Alex glared at him. “Before you got here, there was a demon, a lesser demon, across from where the dead girl’s body is.” She pointed to the area across from them. Her confidence increased by the second, even though they looked doubtful. “It attached itself to a boy, and it was sucking his life force. So, I took care of it.” She couldn’t help but feel the pride well up inside her. She’d done something incredible. She’d vanquished a demon and saved the boy’s life. So why were they still frowning at her?
“You vanquished the demon by yourself?” asked Santo with a grimace.
A tiny smile formed on Alexa’s lips. “I did. And I guarantee you, it won’t be coming back,” she said and lifted her chin slightly.
“And what about the boy?”
“He’s fine. He went home,” said Alexa. She looked at Erik, hoping she had gained his approval or at least earned just a flicker of interest. But he wasn’t looking at her. He was staring over at the dead girl’s body.
The crowd was slowly dispersing now that the body was covered, and they couldn’t take pictures of her anymore.
“Could this demon you vanquished,” began Santo, worry lines creased his eyes as she turned to look at him, “could it be the same one that killed that girl?”
Alexa shrugged. Her eyes involuntarily settled on Erik again, but his gaze was still locked on the girl, and she couldn’t read the expression on his face.
“Maybe. I mean, I can’t be a hundred percent sure it’s the same demon…I just…I don’t know. Something just doesn’t add up. It doesn’t fit.”
“Why not?” asked Santo.
All the other operatives, except Erik, had focused their attention on what she was saying.
“Because…” Alexa hesitated. She wasn’t sure how much she should share with these mortals. They clearly thought she would be as useful to them as a cockroach. But what surprised Alexa the most was that she actually cared for their approval.
Deep down she was still just a normal girl. She still had the same mortal feelings she had when she was alive. She was still blighted by the constant need for approval from her parents and teachers. She still feared their rejection. Approval from others was the very oxygen that kept her alive. Or at least, it had been before she had died.
Alexa swallowed hard, another mortal reflex that her M-suit enabled her to do. “I don’t think it was the same demon. Because, well, you saw her eyes, right? Something about the way her eyes were—”
“Alexa. Glad we found you,” came a familiar male voice from behind her. It made her cringe. She didn’t have to turn around to recognize who it was. The voice was as cold as stone and tinged with contempt.
And when she finally did turn around, she met the scowls of three guardian angels.
CHAPTER 5
THE THREE ANGELS LOOKED LIKE a group of vampires. While they shared the same light brown hair and pale skin, that’s where the comparison ended. Two were shorter and more muscled than the third, like they’d spent hours training every day. Alexa couldn’t guess their ages. While they looked all to be in their early twenties, they could be centuries old for all she knew. They shared the hard, ethereal look that bespoke the toll of years in service. Their eyes were cold and unsympathetic. The tallest, their ringleader, gave her a cheeky grin.
“What are you doing here, Ryan?” She didn’t try to hide the annoyance in her voice. For the past year, Ryan’s personal mission had been to make her new life in Horizon a living hell. The fact that he was here, standing in front of her on her very first assignment was probably the worse outcome she could have imagined. She’d gladly take a hundred Eriks over one Ryan. “What? You thought you’d torment me here too? Is that it?” she spat.
Ryan glanced casually at the group of Sensitive operatives, never really looking at them. “Ariel wants you back right away. But really,” he grinned and stepped forward until she could smell the cigarette smoke on his clothes, “I’m here to make sure you don’t screw up on your first assignment.”
The other two angels, James and Will, laughed without humor. They were Ryan’s sidekicks and had always cheered him on when he tormented her. His loyal servants, ever standing in his presence, they waited to do his bidding. They were two morons who couldn’t think for themselves, and they had tethered themselves like dogs to a cruel angel. Perfect.
“Ariel’s been trying to contact you, but it seems you forgot to take your tracker mite. How convenient.” Ryan’s voice was as distracting as a persistent mosquito.
“What are you implying?” Alexa tried to hide her humiliation, all too aware that she now had all the Sensitives’ undivided attention. When Ryan didn’t answer, she gave him a brilliant smile. “So…she sent you primarily as my babysitter? I wonder what you did to piss her off.” She thought she heard Erik snort, but she was probably mistaken.
Ryan’s smile faded. “Did you discover anything useful for us, or have you been playing mortal all this time with your new friends?”
Alexa ignored the slight. “I have.” Her confidence grew. Somehow she knew she was right, but she still needed more time.
“And…” Ryan crossed his arms. There was no mistaking the mockery in his voice. “What is it?”
