Noru 4: When Angels Break (The Noru Series, Book 4)

by Lola StVil

  “Actually, that’s what I came to tell you—we know who has your powers,” the Healer replies.

  “What? How do you know who has them?” Winter asks.

  “Let me explain. As you know, the vial containing your son’s powers is called a Layu. The wonderful thing about this tiny vial is that it cannot be ingested by any other being than the one whose blood is in the vial. That’s why I wasn’t too worried. Only East can drink the Layu because his blood is the one inside the Layu container.”

  “So, that’s good, right? It means it doesn’t matter who took my powers, they won’t be able to use them,” East replies.

  “I’m no expert, but I’d say wait until the Healer is finished. I’ve never known these ‘vial explanations’ to go in our favor,” Randy quips.

  “Randy!” Swoop scolds.

  “What? C’mon, this is usually the part where someone tells us something that totally sucks and inevitably ends up screwing us over—badly.” Randy shrugs.

  “I’m afraid the human is right,” the Healer says.

  “Told you,” Randy whispers to Swoop under his breath.

  “Vladimir, what are you talking about?” Winter asks her friend.

  “Although the contents of a Layu cannot be ingested by anyone other than the being whose blood is inside, its contents can be altered. And it appears to have been.”

  “How do you know it’s been altered?” Bex asks.

  “I made a Living Recipe,” the Healer says.

  “That means when he created the Layu vial, he wrote down all the substances he used in his Healer’s journal. When someone adds or takes something away from his creation, the change shows up in the journal,” Key explains to us.

  “Okay, so whoever took the vial containing my son’s powers couldn’t drink it, so instead they made a change to it.”

  “That is correct.”

  “Okay…what change did they make?” East asks, still on edge.

  “They added a rare component, one that is nearly impossible to find. It’s called Kerr,” the Healer says.

  “Oh no…” Key whispers in shock.

  “Here we go again,” Randy says softly, shaking his head.

  “What the hell is Kerr, and why does Key look like that?” East shouts.

  “Kerr changes the main function of any mixture to do the opposite of what it was originally made to do. The Layu was intended to protect East’s life and now…”

  “And now what? Spit it out!” Easton yells.

  “Now the Layu is designed to release East’s powers to anyone who takes his life.”

  “The demon who stole my powers couldn’t use it so he altered it, and he’s now coming for me?”

  “It’s worse than that,” the Healer replies.

  “Seriously, how can it be worse?” Swoop asks.

  “There are two demons who took the Layu from its hiding place.”

  “Who?” Winter asks.

  “The Brimstone Twins.”

  “DAMN IT, VLAD, HOW COULD YOU LET THIS HAPPEN?” Winter barks at her friend.

  The team and I exchange looks of terror. Randy looks at us, puzzled.

  “Okay, break it to me, who are the Brimstone Twins, and how bad are they?” Randy says.

  “They are a set of twin demons who can’t die. Their names are Kalamity and Kontrol. They have lived a long time and are obsessed with one particular aspect of human life: entertainment,” Bex says.

  “I know how sick those twin bastards can be. What did they do?” East asks.

  “They took out ads on Facebook, Twitter, and all other major social media source. They released the fact that the Kerr had been added to the Layu. And said that whoever wanted to have the power of the Noru, all they had to do is kill a certain half angel,” the Healer says.

  “OHMYOMNIS,” Winter says as she looks at an app on her cell phone.

  “Mom, what is it?” East asks.

  “It’s a GPS tracker that tells you the general location of demons in our world. The top-level ones won’t show up, but many mid-level demons do. Normally there is an equal amount of evil spread throughout the world, but now they are all flocking to New York,” she says.

  She leans closer and shows us the red dots gathering on the map on her cell.

  Unable to bring himself to look at the screen, East asks his mother in a somber voice, “Mom, who’s coming after me?”

  “Everyone.”

  Chapter Seven:

  All That Matters

  Right before our eyes, Winter goes into overdrive. She doesn’t even sound like Easton’s mom anymore. She sounds more like a highly trained operative on a mission. She begins to place a series of calls and orders East to walk towards the street with the most humans, where demons are less likely to attack. She wraps up her phone conversation and addresses her son with authority.

  “I reached out to an old contact and they’ve set up a hideout for you. You will go there for the next three days and wait for the first wave of demons to die down. Then we’ll move you to another safe house. The trick is to keep moving. Don’t contact anyone on this team or go anywhere familiar. Say goodbye to your friends and let’s go,” she demands.

  “What? No, I’m not going anywhere with you!” East counters.

  “Easton, this is not a game. You have to put your childish anger aside and do what I say,” Winter replies.

  “I can work up a quick mixture so that no one can track his movements,” the Healer says.

  “Good, get on it. Meanwhile we need to get out of the country. Vlad, I will make contact in the usual way,” Winter says.

  The Healer agrees to the cryptic instructions and rushes off like a character in an old spy movie.

  “East, don’t worry about your things. The lighter you travel, the easier it is to stay alive. Let’s move!”

  “Wow, you really don’t get it,” East barks.

