The Chosen Knights (Read Prequel--The Angel Knights first) (The Angel Knights Series Book 2)

by Mary Ting

  “I’m so sorry.” I gazed at my brother too. The truth was I deserved every bit of scolding, so I listened and remained quiet as I let my uncle lay it out for me.

  Uncle Davin kissed my forehead. “I accept your apology. Don’t give me a heart attack again.”

  “Okay,” I agreed.

  “Where did you go?” Zach asked, sitting on the sofa with his arms crossed. His lips were a thin line and his face was expressionless.

  I sat next to Zach, shoulder to shoulder. Touching him gave me comfort after being in danger. “When I saw your note saying you would be at Black Sand Beach, I drove there.”

  “What note? Who wrote the note?” Uncle Davin was just about to sit across from me when he froze.

  Cold chills pricked along my spine. Standing up, I said, “Zach did, I think. It looked like his writing. I have it in my room.”

  “I didn’t write you a note.” Zach stood up next to me, bewildered. “You knew we were checking out the island and we would be back. We would’ve never asked you to drive the car by yourself. Sometimes we were flying high above the clouds so we didn’t have cell reception. And other times we were keeping humans from being attacked by demons.”

  “You were?” I asked, surprised.

  “I’ll tell you later. But did you try to call or text?” He took out his cell phone from his back pocket. “Oops. You did. I can’t get used to having one.”

  I rushed to my room, recalling I’d left the note on my desk. I wanted to give them proof, but the note was nowhere to be found. I even checked on my bed, the floor, and anywhere I thought I might have set it down. “I can’t find it.” I shook my head. Had I imagined it? I knew I hadn’t.

  Zach walked in and placed his arm around my shoulders. “You think someone came in our house, left the note for you, and then took it back when you went out?”

  “Who would do that?” Uncle Davin rubbed the back of his head, standing by the door. “They must have known we were gone. So then, whoever is behind this is keeping their eyes on us.”

  I walked away from Zach and gazed out the window, feeling violated. Someone had entered our house without being invited, and who knew what else they had done? Our domain was our sacred place. If I couldn’t feel safe there, where could I? “I don’t know, but someone wanted me at Black Sand Beach by myself. If it hadn’t been for Eli and his friends, I might’ve...” My thoughts trailed off. I didn’t want to think about what could have been.

  Zach pulled me away from the window and led us to my bed. “How do you know Eli didn’t place the note there? How did he know you were going to Black Sand Beach? At this point, we can’t trust anyone.”

  Uncle Davin sat on the other side of me. “I know your angel instincts and senses aren’t fine tuned yet, and you may be unaware of this, but there is an array of strange supernatural beings at Hilo High School. Keep your eyes and ears open at all times. Stick together and do not be alone with any one of them, got it?”

  “Yes.” After what had happened today, I’d learned my lesson. I had tried to be brave and strong on my own, but that was my stupidity. There were bigger forces at work which I didn’t understand. I had a lot to learn.

  “Got it, Mr. President.” Zach chuckled. “I can’t believe that’s our last name.”

  “It suits me well,” Uncle Davin said, standing by the door. “Now go to bed—or study—or whatever you’re supposed to do.”

  “I need to tell you about what I learned from Jack’s grandmother,” I threw in out of the blue.

  “What did you learn?” Zach asked.

  I told them about the Elementa, the legend of the Snow Queen, how the demons called Possessors came to be, the edelweiss flower, and my thoughts on what type of supernatural beings Milani, Brody, and Eli were.

  “Good findings,” Uncle Davin praised. I hoped his anger toward me would lessen a bit by knowing tonight’s findings were worth the risk.

  After I ended our conversation, Uncle Davin walked out and then came right back in. “By the way, Lucia, I’m still mad at you. You’re grounded.”

  “Grounded?” I threw in with a little attitude. “What do you mean by that?” It sounded terrible. I held my breath and waited to see what he would say.

  “I have no idea, but that’s what people say to their children on television. When I find out, I’ll let you know.”

  Zach and I looked at each other and then busted out laughing.

  Chapter 12

  “Lucia.” Abel draped his arm around my shoulders from behind and tenderly squeezed me. “I’ve been meaning to ask you.”

