by G. K. DeRosa
Aunt Maddie pulled Celeste and Marco down behind a brick building just as an ominous feeling blossomed in the pit of Celeste’s stomach. “There!” Maddie whispered, pointing. “That’s a group of vampires, I’m sure of it. No one else would be standing around in this weather.”
Celeste nodded. Her evil radar as Nico teasingly nicknamed it was causing bouts of nausea to churn inside of her as confirmation. Peering across the square, they could just make out the figures of four men across the way. Vampires didn’t feel the cold like humans did, and it was clear from their posture that the freezing night air wasn’t causing them any discomfort.
“Let’s circle back around and come at them from one of the side streets. If we approach them head on through the square, they’ll see us coming from far,” Maddie said.
“Wait,” said Celeste as her aunt began moving. “Maybe Marco and I should go alone. If Maks recognizes you, he’ll try to escape. We should confirm it’s him, since he doesn’t know us.”
“I don’t know, Celeste. I don’t like the idea of sending just the two of you against four of them,” she replied.
“Don’t worry about us,” said Marco with a smirk.
“Just hang back a little, if we need you we’ll yell,” said Celeste.
“Fine,” agreed Aunt Maddie. “I’ll lead you around the square and then I’ll wait at the corner. But try not to do anything crazy, Celeste. Your mom will kill me if something happens to you on my watch.”
The threesome ran through the snow-blanketed streets and ended up on the other side of the square half a block away from the group of vampires, who had their backs turned toward them now. Aunt Maddie waited and Celeste and Marco tiptoed ahead, cursing the sound of the crunching snow beneath their boots. As they approached the cluster, Celeste tried to make out their faces. One was short and stocky, the other was a giant blonde man, neither of whom could be Maks. But the other two were of about average height and had dark brown hair similar to the picture she had seen. She needed to get a little closer before she could make out any specific features. She desperately needed a better look at their necks to see if either bore the black bow and arrow tattoo.
Celeste signaled to Marco and they split up, each approaching the vampires from a different side. On the count of three, they leapt out in front of them, Marco hitting the tall blonde one with a direct shot to the heart with his crossbow. As confusion ensued, one of the dark haired ones took off.
“I gotta go after him!” yelled Celeste.
Marco nodded as he fought off the two remaining vampires with his sword in one hand and crossbow in the other.
Celeste took off after the swiftly moving vampire, and before long was straining to keep up. She vaguely remembered Marco saying that he was super fast and strong and regretted her offer to chase this guy. She should have let him do it. The vampire was much more sure-footed than she was, obviously familiar with the terrain. Celeste felt certain she would land on her butt at every sharp turn, but somehow she remained on her feet.
Running through the dark streets, the vampire made a sudden turn toward a main road where the lighted lampposts provided a nice change for Celeste. As he dashed across the street by the Parliament building, a wayward taxi driver pulling out of a driveway had to slam on the breaks to avoid hitting him. The vampire slammed his hands against the hood of the car and yelled what sounded to Celeste like a Russian obscenity. Bright headlights illuminated his face for a split second. In that moment, Celeste was just able to make out the black tattoo on his neck. It was him: she had found Maks. He spun on the driver of the taxi and yanked him out of the car, depositing him on the frozen asphalt. As the driver cursed at him, Maks climbed into the taxi and in an instant she had lost him.
Thirty minutes later, they reconvened at the hotel thanks to the burner cells Aunt Maddie had provided. Celeste was the last to arrive. She was winded from the all-out chase, and was dreading telling the others she had lost Maks. Marco had succeeded in killing one of the vampires, but the short stocky one had managed to escape.
“So what happened out there?” asked Aunt Maddie. “I lost you after you took off after one of them.”
“It was him,” admitted Celeste, her breath still coming up short.
Aunt Maddie’s eyes shot open. “Are you sure?”
“Yes. I saw his tattoo. It was definitely him.”
Aunt Maddie’s hands flew over her mouth. Celeste wasn’t sure if she was stopping herself from yelling or crying. She slumped down on the bed next to her.
“I’m so sorry I lost him,” said Celeste. “He was just so fast, and then he jumped into a cab and sped off.” She couldn’t help feeling guilty. She had been so close!
“It’s okay. At least he didn’t see me. He’ll probably just assume there’s a new guardian in town,” she said. “What’s important is that we know he’s here. We’ll get him next time.” Celeste looked at her aunt appreciatively; she was amazed at how well she had taken the news of Maks’ escape.
“Any word from Dalla or the Albsurori?” asked Roman. He and Nico had driven up to Stellan’s for a brainstorming session. It had been days since Alek had taken Fabian’s spell book, and they still had nothing new to go on. What was more remarkable was that Alek still hadn’t made a move. As each day passed, the tension increased while everyone awaited the inevitable attack.
“Yes, actually there is, which is why I asked you both to come,” replied Stellan, taking a seat in his well-worn worn in club chair. “Dalla believes she may be able to link to your mother’s ring and track down Alek that way.”
“Great, so what are they waiting for?” asked Nico.
