by G. K. DeRosa
“I guess I didn’t realize she was your aunt. She went rogue about ten years ago. Last I heard, she was wandering around Russia, killing vampires on her own.”
“No, you’re wrong. It can’t be.”
“I’m pretty sure there’s only one Matilda Wilder, and I know that I’m right. It was a big deal in the guardian community in Europe,” he said as he continued walking. “Everyone was talking about it.”
Celeste was puzzled. Why would her aunt go rogue, and more importantly, why wouldn’t she have told Celeste the truth? Her aunt’s strange behavior suddenly started to make more sense.
“Are you sure your premonition was correct?” asked Marco as they passed the fountain for the umpteenth time.
“I know what I saw, and it was bad. I just don’t know exactly when it’s going to happen,” she said with a scowl.
Perceiving the change in her tone, Marco backed off. “It’s getting late, and we need to get ready for the ceremony,” he said looking at her clothes. “You are going to change, aren’t you?”
Celeste had an urge to punch him, but she took a deep breath instead. “Yes, I am. Why don’t you go first and Marie and I will keep going?”
Marco paused and considered for a moment. “Okay. I’ll be back soon. Try not to get into too much trouble without me.”
Celeste rolled her eyes and happily watched him saunter away. “Can you believe that guy?” she said to Marie.
“What? I think he’s kinda hot,” she responded with a wink.
“The problem is that he knows he’s hot and acts like a cocky brat,” said Celeste as she marched on. Marie shrugged her shoulders and picked up the pace to catch up to her.
Celeste pushed aside the questions about her aunt and was enjoying the quiet—and the beautiful scenery. She and Marie had slipped into a comfortable silence, and it allowed her a few moments to think. The nagging pain in her chest persisted; it was as if every heart beat murmured Roman. More than anything, Celeste wished he were here with her. She always felt stronger when he was near. His absence left a gaping hole, one that was unlikely anyone else could ever fill. Shaking her head, Celeste willed herself to stop thinking about him. She had to focus on the mission. Opening her mind and body, she reached out, searching for anything supernatural nearby. As always, she got a slight twinge from Marie, but it was not the overpowering evil she was searching for. Everything was quiet.
As they circled around to the Council building, they found Milena and Javier. Milena was wearing a crimson satin floor-length gown, her bright red lipstick contrasting her pale complexion and her jet-black hair pulled in a tight bun. Javier too looked like another person in his formal black tuxedo, with his salt and pepper hair slicked back neatly.
Javier spoke up first. “Celeste, go ahead and get dressed. We will cover for you. Be back in twenty minutes.” Celeste nodded and hurried off as instructed with Marie following closely behind.
***
“What are you doing up at this ungodly hour?” asked Nico, rubbing his eyes as he peeked into Roman’s room. He covered his eyes to avoid the bright light from the desk lamp.
“I couldn’t sleep,” he said curtly. Roman was hunched over the computer with a stack of old books and a pad and pen at his side. Nico picked up the notebook to examine the illegible scribbles.
“What are you doing?”
“I am trying to find Alek. I have a feeling that somehow he’s behind all of this – the Bacillus demon and Celeste’s premonition.”
“Why would you think that? No one has heard anything from him since Fabian’s death,” said Nico, sitting down on the bed.
“That’s exactly why. If that had been me, I would be lying low and preparing to take my revenge.” Roman stood up abruptly and began pacing. “Don’t you see? No one would see him coming.” Nico nodded his head, not really sure where his brother was going with this. “I was curious about Alek and his motivations. Why did Fabian choose him? I’ve been reading through these books, and in a thousand years, Fabian never had an apprentice, no one he ever worked with. And then Alek appears. Don’t you find that odd?”
“Maybe he just got lonely?” said Nico.
“Be serious for once, little brother! I truly believe we need to find out more about this connection between Alek and Fabian. If Alek is still out there, he could have answers. He could have our mother’s body.”
Nico looked at him, bewildered. “You really think that was her?”