  I waited for him to face me. “Hi, Abel. What is it?”

  His blue eyes turned a shade lighter, glistening in the sunlight, as he gazed at me a bit longer than I expected. “You look...really good today. I mean...not that you don’t look good on the other days.”

  “Thanks,” I replied shyly, wondering if it was an appropriate response. I didn’t know if my outfit warranted such a compliment. I wore skinny jeans—a mystifying name—and a pretty black shirt with a few rhinestones for buttons. I had actually taken the time to curl my brunette hair like I’d seen on other girls, and it hung down my back in long waves. Wanting to look a little bit different, I’d even put on light makeup like I had learned from the Internet.

  Abel sported beige shorts and a white T-shirt which framed his toned chest. “You look great too. Did you need something?”

  “Oh.” He grinned, snapping out of his daze. “My friends and I are throwing a back-to-school bonfire party at the beach this Saturday night. It’s on the other side of the island in Kona, at Hapuna Beach. I was wondering if you and Zach could come. You can invite Jack as well. I know he’s, like, your best friend.”

  “Sure. I have to ask my uncle, but I think we can. And I’ll ask Jack too.”

  “And...I hope no one has asked you yet. Will you go to the homecoming dance with me?”

  Abel stared at me as he waited for my answer, making me nervous. Never having been asked to a function like that before, I didn’t know how to feel. A part of me was excited, but why did I want someone else to ask me instead? “Sure. I’ll go with you.”

  “Great.” He sounded elated, giving me a kiss on the cheek that threw me off. “I’ll walk you to your homeroom. Where’s Zach?”

  “Zach is with my uncle. I’m actually on my way to my locker, so you don’t have to walk me. We don’t have homeroom together.”

  “That’s okay. The first bell hasn’t rung yet. We have time.” Abel placed his hand on my back, leading us forward.

  On the way, eyes followed us. Many of his friends waved and shouted his name. Some even greeted me too. I also heard the whispers.

  “Are they going out?”

  “I think he asked her out. They make a cute couple.”

  “Did you see her hair and makeup?”

  “I guess he won’t be asking me to homecoming.”

  When we reached my locker, I couldn’t get to it. People, mostly girls, were crowded around it and I didn’t know why. “Oh my. That’s so sweet,” one gushed.

  “I would go with him,” another one said.

  “Hey, Lucia is here. Let her through,” someone else said.

  They all stared at me as they parted. I had trouble finding my locker at first, even though I’d seen it countless times. Then I realized it was the one somehow framed in rose petals around the edge. A card in the middle read “Will you go to the homecoming dance with me?” At the bottom of the card was a beautiful white flower. I was extremely touched when I saw it and realized the significance behind it. It was a printed picture of an edelweiss. Who would have done that? Seeing how Abel had wanted to walk me to my locker, I embraced him.

  “Thank you so much, Abel. This was so sweet of you.”

  When I let go, Abel frowned. “Sorry, Lucia. I wish it’d been me, but it wasn’t. Someone else was trying to ask you, but I was the lucky one who beat him to it.”

  “Oh.” Stunned at the notion, I glance
d around to see if anyone would confess to it. Then I noticed Cayden staring at us, wearing a wicked grin. What was he up to?

  “Hey, hey, hey. Lucia is going to the homecoming dance with Abel,” Cayden announced loud and clear.

  Glancing past Cayden, I saw Jack. In that split second his grin disappeared and his face went pale. Turning, he ran the other way.

  “Excuse me, Abel.” I patted his arm and ran after Jack. “Jack.” My angel super-speed would have come in handy if I could have used it, but I had to run awkwardly down the hall. “Jack,” I called again, but he kept on running. Jack was fast, faster than I had expected. When he ran out to the parking lot, and I didn’t see anyone who could witness me using my super powers, I used my super speed. With one swift move, I stood in front of Jack, causing him to bump into me. Since I’d used my angel powers, he fell flat on his butt.

  “Lucia. What on earth? How did you get here so fast?” He shook his head as if to come to his senses. “Oh yeah.” He pushed up his glasses which had been resting on the tip of his nose from the fall. Luckily, they hadn’t dropped and cracked.

