“Show us what you can do. Marshall said you could create objects from thin air.” John’s voice echoed through my whole body. Memories of that night in the alley started to appear, but I pushed them back. I pushed everything I ever felt into a dark void. John was not going to get the best of me.
I fluidly raised my hands, and electricity began to form around my fingers. I bowed my head and wished for something to happen. Now was not the time for any of the gifts to fail me. When I opened my eyes, both Miranda and John were staring around them in awe. I had somehow managed to bring the lobby to life. The dull, drab brown walls were now white, the bubbled lights were now crystal chandeliers, and the unstocked bar in the corner suddenly had spirits galore.
“Amazing,” he panted, stepping toward me, and looking in my eyes. “Absolutely amazing.” His face softened, and he looked toward Miranda. “She is who she says she is.”
Why did that seem too easy?
“Who else would I be? Seriously, I do not have all day,” I growled, placing my hands on my hips.
“Change it back,” Miranda demanded, and I huffed, snapping my fingers. The glamor faded. “Was it real?” She asked, looking around the room again.
“Was what real?” I questioned, my eyes narrowing.
“The alcohol, the lights? Was any of it real?” She was amazed, I could tell that much, but she still had questions.
“If you had touched it, you would have found out,” I growled at her.
“You are a vicious little thing, aren’t you?” John teased me, and I flashed him a toothy smile. I had to remember my elegance came first. “I think we should take her.”
“Of course, you do. You will fall for a pretty face at the drop of a hat.” She glared at John and then looked back at me. “Is that your car outside?”
“Yes.” I cocked my head to the side.
“John will drive you to the campsite. From there you will have to walk. I doubt your heels are going to work in the dirt.” She was impressed with me, but not with my appearance.
“I am sure I have something that is better suited,” I said to her harshly. “I am prepared for everything.”
“I have a feeling you are.” She narrowed her eyes, and I saw the girl from my dreams. I wanted to punch her, but I held back.
“Marshall, get Miss Prudence’s stuff from her room and meet us outside. I will be driving her to the campsite this evening,” John instructed, and Marshall ran off to do as he was told.
“You can change when we get there,” Miranda instructed and turned to walk away.
“She always this pleasant?” I asked as soon as she was out of earshot.
“She’s going through a lot right now. She doesn’t mean to be so rude,” John said. This was probably the first real conversation that I had ever had with the man.
“I see,” I retorted as I watched Marshall walking down the stairs, carrying my bag in his hands.
“I wasn’t sure if you wanted to leave everything in the room or not. I was going to grab the comforter but figured you would create another.” He smiled at me sweetly.
The boy might be on the wrong side of the battlefield. He was far more gentile then I had first perceived. The wicked smile could have been a ruse. I admit I was instantly drawn to Marshall.
“No, it’s fine, leave it. The magic will wear off soon enough,” I replied, smiling at him.
“Marshall will be your assistant as long as you are in the camp,” John instructed as he had me follow him out of the hotel. “I hope you don’t mind me driving. At the halfway point I will need to blindfold you. It’s not that we do not trust you, it’s just we don’t need anyone following.”
I rolled my eyes. “I have internal GPS.” I reached in my handbag and pulled out the key to the car. “Be gentle with her; she’s my baby.”
“Trust me; I will. This is a Bentley. I would hate to have to pay for this,” he laughed, taking the key gratefully.
We got into the car, and Marshall crawled into the back seat, buckling himself up. “I have everything, Miss Prudence.” I heard him pat my bag and I shook my head.
“Thank you, Marshall,” I said politely.
“You are welcome ma’am,” he answered as John got in on the driver’s side of my car.
“So, Prudence, I feel as if I know you from somewhere,” John said. I was apparently everyone’s deja vu.
“Unless you have been to Maine recently, I do not believe that we have.” I reached over and turned down the radio as he started the car. Thankfully, I had changed to soft jazz when I arrived. Otherwise, the blaring of electric guitars would have changed John’s opinion of me.
“No, never been to Maine. Must have stared too long at the Harbinger’s drawings, you seem familiar,” he shrugged.
“Maybe you dreamed about me and didn’t even know it,” I laughed. The fear and anger had subsided in my gut, but I still did not trust this man in any way.
“I would hope it to be a good dream.” He grinned at me and put the car in drive, pulling out of the hotel parking lot and heading back down the highway. “We had to move a few times throughout the last few months. Just recently, we were able to conceal the camp from human eyes.”
“What is this camp that you are taking me to?” I asked quietly.
“It’s a prison camp in a way. We have managed to apprehend several of the enemies. They were on their way to the unknown camp. We also have a Harbinger — one of Lilly’s pets. I have been pleading with her for months to kill him. However, he saw you, and here you are; so, he must have some form of power.” He was still disgusted with Wesley. There was a time when he thought that Wesley was going to set him free.
“Will I meet this Harbinger you said saw me?” I asked calmly.
“Yes, Lilly thinks it will scare him into complete submission once he knows his visions are real. Maybe then he won’t be so prone to hide things,” John said as he put his foot to the gas pedal and pushed the Bentley to its limits.