  “No! You’re the one who doesn’t get it! They are after you. The one thing I tried to prevent from happening your whole life is taking place right now. I did not spend the last seventeen years protecting you so that I can watch demons tear you apart.”

  “I AM NOT GOING ANYWHERE WITH YOU!” he blares.

  “If I have to beat the hell out of you to save your life, then that is exactly what I intend to do,” his mother informs him.

  “If that’s what you need to do, then fine, but the fact is, I am not going with you. And I don’t care who’s after me. I would rather die at their hands than spend one more second with you,” East says in no uncertain terms.

  Winter looks as if someone plucked her heart right out of her body. I gently take her over to the side.

  “Winter, I know you want what’s best for East, but right now, even if what’s best for him is to go with you, he won’t.”

  “I’m doing this for his sake,” she counters.

  “I get that, but he’s not going to accept help from you. Winter, you walked into his world and blew it up. That hurts. When my parents told me Malakaro was my brother, that’s exactly what they did to me—they took my entire world away. And I know they wanted to make it better, but I didn’t want to be near them because at that moment they became the enemy.”

  “I am not his enemy. Easton is my baby. He and his sister are all I have in the world,” she says as tears run from her eyes.

  “I get it; you want to go in and put his world back together, but you can’t because you’re the one who caused it to explode in the first place.”

  “So what do I do? Just let him get killed?”

  “Your son is a member of my team. We have been in a lot of awful situations, but I have kept everyone alive. I don’t give a damn who comes for Easton, they’ll have to get past us first.”

  “I can’t lose him, Pryor, I just can’t,” she begs.

  “You won’t.”

  “This mess is all my fault. By trying to protect him, I ended up placing him in more danger than ever before. He will never forgive me.”

  “H
e will, but I promise you that forgiveness isn’t coming today. So please, let us handle it. We will protect him and see to his safety. You step back and give your son some room. We got this.”

  “But you’re all just kids.”

  “Winter, there’s something you need to remember: My father and his team of Guardians conquered the biggest evil that ever lived. They faced impossible odds and endured incredible loss, but in the end, they won. And I am very much my father’s child. I. Don’t. Lose.”

  “You vow to me that you will see to his safety?”

  “With my life.”

  She looks over my shoulder and sees Easton standing a few yards away. He looks pissed and ready to stand his ground. She knows she won’t be able to get him to leave the country with her. She looks back at me with sad eyes and reluctantly agrees to back off.

  Relieved, I walk away from her and head back towards the team. I hear her call out my name. When I turn to face her, she asks me a question that I don’t know the answer to.

  “Pry, have you forgiven your father?”

  An hour later the team is back at the house, having a meeting with the Face. She is the only one from the board (aside from Uncle Rage) we take advice from. I told off the other members a while ago. I informed them that we would only trust the Face, as she was my mom’s choice when it came to picking a guide to look after us.

  While the Face is on our side, she isn’t making it easy for us to do what we want. She’s an ever-present force that insists on things like attending school, getting homework done and staying safe. She is about as fun and exciting as cardboard. However, she can be trusted, and that makes her valuable to us.

  The Face lost her son, Noble, and ever since then she’s been even more insistent on keeping us safe. I knew she would object to our plans and I was right. As we sit at the table, she shakes her head in disapproval.

  “No, I’m sorry, Ms. Cane, but you and your team will need to go into hiding. Staying in New York City is unacceptable.”

  “They found us in New York; they will find us no matter where we go. And we can’t run every time a demon is after us,” I reply.

  “It’s not ‘a’ demon, it’s ‘every’ demon,” she reminds me.

  “We have already taken precautions. Bex ordered around-the-clock surveillance of this neighborhood by the Paras, Uncle Rage got the board to implement the barrier around us, and now this whole block is a no-fly zone. That means that there won’t be any aerial attacks,” East says.

  “And there’s added security at the school,” I remind her.

  “You aren’t worried for your life?” the Face asks East.

  “No,” East lies.

  “Pryor Cane, you said that you would take my advice. And my advice is to take the team somewhere safe until we can locate the Layu and destroy it. As I understand it, that is the only way for Easton to get his powers back and to stop the Demon world from coming after him.”

  “We will take your advice under consideration. But in the end, the decision is with us or, more accurately, with me. And I will not let my team run away every time a demon comes for us. We would be running forever,” I tell her.

  “Pry’s right. We can’t keep interrupting our lives because we’re being hunted,” Swoop says.

  “So we just sit here and wait for them to come and take East?” Bex says.

  “No. The board says they’re sending angels to find out where the Layu is, and we need to trust that they will do just that,” I reply.

  “Are you saying that you and your team are actually going to let the board do its job and protect your team?” the Face asks.

  “Yes. We will not get in the way. However, we want to go back to our normal lives while the board seeks the Layu,” I tell her.

  “And you will not place yourself in danger?” the Face asks.

  “No, we’re going to leave everything up to you and the board. The last time they were supposed to protect us, they kind of sucked at it. But this is their second chance.”

  “They will be happy to hear it.”

  “So we really are going to sit back and do nothing?” Randy asks, confused.

  “Yes, we’re going to play by the rules,” I reply.

