Zero Rising: Soldier of Light Chronicles Book 3

by Ireland Gill

  “But – ” I was cut short by Indigo, relieving me when he said he would go with Jaxon to the hospital and make the calls that had to be made. After seeing Jaxon trembling the way he had, I didn’t want him driving.

  “It’s okay, Evika. You need to stay here with Hayden and work out the issue with the castor. I’ll take care of your brother.” He lowered his voice then, laying his hand gently on my shoulder. “It’s my job, anyway. I’ll take care of him, I promise.”

  I knew Indigo had my brother’s best interest in mind, no matter what. He wasn’t just a Guardian enslaved to caring for a human, he’d also become one of Jaxon’s best friends. I knew I could trust him.

  I nodded at the angel. “Thanks, Indigo.” He waved as he broke into a jog to catch up to my brother, whose car was parked out on the street. I watched the angel gesture for my brother to take the passenger side, and made him hand over the keys. I sighed in relief, and then ambulance pulled out of the driveway, lights and sounds filling the night air.

  It was then I noticed some houses in the distance, much further down the road, turning their lights on, as if being awakened by the noise as the ambulance passed. The show is over, I thought. Go back to bed. I shook my head.

  I started up to the house to meet Hayden who had moved his Harley back into the driveway, then he walked back to the curb for Aurora. My foot hit the first step up to the porch when I heard a voice from the side of the house.

  “What the hell did I just miss?” Blane came around the corner with my dog close to his side. His trench was dangling, his hands in the pockets. I assumed he’d just come from the back yard, doing some throwing. I wasn’t sure how he could have missed any of what had just happened.

  “Rose might be dead,” I said coldly, hoping he’d catch the chill in my voice. I wanted him to feel that chill. It was as if he’d waited for the right moment to just pop out from the back, never even offering to help.

  “What the fuck do you mean, dead?”

  “What else would dead mean, Blane?”

  “What the hell is up your ass?” He spat.

  “Where have you been?”

  Blane threw his hands in the air. “I’m sorry. Do I need your permission before I come and go now?” He sauntered right up to my face, only inches from it. “I just got back from tracking that piece-of-shit Phantom that’s been hunting down your princess ass. Does that give me an alibi? Or do you want some other fucking answer?”

  I immediately cowered. I felt like a dolt for assuming he’d been there the whole time. “No,” I said quietly. “I’m...I’m sorry. It’s been a really shitty night.” I shook my head. “I shouldn’t have attacked you.”

  “Damn right,” he backed away, still staring at me scathingly. “So, like I said...what did I miss?”

  Hayden shut the car door and hit the lock button on the key, jolting my nerves when the alarm let out the quick sound to indicate it was armed. The duffel bag was slung over his shoulder.

  “The paramedics took Rose to the ER. They’re trying to resuscitate, but things didn’t look good.” His expression was sullen. “Jaxon and Indigo followed the ambulance to the hospital,” Hayden told Blane. “They’re making calls to her family tonight. They’ll be back in a few hours.”

  “They think it could have been a heart attack,” I added.

  Blane was confused. “She’s just a kid.”

  We stood in silence for a moment, not really knowing what else to say about the situation. I looked down at my dog and remember he’d been walking with Blane from the back yard. He’d been perched on his hind legs, staring up at Blane with his furry snout. I smiled.

  “I see he’s warmed up to you now, huh?” I gestured to Beau.

  Blane shrugged. “He only likes me now because I gave him food.” Then he pulled out two cookies from his right pocket, handing them one by one to Beau. I focused on the cookie and saw there were darker ingredients within the dough.

  “Wait, are those chocolate chips?” I inched closer and almost whacked them out of the Phantom Hunter’s hand. “You can’t give a dog chocolate!”

  He pulled his hand away from me, defending the cookie. “Relax, princess spaz. Your dog is dead anyway. Ain’t like it’s gonna kill him.” He handed Beau the last cookie, and the dog tore right into it.

  I stopped, freezing in mid-action, realizing he was right. I breathed a laugh. There was nothing to worry about. My dog had already died years ago, and was brought back to the living realm – still dead - as the most wonderful house-warming gift by one of my best friends and protectors, Luka. Speaking of...

