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  “I think this is where we should bow out,” my mother suggested, taking my hand. We turned to leave, but not before Greg spoke.

  “I don’t know how you did it, Angie. I don’t know how you managed to bring them both back to me. Even if this is only for today.” I felt the tears fill my eyes again, and I had to fight to keep them at bay. It was bad enough I had sobbed on Wesley’s chest that morning.

  “We are going to go out to celebrate. You guys just take your time.” She smiled at them and then winked at me. “I convinced your father to do the dunking game. How’s your arm feeling?”

  I looked over my shoulder. “How did you manage that?”

  “Which part? The reunion or the games?” My mother asked.

  “Both really.” I laughed as the sun hit our faces. I felt the familiar tingle but decided it wasn’t going to hurt me to spend some time in the fresh air. It’s not like it was going to cause me to burst into flames.

  “I have mad skills, honey. You should already know this.” She looped her arm into mine, and we walked toward the crowd of people. Creatures the world never knew existed. I was one proud girl. I got to spend my birthday with each and every one of them.

  We ran into Wesley and his family again outside by the food tables, just as my mother took a step up onto the bandstand. The afternoon had gone exceptionally well. I almost forgot how much I didn’t want to celebrate my birthday.

  “Ladies and Gentlemen,” she began, her voice louder than if she was using a microphone. “It is time!”

  She turned to the band and whispered in the conductor’s ear. He smiled back at her. The sound of Happy Birthday started to come out of the instruments, and I blushed as the crowd began to sing along.

  Wesley’s arms circled around me and held me close as we watched in wonder. A cake floated through the air and came to rest on a large table in front of the stage. Everything felt at ease. I felt there was nothing that could go wrong until the sky darkened, and an internal alarm sounded. I clasped my hands to my ears. The ringing was deafening, and it seemed only a handful of us could hear it as I gazed over the crowd for anyone else in pain.

  “Get your family into the house,” I yelled as he let me go. Wesley ran toward his mother and father, grabbing them by the hands, and leading them into the house, with Melissa hot on their tails. I looked at my mother, shocked to see her eyes were white. The ringing wasn’t affecting her in the same fashion. Her eyes darted around the property, looking for the cause.

  “What is it?” I asked, my hands trembling.

  “I don’t know,” she growled, her hand flickering. Whatever it was, it wasn’t good.

  “DAWN!” Edmund screamed, running toward me. I turned to look at him as he pointed. “Harrisville. It’s under attack.”

  “How many?”

  “Maybe a thousand,” he replied, looking around him.

  “What kind of power?” I asked, glancing at the other Wardens as they stopped in front of me.

  “Mostly magic-related.” His pale face looked at me hopefully as I looked at the girls.

  “I have this,” Helen said with a smile. She looked at me and shook her head, realizing her choice of words was incorrect for the occasion. “My troops have this,” she corrected.

  “Helen, take your group and go into town. Try to head them off before they start moving toward the compound. Rose, take your group and head toward the outskirts, try to flank anything which tries to gain access,” I instructed, and Rose smiled at me. She probably thought I was feeding her to the wolves. “Krista, take to the front of the manor, just in case something shows. Follow the road through the west side of town. I will take the back of the property and follow the roads to the east side. Hopefully, we can contain them all inside Harrisville, minimizing collateral damage. Mom, who do we have that can assist with orders?”

  “I can take half the purebloods. Your father can take the other,” my mother suggested as my father came running toward us.

  “We need portals,” My father instructed, grabbing my mother’s hands. “They need to be strong, and whoever making them able to allow several hundred people through at a time. If they walk, they won’t make it.”

  “Angie.” Edmund’s voice was loud, but my mother just stared.

  “I don’t know who has that power,” she said, frowning. “I wasn’t prepared for this.”

  I watched as my mother began to shut down slowly. Her plans for the day were interrupted by battle. I knew she never wanted any of us to have to fight, but we all knew it was inevitable. She had to snap out of it before we lost anyone. She turned her eyes to Max, who was standing just a few feet away, glancing in every direction.

