“Same as today I guess. What about you?” I asked, trying to keep calm.
“It’s a big day for both of us. I mean it’s not twenty one but nineteen is pretty good,” he said, his hand inching closer to mine.
“You do realize that we won’t age? I mean not really. We will forever be stuck in teenage bodies. Turning nineteen apparently means much less to me than it does to you,” I said, frowning at him.
“Yes I realize that, but it is the only connection I have to my mother now. It’s the only day of the year that I feel that I truly made her happy. She died before all of this, thank God, but I am still her baby boy and I am happy for every year that I have on this planet.” He sounded upset at me for thinking anything else.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t think about that. Of course I can see your point.” I apologized for my statement even though it did not change the way I felt about the whole thing. This was his way of feeling connected to his mother after all these years. I could respect his thoughts on the day of our births.
“You know, she used to tell me stories about your family when I was a child. Back before I learned that we were the caretakers for this house,” he said, changing the subject.
“Wait. Caretakers?” I asked, my eyes shooting to him.
“Yeah, in fact, the day that Miranda laid claim on my soul I was in the front room,” he said.
I nearly fell over as the fear coursed through me.
“So you are telling me that Miranda knows where this house is?” I demanded, about to jump to my feet.
“I doubt she would remember it. We were only here for a brief period of time,” he said, shrugging. He didn’t think this was something that we needed to know?
“I doubt she forgot, Wesley. Do my parents know?” I asked seriously. I was going to lose my mind.
“I didn’t think that it was important. It was almost three years ago,” he defended himself.
“I think it is very important. My parents have prided themselves on being somewhere that she would not know where to go. If she knows where the house is she could show up in the front yard at any moment,” I growled at him. “How could you have been so stupid?”
“I was sixteen and she was hot. I used to come to the house and rake leaves as a kid. I thought that it was a good place to … you know.” He looked at me with that odd expression of a boy who was being driven by his hormones.
“We have to tell my parents. We have to tell them now,” I groaned. “Midvale was never the intended target. Harrisville was.”
He watched as I jumped to my feet, my pulse pounding in my ears. He just looked at me in awe, or I should say his eyes clouded over and he had the same expression as he had shown earlier that day. Somehow, in some way, I had actually triggered a vision.
“My notepad, Dawn it’s in my back pocket. Can you reach it?” he asked me, his hands already starting to move.
I got down on the ground and started digging under him until my fingers rested on the spiral binding of the stenographer’s pad. I grabbed it and a graphite pencil from his pocket and handed it to him while his hands continued to move.
When he stopped and his eyes cleared he looked at the picture and frowned. The drawing was of a pissed-off Miranda standing in a field of broken bodies. She had returned to find her home invaded, her people dead. I knew this was going to happen, she had left me in charge and the unthinkable happened... I knew that she was going to want revenge.
“I hate to say this, Dawn.” Wesley gulped. “She’s coming.”
“Of course she is! She knew damn well where we were the whole time. She was waiting for an attack, a reason to come back here.” I grabbed his hand and helped him up.
Once on his feet he wrapped his hands around my waist and pulled me to him. I had to look up into his eyes. Those beautiful blue eyes. I grabbed him by the biceps, meaning to push him away, when he started to speak.
“I am so sorry for all of this. I do find it odd that each move in this game of chess somehow involves either you or me.” He let me go willingly and I stumbled backwards.
“Yeah, well let’s get inside. I think we have to start cleaning out Harrisville.” I grabbed him by the arm and dragged him behind me. The few times I turned to look at him he had a huge shit-eating grin on his face.
Chapter Nine: Stupid Boy
“Well isn’t that an interesting turn of events,” my father said as we stood in his office. Wesley had explained to him everything that had occurred with Miranda in our home three years earlier.
“I didn’t think that it was relevant to anything going on here now,” Wesley said and my father just nodded.
“No, I could see how this would slip your mind. It was three years ago. The good thing is you said something. Now we know what to be ready for.” He picked up the drawing and looked at it. “I told her it was too soon.”
“Excuse me, Sir?” Wesley said, leaning forward.
“Nothing, son.” He sighed. “I suppose we need to start coming up with a plan. Lilly will be here in a few days if she is truly coming here first. Knowing her she’s going to make a few stops along the way just to try and throw us off.”
“What do we need to do now?” I asked, trying to take a step away from Wesley. Being close to him was making my skin boil.
“Put the lieutenants on high alert. Have them explain to those willing to fight what could be happening. I will have the blessed ones strengthen the spells around the house just in case. Maybe it will give us an advantage,” my mother said after being silent for the whole discussion. “I will not be taken by surprise.”
“You heard her. Get the others. Tell them what happened. Thankfully this came early enough. We can head it off. She doesn’t have you any more, Wesley, she won’t know if she will be successful or not.” My father patted him on the shoulder and left the room.
“That is slightly comforting,” I said to him as he looked after my father, confused.
“I may be the deciding factor in prophecies with Miranda but I wasn’t the only one that could see the future. She had a whole set of seers.” He looked at me, bewildered. “Well I shouldn’t say she did, it was her mother.”
