“It’s not just that. You two are drawn to each other. You are the spark; he is the moth.” It sounded like she wanted to say something but was dancing around it.
“Just say it, Mom,” I demanded, crossing my arms.
“Be careful. He’s not the same boy he was when he disappeared. There have been substantial changes. There will be more of them as the different bloodlines in him fight for dominance.”
Was she seriously warning me about him being different? I was avoiding being alone with him because, while he looked like my Wesley, smelled like my Wesley, and even sent the same spark through my body like my Wesley. But my Wesley was dead. His body was left somewhere in New Mexico.
“I think I am well aware of the changes in him,” I snapped, tapping my foot. “Is that why you pulled me away? To give me a pep talk?”
“We want you to be careful,” she replied, softly putting her hands on my shoulders and rubbing them in that mom fashion.
“I think Wesley is the last thing you should be worried about.” I laughed softly to myself.
“Aaron is gone, Dawn. If you are holding out for a chance to make amends with him, it isn’t going to happen.”
Why did she just jump on that train? I wasn’t even thinking about Aaron.
“We said our farewells,” I said candidly, hoping she didn’t hear anything in my voice.
“Yes, I heard about your farewells,” my mother grumbled, pushing it aside. “He is your brother-in-arms now. On the battlefield, he will be there to protect you. Just like Adam.”
“Yeah, Adam,” I said longingly. My best friend hadn’t said more than twenty sentences to me since I got back. He wouldn’t even look at me. If I entered the room, either he walked to the other side, or he exited completely.
“I know something is going on there. I don’t know if it’s the fact he still blames Wesley for what happened to you last December, or if there is something totally different happening.” My mother shrugged. I was honestly grateful she was unable to put together the pieces to figure out the truth.
“I think it’s a little bit of both. He blames Wesley for the pain I went through. Yet he also has other issues going on right now.” I tried to remain off the subject of Adam. We had come this far without my parents knowing of our short tryst in Dallas months earlier.
“Well, you will figure it out,” she said, looking to her right. I could tell by the look on her face that someone was approaching. It was either Wesley, or she just wasn’t happy to see my dad for once. “You kids have fun. Get some rest, big day tomorrow.”
“Goodnight, Mrs. Weathers,” Wesley said as he advanced.
“Wesley, if I have to tell you again it’s Angie, I’m going to hang you by your toes from the top of the barn,” my mother threatened before she patted him on the shoulder and walked away.
“I figured she wouldn’t want me calling her that, all things considered,” he said, watching her walk off.
“My mother doesn’t hold grudges. Let’s not forget she loved your mother,” I said softly.
“My mother was a stellar woman,” he admitted, and I saw the sensitive boy whom I fell in love with for a split second. I reached out and touched his face hesitantly.
“Sometimes I forget how beautiful you are,” I said, my voice catching in my throat. Waves of emotion began to run through me, and I found myself longing for him to wrap his arms around me.
“Sometimes, I forget how utterly strong you are,” he said softly, putting his forehead to mine. “I’m sorry for all of this.”
“What do you have to be sorry about?” I asked, closing my eyes.
“If only I had taken my time and not rushed into being with you, maybe this could have all been avoided,” he muttered. Of all the apologies he had given me, this was the first one I felt was honest and pure.
“This would have happened whether we were involved or not,” I repeated the words I had heard before. “This wasn’t our fault.”
“We wouldn’t know.” He laughed softly, and I felt the boy I knew slip away as another part of him took over.
“So, now what?” I asked, pulling my face away from his. He looked lost but shoved the expression to one side, replacing it with a crooked smile.
“This could be our last night together,” he said softly.
“Get your mind out of the gutter for ten minutes, at least,” I groaned, smacking him on the shoulder playfully.
I returned to my room not long after I kindly declined his offer to spend what could have been our last night in each other’s arms. Not that it didn’t sound like a lovely idea. I just couldn’t. It didn’t feel right. Things were already muddied in my head. I thought of Aaron and wondered if he was thinking of me. How easily I had pushed him aside for my own selfish reasons, only to find myself thinking of him then.
I’m sure my mother had called and told the Incubi of what had occurred. She was not one to keep something like this to herself. She was going to want reinforcements and backup. She was going to want to make sure that our forces were covered—no holes in the line; a strong group of different bloodlines. I already knew they were tough. They didn’t even want to take me as a prisoner.
I remembered the discussion I had overheard in the back of the car while they drove me, bound, and gagged, to their secondary camp. They wanted to stop and toss me lifeless from the vehicle. However, the standing orders were that Wesley and I were brought in alive.
I laid down on my bed and stared at my ceiling. I wished for sleep to come, but I found it hard truly to find a comfortable position for rest. Not to mention, when I closed my eyes, I could see the vision of Miranda and I facing off in the blood rain.
Recently my mother had reached out to the world councils to see if similar cases were appearing on other continents. So far, Europe and Australia had seen increases in activity, though nothing like what was going on in the States. I supposed, if you took the world power down, the rest would fall neatly in a line.
Will you just go to sleep? I heard Shawn’s voice in my head, and I smiled.
