The Swords of an Angel: The Guardian's Fall Chronicles

by Urania Sarri

  He was looking at me, with his lips tight, as if trying to hide a smile.

  ‘You see, I have a vested interest in you … and this project of yours, Emma.’ he said, examining my reaction, not missing the frustration on my face.

  ‘Think of it as returning your father a favor.’ he added.

  He probably meant Daugh. There was no way he could have meant my dad.

  ‘You know Daugh?’ That was a surprise! How could Daugh be one of his acquaintances? The generation gap among them must be huge, I thought.

  ‘I’ve met your father. But let’s not talk about that now.’

  ‘He’s never mentioned you.’ I said, mystified. But he changed the subject.

  ‘There’s plenty to talk about, Emma. For example, your presentation for the Athens conference. Are you ready for it?’

  My presentation? How did he know about it? He had guessed my question, for he went on.

  ‘You see, I know a lot about you, believe me. But for the time being, let’s leave it here. Let’s go back to your paper. I’d like to help you with it. So, how about a meeting, tomorrow at 11.00 sharp?’

  He had made it sound as the most natural thing to say. I hesitated for a moment. I liked the idea of meeting him again the next day.

  ‘We can do it, I guess.’ I said. ‘But what makes you think I need your help?’

  ‘Well, don’t you?’ he asked, taking a sip of his coffee.

  I hesitated for a moment, before I said, ‘I do. It’s true. I need to turn it into a presentation format and copy-paste some photos and videos. I’m not even sure which of the videos to include.’

  ‘Say no more. It’s settled.’ He took another, long sip. ‘So now tell me, what should I know about the rest of the staff?’ he asked in a conspiratorial manner.

  I saw his face full of anticipation, the face of a child when planning to cheat in a game.

  ‘That will be entirely confidential information, of course.’ he added in the same manner, making me laugh. I had already started to feel more comfortable. Chatting kept me distracted, so I started talking about the tutors and saw he was extremely interested in every word I said, asking me questions which, as I realized later, made me say more that I intended to.

  ‘I’m sorry. I got too carried away. You’re really bad, you know. You should have stopped me.’

  ‘Well, I couldn’t. You were so enlightening. By the way, you’re right. I am bad.’ He was looking in his empty cup. His face had become suddenly serious.

  ‘But I won’t give you away. This, I can promise.’ he added and I saw he was smiling again as he looked at me, causing waves of a strange agitation in my chest.

  He looked at his watch and I instantly knew our meeting was about to end.

  ‘I have to get you back now.’ he said. ‘I’ve a very important meeting in Athens in two hours from now and I really should be going.’

  He left me next to my car, outside the university central building. Before reversing the car, he rolled down his window. ‘I’ll pick you up tomorrow at 11.00.’ I heard him say. I thought that this sounded more like a date rather than a tutorial, but it suited me fine.

  The beach was very crowded on that Monday afternoon. The smothering heat wave had made everyone linger over by the sea for as long as they could. The sandy seashore seemed endless on both sides and cluttered with umbrellas in front of the beach road, which was lined with small storefronts and restaurants. To my fancy eyes, its image resembled that of an impressionist painting, with a diversity of colors coming from the randomly planted sun umbrellas the swimmers used to protect themselves from the sun as soon as they came out of the water. Among them, the rows of orderly straight lines of sun beds and straw umbrellas in front of beach cafes. Children’s excited voices filled the place up.

  Fortunately, Bill had been able to reserve a couple of sun beds and umbrellas for us, as the sun was burning hot. It was not my favorite time of day for a swim, but I had decided to socialize more, following Kate’s advice. The water felt soothingly fresh after the burning of the sunrays on my skin. I’ve never been too much into swimming. I just prefer to relax in the sea before lying

  for hours on my sun bed, reading my book and sipping my cappuccino fredo. This of course was something I could not enjoy on that day, as it would be impossible to withdraw from the others and follow my own little beach-routine. I did not want to make the impression that I disdained their company.

  Mick and Bill were racing to the buoy as Kate and Tony were enjoying diving, with Kate practising a rather awkward dive, head into the water and legs from knees to toes, steady upon it. I, on the other hand, was already bored and my mind was already on the cappuccino.

