Wilder: The Guardian Series (32 page)

The girls sat watching the incoherent encounter between Brian
and Lacey for a while longer until Celeste couldn’t take it anymore and decided
to intervene.

“Hey Brian, I’m going to have to leave soon, and I was hoping
we could hang out a bit before I did,” said Celeste.

“Why don’t you come sit with my new girlfriend and me,” he
said, patting the empty spot next to him. Lacey, also highly inebriated,
flashed a huge grin and looked adoringly at him.

Oh barf…
“I’m fine
right here, thanks.”

“So you wanted to talk about something?” asked Brian slurring
his words.

“Not in front of her,” she said.

“Why not? Anything you have to say to me you can say in front
of my girlfriend, Lacey,” he said and proceeded to sloppily make out with her.

Celeste felt an overwhelming feeling of jealousy take root in
her stomach and spread throughout her body. She inhaled a deep breath and
fought to suppress the urge to strangle Lacey on the spot.

“Okay Brian, that’s enough. I’m taking you home.” She crossed
over to the other side of the table and yanked him off of her.

He looked up at her in surprise, trying to get his eyes to
focus. “I’m not ready to go, and you can’t tell me what to do. You’re not my
girlfriend or my mother!” he said, pulling his arm out of her grasp.

“No, but I know your mother, and if she saw you like this
she’d drag you out of here kicking and screaming if she had to.” Celeste’s
voice had risen abruptly, and looking around she noticed everyone was staring.
She lowered her voice, and tried to sound sweet and convincing, “Brian please,
let me take you home.”

He turned back to Lacey and enjoyed a last sloppy make-out
session before letting Celeste lead him away.

Celeste buckled her seat belt and reached over in front of
Brian to make sure his was securely fastened as well. He could barely hold his
head up.

“What am I thinking? I can’t take you home like this. Your
dad is going to kill you and as much as I’d like to see that right now, I want
to spare them,” she said thinking out loud.

“Whatever,” he responded.

As Celeste backed the car out, she took one last rueful
glance at her happy classmates and turned towards home.

Moving Brian out of the car quickly and quietly was harder
than Celeste had expected. She threw his arm over her shoulder and hauled his
dead weight around the back of the house so his parents wouldn’t see him. She
was thankful for her Guardian strength for the ability to move his 170-plus
pound frame. As soon as Brian hit the couch in her living room, he passed out
cold. Shaking out her sore shoulders, she was relieved she wouldn’t have to
deal with
drunk
Brian for a while. She ran up the
stairs to her room to gather some things she needed for her return to
Stellan’s.

***

“How is it possible that we haven’t been able to locate the
Constantins?” asked Fabian furiously. He was pacing the length of the grimy
hotel room.

“Perhaps your magic is waning,” said Alek.

“Your life will be waning if you dare to be insolent with me!
I am the most powerful wizard alive. No one is greater than me!”

“Stellan must obviously be hiding them. He must be the
second
most powerful wizard,” he said
with a smirk.

“Instead of aggravating me, perhaps you could make yourself
useful for once.”

“Of course, my liege, what would you have me do?”

“Get out there and search for them. Something is blocking my
magic from finding them perhaps you can locate them the old fashioned way,”
ordered Fabian.

“Of course,” said Alek instantly transforming into an
enormous vulture and flying out the door.

***

“Roman,” said Stellan’s holographic form, as it appeared in
the middle of their apartment, “I’ve found out some information about Fabian.”
Nico overheard Stellan and came hurdling down the stairs. “Fabian is here in
Oak Bluffs, and he’s with Alek.”

Roman’s naturally olive complexion turned a pale white.
 

“Who’s Alek?” asked Nico.

“He’s Fabian’s apprentice, for lack of a better term. He’s young
but also quite powerful and utterly devoted. He was spotted by one of my
informants not far from Celeste’s house. It’s imperative that we get her out of
there and back here where it is safe.”

Roman had already dashed to the door with his keys in hand.
“Celeste isn’t home—she’s at that picnic in the town square with Brian
and Natalie.”

“Wherever she is, find her and bring her back here as soon as
possible,” warned Stellan.

