“What did happen?” Adam asked, and I glared at him. He knew damn well what had happened. The news had traveled fast to him, most likely because he lived in the same damned town as Wesley.
“We had an altercation. Marshall got the eye,” I replied, narrowing my eyes at him.
I didn’t know why I was angry at him. Since I came back from the camp, there seemed to be some sort of issue with my emotions. I was always angry. Something in me sparked this emotion, and every stupid thing set it off. Yeah, I might be able to hold it in, but for the most part, it was ripping through me. I had no right to be mad at Adam; he had done nothing wrong. Well, aside from leaving me two days earlier than he had said. I had been the one to hurt him, but here I was, throwing all my anger at him like every last dumb thing in my life was this man’s fault.
“The three of you almost wiped out an entire coven. I wouldn’t call that an altercation.” Adam stood up. “That is why I am here.”
“Why? Why are you here?” Marshall asked with a hint of protectiveness in his voice.
“Because you guys are idiots. You cannot just go around attacking groups of hybrids or purebloods. There are reasons why the Queen’s Army is growing, and ours is shrinking. Because of crap like last night. Sever the bonds before you can even make them. Don’t be surprised if not every vampire coven in the area isn’t plotting her death.” He pointed at me.
“Who died and put you in charge?” Marshall asked. His eyes were changing colors. Not sure what it meant, but I had a feeling I didn’t want to know.
“You want to go there, shifter?” Adam was enraged. Something I had never seen him do before was blow up on one of our people.
“Stop,” I said, putting my hands up.
“No, just because he’s a Protector doesn’t mean he runs the show. You are the Warden; this is your gig.” Marshall looked at me as I put my hands down.
“He is the Warden’s Protector,” Prudence chimed in. “His power is elevated when she is present.”
“He’s a boy,” Marshall scowled.
“He may be a boy, but God chose him.” Prudence interjected with a pleasant laugh.
“Why would god choose him, he wasn’t there the day she was shot. Nor did I ever see him protecting her after.” Marshall snarled. I was a little shocked to see the tension forming between the two. The last thing I wanted was for anyone to find out who had the biggest ego. I had never seen Adam fight and I wasn’t about to find out what he had learned after breakfast.
“I want to tell you a story. One that I heard right before we left.” Prudence crossed her legs in her delicate fashion and wiped the remaining flour from her arm. I was grateful for the interruption.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
The Book of the Protector
“Dawn was conceived as any child is and carried in her mother’s womb. Unlike human children, who are born with options and choices, her path was chosen long before she ever came into this world. For Celestial parents this isn’t like who it is in on Earth. Dawn’s path was given to her in the form of blessings.
“It had always been customary for the Wardens to be born of demon mother and angel father. When a child was conceived in these meetings, the father was hardly ever informed they had a child. The mother would deliver the child on Earth and leave it to the care of a chosen family.
“The family would love and care for the child until it turned the age of ascension. At that point, the Warden was given her title and told her gifts. Angelina and Damion wanted so much for Dawn to have a normal life; they chose not to tell her until the very last possible minute what she was. This is years after the ascension process had already begun.” Prudence looked at me with her huge blue eyes and smiled.
So far the story had been a little vague. I had expected quite a bit more than what I was getting. The other’s seemed intrigued so far, so I sat back and looked at the Priestess. Maybe if I were lucky she would tell me some hidden secrets about my parents.
“The thing is, it’s not just Celestials that undergo these blessings. Usually, when one is chosen by either God or Lucifer, great power is bestowed upon them. Typically, a trace is found in the blood, hence passing down generation to generation. That is how Nick became a Prophet and Chase a Protector. It’s like a super-secret organization who knows God and Lucifer on a personal level.
“The Creators were not meaning to punish Vetis and Puriel for their actions, it was more to test a theory. What would happen if the Warden child were raised by both her parents instead of with a chosen family? It was not expected the two would split. It is one thing to have centuries of trysts with each other, another to be bound to them by name and child. Obviously, a demon and angel marriage wasn’t quite in the cards.” Prudence winked at me. She knew exactly what I was waiting on her tell us.
I was taken aback a bit by her revelation. Neither of my parents had told me their marriage was an experiment. I glanced at Adam and shrugged. I had no idea; therefore, I couldn’t confirm Prudence’s statement.
“When Puriel sent Dawn to live with her father after five years of separation, Dawn had already learned a lot about her mother’s energy. So, for the next seven years with her father, she pulled more powers from him. She may not look balanced with the black hair and pale features, but her heart is where the stability truly lies.
“Anyway, there are few churches in the world that know the path of the angel or the path of the demon. Puriel knew of one: the church she had taken Shawn to when he was just a baby. They feared for her being on Earth with nobody to protect her. If she was killed before she was forgiven, then she would become just another soul and locked in Purgatory. As I’m sure you know, fallen angels cannot return to Heaven unless forgiven.
