The Guardian, a Sword, & Stilettos (The Enlighten Series Book 1)

by Kristin D. Van Risseghem

  “What!” I shot to my feet, horrified, and my chair tipped over. I had never even considered my life without Kieran. “You won’t be able to hang around me anymore? That’s so not cool, K. Who do I have to talk to about—”

  “Calm down, Z.” He chuckled, gesturing to my chair. “We’ll figure something out. Don’t worry about it now.”

  I picked up the fallen chair and sat quietly, mulling over what he’d just said. He was right. I had to take it all one step at a time. Staying alive was my new priority. After all, if the demon attacks escalated, the next time would be in front of witnesses. They might even hurt the people I loved.

  Kieran was probably smart to be coming up with the summer plan. If leaving was what I needed to do to keep my friends and family safe, I’d do that, too.

  “What’s the war going to be like?” I asked.

  His smile was sad. “Nothing like you’ve ever read about, that’s for sure.”

  I didn’t want to think about it, but I didn’t have much choice. “Tell me.”

  He sighed. “Well, killing demons will be tough on you. The first few always are. But what you’ll have to remember is it’s either them, or you.”

  “I can’t kill anything, Kieran!”

  “Sure you can. They’re demons. They’re evil, vile creatures who want to live in this world without order. They only care about themselves. Sam ultimately wants to rule on Earth and have Ordinaries worship him. And do you think a creature like him would stop at the Ordinaries? No. He’ll go after the Naturals and try to convert the Eternals.”

  I couldn’t let that happen.

  Behind me, the purring of a car rolled onto the driveway. Dad climbed out of the driver’s seat, and I could see him grinning and talking with Shay.

  “That’s our cue to leave.” Kieran glanced over at them. “We’re getting together at my house, okay?” He checked his cell phone. “Vash is going to meet us at seven.”

  When Shay arrived in the backyard, the three of us left through the side gate and ambled over to Kieran’s house. It was a nice night, so we waited on the lawn for the others. Promptly at seven, Vash pulled into Kieran’s driveway in his Camaro, his powerful engine roaring. Not long after, Sidelle pulled up in her Mini Cooper.

  “Let’s go inside,” Kieran said. We followed him through the back door.

  “Wow, nice pad, Kieran,” Vash said, stepping into a few of the adjacent rooms. “Must be nice to have an endless supply of money. I suppose you do well, investment wise, living forever.”

  I’d found out, that since Vash was a werewolf, he lived a longer than normal life, but that was all I knew. Tonight I was determined to learn more. I no longer felt threatened or uncomfortable around him, and the weird feeling of being watched had gone away.

  “We have to scrape by sometimes,” Kieran replied with a smirk. “As you said, we live forever, so we have to budget accordingly.”

  Vash grinned. “Touché.”

  We moved to the great room where we could spread out. Shay and I sat on the couch, our arms always touching.

  Once we were all comfortable, Vash cleared his throat. “Well, since I called the meeting, I guess I should start.” He turned to face me. “The Pack is aware of you and what you represent, Zoe. I was sent to confirm it, and I have been doing so for the last few days. I apologize if I’ve made you uncomfortable. It wasn’t my intention to do so. My Alpha gave me specific orders to watch, but not intervene, unless you were in grave danger. But as I can clearly see, you are being well protected.”

  “I can’t get a read off you, you know,” Sidelle said to Vash. “I should be able to—read wolves, that is.”

  He nodded. “I’m aware of that. My pack is one of the oldest in existence, and we have a lot of resources to draw on. Our knowledge goes beyond recorded history. People forget over the centuries. We don’t.”

  “I don’t either. So you know how to block fairies, and it was intentional?”

  “Yes.”

  “Does Keegan agree that Zoe is who we’d been waiting for?” Kieran asked.

  “He doesn’t know for sure, but he has his suspicions. Why else would he send me?” He frowned. “Isn’t that why we are all here? Fill me in. I haven’t made my report, so I can include everything you tell me now. Why do you all think she’s the babe from the prophecy?”