Brian started to stir at the sound of Celeste’s footsteps
coming down the stairs. She looked tenderly at him and ran her hand through his
unruly hair. She thought about the sight of Brian kissing Lacey and felt the
jealous twinge again. She had to stop that, though, Brian wasn’t her boyfriend
and he could kiss whomever he wanted.
But
then why do I feel this way?
 

Brian cracked open one eye and, realizing where he was,
attempted to sit up. “Oh man that was a bad idea,” he said slumping back down
dizzily.

“How are you feeling,
drunko
?” she
asked, sitting down next to him on the sofa.

“Like I’ve been hit by a Mack truck,” he said, rubbing his
head.

“Good,” she said whacking him in the stomach.

“Ugh! Are you trying to make me puke? What was that for
anyway?”

“You were a world-class jerk today,” she said. “All I wanted
was to spend a nice afternoon with my best friends, and you ruined it!”

“I’m sorry okay? I wasn’t really feeling like myself.”

“Yeah no kidding, and you were making out with that Lacey
girl all over the place. It was disgusting!”

“Oh right, so it’s okay for you and your boyfriend to make
out, but it’s not okay for me?” he said.

“That’s totally different--”

“It’s not,” said Brian interrupting. “You’re the one that
told me to move on, so that’s what I’m doing and now you’re upset at me for
it?”

“That’s not why I’m upset. I’m just mad that we didn’t get to
spend any time together because you were wasted and making out with some random
girl.”

“Cel, you can’t have it both ways. I can’t be in love with
you forever and wait on the sidelines while you make up your mind.”

“It’s not like that. There’s just so much going on right now
that you don’t know,” she said with tears in her eyes.

“So tell me then!”

“I can’t!” she said angrily wiping the tears away.

“Why not?”

Celeste considered all the practical reasons of why she shouldn’t
tell Brian, but in the end her heart won out. She was tired of lying to her
best friend. “You know what, fine, I will tell you. I hated not telling you the
truth. And it’s probably a good thing that you are still drunk for this.”

“Why aren’t you picking up, Celeste?” said Roman desperately
to her voicemail. He was speeding out of the town square back toward Celeste’s
house.

“She must be at home or at Brian’s house. Natalie said they
left the barbecue a while ago,” said Nico.

“What if Fabian or Alek found her?” asked Roman with a look
of panic in his eyes.

“Just drive faster Roman; we’ll be at her house in five
minutes.”

“So Roman and Nico are vampires, your Uncle Stellan is a
wizard and you’re a vampire hunter of some sort?” Brian asked incredulously. “I
just want to make sure I’ve got this all straight.”

Celeste had already repeated the story a few times, and Brian
was beginning to get past his skepticism. “I’m a Guardian, a protector of the
human race against all things evil,” she said matter of
factly
.

 
“So why didn’t
you take out our Vice Principal when you had the chance?”

“I’m glad you think this is a laughing matter, Brian.”

“Look Cel, I don’t know
how
to take all of this, but at least it explains why you’ve been acting so weird
the past few months.”

“I really wanted to tell you, but I just didn’t know how to,
and I didn’t want to put you in danger. Stellan is not going to be happy with
me for sharing.”

“I promise I won’t say anything, not that anyone would
believe me anyway. I hardly believe it myself.”

“I know what you mean. It all came as a pretty big shock to
me too, especially finding out about my dad.”

“I just can’t believe those guys are blood-sucking vampires
like in
Dracula.
I always knew there
was something weird about them.”

Celeste rolled her eyes at him.

“And you – I can’t believe my best friend can kick
demon ass. That’s kind of hot actually.”

Celeste shoved him playfully. “I’m super strong too.”

“I was wondering how I got to the couch...”

“So now do you see why it could never work out between us?”
she asked, looking at him seriously.

“No, not really. I mean, what are the chances that things are
going to work out between you and a hundred-year-old vampire?”

“Brian, I’m not talking about that with you. And anyway my
duties as a Guardian have to come first now. I don’t even know if I’m going to
go away to college anymore,” she said.