  I extended my hand to help him up; he’d landed pretty hard. Then I remembered my uncle had made him forget. Crap. I had to think of an excuse, but if he didn’t make a big deal of it, I wouldn’t bother. He would be even more confused. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to make you fall.”

  “What’s up?” he asked, unable to make eye contact.

  “Why are you running away from me?”

  “I’m not,” he answered tersely.

  “Yes, you are. I know you heard me call you. Does this have anything to do with my locker?”

  Jack veered his hazel eyes to mine, and then back down again. Shuffling his shoes, he sighed. “Kind of. I had a feeling Abel would ask you, and I wasn’t planning to go to the homecoming dance, but you know...I thought, what the heck? It’s my last year. Maybe I could beat him to it and maybe you would want to go with me. I never wanted to go with anyone until you came along. I mean...as friends, of course. But I found out—no, Cayden shouted out that you were going with Abel, and I felt kind of stupid. Maybe not stupid, but”—Jack finally looked at me—“my ego got shot down. That’s all.”

  A dagger pierced my heart. I hated that I had hurt my friend. How did humans handle all these emotions? It was hard enough being the one hurt, but it was even harder when I hurt someone else. “I’m so sorry, Jack. Abel asked me first. I would have said yes to you.”

  Jack lifted his chin with a twinkle in his eyes. His cheeks flushed. “You would have said yes? Wow. I guess the saying is true: if you snooze, you lose. My fault.”

  “Yes,” I repeated. “I would have loved to go with my best friend.”

  “I’m your best friend?” He sounded so surprised.

  I placed my hand on his shoulder as if he could feel the sincerity of my words. “Yes, you are, Jack.”

  Jack practically jumped on me with a hug. “You are amazing. You know that?” He swung me around and placed me down.

  It was my turn to blush. “Thank you, and so are you. You know you can still go to the dance. Ask someone else or you can go with friends. I’ll make sure to save you a dance.”

  “You will? I’ll do that.” He paused when we heard the second bell. “Crap. We’re tardy. Do you think you can do that magic thing and get us to our class?” He wiggled his fingers.

  “You remember?”

  Jack twitched his nose. “Oh yeah. Your uncle tried to make me forget, but I’m way too cool for that. But don’t tell him I told you. He won’t try to kill me if he never finds out, will he?” Jack squinted.

  When Jack sounded arrogant it came off as cute. I knew he didn’t mean it. But what baffled me was why the angel power hadn’t affected him. I decided not to tell Uncle Davin yet. I knew I could trust Jack, and I needed to research it first. “He will now,” I teased.

  It took a few seconds, but Jack finally understood I was joking. His expression went from relaxed to appearing as though his life had already been taken from him, and back to relaxed again. He even chuckled, sort of. “You’re funny, Lucia, but not that funny.”

  I shook my head, giggling. “You ready for takeoff?”

  “Heck yeah. What do I do?”

  Before he could ask me any more questions, I took off with him at the speed of a lightning bolt. Since Jack weighed the same as a feather to me, I lifted him effortlessly in my arms and soared to our destination.

  As we walked into our first period class, Jack threw up on the floor. Oops! Note to self: never move at that speed with Jack. I guessed Jack had motion sickness. If he didn’t know before, he knew then.

  After Zach and I got our lunches, instead of sitting next to Abel, we sat at Jack’s table at the far end of the cafeteria.

  “I told you before you don’t have to sit next to me. We can still be friends.” Jack took a sip of his drink.

  “This isn’t out of sympathy,” Zach said, surprising me. “I’d rather sit with you than those buttheads.”

  Jack spit out the milk he’d sipped and laughed. “Did you just call them buttheads? That’s epic, bro.”

  “Yeah,” Zach gave him a fake laugh. “Buttheads.” He snorted. Zach had no idea why it was funny and neither did I. Maybe we’d used the wrong word. He stopped chuckling. “Abel and his friends are coming this way.”

  Right on cue, Abel and his friends sat around our table. Jack frowned when Abel slipped between us. “Hello, friends,” he greeted and turned to Jack. “We missed you at our table, so we thought we’d come to you.”

