“Well done,” she said quietly as she then walked past me and stepped over the limp body of the creature that had confronted me.
I stared in disbelief at her composure. Finally, I found my voice.
“Mom!” I screeched, pointing at the dead creature on the floor. Its body was painfully contorted, and its neck was apparently broken.
“I said ‘well done,’” she responded. “What else do you want me to say?” She turned back to our destroyed living room and sighed. “This is going to take some work.”
She waved her hands, and her body began shimmering as it produced its peaceful white flame.
Few are blessed to watch an angel at work. The few that have, remain sanctified for life. It has something to do with the way they move, the way they function, the feeling it gives when the final result is achieved. I knew that just watching her like this made me a better person.
It was absolutely amazing how our living room was reconstructed, board by board. The wall reassembled itself, and the furniture pulled itself back into its original shape as if it had never been turned to splinters. By the time my mother’s flame subsided the room was just as it had been before. The creature’s corpse was gone, and there was no sign that the fight had even occurred. How could that be? Had anything happened at all? I knew I wasn’t dreaming, but this was all just far too surreal.
My mother turned toward me. She looked tired after using up so much of her energy. I grabbed her before she hit the floor and helped her to our “newly” upholstered couch. Getting her a drink from the kitchen, I sat down next to her.
“How did you do that?” I asked as she took my hand and patted it.
“It’s just one of those things that we can do. We can fix things that are broken.” She sighed and patted my chest where my heart was. “Well, most things,” she corrected herself sadly.
I knew that she would do anything to mend me. She wanted her daughter back, not the broken girl that I had become since Wesley left me.
“You never cease to amaze me,” I told her, smiling as well as I could.
“Did he say anything?” she asked me weakly, sipping from the cup I had brought her.
“He said he was sent by the Hybrid Queen.”
“The what?” She looked just as perplexed as I was.
“I don’t know. I’ve never heard of her.” I ran my fingers through my hair and looked at the clock on the wall. It was nearing two in the morning.
“I suppose we’ll have to do some digging on this one. You killed that creature rather quickly; such a shame.” She took another drink.
“Why do you say that?” I asked, feeling a pulse of anger grow inside me and then dissipate.
“We could have questioned him.” She looked at me and grinned a tiny bit.
“I don’t think he was much on talking. He was only willing to share the vaguest of answers,” I said dryly.
“How would you know? You let the power control you.” She put the cup down. “Don’t get me wrong. I’m proud of you for what you accomplished. That took a lot of power, to do what you did. It’s just…” she paused, “…it’s just that right now we could use all the help we can get.”
“I understand that, Mom. I know that this is far bigger than we thought it was. But he wasn’t going to talk, no matter what tortures or promises we tried. Where did its body go?” I asked slowly, glancing back to where I had last seen the beast.
“Some of the creatures you meet won’t leave a body behind once they have been properly defeated. Especially those that have angel or demon blood in their veins. Think of it as insurance; this way their bodies cannot be examined. There have been cases where the body remained, such as in the case of Krista. It is more common with Guardians and Watchers since people tend to become attached to them and call for time to mourn. Plus, they live their lives as mortals, even though their blood is not.” She took my hand. “Watch your back, Dawn. Someone is out to get rid of you. I don’t know who it is, but I think this Hybrid Queen has something to do with it.”
“Do you think it’s Miranda?” I asked.
“It very well could be, but I’m not going to jump to conclusions until I know for sure.”
“So, until then we’re just going to have to keep our eyes open, I guess.”
Krista had been right. Something was coming.
****
I lay in bed that night with my eyes open, listening to the sound of the wind in the trees. I opened my senses to everything. Mom was in her room praying (no surprise there) and the neighbor’s dog was barking (also no surprise). I leaned over and picked up my phone. It was after three, but I needed someone to talk to, so I opened a text message and texted Adam.
Me: You up?
Five minutes passed before I got an answer.
Adam: I am now.
Me: Sorry can’t sleep.
Another couple of minutes passed.
Adam: I was sleeping just fine. What’s on your mind?
Me: Do you ever feel like the world is ending?
The last person I really needed to talk with about the world ending was Adam. He was innocent in all of this; he didn’t know that dark forces in the world were trying to take over.
Adam: Only when I get texts from you at three in the morning.
Me: No really Adam can you be serious?
Of course, he couldn’t be serious. This wasn’t something that he ever thought about, damn it! All I wanted was to speak with him about what was happening, without ever really
