by Emery Skye
I was stunned too. How could they be so callous?
“They're probably getting a team together to find him right now,” I tried to sound convincing, but we both knew better.
The Powers didn't search—not for one noviate. There weren’t enough of us to risk five angels for one noviate. It was ironic. We died for humans but not each other.
“I sure hope so, for their sakes,” Amalie’s eyes turned dark. She was done being sad. She was pissed.
I woke up in my own bed but didn't remember how I got there. I felt comforted by the familiar picture of Amalie and me when we were just seven and five. I also see my annoying alarm clock on the table next to me, and I the feel my puffy, cool, comfortable pillow under my sore fingertips. I felt better today. My head wasn't spinning. When I sat up, my shoulder only whined instead of screaming. That meant I needed to stretch today.
I pulled on a baggy sweatshirt, my stretchy jeans, and half-assed my hair. I made my way downstairs and found Taylor eating breakfast. At the moment, I wished I had an invisibility cloak.
“I heard about your little masquerade with Nathan,” she was just smart enough to make herself sound stupid.
“Get a dictionary, Taylor. Stop wasting my time,” I went to the cabinet, got a granola bar, and left. She screamed something when I was halfway out the door. The cold air felt, for once, nice against my face. Thank The Powers for no wind today. When I got to the gym, I lingered a bit before heading in.
Nathan stood in the far corner. Something about his lost expression and hunched frame made me want to run to him and find out what was wrong. Instead, I kept my cool.
Who was I kidding? I was seriously lame.
“Hey,” his face was a perfect picture of torture.
“What are you doing here?”
Ouch.
“Last time I checked, this was a gym. You know, where noviates train to fight,” I heard the hurt in my voice and hoped he felt a little worse.
“Right. Sorry. It’s Sunday, I wasn't expecting you.” He moved a little closer. It wasn't close enough.
“Yeah, well, practice what you preach. Expect the unexpected.” I knew I sounded bratty, childish, and unsophisticated. I was tired of him letting me in a little, then slamming the door shut like he was a bank vault. “I need to work my shoulder.”
“Of course you do. How is it?” He was my mentor again. Annoying.
“It’s fine,” we both knew I was lying. “I can come back tomorrow if you’d like.”
“No. It’s...let me help you.” He hesitated a little as he came to me. He moved gracefully instead of awkwardly. He looked like a dancer. He examined my shoulder gently. It so turned me on. How could someone only a few years older than me be so skilled with his hands?
He found the sweet spot. Hot pain shot down my arm and out my fingertips. I flinched, shut my eyes, and gasped all at once. He stopped. I opened my eyes. He gazed at me intently with a momentary flare of something within those emeralds that disintegrated faster than it appeared.
“What are you studying in history?”
Wow. School. Figures.
“Heritage, mostly. How Harbingers and Warriors are the offspring of other Angels. Also, how Angels are overseen by The Powers, and must become Angels through the Right of Passage. To properly protect humans, we must internalize human emotion—experience their limitations, that type of stuff. How, or if, we overcome the difficulties of training determines whether we we'll have our wings clipped or if we are Embraced.”
“Will you choose Harbinger or Warrior?” His forehead wrinkled a bit; it’s cute.
“Warrior. Like there's really a choice,” I couldn't believe I had to answer that question. It should have been obvious what I was. I wore my passion on my sleeve.
“I assumed so. I just had to hear you say it.”
This guy was seriously the most bewilderingly gorgeous person in the world. I wanted to hit him and kiss him at the same time. How confusing. I honestly didn’t need this.
“Have you always wanted to be a warrior?” I asked.
Of course he did, but it was something to talk about that sort of took my mind off the pain.
“Yes, I have.”
Shocker.
There was something else he wanted to say, I could see it—feel it.
He restrained himself.
“Let’s finish stretching,” he said.
We worked my shoulder silently. Except for my increasingly loud and mortifyingly embarrassing gasps and whining.
I did a few circles with my extended fist, felt no pain, and let my arm hang as God intended.
“Has it been amazing being a Warrior?” I ask to distract myself.
