Marked, Soul Guardians Book 1

by Kim Richardson

Kara felt like an abomination. Scowling faces whispered as she passed on the way to the high council chamber. Guardian angels lurked in doorways watching her. It was like being marked all over again. But this time it was much worse, she realized. She had nearly killed an angel. She was a freak. A monster. She wondered if she truly did belong in Horizon. Freaks and angels didn’t coexist here. Whatever their decision, she knew now how different she was from all the other angels. At first being part elemental had made her feel special, unique, but now she felt more like a murderer than anything else. She hoped the council would believe it was an accident.

  Kara shuffled along behind the oracle, her head hung low. She remembered her mother’s smiling face as she would kiss Kara on the forehead before she went to school. Kara would always wiggle away embarrassed, but deep down she loved her for it. She remembered her mother’s enchanting voice singing Ella Fitzgerald songs. It had always given her goose bumps. Her chest tightened, and she realized she missed her mother painfully. How could she save her mother’s soul? Asmodeus would kill her mother—and it was all her fault.

  “Come along, Miss Clara. Don’t pay any attention to them,” said the oracle. His bare feet padded above his crystal ball. “What has happened cannot be undone—I have seen it many times before … but it will pass. Do not fret.”

  The oracle’s face broke out into innumerable little wrinkles as he smiled warmly at her, like a dried raisin. But Kara stared at the floor as she walked, lips sewn together. She kept playing events over inside her head, wishing she could have stopped herself, or at least warned them of the knife. Al was going to stab David, she saw him. Anger welled inside her chest. Her elemental part had acted on its own to protect David. She had wanted Al dead. The elemental force that flowed in her was as much part of her as she was of it—they were a single entity—and she was aware that both she and her elemental force had wanted to kill.

  Was she a killer? Who was she?

  She kept her head down. She didn’t trust herself to look up and meet the glares of disgust that spread on the faces of the Legion as they passed.

  A snicker reached her ears. Devon stood by the great metal door. He was surrounded by a field group from CDD. Kara recognized their black uniforms. She wondered how long she could still wear hers.

  “Told you you’d pay for this, freak,” he hissed at Kara. “I never liked you, and I always knew there was a disgusting smell about you. And I was right! You stink of demon. You’ll be cast out forever! Or better yet—your soul will be destroyed!” His minions shook their heads as they mumbled their consensus. Kara kept her eyes low. The humiliation was too much to handle.

  “He—he had a Death Blade! I saw it.” Kara shouted.

  “A Death Blade?” laughed Devon. “Did you hear that, guys? She says she saw a Death Blade.” Kara winced as his minions laughed hysterically. She clenched her fists.

  Devon snickered. “What? Are you going to punch me? Want to kill me too, freak.” He glowered at Kara, his dark eyes glistened menacingly. “So, where’s the blade, huh?”

  Kara didn’t answer.

  “That’s right,” continued Devon, and stepped dangerously close to Kara, “there is no blade. You made it up, you stupid little girl. Don’t think the council will believe lies that come from a traitor’s mouth. You’re done.”

  “Yeah … you’re a goner,” said one of the male angels whom Kara didn’t recognize.

  “Freak!” said a strikingly beautiful angel with long blonde hair. She laughed at Kara.

  “Demon!”

  Kara strained to control her shaking. She didn’t want them to see how much their words affected her.

  In a swift movement, the oracle steered his giant crystal ball and ploughed through the group. He waved his hands in the air. “Move along now! Move along. The council will not wait.” And with that, the oracle pushed open the great metal door.

  It screeched loudly as it rolled on its hinges. A smell of concrete and stale air reached Kara’s nose. She lowered her head and followed the oracle through the doorway. But just as she cleared the entrance someone tripped her, and Kara landed hard on her stomach with a loud thud. The sound cut through the chamber’s eerie silence like a knife.

  Kara lifted her head slowly and turned around. Devon stood in the doorway. His cronies gathered behind him and laughed like a group of jackals. He lifted his index finger and motioned it across his neck.

  “Please shut the door, oracle,” said a booming voice.

  “Oh dear! Oh dear!” The crystal ball rolled along the marble floor, crunching tiny specks of sand. The oracle wrapped his tiny hand around a large brass handle and pulled the door closed.

  Tiny spasms erupted all over Kara body as she pushed herself up. She tried to control her nerves. The chamber looked exactly how she remembered. It was a great round room with a rounded glass dome, from which light spilled through its top. The bright blue sky lifted her spirits slightly.

  She turned her attention to the council. The archangels sat around a black half moon desk that glistened in the light.

