Wild Fire by Heather Glidewell
*****
“Prudence.” His voice was light as he touched my bare shoulder, his fingers lingering on my flesh. I opened my eyes and looked at him with cruel expression. “My General is here. She wishes to speak with you.” I looked towards the window and saw that the sun had set. The darkness through the curtains was amazing and the hints of stars in the sky. Oh how I had missed them.
“Tell her to give me twenty minutes I will meet her in the lobby.” I instructed. The boy removed his hand from my shoulder and bowed before leaving the room.
I got up and grabbed the clothing that Mona had so carefully packed in the bag and changed quickly. The black cotton skirt and a white satin top with pearl buttons up the front. I pulled them on walked into the bathroom to do my hair and makeup. I made sure that all my trinkets were in place from the diamond earrings to the toe ring. I pulled on a pair of nude silk stockings and my heels and emerged from the room with grace.
I ascended the staircase with ease and elegance as I had been taught. Entering the lobby with a stern look on my face. Be one with the coldness. I had to tell myself this several times before I saw her standing in the middle of the room. Her red hair was pulled back in a bun and she wore camo pants and a white t-shirt. Her mother was taking this Army thing to an extreme. I had to fight the urge to attack her, no this was what I had to do for Wesley.
“Prudence?” She asked in her annoying broken English.
“Lilly?” I asked standing ten feet from her and eyeing her from head to toe. I didn’t have to hide my disapproval. I also knew better than to call her Miranda because that would have meant I knew her when she was stalking Wesley.
“I have heard so much about you.” She said stepping towards me her green eyes questioning.
“I have heard so much about you.” I repeated what she had said and watched her approach curiously.
“So you are her then? The one my Harbinger was talking about. You are the one to help us rid the world of the Wardens.” She smiled angrily.
“Some would say that the Wardens are nothing but myth.” I said dryly.
“I have a feeling you know better. You are supposed to be the all-knowing.” She was standing directly in front of me with her eyes glaring into mine.
“I didn’t say I thought they were myth, I just said some believe it.” I said coldly my eyes penetrating hers.
“Before I take you to the camp I need to perform a test. You know to make sure that you are who you say you are.” She smiled a crooked smile and backed away motioning for another to join us. “This is John Borrows my second in command. He is a man of great power.” John stepped forward and I glared at him.
“Show us what you can do? Marshall said you can create objects from the air.” John’s voice echoed through my whole body. Memories of that night in the alley started to appear but I pushed them back. I pushed everything back.
I threw my hands up and electricity shot from my fingers. I bowed my head and wished for something to happen that would show that I was her, the one that they had been waiting for. When I opened my eyes both Miranda and John were staring around them in awe. I had somehow managed to bring the lobby to life. The dull drab brown walls were now white, the bubbled lights now crystal chandeliers and the, and the unstocked bar in the corner suddenly had spirits galore.
“Amazing.” He said stepping towards me and looking in my eyes. “Absolutely amazing.” His face softened and he looked towards Miranda. “She is who she says she is.”
Why did that seem too easy?
“Who else would I be? Seriously I do not have all day.” I said putting my hands on my hips.
“Change it back.” Miranda demanded and I huffed snapping my fingers and the glamor faded. “Was it real?” She asked looking around the room again.
“Was what real?” I asked her my eyes narrowing more.
“The alcohol, the lights? Was any of it real?” She was amazed I could tell that much but she still had questions.
“If you would have touched it you would have found out.” I growled at her.
“You are a vicious little thing aren’t you?” John asked me and I flashed him a toothy smile. I had to remember my elegance came first. “I think we should take her?”
“Of course you do. You will fall for a pretty face at the drop of a hat.” She glared at John and then looked back at me. “Is that your car outside?”
“Yes.” I cocked my head to the side.
“John will drive you in your car to the camp site from there you will have to walk. I doubt your heels are going to work in the dirt.” She was impressed with me but not with my appearance.
“I am sure I have something that is better suited.” I said to her harshly. “I am prepared for everything.”
“I have a feeling that you are.” She narrowed her eyes and I saw the girl from my dreams. I wanted to punch her but I held back.
“Marshall get Miss Prudence’s stuff from her room and meet us outside. I will be driving her to the campsite this evening.” John instructed and Marshall ran off to do as he was told.
“You can change when we get there.” Miranda instructed and turned to walk away.
“She always this happy?” I asked as soon as she was out of earshot.
“She’s going through a lot right now. She doesn’t mean to be so rude.” John said. This was probably the first real conversation that I had with the boy.
“I see.” I said as I watched Marshall walking down the stairs carrying my bag in his hands.
“I wasn’t sure if you wanted to leave everything in the room or not. I was going to grab the comforter but I figured you would just create one when we got there.” He smiled at me sweetly. The boy may be on the wrong side of the battlefield.
“No it’s fine just leave it. The magic will wear off soon enough.” I said smiling at him.
“Marshall will be your assistant as long as you are in the camp.” John instructed as he had me follow him out of the hotel. “I hope you don’t mind me driving. Lilly feels that you should be blindfolded about half way there so that you do not know where you are.”