Why are you listening to my thoughts? I laughed to myself.
It’s hard when your angst comes through loud and clear. You did well. You said no to something a month ago you might have said yes to. He was trying to make me feel better about my choice.
I suppose that just fixes everything, doesn’t it? I felt cold all of a sudden.
Listen, the tables have turned. We no longer have the advantage. Trust me, we aren’t the first good guys to have this happen. I could sense Shawn’s annoyance.
All right, big brother. I will go to sleep. I gave in, closing my eyes.
What time is it anyway? I was shocked he didn’t already know.
After midnight, I thought, rubbing my eyes.
In that case, happy birthday. I suddenly felt annoyed. He had baited me, and I had fallen into his trap.
Yes, thanks. I severed the connection and squinted my eyes closed. Rolling on my side, I stared at the wall for a moment, purposefully keeping my mind blank. Sleep came about ten minutes later, washing over me and whisking me away to an unknown world.
Battle.
It’s hard to explain the smell in the air. It’s a mixture of iron and fresh grass. The sky is dark, though I know it is only midafternoon. I hear the clang of weapons, the screams of the fallen, and the sounds of feet on the soft Earth. My sword feels comforting in my hands as I spin it freely.
I can hear the war raging, yet I cannot make out a single face in the blobs of warriors. I stand there, spinning, looking for something familiar in the crowd. Then I see her standing on the other side of the field. Her face is in a scowl, her hands gripping her sword. She is drenched in blood from head to toe. She spots me over the battlefield, and her face contorts.
“Prudence!” she screams at me.
I lift the sword and see myself in the reflection of the blade. Blonde hair, blue eyes circled darkly with black eyeliner. Lowering it, I notice she is running toward me. I ste
p back, ready my sword, when I feel a sharp blast through the side of my head.
I reach up and touch the area where the pain resides, pulling my fingers back. Blood. Her arms wrap around my waist as she takes me to the ground. Her hands are on my face, forcing me to look at her. Her eyes bright, and her expression changes as she realizes the trap. I reach my sword up in the air and plunge it through her back, but I’m still too late. As I watch her take her last breath, I find my own life has ended, and the world fades into blackness.
I wake up screaming.
I feel hands. More screams. I claw at them, pulling myself further and further away from them. My room smells moist, like fresh falling rain.
Rain, water, wet, cold, so cold.
“Rose?” I asked, my voice strained. I had somehow managed to contort myself into the corner of my bed.
“I heard you scream,” she said softly. I was shocked. Of all the people to come to my aid, it was her.
“I’m sorry for waking you.” My heart was pounding, and I was still scared; I could still see my life fade before my eyes.
“No, I was already up. Had a dream of my own,” she sounded just as frazzled as I felt.
I softened and freed my legs from the mess of covers and scooted to the center of the bed. I sighed, and putting my face in my hands, felt the moisture of tears on my cheeks.
“I’m too scared to ask,” I said to her, noticing she hadn’t moved.
Our heads shot up as we heard two identical screams coming from down the stairs. Both of us were on our feet and sprinting to Krista’s room. The door was locked. Rose looked at me, puzzled.
“Krista never locks her door.” She told me, her eyes flaring to a shade of blue I had never seen before. She turned her focus back to the door. I felt the air turn damp as she shot a wall of ice, shattering it to pieces.
We stepped into the room, ready. What we saw sent a chill up my spine.
“No!” I screamed as John’s image faded quickly, a sinister smile on his pale face.
Wesley and Adam appeared side by side, both of them with sleep in their eyes. Wesley’s hands searched my face and wrapped me in a hug. I fought to get away. I didn’t want him to touch me. The last person I wanted to offer comfort was him.
“Krista! Helen!” I screamed.
Adam was already flipping the light switch, and I fell to the ground, my hands gripping the carpet. Relief! Huddled together on Krista’s bed were the two Wardens. Their eyes stared back at us. Krista’s were gray, and Helen’s were black, their wings tucked tightly behind them.
“Did you see him?” I heard Krista’s voice, weak and strained.
“Yes.” I pulled myself to my feet and sprinted to her side, wrapping my arms around both of them. Rose joined us as we all sat on the bed and cried.
“Was that him?” Adam asked. I knew he wasn’t talking to me, so I continued to comfort the hysterical girls.
“Yeah,” Wesley said. “But yet it wasn’t.”
“What do you mean?” Helen asked through her raspy breaths.
“It was a projection. He cannot get past the protection spells, but he has someone who could project him. He can see everything but cannot touch,” Wesley frowned. “I watched Miranda pull this same move with a compound in Arizona. Their protection spells were strong, but she was able to figure out the weakest point.”
“Are you saying they are looking for a weak entry?” I asked, running my fingers through Krista’s hair.
“I don’t know,” he said, upset. “I didn’t see this.”
“The visions only come when they want, right? You can’t just touch something and instantly have an image. So how could you possibly know anything about this?” I sighed.
“I could, but I’m not sure.” He ran a hand through his ruffled brown hair. Adam looked at him, bewildered. “When did you get so chiseled, choirboy?”
