Wild Fire

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  Lineage

  “Of course.” I wrapped my arms around her and she held on to me tightly. “How is that me?” I asked pointing back towards the table. She let me go and I walked back over peering at it. Max was thinking, I could tell by the way his lips kept moving.

  “I suppose it is time.” Mona said loudly. “Let’s get this over with, I have had a long trip today and would like to get some rest.”

  My mother and father’s bodies jumped as they raised their heads from the table. I turned my head towards the door as Mitch and the silent chauffeur marched through the study doors.. I looked at my watch it was nearly ten, I thought it was a little late for a family meeting. I saw the look on my parent’s faces and I wanted to scream. So now what were they hiding from me? Another woman entered after everyone, I knew her face. It hadn’t changed in the last four years. It was Bridget, the lady that so nicely helped me get from Dallas to El Paso all those years ago. The other three Wardens were shuffled in, the two sour faced ones in the rear. I could see the animosity dripping from their expressions.

  “Let’s get all our stories straight and out in the open.” Mona said taking her seat next to my father. He looked confused being between the two women. I wonder if he saw the similarities now between them.

  “What is this all about?” A pissed off Helen asked crossing her arms. Bridget looked at her longingly and something about it hit me. A memory of a woman playing with my bracelet telling me that one day she hoped I would meet her daughter. Her reason? Because she was just like me.

  “Holy shit!” I exclaimed flopping down in a seat and looking at Bridget, her eyes did not leave Helen’s and I saw for the first time the similarities between the two. Helen had her eyes and mouth, the same color hair and the same build.

  “We had a feeling this would happen.” My mother said softly not looking up from the table. “Wesley has given us the plan to get him out.”

  “What? What plan? All that envelope had in it were drawings.” I looked at her but she didn’t look up. My heartrate increased.

  “First things first. For those of you that do not know me my name is Mona Weathers, I am Damien Weathers wife. To his right is Angelina Weathers-Peterson his first wife. The one thing that you should know is that I am the one that set them up.” Mona always spoke eloquently and this was in no way different than any of our other conversations.

  “What do you mean?” I asked raising an eyebrow.

  “Your mother met your father through me.” She smiled wickedly.

  “That would mean you are as old as they are though.” I frowned. My father had said she had quite a few skeletons in her closet. This must be one of them.

  “Yes, I was there when you were born you know.” She grinned even wider. “In fact I’m the one that delivered you.”

  My eyes shot to my fathers, his head was up but there was something in his eyes that told me this was all the truth. He, like my mother would not look at me.

  “You all have been lying to me? It’s one thing to hide from me my bloodline it’s another to hide the fact that my step-mother isn’t human.” I grimaced wishing like hell I could storm out of the room like a spoiled sixteen year old.

  “We never meant to hurt you.” My father said softly as he looked between the women again.

  “Not now Damien.” My mother hissed pointing at Mona who sat there staring at him.

  “Let’s just start a round table here and everyone speak and tell the others who and what you are.” She clapped her hands. “I will start. I already gave you my name, I am a demon. A wish demon to be exact.” She looked around the room.

  A fucking wish demon! She had played her part well. No wonder she was smashed by lunch, she had to pretend to be something she wasn’t in order to play a part my father had given her. How incredibly messed up this whole thing had become.

  Mitch looked up and confidently smiled at me his face glowing. “I am Mitch, butler to Mr. and Mrs. Weathers, I am a Watcher.”

  “What is a watcher?” Rose demanded that hateful look was starting to annoy me.

  Balance yourself already!

  “A watcher is an Earthbound Angel.” My mother said smiling at Mitch, I had a feeling the two of them were very close at one time.

  Next it came to the chauffeur, the man I had never heard speak. I frowned when it was his turn and for the first time I heard his voice. “I am Harold, I am a Prophet. Let me tell you though I am a demon Prophet.” He closed his mouth. I think it would have taken an act of God or Lucifer to get him to speak again.

  “Bridget.” My long ago friend said. “I am merely an Earthbound Demon been here for over twenty years.” She looked away from Helen.

  The doors burst open and another man came racing through the doors. He was glistening with sweat and he was exceptionally tall and lean. “So sorry I’m late. My flight was delayed.” He had a British Accent.