  “The earth told us of her birth, and King Oberon sent me to watch,” Sidelle said.

  “The Archangels also felt it could be her when she was born,” Kieran said. “She showed great potential even as a child.”

  I listened, mesmerized, but didn’t interrupt. It seemed like they needed this flow of information to keep moving. I’d get answers eventually.

  “Showing what, exactly?” Vash asked.

  Kieran smiled. “Zoe has great empathy for the world and its creatures, and she has an aura that draws good people to her. She has many friends at school and will have lifelong friendships with them. Her capacity for love knows no bounds.”

  I smiled at my best friend, feeling my heart swell. I squeezed Shay’s hand and looked at him, but he just nodded, silently agreeing with Kieran’s assessment.

  “She has already shown two signs that she is more than an Ordinary,” Shay said. “She’s generated protective orbs when she was attacked by demons.”

  “You said two,” Vash clarified. “Is that two different signs or two separate orbs?”

  My cheeks started to heat up. I knew where Shay was going.

  “Two different signs.”

  “And the second?” Vash probed. “What was that?” Sidelle and Kieran stared at me as well.

  “Go ahead,” I told Shay. “They should know about it, I guess.”

  “She glows.”

  “You what?” Sidelle cried.

  “Um . . . I glow?” I said hesitantly.

  “How did you find that out?” she asked.

  My face sizzled with embarrassment. Boy, I did not want to have this conversation in front of Kieran or Vash. But the truth was, they needed to know all the facts.

  “We, um . . .” I looked at Shay for help.

  He’d gone red, too. “We were . . .” He seemed to have just as much trouble talking about it.

  Sidelle’s eyes narrowed. “Listen here, half-angel boy, don’t make me go digging around in your brain for it. You know I can get a good visual. Now spill it!”

  “Sidelle,” I said. “I’ll tell you.” I didn’t look at anyone’s face to gauge their reaction, because I was too mortified. “He’s just protecting me, trying to spare me the embarrassment. The thing is, last night we were kissing, and I started to glow.”

  I lifted my head just in time to see a wicked smile stretch across her face. “Ah. I see.”

  My news didn’t seem to have much of an effect on the other two boys. “So, do we know what that means?” Vash asked. “It’s gotta be a confirmation of some kind.”

  “I think it means we should get ready for a war,” Kieran replied.

  “Hold your horses, Kieran,” Shay said. “We have a slight problem. I talked to my dad again about the Marqs—”

  Vash’s dark brow furrowed. “Wait. The Marquises demons are coming after her?”

  Shay nodded. “We were at a party the other night, and the Knights brought four with them.”

  “And you fought them off?” Vash asked.

  “No. Sidelle saved us. I was caught in Zoe’s protective orb, and she wouldn’t let me out to fight.”

  “Huh. That changes things a bit,” Vash murmured.

  “Why and how so?” Kieran asked.

  “With the Marqs in the picture, you will definitely need the wolves’ help. My father needs to know about this immediately.”

  “Wait. Why do we need help from the wolves?” I asked.

  Vash slammed a fist into his palm and grinned. “Because we can kill the Marquises.”

  So many questions raced through my head. I frowned at Vash. “You’re the, uh, first werewolf I’ve met, and I have so
me questions,” I said.

  “Shoot.”

  “Hold on, Vash!” Sidelle said. “Which pack are you from and where?”

  “The Spiritus Pack of Minnetonka. Why?”

  “I know wolves can kill the Marqs, I just wasn’t aware of a pack so close. I’ve been looking for one. Kieran, that’s why I didn’t say anything earlier.”

  He nodded.

  “Anything else?” Vash shrugged.

  “No,” Sidelle said.

  “When you are in wolf form, are you still you?” I asked. “Or are you more animal than man?”

  “Ah.” He nodded in Kieran’s direction. “So he hasn’t told you anything about me?”

  “He told me who you were, but I don’t understand the whole werewolf thing.”