Roman hadn’t brought up seeing his mother’s body that day at the cave to anyone except Stellan. He hadn’t even spoken about it to Celeste. But after visiting his mother’s empty grave, he couldn’t deny it any longer. “I do. And we need to find Alek if we want to get her back.”
“Why would he have kept her body? It makes no sense,” said Nico.
“I don’t know. And that is exactly why we need to find out more about Alek – not just for Celeste but for us too.” Roman picked up one of the books from his desk and flipped through a few pages. “According to this, Fabian began mentoring Alek only about a hundred years ago.”
“That’s around the time that we were turned,” said Nico, peering at the book over Roman’s shoulder. “He looks pretty good for just over a hundred.”
“Yes he does. Either Fabian halted his aging or he did it himself, which means he’s more powerful than we thought.”
“What else does it say in there?”
“Not much. I’ll have to go to Stellan’s to see what else I can find,” Roman said, dropping the book. “You up for a pre-dawn flight?”
Nico’s dark eyes sparked with excitement. Moments later a sleek black falcon dotted the morning sky with a snowy white falcon flying close behind.
A bleary-eyed Dani opened the door to Stellan’s house after incessant knocking finally got her out of bed. She was still in her pink flannel pajamas, and her long fair hair was a tangled mess.
“Geez, what are you two doing here so early?” she asked, stifling a yawn. “Stellan’s not here.”
“Yes, we know that Dani. We need to get into his library. It’s important,” said Roman with an irritated tone. He hated sitting around doing nothing, and though he wasn’t with Celeste where he desperately wanted to be, at least this was something. If he could focus on locating Alek, the constant ache of losing Celeste would at least be more tolerable.
“Can I help?” asked Dani eagerly.
Nico spoke up before Roman could object. “Sure, why don’t you pull up all the books with mention of Fabian or Alek?”
“Sure, no problem,” she said as she sat down at Stellan’s desk. She turned on the old computer and began typing away.
“What are you doing?” asked Roman, who was pulling dusty books off of shelves one by one.
“I’m searching the catalog. I’ve been helping Stellan get organized over the past few months. I have an archive of all his book collections with names, dates, and keywords. It will be much quicker to search here than manually,” she answered.
Roman, looking abashed, dropped the books in his hands and walked over to the desk. He stood over her shoulder and watched her as she expertly searched through the files. Nico couldn’t help but smirk. After a few minutes, Dani had compiled a list of a dozen titles that matched her search query. She disappeared into the rows of bookshelves, and moments later came out with a tower of books in hand.
“Thank you,” said Roman.
“Sure, no problem. Do you want me to help you look through the books too?”
Roman glanced at his watch. The Induction Ceremony would be starting momentarily. He reminded himself that there was nothing he could do but wait. “Yes, that would be nice,” he replied and even gave her a smile.
***
Celeste and Marco stood on high alert at the back of the long white hall. Every single one of Celeste’s muscles was tense and ready to strike at a moment’s notice. Both wore impeccable evening attire, but the expressions on their faces looked more like they were going into battle
than a formal ceremony. Celeste had chosen a simple black dress that fell to her knee that would be both stylish and deadly. Its shorter length and stretchy material wouldn’t impede her demon fighting. Marco wore an elegant black tuxedo like most of the male guardians, but his was embellished with a flashy red bow tie and matching handkerchief. The hall was filled with guardians, young and old, from all parts of the world along with a few select VIP guests. Among the special invitees was a handful of powerful sorcerers like Stellan, the four heads of the great witch covens, and Elsbetta, the Queen of the Fey. They had all been granted special dispensation to enter Astor for this extraordinary event, and their positions in the first row signified their importance.
The new member to be inducted into the Council, Dalla, stood in the front of the room dressed in a flowing ivory gown. Celeste could immediately tell that she was a witch, and now she understood why the four leaders of the covens had been invited. It was a rare honor to be chosen part of the Council and especially rare for a non-guardian to be selected. Celeste wondered what made Dalla so special. As she scanned the audience, her eyes fell upon the Queen of the Fey. She really was as beautiful as everyone had said. Elsbetta was tall with a lithe figure similar to Marie’s, but her hair, cascading halfway down her back, was snow white. She wondered where Marie was, and if her Queen knew she was here.
