“How did I overheat?” I asked, reaching out to soothe my hands on the glass doors.
“You got far too worked up. What happened last night?” she inquired, steering me from the kitchen to my room.
“Aside from dealing with one of the possessed watching me at the dance?” I asked, closing my eyes.
“You didn’t call and tell me? Dawn, that was reckless!”
“I had no reason to. It was gone almost as quickly as it showed.” I groaned. My head felt like it was on fire.
“That doesn’t matter. You were being watched,” my mother said, stripping my dress off and throwing a short-sleeved bathrobe around me.
“Where are Helen, Nick, and Minerva?” I asked, realizing I hadn’t seen them since I came in.
“They went up Friday night to get set for this next weekend. I told them you would be up after school this Friday. Minerva followed yesterday. She’s getting the house ready. Shawn is going to show you how to do the protection flame.” She laid me down in my bed and turned on my fan. “I’m going to get the fan out of my room,” she said, walking out.
I lay there, staring at the ceiling and thinking of Wesley. Why had he said that I should love Aaron? Why did he think that I would wind up with Adam? I loved Adam, but not in the same way that I loved Wesley. I couldn’t make sense of his summons. What was the purpose of calling me to the astral plane for something as simple as a question of loyalty?
“He summoned you again?” my mother asked, taking her hand off my head.
How long had she been standing there? I hadn’t even felt her fingers in my hair.
“Last night,” I told her as she put a cold cloth on my head.
“Where are they?” she asked, sitting down next to me.
“They haven’t moved. Adam was right. It’s a prime location for recruiting and training.” I started to shiver. I was so hot but yet felt so cold.
“How did he summon you?” she asked, taking my hand in hers.
“He said she had drained him to the point of death and then just sort of left him. He had to leave me when he felt her trying to wake him,” I said, my teeth knocking together.
“Dawn, this is going to sound odd, but I need you to trust me.”
I nodded and wondered what she was talking about.
“I need you to burst into flames,” she said. “It will get the heat out of your body. I’m surprised you haven’t combusted yet as it is.”
“You think it will work?” I asked, feeling my muscles contract from the coldness.
“It’s worth a shot,” she replied, dabbing at my forehead.
I leaned my head back and willed the fire. My body convulsed and lifted from the bed. My eyes burned in the way that told me they were changing. My head flew further back, and suddenly I was aflame.
“It burns, mother!” I screamed. “It burns!” Tears started to flow down my cheeks but evaporated before they could hit the bed below me.
“It’s okay, Dawn, just let it burn out,” my mother requested, holding my hand through the fire.
“We are not alone,” I said in a deep voice, my eyes shooting toward the window.
My mother jumped and put her hand to her mouth. When she saw what was outside my window, she threw herself back against my bed. The being out there was certainly not human. Its mouth was open, and it had two fangs protruding from the top jaw as well as a sinister smile on its face. My mother’s defenses kicked in, and she burst into flames herself, her eyes turning white and her mouth moving. Though I couldn’t hear the words she was saying, I knew she was praying. I managed to lower myself to the floor, still burning, and adopt a standing posture. Then I smiled cruelly at the beast and its own smile faltered. I knew I was looking at the were-vamp that Xic had talked about. So, they were real after all.
“Why are you here?” I yelled at my window as it shattered.
I grumbled to myself. I had prided myself on making my room impenetrable, but I’d completely forgotten how easily glass shattered.
“I was merely sent to observe,” the beast stammered as my mother’s flame flashed forward and grabbed it by the face, forcing it to look at her.
“Who are you?” my mother demanded.
“I am Matthew, the progeny of Gregory and Penelope.” It knew what she was doing, yet it didn’t seem to care.
“What are you?”
“I am… what do you call it?” It stumbled with its words.
“A were-vamp,” I said, letting the fire fade. I felt so much better. Next time I overheated I was just going to have to find a private place and let off some steam.
“That sounds like something Xic would say,” my mother muttered, looking at me. She turned back to the creature in her fiery grasp. “It’s too bad that you won’t be making it back to your master.”
“The master is already here,” the beast retorted, looking at me.
I frowned. The killings in Midvale had been the work of three different beings. If we killed one, there would still be two more out there. It was not an ideal situation. We were torn between what was right and what was logical.
“Then I shall send you with a message for your masters,” my mother said, clearly thinking along the same lines as me and relenting. She looked at me.
“We are your death. We are your salvation. I will have your soul.” The words flowed like lava from my lips without thought. I had no idea why I had said
