Chapter Twenty Three

After the performance, we stay to have dinner with the cancer survivors and their families. Lily records everything and everyone. She wanted to capture the beautiful moments. I agreed. I never stopped smiling. I feel happy and as I looked around, the students are having conversations with normal people.

Mr. Dean walks up to me. "Thank you, Princess Millian. Thank you for coming up with this. I'm pretty sure Mrs. Kovok would gladly agree to make this an annual thing."

"I hope she does." I motion to the cancer victims. "Look how happy they are."

"Thanks to you. You gave them the strength to keep fighting."

I looked at him. "We all did."

"Sorry for putting you on spot like that, early." He apologizes. "During everything, I forgot we needed a speaker."

I wave it away with my hand. "Don't worry about it."

He nods his head and Lily calls my name. I face the direction I hear my twin's voice.

She motions for me to come here. I make my way over to her and she hands Lucas the camera. Lily grabs my hand.

"What are we doing?" I ask.

"Meet my new friend, Melody." She motions to a little girl. "She wants us to take a picture with her family."

We position ourselves around Melody's small family and Lucas snaps the picture. Then we take a picture with Melody by herself.

"Thank you." She says in a small voice.

I grin. "You're welcome."

Lily turns to face me. "I would love to do this every year."

"I think everyone wants to. It turned out great."

Pretty soon we begin to help pack the instruments to leave. We stay longer than we thought. It's near 10. We say our goodbyes and Melody hugs Lily and I. It melts my heart.

Instead of riding on the bus, I ride in the SUV. Lily gives Lucas a kiss goodbye and they part separate ways. I grin when Lily hops into the car.

"What?" She asks, putting her seat belt on.

"You guys are so cute."

She rolls her eyes. "Yeah, thanks." She glances around, her attitude changes. "I need to tell you something before our protectors gets here."

"What is it?"

"I got a vision." She tells me. "I don't know when or what it's going to happen but something big is going to come."

"Is it a good something or bad something?"

She shrugs. "I don't know but I know it involves me."

"Maybe it's good then."

"I hope so. But don't tell anyone." She has to say as soon as Reid hops into the car.

He turns his body so he's facing us. "Don't tell anyone what?"

"That's the whole point of don't tell anyone." I say. "You don't tell anyone."

"You know secrets don't make friends, do you?"

I smirk. "I guess it's a good thing I don't want to be your friend."

He places his hand over his heart as if I offended him. "Why don't you want to be my friend?" He doesn't give me a chance to answer. "You know what? I don't need you. I have a friend. A best friend and her name is Lillian Paige Delariox."

I look at Lily. "You felt sorry for him, didn't you?"

"You figured it out." Lily jokes.

Reid frowns, narrowing his blue eyes. "I see why you two are twins. You're evil." And with that he turns around.

Hayes climbs into the car. He looks at Reid's fake sunken face. "What's wrong with you?"

"Girls are so cruel." He mutters.

Hayes rolls his eyes as he cranks up the SUV.

Lily moves her body to look at Reid. "Get out your feelings. You know we love you."

"Don't include me in the we part." I say, raising my hand.

"I take back what I said about girls being cruel. Not all of them are, just one cold hearted, no feelings having-"

"I advise you not to finish that sentence." I warn him, smiling. "Lily is right."

His face brightens up. "So you do love me?"

I make a disgust face. "Ew no. I meant the part about getting out your feelings."

"Millie, I know, that you know, that we both know, you love me. I'm just that type of man no one can hate."

He's right. I can't see anyone hating Reid. He's a person you can easily get along with. He's funny and fun to tease and goof around with.

I cock an eyebrow. "Man?" I repeat and he nods. "More like...boy." I settle on.

He faces me. "You know what, Millie?" He challenges me. "I'm two seconds away from throwing you out this car and let the Morches take you without feeling any ounce of guilt."

"Ouch that hurts." I fake. "What would you tell Abe?"

He shrugs. "I'll think of something. And Lily and Hayes will agree."