“The head of the Albsurori coven, Marja, has been helping Dalla in this endeavor as she would be the rightful owner of the ring and hence have the strongest link to it. She claims to feel its presence, but something is blocking her from finding its exact location,” he explained.
Roman grunted. “Another dead end,” he murmured.
“Not necessarily,” said Stellan. “Alek must be cloaking it with very powerful magic, but expending that much energy must be very draining. He will not be able to hold it forever.”
“So we just have to wait?” asked Nico.
“Basically, we’re back to sitting around and doing nothing,” complained Roman as he sagged down on the couch.
“Yes, I’m afraid so,” Stellan responded. “The other theory, and again this is simply speculation, is that should the ring be used it would exert a surge of power which Marja and Dalla believe they would feel.”
“So whatever Alek is planning, he still hasn’t done it,” said Nico.
“Precisely,” answered Stellan.
“But Celeste used the ring all the time, and they never felt anything,” said Roman. He still didn’t fully trust these witches and hated counting on them for something so important.
“There are two reasons for that, Roman. Number one, they weren’t even aware of the ring’s existence at the time and secondly, when Celeste used the ring it was a simple amplification of the daily usage of her guardian gifts. If Alek were to use the ring for a spell, let’s say, it would be an extremely high concentration of power at one time,” explained Stellan.
“That makes sense,” said Nico.
“On another note, have either of you heard from Celeste today?” asked Stellan.
“Yes, nothing new after that first sighting. At least they’re wiping up the streets of Warsaw though,” answered Roman.
“I’m glad to hear she is keeping up with her training then,” said Stellan. “I hear Marco is quite an impressive guardian as well. I hope that he is teaching her his techniques.”
“Marco?” asked Roman, his brow arching. “You mean the Italian guardian she met in Astor?” Celeste had gone on and on about what a great partner he had been, and Roman couldn’t help but feel a twinge of jealousy. He should have been the one there with her, fighting at her side.
“Yes, that’s the one. She didn’t tell you that was w
ho Dante had sent?”
“No, she didn’t,” he said sullenly as he stood up and walked toward the window.
“Hmm,” muttered Stellan. “In any case, I will continue working closely with Dalla until we find Alek. I don’t doubt that with patience, we will succeed.”
“And what are we supposed to do in the meantime?” asked Roman. His inability to do something productive was killing him.
“Why don’t you and Nico do some patrolling? Perhaps killing some demons will improve your mood,” responded Stellan snidely.
The flight back to the U.S. was scheduled in two days’ time, which left only two more nights to find Maks. The three guardians seemed to have run all the demons out of town, signifying that perhaps they had done too good of a job. Over the course of the past three nights, the trio had spent their evenings searching and hunting out in the frigid streets of Warsaw. They came across a few vampires and demons, quickly dispatching them all back to hell. But as news of the arrival of the three guardians spread, fewer and fewer supernatural troublemakers appeared. Celeste was starting to lose hope. If they couldn’t find Maks, this whole trip would have been a waste of time, and worse yet, she would never find out what really happened with him and Roman.
Aunt Maddie scrolled through the list of contacts on her phone, hoping to find someone she hadn’t reached out to yet, while Marco and Celeste sat in silence watching an old episode of Bones dubbed over in Polish. That was how all of their days had been spent while in Warsaw – hitting the streets as soon as darkness fell, staying out until dawn, and then spending the day cooped up in the hotel, sleeping or resting up for the night ahead.
“Why don’t you two go out for a bit?” said Aunt Maddie as she looked up from her phone.
Marco shot up quickly from the bed. “I’d be good with that,” he said, trying to pretend he didn’t want to go out more than anything in the world.
“Are you sure?” asked Celeste. “What are you going to do?”
“The same thing I’ve been doing for hours. I’m going to call a few more people and see if I can catch another lead. But there’s no reason you two have to stick around. It’s actually kind of nice out today, so why don’t you enjoy some of the city while the sun’s still out?”
Celeste finally agreed because she had to admit she was going a bit stir crazy locked up in that small hotel room. Aunt Maddie had been right; it was a nice day out for the middle of winter in Poland, anyway. The sun was peeking through the clouds and most of the snow had melted. Celeste felt refreshed as the chilly air put a spring in her step.
“You want to grab a coffee?” suggested Marco. “It probably won’t be anything like what we have in Italy, but it’s gotta be better than that American stuff you drink.”
Celeste grimaced. “Very funny, Marco. And here I was just thinking how surprised I’ve been because you hadn’t been a total cocky jerk since we got here.”
He chuckled. “It must be your good influence on me.” He interlocked his arm with hers and led the way to Old Town. As they walked, Celeste noticed the Christmas decorations were still up, and the lights were just coming on as twilight approached. The nicer weather had brought a multitude of people to venture out into the streets, and for the first time Celeste realized how pretty the city actually was. All of the lampposts were adorned with holly and red bows, and the enormous Christmas tree by the Royal Palace was twinkling with bright lights and colorful ornaments. She hadn’t noticed any of it on the nights they had been patrolling, fully focused on the mission.
