The Wardens Boxed Set

by Heather D Glidewell

  “There is vampire of course, werewolf, banshee, reaper, harbinger, demon. I think there may be more but they haven’t told me the results.” He looked at me.

  “The vampire is on your neck.” I traced my fingers around the sets of pinpricks. There were four sets which told me there were four kinds. “The werewolf or werecreature is here.” I ran my fingers across the two deep bites on his shoulder blades.

  “This is banshee.” He lifted his shirt and showed me the long scar that ran up his side. “And this is reaper.” He held out his arms where two slits ran up his wrists.

  “I know you are already a harbinger so there would be no mark. What mark does a demon leave?” His face darkened. I watched as he turned around and I saw what looked like two claw marks down his back, from the nape of his neck to his tailbone. “How could I have missed it?”

  “I know there are more things that have no names. Evil creatures.” He shivered.

  “How could your blood make sense of all of this?” I ran my hand down his arm and squeezed his wrist.

  “I don’t know, actually. Gran tried her best to stop a lot of it from taking over. I think she succeeded in some,” he shrugged.

  “Reaper, though. I thought they were our allies,” I grumbled.

  “Peter did it by accident. He didn’t mean to but I had enough and I had slit my wrists. He had no choice but to touch me.” Wesley shook his head.

  “Peter,” I smiled. “Well in that case I know you were in good hands.”

  “He told me that I couldn’t end it; that I had a purpose. Because of this he was able to take the drawings back to you.” He closed his eyes again as I reached up and touched his cheek.

  “Though I know that they were malicious.” I stopped. “I mean most of them. I still think that they are beautiful.”

  He opened his eyes and looked at me. They were a pale yellow and the pupils were split like that of a cat’s eye. I did not fear them, I loved them and as I took my finger to trace the outline of them he leaned in and placed his lips to mine.

  The kiss was charged with energy. It was strong and passionate, as he put everything he had into it. I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him close to me, crushing his body into mine. As the kisses deepened I felt that he wanted to pull away. When he did I was confused. We had not been together since before my attack the previous December.

  “I can’t,” he breathed. “I want to but I can’t.”

  “Why not?” I tried to calm my core.

  “Because, I will not make the same mistake that we made the first time.” He stood up and paced the room.

  “I can’t take your soul, Wesley. My father bound you to Krista with a stronger contract than I could possibly offer you.” I sat up and pushed my hair from my face.

  “I’m not scared of a claim,” he laughed. “We have to be careful.”

  “OK,” I said slowly.

  “The last thing we need right now is you winding up with child.” He looked at me.

  My heart quickened again. We were back to this. He saw more to me than just a companion; he saw me as the mother to his future offspring. Whatever they would be. How could I tell him the impossibility? I had been sitting on this large secret for some time. How could he know so much about the other species in the world but know nothing about the angel blood in my veins.

  So instead of telling him now I just nodded. Sooner or later I was going to have to break it to him, unsure if he would ever want to be with me afterwards.

  Chapter Twenty: The Second Coming

  I woke the next morning to alarms going off in the house. I sprang from my bed, throwing on clothes and grabbing my sword before jumping from the top of the banister and landing flat-footed on the ground below. I was out the door in an instant.

  I wasn’t the only one that had been woken by the loud blaring. Standing in front of the house were Helen and Krista. They both had their weapons drawn and were looking around frantically. I didn’t think we were ready for another attack. However, standing at the end of the long driveway was a single entity.

  “Who is it?” I asked as they looked at me, wide-eyed.

  “I have no idea,” Helen answered me, her eyes trying to adjust on the creature.

  “Well hell, I’ll find out.” I said, taking off at a sprint towards the being. The girls were behind me, only they had gone airborne in order to have an aerial advantage.

  I came to a stop in front of the creature and stepped outside of the barrier. I was face-to-face with a man dressed like the one that had been in Adam’s home the day I learned he had been moved. My last moments in Midvale had been spent fighting someone who looked just like him.

  “Fire bitch, we meet again,” he said, his eyes covered by gaudy sunglasses.

  “How’re the eyes doing?” I asked, placing my sword along my pant line. I knew exactly who he was the moment he spoke. This was the equalizer I had blinded in Adam’s father’s townhome the night we left Midvale.

  “They healed quite well, actually. How kind of you to ask.” He looked up at the sky and a smile spread across his face.

  “You aren’t going to get a chance to touch her.” My voice was hollow. My eyes were burning so I knew that they were changing.

  “Who said I was here for her. I could be here for you,” he said snidely.

  “I doubt that. If you were you would have struck the moment I crossed the barrier,” I pointed out.

  “I could be baiting you,” he said.

  “And I could have a whole army of beings just on the other side of that line, ready to take you out.” If he was going to bluff I could do it too.

  “How you going to stop me?” he asked. The way he stood reminded me a lot of my father but the way his face lit up was like my mother. Could the equalizers be the wardens, only men?

  “You see, you don’t want to see me when I’m angry.” I grinned at him as evilly as I could.

  “Quite on the contrary, I want to watch you burn,” he laughed.

  I looked up, knowing that the other two were on the other side of the line. There was a comfort to this of course. Yet I still did not know if he was alone.