"Don't put me in it." Hayes mutters.

"Yeah. I'm not in it." Lily says, holding up her hands.

"Geesh thanks guys. Nice to know, if I die you'll totally have my back." I say, sarcastically.

It happens so fast but yet slow. One second we're teasing each other then the next our protectors tenses up, Lily lets out a gasps and I hear them coming. But before anyone can say anything they slam into our car, sending us rolling unto the deserted highway.

We tumble for a good ten seconds before we come to a rolling halt. The windows are either cracked or broken. Blood is coming from my forehead or I think it's my blood.
Lily wasn't wearing her seatbelt when we got hit so now she's lying on top of me.

"Millie? Lily?" Hayes' voice calls out. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah." Comes our respond.

"Okay. Can you move?" He asks.

Once Lily gets off me, we can both can move. "Yes."

"There's four Morches heading our way as we speak." Hayes informs us, quickly. "If the window isn't already broken, break it with your foot. Crawl out the car and get to a safe spot. Reid and I will find you. No matter what, don't look back or stop running."

He doesn't give us a chance to respond before he's out of his seatbelt and rushes out the car, along with Reid. I make a note, to kill Reid, if he doesn't die first, for jinxing us. I maneuver my body so my feet is facing the window. I kick as hard as I can to break the glass. It doesn't need much force, considering the window was already cracked. I climb out the car and Lily follows.

As much as I didn't want to leave the guys, I didn't have a choice. Lily grabs my hand we make a break to the woods. We get no where when a Morche jumps in front of us.

"Going somewhere?" He snarls.

Lily lets out a earsplitting scream. I stand frozen as I stare at the creature standing in front of me. The moonlight gives me enough light to see him.

His eyes are blood red, from all the blood he drank. His skin is a grey color and not a pretty grey. Not the color of Hayes' eyes. This grey is a dead grey. His sharp razor teeth is baring as he smiles evilly. And I wonder if that's how a shark's mouth would look if it was to smile.

Move! I yell to myself. Stop being stupid and move!

I always use to get mad at those girls who never ran when the killer or whatever was standing in front of them. I would yell at them for being dumb and tell them to run. And now I know why. They were paralyzed by fear.

I never thought I would have to see one in my whole life, let alone one standing inches away from me.

Reid's voice reaches me. "What are you doing!" He yells. "Run!"

I blink my eyes and realize Reid is fighting the Morche who was standing in front of us mere seconds ago.

Finally my feet, cooperates with my mind and they move. I don't head into the woods instead I move back to the car. Mainly because three more Morches came out the woods.

So they push the four of us in the middle of them as they surround us. Lily and I are holding each other's hands tightly, scared.
The guys look unaffected. They might have buises forming on their face and a cut lip. I can't really tell in the darkness.

Hayes pulls a dagger out of thin air and Reid pulls out two guns, aiming them in two different directions.

"Give it up my friends," One of the Morches says. "You're outnumbered."

He isn't lying. They're eight of them against Reid and Hayes.

"I guess you haven't heard of us." Hayes speaks in a low voice. "But that's quickly going to change." He promises.

My eyes barely catch what happens next. Literally, if I would have blinked, I would have missed Hayes throwing his daggers at one of the eight Morches sending it deep into the monster's chest. He hisses in pain.
Reid fires his guns and the bullets hits in opposite directions. He doesn't bother to check to see if he hits his target before he takes a step in front of him and begins fighting another Morches.

You would think Hayes, mainly Reid, was the playful type. Hayes was every now and then and Reid was all the time. But yet as I stare at them, every ounce of teasing, goofing around and playfulness went out the window the second we were hit and now that takes their plays it's no mercy, dead serious, and fury.

Every move they make is lethal and intends pain and knowledges death coming their way.

Hayes pulls out a sword and swings it across the Morche neck. I close my eyes, not wanting to see a beheaded body laying on the road.

I reopen my eyes when I hear a deep, demanding voice.

