Prophecy Girl (The Five Orders Book 1)

by Holly Roberds

  I shook my head but kept my tone polite. “My Order would never do any such thing as steal a child out of revenge. Besides, I could not possibly be your child as I am a Chevalier.”

  Regina released Phillip’s hand and straightened. Her blue eyes cooled to a frosty temperature. “They made you a Knight of the Light?”

  Again, I shook my head, “They did not make me what I am, only showed me. So you see, I could not be from another Order.”

  Phillip’s dark eyebrows slanted down over his eyes in a menacing glower. “Those bastards.”

  “Phillip,” Regina chided then turned to me. “You don’t know what the Luxis is capable of.”

  I had wasted enough time with these people, and I didn’t know yet what they truly wanted from me. Standing, the chair screeched back behind me. “I am a Chevalier. And that’s who I am.” Though other Orders didn’t have Knights of the Light, Regina and Phillip knew full-well what I was. It was impossible for me to be born in another Order. Surely, they sought to usurp the great power of the Luxis, the most formidable of all the Orders.

  As I walked away, Regina reached out and grabbed my hand, stopping me. Her palm was warm and dry, and half the size of mine. “Please, you must listen to me. You belong with us at the Order of Veritas. Your Masters have been lying to you. They have been controlling you through lies. You belong with your true family, serving the truth. Not the Light.”

  Looking into her pained eyes, I felt sorry for the woman. Gently extracting her hand from mine, I said, “I am very sorry for the loss of your child, but I am not him. I wish light to you and your Order.”

  They didn’t try to follow as I collected Emma and Travis, threw some money on the table, then left the diner to the disconcerting, cheery chime of the doorbell.

  Emma skipped to match my pace. “You okay? You got one big ol’ case of the frownies on your face because of whatever those people said.”

  I immediately cleared my face and my mind. “I am fine. We must get to the safe house, but I’m afraid our route has been compromised. It will take us additional time to take the safer path.”

  As if knowing it was best not to fight me right now, Emma simply said, “Okay.”

  Whether that couple truly thought I was their long-lost son or not, their contact greatly unsettled me. A pin prick of ice stuck at the center of my chest. I fell back onto the chants my Masters had taught me to hone my faith, silently repeating them in my head to clear all other thoughts.

  When I informed Travis of our delay in the car, he was less accommodating. As he complained about the additional stretch, I pinched the bridge of my nose, feeling the hot coils of a headache form.

  “Travis,” Emma said, a quiet warning in her voice as she looked at me with concern. “Shut up.”

  For once, he listened to her and I was grateful.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  Once again, Travis was slumped in the back, snoring noisily, after his driving shift. Emma’s delicate fingers gripped the wheel and I was mesmerized by how they flexed and relaxed as she sat deep in thought. Though I’d observed her for only a short time, I’d learned the lower her brows dipped, the deeper her thoughts were.

  We’d been driving most of the day in silence, everyone too exhausted to talk. Soon darkness would descend and take my view of Emma’s beautiful face.

  Emma broke the silence. “So, if you can’t drive, how do you get around? I mean if you have a safe house so far away from where we were, I’m guessing you aren’t walking back and forth.”

  “Sometimes.”

  Emma shot me a look of horror. “Sometimes?”

  “I also hitch rides with people. Mainly truck drivers.”

  “You’re an intrepid soul, aren’t you?” Then she added to herself, “Well, I guess if you’ve been slaying demons and ghosts, strangers probably don’t worry you.”

  I smiled.

  Emma spoke softly, “Are you worried they’re following us?” She was talking about the people at the diner.

  I sighed. “Yes.”

  “Who were they?”

  I struggled to explain. “They are from a different Order than me.”

  “Order? Like the Order of the Temple we are going to?”

  “Yes, ours is called the Order of Luxis. Those people at the diner are from the Order of Veritas.”

  She snorted in disbelief. “How many orders are there?”

  “Five.”

  Emma’s eyes darted to me for a moment as if nervous. “What did they want?”

