Champion (War Angel Academy Book 3)

by S. J. West

  Leo lifts his head and looks at me. A glimmer of hope shines in his bright blue eyes.

  “Really, Rayray?”

  “Really.” I stand up and playfully muss his hair. “Now go brush your hair, tadpole. I refuse to be seen with someone who can’t even bother with basic personal hygiene.”

  Leo runs from the kitchen to the living room and down the hallway to his bedroom. I grab my leather jacket from the coat rack by the front door and wait for him to reemerge. He does within a couple of minutes, backpack in tow. When we step outside, my mother can be seen crouched down by her cucumber plants pulling the ripe ones off the vines.

  “Off to school?” she asks, standing up. She repositions her pink sunhat as she watches us descend the steps from the porch.

  “Rayray is gonna get me friends!” Leo’s enthusiasm makes me wonder if I should have kept my plans to myself. Oh well. Cat’s out of the bag now and there’s no putting it back in.

  “Friends?” The quizzical look on my mother’s face tells me that she had no idea Leo was having trouble at school either. In both of our defenses, he’s only been attending school for two months. How were we to know he was having problems forming friendships with the other children? His teacher certainly didn’t mention it, and I intend to find out why.

  “Don’t worry, Mom.” I take one of Leo’s hands with mine as we make our way down the sidewalk. “I’ll handle it.”

  “I know you will,” she says confidently. If my mother knows anything about me, it’s the fact that I would fight to the death to protect Leo. Of course, it didn’t start out that way.

  The first day I brought him home from Laed-i I couldn’t stand the sight of him. He was just a bundle of strange noises and smells. It wasn’t until he laughed for the first time that the ice around my heart toward him started to melt. On that day, I vowed to be his protector, and now I can’t imagine my life without seeing his joyous smile every day; hearing his laughter when we play games; and feeling his warmth when we cuddle up together at night for story time. He’s become the center of my world, and if I have to snatch the hair off some six-year-old’s head for hurting his feelings, so be it.

  The small town we live in is populated only by half-djinn. Levi keeps our talismans locked up in the main guard station, and only allows us access to them if he needs to use our powers. After I returned with Leo, the guards came to my house and asked me to relinquish control over my talisman. I told them that I accidentally left it in the living world, but they didn’t believe me right away. They ended up searching my mother’s home and coming up empty-handed. They even used another djinn’s talisman to make a wish to find mine. It didn’t work but kudos for trying.

  Over the years, I’ve thought about what happened to my talisman, but to this day, it’s still a mystery to me. In the grand scheme of things, I suppose it doesn’t matter. I miss it because a djinn’s talisman is an essential part of who we are, but mourning its loss does me no good. It would be a waste of emotional energy, and I don’t have any to spare. Leo has stolen my heart, and everything I do is for him.

  When we reach the school, I pull the glass door open and walk into the brick-and-mortar building with my game face on. If Leo’s teacher doesn’t give me the help I want, she’ll wish she played hooky from school today.

  Still holding hands, we walk into his classroom and find the other students either sitting at their desks or milling about the room talking to their friends. Leo’s teacher, Mrs. Stafford, is writing some sort of math equation on the board when we walk in. As soon as she sees me, I detect a note of fear in her eyes. Good. When people are scared of you, they’re more likely to cooperate.

  “Good morning, Mrs. Stafford!” Leo is like a bright ray of sunshine wherever he goes, and I can’t imagine why the other children are purposely shunning him.

  “Uh, good morning, Leo.” Mrs. Stafford smiles, but the fearful glance she casts my way breaks the illusion that she’s happy to see either one of us. “Why don’t you take your seat? Class is about to start.”

  Leo lets go of my hand and does what his teacher asked him to do.

  “Can I help you, Rayna?” Mrs. Stafford sets the chalk in her hand on her desk as she waits for my answer.

  “Could we have a word in the hallway? I have some questions about Leo’s schoolwork that I think only you can answer.”

