Inside the Fire Book One in the Warden's Series (18 page)

 “
Seriously let it
go, ok.  I have to go. Dawn is here.” She was still talking
when he hung up on her. I admit I smiled a little.  “Stupid
ex-girlfriends.” He mumbled as he wrapped his arms around me. 
“You would think that she would understand no the first time I said
it.”  He looked down at me and kissed the tip of my
nose.  “How you doing babe?”

“One cannot complain I suppose.” I smiled
broadly up at him. I found myself wondering where Melissa had seen
her on the night Wesley was attacked. If I had heard him correctly
his ex was at school in the city.

“I’m sure you can find something to complain
about.” He gave me a playful smile, and I melted.

“Nope, I’m happy just being right here with
you.” Good lord, I was being sappy.

Shiver.

“Well, I got a ton of movies upstairs and
enough popcorn to put us in a coma.” He looked towards the field
behind his house and then suddenly back at me.

“What is it?” I asked turning my head to
look as well.

“I thought I just saw, oh Hell forget about
it.” He kissed me deeply, warm heat taking over my body. 
After he released me he looked at the tree line one last time and
after he pulled me inside securing the lock behind him.

We entered the kitchen hand in hand.  I
looked over and saw Mr. Jensen standing at the stove stirring a big
metal pot with something bubbling inside.  He looked at me and
smiled.

“Dawn!” He exclaimed coming around and
giving me a big hug. 

For some reason after my mother and I found
Wesley in the woods his father had become increasingly huggy. Not
to mention him and my mother seemed inseparable, for now, my mother
wouldn’t string him along.  I’m sure there is something more
to the whole thing.  Probably something to do with Greta, yup
that is probably it right there.

“Hello, Mr. Jensen.” I giggled as he swung
me around in a circle.

“Oh honey I’ve told you it’s Greg. You twos
mothers were to close for me to just be Mr. Jensen.” He put me down
and pat Wesley on the back.  “I’m about to head out to your
place.  Your mom said she was craving some chili so I made her
some of my award winning recipe.” So it was chili that he was
stirring in the pot.  I would never have known by the looks of
it. “And she will be happy to know that I found the sketch book.”
He patted a hard cover book and suddenly looked sad.

“Melissa home?” I asked as we turned to
go.

“No, she went to my sisters for the
weekend.  The place is all yours tonight.” His father said
looking at us not smiling.  “You two are being safe right?”
Wesley’s face instantly paled, my heart began to pound my hands got
sweaty and I let out a nervous laugh.  Wesley looked at me
with fear in his eyes then back at his dad.

“Of course Dad.” He stammered his hand was
shaking in mine.

“I just want to make sure. You two are still
young so much ahead of you.  A baby could really complicate
things.” He looked at me. “Has your mother talked to you about
birth control methods?” I swear I was about to faint, all I could
do was nod. 

She had told me about the options but she
also told me the likelihood of getting pregnant by a mortal being
pretty much slim to none. There are only a few female Angels that
were ever able to give birth to a healthy human baby. Not to
mention the wide spread infertility amongst female Angels allowing
them only to pair with those of the same breed. 

Apparently when an Angel does get pregnant
though the gestational period decreases, instead of the mortal 40
weeks the child is fully developed sometimes as quickly as 25 or as
long as 30.

Now there is a twist to the whole thing
while female Angels were pretty much given permanent birth control
the male Angles still had the capability of getting a human woman
pregnant. At least that is what she learned from the few like her
in the world. That is where all the half Angels came from they were
sprung from the pairing of a mortal woman and a celestial male.
This was meant to merely increase the ability to protect the Earth
from demon or other half-blooded invasions.

There were very few cases where an Angel
gave birth to a human child. However, I was something that wasn’t
supposed to be so I guess it could happen.  It only takes
once.  She hadn’t known of demon females so there was always a
possibility that half of my blood being more dominant when it came
to the production of children. Still though the chances were slim
to none.