  He leaned forward with his strong arms braced against his knees. “I’m a Werewolf in the traditional sense. On the night of a full moon, my human body changes into a wolf’s form. New pups and adolescents can’t control the change, but older ones—like me—can. Adult wolves have power over the change, whether it’s during a full moon or at any other time.” He glanced at his feet before looking back at me. “We don’t call ourselves werewolves anymore because the movies have given us a bad rep, you know? They portray us as savages who can’t comprehend anything when in animal form. So ever since modern times, we have just been calling ourselves wolves.”

  I blushed, knowing I was guilty of buying into the movie version of werewolves. “About that bad rep . . .” I let the question hang for him to answer.

  “It’s totally untrue,” Vash snapped, obviously irritated, but not by me. “We are a very loving species. We find our one mate and share our lives with them. Granted, when we are in wolf form, yes, we have a slightly higher instinctual level, but we can control our behavior. Can we be brutal and vicious? Of course, but no more than humans. We probably have even more control in some aspects, because our lives are simpler.”

  “So you only get to find love once?” I asked. “What happens if you don’t find her, or if one of you dies?”

  “Usually fate seems to work it out that we find each other. We are drawn by a force to find them. But if you die after you are mated, your mate will follow. One half of the soul cannot live without the other.” He smiled. “This is a very large world, but travel has been made much easier with cars and planes. Before that, many wolves never found their mates. We are fortunate now. Our mates can be any Ordinary or any wolf Natural, and if our mate dies before we find each other, we can have another mate.”

  “That’s so sad!”

  He shrugged. “It can be, but it prompts us to live life to the fullest and always appreciate our mate.”

  “Are you mated?” I blurted, then slapped my hand over my mouth. “Oh my gosh. I can’t believe I just asked that. You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to.”

  He laughed. “It’s all right. I don’t mind answering. No, I’m not mated, but I’m still young. We live about the same length of time as the nephilim, so about two hundred years.”

  “Next question: when you kill demons, is it in human or in wolf form?”

  “We can in either form, but it’s easier as a wolf. The human body has limitations. As a human, we can die by human weapons, but it’s much harder to kill us in our wolf form. Because we’re blessed by God, the wolf can only be killed by something equally as holy, like the swords the nephilim and demons carry.”

  I looked at Shay with wide eyes. “Can you die that way, too?”

  “Yes, and I will die someday. I can’t die from a human weapon, though. The angel part of me would heal me back to full health, but depending on the injury, it might take a while. Only the Swords of Hell can kill nephilim.”

  “Is that what those swords are called?” I shuddered at the thought of Shay being struck down. “The ones the Marqs carry?”

  “Yes. They’re swords dipped in Hell’s Fire. Since medieval times, most Knights haven’t carried them, since they’re supposed to look like Ordinaries, and people these days don’t carry swords around. They would look ridiculous if they did, so they generally leave them to the Marqs who can hide them under their cloaks. My guess is they brought both a gun and a sword to the warehouse, though, not knowing who they might run into. They covered both bases.”

  Kieran leaned in. “But Devin didn’t bring one of the Hell’s Swords. And that’s why I wasn’t hurt,” he explained. “Like I said before, they aren’t all that smart.”

  I frowned at Kieran and Sidelle, suddenly afraid. “Can you guys die, too?”

  Kieran sighed. “I can be injured, but no, I cannot die. I will live forever, but it’s not how you think. Angels can lose their bodies. Think of it like a loan.” He paused briefly. “When we are ‘killed’ on Earth, the soul goes on and lives in Heaven with God and the other angels. We can only get back to Earth in another body.”

  I looked at Sidelle, waiting.

  “Fairies fade out of existence,” she told me. “It’s not the same as dying, but if you forget about me long enough, and no one else knew me, would I still exist? It’s like that saying: ‘If a tree falls in the forest but no one is there to hear it, does it still make a sound?’”

  I dropped my head into my hands. “I’m sorry, guys. All this talk about dying and never coming back is making me depressed. Can we talk about prom?”