  Mrs. Stafford smooths out her daisy print skirt nervously. “Of course.”

  Her high heels click against the vinyl flooring as she follows me out of the room. I walk to the side of the doorway so none of the little heathens inside can hear our conversation.

  “Wh-what can I help you with?” she stutters, nervously tucking a few stray strands of her auburn hair back into her bun.

  “I want to know why the children in your class are treating Leo like he’s a leper.” The venom in my voice probably isn’t calming her nerves but that can’t be helped. I’ve always had a hard time pretending to be nice. It never quite works out to be believable.

  “The working of a child’s mind is always hard to decipher. I really have no idea why the children aren’t warming up to him.” She glances down the hallway as if praying someone comes to her aid. Unfortunately for her, we’re totally alone.

  I snicker at her trite answer. “Liar.”

  “Excuse me? You have no reason to call me—”

  I grab the front of the woman’s white blouse, slam her against the cinder block wall, and press my arm across her throat, applying just enough pressure to make her start gagging.

  “You need to listen to what I say very carefully, Mrs. Stafford. Either you tell me the truth, or I strangle you. Do we understand one another?”

  Mrs. Stafford nods several times in quick succession, desperate for me to let her go. I ease the pressure on her neck but I don’t let up completely.

  “Speak,” I order.

  “It’s not the children’s fault.” Her voice sounds hoarse, so I move my arm off her neck and rest it across her chest instead. She takes in a deep breath before continuing. “They’re scared to befriend him. They don’t want to be the next one he takes an interest in.”

  “You aren’t making any sense. Be the next one who takes an interest in? Leo?”

  “Not Leo.” She looks both ways out of the corner of her eyes looking frightened to death before she whispers her next word. “Levi.”

  “What?” My body instantly goes numb and my heart beats against my chest like a raging bull trying to escape a pen. “Levi has been visiting Leo here?”

  Mrs. Stafford nods.

  “Why didn’t you tell us?” I slam my fist against a cinder block next to her head, shattering it.

  “He told us not to,” she squeals. She probably thinks her head will be the next thing I hit. I’m seriously considering it, but I need more information first.

  “When does he come?” I press my arm against her chest a little harder. “Do you know what he and Leo do during his visits?”

  “He comes during the morning recess,” she says in a rush of words. “All they do is talk.”

  “How often does this happen?”

  “Every day.”

  “Leo has never mentioned Levi visiting him. He usually tells me everything about his days here.”

  “I’m not sure Leo remembers his talks with Levi,” she says. “When I ask about them, he acts like he doesn’t know what I’m referring to.”

  “So you think Levi is erasing those memories?”

  “It’s the only thing that makes sense,” she says.

  I had no idea Levi had such a power, but I’ve only seen him once since he cut Baal’s claw off and upgraded his control over the power within the Void. For the past six years, we haven’t seen Levi. I knew he wouldn’t forget about us, but I hoped he would wait a few more years before coming back for Leo.

  I drop my arms away from Mrs. Stafford and run back into the classroom. Leo looks up from the book he’s reading and smiles at me. I yank his backpack from underneath his d
esk.

  “We need to go.” I grab his arm and pull him out of his seat.

  “Why?” he asks, clearly confused by my behavior. “We just got here.”

  “You need to trust me.”

  We walk out of the room and exit the building. With his little legs, Leo has a hard time keeping up with me so I toss his backpack over a shoulder before sweeping him into my arms. As fast as I can, I run back home.

  My mother is still in her garden when we return. I’m not sure if it’s the frantic look on my face or the fact I have Leo in my arms or both, but she instantly knows something is wrong.

  “What happened?” She leaves her garden to follow me into the house.

  “Levi has been visiting Leo at school,” I tell her, setting Leo on his feet in the living room. “It’s time for us to leave.”

  “He’s only six.” My mother looks shocked by this new piece of information. “I thought we would have at least a few more years left to plan a better escape.”

  “Yeah, well, we don’t.” I rush to my bedroom and pull out the backpack I’ve already filled with supplies.