“I stand corrected,” I said dully, wanting to smack him upside the head.
“I doubt she will be here tonight or tomorrow. She knows I saw her, I’m sure of it. She’s going to wait until she feels I’m not watching her.” Wesley sounded so incredibly sure of himself. I, of course, wasn’t so sure.
“If you say so, Wesley,” I said patting him on the arm.
“No, really,” he interjected.
“I have to tell my brother and Minerva to be on alert. You want to come with me or did you have something better to do?” I was shocked I even asked him to join me, but for some reason, I felt comfort in having him near me right now. If he had another vision, I would be the first to know.
“Yeah, why not. You mean that blonde boy is your brother?” He looked at me.
“Well, half-brother, but he’s pretty cool,” I smiled as we started walking towards my brother’s room.
“Let me guess, you share a dad,” he said as I knocked on the door.
“Yeah. What made you think that?” I raised an eyebrow at him.
“He creeps me out almost as much as your father,” he answered as Shawn opened the door and stared at us.
“No, I will not do that,” he said, looking at Wesley and frowning. “That’s my sister you are thinking about.”
“Ignore him,” I requested as Shawn’s eyes cleared and looked at me.
“What’s up, sis?” he asked, running his fingers through his blond hair.
“It seems we may be compromised. Miranda knows the location of the house. Mom wants lieutenants on alert. This means that I need you and Minerva to pass around the news to the troops. I mean, I could do it, but I have a feeling I would do it all wrong,” I said, wringing my fingers together.
“Let me guess. He has somethi
ng to do with it.” Shawn’s voice wasn’t too enthusiastic.
“Well it was an issue from three years ago that resurfaced,” I said, glancing at Wesley. The desire to smack him had passed. He really was trying to be helpful.
He looked at Wesley and grumbled. “Seriously, man you thought the girl would … oh, never mind.” He shook his head.
“I was sixteen,” Wesley said defensively.
“Yeah, it’s cool, I will tell Minerva and Kelly. They will give everyone the heads up. I’m sure your mom is already moving those not fighting to the lower levels of the barn in hopes of keeping them safe.” Shawn glanced at Wesley one more time. “You two should get some rest. I’m sure we will need both of you if this thing goes south overnight. We can’t have our warden overly tired.”
“Have you seen Marshall?” I asked as Shawn began to shut his door.
“He’s been with Kelly since after drills. You know shifters.” He said.
“I’m sure I will find him soon,” I said, turning towards the stairs and heading in that direction.
“What is it with you and Marshall?” Wesley asked as my right foot hit the first step.
“Nothing is up with me and Marshall. I took a liking to the guy when I was at the camp. He was the only one I felt that I could be myself with,” I said, the desire to smack him slowly returning.
“You know that blond-hair-blue-eye thing was pretty hot,” Wesley said and I turned around and looked at him. The height of the stairs put me at eye level.
“Why are you trying so hard? You are the one that called me codependent,” I accused.
“Well it sure looked that way. However, since we have been here, you haven’t given a single guy a second look. Well, except Adam. What is up with that? You two are like two peas in a pod,” he said, ignoring the expression on my face.
“Adam is complicated, to be honest. Wesley, you do realize if we make the wrong move I could kill you, right?” I asked, remembering the blood fire and vampire thing.
“There is a chance, but the vampire blood in me is minute compared to the others. They said because of my heartbeat I still have my soul intact. Hence why I was able to sign it over to Krista,” he said, reaching up and touching my face.
I closed my eyes to the familiarity of it. Oh how I had missed his touch. He still had a way of making my heart flutter.
NO, NO, NO, NO, NO!!!
I fought it bravely, finding that it was easier to resist the urge to allow him to touch me.
“Seriously, he’s not even back for two days and the two of you are already back together.” I heard Adam’s voice from the top of the stairs and my eyes shot open. I looked up at him. His face was twisted, his eyes angry.
“No,” I stammered, pushing Wesley’s hand off my face. His expression made my heart ache. I took off up the stairs and followed Adam toward Rose’s room. “Adam, wait.”
He turned and looked at me.
“You know, I knew this would happen. The whole point was to get him back and I knew that. Yet I still wished. I still hoped.” He stuffed his hands in his pockets.
“You have Rose!” I interjected.
“And now you have Wesley back. Man, it was one thing knowing Aaron was with you. It’s quite another knowing that he is now, too. Man, it was probably a good thing your brother made me forget. I actually thought we had something at one time.” He reached for the doorknob. “Rose knows you know. She’s known since she met me but she didn’t say anything because in her mind she won.”
“Adam, please,” I begged.
He just stared at me with those dark brown eyes. I wanted to cry. The only thing that I wished for was my best friend back.
“Your mom said that you needed to talk to Rose.” He opened the door just as her red head poked out and looked at us. By this point, Wesley had already made his way up behind me.
“Yeah, what’s going on?” she asked politely.
I was taken aback. I admit I had become used to the girl she was when she got to the manor. That conniving, evil, bitch hell bent on tearing me apart somehow. Now here she stood without a single ounce of anger on her face.