  “Hey, where’s Luka been?” I asked Hayden. “Isn’t he supposed to be hovering over you like a hawk during your transition?” I said it as if it wasn’t that big of a deal, but it truly was. Hayden was at his most critical time during the transition of angel to human.

  “I sent him off to the House of Council after I put you to bed to get some info about the dented castor. He was going to see Elliott.”

  “And he just took your order and left, no argument?” I was shocked.

  “Well,” Hayden started, “neither of us thought I’d have to go running around after you in the middle of the night, trying to stop you from whatever the hell you were trying to do.”

  Again, I cowered, blood rushing to my face. I looked over at Blane, who’d been listening to every word.

  “Hm,” was all he said before waltzing onto the porch and into the house. He just shook his head, opening the door and letting Beau in before he walked inside. My dog seemed to be distracted by those damn cookies Blane kept feeding him. I remembered, when Beau was a living dog, he’d always wanted me to give him food he wasn’t allowed to have. Typical dog. Now, of course, he had the ability to eat whatever he wanted because he was stronger and undead. See that cookie. Eat that cookie. Nothing would get in his way now that he knew he could have them.

  At that moment, every muscle in my body tensed up. I watched Blane step inside the house, Beau on all fours, wagging his tail and waiting for that next cookie from that trench coat pocket. I forced myself to breathe and darted to the door, somehow grabbing Hayden by the arm along the way.

  “Blane!” I yelled as I watched him hand my dog the last cookie.

  He looked up in disagreement. “Jesus, princess. The dog can eat cookies now, for God’s s—”

  “It’s not about the dog!” I looked behind me to be sure Hayden was inside.

  “What’s going on?” Hayden’s eyes darted around the room, as if looking for danger.

  I turned back to Blane. “Did you get anywhere near it this time?” I inquired. “The Phantom.”

  Blane squared his shoulders and stood taller. “Never been closer before. Tracked the damn thing all the way into downtown, ‘bout half hour from here. I followed some guy around there.” He sighed. “Then lost him.”

  “Is it the same body you’ve been tracking for a while?” Hayden asked.

  “Nah. New body this time. This fucker has been jumping more and more since...” Blane looked at me, “since these two found each other.”

  I looked up at the Phantom Hunter more intensely. I knew “these two” referred to me and Jaxon. I was touched with a tinge of guilt when he admitted it, but I still knew in my heart that I was right to keep Jaxon around, close to me. I had to prove that somehow. “By any chance, were you near the movie theater?”

  Hayden quickly threw a glance my way. He nodded, as if confirming I’d asked the right question.

  Blane met my eyes with a dazed look. “That’s exactly where I lost it.”

  I could feel my face turn ashen and my hands clammy. It was then I knew what had happened to Rose. I knew Hayden could read it all over my face, as he was holding my gaze as soon as I looked over at him. Jaxon was the Phantom’s next cookie.

  “Call Indigo,” I said to my angel. “Tell him to get Jaxon out of that hospital and to bring him home.”

  After Hayden called Indigo, I’d paced the floor in the foyer about a hu
ndred times before Indigo and Jaxon were home. I was relieved once the front door swung open, seeing Jaxon was okay. It was clear the fate of Rose was what we’d expected. She was truly gone.

  Jaxon said he was too tired to talk and just wanted to go to bed. I let him go. Indigo assured Hayden and me that nothing unusual happened at the hospital after we told him our theories. And I was confident that Indigo had been vigilant the whole time he’d been protecting Jaxon.

  I watched my brother head up the steps, taking each step slowly, as if he had to force himself to move. It pained me to see Jaxon so upset, and, after seeing him that way, I realized how affected I was over Rose’s death. She was just an innocent girl going to college and dating my brother. She’d been roped into a messy family legend without even asking for it. And it cost her life.

  “I want eyes on Jaxon at all times,” Hayden told Indigo as soon as Jaxon was out of earshot. “Blane’s upstairs. Let him know he needs to pull an all-nighter outside Jaxon’s door.”

  Indigo nodded and went upstairs to break the news to the Phantom Hunter. I was relieved that everyone was taking this whole thing as seriously as I did.

