by Mia Castile
Zeke looked at me with raised eyebrows. “It is my last high school party. Maybe we should at least make an appearance. Then we can go do something else if we aren‘t feeling it.” I reluctantly agreed.
Chapter 27
We decided that Selah and I needed to change too. Zeke ported Selah home and within minutes came back for me. He ported me to the apartment. It was getting close to the evening now, and the sun was setting. I turned on the living room light. Zeke turned on the TV.
“I just need a few minutes,” I said.
“I know better. Take your time,” he laughed.
I emerged forty-five minutes later in an olive denim short jean skirt and a white tube top paired with a red cuffed short sleeved blazer over it. I wore my sandals. I curled my hair to give it a little bounce and pulled a little of my hair in the middle of the front back into bobby pins. I did my makeup a little more than I usually did. I wondered if I was trying too hard. Zeke was standing in front of the window looking at a big black bird perched in the same corner as before.
“How long has that bird been there? he asked.
“There was one there a few days ago. Gideon turned into a falcon and killed it. The next day there was another bird there. There wasn’t one there yesterday when everyone was here, but it was there this morning. I hate them. I wish they would just go away. Are there that many Noctem Generation members?” I asked.
“Not necessarily. When someone is in The Noctem, they also have demons and sometimes human followers that they can put incantations on to grant powers. That is why they are stronger than the remaining five when we are on our own. They have the council of Lucifer. My father is a skilled warrior. He’s had many battles. We protect the balance, and if humans getting in the middle of it, we protect them.” He didn’t take his eyes off the bird. It didn’t take its eyes off him. “The sooner we get you guys moved the better. We can bless your land. Your home will be another safe place for us all.”
“Gid and I have so much to learn. Do you think we have enough time? If I were Sam, I’d attack while we were weak.”
“I know, but we have the council of Angels and the Father himself standing with us. We have enough time; we just can’t waste it.” He turned to look at me. His facial features softened. “You look amazing.” He reached for my hand and squeezed it. “But then again you always look amazing. Even in your pajamas, your hair pulled up in a pony tail, and sleep in your eyes, you’re still hot.” He must have forgotten about the bird because he put his other hand along my jaw line holding my face. He stepped closer to me and kissed me again. I loved kissing him.
“Let’s get out of here,” he whispered. He looked back at the bird as the room swirled and morphed into his bedroom. He leaned in again and kissed me. When he was done, he asked, “Can you call Selah and see if she’s ready?” She was, so we went downstairs, and he ported to her house. Watching him port was something I couldn’t get used too. He was there. Then I felt like I blinked, and he was gone. He appeared the same way. Suddenly, there he was. Selah looked cute. She wore a pair of dark skinny jeans with a spaghetti strapped tank and a thin cotton blouse over it. She wore strappy heels. Her makeup was done up a little more than usual, too.
“Selah, you’re hot!” Ben smiled from ear to ear. He had gotten ready while we were all gone. He was in jeans and a frilly old tuxedo shirt that looked like it came straight from the seventies. It hung open with a plain white tee shirt under it.
“Thanks,” she said, suddenly shy.
“I’ve gotta change. I’ll be back.” Zeke ran upstairs. In twenty minutes, he was back downstairs, dressed in his usual way, jeans and layered shirts. He looked and smelled great.
“Are we ready? Mom, we won’t be out late,” he said.
“Just be careful. Ben, don’t go overboard,” Hanna pleaded.
“I won’t, Mom,” he smiled, as he put his arm around Selah’s waist. She giggled. We all filed out of the house. Selah and Ben got into the back seat. Zeke and I got into the front. We left and headed to Parker’s house. Ben and Selah whispered in the back seat. She giggled occasionally. Zeke and I shared glances. I hoped Ben wasn’t leading her on to make himself feel better. Zeke reached for my hand reassuringly and gently squeezed it. At Parker’s house, it was déjà vu. There were kids everywhere drinking and hanging out. There was a group of boys hanging out on the front porch. Zeke parked, and we all got out. Zeke held my hand as we walked up to the front porch.
“What’s going on, boys?” Ben asked as he high-fived all the boys hanging out. I noticed Jason and Eric in the group.
“You made it, and you talked everyone into coming. You are the man,” Jason teased him.
“I have skills,” Ben said, as he led Selah through the middle of the group. Zeke led me behind them.
“Promise me you won’t leave my side?” I whispered.
“I promise,” he whispered.
“Drinks!” Ben said over the loud music. He led Selah into the kitchen.
Immediately, I noticed Kateland and Ashley in the living room staring us both up and down. Kateland rose and flipped her dark hair. She sultrily stalked over to us. She put her arms around Zeke’s neck and hugged him tight.