Wesley took it upon himself to relay the message. She stared at him, lost in the conversation, nodding the whole time.
“You know, it’s not your fault. You didn’t know any better,” she said, smiling as she reached out and took Adam’s hand in hers. Instant jealousy sprang through me and I took a step backward.
“Thank you,” he said to her, grateful that someone didn’t blame him for the inevitable attack.
“I will let my lieutenants know. By the way, happy early birthday to you two,” she said sweetly.
“Thank you,” I stammered.
“Well we are family now, Dawn. I mean, really sisters. I’m sorry for treating you any other way.” I had no idea if she was messing with me or if she was being sincere.
“Yeah, sisters. Again, thank you,” I said quietly, glancing again at her and Adam’s hands.
“Yes, thank you. I’ve been trying to explain the importance of birthdays to Dawn here but she’s stubborn.” Wesley nudged me and then put his arm around my waist.
The mixed signals were confusing me. I loved Wesley, yes. He made the darkness in me squeal with glee. He also made my hands clammy, my knees weak, and he clouded my thoughts. Yet for some reason, I still felt strongly for Adam. He made me feel light and free. I never felt bad when I was with him. It felt too right.
What the hell am I thinking? I’m not going to be with anyone, damn it. No circle of men for me.
“I need to tell Krista. You guys have fun,” I said, turning away from Wesley. I descended the stairs to the suite on the first floor.
I knew she was sleeping but that didn’t matter. I knocked loudly on the door until the groggy girl appeared, her eyes caked with sleep.
I explained everything to her with Wesley standing right there to tell his part. I was already tired of the story. How petty of him to bring that woman into my house when we weren’t here.
“I will let Helen know,” Krista said, yawning.
“You sure?” I asked softly.
“Yeah. Since they hauled Nick off she hasn’t left me. She’s asleep on the couch in here.” Krista yawned again. “I will let my guys know and I will make sure she does the same.”
“Sounds like a plan,” I said softly, returning to my room directly above hers. I heard laughter coming from the bedroom adjacent to mine.
“Looks like Marshall has made a new friend,” Wesley laughed, pointing towards the door at the end of the hall. I could hear a girl laughing as well. I knew he was with Kelly. This was going to suck. I knocked lightly on his door and waited for him to answer.
“Can I see you two in my room please,” I said, peeking in and seeing Kelly Indian-style on his bed.
“Yeah.” He nodded to her and she jumped down, following me into my room.
I hesitated over letting Wesley in, but since we were the only four that knew what had happened I felt it was best to keep him involved. I waited till everyone took a seat around the room before speaking.
“So apparently Miranda knows where we are,” I repeated for the umpteenth time it felt.
“How?” Marshall asked. “She doesn’t have Wesley anymore.”
“Yeah, well, three years ago she took his soul in my entryway,” I growled at Wesley and he shrugged.
“You didn’t know each other three years ago so it’s really not his fault,” Marshall said and gave Wesley a reassuring smile.
“So what you are saying is she’s coming,” Kelly broke in. The excitement that had been on her face originally was fading to misery. “I better get outside. I’m sure that there are going to be questions.”
“I have Shawn and Minerva on it too,” I said to her as she started to fidget.
“So when should we be awaiting her arrival?” Kelly asked.
“No clue. Wesley says she will wait for a bit. D
ad says she’s going to go on a killing spree to get even.” I shrugged. “I personally wouldn’t be surprised if I didn’t wake up in the morning to her standing over my bed. Since she knows the stupid floor plan.”
“Is your dad getting the blessed ones to increase the barriers?” Kelly asked.
“Yes. He was leaving to do that at the end of our meeting,” I said and she calmed. “What about Jonas?”
“The boy from this afternoon?” I asked softly.
“His parents are still mourning; we can’t take that away from them,” she said, pulling on the bottom of her shirt.
“No. I’m sure mom has a plan on that one,” I said.
“All right, so what do we do?” Marshall asked.
“I’m going to get some rest. I would suggest the same for everyone,” I groaned. “If we aren’t rested we won’t be at the top of our game.”
“You going to do that thing you did today?” Kelly said, raising an eyebrow.
“What thing?” I asked, confused. I had done a lot of things today.
“For the vampires,” she stated, winking.
“Oh, that, yeah. First thing in the morning I will have Wesley and Marshall bring me a couple barrels of water,” I said. “They already know about it.”
“I forgot that they were with you when you were gone,” Kelly laughed. “All right, I’m going to head back out to the barn and start getting people ready.”
“I’m going to try thinking tactically,” I said softly. “I will be out there in a bit.”
“It will put them at ease to see you,” Kelly said, getting up to leave the room.
“What am I going to do?” I asked, rubbing my temples.
“You are going to channel your inner priestess and figure out what she would have done,” Wesley said, sitting down behind me and putting his hands on my shoulders. I felt the tension releasing as he rubbed them.
“Yeah, Miss Prudence was a genius.” Marshall winked at me.
“If she was such a genius none of this would have happened,” I grumbled.
“So what if you two fell in love. Sometimes you cannot control what the heart wants,” Marshall said, patting me on the knee.
The Wardens Boxed Set Page 89