“But you have to! It’s what you’ve always wanted. You said
your dad was a guardian and he still had a life. You can too. You don’t have to
be the Guardian and choose to be with a vampire, you can have a normal life
with me.”

There was such a hopeful look in Brian’s eyes, and it broke
her heart. She didn’t know what else to say. Looking down at the table, she noticed
that her phone had died. She hoped Roman hadn’t been trying to reach her.

Roman and Nico burst through the front door of Celeste’s
house, the door barely remaining on its hinges. Celeste and Brian, who had been
chatting obliviously on the couch, jumped up in surprise at their sudden
entrance.

“Why didn’t you answer your phone?” asked Roman, running to
her and wrapping his arms tightly around her. “I thought something happened to
you.”

“Roman, you’re crushing me,” she said trying to wriggle free.
“I’m okay, what’s going on?”

Brian stared uncomfortably at Roman. Hearing about vampires
was one thing, but being in a room with two of them had him slightly
disconcerted.

Roman seemed to have noticed Brian’s presence for the first
time, and said, “We need to talk in private.”

“It’s okay, you can tell me in front of Brian. I told him
everything.”

“You did what?” asked Roman, letting go of her abruptly.

“I told him everything, Roman. I was tired of lying to my
best friend. He deserved to know.”

“What were you thinking? Are you going to tell Natalie too?
How about your mailman?” He began to pace the living room waving his arms in
the air agitatedly.

“Calm down Roman,” said Nico.

“No, this was a mistake. Humans aren’t supposed to know about
the supernatural. It’s against the rules,” said Roman.

“You of all people should probably not be too concerned about
breaking supernatural rules considering your current situation. What’s that
saying about throwing rocks at glass houses?” said Nico. Roman glared at his
brother, and he immediately stopped talking.

“Anyway it’s my secret, and it’s too late because I already
told him,” interjected Celeste defiantly.

Roman stalked up to Celeste and stood inches from her face.
“It’s not too late. I can easily compel him to forget everything you said.”

Celeste was not so easily intimidated. “Don’t you dare,” she
said, finger pointed at his chest. “He’s not just some human you can
manipulate, he is my best friend and I need him to know. I need someone to talk
to about all of this.”

“So I’m not enough?” asked Roman, doubt creeping into his
eyes.

“This isn’t about you Roman! Keeping all of these secrets has
really been weighing on me. I’ve always told Brian everything, and it’s
important to me that he knows.”

Brian stood speechless, watching the heated exchange. Nico
had also been holding his tongue.

“We can discuss this further on our way back to Stellan’s,”
Nico interrupted. “Fabian is here in Oak Bluffs, Celeste. That’s why we stormed
into your house like the SWAT team. We’ve gotten a bit off track, but we have
to leave
now
.”

Celeste’s face paled at the mention of Fabian being so close
by. “I want to come with you,” said Brian.

“No!” said Celeste, Roman and Nico in unison.

“I’m sorry Brian, but it’s too dangerous, and I don’t want
you involved. It was my fault for telling you about all of this in the first
place, but I won’t let you get hurt because of me,” she said.

“What if that wizard guy hurts you?” asked Brian, taking a
step towards her.

“I won’t let that happen,” said Roman, stepping in front of
him.

“Well that’s comforting,” he said.

“I’ll be fine, Brian. I’ve become a pretty awesome fighter. I
promise I’ll show you my moves when I get back,” she said, attempting a smile.

“We have to go,” Nico implored.

Brian pulled Celeste into his arms and squeezed her tightly
as Roman glared at him from the door.

“Be careful,” he said, ignoring Roman’s scowl.

“I will. I’ll see you soon, I promise.”

Brian watched worriedly as the three of them rushed into the
car and sped out of the driveway. As he watched the car disappear down the
road, he looked up and saw a massive vulture flying overhead.

Roman drove all the way to Stellan’s house in silence. Celeste
hadn’t said a word either. Only Nico made an occasional quip from the back
seat. It wasn’t the first time that she and Roman had fought, but for some
reason it felt different this time. She could tell that Roman was hurt, but she
didn’t understand why. Being a Guardian was her secret, and she didn’t know why
he had gotten so upset that she had told Brian.