  “I breathe fire, mister. What makes you think that I’m going to burn?” I put on my big girl act.

  “Not everything that breathes fire is able to sustain its power when it’s roasting them from the inside,” He growled at me.

  “Why are you here?” I demanded, becoming annoyed by his presence.

  “We have some unfinished business,” he said as he pulled two daggers from behind his back and swung at me.

  “Goody,” I said as my sword swiftly blocked his attack.

  I’m sure you could hear the clang of our weapons in downtown Harrisville. He was determined to disarm me if at all possible. I, on the other hand, had a different idea. One that ended with his blood spilling out on the edge of my driveway.

  “You fight well, fire witch,” he stated, charging at me once more.

  “You are most definitely a compatible opponent,” I laughed, defending myself yet again from his blows.

  The air changed. It went from the warm summer wind to a chilling, almost winter, breeze. I felt my bones tighten and my sword faltered for a moment, allowing him to graze my arm with one of his blades. I hissed and quickly assessed the damage. It was nothing more than a deep slash on my unarmed limb.

  The air continued to chill and I felt my bones becoming stiff. My eyes shot around, looking for who was causing the shift in the air. I found nothing. I knew that Krista could not be doing it as she would not want to hinder my performance. Our weapons clashed together again and sparks flew. I forced the blade to glow with blue fire as I wielded the sword back in an attempt to either cut off an appendage or other body part.

  He blocked my attempt and I cursed under my breath. Not one of the attackers in town had been worthy enough in battle. Each one fell as if they had no clue what hand-to-hand combat was. Even the blon
de girl who had made her way into the field.

  With a flash the wind picked up on my end. Hot air flew from the barrier between me and the house as Krista came walking down the path, her whip held firmly in her hand. Her face was determined as her eyes changed to the same pale gray I had seen on the night of the dreams.

  My opponent smiled deviously as he continued to attack me with brute force. Krista’s whip slashed out into the air wrapping around the man’s wrist. His body flew to the right with incredible force as she pulled tight, causing the man’s hand to slice off.

  I shot her a smile and wielded my sword back again, ready to take the other hand off, when he blocked me again; he was just as deadly with one hand as he was with two. A second man appeared next to my nemesis and instantly began attacking Krista. He was quick, with only a staff, but she bobbed and weaved like a professional boxer.

  When the ground began to shake, I knew that Helen had had enough. The road split, trees toppled over, and rock pushed its way to the top of the dirt. Her eyes were a dark brown and her face was determined. From her body shot a force strong enough to push even the strongest enemy back a hundred feet. The shockwave only caught the attention of the two assailants.

  “Help, Krista,” I demanded, shooting my gaze towards the blonde as she stumbled to get out of the way of the other man’s staff.

  Helen gave me a nod and jumped in to help her. My sights were set on my opponent again.

  Can I give you some advice? Prudence’s voice said at the worst moment. I dodged the man’s advance but not before he was able to make another gash on my arm.

  Now is not the time! I screamed at her in my head.

  I felt her fighting me for control but instead of taking over my whole body she pushed my hand out shooting a white fireball into his chest with enough force to send him flailing backward.

  NOW! She screamed.

  I threw the sword to the ground and pushed my arms out, igniting the fire that was raging through me. My hands shot up in front of me and a wall of flames erupted from my palms, setting my opponent aflame. He screamed painfully as the flesh melted from his face.

  I watched with a wicked smile on my face as he turned into cinders at my feet. My focus then turned on the second man as my hand shot towards him with an invisible force grabbing him around the throat and lifting him from the ground, his feet dangling.

  “Do it!” Helen said, her eyes flashing at me.

  Helen lifted her pitchfork into the air as I plunged his body directly onto the pointed tips of the weapon. His face fell and his eyes dulled. Helen dropped her weapon and looked at me in awe.

  I sighed and fell to my knees as the fire dissipated. I sat there catching my breath as Krista and Helen stared at the spots where the two men had been.

  “Holy shit!” Helen said looking back at me. “That was amazing!”

  “The three of us seem to work well together,” Krista said catching her breath.

  “Hell, yeah, we do.” Helen was ecstatic. I was never going to meet another woman who loved a good fight as much as Helen.

  I looked at the wounds on my arm, realizing that I was going to need to find Shawn. At least one of them needed to be stitched.

  “How did you do that, sonic wave?” I asked, looking up at Helen from my seated position on the concrete.

  “I don’t know. I felt all this power growing in my chest so I forced it out in a rush. That was the result.” She touched her shirt where the power had torn through and laughed.

  “Let’s get back; we need to let everyone know that the equalizers have found us. I have a few questions concerning them anyway. Might be something we all need to know,” I said, putting my palms on the ground. There were streams of blood rolling down my exposed arms.

  “Yeah.” Helen sounded sad about having to share our victory with the others.

  “Helen can you help me?” I asked. My arm was on fire. I had to get to Shawn quickly.

  “Dawn are you OK?” Helen asked, grabbing me by my good arm and hauling me to my feet.

  “Everything feels off. Am I on fire?” I asked, wobbling.

