The other interrogations seemed to be lasting longer than our quick, five seconds and we were done, interview. I didn't want to have to wait around, but I doubted I was going to be allowed to leave with only two bodyguards. I had a better chance of stabbing myself and actually bleeding to death. Since neither of those things would happen, I decided to interrogate my new bodyguard.
“What other tricks do you have up your sleeve?” I asked.
“Do you keep a dossier on all your worker bees?” he asked in return.
“Sure. It comes in handy when I’m making battle plans. What kind of leader would I be if I didn’t know what I had in my arsenal?”
“That’s true, you should always know what you’re working with. Aside from my amazing ability to change into a seal, that comes in so handy in combat situations, I might add,” he said with a smile, because we both knew that seals weren’t exactly known for their fighting skills. “As you saw, women find it hard to lie to me and not give me information, so that’s actually useful. The other thing I can do is control water. That may not seem all that cool on the surface, but just imagine what I can do with a person who’s made mostly of water.”
“That may be why I don’t like you much, the whole water being able to douse fire issue. The ability sounds awesome, just don’t go trying to drench me, or you’ll have a fight on your hands.” I eyed Rian carefully, deciding whether I could trust him.
“No worries, boss, even I can’t put out your fire. You’re wicked strong and I bet your flame would still ignite even in a monsoon,” he replied.
“Maybe that will be my newest training exercise, trying to keep my fireballs flying in a rain storm. How much longer do you think the guys will be?” I asked.
I really didn't want to be here. There was a sense of death in the air, and I didn't think it was just because of Ettie. We hadn’t officially killed her by cutting off her head and burning her, so as far as I knew, she wasn’t even dead.
“They know you want to speak to your adoring public, so they shouldn’t be much longer,” Nate said.
He was hovering about me, probably afraid I was going to freak out about coming out of a coma, which turned out could’ve been caused by someone I considered a friend. He forgot I was “friends” with Eva, so the unexpected was always expected.
After three more agonizingly slow minutes, the rest of the guys emerged. No one looked too happy. Not that I was really expecting them to. I knew they could be really convincing, but our usual tactics didn't tend to work too well on the warlocks.
“My guy terminated just as he started talking about some plan for your wedding,” Joseph said.
“Same here,” Liam concurred. “It’s like they had certain words that when they said them, they went nighty-night. You sure you still want to go forward with a wedding tomorrow?”
“Please,” I said in a sassy voice. “They aren’t stopping my already two-month late wedding. May second is going to be my wedding day, even if it means Rick gets a minister certificate online and performs the ceremony for us.”
“How cool would that be?” Rick asked, grinning widely.
I could only imagine how a ceremony officiated by my brother would go. Horrific is the first word that came to my mind.
“Let’s go get the interview over with, and then we can head home and decide who’s going to do the officiating,” Nate announced. “It’s late notice, but I’m sure we can find someone to make us legal.”
“Great,” I said, heading towards the door. “Will everyone who needs to be there tomorrow be able to fly out tonight?” There were a lot of details I hadn’t given much thought to, but I wasn’t going to let anything delay the day from happening.
“We have a jet standing by, so yes. When you can pop anywhere at any time we have to be prepared,” Nate said, grabbing my hand.
We made our way back to the house, and I jogged upstairs to get cleaned up. In my bathroom, I ran some warm water and washed my face and hands. It felt good to be back in my own time, even if I missed my future children. After brushing out my hair, I pulled it back into a ponytail.
I changed into a lavender top and called it good. A shower would’ve been great, but I didn’t have the time. People were used to seeing me in my present state, so I didn't want to scare them by dressing up. They would’ve thought I’d woken up a totally different person.
Back downstairs, I crashed into Nate waiting for me. He smiled at me and looked to be trying not to laugh. There were still times I wanted to kick him when I saw that look on his face.
“Something amusing you?” I asked.
“I’m just thinking about how much you used to hate doing stuff like this. This time it was your idea to do it. Are you sure you’re ready? I don't want you doing anything too soon after waking up,” Nate said.
His words were pretty funny after I’d already attempted a rescue mission and finished a partial interrogation. For me, meeting with the media was scarier than both of those things, but it was less hazardous to my health.
“I’ll be fine. I’ve been on national television before. Giving the few reporters who could make it on short notice a few sound bites will be nothing,” I replied, brushing his worry aside.