“Let’s take a picture,” she said without thinking. Marco pulled out his phone, and they squeezed their heads together for a selfie with the Royal Palace square and Christmas tree in the background. He snapped a few shots and then turned the phone back around to review the pictures. “I think we need one more,” he said, putting one arm around Celeste and holding the phone out with the other one. “Okay, on the count of three – one, two, three!” At three, he surprised Celeste with a sneak attack kiss to the cheek.
“Marco!” she squealed.
“I’m sorry! I couldn’t help myself, but look how beautiful you look in the picture.” He handed her the phone, and Celeste couldn’t help but laugh. He had snapped the picture right when his lips made contact with her cheek, and she had to admit the expression on her face was priceless. Her cheeks were rosy and her hazel eyes were wide with surprise, and the sparkling lights in the background completed the picture perfectly.
“You can’t keep kissing me, Marco,” she said with a laugh.
“It’s the Italian way,” he said with a shrug.
They finally found a café that Marco approved of – it served a well-known Italian brand of coffee, so they took a seat inside by the window overlooking the lively square.
“So I can’t kiss you because of your vampire boyfriend?” he asked mischievously as he sipped on his espresso.
“How do you know about that?” asked Celeste, turning a few shades redder.
“Celeste, I already told you that I know everything,” he said with a smirk. “And besides, you are the talk of the guardian world. Everyone has heard about that sword light trick and your vampire boyfriend.”
Celeste was hit with a renewed feeling of guilt over her supposed special guardian power. If Marco knew that the only thing that made her a great guardian was Roman’s mother’s ring, he’d never let her live that down. A part of her wanted to tell him, but they had all agreed that the fewer people that knew, the better. Celeste realized that for the first time in a while, she hadn’t thought about the ring or its power. She had been kicking demon butt for days and doing a pretty good job of it without any supernatural help. A big smile pulled at the corners of her lips.
“What are you suddenly so happy about?” he asked, a confused look in his eye.
“Nothing,” she said with a giggle. “I guess I just realized I’ve been having fun out there killing those demons with you.”
“That’s what all the girls say,” he teased. Celeste threw a sugar packet at his face, which he easily swerved to avoid. “Are you ignoring my question?”
“What question was that?” she retorted as she sipped on her mocha cappuccino.
“Well, it seems to me that if you and your vampire boyfriend were so close, he’d be here with you instead of me.”
The truth in Marco’s words stung. She paused for a second to compose herself. “Things are complicated between me and Roman. He and my aunt don’t really get along, and then there’s Dante and the Council. And anyway, I don’t even know why I’m trying to explain this to you. It’s none of your business.”
“Ouch,” he said. “I guess we’ll just stick to guardian business from now on.”
“I think that would be best,” she said, finishing her drink. “Anyway, we should probably be getting back to the hotel. It’s dark, and we need to head out soon.”
Celeste and Marco rode up on opposite corners of the modern white elevator in silence. She wasn’t sure why, but Marco had really hit a nerve with his comment about Roman. Maybe it was that or the fact that time was running out, and they still hadn’t gotten any closer to finding Maks. Just before the elevator stopped on their floor, Celeste’s phone began vibrating and then Marco’s went off. She quickly pulled it out of her pocket and saw a message from her aunt.
Got another lead. Meet me at the corner of Nowy Swiat St. by the McDonald’s. Hurry!
She looked up at Marco whose eager face revealed he had gotten the same message. While she hurriedly typed up a reply, he ran back to their room for the weapons.
During their short time at the hotel, full dark had set in, and there were already fewer people out on the streets. As they swiftly made their way through town, Celeste took a moment to close her eyes and make a wish. She wished that they would find Maks and… and then what? She really hoped her aunt knew what she was doing because her anxiety level was increasing with each step she took.
“Hey Celeste,” said Marco pulling her a
rm back, “we’re good right? I don’t like going into a fight with anything hanging over my head. It’s not good for the spirit.”
Celeste gave him a taunting smile, “Yeah we’re fine. Just try not to get killed out there tonight, okay?”
“I’m not the one you should be worried about. I was watching your form the other night, and it looked like it could use some fine-tuning,” he said flirtatiously.
“Oh, I’m sure you were watching my form,” she retorted. “Just keep your eyes on the vampires, buddy.”
He chuckled good-naturedly, and they resumed their fast paced walk without another word. When they were across the street from the McDonald’s, they spotted Aunt Maddie in a black jacket and hoodie. She was standing in the shadows on the opposite corner of the restaurant.
“He was here,” she said as they caught up to her. Celeste detected a slight tremble in her voice, but she pretended she hadn’t. “I didn’t want to approach him by myself, but Franek is with him.”
“That creepy vampire CI from the bar?” asked Celeste.
“Yes. They’re heading outside of town. Everyone’s scared to hunt around here because of us,” she explained. “They’re holed up at some abandoned house a few miles away. We’ll take them out there. They’ll never expect us.”