Wilder: The Guardian Series (9 page)

“Not exactly,” Patrick confirmed.

“You came looking for me?” asked Celeste desperate to put the
pieces together.

“You could say that.”

Celeste looked around nervously, but there was no one in
sight. “Do you know Roman and Nico? Is that why you were all acting so weird?”

“Not personally, but I know of them.”

“What does that mean?” she asked, walking more slowly and
trying to stall.

“There are things you don’t know about them. But more
importantly there are things about your father that you need to know, Celeste,”
he said as he walked up to the trunk of his car and opened it.

Faster than she thought humanly possible, he picked her up
and forced her into the trunk. Celeste screamed and kicked frantically when she
realized what was happening. Suddenly everything began to move very slowly. She
stretched out her arms, pushing against the trunk door as hard as she could.
She struggled to get her legs under her as Patrick reached up to close the lid
down on her. Before it slammed down, Roman appeared out of nowhere.

“Roman!” she screamed.

Patrick spun around and met with Roman’s stone cold fist and
crumpled to the ground. Celeste was petrified with fear, completely numb. She
stared in shock at Patrick’s limp body stretched out on the black top. Roman
reached in and scooped her out of the trunk, cradling her tenderly.

“You’re all right. Everything is going to be fine,” he
whispered to her.

Celeste could feel the edges of her vision blurring as she
struggled not to faint. Suddenly, Nico appeared running from the direction of
the gym.

“Is she okay?” Nico asked, eyes wide with panic.

“Why weren’t you watching her?” Roman growled. “If I hadn’t
been here…” and he broke off suddenly remembering Celeste’s presence.

“Take her back into the gym little brother. I’ll take care of
Patrick,” Roman said, carefully placing Celeste into Nico’s arms.

Celeste was in shock and hadn’t been able to bring herself to
speak yet, but as she looked up at Nico’s worried face, she finally asked,
“What just happened? We need to call the police! That guy just threw me in the
trunk of his car!” Her voice was shaking and she noticed she was trembling.

“Don’t worry Celeste, Roman will take care of it,” he assured
her.

Celeste convinced Nico that she was capable of walking and
felt better once she was on solid ground. She began peppering him with
questions: “Can you please tell me why in the world Patrick just tried to
abduct me? And I don’t want to hear some lame excuse like the one you gave me
the other day. And how does he know my father? And how does he know you two?
And why was Roman here anyway?”

“Celeste, slow down. Can we go back into the gym please? It
may not be safe out here, and I’d feel much better if we were inside,” he said,
surveying the parking lot nervously. “And perhaps we shouldn’t tell anyone
about what happened just yet, we don’t want to cause a panic.”

“Fine, but then you are answering
all
of my questions Nico.”

As Celeste and Nico walked back into the dance, Natalie came
running toward them.

“Where have you two been? I’ve been looking everywhere for
you! They’re about to announce the Senior Prom King and Queen.” Natalie, so
consumed with the news of the announcement, didn’t even notice Celeste’s disheveled
appearance.

Nico gave Celeste an apologetic look and followed Natalie up
to the front of the dance floor where Brian was waiting with the gathering
students. As they weaved through the crowd, Celeste whispered to Nico, “You are
not getting away with this. As soon as they announce the winner, we are going
to talk about what just happened.”

“And this year’s St. Alice’s Senior Prom King and Queen are…
Natalie Meadows and Brian Kennedy!” exclaimed the announcer. Natalie’s face lit
up, and she took Brian’s hand as they made their way to the stage.

“Nico, you get over here and talk to me right now,” Celeste
said during the crowning ceremony.

“Celeste, you don’t want to miss out on this very special
moment for your friends.
Come on
,
get
your camera out
! Natalie is going to kill you if you don’t take some
good pictures,” he said, purposely avoiding her. The truth was that he had no
idea how he was going to explain this.

“You are exasperating!” Celeste shook her head and took her
iPhone out so that she could capture the momentous occasion.
Never mind the fact that
I
almost got abducted by a stranger in the parking lot of my senior prom
.