“Congratulations on graduating.” She gave me a sinister smile. Zeke didn’t let go of my hand, but he pushed her away with his other hand.
“Kateland, this is Ellie, my girlfriend,” he said as he cleared his throat. He then let go of my hand long enough to put his hand around my side and pull me close to him.
“It’s nice to put a name with the face,” I smiled super sweetly.
“Whatever, I guess you made your choice, huh?” She huffed all the way back to where Ashley sat watching.
“Um, what was that?” Zeke smirked.
“Long story that’s not worth repeating. I’m not looking forward to going to school with them,” I sighed, not breaking her eye contact first.
“Well, don’t worry about that right now. Let’s have a good time tonight.” When he squeezed me and kissed my cheek, she looked away. He let go of me just long enough again to take my hand. “Let’s get some sodas.” He led the way to the kitchen. There were two boys standing by a keg serving beers. There were kids sitting at the island bar or gathered around a table playing cards while others stood in groups all over the place. Zeke and I went to the refrigerator. He took out two soda cans. Though we were trying to be inconspicuous, they all stopped talking and watched us.
“Everyone, this is my girlfriend Ellie,” he said nonchalantly.
“HI, ELLIE!” they said in unison.
“Um, hi,” I replied.
“We’re going to go to the backyard now,” Zeke said, raising his eyebrows and backing us toward the door. He smiled at me, turned, and led the way out.
“That was weird,” I said, as we both sat on a lounger together putting our sodas on the table next to it.
“Yeah, they’ve never seen me with a girlfriend. Even when Moriah and I dated, I never brought her around. I don’t know why really.”
“So this is a big deal, huh?”
“Maybe. Not to me. I’m just glad to finally be with you any time I want. I’ll take you anywhere with me.” He spoke softly now, “Do you remember when I took you the meadow?”
“I do. It was a Saturday evening, March the 24th I believe, and we’d been hanging out in my room. You asked me to stand up. You took my hand and asked me to close my eyes. When I opened them, we were in this beautiful meadow. Wild flowers were all around us, with all those lightning bugs flying around us. I didn’t even know where we were, and you told me to look up. I’d never seen so many stars. The sky was so black, but the stars sparkled so brightly. It was so beautiful and so clear.”
“And when you looked back into my eyes, I wanted to tell you something, but I couldn’t. You stole my breath you know. I couldn’t say it then, but I can say it now. Ellie, I love you.” I looked at him, the depth of his love was obvious.
“I love you, too.” I
looked up at the sky and the few stars above us.
He put his hands around my face, pulling my attention back to him and my face closer to his. “I promise you that I will never stop loving you. You’ve given me strength I didn’t think I had. Thank you for that.” He kissed my lips. His lips were so soft that I didn’t want him to stop, but he did. He lay back and pulled me close to him. We lay there, looking up at the sky and talking. I felt safe wrapped in his arms. We stayed there the rest of the night. It didn’t matter what else was going on around us. We were together, and that was all that mattered. Finally, when Ben and Selah had had enough of whatever they were doing all night, they found us and we headed home. We dropped off Selah, and Zeke drove us to his home. Then he ported me home to my room. He said he didn’t want his car to give away that I was there in case our apartment was still being cased. He stayed with me until Gideon got home. I fell asleep in his arms.
Chapter 28
The next morning Gideon and I woke up early to begin our training. After coffee, we made our way over to Zeke’s house. Hanna was waiting for us. Apparently, the boys were still in bed. She led us down to her basement. It was divided into three sections: an open empty area, an area of weights and work out equipment with a couple punching bags, and a large square table surrounded by bookcases full of books. It had eight chairs around it with more books piled on top of it.
“Exactly how many books do you guys have to reference?” Gideon asked, looking at the shelves of books that lined the walls of that area.
“Nevermind that. How much did all this work out equipment cost?” I asked, as I wandered in between the weights and the machines.
“You two are funny. All right, let’s get started. Here are your bands.” She walked over to a bookshelf by the table and brought a dusty wooden box from the bottom shelf. In it were six golden cuff bands. “These belonged to your parents.” She looked from me to Gideon. We looked to each other and then back at the gold bands. She took the three smaller ones out and placed the largest of the three on my left bicep. Then she took one of the smaller two that had similar markings and placed it on my left wrist. The final one she placed on my right wrist. For solid gold, they were very light. “Stay right like that, Ellie. Don’t move.” I nodded. She placed the bands on Gideon next. We looked at each other wondering what would happen next.
“What are they for?” Gideon asked. Hanna didn’t answer him. She got another box and opened it. This box had a place for two sets of bands also, but there was only one set there. She took them out and put them on. She came and stood in front of us.