  “First time for everything,” Key says.

  “And all of you are in agreement on this?” the Face asks.

  She looks around at everyone, and they all consent to allowing the board to handle the latest threat.

  “Very well,” she says as she gets up from the table.

  “And of course, I will be watchful of all of you at school as well,” the Face adds.

  “Thank you,” I reply.

  “Also, according to the media, Silver is to be a father, is that true?” she asks me.

  “Yes.”

  “What a knack you all have for making poor choices,” she says pointedly.

  “Ruin’s pregnancy was a surprise. But we are all dealing,” I say, trying to sound casual.

  “Pryor, Silver has made his choices. But you have just started your life; his decisions don’t have to be yours,” she cautions.

  WTH?

  “Um…okay, thanks,” I reply.

  As soon as the Face leaves, I address the team.

  “Randy, start researching the Brothers and find out where they’re likely to hide a precious vial. Swoop, I asked Spider for help, but he hasn’t gotten back to me. I know he’ll be more eager to help if the request comes from you, so get on it. Key, see what mixtures you can come up with that might allow us to make a quick getaway if we need to. East, you’ve had a long day, go rest. That’s an order. Everyone else, let’s go, we have a vial to find.”

  “So we aren’t going to sit back and wait for the board?” Randy asks.

  “The hell we are,” I reply.

  “Okay, but why lie?” Swoop asks.

  “We need to be in school since it’s filled with humans and it’s less likely we’ll be attacked there. And the Face looks like she’s aged twenty years since the death of her son. I didn’t want to add to her stress by making her worry about us,” I inform them as I head for the front door.

  “Where you going?” Bex asks.

  “I’m gonna go back to the clinic and update Aaden on what’s happening. Be back soon.”

  As soon as I turn the knob, Easton’s cell phone rings. He takes a look at it. The word “Mom” is displayed across the screen. He shakes his head angrily and declines the call. He heads up the stairs and into his room.

  “Swoop, after you contact Spider, go talk to East.”

  “What am I supposed to say?”

  “Say whatever you say to family to make it all better.”

  When I arrive inside the clinic, I find Aaden sitting in the waiting area, looking at the room across the hall where Ruin and his daughter lie. As soon as I enter, he jumps up and greets me.

  “The team texted me and said you were on your way. I made them tell me what happened, I couldn’t wait,” he admits.

  “I’m trying to be okay with the whole thing, but we’ve never been hunted by absolutely every demon before. East is in a lot of danger.”

  “We can handle it, you know that,” he says soothingly.

  “That’s what I told the Face and everyone else but, Aaden…this is bad. This is really, really bad. I mean, I still have to keep Randy out of Malakaro’s clutches and make sure no one finds out he’s the Blue Rose.

  “If they find out, it will get back to Malakaro. If that happens, all he would need to do is find the other three vials. Once Malakaro puts all five of his vials together, he’ll come after Randy and it’s all over.

  “Then I would have to kill Randy in order to stop Malakaro from using him to gain infinite power, and I can’t do that. I can’t kill Randy, save East, stop the whole Demon world, and you have no idea how overdue my history report is!” I reply in full freak-out mode.

  “Hey, it’s okay. It’s gonna be okay,” he says as he places his hand on the side of my face tenderly.

 
; “Why can’t we ever catch a break? It’s like the world waits for us to get on our feet just so it can knock us right back down. It’s not fair.”

  “I know.”

  “Argh! It’s so frustrating. I mean, what the hell else can go wrong?”

  “It’s okay to be stressed out about the missions. That’s a part of being Noru too,” he reminds me.

  “It’s not just that. I miss my mom and dad so much. I miss knowing that I will see them. It’s gotten to the point where I don’t even think about them coming back from the light.”

  “Yes, but they will come back. Your parents will be back. You can’t give up on them.”

  “I want to be strong, I do. But I’ve lost so much. Not just me, but all of us. And things don’t look like they will get easier. I would give anything just to be closer to my dad. I just want to talk to him. First Sam’s gone and now…it feels like I’ve lost them too.”

  He pulls me into his embrace protectively. Feeling his solid chest against me makes me feel safe. I bury my head under his chin and breathe him in; his scent is intoxicating as always. I beg Omnis to slow time down so I can enjoy this moment.

  “Silver, the demon is awake now,” Luna says as she enters the hallway.

  “Okay, thank you,” he replies as we pull apart.

  He looks into my eyes, as if asking for permission to go see Ruin and his daughter. I want him to stay here with me, but so what? I want a lot of things…

  “Go, I’ll wait for you out here,” I promise him.

  He pulls me into him once again and kisses me lovingly. Aaden then walks quietly into the dimly lit room. I walk up to the window and look in. Aaden sits down beside Ruin’s bed. She slowly opens her eyes and looks around the sterile room.

  “How are you feeling?” he asks in a concerned whisper.

  “Good, when can I get out of here?”

  “Luna wants to monitor you for a little while.”

  “I’m okay.”

  “And the baby?”

  “Sparks is doing just fine.”

  “You call her Sparks?”

  “It’s just a nickname. Our child is obsessed with flames. She can gawk at them for hours.”