“Good.” He looked at Wesley. “If you need
anything I put a package of, you know, in the closet.”  As
soon as his father said that Wesley was yanking me up the steps
before his father could say anything else.

“I am so sorry.” He said looking at me once
we were safe inside the walls of his room. I could tell he was
embarrassed by the talk his father had just had with the two of
us.

“It’s ok, at least he cares.” I said
touching his cheek then throwing my jacket on the couch in his
room.

“I never thought about it though, all those
times that we, you know.” He ran his fingers through his hair.

I knew exactly what he was talking about and
at the same time I realized his hesitation in saying the word.

“I wouldn’t be too concerned with it. I’m
sure I’m perfectly fine.” I said taking a seat at the edge of his
bed.  He got down on his knees and pushed my legs open so he
could wrap his arms around me.

“If it was to happen I wouldn’t leave you.”
He stated laying his head on my chest so I could play with his
hair.  “I mean we already have a future together. Does it
really hurt anything if we discuss that part of our lives now?” I
looked at him but couldn’t bring myself to smile. 

He really wanted to discuss children
now?  I must be high on glue or something because it wasn’t
going to happen. I wasn’t sure how to tell him that if he stayed
with me having children would be a near impossibility.

“Right now?  Yes it would be.” I
sighed. “Think about it.  We have college starting next year
if we plan to have a child right out of high school neither of us
would get to go.”

“What if we don’t go to college?” He asked
me seriously.

“
Well in that case we
still have dreams that we want to complete before we have kids. For
now I think we should just concern ourselves with being seniors.
Not to mention my mom is already anti premarital sex, so she would
kill me.  Seriously, she would kill me.” I struggled to keep
my composure.

“I would prefer to marry you first before we
have kids, but if we aren’t I can be quite convincing.” He cooed at
me. “However it looks like you do not need much of that.” He smiled
evilly, my chest rising and falling. “Later though, right now I’m
in the mood for a movie and some quality cuddle time.”

“You are such a tease!” I threw a pillow at
him that collided with his face.  He let out a laugh and
pounced on me.

“I’m the tease?” He said wrapping his
fingers in mine.  “I seem to be staring at a woman who just
happened to show up here in next to nothing. When you bend over I
can see from boob to naval.  It just screams take me.” He
kissed my nose and pushed his forehead to mine.  “By the way I
can feel your heart pounding.” He laughed. 

I gave him a deadly glare.

“I thought you said you wanted to watch a
movie.” I chastised him pretending that I was pouting.

“I think I changed my mind. I am quite
comfortable right here crushing you.” He pulled himself up on his
elbows and looked down at me.

“I’m glad that me being
unable to breathe makes your day.” I said out of
breath. 

“Let’s get married.” He suddenly said all
humor washing clean of his face.

“Ok, Wesley what meds did they give you
because I think you’ve lost your mind.” I looked up at him and
could see that he was being as serious as a heart attack. 

He jumped off me ran to his desk and pulled
something out of the drawer. I rolled onto my side and propped my
head up with my hand.

“No, I’m fine I promise.” He lay down next
to me and held up a ring for me to see.  “My dad did not agree
with me purchasing an engagement ring. However he did ok a promise
ring.  This ring right here means that I will love you no
matter what.  It also means that when we are ready to take our
relationship to the next level that I will fulfill my promise to
you.” He put the ring on my right hand, I looked at him
confused.

“Why my right hand?” I asked looking at the
small diamond.

“Once we decide we are ready to plan a date
I will switch it over to your left, for now it’s in limbo. I
suppose just waiting for you to say it’s time.” He smiled at
me.

I kissed him sweetly and smiled at the
ring.  What was I going to do with this boy?

“I don’t know what to say.” My voice
cracked. I was on the verge of tears.

“Just say you will think about it.” He
smiled at me before getting up to retrieve the remote. “I was
thinking we could start with the original Dracula and work our way
up from there. You like vampire movies right?”