I rolled my eyes. “I have an internal GPS.” I reached in my handbag and pulled on the key to the car. “Be gentile with her, she’s my baby.”
“Trust me I will, this is a Bentley I would hate to have to pay for this.” He laughed taking the key gratefully.
We got into the car and Marshall crawled into the back seat buckling himself up. “I have everything Miss Prudence.” I heard him pat my bag and I shook my head.
“Thank you Marshall.” I said politely.
“You are welcome ma’am.” He answered as John got in on the driver’s side of my car.
“So Prudence, I feel as if I know you from somewhere.” He said. I was apparently every ones de-ja vu.
“Unless you have been to Maine recently I do not believe that we have.” I reached over and turned down the radio as he started the car.
“No, never been to Maine. Must have stared too long at the Harbingers drawings, you just seem familiar.” He shrugged.
“Maybe you dreamed about me and didn’t even know it.” I said. The fear and anger had subsided in my gut but I still, in no way, trust this man at all.
“I would hope it to be a good dream.” He grinned at me put the car in drive pulling out of the hotel parking lot had heading back down the highway. “We had to move a few times over the course of the last few months. Just recently we were able to conceal the camp from human eyes.”
“What is this camp that you are taking me to?” I asked quietly.
“It’s a prison camp in a way. We have managed to apprehend several of the enemy. They were on their way to the unknown camp. We also have a Harbinger. One of Lilly’s pets. I have been pleading with her for months to just kill him. However, he saw you and here you are so he must have some form of power.” He was still disgusted with Wesley. There was a time when h
“Will I meet this Harbinger that you said saw me?” I asked calmly.
“Yes, Lilly thinks it will scare him into complete submission once he knows that his visions are real. Maybe then he won’ be so known to hide things.” John said as he put his foot to the gas pedal and pushed the Bentley to its limits.
“Hide things?” I asked glancing at the dark haired man in the drivers seat of my car.
“Yeah. He blames in fudged information or an incomplete vision. If you ask me I think he’s useless. Only very few of his visions ever come into fruition.” He sounded cynical.
“Most likely because they were spoken of in entirety. It is believed, by most, that if you speak of a vision, or prophecy, the timeline will change. Either the vision itself is altered or it never happens at all.” I responded.
“I never knew that.” He shrugged.
“This could be your problem. Instead of trying to decipher the vision from the image you are openly asking him to explain what is happening or what will happen. It may be in your battle planner’s best interest to not involve the Harbinger boy in any conversation concerning a vision.” I pointed out wondering where all this knowledge was coming from.
“Interesting. Your advice has been noted. We sure could have used you a year ago.” He laughed.
“I have had a lot going on, I apologize for my tardiness.” I bowed my head.
“Oh no! Please do not apologize for that. I was merely making a comment. The last year has been quite successful. The Queen’s Army is growing massively. Anyone that is found to oppose has been obliterated.” He looked at me apologetically.
“I suppose that could be considered successful but as I understand the Warden Army still grows even while the obliterating is occurring.” I pointed out trying to sound as if my interest was only statistical.
“When word got out what was happening a lot of beings ran. Still our camps remain stronger. If there were no wards on their camp we would have infiltrated long ago.” He sounded irritated of their one failure.
“Wards are hard to break. Especially if the witch that created them is extremely skilled.” I said. My knowledge of witchcraft was confusing me. How the hell was I able to figure any of this out?
“True. Still though it has been our one great failure. Lilly was close to taking out the Fire Warden but fell back when her mother told her that it was not a good idea to kill her. Apparently if there is another Angel/Demon mixed child on earth there is a chance that the power passes to them. Though it would buy us time there was always a possibility that person could be stronger, faster, and harder to kill than the current one.” I knew what he said was a lie. He may not have known it was but even I knew that this was impossible. There were no other Celestial mixes in the world. I was the last one to ever be born.
“I’m not so sure that is true Mr. Barrows.” I said glancing at him out of the corner of my eye.
“Either way her mother called her off. The problem now is she knows who she is and what she is capable of making her a harder target than she was a year ago.” He pointed out.
“What does Ms. Lilly have against this Fire Warden?” I asked my blood wanting to boil out of any opening it could as the fire inside me was held at bay.
“It all started with Wesley. It’s always been about that boy. She was enamored with him, Claimed him and then this Fire bitch comes in and breaks down everything she had been working for. If it wasn’t for her threatening to kill everyone he ever loved he would have fought till his dying breath.” John groaned this was not a subject that he enjoyed speaking of.
“So this war is over a silly teenage boy?” I laughed. He looked over at me and narrowed his eyes. My comment must have made him a bit upset.
“No, this war was a long time coming. However, it did bring up the launch date by about two hundred years.” He answered his face turning back to normal.
“So what were you going to do over this time period then? Scout the girls one by one until you were able to wipe them out? I mean come on Mr. Barrows taking them out one at a time has a better chance of failure than taking them all in one swoop.” I laughed again and turned my head towards the window. I didn’t want to see his expression.
“I guess knowledge does come with age.” He said and I felt a cold chill flow up my spine. While I, myself, found no offense in what he just said something inside of me was quite offended.
“With knowledge comes power my child.” I seethed making it known that his comment had hit a nerve.