Wilder: The Guardian Series (24 page)

“Magnus!” she screamed.

“Oh sorry, I hope you don’t mind, but I was so hungry and
your friend here was just too delicious.”

Suddenly, Roman dashed into the room, appearing out of
nowhere, and firmly planted himself between her and Magnus.

“Well, I think that’s my cue to leave,” said Magnus. “And
don’t worry about your attractive friend, you’ll be seeing her again soon
enough.” And he shot out the door before Roman could make a move to stop him.

Roman spun around to Celeste, “Are you all right?”

Celeste had run over to Dani Lynn and was assessing the
gaping hole in her neck from where Magnus had bitten her.

“Yes, I’m fine, but I don’t think she is. Can you give her
your blood? Won’t that heal her?”

Roman knelt down on the floor and examined her carefully.
“I’m sorry Celeste, I don’t think there is anything I can do for her now.”

“Please try Roman. Give her your blood!”

“Celeste, look at her mouth, it’s covered in blood. That’s
not her blood; it’s vampire blood. Magnus was trying to turn her. I don’t hear
a heartbeat.”

“No, no! This can’t be happening!”

Roman put a comforting arm around Celeste as she crouched
down beside Dani staring in shock.

“What are we going to tell Jessica? We have to call the
police!”

“We can’t call the police. They won’t be able to help her.
And what’s going to happen when the coroner collects her body and a couple of
hours later she gets up and walks away?”

Celeste’s rational mind was trying to piece together what was
happening. She flashed back to the conversation with Roman about turning a
human into a vampire, but she still couldn’t believe it. She looked at Dani
Lynn’s mangled body in front of her, and felt the bile rising in her throat.

“So Dani Lynn is really going to become a vampire?”

“Yes, I’m afraid so,” he said.

“Uh oh, what happened here?” asked Nico appearing in the
stairwell.

“Magnus happened,” said Roman.

Nico took in the gruesome scene and turned away, looking at
Roman. “By the way, what are you doing here?” he asked.

“I came to keep an eye out on things, and by the look of it,
it’s a good thing I did.” He stood up now, glaring angrily at Nico.

“And by things, you mean Celeste, right?” asked Nico,
standing up to his older brother. “Because you don’t trust that I can protect
her?”

“Obviously I was right.”

“That’s enough, both of you,” she said, squeezing
herself
between them. “As you can see, it wasn’t me that
needed protecting.”

Roman and Nico looked guiltily at Dani Lynn’s crumpled body
lying in the corner.

Suddenly, a rush of anger engulfed Celeste and she whirled at
Roman. “So you’ve been here the whole time? Following me?”

“I haven’t been following you, just keeping an eye on you
from a distance.”

“Like at graduation?”

“Yes.”

“And during the whole party?”

 
“Yes.” Now Roman
was getting angry at the onslaught.

“And when I was talking to Brian?”

“Yes Celeste, and I wish I could say that I hadn’t heard your
conversation with him, but I did.”

Celeste’s face flushed at the thought of Roman discovering
that she and Brian had kissed, listening into their private conversation.

“Unbelievable!” she said and stormed off.

Nico and Roman carefully wrapped Dani Lynn’s body in a
crimson bed sheet they found in her apartment,
then
lifted her into the trunk of the car. Celeste wanted to be there for Dani Lynn
when she woke up, no matter what Roman and Nico said. They had told her it
wouldn’t be safe, and that she wouldn’t be the same, and that above all things
she would be
hungry
. But Celeste had
ignored them and refused to go home. So the three of them piled into Nico’s car,
Dani Lynn’s lifeless body in the trunk, and drove to the brothers’ apartment to
wait for the inevitable.

“I’m sorry,” said Roman.
 
He watched Celeste as she sat on the bed wiping the blood off of Dani
Lynn’s neck and matted dirty blonde hair. “But you let Brian kiss you?”

“I kissed him back too,” she said spitefully. As soon as the
words were out of her mouth, she regretted them. She saw the hurt written all
over his face, and she felt a stabbing pain in her heart. “I’m sorry, I didn’t
mean that,” she said.