  I always knew this day would come, and the moment Leo stole my heart, I started planning a way to hide us from Levi for as long as possible.

  “We have to go and keep moving through the Void so Levi can’t find us.” I grab some extra clothes from my closet and stuff them into my bag.

  “Do you really think that will work?” As usual, my mother sounds dubious about my plan.

  “No, I don’t, Mom, but it’s the only thing I can think to do.”

  My mother grabs me by the arms and shakes me a little, forcing me to look at her and listen to what she has to say.

  “You know as well as I do that Aneela can track down anyone in the Void. She’s the Void’s consciousness. As long as Levi has her under his control, there’s nowhere we can hide from him. You know that.”

  “Then maybe we need to kill Aneela.” My words sound heartless, even to myself.

  “I would do anything to keep Leo safe. You know that,” she says desperately. “I would even commit murder, but neither of us knows if Aneela can be killed. We don’t even know where the Black Castle is located on any given day.”

  Masculine laughter comes from the living room.

  I’ve heard it countless times before in my life and know exactly who is with Leo right now.

  My mother and I run back to the front of the house to find Levi sitting on our couch with Leo perched on his lap. When we walk into the room, Levi looks our way and smiles.

  “I have to commend the two of you,” he says, “you’ve done a wonderful job raising the boy. He’s quite extraordinary.”

  Leo’s eyes look unfocused, his body limp.

  “What have you done to him?” I take a step forward so I can snatch Leo off Levi’s lap, but my feet suddenly feel like they’re stuck in cement. No matter how hard I try, I can’t seem to lift them. “Give him back to us!”

  “You do realize he was never yours, right?” Levi stands and tosses Leo across his shoulder like he’s a rag doll. “I only let you take care of him because I didn’t want to have to deal with changing his diapers and potty training him. Little humans are nasty, needy creatures. I appreciate you getting him to this age, but I’ll take over from here. It’s time he learned how to control his powers over the Void’s energy.”

  “He doesn’t have any powers,” I protest.

  Levi snort laughs. “I never took you for such a fool, Rayna. Of course, he has powers. He simply needs to be shown how to harness them. Like I said, I’m taking him with me. He’ll learn everything I know and together we’ll finally be able to conquer the living world and Heaven.”

  “I’m not going to let you take him!” I struggle to lift my feet off the floor, and from the grunts she’s making behind me, I know my mother is facing the same problem.

  Levi shakes his head like he pities me.

  “Goodbye, Rayna. Goodbye, Gwendolyn. I hope we never have to see each other again.”

  Levi phases.

  I scream for Leo.

  The house and my heart feel empty. Our little boy has been taken from us by a monster, and I know I’ll never feel happiness again until we get him back.

  8

  (Lora’s Point of View)

  When I wake up, the warmth of Silas’s body partially beneath mine makes me want to shut my eyes again and pretend I’m still asleep. From the faint sunlight filtering in through his bedroom window, I know it’s early. We don’t have to be at the academy for at least a couple more hours, but I’ll need to get up soon anyway. Yesterday, I promised Emi I would meet her in our dorm room before breakfast this morning.

  Before Will and Liana’s wedding, I filled Emi in on everything that happened in the Void. Our ordeal there astonished her and Lux’s passing broke her heart. Of course, she was happy to learn that I gained a soul from my friend, but she also understood the devastation I felt over losing my constant companion.

  When I started to tear up while recounting the moment Lux disappeared, Emi held me in her arms like any good friend would and promised that time would help heal my wounded heart. I’ll have to take her word on that. I do feel a little better after the farewell ceremony Silas and I had for Lux, but her loss is like a fresh wound to my heart. I will always miss her, and I’m slowly coming to terms with that fact.

  Last night we stayed at the castle to offer what comfort we could to Cal and his parents. When we left, Jules and Ethan were still distraught, and Cal was simply numb. He didn’t talk and he barely acknowledged our presence after Sariah tried to open a portal to the Void.