  I didn’t answer right away. “They wanted to deceive me. Convince me to turn away from my Masters, away from the light.”

  “So they’re bad guys.” Her fingers tapped along the steering wheel.

  “No.” I shook my head, unable to look away from her tapping fingers. “They are not bad. Misguided. They are led by a different doctrine. My Masters warned me that one day representatives from the other Orders would perhaps approach me in attempts to make me deny my Order. They would use falsehoods and tricks to turn me against the Light for what they believe to be the better good. The Order of Luxis is the most powerful of all the Orders and has been for the last two hundred years, which makes us a target. It was just as my Masters told it.”

  Emma laughed, weakly. “Guess that’s the second time you’ve been lied to then?”

  I turned to look at her. The sunlight streamed through the car as it made its slow descent behind the mountains. It lit up the gold strands of her hair and turned her eyes a deep honey color that reminded me of the light of my powers, except warmer. She shot me a smile. I wished the moment would never end. That it could just be her and me riding through the red rocky expanse of Wyoming headed to wherever we wanted. For several long minutes, I allowed myself the luxury of thinking just that.

  Emma and Travis begged for respite for three hours before I agreed to stop.

  Because of the agents of Veritas, we would have to endure a longer route and I needed to be sure the agents weren’t still tracking us. At least this way, I could make sure we had truly lost them. Both Travis and Emma were weary beyond measure from the stress of the past two days. They took turns driving but both were unfocused, and I could tell they were nearing total exhaustion. Even I knew the value of a solid bed, a hot meal, and a couple hours of uninterrupted rest. As we drove up to the small motel I told Travis he could pull into, I knew rest would be a distant memory for me until we reached my safe house. I would have to remain on constant guard.

  After paying for the room in cash, I took a turn about the premises for a threat assessment while Emma and Travis waited in the car with the engine on. Part of me worried Travis would use the opportunity to flee but he seemed to slowly but surely conclude I was his best bet at staying alive. I hoped after the brief respite, he would finally be mollified.

  Once we got in the room, Travis flopped on one of the beds, heaving a sigh of relief.

  “Sweet, sweet bed. You understand me.”

  The wallpaper was of dark green foliage, making the room appear small and dark. The quilts on the two queen beds matched the wallpaper, giving the place a pseudo-jungle look. Every piece of furniture had signs of heavy wear and age, and a few stains remained in the thin Berber carpet despite someone’s best efforts to get them out. It smelled like mothballs and generic hotel soap.

  Despite it being far nicer than my normal accommodations, claustrophobia fell over me like an invisible blanket bound by ropes. I fought it by taking measured breathes. Too many unknowns in one day. I had to stay focused and relaxed. I had to believe we were going to be fine staying here. If the agents of Veritas wanted to keep eyes on us here, I would be able to put eyes right back on them. I would not conclude our journey to the safe house until I knew they’d given up their pursuit.

  Anxiety swelled up in me. If Order of Veritas discovered I had the Propheros under my protection, they would stop at nothing to obtain him. The Veritas also had interpretations of the prophecy and I couldn’t let them control the savio
r of the Light. Today’s deceitful attempt confirmed they couldn’t be trusted.

  Emma rolled her eyes but couldn’t help smiling as Travis flailed his arms and legs open and close on the bed like he was swimming. Then she looked me out of the corner of her eye. “There are two beds.”

  “Yes.”

  Travis understood immediately. “As the guy who has to fight the coming darkness, I get my own bed. You two can share.”

  Oh. Two beds. Three of us.

  The image of sharing a bed with Emma flashed through my mind and sent heat shooting through my body. Her cheeks flushed in kind as if she knew what images had flashed through my mind in vivid color.

  I cleared my throat. “The bed is for you.” I walked over to the mustard yellow chair with the threadbare arms next to the unoccupied bed and set my sword against it. “I will keep watch while you both rest.”

  Emma set her hands on her hips. “You have to rest at some point, too. You’re not a machine.”

  “Terminator,” Travis said from the bed with his arms still splayed out, eyes closed.