  “Geez, thanks. I don’t know what to say.” Jack’s tone was flat, without any facial expression. He rolled his eyes when Vanessa sat across from Zach.

  “Hi, Jack,” Vanessa waved, offering a genuine smile.

  Jack’s eyes widened and his jaw dropped. Vanessa’s attitude toward him seemed to have changed dramatically. I wondered if it had anything to do with us being his friend. Or I should say, Zach being Jack’s friend. Whatever the reason, it was nice to see this side of her.

  Abel broke him out of his stupor. “So, say four o’clock okay for my tutoring time tonight? And say yes to the back-to-school bonfire party this Saturday. Lucia and Zach will be coming.”

  Jack’s eyes lit up when he heard my name and stopped mid-bite of his sandwich. “Sure. I think I can move my schedule around to make it to your party ‘cause I’m so busy.” Sometimes I didn’t understand Jack’s sarcasm. “Are you going night surfing?”

  Abel took a bite of his apple. “Wouldn’t have it any other way.”

  “Hapuna Beach?” Jack asked excitedly.

  “The one and only.” Then Abel shifted his attention to me. “Maybe even night swimming with my date.” He winked at me.

  I was almost certain I heard a soft growl from Jack. After Zach found out I was going to the homecoming dance, he asked Vanessa, since she was all over him anyway.

  Kohl nervously glanced around the cafeteria then turned back to us. “Hey, the freak isn’t here today.” He calmly ate his fries with ketchup.

  “Why? Do you miss her? Are you going to ask her to the homecoming dance?” Cayden chuckled. A couple of fries flew across space and landed in his lap. “Hey, watch it.” He shoved the fries into his mouth. “These taste good. Throw some more at me.”

  I clamped my hand over my mouth when Kohl flipped his middle finger at Cayden. I guessed it wasn’t a nice gesture. Cayden returned the gesture with his jaw clenched and his eyes blazing with anger.

  “So mature.” Jack rolled his eyes. He’d lost his happy tone.

  My eyes had drifted to Eli’s empty table even before they’d mentioned Milani, thinking they were late for lunch but they’d be there soon. Where were Eli, Milani, and Brody? They wouldn’t have skipped school together, would they?

  Realizing I’d finished my turkey sandwich, I gazed around each tray to see everyone else had finished their lunches too. Had I drifted that long?

  “Lucia, you finished?” Abel asked.r />
  When I nodded, he took my tray. “Thanks.” I watched as he dumped the remains in the trash bin and placed the tray on top of the stack.

  “He never asked me for my tray,” Cayden commented. “I guess I’m not pretty enough.”

  “I could have told you that.” Kohl smirked.

  Thank goodness the bell rang. I didn’t know how long I could endure the dumb- dumbs’ banter without getting heartburn. No wonder Jack kept quiet.

  Chapter 13

  After school Zach and I waited for our uncle by his car. It was unlike him to be so late. Zach chatted with a few girls who had come by while I looked around.

  Surprisingly, Abel and Eli were in an intense conversation again, somewhat hidden off to the side of the building. What was up with those two? And Eli showing up after school—had his group eaten lunch elsewhere? Why did I care? I tried to listen, but too many noises around me drowned out their voices.

  “Do we need to worry about Uncle Davin?” I asked Zach. He was still talking to the same girls, which annoyed me. But at least they acknowledged me. Then I understood my brother’s need to protect me, just as I wanted to protect him from these strangers.

  “I’m sure he’s fine. Maybe he’s talking to some students. Teachers do that all the time after school.” He smiled at the girls.

  “Okay.” I checked my phone to find no texts from my uncle. I had better luck with Abel and Eli after most of the cars left the parking lot and the campus cleared of students. I couldn’t believe they were still talking.

  “Don’t take her there,” Eli stressed. “It’s not safe.”

  Was he talking about me?

  Abel chuckled, but it was short-lived. “You’re kidding, right?”

  “You know what can happen,” Eli warned.

  “If they come, we’ll deal with it. I have my friends.”

  “Your friends are idiots,” Eli growled.

  Abel blocked Eli against the wall with his elbow against his neck. I gasped as I imagined them fighting. Eli would definitely beat the crap out of Abel. Would he use his powers? His kind might not have any rules.