Adam wrapped his arms around his body and glanced at me, his eyes warming, then turned to Rose as quickly as he could.
“This isn’t going to get easier, is it?” I groaned, feeling Krista wrapping her arms around my waist.
“No, I’ve seen too many small towns fall because of this move. It’s not going to stop until she has what she wants,” Wesley explained, his voice strained, his eyes switching between the many colors of his sires.
“What does she want?” Helen stuttered. She was still shaking from the image of John in the room.
“Right now, she wants revenge. She wants to watch each of you suffer,” Wesley admitted.
“But we didn’t do anything,” Rose interjected.
“Maybe not you directly, but your forces attacked her base. She’s not going to stop until each of you is dead.” Wesley didn’t like to give this information, that much was evident. Still, he had to; it was the only way the others were going to understand.
“What happened in the mountains, Dawn?” Helen asked as she attempted to calm herself.
“Not good things. It wasn’t puppies and butterflies, it was death and carnage,” I frowned.
“So, what do we do now?” Krista asked softly.
I felt for her. The twisted emotions that must have been going through her mind at that moment. Seeing him there, beside her, when she had let him go when his strength had returned. Maybe now she understood there was nothing that could be done to bring her John back.
“We need to wake Angie,” Adam said softly, the first time he had spoken since I had entered the room.
Chapter Eleven
Hijacked
“Ok, one at a time.” My mother rubbed her temples.
Wesley had woken her up after the hysteria had worn off. She had sprinted into Krista’s room. The look of relief she had on her face was comforting.
What was she expecting to find when she came in?
“They know I was Prudence,” I said, not caring the other girls were in the room.
Krista looked around guiltily since she had been in on the loop toward the end. Rose and Helen, on the other hand, looked at me with disbelief. They had known there was a plan to alter my appearance, but they had no idea what had been done to get me inside. I’m sure hearing I had portrayed the Priestess they had grown to fear must have been a bit of a shock.
“How do you know that?” my mother asked, putting her hands on her hips. She squeezed her eyes closed and bit her bottom lip as if she was in thought. “By the way, this conversation does not leave this room.”
“I looked like her.” I shivered, remembering the reflection in the mirrored blade. I took a labored breath and continued my revelation. “However, when she tackled me, it didn’t seem like she was attacking, it was more like she was trying to save me.”
My mother looked at me, perplexed.
“So, do they know or not?” she asked.
“Now, I’m not so sure.” I glanced at Wesley, puzzled.
“I have received no indication they know you are who you are or not.” He raised an eyebrow and looked at the floor, rethinking his words.
“I was shot,” I growled.
“Well, that’s reassuring,” Helen said, cocking her head to the side.
“Not before I ran her through with my trusty sword.” I smiled. I could almost feel the blade penetrating her flesh.
“Well, there is a plus to that,” Wesley interjected, looking at my mother.
“If Dawn killed Miranda in the dream, she will not attack. That’s just hypothesizing that she saw the dream in the first place.” My mother had an eerie smile spread across her cheeks.
“What are you two conspiring?” I asked, aware everyone was staring at me.
My mother looked at me, ready to speak when she was cut off.
“You were the Priestess?” Helen asked, her eyes wide. “Nick said the Priestess would be the death of us.”
“I don’t think now is the time,” I said, wishing I had never mentioned Prudence in the first place.
“I think it is a perfect time,” Adam said, his brown eyes had grown to the s
ize of saucers.
“No, it really isn’t,” I groaned. “I promise I will tell you all everything, but right now, we have far more pressing issues. She’s about five-six with red hair, and she’s evil as Hell.”
“Dawn is right. The whole Prudence deal is a long conversation, one we do not need to dive into right now,” my mother said, rubbing her temples.
“What was your dream?” I asked, looking at Rose, pleading. She was the only one that didn’t seem surprised by the revelation.
“I was on the battlefield. A man charged me, but I was able to kill him with a spear jab, but not before a bullet penetrated my head.” She looked at my mother and frowned. “Looks like we have a running plotline here.”
“Ok.” My mother sighed. “Krista?”
“It was John. It’s always John. He was standing over me, his fingers blazing blue when I was able to take him out with a strong wind. He was impaled on a tree.” She looked around the room and rolled her eyes. “I had turned to face whoever was behind me when a sharp pain shot through my head.”
“Helen?” Mom asked, rolling her eyes.
“A woman. Blonde hair that hung to her waist, she comes at me, but I move out of the way as she reaches for me. With a quick jab, I am able to stab her in the back, but not before I hear a loud crack of thunder and a piercing pain shoots through my temple.” She looks down at the ground, her wings still held tightly to her back.
“Well. I wonder who put the warning shots in your dreams.” Mom said, looking at the four of us and shrugging.
“Might be something the Blessed Ones have worked up,” Adam replied, not making eye contact with anyone.
“Never underestimate the Cursed Ones. Dark magic could have done the same thing. Either way, it was a clever way of saying someone was trying to hijack your dreams,” Mom pointed out. “Anyway, it’s over now. Do you boys mind staying with them? I can have Shawn come upstairs, as well. The three of you and the power you all emit along with the girls should keep any intruders out.”
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