A harp began to play a heavenly melody, and everyone’s eyes turned up to the orchestra as the room became silent. Celeste had all but forgotten Marco standing next to her, who unexpectedly jumped at the sound of the music. The double doors swung open and Dante filed into the hall, followed by Sierra, Seraphina, and Balthazar. Each wore a robe of different color similar to Stellan’s with rich hues and gold accents. Sierra gave a subtle nod to Celeste as she passed by, and a flash of envy crossed Marco’s classically handsome face. The Council marched slowly to the front of the hall, and each member took a seat at the candle-lit altar. After a moment of silence, Dante rose to address the audience.
“Thank you all for being here today. As you know this is a time-honored tradition, and we are fortunate to have Dalla joining the Council today. Her unique talents and wisdom will undoubtedly make us stronger and reinforce the entire guardian community as a whole.” Nods of approval were evident across the sea of faces in the crowd. “Let the Induction Ceremony begin.” With a solemn nod, Dalla stepped forward, and he placed his hands on her head.
Dante murmured a series of blessings in Latin and smeared pungent smelling oil across her forehead. The ceremony oddly reminded Celeste of many Catholic rituals she had experienced as a child at St. Alice’s. The mood in the hall was somber, and yet there was an undercurrent of excitement flowing through it all. She could feel the magic alive and sparkling like electricity as each member of the Council recited the ritualistic words.
Celeste glanced at the clock above her head and noticed it had been over an hour already. The time had flown by, and she sensed that the ceremony was coming to a close. She glanced over at Marco leaning lazily against a column, his eyes having glazed over a while ago. Apparently he didn’t find the ceremony as mesmerizing as she did. At the culmination, all four Council members encircled Dalla and with their hands raised over her head, chanted solemnly. Celeste could feel the rush of power that was being pulled from every direction and centered over their circle.
Suddenly, a wave of nausea hit Celeste as a terrible feeling grew in the pit of her stomach. Her heart started pounding as she scanned the room around her, searching for the source of her panic. This is it, the moment in the ceremony when the barriers to Astor are weakened. Her fellow guardians all looked calm, their eyes locked on the ritual at the altar. She turned to Marco and whispered urgently, “Something’s wrong.” Before she could explain, the grand double doors whipped open and a pack of heavily armed werewolves came hurtling through. Celeste shoved Marco out of the way before he got trampled by the surge of demons that followed the pack. He looked stunned as he hit the hard marble floor with a smack.
“Get up!” Celeste yelled as she scrambled for her sword, which was hidden under the bench in front of them.
Shaking his head, the initial look of astonishment passed over him, and he set his jaw with determination. Marco picked up his crossbow and began shooting his silver-tipped arrows into the oncoming pack. Celeste looked around in alarm as the vision from her premonition came to life before her eyes. Behind the large pack of werewolves were hundreds of horrible demons making their way through a large portal that had been opened up at the entrance of the Council hall. All of the guardians were fighting now, even though the majority of those present were retired. Glancing out the window, Celeste saw more guardians fighting the demons in the main square as they emerged from the portal. The immaculate streets of Astor were marred with blood and demon guts as the battle ensued.
Celeste’s duty was to protect the Council. Looking toward the altar she saw that they, too, were engaging the enemy. Even elderly Balthazar had his sword in hand, battling a deranged werewolf. A sense of pride came over her as she saw them all united against their supernatural enemy. As she made her way toward the front of the room, a huge, hairy beast with three-inch claws lunged for her. She drew her sword, and with a quick thrust dispatched him back to whatever hell dimension he came from. Celeste’s power was coursing through her now: she could feel her strength renewing with every swing of her sword as she cut through the melee. Another demon appeared in front of her, blocking her path. If it weren’t for the black beady eyes and forked reptilian tongue, she would have thought he was human like her. He was fast and dodged all of the thrusts of her sword. He hissed, and a nasty sticky liquid shot out of his mouth. Celeste ducked just in time as the corrosive fluid hit a bench and completely ate through the wood. Anger boiled up inside of her at this creature who was impeding her forward motion. Pointing her sword in front of her toward the advancing demon, she focused all of her energy and a blinding light shot out of her sword sending her attacker flying through the air.
