Wilder: The Guardian Series (29 page)

“Unfortunately, it doesn’t matter what you want to do. If he
is controlling you there wouldn’t be a thing you could do about it.”

“I’m going back to the basement, aren’t I?” asked Dani
miserably.

Celeste crawled into bed and let out a huge yawn. She stared
up at the ceiling and saw a thin crack in the shape of a V. She wondered if her
father had looked at the very same spot when he was here. She closed her eyes
and began drifting to sleep when a noise at the door startled her.
Instinctively, she grabbed the dagger on her nightstand. The door opened slowly
and as every nerve in Celeste’s body tensed, she readied herself to lunge at
the intruder.

“Whoa, it’s me, Roman,” he said as his keen night vision
caught sight of the blade.

“Oh Roman! You scared me to death!” She dropped the dagger
and into his waiting arms. “What are you doing here?”

“I didn’t want you to be alone tonight. Not with Magnus
lurking somewhere nearby and possibly controlling Dani.”

Celeste suddenly became very aware of her thin nighty against
Roman’s bare chest and arms around her.

Noticing her unease Roman tactfully added, “I can sleep on
the floor.”

“No, it’s fine,” she said, getting back under the covers and
making room on one side of the bed for him. Uneasily, he lay down next to her
on top of the comforter with arms crossed chastely across his chest.

 
“Thank you,” she
said and moving his stiff arm put her head on his chest and snuggled up against
him.

Magnus paced back and forth in the damp, abandoned warehouse
that he had settled in since his arrival in Oak Bluffs. It had been pure luck
that in hunting Dani he had found Celeste, but finding her with the Constantins
and the wizard would make things much more difficult for him. After watching
her for a few days from afar, he was certain that this was no ordinary girl and
was quite sure that she was the new Guardian. If he could kill her before she
came into her full powers, he would succeed in ending an entire bloodline of
guardians. He knew he had to make his move soon.

***

“I think I had a premonition last night,” said Celeste as she
walked into the kitchen.

“Tell me exactly what happened,” said Roman, rushing over to
her.

“It was Fabian - I think and he was here.”

“What did you see?” asked Stellan.

“It’s hard to explain. All I saw were flashes, really.”

“Just tell us what you remember,” said Stellan soothingly.

“Well, from how you’ve described Fabian, it seemed like it
was him, but he was with someone else too. It wasn’t Magnus, but he kind of
looked like him only he was smaller and blonde. He had the same cold, dark eyes
though.” Celeste shuddered at the recollection.

“What else?”

“They were here in this house and Stellan, you were in the
vision too. It was dark outside, and it was raining. I saw a bright flash of
light, and my Wilder family key bouncing off the floor. And that’s it.”

“That’s pretty vague. Who do we need to talk to in order to
get this premonition power of yours fine-tuned?” asked Nico.

“I’m sorry, I wish I could tell you more, but that was all I
saw. So maybe it wasn’t Magnus the other day, maybe it was Fabian.”

“No, I would have sensed it if it had been him,” said Stellan,
shaking his head wearily.

“Should we get help from the Council?” she asked.

“No, not yet.”

“On the bright side at least her vision didn’t include any of
us getting killed,” said Nico.

“And at least we know he is coming, so we can be prepared,”
said Stellan. “I will reinforce the spell to cloak the house specifically
against Fabian’s magic. It won’t keep him away forever, but it should buy us
some time.”

“Roman, are you okay?” asked Celeste noticing he hadn’t said
a word.

He looked up, eyebrows furrowed in concentration. “Yes, fine.
Nico, you should get Celeste out of here.”

“No! I’m not going anywhere. I’m going to stay right here and
fight with all of you.”

“Stellan, please help me talk some sense into her,” begged
Roman.

“No, I won’t let you two send me away. This is exactly what
I’ve been training for. I’m the Guardian, and this is where I need to be. How
am I ever going to learn if you protect me from every bad thing that comes my
way?”