  She knew she must look like a fool to the council. She looked at their faces. Seven grim visages stared back at her. The shock of seeing Uriel’s face with a scowl nearly made her collapse. She had hoped for some understanding from him. It seemed to Kara that the entire council agreed with Devon. This could be my last day here, she whispered to herself.

  A soft cough caught her attention, and she was struck with sudden tremendous gratitude. Jenny, Peter, and David sat in the second of twenty rows of wooden seats that were angled along and around the chamber, like seats in an arena. Jenny’s legs dangled over the first row. And Peter even gave her thumbs up. But their bravado couldn’t hide the fear in their eyes. Kara felt it, too.

  David stood up and clasped his hands around the wooden edge of the seats in front of him. He mouthed it’s going to be okay to Kara.

  Kara recognized the archangels Cassiel and Gabriel sitting in the front row, opposite her friends. They were talking and didn’t look up.

  She made her way to the lonely bench before the council members. The sound of her boots echoed through the chamber. She thought she’d go mad in the silence. The eeriness made her skin crawl and her hair stand up on the back of her neck. Finally she reached the bench and stepped before it. She lifted her eyes and met Uriel’s glare.

  “We meet again, Kara Nightingale,” said Uriel, with his usual musical voice. His dark brown hair glistened in the soft light that leaked from the glass dome above. “And I am sad to say that it is not under good terms.”

  Kara lowered her eyes. She felt dizzy. The room started to spin, and she felt her body teeter slightly. Uriel’s words rang in her ears. What would happen to her, she wondered. The sound of a chair being dragged on the floor reached her. She lifted her gaze again.

  “The council has been made aware of a certain situation.” Uriel’s golden robe swished as he stood up, sending little ripples all the way down to his ankles, like tiny golden waves. “We all knew what kind of risk we were taking by accepting someone with elemental power back into our world. Indeed, once we confirmed that you had this wild power within you, we believed that we could use it to our benefit—that we had something we could control—something more powerful than the demons.”

  Uriel stopped for a moment and stared down at the desk. He looked up again. “We had high hopes for you, Kara. We asked the archangel Cassiel to help you develop and control your talents. We never thought you would hurt another angel—”

  “But I didn’t mean to! It was an accident!” Kara blurted out before she could stop herself.

  Uriel lifted his hand to silence her.

  “Until we can get this matter investigated, I regret to inform you, that you are no longer part of the Counter Demon Division. You will have no access to level five anymore. You are hereby stripped of your title, and banished to the angel prison, Tartarus. You are no longer a guardian in the Legion. You will have no direct contact with any an
gels in Horizon apart from the few appointed officers and the prison guards. As of this moment forward, Kara Nightingale, you are exiled and will be confined to Tartarus.”

  “What!” protested Kara. Her head swirled. “But it was an accident! I swear I didn’t mean to hurt anyone.”

  “This is not fair,” yelled Jenny from behind her, and Kara turned around. “We are witnesses! We saw what happened—Al was going to stab David. She was only protecting him!”

  “ENOUGH!” roared Uriel. The chamber shook. Dust and small pieces of rock fell around Kara.

  He turned to Jenny, “You are only permitted to speak when you are called upon to do so. Another outburst like this, and you will be thrown out of the chamber. Is that clear?”

  “Yes, archangel Uriel.” Jenny lowered her head and sat down. Kara and Jenny exchanged smiles.

  “What do you have to say in your defense, Kara Nightingale?” asked Uriel. “The council is eager for an explanation.”

  Kara floundered around in her mind recollecting the events. “It was an accident. I swear to you. I—I was trying to conjure my power—if you want to call it that—and nothing was happening. Cassiel told me to try and tap into the emotions I felt during the times when it worked. So I was trying . . . and then David showed up. There was argument with Devon and Al. And then I saw a Death Blade in Al’s hand. He was going to hurt David.”

  She glanced down before continuing. “And then it just . . . happened. It just happened. I didn’t mean to hurt anyone, I swear I didn’t. But I couldn’t let him hurt my friend.”

  Kara looked into the eyes of the council. Doubt reflected back to her, no sympathy. They didn’t believe her.

  She took a step forward and tried to look as sincere as she could. Her bottom lip trembled, “I swear to you all. I didn’t mean to do this. It was an accident. Please, I need to be allowed in the Legion to find my mother’s soul—she needs me. She’s been taken. I need to find her. You can’t do this to me now. Please. It isn’t fair.”

  “Where is this blade now?” Uriel eyed her suspiciously.

  Kara cowered and shook her head. “I—I don’t know. It’s gone. I can’t explain it. But I saw it, I swear I did.”

  “I’ve heard enough of her lies!” The archangel Zadkiel interrupted her. His voice was full of disgust. “She’s an abomination! A demon who lies and tries to trick us by masquerading as a little girl. Do not believe her!”