“Protecting humans on the front line is what I always knew I wanted, but right after a Warrior's first fight, there's a bit of a letdown. I learned, we, can't protect everyone. It’s important to remember your assignment. It can be the only thing that keeps you sane, let alone on task,” He looked away briefly.
“It’s sick, what demons do. Being a Warrior is never easy. The longer you do it, the harder it gets. Never easier." I saw loss and guilt in his eyes. I also saw a flicker of something else, but it faded too quickly to identify.
Noviates endure so much to become Warriors: We're trained to fight and die for humans in a seemingly eternal, let alone pointless, war against demons. Yet, I knew there was no training that would or could prepare me for, protect me from, or help me avoid the loss in Nathan's eyes.
“I am so sorry,” I mumbled, happily stuck in his emerald eyes.
“Realize that even Angels bleed. You should get some sleep,” he said quietly.
He squeezed my hand gently. Briefly. He backed away with that slow, dancing walk of his.
“Yeah.”
What Deror said put the weight of the world on my shoulders. I knew angels bled, but somehow I didn’t think he meant physically.
“Um, Nathan?”
He stopped, causing a little of his dark hair—neglected slightly over the past couple of weeks—to fall over his eyes a bit.
“What happened the other day?”
“Don’t mention it, Anna.”
“But—“
“Ever,” His eyes darkened. His whole body went rigid. I decided to let it drop, for now, but my heart hurt.
After we said our brief, chaste good-byes, I went to Amalie’s room.
Chapter 14
I knocked on Amalie's door once, twice, three times, and there was no answer. I let myself in—we were sisters—and saw her lying facedown on her bed.
“Amalie. Amalie!” I shook her hard.
A muffled noise came from the pillow. She lifted her face.
“They’re not doing anything about Alyosha,” she whined.
“Everything will be okay, Amalie. They’ll find him,” I said feigning confidence.
“No they won’t,” she pouted. “They don’t even care.”
I knew nothing I could say would make her understand. She thought she was in love with Alyosha, and he was gone. I didn’t understand how my fifteen-year-old sister could be in love, per se, but now was not a good time to school her. I knew nothing about love, or romance, or any of that as it was. Look at the shitty predicament I’d gotten myself in. A Legite. Really?
I scooted closer to her. She rested her head in my lap, and I stroked the dark strands of wet hair out of her face. After a few minutes, the sobbing ebbed; she was asleep. I held her for a while. It was all I could do. Soon, my leg fell asleep, and I gently lifted her onto her pillow. She looked peaceful, relieved, but sorrow made her look older than her years.
Once I was back in my own room, I laid down. I couldn't sleep. Too much had happened over the last few weeks. How could things become complicated so fast? Amalie was heartbroken. I had a forbidden—hopefully reciprocated—crush. Alyosha was gone, and there were only days till I was supposed to see the Powers. The later it got, the worse I felt. Trying to sleep wasn't working. There was too much happening. My stomac
h was in knots, and I needed to talk to Amalie. Something felt wrong.
I found myself outside her door trying to decide whether I should knock or just go in.
Just go in.
As I was reaching for the knob, it opened. Amalie almost bowled me over. Her hair done in a sleek ponytail, she wore jeans, a black hoodie, and had a bag slung over her shoulder.
“Going somewhere, sis?” I asked.
She thought she was. When she was little, she would run away to the tree house. Tonight was different. She wasn't like a little girl throwing a fit. She looked determined. Committed.
“I have to find him, Anna,” her tone made me think of a dog fighting for a bone. I had to give it to her. I found myself a little intimidated.
“Think about it Amalie. Where are you going? Do you have any weapons? You don’t know for sure he was taken or where,” when I said it out loud, the odds of finding Alyosha seemed even grimmer than I wanted to admit.
She answered immediately.
“I have thought about it. I took weapons from the armory. My dagger. I know he was taken.”
One dagger. She was going to take on whoever, whatever, took a grown angel noviate with a dagger. I wanted to shake her. Hard. Maybe then she’d gain some sense.
I controlled myself.