I shivered. I loved them in fact. The
problem now was that I had seen them first hand so it sort of
ruined vampire movies for me. Even though Bela Lugosi had made
quite an impressionable vampire he wasn’t exactly the real thing.
When it comes to those that play them on screen I was grateful they
did not know.

“Yeah.” I smiled. I couldn’t tell him I had
changed my mind.

“Alright are you ready for the fun?” He
kissed me briefly on the lips and laughed.

“What are you on?” I asked raising an
eyebrow. He was far too happy right at this moment.

“Nothing.” He rolled his eyes. “I am just
happy to be with you.”

Nightmares

Wesley wasn’t the same after the attack. I
don’t think I was the only one that noticed it either everyone was
on high alert that something could happen at any time. He would
awake in the night screaming, gripping onto me tightly crying. I
would spend the next hour playing with his hair and telling him it
was all going to be ok, that I was there to take care of him.

“Dawn?” he called out for me.

“I’m right here.” I said wrapping my arms
around him.

“Good.” He breathed.

“You remember any of the nightmare?” I asked
him planting a kiss on his forehead.

“Nope as usual.” He sighed.

He could never remember what he saw in his
dreams, no matter how many times I asked him. Mine, on the other
hand, had taken a turn for the worst. At one time he was the
antagonist in my nightmares now he would cower behind me while I
was forced to protect him. All the strength had been drained out of
him. That once strong figure was now the shell of a creature he
once was.

The red head made an appearance in quite a
few of these dreams. She would scream at him in German and all he
would do is put his hands over his ears and rock back and forth
forcing me to intervene. I always came with flames at the ready.
These dreams though were plaguing me at the same time. I was happy
that I was the only one having them. What were the chances that we
were in the same dream right?

When he was awake, though, you wouldn’t have
guessed that anything was haunting him at all. He was tired yes,
noticeably weakened. It seemed the only time he was a scared boy
was when sleep was involved.

My mother had accepted the fact that we were
a single unit now, and she insisted that we spend most nights at
the house. After a short debate with Mr. Jensen my mother got her
way. I kept having this odd feeling that he knew what she was. He
would never fight against her for long. He was always giving up
telling her that she would know best.

On one of the bad nights she came running
into the room and put her hand on his head searching for any
indication of what was hurting him.

“Do you remember anything?” She asked
him.

“No.” He looked sad. “I am trying Ms.
Weathers but I cannot remember anything.”

“It’s ok Wesley. I just wish that whatever
it was would leave a trace of something.” She patted his shoulder
gave me a stern look and nodded towards the kitchen.

I took her cue and slid out of bed kissing
him on the forehead first before leaving the room to join my
mother.

“What is it?” I asked quietly.

“Whatever is messing with him is strong
magic.” She sat down at the table and put her head in her
hands.

“Why do you say that?” I asked. I had yet to
see anything stump my mother.

“It’s like he instantly forgets. There is a
split second of recognition and then all of it is wiped out.” She
glanced at me. “I have never experienced anything like it. I mean I
know nightmare demons, but I don’t think they are even capable of
this.”

“So you don’t think it’s demon?” I asked not
sure what she was saying.

“No, I didn’t say that I just don’t think
it’s a nightmare demon.” She corrected me.

“What do you think it is then?” I was really
getting tired of the not knowing what was going on with Wesley.

“I think it’s a strong being. Tell me Dawn
when you and him are on the plain what is after you?” she asked
me.

“Usually it’s just the red head, the girl we
saw in the woods.” I stated rubbing my eyes.

“Interesting, I wonder if I was right about
her.” My mother was speaking to herself.

“Right about who?” I had a distinct feeling
we were going in circles.

“Nothing honey, go back to bed. I need to
call on an old friend.” She pulled out her cell phone and motioned
for me to leave the room.

I wandered back into my bedroom and crawled
in next to Wesley snuggling up close.

“She figure anything out?” He asked me
pulling me closer.