  “I have this, Angie,” Max stated as he ran off to gather his coven.

  “Send the shifters, the vampires, the weres, anyone who can move at incredible speed. Send the others; they can fly,” I yelled as the groups started to form. I watched as more than half of our compound took off in sprints in the directions that I had dictated to their leaders — the earth to the front, water to the back.

  “If you are with me, grab weapons and meet in the front.” Krista pulled her whip out from behind her. She gave me a warm smile and ran off. Helen and Rose were nowhere to be seen, I assumed they had already taken to the skies.

  “Mom, get some of these people to safety.” I touched her shoulder and ran off to gather my sword. I had taken no more than ten steps when I felt a hand grab my arm and stop me.

  “I am your Protector, where are you going?” Adam said, his eyes steely. His hand clutched around his own sword so hard I could see the whites of his knuckles.

  “Back of the property where we found the boy,” I shouted as I raced away.

  “Where’s Krista?” Wesley yelled as I entered the house. I took a straight jump up to the top of the stairs and turned to look, pointing toward the front.

  I heard the front door slam. I grabbed my sword and leaped over the side of the railing, landing on my feet at the bottom. I looked at Greg and Melissa, their hands tightly holding Greta’s.

  “Stay here,” I demanded, and all three of them nodded at me. “If you need to, there is a panic room in the back of my father’s office.”

  I took off out the back door, my feet hitting the ground hard as I ran. My legs lifted from the earth as I felt my body take to the air. I looked up and into Shawn’s eyes.

  “Figured you could use a lift.” We soared through the air, coming to a landing at the edge of the Oasis. Everyone, battle-ready, was standing facing different directions. If Miranda was going to attack, we would not be taken by surprise.

  “Where’s Adam?” I demanded when I couldn’t find his face.

  “Up here,” he said from above me. I looked up and saw him sitting on a high branch looking out over the field. “I can hear them in the distance.”

  I started to climb up the tree myself to see over the grounds as well. Adam helped me the last bit of the way, pulling me up next to him and pointing.

  “Over there is Helen. I can tell by the dirt in the air.” He smiled. “Over there is Rose. See the storm clouds.”

  I looked around us at the land, and I saw nothing. The manor, for now, was safe, they were just testing us. I sighed and looked toward the ground. Minerva and Shawn were standing there back to back, their mouths moving in unison as the others did as instructed.

  “This doesn’t make sense,” I said, glancing at Adam.

  “Why doesn’t it make sense?” he asked. “To me, it makes perfect sense.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Think about it. The stories are spreading. We already know the threat is out there. The calling is being heard, as well. We are going to need a bigger place or more camps.” He smiled. “Every person who comes in says they were told about a small town in the Midwest where they would be greeted freely by the Wardens.”

  “So,” I glanced back toward the town.

  “I bet you they have tested every small town in the Midwest. They a
lready know you aren’t in Midvale and the surrounding towns. So, they are testing things. This just confirmed we must be here. When she’s ready, Wesley’s girlfriend will attack.” Adam was probably right, or at least partially, to be honest. I nodded at him.

  “Makes sense,” I said, accepting it as plausible truth.

  “Dawn,” he growled, and I looked at him. His brown eyes flared, and he pointed. “Who’s that?”

  A blonde woman stood between us and Krista’s group, looking around. I jumped out of the tree and walked toward her, unsure if she could see me due to the protection spells on the property. I could very well be invisible to her. If that was the case, I should send the others to help in town.

  I paced around her as her head turned left and right. I knew her face. She was the demon who had crawled into the ambulance with the dying farmer. The one that Krista swore was with her when she was taken. I yelled in her face, but she did not flinch.

  “Shawn,” I called over my shoulder, not taking my eyes off of the girl. “Take half the troops into the town. Assist Helen in any way that you can. Minerva, you take the other half to Rose.”