  All eyes turned in my direction, obviously surprised, and I blushed. “I know it’s not the right time, but I need to change the subject for a bit. That topic is just too heavy.” I grinned at the wolf, hoping to distract them all. “So. Cali, huh?”

  I glanced at Sidelle, hoping to catch her eye, but she wasn’t paying attention. Her eyes wore that soft, unfocused look again.

  “She seems like a nice girl.” Vash grinned. “Better than Morgan. Man, that girl is bad news. I pegged her from the start.”

  Everyone nodded at that observation.

  “Oh.” I slapped my thigh. “I just remembered another question I had for you, Vash. Where are you staying now that you’re going to school?”

  Vash shook his head. “The pack lives in the outskirts of Minnetonka, in the forest. I don’t have a place yet. I’ve been commuting back and forth. Enrolling in school was a spur of the moment decision.”

  “You can stay here,” Kieran suggested. “Shay can use the company, I’m sure. Maybe you guys can train together. Better yet, you both can start training Zoe to fight some defensive maneuvers.”

  “Thanks for the offer.” Vash grinned. “I was planning to ask you this morning. I agree it’s a great idea to start training Zoe. If she wants to, that is.”

  I nodded. “It’s definitely been on my to-do list,” I said then glanced at Sidelle again. She was back with us, her green eyes alert. I tilted my head and nodded in silent question, and she immediately picked up on my hint.

  “I’m going to get something to drink, anyone want anything?” I asked.

  The boys weren’t thirsty, so I left the room and walked toward the kitchen with Sidelle right ahead of me. She was closing the fridge and had set out an opened strawberry pop for me on the counter by the time I entered.

  I reached for the can . . . and it glided the last remaining inches across the counter and into my hand. I stared at the can, wondering if I’d just hallucinated.

  “Hey, Sidelle, did you just see . . .” But no. I shook my head. “Never mind. Hey, I’m sorry about mentioning Cali in front of you. I totally forgot you had a crush on him.”

  She waved a hand at me. “Don’t worry about it. I’m over him.” She tapped her nails on the counter. “He’s certainly into Cali though, which is good. I could tell immediately when he saw her. She’s a nice girl. Don’t tell him, but I have a feeling she could possibly be his mate!”

  “No way.”

  “Way! But, don’t tell. I wouldn’t want to hurt his feelings if I’m wrong. So now—you! Tell me more about the glowing thing. I know you didn’t want to go into graphic detail in front of the boys.”
<
br />   “Um, well, Shay and I returned from our date last night, which by the way was super awesome. Thank you! He stayed in my room all night again. You know, fulfilling the watch schedule.”

  She chuckled. “Yeah, you just keep on telling yourself that if it’s what you need,” she teased. “But just so you know, Kieran and I are off rotation until further notice. All night watching will be done by Shay.”

  “For real?”

  “I’m not joking. Now spill.”

  Awesome. I smiled. “Okay. Well, when he dropped me off, he told me he loved me.”

  Her eyebrows shot up.

  “I know, I know, it’s too soon. But I can’t help the way he feels. Anyway, we moved to my room, and we talked and that led to, well, you know. We kissed—”

  “Where were you?”

  I blushed. “On my bed. Anyway, that’s when I told him I loved him, too . . . and then I started to glow. My whole body. Just like Shay and Kieran!”

  “Super cool! I think that means you should prepare yourself for a set of angel wings.” She grinned.

  “You think? I mean, I can’t be anything else? Like a nephilim or a wolf? I’m just making sure.”

  “Nope. All signs are pointing to an angel. I get why you’re asking, though. You’re worried because you’ll have to watch Shay die someday, or you won’t be able to be with him after your change.”

  “What? Are you saying I might not be with him after I get my wings?”

  She looked slightly uncomfortable. “I don’t know, Zoe. Maybe it’ll be different for you, but angels and nephilim don’t mix. Angels just are and have always been. They weren’t born, but well . . . You’re so not normal. Maybe everything will be thrown out the window with you. I guess you’ll have to cross that road when you get there.”