by G. K. DeRosa
“Stop!” She screamed as he transformed into a wolf and took off. She whipped her head toward Marco and Brazen, and he too suddenly stopped the onslaught and sped away. Celeste was too baffled to move. Why did he take my ring?
Marco was at her side a moment later. “I guess we scared him off,” he said with a shrug. “Come on, let’s get out of here.”
They found Dalla and Stellan where they had left them and quickly snuck out of the building. Most of the fighting had died down, and many of the demons were escaping through the portal that had brought them in. As soon as they stepped outside, Marie came rushing toward them.
“Are you all right?” she asked. “I’ve never seen anything like that. There were so many of them!” Celeste noticed that she too had a few scrapes and bruises.
“Were you fighting too?” Celeste asked.
“I had to do something. They were coming after everyone.”
Celeste noticed the fountain in the middle of the square was empty and saw puddles of water everywhere. “You used your magic?”
“Well, I don’t have a super sword or guardian fighting skills like you do, but I held my own with the help of air and water. Let’s just say that water spouts can be pretty powerful too!” she said with a satisfied grin.
***
The rumble of an engine broke the stillness of the Constantin apartment. Both Roman and Nico were awake, but neither was talking much. They were too engrossed by the books they had borrowed from Stellan’s extensive library. Roman sped to the door and opened it before Brian’s knuckle made contact with the wood.
“Hey, sorry to come by so early, but I haven’t heard from the girls yet and I thought maybe you had,” said Brian awkwardly. He had dark circles under his eyes, and it was obvious he hadn’t slept yet.
Roman opened the door all the way and invited him in. “The girls?” he asked.
“Yah, Marie went with Celeste to Astor or whatever. She didn’t tell you?”
Roman murmured “No” under his breath, and Nico spoke up. “We haven’t heard anything yet, Brian. But don’t worry, if Marie’s with Celeste I’m sure she’s perfectly safe.” Nico motioned toward the couch and said, “Have a seat, you can wait with us. I don’t think any of us will be getting much sleep this morning.”
Brian hesitated, but seeing the half empty bottle of vodka and ice bucket on the coffee table convinced him to take a seat. Nico took a glass out of the liquor cabinet and filled it with ice. “What’s your pleasure?” he asked with a smirk.
Hurried footsteps echoed through the empty hallway as Celeste led the group to the underground safe house. Hidden hundreds of feet below the main square and accessible only through the police station, this bunker was ideal for emergency situations like this. Only a few select guardians knew of its existence, and luckily Celeste was one of them. The Council members had revealed its location to the special dozen guardians appointed upon arrival this morning. Within a few hours, all of the remaining citizens of Astor, led by those guardians, would congregate in this spot.
“How many people do you think survived?” whispered Marie nervously.
Celeste and Marco looked at each other, their faces mirror images of sadness and loss. “I don’t know,” said Celeste keeping her voice low. “But I think all of the Council members survived.”
They continued trudging through the long corridor, finally reaching an elevator. Celeste slid her key into the lock, and the shiny metal doors glided open. Stellan escorted Dalla in first. There was something in the way he held her, a familiarity, that made Celeste wonder if they knew each other. Once the five were in, they pressed the green button (the only button) and the elevator plunged down into the earth.
Seconds later, the doors slid open and the enormity of the bunker was revealed. Celeste stepped out and her eyes surveyed the series of rooms. There was a long hallway with metallic walls and doorways leading to more rooms. One of the largest was an infirmary filled with modern medical supplies like one would find in any ER. Inside were a few injured guardians with doctors and nurses who hovered over the wounded administering first aid. In the main lobby there were already at least a few hundred people ambling about, mostly women and children. A few of the older guardians Celeste had met earlier that day seemed to be establishing order and directing those newly arrived.
“This place is huge!” said Marie as she gaped at the seemingly never-ending walls and ceilings of metal.
“Nonno told me about this secret bunker when I was young, but I always thought he had exaggerated about its size. You really could fit the entire population of Astor down here,” said Marco.
“Of course you’ve heard of it, because you know everything right?” teased Celeste. As much as Marco’s cockiness grated on her nerves, she had to admit that he was a good guardian. He had fought fearlessly today and had her back when it counted.
Seraphina and Balthazar emerged from the crowd, their haggard faces brightening at the sight of Dalla alive and well.
“Well done Celeste, Marco,” said Seraphina with a nod of approval. “You both fought bravely today.”
“Thank you,” answered Celeste. “Where are Dante and Sierra?” She had been looking for them since they arrived, but they were nowhere in sight.
Seraphina’s stern face dropped its mask for a moment and worry shone in her eyes. “Sierra was injured in the battle. Dante is with her in the infirmary.”
“Can we see her?” asked Stellan stepping forward.
“I’m afraid not. The healers are doing their best, but her injuries are extensive.” With that, she and Balthazar disappeared back into the crowd.
Celeste’s whole body sagged, and she had to lean against the cold metal wall for support. She knew she should have stayed and helped them. She would never forgive herself if kindhearted Sierra died. A booming voice from across the room startled Celeste out of her remorse. It was Javier, and he was trying to get everyone’s attention.