“Hide things?” I asked, glancing at the dark-haired man in the driver’s seat of my car.
“Yeah. He blames fudged information on an incomplete vision. If you ask me, I think he’s useless. Only very few of his visions ever come into fruition.” He sounded cynical.
“Most likely because they were spoken of in entirety. It is believed, by most, that if you speak of a vision or prophecy, the timeline will change. Either the vision itself is altered, or it never happens at all,” I responded.
“I never knew that,” he shrugged.
“This could be your problem. Instead of trying to decipher the vision from the image, you are openly asking him to explain. It may be in your battle planner’s best interest to not involve the Harbinger boy in any conversation concerning a vision,” I pointed out, wondering where all this knowledge was coming from.
“Interesting. Your advice has been noted. We sure could have used you a year ago.” He laughed.
“I have had a lot going on; I apologize for my tardiness.” I bowed my head.
“Oh, no! Please do not apologize. I was merely making a comment. The last year has been quite successful. The Queen’s Army is growing massively. Anyone found to oppose it has been obliterated.” He looked at me apologetically.
“I suppose that could be considered successful, but as I understand the Warden Army still grows even while the eradicating is occurring,” I pointed out, trying to sound as if my interest was only statistical.
“When word got out what was happening a lot of beings ran. Still, our camps remain stronger. If there were no wards on their camp, we would have infiltrated long ago.” He sounded irritated of their one failure.
“Wards are hard to break. Especially if the witch that created them is extremely skilled,” I remarked. My knowledge of witchcraft was confusing me. How the hell was I able to figure any of this out?
“True. Still, it has been our one great failure. Lilly was close to taking out the Fire Warden once. She retreated when her mother told her it was not
a good idea. Apparently, if there is another angel/demon mixed child on earth, there is a chance that the power passes to them. Though it would buy us time, there was always a possibility this person could be stronger, faster, and harder to kill than the current one.” I knew what he said was a lie. He may not have known it was, but even I knew that this was impossible. There were no other Celestial mixes in the world. I was the last one ever born.
“I’m not so sure that is true, Mr. Borrows,” I muttered, glancing at him out of the corner of my eye.
He seemed perplexed by my debate. If only he knew just how involved I was with the whole Celestial court. Then again, maybe it was best he was ignorant of how the Creators laws worked.
“Either way, her mother stopped the advance. The problem now is she knows who she is and what she’s capable of, making her a harder target than she was a year ago,” he disputed.
“What does Ms. Lilly have against this Fire Warden?” I asked, my blood wanting to boil out of any opening it could, as the fire inside me was held at bay.
“It all started with Wesley. It’s always been about that boy. Lilly was enamored with him, claimed him, and then this Fire bitch comes in and breaks down everything she had been working for. If it weren’t for Lilly threatening to kill everyone he ever loved, he would have fought till his dying breath.” John groaned. “Something he probably should have done in the first place.”
He mumbled the last sentence under his breath, but it was audible enough that my keen hearing caught on.
“So, this war is over a silly teenage boy?” I laughed. He looked over at me and narrowed his eyes. My comment must have made him a bit upset.
“No, this war was a long time coming. However, it did advance the launch date by about two hundred years,” he answered, his face turning back to normal.
“What were you going to do over this time period then? Scout the girls one by one until you were able to wipe them out? I mean, come on, Mr. Borrows, taking them out one at a time has a better chance of failure than taking them all in one swoop.” I laughed again and turned my head toward the window. I didn’t want to see his expression.
“I guess knowledge does come with age,” he uttered, and I felt a cold chill flow up my spine. While I myself found no offense in what he just said, something inside of me was quite insulted.
“With knowledge comes power, my child,” I seethed, making it known his remark had hit a nerve.
Chapter 27
Encampment
We drove for an hour in silence until John handed me a blindfold and Marshall nicely tied it in the back. I could see nothing but darkness as I felt the car turning this way and that. Obviously, he was trying to confuse me, but I still had a feeling I knew where I was. Once we stopped, I felt Marshall’s soft, warm hand grab me gently around the arm and help me out of the car.
I heard them open the trunk and remove the suitcase I had in the back. They shut the car, and I heard John set the alarm. I had a feeling it was concealed from sight because I could sense there were other vehicles in the vicinity.
“Do you have any tennis shoes? You are going to want to put them on,” John asked to my right.
“Yes, in the bag under the clothing,” I shouted, not sure how far off from me he was. I heard the zipper of the bag open and then him rummaging through my things, finding the tennis shoes I had described.
“Marshall, help Miss Prudence to put her shoes on and hand me the heels.” Marshall led me to a pile of logs and helped me sit. Now you might be wondering how I knew they were logs. I could smell the wood, and the splinters that poked me in the butt upon sitting were a good indication.
“Please, Miss Prudence, allow me.” I felt Marshall’s fingers pull the shoes from my feet, and a moment later, he was putting the tennis shoes on and lacing them up. Once he had them tied, he took my hands and helped me stand again. This boy was far too gentle to be part of this group. Sure, he had the facial appearance of a pissed-off teenager, but it still didn’t match the tenderness I felt from his presence.