  Mona groaned. “Ladies and gentlemen this is Aros, also a Watcher.” She threw her hands up and smiled. “Everyone knows these two and oh Max. So long since I have seen you, how’s the family?”

  “Well about half of them were destroyed by the Queen’s Army. But the other half are doing quite well.” He shrugged and gave me a reassuring squeeze.

  “Good to hear.” She put her hands on her hips. “So the reason we are here is the Harbinger boy. Someone may have tampered with his mind a little bit and gave him the anecdote to getting out of his little prison.” She grinned her eyes flashing for a moment. “The thing is that for the plan to work we need everyone in this room. Plus a few that are outside right now.”

  “I think we need to tell them.” Bridget spoke over her, her eyes were pleading and the way she kept looking at Aros made my heart pound. There was some heat going on there.

  “In due time Bridget, in due time.” She pointed at the drawings and I scooted them towards her. She picked up the one that Max and I had been looking at, holding it up for everyone to see. “You see this is Miranda. Shocking I know, this is the first time many of you have seen her face. She’s quite the beauty, her mother was too.” She breathed. “Behind her, you see this pretty blonde girl that’s Dawn. Or at least what Dawn used to look like. Miranda knows Dawn as this.” She pointed at me and sighed. “She used to have such a high fashion sense so imagine my shock when she shows up in Dallas and looks like this. There is a prophecy that has to be fulfilled but whatever.” Mona giggled. “Thanks to Mitch and is sleauthing skills he found that it has been said ‘a woman with amazing power will appear and she will lead the Queen’s Army to victory.’” She laughed again.

  “It’s always about Dawn isn’t it?” Rose spat. Mona looked at her and with grace and poise walked over and grabbed the girl by the face and hauled her to her feet.

  “I am not like the others in this room. I have no mercy for those that I incinerate. I don’t care if we share blood or not, interrupt me one more time and I will send you to Purgatory for a millennia.” Mona let go of Rose’s face and a very shocked woman sat back down and said nothing else the entire time.

  “Now where was I?” Mona tapped her foot. “Oh yes. The prophecy. The thing is that we need to alter Dawn’s appearance to match what is in the drawing. This means that I will have to alter the appearance of another female in order to make it appear that Dawn is still here. Just in case there are some spy’s among us. Miranda will be none the wiser when the blonde girl shows. This means that you three.” She pointed at the other Warden’s. “Will be gagged. You will know what is going on but if you try to tell anyone, and I do mean anyone, about this conversation the words won’t come out and guess who will be alerted? I have my own fine network of telepaths in this facility that will have no issues sharing with me what you say, or well try to say.” She walked back towards the front of the room.

  “I also need Dawn to, not so much, abandon the fire as learn other traits
as well. These can be borrowed, needless to say. A power can be locked in a ring, a bracelet, even a specific shirt. As long as she wears it she will have the ability to use it.” Mona pulled a stray hair from her black dress and frowned.

  “Why are you in charge of this again?” I asked. I had just learned she was just like my father, though it still didn’t explain why they got married. Why had my mother told me that she was nothing more than a mortal girl that my father was infatuated with? Why not tell me that she was just like them?

  “Because I am a Wish Demon. I make things happen. You know in fairy tales they call me a Fairy Godmother.” She laughed hysterically at the mention of it. “I am the one that is going to make the Harbingers escape flawless. Miranda won’t even know what hit her.”

  “John said that he was guarded by hundreds of soldiers.” I muttered.

  “John is a pawn. A stupid little pawn.” Mona said angrily. “I don’t trust the words of pawns.”

  “Dawn, Mona is well skilled at what she does. She was nice enough to take my place when your father and I split. It was also nice of Mitch to stick around after I left you with your father when you were seven. You can trust her.” My mother’s voice was small but I knew she meant every word of it. “Certain memories were replaced when you moved in with you father. Things had to be altered in order to keep you protected.”

  “What is up with you guys hiding things? Did you really think that you would never have to tell me what I was? That I would just walk this world wondering why no matter what I did I couldn’t choose a side to be on?” I asked. I was getting tired of all the hiding, I just wanted everything out in the open so that there were no more secrets.