"Who sent you?" Hayes asks, his sword presses down on the last Morche's throat.
Reid pulls his arms back and the Morche cries out in pain. "Start talking."

"No one." The Morche grunts, scared.
Hayes presses down more on his neck. He's on the verge of breaking skin.

"Don't you dare lie to me." Hayes warns. "Did Ramadi send you?"

"I'm not lying. I swear I'm telling the truth. I don't work for Ramadi."

"Then why did you attack us?" Reid questions, tugging on the creature's arms.

"For them." His red eyes lands on Lily and I. "Gethol said to take anyone standing in our way out and take the girls."

"Who's Gethol?" Hayes asks.

"The King of the Dead." The Morche informs us.

Reid and Hayes exchange glances. They were unaware of this. We all were.

"I have a message to tell Gethol." Hayes says. The Morche sighs in relief, thinking he may live another day to be our messenger but his thought is proven to be wrong when Hayes says. "But I'll like to tell him myself. Reid finish him."

Reid nods his head as Hayes pulls away and heads toward Lily and I. I hear a scream but it's over before it even began.

"Are you alright?" Hayes asks. "You have blood on you."

I look down at my shirt and sure enough there is blood on it. Nothing hurts. I feel fine. I touch my forehead and there's dry blood on it. My head didn't hurt. Then I remember.

"It's not my blood."

"It's mine." Lily says. "I didn't have my seatbelt on and a piece of glass cut my right arm."

"Let me see."

Lily hold out her arm and Hayes examines it before tearing the bottom of his shirt. He wraps it around Lily's arm, tightly.

"It's not the best but it'll have to do until we get to the headquarters."

Lily nods. "Thank you."

"We have two options" Hayes says. "We either ran to the headquarters or we fly. Which one do you want to do?" He asks Lily and I.

We frown. Run or fly? What kind of option is that?

Reid walks up. "I don't think it's a good choice to run in the woods. The Morches came out of there. There could be more lurking."

"He's right. We can call someone from the headquarters." Lily suggests.

Hayes shakes his head. "The headquarters is four hours away and by the time they reach us, there's no telling how many Morches will come."

"Then what else do you expect us to do?" I ask. "We can't fly. We don't have a plane."

Hayes ignores me and looks at Reid. "Do you have enough energy?"

"Enough to get us there" Reid confirms.

Hayes nods his head. They step away from every other and my jaw drops at the sight in front of me.

They have wings. Freaking wings. They roll their shoulders back, as they stand up straight.

"What...How" I can't even form a complete sentence.

"We'll explain later but for now we need to go." Reid say.

"What about the bus?" Lily asks. "Aren't they in danger too?"

The bus left ten minutes before us and they were travelling on the same road as us. If the Morches attacked us, it could mean the bus got ambushed as well. I see Hayes' expression. He wasn't thinking about that. He was concern about our safety.

Lucky, his earpiece didn't get destroyed in the crash. He press on it and connects with the scouters.

"Do you have visual on the bus?" He asks. "We were ambushed ten minutes ago."
He waits for the responds before saying. "No. Don't tell them anything. As long as they are safe, that's all that matters. Don't send them to come and get us. It will only make them worry. But keep your eyes on them."

They hang up and Hayes looks at us. He doesn't tell us about their conversation because we know the bus is okay and he doesn't want to waste any more time staying here on the road.

"Millie come here." Hayes orders me.

Reid picks Lily up in his arms and Hayes does the same to me.

"Ready?" Reid asks.

Hayes nods his head.

They push off the ground and jump into the night air. Wings flapping is the only sound I can make out as we lift higher in the air.

It doesn't occur to me that maybe the Morches can spot us flying through the air. I mean we were in one of their hide out place.

Something fly past my face fast and more came.

"What is that?" I ask.

"Ninja Blades." Hayes says, dodging one.

More blades are hurled through the air straight to us. The guys tried to weave and dodge them but there's too many of them. Reid takes a hit to one of his arms and his grips on Lily loosen.