“Listen up, guardians. I need all the team leaders in conference room B in five minutes for a quick debrief.” A few of the guardians began walking out, and the rest of the citizens returned to their tasks.
Marco turned to Celeste and said, “That’s us. We better go now; who knows how long it will take us to find that conference room.”
“Marie, stay here with Stellan. We’ll be right back,” said Celeste.
“I’m going to go find my dad. He messaged me a few minutes ago saying he made it down here. I’ll meet back up with you guys later.”
Marco and Celeste headed toward the main hallway, hoping to find a floor plan of some sort. As they turned the corner, they ran into Javier. His face was hard and unreadable, so different than the man they had met just a few hours earlier. Javier acknowledged them both with a nod. Celeste wanted to say something about Milena, anything to convey her sadness for the loss of his partner, but the words just wouldn’t come. Instead she lowered her head solemnly, and they followed him into the meeting.
Celeste took a seat in the front row next to Marco and started looking around at the somber faces. She noticed that the group of fifteen had been reduced to eight and held back a gasp as she counted again. Seven of the best guardians in the world had been killed. And the eight remaining weren’t in the best of shape. Most of them were cut, bruised, and beaten with bloodstains soaked into their elegant clothing.
Seraphina and Balthazar walked up to the front of the room, and everyone grew silent. Seraphina stepped forward, her raven hair caked with dirt and blood and a purple bruise adorning one eye; still, she remained as dignified as ever. “First of all I want to thank you all for what you did today. It was a terrible battle, but I am pleased to say that we won. I was just informed that all of the supernaturals have been banished from the city, and our defenses are back up and fortified. No one will be entering again.” A collective sigh of relief rose from the audience.
“We also owe a special thank you to Celeste Wilder,” said Balthazar as he stepped forward, his wir
y form supported by his wooden cane. Celeste looked up, stunned. “If it hadn’t been for her premonition, I do not believe we would have survived this attack. Because of her, we were able to prepare and increase our numbers; if not for that, this event would have been a complete massacre.”
To her surprise, Marco reached an arm around her shoulder and patted her on the back. The rest of her peers were looking at her with smiles of gratitude on their faces. Celeste’s heart swelled up with pride, and a tiny grin slid across her lips.
“Unfortunately, it isn’t all good news,” continued Seraphina. “We’ve lost many great guardians and citizens of Astor this evening. We haven’t gotten the final count, but so far we’ve lost at least thirty of our brothers and sisters. As you may know, Sierra was gravely injured, but the healers and witches are doing everything they can to save her.”
“While we are tending to the needs of the people here in Astor, we need you to go back out and continue with your duties. We need to find out who was behind this attack, and be assured that when we do, they will be punished,” finished Balthazar.
After the debriefing, Celeste and Marco walked back in silence to the main lobby to find Stellan and Dalla. Celeste needed some time to process what had happened and think about all those who had been killed. She didn’t feel like she deserved the praise—she should have been able to do more. If she had seen the attack and known it was coming, why couldn’t she do more to prevent it? Celeste thumbed her ring finger out of habit, suddenly remembering the missing ring.
They found Stellan and Dalla seated on a couch, Dalla’s petite frame nestled next to his, her eyes closed. As they approached, Stellan put his index finger to his lips, then stood up gently in an attempt to not wake her.
Celeste ran up to him. “Stellan, I forgot to tell you with all the craziness, one of the werewolves with Brazen stole the ring Roman gave me for my birthday.”
“His mother’s ring?”
“Yes. And when we were back there in the middle of the battle, right after the light shot out of my sword, I could have sworn I saw the sapphire glowing and so was this,” she said, handing him the Wilder key.
Stellan turned the gold key over in his wrinkled hand and examined it carefully. The small embedded sapphire was still a little warm to the touch. “Very interesting,” he murmured. “I’m not sure why the werewolves would want Lilliana’s ring.”
“There’s more: that werewolf could have killed me. He had me pinned down and was inches from my neck, but instead he went straight for the ring,” remembered Celeste. The more she thought about the encounter, the less sense it all made. The werewolf seemed to have attacked her just to get to the ring.
“Did Roman tell you anything about it?”
“No, not really. He just said that his mom used to watch over the guardian families even after she had been turned and was no longer a part of the Council. And he told me that she’d had the ring for ages, and that it gave her strength.”
“I wonder if there is more to this than we know,” said Stellan, his eyes bright with curiosity. He then turned to Dalla who had awoken, and said, “I must go. Will you be all right here with the others?” Dalla bit her lower lip, but nodded bravely. “I will be back soon,” he said to her with a tender kiss on the forehead.
There is definitely something going on between those two.
Celeste turned to say goodbye to Marco and he wrapped his arms around her before she could move. “Ooof!” she uttered in surprise. He kissed her on both cheeks and held her hands tightly in his. “I understand now what all the talk is about – this famous Celeste Wilder,” he said with an irrepressible smile. “I hope to see you again one day soon.”
“Ciao!” said Celeste as she hugged him back. She was astonished when she felt a hint of sadness at not knowing when she would see him again.