  I turned to Hayden. I couldn’t get my mind off of how terrible I felt about Rose, her family, everything. “I want to send money to Rose’s family. An anonymous donor.”

  “Okay. I can get all the info about her family in the morning. How much?”

  I looked him straight in the eyes and spoke without a beat. “A million.”

  To my surprise, Hayden didn’t balk. He just nodded. “Done.”

  I felt the relentless tear spill from my eyes, then closed the distance between the two of us, running into my angel’s arms to feel his embrace. We stood there for a long time, saying nothing, until the tears dried up.

  Chapter Seventeen Monster, Uninvited

  Before bed that night, Hayden and I threw back the mangled castor in which Anton Carter had hidden himself again. It was our hope that if we threw it back to the Dark Realm, he’d have to stay there for a while, trapped. According to the information Luka had reported later, Anton had to fight to cut another Seeker in line – that was the assumption, anyway. The dents in that red castor were indicative of some sort of struggle. That was for sure.

  It had been almost four in the morning by the time we went to bed. I didn’t sleep well, if at all. I hadn’t even dreamed. It was close to 7A.M. once I decided to give up on sleep, so I rolled out of bed. I must have sat up too quickly, because I got that nauseous feeling again. I sat on the edge of the bed, quiet so I didn’t wake up Hayden, and laid my head in my hands to wait for the feeling to pass. I thought maybe I needed something to eat, but the thought of food made me feel even worse.

  Once I exited our room, I looked down the hall to see Blane sitting against the wall opposite my brother’s closed door. He’d done what was asked of him; he was just as determined to end all of this as I was. I threw him a nod, and he gave one back.

  I headed downstairs to the kitchen to make some tea, since that was really the only thing I’d figured I could stomach. Tea was never really my thing unless I wasn’t feeling up to par.

  As I passed the kitchen window, I could see Luka and Indigo walking with Beau a little further than halfway down the wooden walkway to the beach. Luka’s head would dip down every few moments, as if he were talking to my dog. Beau’s head would look up, as if carrying on a conversation. I smiled at the sight.

  I rummaged around in the drawer and found a box of peach flavored tea bags. Surprisingly, it sounded good to me. I grabbed a mug from the cupboard. It was an old one my mother gave to me for Christmas one year. It was a white mug with black lettering – “Don’t grow up. It’s a trap!” I giggled a little, thinking about the first time I saw it. My mom was so proud she’d found something so witty. I filled it with water and slid the tea bag inside, placing it in the microwave for two minutes. I’d only used it a few times, that mug, and mostly kept it around for decoration and, of course, as a remembrance of her.

  I felt my hand raise to my chest, rubbing over my heart as I stared blankly into the microwave, watching the mug spin. I missed her so much, my mother. Standing there in that quiet kitchen, listening to the hum of the microwave, it was the first time I’d wondered what she thought of my behavior the night before. I couldn’t imagine that she’d been proud of what she’d seen, if she even saw anything. I’d been a reckless terror. A dark emotion had taken the best of me, and I’d let it happen.

  My daydreaming was interrupted as I heard the heavy dragging of feet saunter into the kitchen. I turned to see my brother sit down at the breakfast table, drooping shoulders and bowed spine.

  I walked over and set my tea on the table. “Couldn’t sleep?”

  He lifted his sad eyes to meet with mine, making my heart ache. They were puffy and red. “Not sure I ever will again.” The corners of his mouth lowered, and the peak between his eyebrows wrinkled. “I can’t believe Rose is gone.”

  I walked up behind him and wrapped my arms around him, squeezing him tightly. He showed no reaction. “Jax, I’m so sorry.”

  He was still and just lowered his head. Instantly I was angry, thinking about how torn up my brother was and what had caused it. I wanted to tell him I knew what had happened after talking with Blane the night before, but I didn’t know how to bring it up to him. However, he needed to know, no matter how badly it hurt him.

  I released my bear hug. “Here,” I slid my mug over to him. “Take my tea. I just made it.”

  “Thank you.” Jaxon spoke hardly audibly, taking the mug, wrapping his hands around it.