  Kara felt the sharp pain of his words. Her stomach tightened. She had let her mother down. How could she reach her now?

  “I—I—I’m sorry,” Kara stammered and took a step back. “It was an—”

  “You lie!” roared Zadkiel. “We have all the proof we need now to cast you out!”

  He slammed his fist on the table. His giant finger pointed at Kara. “I always knew you were a traitor!—stealthily making your way into the feelings of our brothers and sisters—like a thief in the night.”

  “Enough, Zadkiel. We need to investigate this matter more thoroughly before making any accusations,” said another archangel with long curly red hair.

  Zadkiel trembled with rage. “You were always too soft when it came to her, Camael. I can see now the child has bewitched you. Demon filth!”

  Kara flinched.

  “I’m not a demon,” she croaked. She raised her voice above the arguing. “I’m not a demon!” she called out again.

  Zadkiel edged closer over the desk and looked down upon Kara. His dark eyes flashed angrily. “You are the demon spawn!” He hissed. “You should die!”

  What was he talking about? Kara turned and met David’s eyes. He looked as confused as she was. He shrugged and shook his head.

  Reluctantly Kara looked up at Uriel. There was no kindness in his eyes.

  “What does he mean? I don’t understand?” Her throat felt tight.

  Uriel folded his hands. Deep wrinkles crossed his forehead like thick leather. He was silent for a moment, his attention somewhere else.

  Finally he answered. “We could not have known before. We didn’t see the signs . . . until they showed themselves. But now we are certain of it. There is no mistake. Your elemental part—I fear—is not of angel.”

  Kara heard gasps from behind her. She ignored them. “What do you mean, not of angel? I thought elementals were part mortal and part angel?”

  “Yes,” answered Uriel, “that is normally the case. But with you—it is not.”

  “I don’t understand? What are you trying to say?” She felt a mixture of frustration and fear building inside her.

  “We have traced your mortal lineage for over a thousand years, but have found nothing linking any of your mortal ancestors to an angel. We have all the records of breeding between mortals and angels but one—one single event has escaped our records.”

  When he looked up Kara saw a flash of sadness in his eyes. “Do you remember your father, Kara?”

  The shock of his words took Kara by surprise. She wrinkled her face. The looks of disdain from the council didn’t help. After a moment she answered.

  “I don’t . . . not really. He died when I was five—that’s what my mother told me. What does that have to do with anything?”

  “Your father wasn’t an ordinary man. In fact . . . he wasn’t a man at all.”

  Kara’s mouth fell open. “What? What are you saying? And why are you speaking as though he’s still alive? I told you, my father is dead.”

  Uriel’s face was expressionless. “No, he is not, I’m afraid. Your father is a demon. We couldn’t have known about his plan to seduce your mother because we can only track what happens in Horizon. We don’t have knowledge of the Netherworld. The demon realm is out of our bounds.”

  Kara pressed her hands on her head and gave a nervous laugh. “Wait a minute. Let me get this straight. You’re telling me that my mortal father is a demon? I don’t believe any of it. My mother would have known—she would never. Besides, you said elementals are part angel and mortal. Not demon.”

  Uriel looked away for a moment before answering. “Some demons used to be angels—fallen angels, corrupted and hungry for power, evil and merciless—and very capable of breeding with a human woman.”

  Kara’s head spun. She fought the urge to faint and wished she could vomit. “That’s impossible! It can’t be true! I—I saw pictures, he’s mortal—I remember him.”

  Uriel leaned forward, his face expressionless and hard. “The pictures you saw were not of a mortal man—but of your demon father in a mundane body. I fear it is the truth. But it is much worse.”

  Uriel pursed his lips and furrowed his brow. “We believe he bred with your mortal mother because she was a guardian angel. And so he knew what would come of it. Much was planned so that you would someday come to be a creation of something unique in the worlds. Something that we have never seen. Your mortal death was planned for his purpose only. He waited for you to die in the hopes that he could harness your elemental power. You are the brainchild of the most powerful of demons.”

  “But his plan had a fault,” Uriel continued, “He didn’t anticipate that you were already chosen to become a guardian angel. So he lost you when you came to Horizon. He didn’t know where or who you were until you met him face to face. That’s when he recognized you—and your elemental power. We are still unsure how he intends to use you, which is why we need time to investigate the matter more in-depth.

  “You are, beyond a doubt, an elemental child born of mortal and demon parents.” Zadkiel interrupted.

  Kara opened her mouth and asked the question to which she feared the answer.

  “Who is my father?” Her voice rang out in the chamber.

  Uriel met her eyes. He was silent for a moment.

  “Asmodeus.”

  Chapter 10

  Tartarus