Zero Rising: Soldier of Light Chronicles Book 3

by Ireland Gill

  I sat in the wet sand and let the warm water glide up to my feet. It felt almost magical, sitting there by the ocean, like I could throw all of my troubles into it and they’d just vanish. As if I could submerse myself into that water, and any pain I'd been feeling would just disappear forever.

  Yes. This was truly a dream.

  My father became a tiny spec along the endless shore by the time I looked at him again. I heard the crashing of the waves against the rocks in the near distance and the foam that bubbled up on the sand around me. I closed my eyes and inhaled the smell of the sea water, admitting to myself that I'd found some peace in this dream.

  I opened my eyes to the bright sun shining in the window and listened to the laughter of Spongebob Squarepants on Nickelodeon. I focused, realizing I was still on the couch. Jaxon! I thought. I looked to my right to see him still sleeping soundly. I checked the time. It was nine forty-seven. As usual, I was impatient. A thought ran through my mind and I wanted to know if I could resolve some of this right away. I leaned into Jaxon.

  “Jax,” I whispered.

  He moaned and moved his head slightly.

  “Jax, I know you wanna sleep and you can go back to sleep, but I had a thought and wanted to tell you right now.”

  A small slit appeared between his eyelids. He winced with a soft “ugh” at the sunlight and turned his head away from the light into the pillow, raising his arm over his face. “Okay, I'm listening,” he said groggily.

  “Are you sure?”

  “I'm blind now, but yes, my ears are working,” he gave me a smirk, his arm still over his eyes.

  “Okay. Well, I want you to move in,” I said quickly.

  He lifted his arm and popped one eye open to look at me. He just stared with his one eye. “Um, you mean to live here?”

  I rolled my eyes and laughed at him. “No Jaxon, to be my pool boy. Yes! To live here.”

  He looked at me incredulously with his one eye. “Evika, you don't even have a pool.”

  I laughed at his comment and shook my head. “This must be sleepy Jaxon, huh?”

  He laughed lightly. “Yeah, this is called needs-to-go-back-to-sleep Jaxon, but it's okay. I can manage this conversation.” He rubbed both of his eyes, then held a pillow to the side of his face to block the light. He gave me a cheesy smile.

  “So?” I was impatient.

  “Well, I told you I was already planning on moving down here after my lease was up, but I didn't mean I was moving in. I was just going to find an apartment or something around here to be close to you.”

  “I know, but I want you living in this house. And I don't want to wait for your lease to be up.”

  “Ev, my lease isn't up for another four months. I'd have to plan—-”

  “I'll pay it off. No big deal. I'll set up the movers, the truck, all f it. We’ll start today. I'll even take you shopping and we can design your room however you want it.”

  “Evika, the house is big and all, but I really don't want to impose. I don’t want to piss your Guardian off here. There is no reason—-”

  “Jaxon, I need you to move in,” I said sternly.

  He looked at me curiously. “What's with the urgency all of a sudden? Are you always like this when you get an idea?”

  I sighed and forced a smile at him. “I just want us to catch up on all the time we've missed, and in order to do that I think you should be here with me.” It was true, but it wasn't the whole truth. I couldn't let him know what I knew, at least, not everything. Not yet. I watched him intently, waiting for his answer.

  He smirked at me. “Do you always get what you want?”

  “More often than not, yes,” I bobbed my head. “Don’t ruin my streak. So, is that a yes?”

  “I have a feeling it's in my best interest to say 'yes,' considering that I don't want to end up like your soaked angel out there,” he joked, nodding his head toward the back door.

  “Glad we're in agreement. You can go back to sleep now.” I threw the blanket over his head and laughed as I headed to the kitchen to make breakfast.

  I heard him yawn and then speak through the blanket. “Hey wait, what about....guests?”

  I turned to look at the bump under the blanket that was my brother. “Guests?” I asked him.

  “Uh....ya know....girls?” he said quietly.

  “Oh, right.” I realized what he meant. I thought for a moment and smirked, remembering the witty phrase of my best friend. “Just don't bring home any ho-bags.”