  “What about you?” Shawn asked, his eyes flaring as he unfolded his wings.

  “I’m going to play a little game,” I stated, not taking my eyes off the girl for one second. “She cannot see me.”

  “I’m staying with you,” Adam stated as he climbed out of the tree.

  “If you must,” I answered, my voice dropping as I watched the girl look around. Her red eyes were flickering here and there.

  I kept pacing around the woman, taking in every last detail of her face. Her pupils were dilated, and her red lips pressed together. I could almost reach inside of her mind but chose to leave her thoughts as her own. Adam remained just out of reach, watching me.

  “I can smell you, Fire girl,” she hissed. I jumped back, but her eyes were not on me, they were facing in the opposite direction.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Nothing

  “That’s right, I can smell you,” she repeated, turning her head in every direction but mine.

  “How?” Adam asked, looking at me as he crossed his arms. I felt like we were playing a sick game with an unwilling pawn.

  “I don’t know. Do I smell to you?” I asked, smelling the sleeve of my t-shirt.

  “Nothing different than the normal,” he shrugged.

  “What’s normal?” I asked, wondering if I needed to change my body wash.

  “There is a slight char smell to you at times,” Adam admitted, and I nearly fainted. I guess I had never noticed I had a burnt fire smell.

  “Char and what?” I stepped back from the girl, not letting her out of my sight.

  “Lilacs,” he said softly. “Sometimes, vanilla. It just totally depends on your mood. Noticed your mother has the same scents.”

  “You spend way too much time with my mother,” I mentioned, and he grinned at me.

  “She’s my instructor. I don’t really have an option.” He swung his sword at the grass, and some of it fell. The girl’s headshot to the side and a smile spread across her face.

  “Apparently, she can’t see us, but she can see what we do.” I grabbed him by the arm and yanked him away from her as she jabbed her spear in the direction of the cut grass.

  “Why are we even standing here? She can’t do anything to us, and we can’t do anything to her,” Adam said, looking bored by the whole incident.

  “I’m curious,” I admitted, reaching out and pulling the girl’s long hair. Her head jerked backward, and she spun around. For once, she was facing me.

  “Tricky tricky, Fire girl,” she said, her eyes momentarily locking with mine.

  She showed no recognition, meaning she still could not see me.

  “You took something of my leader’s,” she said, swinging the spear. I jumped back just in time. “The Harbinger. And you slew the Priestess? My leader does not believe she is dead. She merely believes that she is hidden, trapped somewhere, bound by magic to keep her from emerging victorious.”

  “They think she’s still alive,” Adam stated as a smile spread across my face.

  “They didn’t buy it. None of it. They don’t think I’m dead,” I laughed.

  “Why are you so excited about this?” He raised an eyebrow and yanked me out of the way of another slash.

  “Prudence isn’t dead,” I smiled.

  I lit my hand aflame and shot a ball into the grass, causing a fire to grow. The girl’s eyes were wide, and she looked scared as she started to back up. I threw a few more in different directions to make it appear as if she was surrounded.

  “She will be coming. This was just the calm before the storm,” the girl said, her eyes flaring.

  “Should we kill her?” Adam asked, his voice shaking. He was well trained, but the thought of taking a life, no matter where their allegiance lay, made him nervous.

  “I don’t know,” I admitted, just as flustered.

  “You should know. How many have you killed?” he asked as the girl slowly walked away, looking around the field. I watched her until she disappeared, and the smell of sulfur hit my nose.

  “Well, she’s gone anyway,” I said, feeling relief.

  “She’s going to tell Miranda, you know,” Adam said as we started walking back toward the house.

  “I count on it,” I smiled.

  “I’m still mad at you,” he blurted out, taking me by surprise.

  “I don’t blame you. I shouldn’t have done what I did.” I felt his hand on my arm as he turned me around to face him.

  “No, you shouldn’t.” He stepped closer to me. His eyes were fiery.

  “I’m sorry,” I said softly as he pulled the sword from my hand and dropped it to the ground, his own sword falling on top of it.

