Wilder: The Guardian Series (10 page)

Roman paused to take a breath.

“Lilliana came from a family of great witches, and she had
been destined to marry Fabian, a powerful sorcerer.”

“I’m sorry, did you just say witches and sorcerer?” Celeste
interjected.

“Celeste, please let me finish. I know this sounds insane,
but before you stop me, I need to tell you everything.”

She nodded silently.

“Lilliana’s betrothal to Fabian had all been arranged even
before she was born. She could not go against her family’s wishes, and she
dared not cross Fabian, as he was known for his immense power and cruelty. But
none of that mattered to father—he loved her and could not bear to live
without her. The very night that she revealed who she was, he convinced her
that in order to be free, they must escape together. They married in secret and
spent the next twenty years on the run. During that time, Nico and I were born,
but any time we felt comfortable in one particular place, we were forced to
move on, constantly worried that Fabian would one day find us. Over the years,
Fabian grew in power as well as in his hatred for our father for stealing his
betrothed all those years ago.”

With a reassuring glance, Nico urged him to continue.

“As Fabian’s thirst for revenge intensified, he devised a
punishment worse than death for our family. He created a curse that would make
us immortal, forcing us to run from him for the rest of time, taking away our
mother’s power as a witch, and condemning us to an eternity as vampires. Since
we were turned through a spell, and had not suffered death, we, unlike other
vampires, kept our humanity. It was our mother who found the strength to fight
against our most terrible predatory instincts, and she found ways for us to
survive without killing humans.”

Realizing that the story had come to a close, Celeste stared
at Roman, wide-eyed in disbelief. His eyes bore into hers, anxiously awaiting a
response.

“So you’re telling me that you and Nico are vampires? And
that your mom was a witch, and there has been an evil sorcerer chasing you
around the world for years?” she repeated.

“For 116 years, to be exact,” said Nico.

“Either you guys are crazy, or I really did hit my head too
hard on the side of the road,” she said, pushing away the comforter and sitting
up.

“I know it’s a lot to take in Celeste, but sadly I promise it
is all true,” confirmed Nico. “And it’s not just vampires and witches, there’s
a whole supernatural world out there that humans have no idea exists.”

As insane as it all sounded, she couldn’t help but remember
the dream she had just had about her father.

But that was just a dream;
it wasn’t real…
Or
was it?

“Prove it.”

“Prove what?” asked Roman.

“That the crazy story you just told me is true. How do you
expect me to believe any of this?” she asked, her voice rising.

Roman looked to Nico, but he shrugged his shoulders in
bewilderment.

“Fine, but just remember, you asked for this.”

Roman focused on Celeste’s neck. He could feel the rhythmic
thumping of blood pulsing through her carotid artery, and his fangs popped out
instinctively. Celeste stared in horror. Before she could cry out, he used his
vamp speed to dash out of the room and return with a glass of water for her.

“I figured you’d need this,” he said as Celeste sat
slack-jawed.

“You really are a vampire?” she asked, struggling to form the
words. Abruptly she stood up, getting ready to make a run for it if necessary.

“Yes.”

Celeste’s mind began to race and was flooded with images of
all the recent events. “What about Patrick? Is he a vampire? Was that why he
tried to kidnap me – so he could drink my blood?” she asked
incredulously.

“Well yes, he was a vampire, but there is more to that story
than just blood lust. But you don’t have to worry about him anymore. I took
care of it,” Roman said.

“What do you mean ‘you took care of it’?”

“Don’t worry about it,” Roman said dismissively.

“Roman, you said you would tell me everything,” she said
staring at him point blank.

“Fine, I killed him, and buried his body in the woods behind
the school,” he admitted coldly.

All the color drained out of Celeste’s face, and she looked
at Roman horrified.

“You killed him?”

“Celeste, he was already dead. And anyway, we are vampires
and that is what we do. My brother and I are different than most, but the
majority are evil beings with no sense of morality and a blinding predatory
nature. I did what I had to do to keep you safe.”

