The Wardens Boxed Set

by Heather D Glidewell

  The murders, for the most part, had stopped. Everything was functioning as it had before my mother and I ever lived there. People were not concerned with the empty house, they thought that we were taking care of a family member which is what the high school had thought when they sent me my diploma and a letter of acknowledgment.

  “You know we still haven’t celebrated your graduation, and your birthday is coming up,” Adam said as I popped the movie into the player and grabbed the remote.

  “Yeah, well I’m turning nineteen and I’m not too concerned with it,” I said quietly. “Besides, I’m going to start ageing slower soon so every year isn’t going to matter if I’m celebrating my twentieth for fifty years.”

  “We don’t know that yet.” Adam groaned as I crawled on the couch and put my head on his shoulder.

  “Mom said she hasn’t aged in eighteen years.” I rolled my eyes.

  “Again, pureblood versus half blood.” He poked my arm and I growled at him playfully.

  “This is our celebration,” I said, groggy as the warmth that was Adam overwhelmed me. “You sleeping with me tonight?” I asked, yawning.

  “If that is what my lady wants that is what my lady gets,” he said, all suave. I wanted to smack him upside the head.

  “I just sleep better when you are in there.” I cuddled up closer and felt his heart quicken.

  “Yeah, that’s because I’m oozing with awesomeness,” he said, laughing. “You just wish you were as awesome as me.”

  “Oh please,” I groaned.

  “No really.” He gave me a squeeze. I was concentrating on his heart pounding like it was about to break through his ribs. “I am the most awesome of the awesome.”

  “Yes,” I said, as if I was caving. “Please share with me your awesomeness.”

  “One day, sweet princess, one day.” He squeezed me again.

  Chapter Five: The Big OOPS

  “I think it’s time for bed,” Adam said, shaking my shoulder. I opened my eyes and realized that the movie had been over for a while.

  “What time is it?” I asked slowly, sitting up and stretching.

  “Somewhere around two I think. I can’t make out the clock on the DVD player.” He groaned as he stretched himself. “We must have passed out when the damn thing started.”

  I stood up and reached for his hands, pulling him to his feet. He towered over me. Adam’s eyes softened and I could hear his heart pounding again. I couldn’t take my eyes off him. I reached up and touched his face. He closed his eyes and leaned his cheek into my hand, a smile slowly forming on his lips. I felt my own heart start to increase, and I pulled my hand away in fear.

  There was no urge to steal his soul, no desire to feed on his sins. The boy had only a few sins as it was; he was clean, with nothing that the demon in me wanted. He opened his eyes and looked at me again as I wrapped my fingers in his and led him up the stairs and into my room.

  I threw on my jammies in my closet and crawled under the covers with a topless Adam. I leaned my head on his chest and threw my arm across his stomach. It was amazing that our parents did not object to our sleep arrangements. It wasn’t like this every night, just on the nights when I would bring someone new to the manor.

  I was always holding on to a fear that I had brought back someone bad, and I wanted Adam there to wake me if he heard anything. Not to mention he would be able to rouse me if for any reason I was summoned to an astral plane. I know my parents said that it couldn’t be done in the house but stranger things had happened. With the increasing amount of power that was living on the property there was no telling who was channeling what.

  I propped my head up on his chest and looked at his face. He had one arm up behind his head and was looking back at me with those beautiful brown eyes. He gave me a smile and blinked. I stared at him in awe and saw the change in the way he looked at me. There was a longing there and it was pulling me in. That was when I did the unthinkable and crawled up and pressed my lips to his. He hesitated for a moment before winding his hands into my hair and pulling me closer to him.

  The kiss was amazing, it sent sparks shooting from my toes and I heard the light in me sing. The dark seemed to look out, displeased, but for the first time there was no hunger, the kiss was innocent and electric and the way our lips fit together was as if they were meant to do this. I was meant to kiss Adam, I had always been meant to. I understood every odd feeling I had when it came to him. I wanted this and I had wanted this for a long time.