Stellan and Celeste made their way back up through the corridors and up the elevator to ground level where they met Marie. Celeste took their hands and with a deep cleansing breath, she concentrated on going home.
When Celeste opened her eyes seconds later, she found herself in Roman’s room. She let go of Stellan and Marie’s hands and glanced around at the familiar surroundings.
“Sorry,” she apologized. “I guess I haven’t quite gotten the hang of traveling back and forth from Astor. I was trying to get us back home – to my house, I mean.”
Stellan cracked a wry smile. “You must be careful about what you are thinking about when you are using your powers. The magical GPS is not always quite so literal.”
Roman, Nico, and Brian came rushing in, having heard voices from across the apartment. All three of their tense faces brightened upon entering the room and seeing them all back unharmed.
“We were so worried,” said Brian as he ran up to Marie and Celeste, an arm around each one. Nico was next in line for a hug, and only Roman hung back uncomfortably with an acknowledging nod of the head to Stellan. Celeste glanced up after Nico backed away and caught Roman’s eye. Her heart wrenched as she saw the misery shadowing his beautiful blue irises. She took a step toward him, and then paused. Roman’s eyes lit up for a fraction of a second. Whatever was going on between the two of them was complicated, but at that moment all she wanted was to be in his arms. And after the day she just had, she reasoned she deserved it. Without a second thought, she leapt into him, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck and burying her face into his warm chest.
“Thank God you’re okay,” he whispered into her ear, his voice thick with emotion. She could feel the tears welling up in her eyes as she held him tighter.
“So are you going to tell us what happened or just keep us in suspense forever?” asked Nico.
Celeste pulled away from Roman, and wiping a stray tear from her cheek turned to the others. “It’s a long story…”
***
It was pitch black out, but Alek could not sleep. He paced in front of the window as snowflakes began to cover the ground. Every few minutes he would glance at his cell phone, clutched tightly in his hand. It had been hours since the attack, and he should have heard something by now. Finally, the call he had been anxiously awaiting came.
“Bring it to me now,” commanded Alek over the phone.
Seconds later, a portal opened and dumped Brazen unceremoniously on the hardwood floor just steps in front of Alek. Brazen quickly got to his feet, but it was obvious that standing was causing him some effort. He had a wicked slash across his cheek and a puncture wound on the right side of his chest. His clothes were ripped and ragged and covered with blood.
It had been quite a battle after all, thought Alek with a sneer. “Give it to me,” he said.
“Not so fast,” said Brazen, puffing up his chest. “We had a deal. I got you the ring and you make me immortal. As you can see, I’m not doing so great right now.”
Alek gave him a contemptuous glare. “Fine. A deal is a deal.”
“And while you’re at it, heal me too. That guardian Marco got me with one of his silver arrows,” he said, clutching at his oozing wound. “I’m lucky to be alive.”
Alek grunted. He snapped his fingers and a small vial with crimson red liquid appeared in his hand. “Take this when you get home. I recommend sitting down first,” he instructed. Brazen snatched the vial and placed it in the inner pocket of his worn leather jacket, at the same time producing a small pouch from within. He handed it over to Alek.
Alek untied the string and gently tipped the pouch over to allow the sapphire ring to tumble into his open palm. Picking it up with his other hand, he raised it toward the overhead lamp and watched it reverently as the brilliant jewel flashed in the light.
“What do you want that old ring for anyway?” asked Brazen.
“That’s none of your concern,” Alek spit back. “We are done here.” And with a wave of his hand, the whirling vortex opened up, sucking Brazen back in.
***
After recounting the entire traumatic event, Celeste could not keep her eyes op
en. She had been up for over twenty-four hours, and the adrenaline had finally stopped coursing through her system. As much as she tried to fight it, she passed out seconds after Brian and Marie left. Once Roman was certain she was asleep, he lowered his body down next to hers, barely breathing so as not to shake the bed.
Roman watched her intently as she slept, gently caressing her arm and murmuring soothingly. He marveled at the beautiful, courageous young woman she had become in the past few months. She deserved better than him, he had always known that, but he couldn’t bear to let her go. After a while, Stellan appeared in the doorway and beckoned him with a wave of his hand. Roman stood reluctantly and followed Stellan out to the living room, silently shutting the door behind him.
Walking out into the great room, he found Nico waiting impatiently by the fireplace. “Now that Roman’s here, what did you want to tell us?”
“There were a few things that Celeste left out of the story which are of extreme importance. Though Celeste and I believe that Marie is no threat, we thought it would be better to keep this information strictly amongst us for now,” began Stellan. Roman sat down next to Nico, his eyes filled with curiosity.
“Celeste’s sword put on quite a light show once again,” continued Stellan. Roman felt a sense of pride surging through him. He wished he could have been there to see her in action. “And this time she noticed that her Wilder key and your mother’s ring lit up when it happened.”
“What?” asked Roman.
“How could that be?” echoed Nico.
“I feared that this would come as news to the both of you. I was hoping you had seen it before.”
“No, I’ve never seen it glow before, but then again after our mother died we kept it in an old jewelry box for ages. I never took it out until the day I gave it to Celeste,” explained Roman.