I made my way to the front door and opened it to step outside. I was immediately bombarded with flashbulbs. As soon as I could see again, I looked out into a sea of reporters. Evidently Charlie was really good at public relations.
I saw a lot of big name reporters in the crowd. Still, I’d been in front of crowds with thousands of people and I didn't think there were that many people there. It looked like a few hundred, max.
I walked to the podium, with Nate at my side, and tapped on the microphone. “Hi everyone, is this thing on?” I asked into the mic. “I don't know exactly what you’ve been told for the last couple months, but I woke up today and wanted to let everyone know I was back, so you’ll start seeing my face again. If anyone has any questions, I’d be happy to answer a few of them.”
The hands shot up and Nate started pointing out people to ask their question. The glare of the flashbulbs continuing to go off made it hard for me to pick out individual people.
“Welcome back, Avery,” the reporter Nate selected said. “Could you tell us what exactly happened?”
“I figured that would be one of the first questions. I’m sure in my absence my family has mentioned what happened, but I can describe it in my own words. Simply put, the warlock who tried to blow us up set a booby trap that caused me to go into a coma. Thankfully, I have some very nice friends who were finally able to bring me out of it,” I explained. I was sure following questions would ask for more details, but I didn't want to give away too much information.
Nate pointed to the next person. “Do you have plans to take care of this warlock? If he can do that to you, I’m sure the public is worried about what can happen to them.”
“That was my first thought after waking up. Sadly, the warlock used a ploy of having a human friend of mine who they wanted to exchange for me. The deadline was today to make the exchange, so we did meet with them already.
“I found out that my friend wasn't actually human, so there was never a threat to humans. I want everyone to be assured that this group of warlocks has been taken care of. I immediately removed their magic and they’ve been detained.”
Details about what happened during interrogations weren’t going to make it out to the public. All they needed to know was that the problem had been taken care of.
“Are you still in danger?” someone asked.
“Sadly, it would seem so, but don't worry. I have a feeling that no matter what, things are going to be okay. We’re doing everything we can to keep this just between the uniques and the warlocks. I don't want anyone getting injured and we tend to be a little bit more durable, so it’s okay for us to go up against them.”
“What do you think about the tanker explosion? There are rumors circulating that it was targeting uniques and humans were in the crossfire.”
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Nate moved to try to respond, but I stopped him. He gave me a questionable look, but I shook my head to let him know I had it covered.
“I want to say how sorry I am to hear about the deaths and injuries that happened on that tanker. My sympathy goes out to all of the families who have been affected by the tragedy. I still don't know exactly what happened or the cause, but I will get to the bottom of it.
“I was told there weren’t that many uniques on board, so I’m hoping this was just an accident. If they were targeted for some reason, and this wasn't just an accident, I want to know, because the culprit used a method that isn’t going to be tolerated. We will not stand by and let humans be injured or killed. That is not the way we operate.
“Whether the people who oppose us believe me or not, we are peaceful and believe any life is precious. I may not have come right out and said it before, but I would give up my own life to protect every single human out there. I have loved ones who hate that fact, but it remains true.”
Those loved ones groaned at my words. They couldn’t contradict them, though, so they remained quiet.
“Did you learn any useful information from the warlocks you captured?” another reporter queried, moving on, probably afraid if there was a lull, I’d call an end to things.
“Not anything that would help us find the person behind all this. I do have a feeling that it won't be long before we can put all of this behind us and get back to our normal lives.”
“Sorry to say, but we only have time for one more question,” Nate instructed, before picking out a person to ask the question.
I was fine standing around for a little longer as long as the questions remained topical, but time was against me.
“I have a lot of questions still, but I’ll ask the one that I imagine most of the viewers are wondering. Were you at all conscious during your coma?”
“I didn't know what was going on around me. I was in a kind of dream state where I was living out an alternative reality. I’m happy to report that during that unconsciousness I did remember my son Scott. That was a pleasant surprise for me. Now, I have to say thank you all for coming today, as Nate said we have to get going. I’m getting married tomorrow and I don't plan on missing this wedding,” I said. “People will start thinking I have cold feet if I miss another wedding.”
I wanted to make sure the warlocks knew when the wedding was going to be. If they wanted to attack me, then bring it on. It could be the head honcho coming, and I’d be ready for him. I’d made sure my wedding dress was probably altered to carry a certain knife.
CHAPTER 25
This is what happens when your wedding is taken over by psychos