Lily screams as she free falls.

Hayes dives down to get her and Reid follows. He grabs onto Lily's hand and Hayes grabs the other but Lily is still falling fall. They try to push up with their wings but we were losing altitude. Gravity really doesn't like us.

"Fuck." Hayes swears as he realize we were going down. He lets go of Lily and brings me closer to him. "Reid lose the wings"

Reid gives him a confused look but doesn't question it. His wings disappears and so does Hayes'.

We get closer to the ground and I begin to freak out. I hang onto Hayes tighter.

"Relax." He mutters against my ear. "I got you."

Lily and Reid are closer to the ground than us and when they reached a certain measure Reid snaps his wings out and they glide safely onto the ground and then my feet touch the land.

"What happened?" Hayes asks.

"I got hit in my arm." Reid respond. "I lost my grip on Lily."

"Can we call Abe to come and get us?" I ask.

"What part about Morches lurking around, do you not get?" Hayes asks. He doesn't give me a chance to respond. "We're running. They can't be too far from us"

"I would rather wait for Abe's men to come than run." Lily says as if she can read my mind.

"I agree with her. I'm not a strong runner."

Hayes rolls his eyes. "You're not running. We're running." He motions between Reid and himself.

"I had enough energy for wings" Reid says. "If we run, we might have to stop a mile before we reach the headquarters. But I'll try to push it."

Hayes nods. "Morches may be in the woods but it's faster if we go through it."

"Are you out of your mind?" I ask. "You seriously want us to risk our lives by going in there?" I point towards the woods.

"It's better than staying here." Reid says.

"Beside, what we're about to turn into, they won't be able to touch us." Hayes says.

"And if this doesn't work" Lily says. "can we call Abe?"

"We wouldn't have a choice." Reid says.

Sudden the air around the guys changes and heat hits me. Their eyes turns yellow before their body changes to a huge animal. Fur covers their whole entire body as they stand on their paws.

They just shifted into a wolf. Not just any wolf but a big ass wolf. I stare deeply into Hayes' eyes. He's still in there but my mind can't wrap around the fact my guardian is a wolf.

Lily can. She's touching Reid's dark fur and smiling.

"All those times, I asked for a piggyback ride and you told me no when all this time you can turn into a wolf." She says. "Oh I'm so gonna enjoy this."

I see Reid rolls his yellow eyes as he lowers himself onto the ground. Lily swings her leg across his back as she sits on him. Reid lifts up and faces Hayes and I.

Hayes nudges me to climb on his back and I narrow my eyes at him.

"Don't think because you're a wolf, I won't slap you."

He lets out a sigh and I hop on him, gripping his fur. It feels soft in between my fingers.

They take off and we zoom pass the trees. I grip Hayes' hair tighter.

Lily giggles like a child. "Faster." She demands, kicking Reid in his side. Reid lets out a growl but Lily just laughs.

I wondered if I can do that? As soon as I'm about to kick Hayes, he turns his head and even though he can't speak directly at me, I know him well enough to read his eyes when he lets me. They read.

You better not.

Rolling my eyes, I drop my leg. "You're no fun."

They continue to run at full speed and thankfully we didn't have any problems heading to the headquarters. I guess Reid told Hayes about his energy because the next thing I know Hayes is speeding up. When we reach the headquarters's gate, the guys shift back to their human form.

"Damn, Lily" Reid exclaims, rubbing his ribcage. "You think you kicked me hard enough?"

Lily shrugs. "Payback for all those time you didn't give me a ride."

The gate opens and we head inside. I notice the other guardians watching us as we enter. They're probably wondering why we didn't have a car and why did it look like we died and came back.

We climb up the stone stairs and Abe is already waiting as usually but instead of his smiling face his eyes widen.

He rushes to us. "What happened?" He demands then he looks down at Lily's wrapped arm. "Explain later. Marie." He calls and a women in her early thirties comes. "Take my daughters and make sure they are okay."