  Our lips pulled apart and he had a bewildered look on his face. I tried to catch my breath before my heart leapt from my throat. I put my head back down on his chest, running my fingers in doodles on his flesh. I could still hear his heart pounding as his arms wound around my shoulders squeezing me tightly.

  “Did that just really happen?” he asked, his voice a whisper.

  “I think it did,” I said, putting my palm on his breastbone.

  “Shit,” he said simply as his breathing increased.

  “Well that wasn’t exactly what I thought you would say,” I said, feeling dread tear through me.

  Had I done something wrong? Aaron and I broke up over a month ago; it wasn’t like I was rushing into my next relationship. I didn’t know what I was looking for. I had to test the feeling in my soul and I had been right.

  “No, it’s good. It’s all good.” He patted my shoulder. “Let’s get some sleep. We can talk about this in the morning.”

  “Sounds like a plan.” I leaned up and kissed him once more before nestling in and closing my eyes.

  “Good night Weathers,” he said, still trying to control his breath.

  “Good night Snyder,” I said, yawning. He was warm, which made me comfortable, and I drifted off to sleep.

  ***

  “Dawn.” I heard Adam’s voice and I opened my eyes and looked up at him. He was radiant in the sunlight coming through my window.

  “Good morning,” I said, lifting my head from his chest.

  “Good morning,” he said back, smiling down at me.

  “How did you sleep?” I asked, softly stretching my legs.

  “Must have slept well—it’s ten in the morning.” He laughed, kissing my forehead.

  “Damn, and nobody came to get us up at the crack of dawn.” I groaned, feeling like I was about to explode.

  “No, I guess it’s an off day,” he said, running his fingers up and down my spine.

  “Would be a first,” I said, sitting up and looking down at him. His eyes were sparkling. Something I had not seen in such a long time.

  “We better get going; I’m sure that the compound has something new for us today.” He pulled out from under me and stood up, stretching. That’s when I saw the tattoo on his arm. I had never noticed it before. I sat on my knees and reached for him, placing my lips to the tattoo of a flaming sword.

  “When did you get this?” I asked softly.

  “You are just now seeing that. I got it when I went home the first time. Found it fitting for all of the things going on right now.” He laughed, turning to face me. I wrapped my arms around his waist and gazed up at him.

  “Flames?” I asked, a shy smile crossing my lips. “Why flames?”

  “I think you have an idea why,” he said hoarsely, his eyes shooting to the window.

  I looked at him and felt like bursting into tears. I knew exactly why the sword was flaming.

  “How long have you felt this way?” I suddenly asked as his hands came up and cupped my face.

  “For a long time,” he said softly, pressing his lips to mine. We were back to the amazing electricity. He pulled away and frowned.

  “What?” I asked, a hint of pain in my voice.

  “We need to keep this between us,” he said suddenly. “We cannot tell them what’s going on.”

  “What is going on?” I asked, confused.

  “Dawn, we crossed the line from friends to something else. I don’t kno
w what that something else is yet. I want to just play this out and figure out where we are,” he said sternly. I understood why he wanted to keep it a secret. He didn’t know how our parents would take it. Not with my track record at least. I looked up at him and nodded. He gave me one last kiss and left my room through the attached door.

  I lay back down on my bed and giggled. I felt like I hadn’t felt in a long time. There was no fire in me wanting to consume him. This was me as a girl liking him as a boy. Finally, something was coming from me and not from the blood that ran in my veins. No Claims, just the feeling of warmth and pounding heartbeats. I felt like I was thirteen again with no knowledge of what I was.

  I heard a knock on my door and shot into a sitting position as my father entered the room, a huge smile on his face. He sat down on the edge of the bed.

  “What’s up, Dad?” I asked, trying to control the thoughts in my head. Shielding what I was thinking was going to be tough. He had been training me on what to do to block out invading telepaths. It was going to be harder getting around my mother.