  I grabbed the plastic container of honey from the edge of the counter and placed it on the table for him. “Jaxon, I need to talk to you about last night.” I sat down across from him.

  My brother pinched the bridge of his nose, then raised both hands to cover his face. I felt so small, and I didn’t even want to go on with what I was going to tell him. But he had to know the dangers among us.

  “Trevor said he’d been following the Phantom downtown.” I paused for a moment to take note of his reaction. There was none. “He lost it at the theater you and Rose went to last night.” He picked up the mug sluggishly and took a small sip of tea, wrinkling his nose at the taste. I looked down at the honey and realized I’d forgotten a spoon, so I got up to grab him one.

  “Sorry about that. There’s clean spoons in the dishwasher.” I sifted through the silverware in the tray and realized they were all dirty, so I picked a spoon and ran it over to the sink to wash it.

  “You weak, pathetic girl,” I heard a strange voice from behind me.

  I slowly turned to face the origin of the voice, seeing it was from my twin. “Excuse me?” I thought I'd heard him wrong, despite his words being recited clear as a bell. He was still sitting at the table, but was now holding himself in a confident manner, almost cocky, staring at me with eyes so much darker than the ones I knew. “Jax, are you.....okay?” I asked him.

  He raised an eyebrow and kept his eyes glued to mine, slowly standing and walking over to me. He didn't stop until we were almost toe-to-toe. My stomach dropped as I could see deeper into his eyes. A panic surged through me as I saw the eyes of something else; it wasn't my brother. These eyes were cold and dark, black as night, hollow and unfeeling.

  “You have no idea how long I've waited for this moment, Warrior.” Jaxon's voice sounded strange now; not his own. It was a mix between a deeper voice and one that was higher pitched. He made an advance toward me, slowly raising his arms and cocking his head.

  “Jaxon!” I yelled at him as I swatted at his immovable arms. “What the hell is wrong with you?!” I could hear the panic in my voice as I quickly backed into the wall at the edge of the counter. I felt around myself to grip something, anything. From the corner of my eye, I saw a pan on the top tray of the dishwasher and reached for it. I kept my eyes on Jaxon’s.

  His head went back and a deep, eerie laugh came bellowing from his throat. “A spitfi
re....just like your father was.” His hands wrapped around my throat and squeezed, cutting off the scream that escaped my lungs.

  My arms and legs flailed as he lifted me into the air. I dropped the pan to the floor, making a loud clang that rang echoes all over the room. My head felt like it would pop as the circulation of blood started coming to a halt. I kept my eyes to his, in a state of shock, fog surrounding the outline of his face. Was my twin trying to kill me? No. This was not my brother. He was something else! Something was inside of him.

  “Now....you will invite me in, Warrior, or you will be terribly sorry,” the unfamiliar voice threatened. I watched a devious grin form on my brother's face, flashing his teeth at me. “You will relent to me, girl, if you don't want to be the reason for your twin's death.”

  I wanted my Jaxon back, but I couldn't speak. I needed to do something before I would pass out. I heard sounds around me lower to an echo in my head and my vision started to fade to spotty shadows. I had to think fast. I focused all of the energy I had left in me and forced it down to my right leg, kicking him in his groin. His grip around my neck loosened, and his eyes widened, showing the true color I knew; the deep, caring eyes of my brother.

  “Ev-i-ka,” Jaxon said pitifully.

  He finally released me to grab himself, hunching over in pain. As I fell, the back of my head slammed against the edge of the counter and the instant sensation of pain drove through my head as my body hit the tile floor. An urgent sickness crept from my stomach to my throat and I held my hand to my mouth to make it go away, choking and gasping for the air I was aching for.

  The rest of my body lay limp on the floor as I saw the shadow of my angel running into the kitchen. “Evika!” He knelt down by my side and blocked the vision of my brother, who was staring down at his palms.

  I couldn't speak to warn him of what happened. I couldn't scream. I couldn't cry. I couldn't move. I could hardly breathe. Only my eyes widened and rolled as he lifted my head. I tried to focus on my love's face and was finally able to mutter something audible to him; “J-Jaxon,” I choked out.