  “We had to. Sheridan had no idea who you girls were. So there was no way that she could find you if you were hidden. You cannot find the second without finding the first.” My father said looking at me finally. “We did what we had to in order to protect you. To protect all of you.”

  “So why is she the first?” Helen asked, though some of the anger had drained from her face she was still upset. “I knew what I was long before Dawn ever knew.”

  “She was the last one born.” My mother looked up at Helen and her eyes glistened. “If you want to know more about your bloodline then I suggest you ask your mother.”

  “My mother left me twenty one years ago on the doorsteps of the couple that raised me. Just a note was left with me.” Helen’s eyes waned for a second then she shook her head. “How am I supposed to ask her anything if I don’t even know who she is?”

  “We will get to that blood shortly.” Mona butted in. “I need the support of all parties involved before we begin this little game. I also need to know the one person that you wish to take your place. Because once I get with them you and I are going to be leaving this beautiful house and going back to Dallas.”

  “So to sum it up. Dawn has to be here but be with you in another form?” My mother asked. I could tell by the way she spoke that was something that she did not want.

  “I cannot have her seen here in her new form. I will need power though. Those that can spare things, witches that can enchant objects. I can provide anything for them if they desire.” She spoke to Max. “Of course they will have to do this without knowing what it is going to be used for.”

  “Of course I have several in my group that would be willing to help just by asking.” Max said. I could tell this was a little much for him. He was the only non-celestial being in the entire room. The accumulation of their power in comparison to his must have been stifling.

  “That would be fantastic.” She clapped her hands together again. “So it is settled. Hopefully in two weeks to three weeks’ time we can bring the Harbinger boy here.”

  “So we are going to save Wesley?” I felt excitement surging through me. I was finally going to live up to my promise.

  “Well the correct answer would be, that you are going to bring him back.” Mona said pointing.

  “How are we going to get her out of there?” My father asked. “She cannot just walk out of the camp with him.”

  “That is where things get a little complicated.” Mona sighed. “Dawn can be summoned but a Harbinger is really neither Demon nor Angel so he, in terms, cannot be summoned. However, we can teleport him.”

  “We do have some very good teleporters here.” Rose said wistfully. Something had snapped in her and for those few seconds she looked like the girl I met in Dallas.

  “Yes and we will need them. Dawn is going to need a way to communicate.” Mona looked around the room for suggestions.

  “I can talk to Shawn telepathically.” I said thinking of my brother.

  “Yes, he would be a great addition to this group. Damien speak with your son and see if he is willing to be our communication device.” My father nodded. I knew Shawn would not object. However, he won’t like the fact that I would be in New Mexico without him.

  “There is also Peter.” My mother said.

  “The Reaper?” Mona asked. “If he touches that boy he will die. Unless! Max do you have the ability to create an amulet that would allow the boy to be teleported by Reaper Air?”

  “Possibly, I would have to speak with Peter about that.” Max wasn’t too sure of that part of the plan but I suppose anything is possible.

  “Reaper proof gloves?” Rose laughed. “Not sure if that is something we want getting out to the mortals of the world.”

  “They would be destroyed once the boy was here.” Mona groaned rolling her eyes at the girl. “Ok so now we get on to the fun stuff.” Her demeanor changed. The Mona a second ago was strong and driven the one that was standing before us now was nervous.

  “Helen.” My mother started standing up and walking around to the girl and putting her hands on her shoulders. “I want you to meet Bridget.”

  “Yeah I met her already, remember in the round table section.” Helen said with scorn.

  “Why are you always such a smart ass?” My mother asked her eyes hardening.

  “She gets that from her father.” Bridget said slowly.

  “How would you know about my father?” Helen asked the woman.

  “Because I am your mother.” Bridget tried to smile but she was so nervous it came out as a quiver of the lips.

  “You?” Helen asked softly.

  “Yes, me.” Bridget answered her.

  “Why did you give me up?” Helen demanded looking hard at the woman.

  “Because I had to. It’s not exactly smiled upon for a demon to have a child in hell conceived by an angel. Not to mention if I was found out I would have wound up like Puriel and Vetis. I had never spent time above ground, I didn’t know how to live in the human world. I did what I thought was best for you.” Bridget bit her bottom lip and it looked like she was fighting tears.

  “Who is my father?” Helen demanded, her face had softened.

  “I am.” Aros said with his thick accent.