I was led down a long path with John holding my hand and pulling me along while Marshall was in the rear, lugging my suitcases and cursing about how much crap I had brought.
“A lady must be prepared for anything,” I said, laughing, at one point.
I could hear a mixture of laughter and crying once we got close enough to the camp. This overwhelming feeling took over. These were prisoners, people who were picked up while they were on their way to join my group.
“You are one hell of a lady,” John said, picking me up and over what I assumed was a pile of stones.
“I will take that as a compliment, Mr. Borrows,” I said sweetly. Being Prudence was becoming easier and easier as time passed. All I prayed for was that Dawn was not lost along the way.
“It’s just John, ma’am,” he replied. I could sense that he was trying to be informal with me. What had Mona made them believe? She said I had to act like royalty.
“John, how much longer until we reach the camp? My eyes, I feel, are starting to cramp,” I asked him nicely as he picked me up and moved me over another pile of something.
“Not much longer, Miss Prudence,” he said, taking my hand firmly and leading me again toward the laughter and tears.
It wasn’t long before we stopped, and he removed the blindfold. There were trees to my left and trees to my right. They had created their camp within the forest itself, and I could see the glittering force field around the camp that kept them concealed from the human eye.
“Welcome to the Prison Camp, Miss Prudence,” John said to me with a smile on his face. I looked around at the wood enclosures, many of them with bars on the windows.
Turning my nose up, I looked at him.
“It’s a bit dirty, don’t you think?” I asked. Acting as if I was above them all was becoming easier, the more I took on the role.
“Well it is in the woods, Miss Prudence,” he laughed before motioning for me to follow. I heard Marshall huffing behind us. I was beginning to think the poor boy had not been ready for the heavy lifting.
“Of course, I suppose that does make sense,” I said with no inflection in my voice. I followed him closely, taking in the camp. I could see the prisoners they were talking about. Their dirty faces looked at me with fear. Good news must travel fast.
We stopped outside a large tent, and John pushed the flaps open so I could enter the enclosure. I marveled at the beauty that was around me. There were Tiffany lamps and cashmere couches. Hidden behind a sheer wall was a large bed that looked extremely comfortable.
“This will be your tent. We went out of our way to make sure you were comfortable while you were staying with us,” John said proudly as my eyes opened wide.
“Thank you,” I said, my voice hushed.
I was awed by what they had done just for me. It still made me question what Mona had been able to create for this person I was pretending to be. She felt more real than a figment of demon imagination. I could feel her occupying every crevice of my mind.
“You approve?” he asked as I looked at him.
I nodded politely.
“Of course! Of all things I was not expecting this,” I said, pointing to the room that surrounded me. “This is just lovely.”
“Lilly will be pleased.” He looked at me, his face flushed.
“I don’t think anything can please that girl,” I said flatly as Marshall put the bags down on the ground. He huffed and puffed until I turned to look at him. “Marshall, please have a seat and rest.”
The boy did as he was told, and the moment his butt hit the couch, he looked at me and smiled. “Thank you, Miss Prudence,” he said, leaning back and looking at the ‘A’-framed top of the tent.
“I will leave you to unpack. There are not many of us here right now, as there was a call for volunteers, and half our troops went.” He walked toward the tent’s entrance and motioned for Marshall to follow.
The tired boy looked upset as he went to sta
nd. I could sense there was a good heart in him. It was just hidden behind years and years of remorse and regret. He may have had a chilling smile, but his eyes told me a different story.
“Leave the boy,” I instructed.
John looked at me with a crooked smile and glanced at Marshall. I had no idea what he was thinking about my request. In a way, I thought maybe it pleased him. Then again, when it came to John, I never understood anything that man did.
“As you wish,” he said bowing.
Marshall sat back down and looked at me with a confused expression.
“Why did you do that?” he asked. A weird smile started to form on his face.
“He said you were here to serve me. Well, you sure as hell cannot serve me if you are following him around camp like a lost puppy.” I said this a little harsher than I had meant to. The simple explanation was that, as long as I had one of them with me, there was no way they would feel they could not trust me. Besides, I had already managed in a short period to have a slight soft spot for the boy.
“That would make perfect sense.” He stood up, walked toward me, and stopped about ten feet in front of me. “What can I do for you?”
I had to think for a second. I looked around the tent and frowned. There was nothing he could do for me here; it seemed. I had to think harder. I looked toward my bags and grinned.
“Help me unpack,” I suggested as he reached for the bags. I led him into the sheer bedroom of the tent and noticed a lovely dresser in place on the other side of the makeshift room. He tossed the bags on the bed, and I looked at him as if he had disturbed my reveling.
“Sorry, ma’am.” He blushed, unzipping the bags, pulling the silky clothing from inside and handing it to me. I set up the dressers as if I was back home. I didn’t have enough with me to fill it, but I had enough to at least get it going.
“When did you arrive?” I asked the boy as I placed my silk stockings in the top right-hand drawer.
Wild Fire (Wardens Series Book 3) Page 24