  His laughter filled the living room before shouting out, “Duly noted!”

  I smiled with relief as I pulled out the waffles from the freezer. I popped a few in the toaster and looked out the back window to find Hayden laying in the hammock next to the tent, reading the same book from the night before, from what I could tell.

  I let out a nervous sigh, realizing that it was going to be a long and trying day.

  Chapter Five Cornered

  I took a long and deep, controlled breath as I walked out of the house toward Hayden's “camp site.” He was still laying in the hammock, but with the book lying face down over his chest. I read the title as I got closer: The Quantity Theory of Insanity. I always did love that book. I wondered what the quantity of my sanity was that very moment.

  I sauntered up to him and folded my arms. I watched him lock his fingers and place them behind his head. “You came out sooner than I thought you would,” he antagonized.

  I narrowed my eyes at him. “Don't get excited, Hayden. I'm still pissed off,” I spat back.

  “Clearly,” he said as he sat up and relaxed his tight expression with a sigh of, what seemed like, defeat. “And you have every right to be, Evika. But know this, Jaxon was not my secret to tell you yet.”

  “Oh, no?” I asked. “When might have the truth come out then, Hayden? Huh? Didn't knowing about my twin brother and not having told me yet ever eat away at you in the slightest way? At all?” I sort of gulped after having said that to him as I thought of the secrets I had of my own. “Seems like you were doing just fine living in this little fairy tale until Jaxon showed up.” God! I felt like such an ass.

  Hayden's brow furrowed as he slid out of the hammock and walked toward me, stopping when our faces were only inches apart. He looked me dead in the eyes. “It. Killed. Me.” He said each word with such intensity. “Every minute of every day, Evika. It killed me.” His nostrils flared. “You have no idea.”

  I looked away and pursed my lips, mostly to help not to fall into the pattern of crying again. I wondered what it was that killed me more; Hayden's brutal honesty of how he really felt or my own guilt eating away at me on the inside. I had to find a way to bury it now.

  I met his eyes again. “Jaxon's moving in,” I said bluntly.

  “He's what?” Hayden's eyes widened.

  “It's what I want, Hayden. He's moving in. I call the shots on things from now on and I say that rules are going to change around here. And it starts now.”

  “Evika, no way. It's too dangerous to—-”

  “I have to protect him!” I cut him off.

  He looked at me sternly. “It's not your job, Evika. You have no control over this.”

  I raised an eyebrow. “Oh, I don’t?’

  In a haste, I swung the duffel bag I’d had hanging behind my back over to my hip. I dropped the heavy bag of castors onto the grass at my feet. They made a deep clanking noise as they landed since I’d taken them out of their protective casings that Elliott had made for them.

  Hayden looked at me inquisitively. “What’s this?”

  I then pulled the box of matches out from my front hoodie pocket. I was tired of not having control. Tired of my fate being decided for me, and tired of all of the lies, the secrets of my past being hidden from me while I waited for all of them to be unraveled, little by little. I was beyond frustrated now, and way past my boiling point.

  I held the box of matches out and pulled out a green-tipped match, staring at the bag. I knew burning
them would do me no good; Elliott could duplicate them all over again, as many times as the Council asked him to. It wouldn't matter how many I destroyed. But I didn't care. For the time being, this would make me feel better. It was symbolic.

  Just when I held the match to the box getting ready to strike it, the flash of a black object whipped past my eyes, and the box flew along with it from my hands in one blink. The sound of a rip to my left beckoned my head to turn to find the box of matches pinned to the huge oak's trunk not four feet away from me. The box was held there by a large, black throwing knife embedded into the bark. The box was pinned long-ways, and some of the matches spilled to the ground, rolling out of the opening at the end.

  I immediately turned to my right to see an angry looking, unkempt man in a dirty, white t-shirt, tattered jeans, and black, mid-length trench. His greasy brown hair draped over a black, worn out bandana tied around his head. He was very still, and his deep brown - almost black - eyes bore into mine as if he were trying to cast an evil spell.