  “I know.” His voice softened, and he grabbed my other arm, pulling me closer to him.

  His eyes were reading my face. I’m sure the expression of confusion was giving him some hint of excitement. Adam’s lips crashed with mine. My body melted to his as I wrapped my arms around his neck. The moment passed blissfully as he pulled away and looked at me.

  “I had to one last time,” he said, letting me go.

  “Do what?” I felt like I was floating. I never thought I would feel his lips again.

  “Kiss you.” He looked at me but still refused to smile.

  “Oh,” I murmured, confused. “Why?”

  “I wanted to see if there was anything there.” He reached down and grabbed our swords, handing mine back to me before putting his in the holster behind his back.

  “And?” I asked, trying to catch my breath.

  “Nothing,” he said simply, and my heart broke. How could he have not felt anything?

  He’s lying.

  I could tell by the look on his face he wasn’t telling me the truth. Still, it hurt. He pushed past me, leaving me standing in the field alone, staring after him, my heart pounding. I fought the urge to cry, so instead, I took off at a sprint toward the town.

  Helen and Rose had everything under control when my feet came to a stop in downtown Harrisville. I could see the faces of the townspeople poking over the sides of the walls and looking out the windows at the carnage that was taking place. Thankfully, many of them had managed to find safety before the fight began. That was a massive weight off my shoulders.

  I felt my sword instinctively feed on my fire as it burst into a blue glow. I whistled once to get the attention of a small group of enemy troops standing to the right of the building. They came at me quickly, their eyes flaming, their weapons bloody. My sword clashed defensively as they swung. I felt my heart grow cold, and my skin became hot as I burst into flames, my eyes burning as I changed.

  The creatures stared at me with fear as they realized who I was. Flames shot from the tip of my weapon, sending many of them screaming to the ground as the fire ate away their evil skin, leaving nothing but bones that turned to dust shortly after. One fell, then two. Final
ly, I saw her. The blonde girl looked at me and smiled, her spear set and ready for a battle.

  She charged for me, and I leaped into the air landing behind her, the sword aimed between her shoulder blades. I saw the fire flying off my skin, and my hands were growing hotter as I pulled the sword above my head. With one swoop of the weapon, I sliced through her neck, and her head rolled about two feet away. The blade penetrated her flesh as if it was nothing more than butter. The headless body buckled and went down in a sickening crunch.

  Her body crumbled at my feet, and I felt the power surge within me. Unclaimed! Her soul mine for the taking. The girl’s power solidified in my body as I turned, still hungry for the approaching enemy. Before I knew what I was doing, four more lay dead at my feet.

  My hands were sweating as my body grew hotter. Sooner or later, the power was going to dissipate, and I would have to rely on the other magic in my blood to take over. I was using too much power in one instance; if I didn’t slow down, not even my other gifts would get me out alive.

  “NO!” I heard Helen’s voice screaming, and I took off at a sprint, finding the Warden pinned against the wall, a tall vampire bent toward her neck.

  Instinct took over yet again as I shot lightning from my fingers, penetrating the vampire’s core. He turned and looked at me, his face distorted as he slumped to the ground. With a stab of her pitchfork to the chest, he dissipated into dust.

  Helen turned to me, and I gasped, her neck had been torn open, and blood was pouring out in waves. She placed her hand on the wound and, pulling her red fingers away, she screamed. Her eyes were foggy, and her wings were drenched in dirt and blood. I caught her before she hit the ground, her wings hitting me in the face and knocking me silly for a moment.

  My mother appeared a moment later and grabbed Helen from my grasp, taking to the skies. She was returning the girl to the manor. I took off again, searching the faces, looking for the allies. So many dead. The stench of decay hung in the air as bodies were welcomed to their promised home. I saw Krista, her eyes gray, spinning in the air. Causing the element to bend to her will, she created a tornado that took out the enemy but left our troops standing. She had come a long way since she first arrived.