“I need to get out of here,” said Celeste.

“I’ll take you home,” offered Nico.

“No, I can’t even look at either one of you right now. I just
need to leave,” she said as she pushed past Nico and rushed out.

The warm sun was just starting to come up, and as Celeste
walked determinedly her head was spinning with everything Roman and Nico had
just told her. It couldn’t be true. As her mind fought to make sense of the
inexplicable, she thought of the dream and her father’s words.

No, it can’t be. There
are no such things as vampires and witches and sorcerers…

She reached into her purse to call the only person she really
wanted to see right now.

Brian pulled up in his Mustang just minutes after hanging up
with Celeste. She could tell from his bloodshot eyes and tousled hair that he
must have been out late last night.

“What are you doing walking way out here at this time of the
morning?” asked Brian.

“I ended up spending the night at Nico’s last night,” she
explained. “Don’t look at me like that Brian, nothing happened. After the dance,
we were hungry so they brought me back to their place to eat, and I passed out
in their spare bedroom.”

Celeste hated lying to Brian, but there was no way she was
going to tell him about the crazy night she had.

“So why are you walking home by yourself at this hour?” he
asked with a sidelong glance.

“I wanted to get home before my mom did, but I didn’t want to
wake Nico up. So I snuck out thinking I could walk home, but it ended up being
a lot further than I thought. Thanks for coming to get me.”

Brian looked skeptical and asked, “Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine, just a little tired and hung over,” she
confessed.

They drove back the rest of the way in a comfortable silence.
With the top down, the fresh morning air blowing through Celeste’s curls was
just what she needed to clear her head. As they pulled into Brian’s driveway,
she leaned over and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

“Thank you for always being there for me, Brian.”

“Always,” he said.

“Well that went well,” said Nico caustically as he slammed
the door. “Brian picked her up just down the street, in case you were
wondering.”

“She just needs some time to process it all,” said Roman.
“Just imagine what a shock this must be to her. Yesterday morning she woke up a
normal high school girl, excited about going to her senior prom, and by the end
of the night she had been kidnapped, knocked out, and told of the existence of
vampires, witches, sorcerers and everything in between.”

“I understand all that, I just wish we could have found a
better way to tell her so that she wouldn’t have run scared. We had each other
and our family when this happened to us. She doesn’t have anyone to talk to
about it.”

“We’ll be there for her Nico; remember, we only just told her
half of the story.
 
Right now we
need to figure out who sent Patrick after Celeste. He certainly wasn’t putting
her in the trunk of his car for an afternoon snack, and I definitely don’t
believe he was acting alone,” finished Roman.

“Why did you have to kill him?” asked Nico. “We needed him
alive to question. How are we going to find anything out now?”

Roman came back with an exasperated, “Don’t you think I know
that?”

“So why did you do it?” Nico retorted.

“I lost it; I was so furious, I completely lost control,”
said Roman angrily.

“You do feel something for her,” said Nico with a puzzled
expression. Roman cut him off with a growl and stomped off to his room,
slamming the door shut behind him.

Roman sat in his room brooding as he gulped down a bottle of
blood. He wasn’t even sure why he had gotten so mad at Nico and that bothered
him. He was never like this. He was always in control. Roman didn’t understand
what had come over him, and he certainly didn’t like it. Why did Celeste have
such power over him? She drove him crazy. Now was not the time to fight with
his brother. They needed to work together to determine what they could about
Patrick’s appearance in Oak Bluffs. As much as Roman dreaded it, he decided it
was time to let Stellan in on last night’s events.

“You did what?” yelled Stellan over the speakerphone.
Stellan, normally so calm and collected, shouted as though he might come
through the phone and strangle Roman with his bare hands.

“How could you tell her about the supernatural world? What
were you two thinking?”

“There was no other choice, Stellan.
 