  Despite my shock and fear, my anger hadn't dissipated, and my mouth blurted, “Who the hell are you?”

  His stiffened body loosened from his stance and walked toward me slowly, then past me and over to the oak, not taking his eyes off of me once. They kept the same penetrating stare.

  His calloused hand rose to the thrown knife, and he removed it effortlessly from the bark, letting the box of matches fall to the ground and splatter its contents all over the grass.

  “Someone whose temper is far worse than your own,” he answered in a soft, husky tone. His Southern dialect did not go unnoticed by me. “So I suggest you tread lightly.”

  You've got to be kidding me.

  Although his presence was abrupt and slightly threatening, I somehow felt safe, considering Hayden hadn’t jumped to my rescue. This new person must have been someone he’d trusted.

  I watched the stranger and Hayden nod to each other in that how-ya-doin’ gesture, as if they’d both been expecting to see each other again. Then he slipped the knife back into one of the inside pockets of his jacket and walked past me again, purposely brushing my shoulder, invading my personal space. The only word I could find to describe this man, other than rugged, dirty, and rude, was “asshole.”

  I looked over at Hayden again, my eyebrows raised. “Care to explain what this is?”

  “Name’s Blane,” the asshole answered. “At your service, princess.” He did an overly-exaggerated bow and waving hand motion in my direction, holding a crooked smile.

  “Evika,” Hayden started “this is Trevor Blane. He’s the Phantom Hunter.”

  I guffawed. “He’s the what?”

  “Hunter of that piece-of-shit thing that’s after you and your brother, if you need clarification,” Blane spat.

  “Perfect,” was all I could muster. It all made sense. Something like “precautions or rules set in place” is what I’d remembered Hayden and Luka saying to me a month ago when they barely told me anything about the “big secret” I wasn’t supposed to know about; the Phantom. I knew then that there was so much more that I would need answers to. Everything. I wanted to know every last detail I could know about, well, everything.

  Hayden explained that once the Phantom had been created, and once the Council discovered how powerful the beast could be, Blane was summoned to be the first ever Phantom Hunter. He was to track its every move and destroy it before it could ever get to Jaxon or me. It was agreed to by all that Jaxon and I would be split up until the Hunter had executed his assignment. He had been hunting Jaxon’s and my entire lives to no prevail; the Phantom has the ability to cross between our world and its own in the dark realm. It jumps from body to body in order to suck the life out of its victims. The more lives it takes, the stronger it becomes, just like Alysto.

  I shook my head, almost in disbelief that there was even more to add to this chaotic life I regretted to call my own.

  “Where the hell is it now?” I asked with a bite.

  Before Hayden could continue to answer me, Blane interjected.

  “I lost it, okay?” he said angrily, still throwing his knives at the tree. I looked over at the Phantom Hunter, wondering if he’d elaborate. He didn’t disappoint. He paused his throwing and turned to us.

  “It was close, hanging onto some girl only a few miles away from your brother, but then the damned kid changes his course on us to come find you and brought us all down here with him. It followed him about halfway down here,” he explained, grabbing a few of his knives from the bark, “and then the body it took was found dead I some hotel near Williamsburg. That’s where I lost it.”

  “You lost it,” I confirmed.

  “Did I stutter?” he said defensively. “Yes, princess, I lost the damn thing. So, sue me.” He went back to throwing his knives much more violently now.

  I felt Hayden’s eyes on me as I was sizing up this new acquaintance of mine. I turned to meet his stare in silence, thinking about whether or not I should say what I was thinking. It seemed as though “plans” put in place to keep everyone safe were unraveling. This could go one of two ways, as I saw it; either the Council would tighten their reins and come up with a new plan of action immediately, or they would be so baffled as to how to move on from the enigma which would give me time to make my own plans. I was hoping for the latter, because I was going to be sure that I got everything I wanted from then on. Whether or not I had support from the Council, I was going to get my way. I finally decided to let my words for Hayden leave my tongue.