  ‘Hey, check this out. Dude, I love this car.’ Mick was now next to me looking at the beach. I turned to look too. My eyes fell on the silver Audi Q7 parking under the trees. My heart leapt. I was not ready for this. Even more, I was not ready for what was about to follow.

  Christopher got off the car, walked all the way around and opened the passenger door. A tall, blonde woman in red kaftans stepped out of the car. She immediately put on a large straw hat and huge sunglasses. They both looked as if they were enjoying each other’s company. They were smiling and chattering as they were walking towards the beach.

  ‘Who’s she?’ I asked.

  ‘I have no idea. Probably his girlfriend. Sorry Em.’ Kate said.

  Of course, I thought. She’s the kind of woman someone like him would date. I took a longer look of him now that I was sure he was not aware of my presence. He was wearing a white T-shirt and long light blue shorts with white patterns. His body was gorgeous. In fact, gorgeous was the only word that came to me every time I saw him. I could not find anything about him that could make him less attractive or less appealing to any woman.

  Suddenly, I realized that he was looking towards me. He took off his glasses and waved. I looked around. The others were back to racing and diving, so could he be waving only at me? I waved back, bashfully. How could I be blushing in the water? Thankfully, he was not close enough to notice that. He looked around and took his time to take off his T-shirt and put on his glasses again. His waving to me did not escape his friend’s attention who had lowered her glasses to check me out. She was wearing the tiniest bikini to reveal her statue-like body. I decided it was time for the first dive of the day.

  Later, I saw Christopher laughing as he was spreading sun tan oil on her shoulders. Obviously, his important appointment to Athens was about her, I thought.

  ‘I have to go. I’m expecting an important e-mail about the conference.’ I lied to Kate. She gave me a withering look and just nodded.

  ‘Can’t you stay for the coffee? Please?’ Mick pleaded. I knew he had a crush on me.

  ‘I’m sorry Mick. Rain check?’ I smiled as charmingly as I could.

  ‘Sure.’ he compromised, without any effort to hide his disappointment.

  I dressed in a hurry. I had my back turned to Christopher as I did that, but it was as if I could feel his blue eyes penetrating my back and I could almost hear his chuckle.

  On my way home, I had already regretted leaving because I was not sure what had made me act in this silly way. Why did that woman’s presence next to him bother me so much? He was nothing to me.

  Back in my apartment, I took a long shower and concentrated on my paper. I wanted to be as well prepared as possible before meeting him the next day. By the time I had finished, my eyes were too heavy to stay awake. I barely had enough strength to brush my teeth and take off my clothes before dropping my self on the bed.

  BEGUILED

  The Deadlock Series.

  Book 2

  Excerpt

  Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And when you look long into an abyss, the abyss also looks into you.”

  Friedrich Nietzsche, “Beyond Good and Evil”

  Preface

  When the rain got me, I was still running along
an unfamiliar street that seemed endless on both directions. Within seconds, the drizzle became a cold downpour that soaked me to the bone, plastering the thin shirt and jeans onto my body. My hair was sticking on my face, pricking my eyes like dozens of needles, but I didn’t stop. Lost in a haze of despair, I could not comprehend the faint voice in my head that warned me to go back. I kept running away. Where I was heading, I could not tell anymore. Everything around me seemed strange and obscure; no houses, no shelter, only the perennial olive trees and the murky veil of rain. For the last two years in my life, every day, every minute, every second had been spinning around one single pivot; that rescue mission had been the only pivot of my new life. It had defined my actions, my thoughts, and my whole existence. I had gone a long way, overcoming any personal limit and fear, transcending time, only because I was fixed on a purpose. I had left my old life behind.

  I had a life once.

  Now, my mission was my life. A mission that had taken me far away from my family, my friends, my studies and my future. But I did not care anymore. I had chosen my destiny. It had always been about him. Christopher. He had turned his back on me and the pivot support had suddenly vanished. I had nothing to lean on. My whole life was collapsing. I was collapsing. There was no angel coming to my rescue this time.