  Emma cast a glance over her shoulder but didn’t elaborate on what he was talking about. Instead, she said to me, “Can I keep watch for a while, so you can get some sleep?”

  A smile softened my face. No one had ever tried to take care of me before. “I’ll keep first watch. I’ll wake you when I need it.”

  She nodded with a satisfied smile.

  I didn’t further explain I wouldn’t need it. I would let her sleep through the night. It was more important she was rejuvenated. I was used to few hours of sleep when hunting, but I knew her urge to care for me was stronger than my reasoning. A pang went through my heart.

  If only I were a normal man. I’d offer her my soul in a moment.

  A gurgle emanated from Travis’s stomach with alarming volume. He clutched at his belly.

  “Yeah,” Emma nodded at Travis, “I’m starving, too. How about we introduce our very own Terminator to the joys of pizza?”

  Travis popped up onto his elbows and grinned.

  Scratching my eyebrow, I finally asked, “What is this terminator you keep speaking of?”

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  Travis had disappeared into the bathroom with a large pizza box, saying not to wait on him. He preferred to eat in the tub. The water ran behind the closed door leaving Emma and me alone with the other large pizza.

  “I did ask if they had salad,” she said, apologetically.

  We had both already taken the chance to quickly shower. My shirt was covered in ichor from the Crib and I’d sweated through it multiple times, so I washed it in the sink. It was hanging on a rack in the bathroom to dry, which meant I went bare-chested. I did my best to ignore the hot looks Emma gave me when she thought I wasn’t looking. For that reason, I’d kept my pants on even though they could use a good cleaning, too. I’d wash them later when she was asleep. I felt exposed and out of control as it was.

  Emma sat cross legged on the bed in black leggings that clung to her bottom half and a shirt resembling what I recognized to be the style that sports players wore. It had stripes and a number on the back, except hers was white and pink, form fitting, and smaller than the sports shirts I saw on men. Her damp hair was once again pulled back in a ponytail and her glasses were back on. I found her irresistibly adorable. Even after a week of watching her, I wasn’t sure which was more appealing, looking into her naked eyes, or being able to gauge if she was thoughtful or nervous as she pushed her frames up her nose.

  Emma opened the pizza box and patted the empty space next to it on the bed. Admittedly the scents wafting off the pizza were tantalizing, but the sight of grease and processed cheeses made my stomach roil. I’d left my pack of provisions back at the abandoned building next to those bottles of unopened wine.

  There it was again.

  My fantasy interrupted my thoughts as I remembered those wine bottles. The image swam in front of my eyes. It was just Emma and I, a blanket laid out under us, except this time I knew the taste of her lips and we’d do more than dine on food….

  No. I ordered myself to stop. Burying the fantasy, I sternly reminded myself I could never have any such thing and it was no use entertaining impossibilities that would distract me from what was real.

  Refocusing on my current food plight, I knew the vegetables in my abandoned pack were no doubt wilted by now, but I wished I had some of the canned goods and jerky.

  When I realized Emma was waiting on me, I picked up the large, floppy slice of pizza. Strings of cheese dripped off it mercilessly, attempting to cling to the rest of the pie.

  I gave her a helpless look and she laughed. “Come on, don’t look at me like that. You’re going to love it. Or I think you will. And plus,” she said with excitement, pointing at the slice in my hand. “I put every veggie they had available on it. So, it’s kind of healthy.” She smiled hopefully at me.

  I now realized how she must have felt when she was giving me false accolades for my dumpster fire.

  Unable to escape now, I caught the tip of the slice between my teeth. It was hot but didn’t scald my tongue. To show my commitment I took a healthy bite and gave her a wry smile through my mouthful.

  Then something extraordinary happened. The bite of pizza melted into my mouth in a rush accompanied by a flavor explosion. The textures of the cheese and crust slid pleasantly against each other in my mouth and struck a perfect balance of salt and tang. My whole mouth sang in exultation. I shivered.

  Emma leaned in toward me. Her eyes shone with lust, reminding me of the way she looked at me right before kissing me in her bedroom. Lips parted, her breathing became labored as she watched me.