"Yes sir." She says. "Come with me, princesses."

I'm about to protest but Abe's expression stops me. I follow Marie as Abe motion for Hayes and Reid to follow him.

Hayes' P. O. V.

Abe doesn't wait until the door closes before he shoots bullets from his mouth.

"What happened? Who did it?"

"We were attacked by a group of Morches." I reply.

Abe frowns. "You didn't sense them coming?"

"We did. Everyone did but before we could do anything it was too late. They hit us." Reid says.

"How many were there? Did you found out any information?" Abe asks.

"Twelve and yes." I say. "Before Reid killed the last Morches, he told us Gethol sent them to capture the girls."

"What else?"

"That's all. Well he did say Gethol is the King of the Dead." Reid informs him.

Abe nods his head, taking in all the new news. "How did they know where you where? I thought the scouters confirmed it was cleared."

"Monica or Nathan could have told them about the performance." Reid suggest.

I shrug. "Or they were watching and we thought it was safe. They have to have a hiding spot somewhere near by."

"I'll send my men's out there first thing in the morning to check it out." Abe says. "We need to find Ramadi and fast."

I say nothing. Mainly because they're never going to find him. Ramadi is a type of man who can vanish without a trace and if you want to get to him, you must be useful to him. I learned from experiences. I'll never tell them that and if all goes well they never will know.

Abe dismisses us and I find myself in the medical room. Lily is fast asleep on the white bed and Millie is sitting in a chair, irritated. I smirk. I wondered who made her mad?

Millie glances up when she sees me. "Who got you worked up?"

"Marie. I keep telling her I'm fine but she won't listen. She won't let me leave until she checks everything and I really want to take a shower and go to sleep." She says.

My lips tilt up. "You'll live."

She rolls her eyes and then she studies me. Her hazel eyes moving across my face.

"You have a bruise forming." She says, looking at the side of my face.

"I'm fine."

She doesn't agrue back like she use to instead she asks. "How did you and Reid managed to draw weapons out of thin air?"

I know she was going to ask soon or later. I lean back against the white wall.

"It's called manafest. Every guardian can do it but to a certain extend."

She nods her head. "You mentioned energy."

"Everything you manafest it requires energy. It takes a portion of you energy supply and everytime you use it, it drains a little of your energy."

"Can't that be a bad thing?"

I nod. "Yes. If you run out of energy during a fight, you're most likely going to get killed."

That's one reason why I kept checking on Reid. He kept manafesting the most energy sucking weapon he could think of. I thought during our fight, at some point, he was going to pass out but he never did and I'm glad for it. It would be hell trying to carry him.

He's probably resting up right now. He did get very low on his energy source as we ran here.

"What about the angel wings and wolf form?" Millie says. "Can every guardian do that?"

I shake my head. "Only Reid and I."

"Why?"

"When we took the oath to protect the two of you, we took on the form of two protectors living on Earth. The angel wing come from the guardian angels or archangels. The wolf form is from the protector animal the wolf."

She slowly nods her head. "Okay. I understand now. So what are they going to do with the dead bodies?"

I shrug nonchalantly. "The agents will dispose of them and clear up the incident before anyone notice."

The government here, hates when vital information gets reported in. If the humans finds out about us, about Morches, all hell will break loose. Abe made a deal with them a long time ago. If they let him stay here on Earth, secretly, he would pay them. And being the king of Arysn came with its perks. We have jews and gems they never know existed. Imagine how much it cost here on Earth. Billions. Abe didn't mind because he wanted to keep his daughters safe but with Morches and Ramadi on the loose it's becoming a harder task to keep our race hidden.

Marie comes back and tells Millie she can leave and Millie jumps out her chair, excitedly.

"About time." She mutters. She stands in front of me and touches my bruise with her small hand, gently.

"You really should get that checked out." She tells me, dropping her arm.

She walks out and I instantly missed the warmth of her hand.

Call me crazy but I'll take another punch to my face, if it meant having her touch me again.