“How?” I asked instead.
She pulled a scrap of paper out of her pocket.
“This was in my jewelry box. Read it.” The one with ballerinas.
She handed me the note. I unfolded it and read slowly.
My dearest Amalie,
If you are reading this, then they know, and I'm gone. The worst has happened. I heard some professors discussing the missing noviates this morning. They said we're in the middle of a war with the Dark World. Hell. They said something else that didn’t make sense. Your sister’s name was mentioned. So were the Watchers. Something is very wrong, but I don’t know what. That’s all I can say right now.
With all my love, forever.
Alyosha
Trust yourself…
A piece was torn off. “Where’s the rest?”
“That was all,” she glanced away. Lying.
I ignored it. Maybe it’d been an intimate piece, and she hadn’t wanted me to read it.
“What’s that supposed to mean? Who knows what? What is he talking about?” I asked, my voice fading toward the end. I read the note over and over silently.
“I don’t know, but I plan to find out.”
I couldn’t help but smile at Amalie’s conviction. I was proud. And annoyed.
“Oh no, you don’t—”
“But, Anna—”
I sighed.
“Not alone, you’re not. If you go, I go. Understand?”
Her eyes got shiny. She smiled. Then, she frowned.
“What about Bethel? The Powers? And the competition?”
“Forget Bethel. You’re my sister!”
I wanted to sound brave and sure of myself, for her sake. The hearing in Bethel was my life. The competition was my last shot at making my mark at the Academy. I desperately wanted to win. I still had time. Sort of. Not really. Okay. I really need to stop thinking about this.
We went to my room so I could grab my gear. I found difficulty with not knowing how long we would be gone. I strapped my two sheathed, silver daggers to my thighs and picked up a healing rituals book, elderberry root. Elderberry could pretty much fix anything if used fast enough. I turned on the light in the kitchen; we'd need food. Taylor sat there, grinning maliciously.
Oh, how I wanted to smack that filthy look off her face.
“Where are we going, girls?” She had two bags sitting beside her: one with food sticking out the top and the other, probably, filled with hair products.
I was exasperated. The harrumphing Amalie elbowed me in the ribs.
I walked over and leaned in close.
“You’re not going anywhere, Taylor!” My tone gave me goose bumps.
Taylor responded by getting off the stool and standing nose-to-nose with me. We nearly touched. I could hear her heartbeat. Good to know she actually had a heart.
“If I don’t go, you’re not going either.”
I leaned closer and stood a little taller.
“How are you going to stop me?”
Her glare changed to a menacing smile.
“I’ll tell,” she laughed quietly. “You’ll never make it past the gates,” she said, rolling her eyes.
“Wanna’ bet?” Amalie jumped in front of me. “We could always tie you up and hide you in a closet,” Amalie smiled.
“Try it,” Taylor called the bluff.
She always had a bigger bark than bite. I put my hand on her shoulder. We looked at each other. We both knew that if we didn’t take Taylor along, she'd get us both busted.
“Fine, Taylor. One thing: you'd better keep up.”
Why did she want to go? She had less time till her trip to Bethel. Two days before me. Why would she jeopardize that?
“Yep, I have everything,” she gathered her stuff, and we headed for the gates.
The air was cool, frigid, but it wasn’t windy, thankfully. The sky was a black mass. It seemed to be alive. Watching. The moon was a thin, white crescent. I imagined angels sitting on the crescent, staring down at us with fingers pointed. It made my skin crawl.
“Should we really be walking straight to the front gates? I mean, don’t you think they're guarded?” asked Taylor.
“Guarded or not, you'll get us caught if you don't shut up!” I snarled. “There's no other way out, unless you feel like trudging thirty miles to the east, in the snow, to the farthest perimeter where there is a thirty foot fence and specter hounds on patrol.”
We all flinched at the mention of specter hounds. They were unpredictable, bloodthirsty, demonic beasts, forced into servitude after being captured by The Powers a millennia ago. They would surely enjoy eating three noviates for lunch any day, even if it meant their execution. It made me wonder how whoever or whatever got past them to seize the missing noviates to begin with.