 
“No, you’re
right. You have every right to kiss anyone you want to. It’s none of my
business. I can’t give you what you deserve, and maybe he can,” he answered icily.

“So that’s it? You’re just giving up? You’re not even going
to try and fight for this?”

“Celeste, I’ve already told you, I am no good for you.”

“And I’ve already told you that you are wrong. This is
my
life Roman, and no matter how crazy
it has become, you are the one thing in it that has made it bearable.”

“Then why did you kiss him?”

“I don’t know. But it was before you and I…” She paused,
fidgeting with the beautiful ring Roman had given her for her birthday, not
knowing how to continue. “It was a couple days ago after I had found out
everything about my dad and how a vampire had killed him and that my mom knew
all along. It just seemed like everything in my life that I had known to be
true came crashing down on me. I took off in a panic – my emotions raging,
and Brian found me. And that’s when it happened.”

Roman nodded silently, his eyes clouded with sadness.

“It was just comfortable, nice. It was nothing like when you
and I kissed,” she said searching his eyes.

“He’s better for you than I am,” he said, the warmth
back
in his tone.

“But I don’t want him the way that I want you.”

And faster than Celeste’s eyes could follow, Roman’s lips
were on hers, kissing her desperately. His strong hand gripped her by the back
of the neck, pulling her toward him. A surge of heat swelled through her body
as the kiss intensified. It was as if their bodies were electrically charged,
feeding off of one another. She gasped, struggling to get a breath in between
the relentless onslaught of emotions.

“Whoa, whoa, I would say get a room, but I guess technically
you are in one,” said Nico as he walked into the guest room finding Roman and
Celeste in a compromising position.

Celeste could feel her face flush with embarrassment as she untangled
herself from Roman’s arms.

“So our sleeping beauty hasn’t awoken yet, I see.”

“It shouldn’t be long now,” said Roman visibly flustered, “so
we should keep watch over her until she does.”

“Ah right, so that’s what you were doing,” said Nico with a
wicked grin.

“Oh! With all the vampire craziness, I totally forgot to tell
you about my vision,” Celeste interrupted.

“What vision?” asked
Roman.

“During the graduation ceremony, I got a blinding headache
and then I saw images of Magnus and Dani Lynn, and it was pretty much an
extended preview of what happened a few hours later.”

“So it was a premonition?” asked Nico.

“Yeah, I guess it was. I couldn’t make out all the details,
but looking back on it, it was definitely a warning, and I totally missed it.”
She felt horrible all of a sudden.
What kind
of a Guardian am I if I couldn’t even save my friend?

“That could be an extremely useful gift,” said Roman.

“That must be one of your new Guardian powers,” added Nico.

“Next time I will have to pay closer attention to what I see.
It was just so hard with the searing pain in my head. I should have done
something to save Dani Lynn.”

“It’s not your fault Celeste. You didn’t know what it was,”
said Roman.

“And at least you found her; if you hadn’t who knows what
Magnus would have done to her,” said Nico.

“You mean besides kill her and turn her into a vampire?” she
said sarcastically.

“He could have taken her with him. At least she’s here with
us, and we can help her,” said Nico.

“Speaking of Dani Lynn – look I think she’s waking up,”
she said.

Dani Lynn’s eyes were red and bloodshot as she looked
painfully around the room trying to recognize her surroundings. Celeste tried
to walk over to her, but Roman held her back protectively.

“Dani Lynn, it’s me Celeste. How do you feel?”

“I’m so thirsty, my throat feels like it’s on fire,” she
answered. “Where am I and what happened?”

“You’re at my place,” said Nico. “You had a bit of an
accident, and we brought you here to recover.”

She sat up, and looked around still squinting from the
morning light. “Can you close the blinds? My eyes are killing me and my head is
throbbing.”

Celeste scooted past her to get to the window, and as she did
Dani Lynn’s vacant eyes shot up towards her. Like a wild animal pouncing on its
prey, she lunged at Celeste, her new fangs in full view. Roman, who was much
faster, attacked her in mid-air and pinned her to the bed in an instant.

“Celeste get out of here, it’s not safe for you,” said Roman
as Dani Lynn wriggled underneath him trying to get free.

