it.” My voice cracked. I regained my composure and glared at him. He made me feel weak.
“You expect me to believe that? Dawn, ever since you got back, there has been a huge hole between us. Yes, it has a lot to do with what you had Shawn do to my memories. I understand why you did it. Doesn’t mean that I agree with it, but I do understand. We can’t let all of these changes end our friendship. I mean, you are the only girl I would even consider a trusted best friend.” He was looking at me kindly now.
I know I had done wrong. Wasn’t it obvious? If I had just left things alone I would have been able to fight the urge to be with Wesley. I would have been strong. There was no point in playing ‘what if’. The outcome was already decided. I felt the light side of my soul suddenly become depressed. With this realization the darker side laughed. She had won, she had got her man.
“I never wanted any of this to happen. All I wanted was to finish high school and travel the world with my mother. There weren’t supposed to be vampires and werewolves. There weren’t supposed to be hybrids of any sort. It was just supposed to be me and her seeing the damned world. Is that too much to ask for?” Subject change successfully maneuvered.
“You know that things happen for a reason. You would have found out one way or another what you were,” he groaned.
I sat there in silence, ignoring his last comment. This whole thing wasn’t my fault and I knew it, but still in a way I felt that it was. My mother and father didn’t tell me the whole truth for a reason. Yeah, I admit I hated them keeping me in the dark but if things happened for a reason then they had their motives.
“So now you are just going to give me the silent treatment? That is so mature, Dawn,” he said as I continued to sit in my silence. “I’m going to go to sleep.”
When he turned to walk towards my bedroom my eyes widened and I had a momentary anxiety attack.
“What are you doing?” I called after him. He turned around with a smile on his face.
“I’m going to sleep,” he said again.
“You can’t sleep in my room,” I said, standing up. My knees knocked and I nearly fell over but I managed to get to a standing position.
“Why not? I slept in there before.” He knew he had me.
“Because. The last time we slept in the same bed.” I looked away from him. I had done so well trying to keep the memory of him at bay. It was hard enough to control my emotions around him.
“Seriously? We just came full circle.” He groaned and put his hands in his hair. “Then let me get a pillow and blanket and I will sleep on the damned couch.”
“No, I will. It’s only customary for the hostess to open all her doors to her guests.” I pushed past him and into my room. I eyeballed my bed for a moment but shook off the desire to lay down on the perfect mattress. The same one I had slept on for the last four years before being ushered off to Harrisville.
I returned to the living room with my pillow and my comforter. I had tossed some spares on the bed for Adam but I didn’t go the extra mile and make the bed for him.
“Good night,” he said finally, walking out of the living room and leaving me to the pain in my soul.
Wesley was going to be even more pissed when he realized that I had let Adam tag along on this odd mission. This was my one free day; tomorrow my father would tell him where I had gone. It would then be up to him and those that went with him to discover where I had gone next. I sighed. He had probably already had a vision and knew damn well what was going on.
I laid down on the comfortable couch and fell asleep in an instant. My body, as well as my mind, was completely drained.
***
I woke up to the smell of coffee in the morning. I had almost forgotten what it smelled like. My room was so far away from the kitchen in Harrisville that I wasn’t blessed with the smell of cooking food or coffee in the early morning. When I got up I had to walk nearly a mile just to get one cup.
I walked into the kitchen, scratching the top of my head. I didn’t even notice that Prudence was already sitting at the table, sucking down a cup of the sweet sustenance.
“I would have made pancakes but I think I forgot how to cook.” She gave me a warm smile and put down her cup.
“Did you ever cook in the past?” I asked as I opened the cabinet.
“You know, now that I think about it I don’t think I ever did. Pancakes do sound good, right?” She winked at me. I knew what she was getting at.
“Let me have one cup and I will make us a whole stack of them.” I reached for the pot and stopped. “Adam is joining us.”
“I figured as much. Kelly is in no shape to go on. Marshall is barely holding on himself. However, with a few spells and a nap on the way to El Paso they should be fine.” She pointed at the sugar next to the pot. “Bring that with you.”
I poured my cup and grabbed the sugar, taking a seat at the table across from the priestess.
“What do you think Sheridan’s going to do when she realizes that you are on the other side?” I was merely asking to make conversation. I didn’t think that she would actually answer the question.
“I think she’s going to be pissed. That is, if she doesn’t already know. I mean, I’m sure she knows. I just don’t know how much she knows. How could she believe that I would return and lead her armies to victory after what she did to me?” Prudence shook her head violently.
The Wardens Boxed Set Page 104