We moved as stealthily as our training would allow. The only sound came from our boots as they sunk deep into the snow. Knee high. Amalie probably regretted her decision to wear jeans. When we stood one-hundred-feet from the entrance, I raised my hand, motioning for Amalie and Taylor to stop. They did. It looked like the gate was unguarded. I squinted, looking around carefully. I saw no one.
Something was wrong, very wrong.
The gates always had guards. I never expected them not to be. I hoped that the guard would be distracted enough for us to make our escape.
After a few moments, Amalie became impatient, and tried to hurry me along.
“We have to go! Now's our chance!”
As usual, she won. We started forward slowly. A familiar voice made me stop.
“Going somewhere?” Deror asked casually... a little too casually. He wasn’t the least bit bothered by our attempted escape.
We turned. There he was. One eyebrow was arched, and he looked exhausted with dark circles under his eyes. He was still stunning, but I wondered what was troubling him.
Taylor stepped forward.
“Nathan, Nathan. What do a few girls have to do to have some fun around here?”
Her flirtatious tone was more obvious than usual. You had to give it to the girl. She had charisma, and she knew how to use it.
“We were just going for a walk.”
I did a mental eye roll. He was clearly unconvinced.
“At midnight? Where to?”
Good grief. We sounded so stupid.
“To find Alyosha,” Amalie blurted. She went straight to the truth because she couldn't lie.
“Wow, and you say I can’t keep my mouth shut. I’m a fucking mute compared to her.”
“Watch it, Taylor.” I warned.
“Look, that’s... sweet, girls, but I can’t let you leave. It’s too dangerous. I’m sorry.” He did look sorry but also amused.
“How dare you!” Amalie growled. “I love Alyosha, and I have a right to look. You just don’t get it.” Amalie's statement was a lament.
“I don’t get it?” he asked, with a more-than-average clipped manner.
“No, you don’t. How could you possibly understand?”
“Alyosha is my brother,” he said solemnly.
Silence fell on us faster than a rock falling out of the sky. Even Amalie shut her mouth.
Lucas strolled up and broke the hush.
“What’s going on?”
Obviously noticing the tension in the group around him, his smile disappeared. Quickly. He and Nathan exchanged looks for a short time, and then he looked from Nathan to Amalie, to Taylor, and to me.
“I’m in,” he said with a nod.
How he had any idea what was going on, I had no clue.
“No one's in Lucas, because nothing's happening,” snapped Deror.
“Think about it, Nathan. All we’re doing is sitting around here and waiting for another precious noviate to be kidnapped,” Lucas's tone was a bit sarcastic, and I couldn’t see his face well enough to gauge his mood. “We have no leads, no evidence, nothing. If you want to find your brother, I see no other way. We gotta do it, man.”
Amalie nudged me. She gestured at her purse, where the note was hidden, and I shook my head. I didn’t know why, but right now, I didn’t think we should share what little information we had.
“Where, exactly, do you think my brother is?” Nathan asked looking at me.
“We believe he is in the Dark World.”
“The Dark World, um-hmm,” he paused, and I wasn’t about to interrupt his thoughts. So far, he hadn’t ratted us out, so maybe he wouldn’t. What happened to the legite I met a few weeks ago who was all protocol and the Law? When did the lines blur? I kept my mouth shut.
Nathan stared directly at me when he spoke.
“Well, we can’t leave now. Tomorrow night at ten, we’ll meet. Get some rest. Tomorrow will be interesting. ”
Chapter 15
Classes were unbearable. It seemed crazy to me that in just three weeks, my entire life had flipped upside down. I had everything put together. I had a plan. Dammit, I was supposed to go to classes, kill it, and then on my birthday go to Bethel with an awesome review. That was my plan. That was before Legite Nathan Deror came in my life with his should-be-illegal, gorgeous, green eyes, and that stubble. Oh that facial stubble. Not to mention, my once artsy, sweet, little sister had turned into a delinquent, and then her boyfriend disappeared. Everything had gone to the Dark World.