Astonished by the onrush of power, Celeste stood frozen for a moment. She felt a strange warmth emanating from the key around her neck. She reached up to touch it with her right hand and noticed that the sapphire in her ring was glowing. A brilliant blue light was radiating from the core of both the sapphire on her key and the antique ring Roman had given her. Noticing curious glances from guardians all around her, she knew now was not the time to ponder this revelation. Everyone had seen the blast of light, and demons and guardians alike had paused in momentary amazement. But the hiatus was short lived, and soon sounds of battle resumed all around her. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Stellan standing protectively in front of Dalla, killing demons with a flick of his wrist. She was relieved to see him alive, and surprised to see a hint of a smile on his face as he fought off his attackers with fierce magic.
Finally reaching the altar, she ran toward Stellan and drove her sword through the back of the creature with which he was struggling.
“Are you all right, my dear?” he asked as his breath came quickly. She could see the curiosity in his eyes and knew he wanted to ask her about the light, but they both knew now was not the time.
“I’m fine,” she said, catching a glimpse of Dalla’s terrified face. “We should get you out of here.” Dalla nodded and took hold of Celeste’s outstretched hand. Dante and Sierra were busy battling a few lower-level demons, and Celeste felt guilty abandoning them. She looked back as she weaved through the scuffle with Dalla and Stellan in tow. Dante caught her glance and with a determined glare shouted, “Go!” She didn’t look back again.
Parting the crowd with the sharp end of her sword, Celeste led them through the long hall. She tried not to look at her fallen comrades as she leapt over their bodies, bloody and contorted in unnatural positions. A bright red dress caught her eye as she moved stealthily past two battling demons. It was Milena, her stunning crimson gown clawed to bits and her body underneath it as well. A wave of nausea gripped Celeste, and hot tea
rs threatened to spill over. She picked up her head determinedly and looked straight ahead, the entrance door only a few yards away.
“Celeste!” came a familiar voice to her right. She turned to see Marco engaged in hand-to-hand combat with a stocky werewolf. He seemed to be holding his own, but she had to make sure he was okay. He might be a cocky jerk, but he was her partner after all.
“Wait here,” she said to Stellan and Dalla, pushing them down in between two benches. “I’ll be right back.”
Celeste rushed to Marco’s side and offered him a silver dagger she had tucked into her dress. He gave her a smirk, then plunged the weapon into the werewolf’s heart.
“We have to get Dalla out of here. Come on!” She took his hand and led him back toward the others. As they turned the corner, a towering werewolf leapt in front of them to block their way. He was of human form, and Celeste immediately recognized him as Brazen, the leader of the Black Devils. Suddenly three more werewolves appeared at his side, and now she and Marco were outnumbered. They stood back-to-back and fought hard against the pack – Celeste with her sword and Marco with the small dagger. The werewolves lunged at them their fangs bared as saliva and blood dribbled from their mouths.
“Celeste, go! Get Dalla and Stellan and get out of here. I’ll hold them off,” shouted Marco.
“No, I’m not leaving you,” said Celeste as she shook her head stubbornly. One of the werewolves leapt toward her, but she ducked to barely miss his sharp canines. She quickly swept her leg out and he tumbled to the ground, but he was up again an instant later. In her peripheral vision, she saw Marco battling Brazen but his small dagger was no match for the werewolf Alpha and his ferocious fangs. Momentarily distracted, the werewolf succeeded in wrestling Celeste to the ground. His heavy body had her pinned as she struggled to get free. He could have easily ripped her throat out in that position, but instead he grabbed her right hand and she felt him tugging on something. It took her a moment to realize what he was doing, but by the time she did, it was too late. He had her ring and was quickly retreating with it.