I got out of the shower and dressed in my comfy pajama pants and a black muscle shirt. They weren"t my favorite seeing as how my favorite pants got ripped, and then stained the night that Balthezar attacked, but I did like them.I ran my fingers through my hair and went to get some air. I was worried. In light of the whole Windigo thing I was even more cautious. I still couldn"t believe someone wanted to kill her. I couldn"t believe that the hunter"s council who sent hunters to kill vampire now wanted her dead to preserve the vampire species.
As I walked down the hall, Casimir and Lothair met me coming from the other end of the house.
"Did you get the message, too?" Lothair asked.
"No," I replied and followed them through the kitchen to the back door. As we walked through the pool room, I could see a man outside with Abby. He looked thin and wore down, and then I recognized him and nearly ran to welcome him back.
"Where have you been?" Casimir asked searching Leon"s eyes.
"I just needed some time away to let everything... sink in," Leon answered.
"Well, don"t disappear like that again, Leon. I"m serious!" Casimir said with a tear in his eye.
"Okay, okay, won"t happen again," Leon said, sounding like a teenage boy to his father, but he was smiling. "Hey, Adam?" he called to me. "I wanted to thank you for getting everything out in the open. I think Abby and I might actually be able to start anew. And I thank you from the bottom of my heart."
I smiled and approached him, "You"re welcome, Leon, I"d figured that it had been put off long enough."
"Yes, it had gone on too long and I obviously needed the extra push to get it out," Abby admitted. "But you"re better now, right?" she asked Leon.
"Coping and you?" Leon asked. "Much better, I mean, I forgive you for that night. It will always be a painful memory but I don"t hate you for it anymore," Abby stated. They stood for a moment looking at each other; I think they were truly coming to grips with everything, together.
"By the way, Leon, while you were gone we have met a new advisor who has informed us that the council wants Dru dead. They don"t realize that Dru actually already is and Abby is actually Dru but they are sending super Windigo to kill her," Casimir informed.
"Now that you are here we have a better chance," I added.
"Not in this condition!" Abby yelled. "Lothair, you should take Leon on a hunt. We need to get your strength up before anything happens," she finished.
"Good idea, Abby, he is looking a bit withered and weak and we do need to strengthen you up some, so let"s go!" Lothair said and took off running with Leon"s arm.
They disappeared off of the cliff and I turned back to Abby who was smiling and gazing in the distance. Casimir stood close to her watching her expression. Suddenly her hair flashed for a millisecond to white then back to her normal dark brown hair. I peaked at Casimir and realized that he had seen it, too. He looked over at me questioningly as if to ask if I saw it. I nodded at him and we both looked back at Abby wondering what it had been that we had seen.
Casimir, Abby and I were sitting in the living room discussing the likelihood of the Windigo"s ability to pinpoint Abby when they were trained to hunt down Dru. Lothair and Leon came in the front door with Edward following quietly behind them. It was getting dark outside and I realized that the day had already gone. Immediately, I could see the difference in Leon. He had a bit more color to him and he didn"t look near as worn.
"Feel better, Leon?" I asked.
"Yeah, loads," he replied as he plopped down into one of the overstuffed chairs.
"Good," Abby replied. "What did you find out?" she turned to Edward.
"Not much about where but I did learn when," Edward answered solemnly. "They released them this morning."
"How did they train them? Her scent?" Lothair asked.
"Yes," Edward answered.
"Leon, do all of my clothes in my wardrobe still smell like me? The old me?" Abby asked looking over at Leon.
"I don"t really know, let"s go check," Leon jumped up and started for her room. Abby smiled at the exuberance of Leon"s step and followed.
"Leon sure is different," Lothair pointed out. "He seems more at ease, not to mention more energetic."
"Yeah, it is definitely new," Casimir agreed and we all laughed.
"How long have you all known Dru and each other?" Edward asked.
"I met Dru just less than six hundred years ago. But I didn"t really meet Casimir and Leon until about the 1600"s or so," Lothair stated.
"I"ve known Dru almost four and half centuries," Casimir answered. "Leon on the other hand, met Dru when they were fourteen, before she was a hunter, before she became a Kethra or he a vampire, when they were both human, Prince and Princess. I met Dru in the forest four hundred and fifty years ago; we became friends then lovers for a while, after that. About half a century later we found Leon eaten up by his own guilt and hatred for himself. I took him and taught him a better life, one that didn"t involve human sacrifice. Shortly after that, Lothair joined our group then Lena. Lena and Dru later became lovers after Dru and I went our separate ways." Casimir finished and motioned to the large oil painting that I had always seen above the grand piano but I had never really known who the women had been.