  “We thought that we would give you a day off. You girls have been working really hard and you deserve a day to just do as you want. I thought you and I could go to lunch in town, there is a lovely little diner there.” He patted my leg and smiled at me.

  “Won’t they recognize you?” I asked, slowly looking at him, my eyes watering. I was trying so hard to mask my emotions behind all the pain that it was bringing back to many bad memories.

  “Naw, I think we are safe. We worried about the sheriff but your mother was able to glamor him enough that he hasn’t even looked our way the few times that we have been in town.” He shrugged.

  It was funny to know that my mother had the ability to glamor those into seeing something else when they looked at her and my dad. It made me curious. Why had she not thought of this when they were discussing sending me here all those months ago?

  “Then yes, Dad, I think that would be great.” I smiled at him as he looked at me with approval.

  “Then get up, get dressed.” He patted my leg and got up from my bed looking down at me. “You are glowing, Dawn. I don’t think I have ever seen you glow.” He left the room.

  ***

  I carried a change of clothes to the bathroom with me and took a hot shower. The water felt great on my skin. I was catching myself daydreaming of Adam, the oddness of it all. Everyone had said that I needed to talk to him. I wasn’t expecting this, not expecting him to feel for me what had just recently started blooming in myself. I dried off and threw on a dark purple sweater and blue jeans then looked in the mirror.

  What does he see in me? All I am is eyes and hair.

  I frowned at my reflection and painfully brushed my hair before wrapping the towel around my tresses. Grabbing my dirty clothes, I left the bathroom and wandered back into my room. At the dressing table I looked at the stacks of makeup on top and sighed. I took a purple eyeshadow and lightly put it on my lids, followed by the dark black lines that had become my norm. I heard the door open but did not turn as I felt hands grab me around the waist. I could hear his heartbeat, slow and steady and that’s when I jumped.

  Nick broke into laughter as I turned to look at his well-built figure behind me. I smacked him on the arm and gave him a dirty look.

  “What are you doing?” I laughed, rubbing my arms. I was going to have to pay more attention than I thought.

  “I was coming in to say ‘hi.’ The girls are still sleeping and your dad said you were up.” He smiled.

  “So, did something happen, did you find the fourth?” I asked, running my fingers through my wet hair.

  “She’s been hard to track. I don’t know what this girl does to get away but every time I get close to her she’s gone again.” He looked annoyed for a second then smacked me on the arm. “I have an idea. I wanted to run it by y’all but now that I think about it you might be all we need. You and that mortal boy.”

  “Do what?” He had lost me already.

  “She’s scared. These creatures have been trying to track her down and she is running when she senses their power. I figured, your mortal boy has a better chance of talking to her. I cannot ask him to go alone—I will need you to go with him, you know, to protect him.” Nick smirked. Was he seriously passing his job off on to me?

  “What did my mom say?” I asked.

  “Well she wasn’t too happy with the idea but your dad was OK with it.” He looked hopeful.

  “Why did he seem so happy about it?” I growled. It must have been something that he wished he could do himself.

  “You two would be going to Dallas. The girl got a job at a tattoo parlor in Deep Ellum. I stayed back far enough so that she could get settled but she needs to be told.” He sighed. “Apparently I’m just too intimidating. She didn’t seem convinced that I could be into her. I tried to hit on her to get her to trust me but that didn’t work. Maybe she likes those skinny boys resembling your mortal,” he growled. Apparently not many women, supernatural or not, had ever turned Nick the Prophet down.

  “No wonder he would be happy. It means that he has a place for us to stay. That would also explain why he’s wanting to go to lunch. I will let you know what is going to happen, Nick, I’m sure my mother and father have managed to come up with a plan.” I sighed, yet in the back of my mind I felt a little joy. I was going to spend several nights away from home with Adam. That should give us enough time to figure out what was going on between us.