“With the help of the church, Angelina was given refuge with one of the families. This is where she met your stepfather. Chase is much younger than he appears, by the way. The illusion was set in place to give humans the idea that he was aging. I want to say Chase was twenty at the time they married. He had yet to be chosen, but his family was certain he was the best choice to protect your mother. Once a human is chosen to become either a Protector or a Prophet, they are bestowed some rather unusual gifts. It’s not just about the strength and agility, a Protector knows his Celestial in ways no other being will. There is an intimacy there far beyond anything either will ever experience with any partner.” Prudence intentionally looked at Adam. His face turned red and he instantly looked the other way.
In a lot of ways Adam and I did have that deep intimacy she was talking about. Nobody knew me the way he did, not even Wesley. Maybe there was some truth to the whole story of the Protector so far. Adam and I were connected in ways him and Rose could never be. It was no wonder Prudence was adamant for me to speak with him about my feelings.
“Case in point, when Chase is near Puriel, his power increases. He can use her abilities; help strengthen her alignment. Your mother and him were an unstoppable force. Chase was only bound to Puriel by God, so when Dawn moved in, he had to change his course of action. Protecting two beings was going to cause issues. I don’t know all these issues; I just know it was hard on him.” Prudence glanced toward me again and gave me a sympathetic smile.
Had I taken to much out on him? Was she trying to get me to understand the relationship my mother had with her husband? I had never meant to be a burden to Chase, but maybe I put to much on him when I showed up at the age of fourteen.
“Up until now, there has never been a Protector assigned to a Warden. This is the first time in history that it has happened. Maybe it’s because of the low mortality rate of the Fire Warden. Perhaps it’s because she just can’t keep herself out of trouble. Either way, someone somewhere thought she needed her own Protector.
“So, the power was passed to the one person Dawn drew power from. Someone who, when she was in need, gave a small part of themselves to keep her from dying. On that night last December when Dawn was near deaths door, Adam found her. When he did, he passed to h
er a shard of his own innocence. This act of love is what gave her the strength to pull through. She gained just enough of the virtue to bring her back from the brink of death.
“Adam was chosen, plain and simple. God looked down on him and found his faith and morals to be satisfactory. So, because of this, he blessed the boy with the power of the Protector. You have to realize; this is an amazing feat as God has not blessed a human in centuries, relying mostly on the shared gene to protect the Earthbound.
“When Adam is near, he is powerful. Not only does she heighten his ability, but he heightens hers. He brings out the powers in her that only she knows about. You see, there are polar opposites in this story. Wesley feeds the darker side of her while Adam feeds the lighter. These two together bring her to a point where power is beyond measure.
“So, when you ask who died and put him in charge, well, Dawn is the one who put him in charge. The moment he took power presented to him by God, he took control over her life. Her choice to listen to him is, of course, up to her, but he is the logic while she is the brawn.”
We sat there in silence, allowing Prudence the ability to speak the story without interruption. By the end, everyone was wide-eyed and confused. Only I understood what she was saying.
I had been dying that night in the alley. If it had not been for Adam saving me, I would have fallen victim to John. I would have joined Krista in Purgatory, leaving the other two vulnerable when the time came. Nobody cared to share this with me at the time, as they were still trying to protect me from my own destiny.
“See,” Adam smacked me on the arm. “I’m the logical one.”
I leaned back and glared at him.
After cleaning the kitchen, doing a load of laundry, and packing extra clothes from the closets; we were on the road again. I had grabbed what I could of the off brand dried goods left in the cabinet before we headed out in two cars. I had the lead in the Bentley while Adam took up the rear in his SUV.
It wound up being beneficial for Adam to come along. His SUV could hold quite a bit more than the trunk of my car. That meant we could pack more than what we originally had. This included a few more weapons, and some additional essentials. After some persuasion, I was able to convince Marshall to ride with Adam. The tension between the two had diminished some after Prudence’s story, but I felt it might be best for the two of them to bond a little.
We had just under a thousand miles and fifteen hours of driving from the house outside of Midvale to the trailer in El Paso. We technically had one day left to get there, so Prudence and I opted to split shifts driving: four hours on and four hours off.
We would stop for meals when we got hungry and, of course, make pit stops for gas and other automotive necessities. The drive was beautiful, aside from the constant yapping going on between Kelly and Prudence during the first four hours of the trip. It was like sitting next to a history professor. I never asked how Prudence knew all this stuff. I figured she had picked it up by being in the presence of my mother and father. I didn’t know she had connections with the Creators. That alone was quite interesting.
We stopped for lunch around three at a little café outside of a small no-named town. It was a worn down café, most likely used as a local hang out. By the way heads turned it wasn’t often for outsiders to make a stop.
“Nice car you have there, beautiful,” one of the men mentioned as we took our seats. “Is that one of those rich girl cars?”
I chose to say nothing. Probably one of the smartest things I had done in a long time. We ordered our drinks and food quickly. I could tell the others were wanting out of there just as badly as I did.
“Where you kids headed?” the nice waitress asked us as she delivered our lunches to the table.
“El Paso,” Marshall replied to the lady, and she gave him a warm smile.
“That’s one hell of a drive. Make sure you kids get some food to go.” She gave Marshall a wink and turned to walk away.
I heard the table bounce as Kelly’s toes collided with Marshall’s shin, and he let out a loud gasp. I chuckled and eyeballed my cheeseburger.