The one on the left had bright curly red hair with deep green eyes and a large chest. Her dress was a bright green color that cut low in the chest showing her cleavage. I had figured that it had been Dru but now I knew. The other woman was small, pet.i.te and frail looking. Dainty would have been a good word to describe her. Her long chestnut brown hair fell to either side of her face that was fair and perfect. Her hazel eyes were perfectly lined with lashes and beautiful on her face. Her light violet dress showed much less cleavage than her counterpart and looked very ladylike. I had found Abby in here once staring at the painting and now I knew why. She was looking at Lena, the woman that she had loved and had loved her.
"Lena died with Dru thirty years ago. They had been with each other for three hundred years, in love with each other as no other two people have ever been. Until now, of course," Casimir glanced over at me. "We don"t really know exactly how it happened or what exactly happened that day, all that we do know was that Lena was badly beaten before they tore her heart out and Dru had been crucified on the wall to watch it happen, I presume. I don"t think Abby even remembers exactly what happened but when she does and she is ready to talk about it we"ll find out," Casimir finished.
"Oh," Edward said, catching the fact that Dru had actually been with a woman. She had been in a h.o.m.os.e.xual relationship long before it had been acceptable.
We all sat quietly as we gazed at the picture. I heard Leon and Abby coming down the hallway and as Leon stepped into the living room, I saw Abby. My heart started pounding in my chest at the sight of her. Her long hair was up in a ponytail, high on her head and her eyes, those beautiful gray blue eyes, were heavily lined with eyeliner making them piercing on her fair complexion. She was wearing black from head to toe with a leather bustier, leather pants and a long leather trench coat. She wore big, black boots that could stomp the life out of anything.
"There, now I feel and smell like me," she laughed.
"Yes, you do," Leon agreed looking at her with a smile.
"So, what do you think?" Abby asked everyone. Lothair and Casimir nodded. But honestly, I didn"t know what to say. She looked so incredibly hot in her black leather.
Before I could answer, we heard a long howl coming from the distance. We all turned toward the back of the house and Abby took off. We were all running after her, trying to catch up but as we hit the back door, she was jumping off of the cliff. I kept running and hit an invisible wall just shy of the edge of the cliff. I fell back on my a.s.s and looked at the others as they all crashed into the same wall.
"What"s going on?" I yelled.
"d.a.m.n you, Dru!" Leon shouted.
"Dru! Let us help!" Casimir hollered down at her.
"d.a.m.n it, you stubborn, thickheaded woman!" Lothair yelled at her.
That"s when I saw them crash through the tree line. There were seven of them and they were huge. They made Lothair look like a pup in his lycan form. We watched as Abby summoned her enchanted daggers and readied herself.
"Abby!" I shouted at her. I couldn"t believe she was doing this. She was going to take on seven of them by herself. I watched as they circled around her moving together back and forth, taunting her. She turned around, looking at all of them, watching their moves. One jumped in at her and she batted it away with her daggers, then the rest jumped in together. For a moment we couldn"t see her at all, then the pile of Windigo exploded and Abby emerged with her black wings ablaze with the phoenix.
Casimir, Lothair and Leon all looked amazed at the sight and I couldn"t help but wonder if they had never seen the phoenix. Before any of the Windigo hit the ground she was on top of them. One by one she knocked them into the ground. As she finished the circle, the first lunged at her and she caught him by its throat. She grabbed its jaw and snapped its neck.
One leapt at her from behind and she jumped over it, letting it hit another that was in front of her. She swung her daggers, catching five of them across the face and knocking them back. I realized then that her daggers were ablaze as well. Abby did a beautiful dance with them and kept the creatures at bay. I looked over at Edward, who had finally joined us and gloated in the expression on his face. He was in awe. His eyes were wide and his mouth was gaped open. He was realizing the true power of the woman that the council feared.
I looked back down at Abby, who was still in her dance of devastation with these beasts. It was truly beautiful and graceful. She kept going through, snapping necks and even cutting heads off and as she had just one left, it lunged at her and slashed at her back. Her wings disappeared and she fell forward to the ground. She yelled and rolled over as the thing landed on top of her and tried to claw at her again. I moved forward, finding that the wall was gone; Leon saw it and jumped down as she grabbed its arms and threw it off of her. She was on her feet, running at it as it thrashed around trying to get up. I stood there as Abby jumped on top of it and drove her daggers into its chest. A howl came from the beast as it died. She had done it! She had taken on seven rage driven Windigo by herself and won the battle!
She looked back at me with a smile as her daggers disappeared into the ground. The others joined Leon and as he neared her, she fell to her knees and panic struck me. "Abby?!" I yelled from the cliff above. I saw Leon help her to her feet. Suddenly, they were all up to the cliff. That"s when I realized the gashes on her back. There were three long deep lines down her back where the last Windigo had gotten her.
"Dru, Abby, do you have a death wish?" Casimir spat at her.