  “You owe me so much for this,” I finally said to him. And I couldn’t take it back after the words left my tongue.

  It was then that my heart hurt. It ached when I saw Hayden retreat from arguing with me and give me such a shocked expression. He only stood there. I could see in his emerald eyes that he felt I was right, but it only amplified the guilt I’d felt. I knew he knew what I was thinking. Any request I had from then on would be something that Hayden would have to find a way to grant me. Any call I made, I would not relent to any of the rules. He knew this about me. And I knew I was being unfair.

  I could feel the wind change behind me, and saw the tall cast of a shadow that appeared on the ground next to me. I knew fully well who had just graced us with his presence. I turned to see Luka’s apologetic gaze, and felt even more pain in my heart. There I was, standing angrily with two of the most important people in my life. I was the hypocrite. The wrong-doer. The jerk. The asshole. And I totally knew it.

  I sighed, frustrated with myself and just wishing I could have changed things. Rewind the clock. Start over. I walked over to the nearest tree and leaned my back against it, the angels both standing in front of me. I looked at them and could see that all they wanted was forgiveness from me.

  “Evigreen,” Luka spoke softly, “we were given specific orders not to say anything until the time was right. I'm so sorry. It wasn’t our secret to tell.”

  I looked up at Luka and saw the clearest blue I'd ever seen before in his eyes. Then I looked over at my angel. It appeared that he just had no more words to say to me, but told me everything with those eyes. They were glossed over as if he were about to cry. And that, right there, is what killed me.

  God! I felt sick to my stomach for being so furious with them, but I'd felt so betrayed and hurt. I took a deep breath and spoke with more compassion. “Okay, look, I'm sorry. It's not your fault,” I said to them. “I know why Jaxon was kept a secret from me, and why I was kept from him. I understand all of that now because...” I paused, and they both looked at me with curiosity. I sighed. “Jack visited me in a dream last night.”

  “Your father,” Hayden declared, not surprised. “I know.”

  I nodded. I knew he knew. “He told me why they had to keep Jaxon and me apart.” I looked down at the ground, folded my arms and shook my head. “It's still not right,” I said quietly, my throat close tightly to try and hold off my tears.

  “Evika, I can’t even begin to tell you how sorry
I am,” he whispered to me. “None of us wanted you to find out this way.”

  I looked up at them again, wondering if they even knew about the vision my father experienced while he visited my dream. “Jack had a vision right in front of me. He said he saw something was going to happen to Jaxon, and that I was the only one who could save him.” I looked at my angel and kept a steady face. “So, you understand that I want him in my life from now on.” I stated my words. It was not a question. I looked over to Luka, who averted his eyes from mine, still looking somewhat ashamed. “I can't let Jaxon out of my sight after this. He’s moving in.”

  Hayden ran his hand through his hair, shaking his head. “Evika, I understand that you want him to stay with us, but that can’t happen. It is extremely dangerous for you, for him, for all of us. Especially now.”

  I glared at him. “So, I'm supposed to lose the only family I have left? He's my twin brother, Hayden!” I spat my words, acid in my voice.

  “And he can be the very thing that puts you in danger...or gets you killed, Evika!” Hayden raised his voice to me without hesitation. “After all that your father must have told you about the dangers of you two being together before Blane hunts down this beast, you want gamble with your life now?”

  “Hayden, I don’t even care. We aren’t getting any younger here. And, am I the only who’s noticed?” I gestured over to the stranger grabbing his knives from the tree bark. “The famous Phantom Hunter hasn’t really made much progress after all these years. How long would we even have to wait!” My blood was at max boiling point.

  “Hey, fuck you!” Blane retorted angrily, walking over to us again.

  I glared at him, then continued speaking to Hayden. “You can't take him away from me, not again. I won't let you.”

  “Oh, okay,” Hayden said sardonically. “You won't let me.” He shook his head and walked up to me with a scowl that matched my own. “Do you have any idea how hard you would make things for us? For all of these years, I've been guarding your life successfully, Evika, and I'm not about to let this get screwed up by a mistake we could have avoided.”