As Celeste contemplated all the ways she was going to torture
Nico into explaining himself, Roman marched into the room. His usual cool
demeanor was gone. He looked like he had been in a fight - his shirt was
crumpled and his messy hair hung carelessly over his eyes.

“It’s taken care of. Do you think you can handle getting her
home safely little brother?” he hissed at Nico.

“Roman, you owe me an explanation,” Celeste interjected,
poking a finger into his firm chest.

“A simple thank you for saving your life would have
sufficed,” said Roman, batting away her finger.

“And now it’s time for the last dance,” the DJ announced.

Nico looked at Roman and then at Celeste, both were fuming.
“I know what will make everyone feel better, a nice calming slow dance,” and he
pushed the two of them together and disappeared into the crowd.
 

Celeste glared at Roman, reluctant to give in so easily, but what
with being only inches away from him she was quickly losing her resolve. Roman let
out a frustrated breath and closed the distance between them. When he put his
hands on her hips, she couldn’t help but feel the familiar sensation of
electricity where he touched her. Their eyes met as she rested her arms loosely
around his neck, and as she gazed into them, the fear and anger began to drift
away.

“Thanks for saving my life tonight, Roman,” she said
breathlessly.

“It was my honor and my duty,” he responded formally. “And I
apologize for not being honest with you about Patrick from the beginning. I
know that I owe you an explanation, and I wasn’t lying when I said I would give
you one. I was just hoping that all of this wouldn’t have started so soon.”

“All of what?” she asked.

“We have a lot to talk about Celeste, but this is neither the
time nor the place.” And with one quick move, he skillfully dipped her in time
with the music leaving Celeste breathless once more and entranced by his deep
blue eyes.

“Are you sure you don’t want to ride back with us in the
limo?” asked Natalie, poking her head out of the sunroof.
 
“We are going to grab a snack at Ralph’s
on the way.”

Before Celeste could respond, Roman interjected, “Don’t worry
about her Natalie, I have my car so we can drop her off on the way home.”

“How are the three of you going to fit in his Porsche?” she
asked Celeste. “Oh I get it… You’ll have to sit on Nico’s lap – how
cozy!”

Roman looked nauseated and Celeste just shook her head with a
weary smile.
 
She waved goodnight to
a despondent Brian, and they pulled away in the limo.

As soon as they had situated themselves in the Porsche (and
yes, Celeste indeed had to sit on Nico’s lap, to her chagrin), she asked, “So
did the police come and arrest that creep Patrick?”

Nico looked to Roman for insight, and he finally answered,
“Well, no, not exactly.”

“Roman, stop the car! I am not going anywhere with the two of
you if you don’t start explaining yourselves immediately,” threatened Celeste.
“Maybe it’s completely normal to get thrown into the trunk of a car by a
complete stranger from wherever you came from, but this doesn’t happen in Oak
Bluffs, and it definitely doesn’t happen to me!”

Roman pulled over to the side of the road, and Celeste jumped
out of the car.

“Celeste, please get back in the car.
 
It’s the middle of the night and you
can’t be walking in the road,” said Nico, trying to reason with her.

At that, Celeste spun around and slipped on the uneven
pavement. Still wearing her beautiful high heels, she was unable to regain her
balance, and she began to fall. In a flash both Nico and Roman were at her
side, but they weren’t fast enough to catch her. Her head hit the pavement with
a
thunk
and she passed out from the impact.

“Quick, do something Roman!” Nico said in a panic. “She may
have a concussion from the fall.”

Roman picked up her head and saw that there was blood where
she hit the concrete. He had to look away, as he felt his canines extending at
the sight of the fresh blood. He took a moment to steady himself, and with a
quick bite to his own wrist, he positioned it delicately on Celeste’s mouth and
forced her to drink his blood.

“Come on, let’s take her home. We can watch over her there
until she wakes up,” said Roman, picking up her limp body and gently placing
her on Nico’s lap in the car.