"No…" she whispered as she breathed heavily, taking a breath between each word. "I…got…them…all…right?"
"Do you not hear yourself, right now? You could"ve used the help!" Casimir was shouting from panic.
She didn"t say anything at first; she just kept trying to catch her breath. I watched as the gashes disappeared and her breathing slowed. "What the h.e.l.l are you screaming about, Cas?" she spat angrily. She stood up and looked me in the eye.
"Are you okay?" I asked my panic subsiding.
"Of course," she said playfully. "As long as you are," she finished as she looked me over.
"d.a.m.n it, D…Abby. Don"t do that again!" Casimir said and turned back toward the house.
"He is right, you should have let us help," Lothair said quietly and headed back.
Abby stood there looking at them with a confused expression on her face as they went into the house. "Are you angry, too?" she asked me.
"No, not angry, just scared for you."
"Don"t worry about them," Leon started. "They were just scared for you, too. They"re a little upset that you didn"t give them a chance to help or any of us for that matter." Leon looked distressed but spoke in a tone that was concerned. "You have to start trusting us. We can help. Lothair and I are strong and fierce. And Casimir, well, Cas is Cas," Leon finished with a laugh.
"What are you talking about? How did I not give you guys a chance to help? I just did what I had to do, keep you all safe."
"I know this, Abby, you have always been so confident. But soon, you are going to have to trust us. Soon, you will not be capable of doing it all by yourself," Leon said and glanced down at Abby"s belly. I knew what he was in reference to, the baby, our daughter.
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"He"s right," I added and she looked at me. She looked lost.
"Please, someone tell me what I did wrong. Why is everyone upset? I trust all of you, so what are you talking about?" Abby said.
"Your wall," Leon answered.
"Wall?"
"Yes, your invisible wall that you use to block us from you," Leon stressed as he explained.
"What wall? I didn"t cast a block on you guys," Abby said astonished.
"Ab, there is only one person who has ever been able to block all of us at once, only one person strong enough to fight and block us at the same time. And that person is you. We couldn"t get off of the cliff until you were knocked down by that one. Don"t tell me you didn"t block us when you know you did," Leon finished his explanation looking deep into Abby"s face.
I looked toward the house and saw Edward standing, peering out at us. His face was cold and blank. Something about his look sent a chill up my spine.
"I swear to you, Leon, I didn"t put up a wall. Not this time. I promised you guys that I would never do it again and I meant it. I didn"t do it!" Abby was nearly in tears trying to convince Leon that she had nothing to do with the wall. "You believe me, don"t you, Adam?" she asked as she turned to me.
I gazed into her eyes and knew somehow that she was telling the truth. "Yes, I do," I answered and wrapped my arms around her. I glanced at the house and Edward was gone. Suddenly, I didn"t trust him. I had no real reason not to but I just didn"t something about the look on his face as he looked out at us. About the invisible wall that the guys were determined was Abby"s but she said it wasn"t. She had been able to take down seven Windigo by herself but would she really put up a wall to make it so? I didn"t think she would, she was confident but that would have been a bit too confident. She nuzzled her face into my shoulder and I looked at Leon with a look of confused concern. He seemed to follow my path of thinking and acknowledged my thought. Something fishy was going on here and I was going to find out.
As we came into the house, Casimir sat at the table in the kitchen, Lothair directly in front of him. Abby came in and sat at the end of the table. "Listen, you guys, I don"t know what happened, but I didn"t put a wall up to keep you guys out. I wanted you guys down there to help me. I was scared. I just…did what I had to do without you. I don"t understand what happened but I do know how it looks. I"ve done it to you guys before and so I don"t expect you to believe me," Abby paused and sighed. "Just know you guys, that I won"t do that to you again. Okay?"
Everybody sat quietly, looking at Abby. "Its fine," Casimir finally broke the silence. "Just promise me that you will try to let us help in the future."
"Okay, I will, I promise," Abby replied.
They both stood up and she hugged each of them. We all decided to go lay down. Casimir showed Edward a room to sleep in, in the north wing. And Abby and I went to hers.
"Oh, I"m so exhausted," Abby said as she flopped back on the bed.
"I imagine it"s been a very long day, complete with talking, working out strategies and battling seven huge Windigo all by yourself." I said as I reached down and grabbed her boot. Taking it off and dropping it on the floor with a thud.
"Well, I"ve never been this exhausted after a fight. Usually, I am bouncing off the walls, ready for more." Abby laughed, but there was an underline to her voice that made me worry. She looked exhausted. She had deep circles under her eyes and she looked pale. I grabbed her other boot and took it off, letting it fall to the floor. I looked back up at her and she was out. That fast, she had fallen asleep. I lifted her up and took her coat off then laid her back on the bed. She really was pale and her breathing was fast and shallow.
I lay down next to her and watched her until I, myself, fell asleep.