“Celeste, we know that you are very capable and if this was
anyone but Fabian, I would agree with you. But he is much too powerful of an
opponent for you to face right now,” advised Stellan.

“And how about you, Stellan? If you send me away with Nico
that just leaves the two of you to fight him alone. I won’t allow it.”

“Celeste so help me, if you don’t go with Nico of your own
accord, I will knock you out and put you into the trunk of his car myself,”
said Roman bristling.

“Just try it,” said Celeste obstinately.

“Obviously we are going nowhere with this,” said Nico. “While
you three were arguing, I checked the weather forecast on my phone and if
Celeste’s premonition was correct, we look to be in the clear for the next few
days. There’s no rain in sight.”

“Now there’s a smart boy,” said Stellan with a grin.

“Fine, then it’s agreed. No one is going anywhere right now,”
finished Celeste.

“Well, I don’t know about that,” said Roman. “We need to get
Dani out of here. I don’t trust her being around Celeste since we don’t know
what Magnus might compel her to do.”

“That is true, but I believe we may be able to use Dani to
find Magnus. The blood bond should work both ways,” said Stellan.

“Let’s do it then. The sooner we find Magnus and deal with
him the better. One evil immortal is more than enough to handle,” concluded
Roman.

***

“I hate small-town America,” said Alek as he examined the
dingy hotel room in disgust.

“No one forced you to come,” said Fabian, “and it is
essential that we maintain a low profile.”

Alek snorted contemptuously. “As if I would miss the final
encounter between you and the Constantins.”

“Yes, I do imagine it will be a confrontation to remember,”
Fabian said with a gleam in his eye.

“Should we find that traitor Magnus first?” asked Alek.

“I haven’t yet decided if he’s more useful to me dead or
alive.”

Alek peeked outside through the dirt-encrusted blinds. “He
may know where they are.”

“Yes, that is true. But how difficult could it be to find two
wayward vampires in a trifling town like this one?”

“Well, the sooner we finish this, the faster I can get back
to my summer vacation in Iceland,” said Alek.

“Patience Alek, our little trip will soon be over, and I will
have my prize.”
 

“It can’t be soon enough.”

Fabian crossed the distance between them and towered over
Alek scowling. “I have waited a long time for this. Do not provoke me!”

“Yes, of course my liege, I apologize for my insubordinate
words.”

Momentarily appeased, his tone returned to normal. “The irony
of it all Alek, is that they have no idea that their deaths will bring back the
object of my desire. The one thing I have longed to possess for over a century
– their mother.”

***

“Dani you have to concentrate,” urged Stellan.

“I’m trying.”

Stellan and Celeste crouched beside Dani as she sat pouting
on the cold basement floor. Roman and Nico looked on attentively from the top
of the stairs. They had been banished when Dani said their hovering was making
her nervous.

“Feel the blood running through your veins and focus on it.
Then open your mind and follow where it leads you,” continued Stellan in his
most soothing voice.

“I don’t feel anything.”

“Please try Dani. This is really important. If we find Magnus
and kill him then you don’t have to stay in the basement anymore. Don’t you
want that?” asked Celeste. She had resorted to talking to her like she did to
Brian’s little sister, Maxi. Strangely, it seemed to work.

“Okay, let me try again,” she said, closing her eyes and
breathing in and out slowly.

Celeste sat down across from Dani and reached out for her
hands, then began to breathe rhythmically with her. Celeste felt a wave of
warmth stemming from their joined hands and suddenly, a jolt surged through her
body. A clear picture of an old abandoned warehouse flashed through her mind.

“He’s in a warehouse!” the girls shouted in unison.

After describing the vision in detail to the others, they narrowed
down the possibilities to a few run down warehouses by the pier in Oak Bluffs.

“I can fly back and do a quick recon mission, once I’ve found
him I’ll let you know,” said Nico eager to finally do something.

“I don’t like you going by yourself,” said Celeste.

“He won’t even know I’m there, trust me,” he said with a
wink. “Be back soon!”