At the apartment Nico carried a still-unconscious Celeste
into the spare bedroom and laid her carefully on the bed.

“What are we going to do?” asked Nico. “She’s going to be
awake soon, and we can’t keep dodging her questions – unless you want to
keep her knocked out for a few more days.”

“I know,” said Roman exasperated. “I was just hoping we could
put this off until after her birthday, but I don’t think there is any way
around this.”

“Can’t we compel her to forget everything that happened
tonight?”

“You know that doesn’t work with other supernatural beings,”
he replied.

“But she hasn’t come into her powers yet, so maybe it would
work,” Nico continued.

“No, it won’t work Nico. I tried the other night when I was
outside her window to reach into her mind, and it was useless. I had no
influence over her.” Roman hovered over her still body, and gently brushed a
stray golden curl away from her face.

Nico was surprised at his brother’s confession. He rarely
used any of his powers, and he wondered what had made him do so with Celeste.
“So what are we going to do then?” he asked.

 
“I suppose we are
just going to have to tell her the truth.”

“We can’t! Stellan warned us about interfering!”

“I’ll deal with Stellan. And anyway, she would have found out
eventually.”

“Not if she isn’t chosen,” Nico reminded him.

“Look, you said it yourself; you feel her power already, her
attraction. So do I, so did Patrick. I don’t think there is really any doubt
about what she is,” he finished, shaking his head wearily.
 

As Celeste floated in a state of half consciousness, she had
another dream. But this one, unlike
all the
prior
terrible ones, was a pleasant dream.
 
Her father was alive again, and he was teaching her, no training her
really, how to fight and to use weapons and to develop her powers.
 
He told her that all of the stories of frightening
monsters that he had often read to her as a child weren’t fairy tales at all,
but in fact were real. “Celeste, it’s going to be your duty, just as it was
mine, to protect the world against these horrific creatures,” her dad said.

As terrifying as it sounded to Celeste, there was something
inside her that seemed to understand and take it in stride. It was almost as if
she had subconsciously known all along.

“I’m very proud of you Celeste, and I know that you are going
to be an incredible force of good in the world. I will always watch over you
and keep you safe.”

As he said goodbye to her, Celeste pulled her dad close for a
hug and cried as he disappeared before her eyes.

Celeste awoke with a start and could feel tears rolling down
her cheeks. As she looked around the room disconcertedly, she recognized Nico
sitting at the foot of the bed, and Roman pacing nervously behind him.
 

“What happened? My ankle hurts…” murmured Celeste.

“You fell when you were trying to run away from us,”
explained Nico. “Do you remember that?”

“I remember that I’m mad at you two,” she said as she tried
to sit up.

“Be careful, we don’t want you to pass out again,” said
Roman, approaching her cautiously.

“I’m fine,” she said as she felt her head and her hand came
away sticky, “Was I bleeding? I don’t even have a bump.”

“Yes you were, but we cleaned it up for you,” said Nico.
“Roman’s a great nurse.”

“But I don’t even feel a cut on my head –”

“Remember that talk I kept promising you?” Roman interjected,
“I think it’s about time we had it.”

Roman’s dark brows furrowed as he tried to decide
where to begin.
Celeste noticed how uncomfortable he looked (a look she
had never seen before), and almost felt sorry for him as he squirmed in the
black leather armchair across from her.
 
She waited for him to start as she situated herself in the bed under the
warm comforter, while Nico remained silent at the foot of the bed.

“I suppose we should start from the beginning,” he said,
fidgeting with a pen in his hands. “Our father, Luka, descended from a wealthy
family out of what is now Eastern Europe. Our grandparents had a large estate,
and their son was handsome, noble and
well-to-do
and
thus could have had any woman he desired. When he met our mother, Lilliana, it
was love at first sight.” A faint smile slide across his face, and then he
continued. “At first she did not wish to be courted by him, which of course
made him want her all the more. He knew that she felt something for him, but he
simply could not understand what was holding her back. It was only with time
after Lilliana could no longer fight her feelings for him that she told him the
truth.”