  “You like it,” she said, her voice breathy.

  Swallowing, I replied, “Yes, I do.”

  She shook her head, her voice rougher than it was a moment ago. “It wasn’t a question. I know you do.” She took her glasses off, putting them down on the bedside table.

  Too tempted to stop my new exploration of ‘pizza’, I took another bite but looked at her with question in my eyes.

  “I feel you,” she said, and shuddered. Her eyes closed as if experiencing extreme pleasure, and suddenly my pants tightened against my lap as blood rushed down my body at her wanton expression.

  I returned the slice of pizza to the box.

  “Emma?” I asked.

  When her eyes opened, they were nearly black, her pupils dilated, threatening to swallow the soft brown of her irises. “I thought it was just me but it’s not. When you look at me, I feel this heat and need surge up within me. It’s so intense I think…” she swallowed hard. “I think I’m going to drown in it.” She was whispering now though Travis couldn’t possibly hear her over the running water in the bathroom. “I want to throw myself at you and rip your clothes off and touch every part of you.”

  Gods. If I wasn’t hard before, I was now. It was almost painful but I kept deadly still, afraid of what I’d do if I moved.

  “Then just now, when you took that bite. Your enjoyment was so intense that I felt it too. Don’t you see?” Her eyes begged me to understand and for more than I could give. “I can feel what you’re feeling.”

  I didn’t know what to say. I wanted to tell her that was impossible, but I remembered every shudder that rippled through her body. Every time she licked her lips with hungry desire. Every time her eyes had glazed over with lust because they all had mirrored my own intense desire to claim her.

  My rational mind still attempted to chastise my indulgence in her fantasy.

  “Emma,” I started, but she put her hand on my bare chest and my breath came to an abrupt halt.

  “You can’t pretend you don’t feel it, because I’m inside you now. Somehow,” she said in a disbelieving tone coupled with a light laugh. She looked at her hand. The electric blue polish was mostly chipped off her nails now.

  It didn’t detract from her appeal in the least. There was something so spontaneous about the fervor with whi
ch she lived that she made perfection look like a two-dimensional bore. She was straight-forward, unafraid, hot-blooded, so… so alive, and about to make a mess of my whole existence.

  “I know what this is doing to you,” she said, her whisper breaking as if she were being tormented.

  I was trapped between the torment and the most intense pleasure. Only the gods could have designed it.

  “Then why are you doing it?” I asked, pain tightening my words.

  “Because…” her words drifted off, eyes searching mine as if she could find the answer there. Her gaze seemed to rip the flesh and bone from me until there was nothing hidden. This was too much. I shouldn’t be seen, especially not like this.

  She went on, “I want you more than I’ve ever wanted anything in my life, Calan.”

  With those words, my name sliding off her tongue so deliciously, my last vestige of control snapped like a brittle twig. I grabbed her by the back of her neck and my mouth crashed down on hers with all the crazed hunger I’d felt for seven days, ten hours and some odd minutes.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  Emma pushed the pizza box aside and lunged forward to sit on my lap, her legs wrapping around my waist. The contact of her sex against my mine, even through our clothing, evoked a hiss of shock from me. Heat radiated from her pelvis into my straining manhood which begged to be freed.

  She threw her head back, exposing the expanse of her neck to me. Elegant. It was the only word to describe that stretch of skin.

  “Oh god, Calan,” her words were drawn out in intense pleasure. “I can feel what this does to you. I feel how badly you want me. It’s turning me inside out.”

  I claimed her mouth again, forcing my tongue past her teeth, fully tasting her.

  My hands burrowed up into her hair, snapping her tie away so the wet locks fell into my grasp. I tugged it lightly at the base of her skull. She gasped, then her sharp breath dissolved into a moan that struck me so hard, I worried I would embarrass myself.

  Just because I’d never been with a woman didn’t mean I wasn’t aware of what couples did behind closed doors. My Masters warned against the evils of giving into lust, instructing I do everything in my power to please the gods with chastity.