  A sharp pain in my chest blocked my breath, forcing me to stop. But I welcomed the pain, didn’t want it to ease out. Strangely enough, it seemed to be the right thing to feel. This is how some people have died, right? Perhaps this could be the end…

  “Hey, you’re standing in the middle of the street!” a voice in my head shouted. “And that yellow light approaching is about to crash into you in minutes. Can’t you hear it? You have to move to the side. Don’t just stand there. It’s a car! It’s definitely a car and the veil of hale certainly does not help. MOVE!”

  Then why wasn’t I moving? Could I be waiting for the car to put an end to this excruciating obstacle race I had started?

  I closed my eyes and held my breath as the roaring sound of the car approached.

  CHAPTER 1

  Angels

  Angels don’t always look gorgeous. Sometimes, they have rough hands and smoked-yellow moustaches. Their faces may be wrinkled, carved with paths that reveal the burden of each year of hard living. Even more, they may hit the brake at the very last moment if they mean to spare your life. But they do cover you with their worn-out coat to protect you from the hailstorm and they don’t ask a lot of questions. They take you in their old, rattling truck and drive you to the nearest village to find someone who can speak your language.

  He asked for my name.

  “Emma.” I mumbled. “My name’s Emma.”

  “Tourist?” he asked.

  “Yes, tourist.” I lied.

  Angels could tell when you needed help. They even bought you a drink and waited until you found the strength to speak again.

  “What’s happened to you?” a stout, young woman with long, curly black hair asked me, having been assigned with the interpreter’s role by my angel. I guessed she must have been the café owner’s daughter, judging by the resemblance they shared. He’d been the first to storm out of the café to my assistance when my angel pulled over and called frantically for help. The poor man had been so alarmed by my shivering.

  “Was anyone after you?” About a dozen saucer eyes around me were waiting for answers as she tried to wipe my hair with a towel. She smelled of fresh lemon. A faint but still invigorating scent, released every time she brought her hands close to my face.

  “Yes.” I nodded, still shivering. I thought it wasn’t a good time to tell her I could speak Greek.

  “Who was it?”

  I sat up on the uncomfortable, plastic chair, searching vainly for a lie. “I’m not sure.”

  She put the towel on the table, looking worried. “Shall I call the police?”

  “The police?” That brought me to my senses. The police were the last thing I needed.

  “No. I’m fine now. I was just scared of…the storm.” I tried to sound embarrassed. If I had started lying, I must have been my self again. She turned to translate my silly explanation to our audience, and next minute, I realized I had disappointed her customers who’d been expecting something more exciting to disturb the tranquillity of their simple life. Just normal, ordinary life. Deadlock-free.

  “Where are you staying? I can call a taxi to take you home.”

  Home. Home is where your heart is. Once again, my dad’s voice repeated in my head, like a broken CD. Where was my heart now? Did I have a heart anymore? It must have been shattered. Its pieces felt scattered all over my chest.

  “Yes. I need a taxi. I must go to Korinth,” I said.

  “Korinth? It’s three hours drive at the least.”

  “I have money.” I had been wearing my bag across my chest ever since I’d left the Squad Headquarters. Just a few hours ago, I was still in the future, a time-traveller to Christopher’s world, determined to set him free and get him back.

  For a fleeting moment, I thought of what those villagers’ reaction would be if I tried to tell them what was lying ahead. To warn them. Tell them we were all being watched; and those of us who stood as a threat to the future world, like me, were in mortal danger. Those villagers would not call a taxi for me then, but the fastest means to the closest mental health institution. Who could blame them?

  “Okay. I’ll take care of it. Just drink your ouzo. It’ll make you feel better,” the chubby, young woman said and turned to our curious audience, who reminded me of the chorus of old men in ancient Greek plays, to translate our short conversation. Obviously, my situation was of no interest to them anymore. They smiled in front of the naïve tourist who had gotten scared of the thunderstorm and started running. They probably had other problems to deal with now that the hail was ripping against the blossomed trees, destroying the crop of this year. Maybe their lives weren’t really as simple as I’d thought.

