Part Six:
 

Rating: PG
 

“Yeah, okay, I know. I’m the Guardian and my destiny is to protect the Wild Powers at all costs. I know.” Arianna looked Thierry in the eye. “And I will. After I get back.”

Thierry gave her a blank stare. “Back?” he repeated.

“Oh, didn’t we tell you?” she asked innocently. “Gabe and I are going with Ash to visit Mary-Lynnette.”

“Oh, he’s going back to her?” Hannah’s face shone with happiness. “That’s wonderful!”

“Why do you have to go?” Thierry asked, his ageless eyes narrowing.

“I’ve got some things to say to Mary-Lynnette.” Arianna’s chin went out stubbornly.

“Well, can’t you go later?”

“Yes, I think we could, but Mary-Lynnette would be six feet under by then,” she said calmly.

“What are you talking about?” Thierry asked in a low voice.

“If we don’t get to her as soon as possible, Mary-Lynnette will die.”

“She had a Vision,” Gabriel explained.

“Are you absolutely certain that Mary-Lynnette will die unless you get there?” Thierry asked.

“I am absolutely certain that Mary-Lynnette will die no matter what,” Arianna confirmed. “Ash is going to have to kill her himself. He has to change her.”

“Ash is going to make Mary-Lynnette a vampire?” Hannah asked, slightly alarmed.

“He has to. Or she’ll be killed for good.” Arianna walked over to Thierry’s desk. “I need your phone,” she told him. “Gabe and I are gonna swing by our house to pick up our bags, and then we’ll meet Ash at the airport. I’ll call him and tell him the plans. I told him to pack yesterday, so he should be ready. Then again, knowing Ash...”

“Thierry,” Hannah said. “Use your connections to get them three first class tickets and to have a car waiting for them in Oregon.”

“You agree that she should go off at this crucial point in time?” Thierry asked in disbelief. “We don’t even know the potentials of her power yet. She needs to stay and train!”

“Well, sir,” Gabriel said. “It’s not exactly crucial. I mean, the millennium isn’t even here yet.”

Thierry put his head in his hands. Without lifting it, he waved a hand at Arianna.

“Fine,” he said. “Go. Make your calls.” He lifted his face and looked her in the eyes. “Just know that you are one of the most exasperating people I have ever met. And I’ve met a lot of people.”

Hannah laughed. He pulled her to him and draped an arm around her waist. “You’re pretty exasperating, yourself,” Thierry told her. “Every day of my life I would spend looking for you, and whenever I found you, you would go and get yourself killed. Now if that doesn’t show how dedicated-”

“Hold on!” Hannah put a finger to his lips. “I did not ‘go and get myself killed.’ Maya was playing mind games with me. I don’t think that constitutes as-”

Thierry cut her off with a kiss. As they sat staring into each other’s eyes, Arianna sent a message to Gabriel. Let’s go use a phone in another room. He nodded, and they quietly left the recently united soulmates in their own little world of happiness and love.

“Hey, Ash,” Arianna greeted him when he picked up the phone.

“Ari! Where are you? What goes on?” Ash asked.

“I’m at Thierry’s. We had a meeting. Long story,” she said, before he could question her. “We’ll talk on the plane. Meet us there. Our great and competent leader’s getting us first class tickets, plus a car. Remind me to thank Hannah for that.”

“You’re gonna seek me out at the airport?”

“Yeah. I’ll call Thierry from there to find out what gate we go to and whatnot, and then I’ll send you a message via telepathy to tell you where to find us. I’ll have Thierry get someone to meet us in Oregon. We’re gonna stay at your sisters’ place?”

“Yeah, they owe me for not turning them in to Quinn,” he answered lazily. “Not that any of that would matter now, but...”

“Okay, then we’re set.” Arianna grinned at Gabriel, who stood nearby, watching her. “See ‘ya soon. Bye.” She blew a kiss into the phone, and heard Ash’s low laugh on the other end of the line.

“See you, beautiful.” The line went dead. Arianna replaced the receiver in its cradle. She grabbed Gabriel’s arm.

“Let’s get someone to drive us. There’s no way we’re leaving the motorcycle or the Lexus at the airport.”

“No way in hell,” Gabriel corrected. He slipped an arm around her shoulders as they went in search of one of Thierry’s chauffeurs.

The first person they encountered was Lupe Acevedo, a werewolf and human half-breed and active member of Circle Daybreak.

“Lupe! ¿Cómo estás?” Arianna broke away from Gabriel to embrace the other girl.

“Arianna!” Lupe returned the hug and grinned. “I heard you had a meeting with Thierry, and I was hoping I’d run into you. What’s going on?”

“We have to get to the airport to meet Ash, but first we have to go home and pick up our luggage,” Arianna explained. “We’ll use our motorcycle to go home, but we need a ride to the terminal from there, ‘cuz we’re not leaving our car in the parking lot.”

“Oh, I can help you with that,” Lupe said. “Nilsson’s busy, but Naldo can take you.”

“Thanks.” Arianna brushed a lock of hair behind her ear. Light glinted off her finger, and Lupe grabbed her hand, staring at the dahlia ring.

She gasped. “It’s beautiful!” She glanced at Gabriel, who came up behind Arianna and wrapped his arms around her. “It’s from you?”

“Who else?” He grinned.

Arianna bit her lip, trying to contain the happiness she felt when she thought about what the ring symbolized. Should she tell Lupe? She was one of her best friends... Oh, why the hell not?

“We’re engaged!” she burst out, unable to hold it in any longer.

Stunned, Lupe’s mouth dropped open in shock. She looked from Arianna to Gabriel and back, turned away, and returned her gaze to Arianna’s face. Then she recovered from the shock and grabbed Arianna’s hands.

“Oh, Goddess, that’s fantastic!” she yelled. “Congratulations!”

“I know! Thanks!” Arianna exclaimed. They shook each other’s arms excitedly.

Girls, Gabriel thought, rolling his eyes. But he still couldn’t help the warm feelings that came when he pictured Arianna dressed in white standing beside him at an altar.

“We’ll talk later,” Lupe told Arianna. “And you are calling me from Oregon, you know that, right?”

“Okay,” Arianna laughed. “But I have to get there first, so let’s go find Naldo.”

“Last I saw, he was in the library,” Lupe informed them. “He was looking for something, and should still be there. Vamonos.”
 

Note: "¿Cómo estás?" means "How are you?" and "Vamonos" means "Let's go" in Spanish.