  It wasn’t until the wee hours of the morning that we all returned home. At first, I tried to go to sleep in my own room but soon discovered that wasn’t going to happen. I finally tip-toed into Silas’s room and found him still awake. It was almost like he was waiting for me. Once I curled myself up against his warmth, the events of the day came crashing down on me and I fell fast asleep.

  “Are you awake?” Silas whispers.

  “Yes.” I snuggle my head against his bare chest wishing we could stay in bed all day and do absolutely nothing. Maybe after everything is over, I’ll be granted my wish. “But I don’t want to get up just yet.”

  Silas begins to play with strands of my hair. “Me neither. Let’s just stay in bed all day and goof off.”

  “My thoughts exactly.”

  A minute of silence passes by as we simply enjoy each other’s closeness. As my mind slowly begins to run through everything I need to do today, the weight of my responsibilities urges me to get up and get ready. First, I need to go see Emi. Then, I need to figure out how I’m going to convince Azrael to fight on our side instead of Levi’s. How exactly am I going to change his mind about humanity? It may end up being an impossible task, but I have to try.

  Before I can talk myself out of it, I hop out of bed.

  “Aww, are you really leaving?” Silas pokes out his lower lip in disappointment.

  “Is that supposed to entice me to stay?” I can’t help but laugh when he pushes his lip out even farther. “Okay, that’s kind of working, but we have too much to do today. I promised Emi I would meet up with her before breakfast.”

  Silas sighs. “Yeah. I should probably go check on Cal before I head to the academy.”

  “I want to tag along and check on him too. Then, I’ll go meet Emi. Do you think your dad is up this early?”

  “I doubt he went to sleep last night.” Silas swings his legs off the bed to sit up. “I overheard him and Ethan talking about the two Wardens you saw in Warden 99’s memory. They were planning to find them and bring them to the castle for questioning.”

  “They don’t still think the Wardens had anything to do with the baby’s abduction, do they? Rayna has to be the kidnapper. Nothing else explains why I found her necklace in the baby’s crib.”

  “I think they wanted to ask them if they know where Azrael and Alred are.”

  “Oh.�
� I need to leave before Silas delves any further into our missing angel of death’s whereabouts. The last thing I need is for him to ask me a direct question about Azrael. “I’ll meet you in the kitchen so we can go see Cal together.”

  Before he has a chance to say anything else, I duck out the door and go to my room.

  I hate keeping secrets because it feels like I’m lying. Wait, maybe I can talk Azrael into letting me tell one person about him. That’s all I need to unburden the guilt that’s building up inside me. Surely, he would grant me such a small request.

  With this new plan in mind, I quickly change out of my pajamas and into a pair of training clothes. Our schedule at the academy won’t return to normal until the war with Levi is over. I’m not sure anyone else has realized it yet but as soon as Rayna kidnapped Cal’s baby, the countdown to his invasion began.

  It’s a fair assumption that she took the baby back to the Void. If Levi plans to use him in some way during his attack, that means we only have a few days left to prepare for war. I just wish I knew what his plans are for the boy. Does he intend to use him as leverage to make us stand down? It’s possible, but he’s smart enough to understand there’s too much at stake for us to choose one life over an infinite number of souls.

  All I know is that every day here is equivalent to six years in the Void. If Levi plans to use the child during battle, he’ll have to do it within the boy’s lifetime. At most, that probably gives us thirteen to fourteen days. Cal’s son would be anywhere from his late seventies to his early nineties, if he lives that long. Yet, my gut tells me Levi won’t wait that long. My guess is that he’ll use the child while he’s still fairly young which means we probably have four maybe five days to prepare, if that.

  It’s not a lot of time.

  With this in mind, I make my way downstairs to see who might already be awake this morning. When I get there, I find Lilith and Jered standing together on the other side of the kitchen island. Lilith is slicing some oranges in half to make freshly squeezed juice while Jered is starting a pot of coffee in my French Press.