“These are your main pieces of armor for protection.”
“Really? How is jewelry going to protect us. Does it match my outfit?” Gideon asked sarcastically. I looked at him annoyed.
“Really, Gideon, just pay attention. Place your left arm like so.” With that she bent her elbow, and we heard a noise that sounded like sheet metal when it’s bent. I knew because one of our foster fathers was a welder and sometimes had to take Gideon and me with him to work. Gideon shrugged and followed her lead. He bent his arm like she did. We heard the noise again. A look of panic filled Gideon’s face as he fell to the floor. His arm straightened in front of him, and we heard the noise once more.
“What the hell, Hanna?” Gideon stood up, out of breath. I giggled at him and he shot me a look of annoyance.
“Like I said before, these are your main pieces of armor for protection. These two bands become your shield when you bend your arm like so.” She paused and bent her arm. The shield activated, and when we concentrated, we saw an outline of what resembled a large shield like something from before the Roman Empire. She held it with ease. “This is your sword.” She held up her right wrist, displaying the third band. She stretched her wrist in front of her and swung her arm down. Suddenly a long shiny silver and gold sword appeared. It looked like something from the Middle Ages. It was large and looked very heavy. This piece was visible. She swung it around showing her craft. We heard footsteps on the stairs. She spun around as we looked up. Both Ben and Zeke were descending the stairs.
“Look, Zeke, Mom’s showing off.” She lowered her sword and raised her eyebrows at Ben.
“We should really show Gideon and Ellie how these bands work, huh?” Zeke chimed in. They jumped from where they stood on the third and fourth step and swung out their swords. She raised hers up again. What ensued was a clash of metal like I’d never seen. Their swords sparked as they hit their shields. There was such a noise in that basement that my ears were ringing from the activating and re-activating of the shields to the clanking of the swords. They were flipping and jumping around each other. Hanna could really handle herself as could the boys. I was very surprised by how well they maneuvered. I looked over to Gideon. He looked as overwhelmed as I felt. After a ten-minute well-choreographed displayed of fighting, they finally called a truce. They deactivated their armor and smiled at us. We just stared at them.
“So what do you guys think?” Zeke smiled, as he strolled over and threw his arm around my shoulder.
“Careful with that!” I warned, looking warily at his hand dangling from my shoulder.
“It’s fine, I know how to use it,” he smiled.
“How are we going to be able to fight with this stuff? I can’t even hold the shield up!” Gideon protested.
“Training, my man. That’s where all that comes into.” Ben pointed to the exercise equipment.
“We’re your personal trainers,” Zeke smiled proudly.
“How exciting,” Gideon said flatly.
“It’s not so bad,” Hanna encouraged.
“Weights.” Zeke led me to the weight station and began showing me exercises. I followed his instructions. Ben showed Gideon what to do and explained to him the importance of each exercise. You would think these boys were actual trainers from the amount of information they knew about the body and how muscles work. After about twenty-five minutes of working with weights, they led us outside. Ben and Gideon began to jog in one direction, and Zeke and I went in another. I was quite proud of myself for keeping pace with him. About halfway through, he looked over to me and smiled.
“Try to keep up,” he breathed, as he picked up the pace.
“You should know me well enough by now to know that I don’t back down from challenges.” I met his pace and began to pass him. He smirked and doubled his speed. We were neck and neck now. I threw my all into it and inched past him. I kept it up until I was a few strides ahead of him. It felt good to go that fast. I didn’t look back. I ran hard until I rounded the final corner. Then I began to slow down. I was soaking wet with sweat. He caught up with me, equally drenched with sweat. We slowed to a fast walk.
“You win,” he heaved. His hands were on his sides as he walked. He probably felt the needles in his sides and his heart about to explode like I did.
“I always will; you’d do good to remember that,” I teased just as out of breath. I wiped beads of sweat from my forehead as I made a “yuck” face. He smiled at me.
“What?” I asked. We were now entering his driveway. He looked toward Gideon and Ben, coming from the other direction.
“You’re hot is all.” He didn’t look at me. He just opened the gate, and we walked to his house and inside. My face immediately blushed, as I shrugged off his compliment. He went to the fridge and got out four waters. He put two on the counter and handed me one. We drank them very fast. I felt like I hadn’t drunk anything in days. Gideon and Ben stomped in. They grabbed the waters off the counters and guzzled them down before they said a word to us.
“Thanks, guys,” Ben said between gulps, as he went to the refrigerator and refilled his bottle.
“Yeah, thanks,” Gideon added. He sat down on the bar stool and put his head on his arms. “I need a nap,” he mumbled. We all laughed.