“No Roman, I need to be here for her. Just hold her down, let
me try to talk to her,” she insisted. Celeste walked to the opposite end of the
room so that her scent would be less appealing to the struggling Dani Lynn.

 
“What is wrong
with me?” Dani asked desperately. “Why do you smell so good?”

“Dani Lynn, I’m so sorry, there’s no easy way to say this.
You were killed and now you’re a vampire.”

“I’m a what?”

“A vampire. And that overpowering feeling that you have is
the thirst for blood, but you must fight it,” said Nico.

“This can’t be happening. This must all be a really bad
dream. There’s no such thing as vampires,” she said, rubbing her temples.

“I’m sorry Dani Lynn, but this is real, and you are a vampire
just like Roman and Nico,” Celeste said taking a step forward.

Dani Lynn’s nose twitched at the subtle movement, and her
incisors sprang out through her gums. She quickly clapped her hand over her
mouth.

“Celeste is your friend, and you don’t want to eat her,
right?” asked Nico.

“No, of course I don’t…but I need her blood!” she said
jerking savagely. Roman had to use all his strength to keep her down.

“Geez, I had forgotten how strong new vampires were,” said
Nico.

“I could use some help here little brother, if you’re not too
busy of course,” said Roman.

“Calm down, Dani Lynn,” Nico said as he sat on the bed next
to her. “Take deep breaths and try not to focus on the hunger.”

“I can’t help it, it’s all I can think about,” she said, her
canines extended. “Ouch!”

“Be careful, those fangs will take some getting used to,” he
said. “Roman, grab a bottle of blood from the fridge. I’ve got her.”

Celeste watched in awe as Nico gently fed Dani Lynn the
bottle of blood as she gulped it down hungrily.

“More, I need more!”

“No, that’s all you get for now,” he said. “You have to learn
to control the hunger, and there is no time to start like the present.”

“Come on, let’s leave Nico and his eager new pupil. You are
far too delicious of a distraction,” Roman advised Celeste.

Celeste was sufficiently convinced that Nico knew what he was
doing and that her presence could possibly be causing more harm than good, so
she gave in and left them alone.

Celeste sadly pondered the fate of her friend. She couldn’t
imagine what she must be going through. Then her thoughts went to her poor
family; Jessica and her parents were going to be devastated by their loss. All
of these thoughts ran through her mind as she considered for the first time
what it truly meant to be a vampire. Roman and Nico made it look so easy,
always in control, or at least most of the time anyway.

Do they feel that
hunger every time they are around me too?

“So what is Nico going to do with her now?” Celeste asked,
finding Roman in his bedroom.

“He’s going to have to keep her isolated from humans for
awhile until he’s sure that she can control herself. It’s not going to be easy,
but if she has strong will power, she might make it.”

“Might?”

“Celeste, I don’t want to lie to you and give you false hope.
It’s not easy to control the bloodlust. Nico and I are different because of how
we were turned, as I’ve told you before. We have our humanity, but I’m afraid
that Dani Lynn does not.”

“So what if she can’t control it?”

“Let’s not worry about that right now.”

“I would have to kill her, wouldn’t I? I mean, isn’t that
what I’m supposed to do as a Guardian? I’m supposed to protect humans from
things like her.”

“Let me take you home, Celeste. It’s well past dawn and your
mother will be getting home soon. She’s going to be worried if you’re not.”

As tired as Celeste had been when she passed out on her bed,
she still had vivid dreams for the few hours she slept that morning.
 
She didn’t mind them though because her
father was there. He brought her to the now familiar storage room filled with
their family weapons, and after they had selected a few, they were magically
transported to a lush open field where they spent the day training in the
sunshine.

“Celeste, the sword that you are holding is very special. I
see that you have already chosen it as your own,” he said.

“It was weird—from the first moment I saw it, I was
drawn to it.”

“That sword was forged from a mystical metal that is lethal
to all supernatural creatures. The Guardian who wields that sword is no longer
bound by a wooden stake to kill a vampire, or silver for a werewolf, or iron
for mischievous fairies. You are fortunate that it has chosen you.”