“What was that all about?” he whimpered, rubbing his wounded leg.
“Do you really have to flirt with the waitress?” She eyeballed him, her violet eyes flashing.
“It wasn’t flirting! She asked where we were going.” He defended himself.
“And you gave her that smile,” she hissed.
“I just smiled. That is all I did.”
We paid our tab and left the waitress a large tip. I wasn’t expecting there to be a party around my car when we made it to the parking lot.
“You sure don’t look like you can afford a car like this,” the guy from inside the diner said, running his hand over the hood of my Bentley.
“It was a gift,” I replied dryly, wanting to just get in my car and get out of this godforsaken town.
“Did you sell your soul for a car like this?” The guy’s eyes flashed, and I felt Marshall grab my hand and yank me toward him.
“He’s a Cursed One, Dawn. And he’s not the kind we get back at the compound. I can smell something different about him.” Marshall warned.
When I turned toward the man, I was not expecting a fist to come flying at my face. I ducked once and rolled to my right, pulling myself back to my feet. When my hand came up, lightning instantly shot from my fingers and locked around the man’s body. He fought against the electric current as it slowly burnt strips into his body.
Prudence conjured a dense fog around us so the humans inside the diner could not see. I watched her mouth move and contort in odd ways. Marshall and Kelly stayed back; their specific characteristics were not needed at this instant as there was a better chance for one of them to be hurt by the Cursed One.
I felt a sharp pain shoot through my chest and realized he had thrown something in my direction. What it was I did not know, but by the sound of Kelly’s scream, I concluded it was a clean shot through me. At this rate, I would heal quickly.
“What do you want?” I screamed at him, pulling the electric strips tighter around his body.
“I don’t want anything from you.” He suddenly knew how to speak normally now that I had him in my grasp.
“Where does your loyalty lie?” I demanded.
“With the Queen,” he slowly hissed at me. I felt nothing but anger shoot through my soul.
Everything went back to this self-proclaimed monarch. No matter who I ran into, it seemed they were loyal to her.
The fire was slowly making its way to my fingertips. Dancing down my arm, the emotions it caused made my heartache. When the fire took the path of the electric current, I was surprised at the sight. From one hand, the red fire shot quickly down the line while from the other, the white flame moved slower and with more force. I found myself instantly wishing I didn’t have to do this to him. The only thing he had done that would be considered harmful was trying to punch me.
When the fire hit his skin, he instantly burst into flames, screaming profanities, and flailing his arms like a madman. How come the first thing that goes through the minds of any of my victim - is to flail? You would think that they would follow the protocol. Stop. Drop. Roll.
Adam opened the back end of the SUV and took out his sword, spinning it in his hand as I had done on countless occasions. He was fluid with the weapon as if the metal was one with his body. My mother had trained him. What else would I expect from him?
With a flick of his wrist, I watched as he effortlessly set the blade in a ruby glow. What Prudence said was true, Adam had the ability to pull my gifts for his own use. It was mesmerizing watching him. Like one of those movie gods, even though it is a graphic effect put in at the end of filming, it still looks awesome.
Taking a few steps toward the Cursed One, he reached back with the sword and held out his unarmed hand, first pulling water from the atmosphere then drenching the body, putting out most of the flames. Before the flame could be dissipated completely, he swung the
sword in one fluid motion. The body went limp at his feet as the Cursed One’s head rolled in the other direction, eyes still wide and his mouth open.
“The power of another Warden,” Prudence marveled as she motioned for Marshall to move the body of the dead Cursed One.
“Rose taught me a few things.” He gave her a smile. He was obviously amazed at the range of power he had just exuded. If he could have, he would have given himself a pat on the back.
“Unbelievable,” Prudence muttered in a whisper. Even her mind was blown.
When the fog cleared, the remaining men, were gone. No sign they had retreated back into the diner. The only plausible thing was they had teleported or created a portal to get them out of there before they suffered the same fate. Someone had to tell the Queen one of her henchmen was dead.
“She wasn’t going to make this easy,” I said as the pain in my chest started to fade.
“Did you expect anything less? You of all people should know she doesn’t play by the rules,” Marshall growled.
“You of all people should know,” I laughed at him.
“Are you ok?” Kelly came close to me and started checking my chest. Aside from a large amount of blood on the front and back of my shirt, the wound had nearly healed.
“Yeah. Did you see what it was?” I asked her, rubbing the tender spot on my chest.
“No. It flew past me and then disappeared. It almost looked like he was trying to embed a tracking device into your flesh,” she said, pointing behind us.
“Fantastic,” I groaned.
“Marshall, get Dawn another shirt,” Kelly demanded. The boy moved quickly, opening the trunk of the car, and digging into my bag, pulling out a gray t-shirt.
I changed quickly and was back behind the wheel of the car. Now that this was over, we had to get back on the road. I should have known she was going to throw in some twists and turns along the way. If I didn’t make it to El Paso by the next day, she would have reason to hurt Nadine. Sheridan had no heart, so she was going to do everything in her power to make sure I didn’t make it.
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