How were we going to explain Patrick’s
attempt to abduct her? And if this is her destiny, what is the point of lying
to her? She is going to have to learn about it all soon enough. I thought maybe
if it came from us, she would handle it better. I was obviously mistaken,” said
Roman.

“Roman, it wasn’t your place to tell her. Guardians are
chosen at the age of eighteen, and when they are, the truth is revealed to them
in the appropriate manner,” continued Stellan.

“But she doesn’t have her father,” insisted Roman, “so who
will teach her and guide her in the ways of a hunter?”

Nico could see that this conversation was going nowhere and
interjected, “Stellan, what is done is done, we cannot take back what we told
her. What’s important now is to try to find out who sent Patrick, and if more
will be coming for Celeste.”

Stellan exhaled and tried to calm himself, and Roman stopped
pacing like a caged animal.

“I’ve been doing some research since you boys paid me a
visit, and it seems as though there has been a large amount of dark magic in
use in the area,” said Stellan. “I can’t be sure of the exact location or
source, but there is something in the air that has the supernatural community in
a commotion.”

“What does that mean exactly?” asked Nico.

“I’m not sure yet. Sometimes when a new guardian is chosen,
it disturbs the balance between good and evil. An oversimplified explanation
would be that evil could be trying to compensate for it,” explained Stellan.

“And could Fabian be the cause of this?” asked Roman.

“It is certainly possible.”

“So what do we do now?” asked Nico.

“I have contacted a few of my more powerful and
well-connected friends to see if they can give us more information. Until then
we have to wait. If Fabian did send Patrick to find Celeste, and he knows who
she is, I’m afraid that we will all be in serious peril.”

Celeste awoke the next morning to a rough slobbery tongue on
her face. “Hi
Rocky
,” she said with a smile. As she wiped
the drool off her face, images from last night came rushing back. She was
absolutely positive that everything had been a bad dream. Sluggishly, she
pushed the covers aside and slipped her aching feet into her fuzzy
slippers.
 
Strewn on the floor was her
beautiful prom dress. She picked it up for closer examination only to find
bloodstains and frayed material all along the back from her fall on the rough
asphalt. The dress was ruined.

How could this be
happening? Nico and Roman are vampires. They drink blood and kill people?

Celeste rubbed her throbbing head. This was too much for her
to wrap her head around without at least a cup of coffee. She went downstairs
and was surprised to find her mother in the kitchen reading the paper in her
pink scrubs.

“Good morning sweetie!” she said cheerily. “How was your
night?”

Celeste attempted to plaster a convincing smile on her
face.
 
“It was awesome mom! We had a
great time, danced, took lots of pictures, and made tons of memories…”

She went on to tell her mother about the highlights of the
evening, making sure to leave out her near abduction and the fact that her new
friends were vampires (or maybe that she was just going crazy). She suddenly
remembered the dream she had about her father while she was unconscious, and
felt that this was a bit of truth that she could share with her mother.

“I dreamt about Dad last night,” she began, “and it was
pretty strange, but it seemed so real.”

Mrs. Wilder put down the paper and looked at her expectantly.
“Tell me about it, Celeste, I know how rarely you ever dream of him.”

Celeste poured herself a big mug of coffee, filled it with
sugar and cream and sat down at the table. “It was so great to see him, but
what he said, it was all so strange. He told me that I had to learn to be a hunter,
to protect humans against bad things. He said that I had been called for a
greater purpose to be a force of good against evil in the world. He told me
that all the scary monsters we thought were imaginary are actually real.”
Celeste hadn’t taken a breath, but when she finished she looked up to gauge her
mom’s expression.

Instead of the comforting look Celeste expected, her mother
had gone completely pale. She tried to compose herself, but it was too late;
Celeste had already seen her reaction.

“What is it Mom?” she asked.

“Oh nothing, don’t mind me, I have other things on my mind.
I’m sorry sweetie, but I have to get to work,” she said, looking at her watch.
“It’s getting late and I have so many patients to see.” She stood up abruptly
leaving her unfinished breakfast and darted out the door.