  “No, honey,” Krista said, grabbing my other arm. I winced in pain but allowed them to walk me back up to the house.

  “Why is the house swaying?” I asked as they stopped inside the entryway.

  “It’s not, Dawn.” Helen sounded extremely concerned at this point. “Krista, can you see if Shawn is in his room? If he isn’t can you call him? I think she’s going to black out.”

  “Yeah.” Krista took off at a sprint. I watched her fade into a blurry white ball of dust. I glanced at Helen.

  “Where are your eyes?” I asked. I couldn’t make out her face. “Where’s Wesley?”

  “He’s outside with your father working on some maneuvers.” Helen sat me down on the floor.

  I saw a blob in the distance running towards me, the single form broke into two and I felt their hands on me again, hauling me back to my feet.

  “Can you hear me, sis?” Shawn’s voice was so far away.

  “Sure can, big brother,” I laughed.

  “Do you have the equalizer’s weapons?”

  “Yeah, both daggers are right here,” Krista said.

  I heard the clang of metal beating together and then silence. The haze around me turned to darkness. Fear surged through me.

  “I’m blind,” I screamed, my feet falling out from under me. I hit the marble with a powerful force, breaking one of the tiles below me. “I’m blind!” I felt the fire surge through me. I couldn’t gain my ground. I was sinking.

  I flailed my arms and tried to find something to pull myself up to my feet with but there was nothing in reach. I was freaking out; my world was spinning inside my head but all I could see was darkness. Nothing but darkness, no matter where I looked.

  My skin grew hot; my veins felt like I was on fire.

  “Don’t touch her!” Shawn demanded and my face turned in the direction of the voice. “It’s OK, Dawn.”

  Arms. My brother’s arms. They wrapped around me protectively as I felt my body hauled into the air and held close to a strong chest.

  “I can’t see,” I screamed again.

  “It’s OK, Dawn, it’s going to be OK,” he soothed.

  All I longed for was to see his face at this moment to know that I was OK. This wasn’t right.

  “Wesley!” I screamed at the top of my lungs.

  “Krista, can you run outside and get Wesley?” Helen asked somewhere behind me in the darkness.

  “Yes,” Krista answered and I heard her feet pounding on the ground as she ran by.

  Shawn carried me through the back yard to the second barn. I felt the pull of the elevator as we descended to the hospital below. When the weight of the double doors brushed against my side, I jumped. I was thankful that I knew where he had taken me. Otherwise I would have ascended into madness.

  I felt softness and comfort under me but my vision still failed me. My heart was slowing. My breaths were coming out in rasps. I felt like my blood was on fire. I was going to explode. I frantically pushed my arms around my flesh, trying to feel for anyone.

  Had they left me alone?

  “It’s OK, sis. Just relax. I’m going to give you something that is going to knock you out.” He soothed me again as I felt the prick of a needle into the side of my neck.

  In a matter of seconds the world went silent.

  ***

  I heard their muffled bodies above me but could make out no words. I just floated on the air. When my feet landed on solid ground I was greeted by a woman in white. Her face was like porcelain. She had huge blue eyes with flakes of gold floating through them. She was peaceful and I calmed.

  “Am I dead?” I asked, noticing my clothing was nothing more than a blue dress. My wavy hair hung freely around my shoulders.

  “No, dear,” she said, smiling brightly.

  “OK, so why am I here?” I asked, fidgeti
ng.

  “You tell me.” She gazed at me with innocent eyes.

  “Tell you what?” This woman was starting to irritate me.

  “You are the one that summoned me here.” She laughed.

  “Summoned you where?” I put my hand on my forehead. “I honestly have no clue what is going on.”

  “I honestly have no clue what this is,” the woman laughed. Her lips were red as blood. Something didn’t look right with her. She was far too angelic-looking to be real.

  “I know your face.” I stammered with my words. I tried to search past the sweetness. Underneath that white façade was the face of a bitter woman.

  “I don’t see how? We have never formally met.” She was watching me now. I had a feeling she knew that I was slowly catching on.

  “What was on the blade?” I asked.

  “I have no idea what you are talking about.” I watched an awkward smirk appear on half of her face.

  “The blade of the equalizer. What was on it?” I demanded, my voice heated.

  “And if I don’t tell you?” Her face was changing from something sweet to something sinister.

  “Then I will find where you are and cast you to hell,” I growled. “What was on the dagger?”

  “Nothing much. Just a weakening agent. Makes you blind and makes you feel like your skin is peeling back with fire. The blindness helps to make you think that you are actually burning.” She put her hands behind her back.

  “Why a weakening agent?” I watched her curiously. I longed to place her face with a name.

  “I do not allow people to see me in the flesh. Not unless they are my staff or my lover.” My eyes widened.

  I had the name.

  “Oh, sweet Lord.” My hand flew to my mouth. “You’re Sheridan.”

  “I do apologize for us meeting on these terms. You have something I want back.” She sternly looked at me, the once-angelic face was giving away to the demon inside of her.

  “What could I possibly have that you could want?” I rolled my eyes. I knew full well what she was going to say.

  “I want my protector and my harbinger back,” she growled.