Celeste trailed after him onto the back porch and watched him
take off into the sky. Her concerned eyes followed the white falcon as it
soared high above the clouds and finally disappeared.

“Don’t worry about him,” said Roman coming up behind her, “he
can be quite capable when he sets his mind to it.”
 

Celeste dug her heels into the ground, clenched her fists and
looked obstinately at Roman and Stellan. “I am going,” she announced.

There was no way Celeste was getting left out of this one.
After much discussion, it had been decided that she would be allowed to
accompany them to join Nico on the hunt for Magnus. Dani Lynn’s involvement was
another topic of heated debate. To Dani’s disappointment, everyone agreed it
was too risky to bring her along not knowing the extent of Magnus’ control over
her.

“How long do you think it will take Nico to find Magnus?”
asked Celeste anxiously.

“It shouldn’t be long now. He’s an excellent tracker, and
thanks to Magnus’ creator bond with Dani it seems that you two pin-pointed the
location rather accurately,” said Stellan.

“I should probably call my mom before we go, just in case.”

“Just in case what?” asked Roman with an edge to his voice.
“Do you think I would ever let you come with us if I thought anything could
happen to you?”

“No, of course not. I just meant in case it got late, and I
didn’t get to talk to her. I didn’t want her to worry that’s all.”

Celeste slipped a reassuring hand in Roman’s for a brief
moment before walking out of the kitchen and up the winding stairs. He stared
after her pensively until she disappeared around the corner.

“Are you really that certain about our chances against
Magnus?” asked Stellan.

“Yes I am. We’ve faced him before and have managed to get
away unscathed. This time
we
are
going after him so we have the element of surprise on our side. And besides, I
would die first before letting any harm come to Celeste.”

Stellan put a reassuring hand on Roman’s powerful shoulder,
and he felt it tense under his grip. “We will need that confidence, but
remember Magnus is over a thousand years old. He is strong and smart so we must
not underestimate him.”

“Can’t we have Celeste summon the Council? Isn’t it their job
to keep her safe?” Roman’s hands flew up in frustration.

“Well, yes, to a certain extent anyway. If the Council
stepped in every time a guardian’s life was in danger, they wouldn’t get
anything else done. It is the nature of the guardian’s job to be constantly at
risk.”

“Then what are you thinking? How come you agreed to let
Celeste come with us?” Roman implored.

“I have a plan, but it’s risky and I don’t believe you will
approve of it,” said Stellan.

“Tell me anyway,” said Roman, running his hands through his
unruly hair in an attempt to calm his nerves.

“In a way, Celeste is our secret weapon. He doesn’t know what
she is or what powers she has. If we can lure him out, and make him believe
that he has a chance at capturing her, we can catch him unaware.”

Roman glared at Stellan. “So basically you want to use
Celeste as bait?”

“Yes, but we will never lose sight of her. I can open a
portal a hundred yards away from the warehouse and watch from there. Nico can
be in the air and you and I will be hidden nearby. While Celeste distracts him,
you and Nico can catch him off guard, and I will come in behind you if needed.”

“I don’t like putting her at risk like that.”

“I’m in,” said Celeste appearing in the doorway.

Roman was not pleased, but with one look at her determined
face, he knew there would be no arguing with her. Stellan filled them both in
on the details of his plan while they waited impatiently for word from Nico.

“Nico just called to report that he found Magnus,” said
Roman. “He’s at the warehouse by Pier 11.”

“Then it’s time,” said Stellan.

“Are you ready?” Roman asked Celeste.

“I am,” she said reaching out for his hand.

Stellan waved his hand and the portal opened before them in a
blue blur. Celeste could feel the whirling vortex pulling her towards it. She
gripped Roman’s hand tightly and the three of them dove in with weapons in tow.

“Magnus! Magnus come out, I’m here to exchange my life for
the lives of Nico and Roman,” shouted Celeste. She stood a couple paces from
the rundown warehouse and nervously rotated Roman’s mother’s ring around her
finger.