  “You grab Adam and meet me downstairs in ten so I can go through the idea with him before you got to lunch with your dad.” Nick’s eyes twinkled; he seriously thought he had one hell of an idea.

  “Yeah, I think he’s still sleeping, I will check in on him.” I swallowed hard and Nick raised an eyebrow at me.

  “Is something going on between you and him? Your heart rate just increased,” he said, grabbing my face and looking in my eyes.

  “No, you just told me that I get to go somewhere without my parents on my ass. I’m a little excited,” I lied.

  “All right.” He eyed me. I wasn’t sure if he bought it. “Ten minutes,” he reminded me before turning and leaving my room whistling Dixie. Why the hell was everyone all about the civil war tunes all of a sudden?

  I walked to the adjoining door and pushed it open. Adam was sitting on his bed looking at his phone, a small smile on his face. He looked up at me when I entered and put it back on the nightstand before standing up and grabbing me around the waist, crushing his lips to mine.

  “This is going to be harder than I thought,” I breathed when he let me go.

  “Why do you say that?” His eyes opened wide. “Ah yes, the growing number of telepaths in the area. I bet Shawn already knows,” he groaned. “He has you on a permanent link.”

  “I don’t think he will say anything,” I said, thinking about my brother. He was pretty good about keeping quiet about anything that had to do with Adam. He knew well before I did how the boy felt about me and never said a word other than I needed to talk to him.

  “Well, here’s hoping nobody says or figures out anything until we know what is going on.” He leaned in and kissed me again lightly. My body melted.

  “We need to get downstairs. Apparently Nick has this idea that he thinks will work when it comes to getting the fourth here. I’m going to lunch with my dad so I think you should take some time to get all the details. This is your first quest, Mr. Snyder.” I smiled slyly at him as he broke out into laughter.

  “I just have to kiss you one more time. It’s far better in real life than it was in my dreams.” He cracked a smile and pulled me closer.

  “You dreamed about this?” I asked, standing on my tiptoes.

  “Since the day I met you,” he whispered, his lips meeting mine.

  I was at a loss. Had I been so blind not to notice that something was there? I remembered when Helen blew up at me, saying that something was there whether I wanted to be
lieve it or not. Had I seriously been so into Wesley then Aaron that I didn’t notice that the perfect man for me was right under my nose?

  Chapter Six: Dallas

  “So what is the plan, Dad?” I asked as we took our seats at one of the diner’s many booths.

  “What plan?” he asked me, his eyes sparking. He knew exactly what I was talking about.

  “The fourth!” I groaned excitedly. I hated when he played dumb. The man could read my mind; he knew damn well what I was talking about.

  “Oh yes, that.” He went quiet and I kicked him softly under the table.

  “Yes, that,” I directed. I was hoping that the conversation would lead toward the trip to Dallas but I wasn’t sure now that it ever would if I never said anything.

  “Oh yeah. So I called Mona and told her to prepare an apartment for you. Something close to downtown so that you won’t have to drive, yet far enough so you aren’t in the slums.” My father opened his menu and smiled. “This place brings back so many great memories.”

  “That’s nice. So continue,” I asked, placing my hands over mine. I already had a feeling my father was going to order for me as he did when I was a child.

  “OK. Man, you are pushy.” He flipped the page. “I have a flight ready for you and Adam this afternoon. Mona will have Mitch meet you at the airport and take you to the apartment. There are two rooms, and I expect you to use both of them.” He looked at me sternly. I had to hide the fact that I wanted to blush and I pushed a painful memory to the forefront of my mind hiding the encounter with Adam behind it.

  “Of course, father of mine.” I rolled my eyes.

  “From there the rest is up to you. You no longer need me to hold your hand. Just remember though that it is just you and Adam. The girls won’t be there to help you, all you have is the fire.” He smiled as a pretty waitress walked toward the table to take our order. My father did just as I predicted; I was apparently getting a burger and onion rings.