  Helen’s eyes got large when she looked at the tall Angel behind her. I saw a change in her. That mean demeanor that had been invading her body seemed to just wash away. Bridget stood up and walked over to the girl and put her arms around her.

  “There wasn’t a day that went by that I didn’t think about you.” Bridget began to sob. Helen wrapped her arms around the woman that gave birth to her and gripped on tightly. Aros hesitated before joining in on the family hug but once he had his arms around Helen her demeanor was completely changed.

  “So is she the only one that is going to get a family reunion?” Rose asked her voice still harsh.

  “You want to know why I was the one that delivered and helped raise Dawn?” Mona asked her eyes were fierce.

  “Not particularly but I have a feeling that you are going to tell me anyway.” Rose rolled her eyes.

  “Twenty-three years ago I made a choice. I had been seeing this guy for quite some time. Here and there throughout the ages. He was Eart
hbound and I would steal away in human form to see him. Neither of us knew what the other was. So I wind up knocked up, he freaks out because he already has two kids living with his ex-wife.” Mona smiled. I had a feeling I knew where this was going and I was going to scream if it was true. “I learned the day I had you what he was and he learned about me. By then it was too late to turn back. I put you into the care of a nice couple and paid them a healthy sum of money so that you would grow up with everything you ever wanted. If they needed anything I provided it. When Damien came to me and asked me to be his wife I jumped for it. I couldn’t raise my own mixed blood daughter but I could at least have a hand in the raising of one.” She frowned. “Can you guess who that little girl was?”

  “I have a feeling you are going to say Krista but she would have been born thirty six years ago.” Rose looked like she was doing the math in her head.

  “You are a smart mouthed pain. I suppose that is a trait that you got from me.” Mona looked at a shocked Rose.

  “You’re telling me that she and I are step-sisters?” Rose pointed at me and frowned.

  “Well I suppose yes.” Mona chuckled.

  “So who is my father?” Rose asked quickly looking at Helen and her parents.

  “I tried to convince him to come. However, his oldest had some big graduation or something and he won’t be here.” Mona wrung her hands together and frowned. “He wasn’t too thrilled that I contacted him.”

  “Oh.” Rose’s voice was soft and her eyes looked hurt.

  “I know I’m not how you pictured me. You are not quite how I pictured you.” Mona said looking at the girls arms and gauged ears.

  “No, I was definitely not picturing you when I thought of the woman that brought me into this world.” Rose said her face changing as well. She didn’t soften like Helen she was still hard but the way she was looking at Mona said there was still hope.

  “What about me?” Krista jumped her voice excited. She had been waiting for this day most of her life.

  “Your mother would be proud of the way you turned out. She was one of those that the only reason she was a demon was because she had no clue what side to fight for.” Mitch spoke softly but with purpose. “Sadly she met her final demise twenty years ago.”

  “What happened?” Krista asked sadly.

  “She pissed off the wrong demon and he split her in nine different directions a piece of her exists in each level of hell, her soul is trapped in a bottle somewhere at the bottom.” Mitch looked at my mother and his eyes watered. “When Puriel told me of your death it sickened me. Not only had I lost your mother but I had lost you as well. So I traveled for a while with the two of them until they split. I spent the first seven years with Angie but when she remarried I chose to spend the rest of my time working with Damien. Imagine my surprise when I learned that you had brought you back.”

  “So you are my father?” She asked hopefully.

  “Yes, I am quite proud to say that I am.” Mitch smiled at Krista as she bound across the room and threw herself into his arms. It was sweet seeing Mitch gripping onto the small girl. They were both in tears. Mona gazed at them hopefully.

  Rose got to her feet and looked at Mona. “I can forgive you for leaving me. I just don’t know if I can forgive you for helping raise Dawn. Ever since I have met her it seems that I follow in her shadow.”

  “I wanted to get you back. Damien dug through all sorts of law books looking for loop holes in adoption guidelines and aside from proving your parents were unfit there was nothing I could do. You were in a good home, a home that I had made sure to provide for you.” Mona’s shoulders slouched. “I don’t ask for your forgiveness I only ask for your understanding.”

  Rose huffed and looked at me.

  “Sisters. This is a fucking joke.” She turned around and stormed out of the room.