  “Your taxi is coming,” the young woman shouted behind the counter.

  Curled in the backseat of the taxi, I watched the headlights of the cars passing by. We were already on the highway and despite the fact that it was still early in the afternoon, the gloomy shroud of the menacing storm covered everything, stalking my escape.

  Angels can tell when you need them. They sometimes call you when you least expect them to; when you think they have forgotten about you the same as you have forgotten about them.

  I jerked to the persistent buzz of the pouch hanging from my belt. “Hey? Did I catch you in a bad time?” Alex’s voice sounded worried through my cell phone. Alex. A rainbow in the storm of my torment.

  “Alex! Thank God!”

  “What’s going on, Emma? Where are you? You don’t sound good.”

  “It’s over, Alex. It’s all over. You were right. I shouldn’t have gone there. Now, it’s too late.” My voice broke. Tears were streaming down my face and I realized I was sobbing.

  “Emma, can you hear me? Concentrate. Where are you?”

  “In a taxi…somewhere…near Pylos.”

  “Where are you going?”

  It was so hard to collect my thoughts. “I’m going to …Korinth. Yes, I’m going to Korinth.”

  “Okay. I’ll get there as soon as I can. Just go home and wait for me. I’ll take you away from them. Do you hear me?”

  “Yes. Hurry, please.”

  “I’ll see you soon. Just call me when you get there, okay?”

  “Okay.”

  “Hang on, Emma. Listen to me.” he said in a calm, steady voice for which he’d never guess how grateful I was at that moment. “Try to relax. Everything will be all right.”

  I wiped the blurred glass with my sleeve and looked outside. The dark clouds that carried the torrential hailstorm were now moving to the north, hiding the mountain-tops behind the haze.

  Are angels likely to play tricks on you? To try and fool you? Is it possible that they might let you take a glimpse of para
dise just to make you realize what you’ve lost afterwards, when they have deserted you? Do they let you believe they’ve always been there, eternal guardians of your soul, until one day you wake up to find you are on your own, wondering if they’ve ever really existed or they’ve been just a figment of your imagination?

  I had a guardian angel once. In his eyes, I found the bluest skies. It was the hint of the oncoming storm that I missed. His face tortuously gorgeous, altogether perfect. His heart a bleeding wound because of his haunting past, searching for healing. When he first revealed to me that he came from the future, I was certain he was a compulsive liar. Yet, when he unveiled his assignment in my world, he scared me to death because the charming tutor I thought I had spent the night with, was transformed into an ex-assassin, a Crusader of the Future World, entrusted with the mission of protecting my life. Because on that same night, I discovered I was going to be murdered for the same reason my father had been murdered thirteen years ago.

  The deplorable twist of the story had totally been my fault. After all, Christopher would still be one of the Crusaders if he hadn’t traded his freedom for my life. I wouldn’t have suffered the ordeal of the car crash the night I was told he’d left me, a near-death experience, months in a wheelchair and, worst of all, the loss of our baby. Although I found out about my pregnancy after the car crash, when it was too late, the loss was still an open sore for me. But he didn’t know anything of this. I would always wonder if there was a chance we could still be together had I gone along with the League’s orders. If Christopher hadn’t chosen to offer himself to his worst nightmare, Denzel, commander of the Squad, the Special Forces of The League. He had been Christopher’s boss in the past after he had him arrested years ago in their time, when Christopher was just an abused teenager. He’d recruited him to the Squad and trained him until Christopher became the most efficient Squad agent: a ruthless killer, a soldier of The Future, condemned to defend the secrets of The League. They had ordered my father’s murder when he refused to cooperate and conceal their secrets. And Christopher had taken part in what happened, although not directly. The League had ordered my death too when they found out I was following on my dad’s steps to excavate the area where the Gateway that connected our worlds lay. That was when Christopher came to my time to save me. And he did it out of love. Unfortunately, it was just for a while. Because when I challenged the League, I turned them against Christopher too. That was how he had decided to put an end to the threat by surrendering to Denzel and going back to a life he’d tried so hard to redeem his soul from. I knew it was worse than death for him, but I knew he did it for me.