Alexa narrowed her eyes. “I don’t report to you. And I’m not saying anything until I have more proof. It’s still too early to make assumptions. I need more to go on. Until then, I have nothing of interest to offer. Even if I did, it would be for Ariel only.”
Ryan’s face seemed to change to a deeper color, but that was impossible, because angels didn’t have blood. “I knew sending you was a complete waste of the Legion’s resources. I advised them it would be. You might have fooled Ariel somehow when she chose to elevate you to the Counter Demon Division, but you didn’t fool me, rookie. You don’t belong here. And I’m going to make sure you stay away. Let’s go.”
Alexa cringed. Her humiliation was turning into anger, and she didn’t move. Although Ryan was a Petty officer in the Legion, and ranked higher than her, she wasn’t assigned to him. Ariel had sent her out on her own, and although it was a little unusual to have done so, she didn’t remember the archangel telling her that she’d have a babysitter.
“Why should I follow you?”
“Because,” growled Ryan, “even though I think you’re a fraud, Ariel wants you back to debrief. She thinks you might have some input, which would help her understand the findings concerning another victim.”
“Where’s the other victim?” asked Santo before she could say anything else.
Ryan turned slowly and eyed Santo with a mixture of disdain and superiority. She thought he’d reserved that attitude only for her, but it seemed he lorded himself over the Sensitives, too. For a moment, she was sure he was about to spit in Santo’s face, and she was truly surprised that he actually answered.
“Here, in this pathetic place you call a town,” he finally answered, looking slightly bored.
Alexa knew he answered because he had to since it would reflect badly on him if it reached Ariel that he hadn’t been cooperative with the Sensitives.
Santo’s gaze never left Ryan. “And you’re sure it’s the same demon or demons that killed again?”
Ryan raised a brow, his face guarded. “We are.”
Santo watched the angel with an intense gaze. “They took the soul, didn’t they?”
Ryan cast Alexa an annoyed glare before answering. “Yes.”
Santo gave his fellow operatives an impatient look. But when he looked back at Ryan, his face was two shades darker. “Why didn’t the Legion share that bit of crucial information with us? Didn’t they think it might help if we had all the information? If you told us what you knew?”
Ryan’s features tightened, but there was a trace of sick humor in his eyes. “If they didn’t share it, it’s because you didn’t need to know. You forget your place, mortal. You do the Legion’s bidding, not the other way around. Remember that.”
Alexa flinched. If she’d hoped to befriend the mo
rtals, Ryan had just made it impossible. Her frustrations with the Sensitives evaporated and was replaced by disgust at her fellow angel’s demeaning behavior. She’d never been ashamed to be an angel, until now.
“You son of a—”
Erik charged forward. His face was white with rage. But Santo grabbed him by the arm and twisted him around. He whispered something in his ear, and although Erik was still livid, he yanked his arm from his leader’s grip and walked away.
Alexa wanted to go after Erik. He had to know that she wasn’t like Ryan. She halted just after she’d taken a step, but not before Ryan had seen her. She could see him snicker. She was suddenly reminded why she hated him so much.
The night’s air was thick with animosity. The Sensitives all shared a murderous look in their eyes, but they watched their leader and waited.
Santo breathed heavily and then fell silent. He looked like a rabid dog about to pounce. He stared at Alexa, long and intently. She wondered if he could see the shame she felt at her colleague’s behavior. She desperately wanted to tell him that she didn’t share Ryan’s views, but her mouth didn’t seem to work.
Alexa realized that Santo wanted something from her, though she couldn’t imagine what it might be. With each passing second, she became more uncomfortable, but she didn’t look away. She just hoped he could read her as well as she thought he could.
Without warning, he made a sign of dismissal and turned on his heel and walked away. Haru, Denton, and Evelyn followed him. Alexa watched in silence as Erik joined them. He hung his head, his hands in his pockets.
When she finally pulled her gaze away, she winced at the brazen grin on Ryan’s plain and pale face.
“Come on,” he gestured, “the lake is just behind that row of trees.”
Without another word, the two angels followed closely behind Ryan, but Alexa was rooted on the spot. The fear and fury of the demon fight had gone, but her M suit throbbed with a dull ache that kept her from moving. But it wasn’t cramping that immobilized her; it was fear of what lay beyond those trees. But she knew if she didn’t follow, it would be much, much worse.
With every step her mind swirled, and her vision blurred. She made it through the strip of trees and could see that the lake looked like a giant mirror. It reflected the stars and the moon, and was illuminated in a misty glow. If she hadn’t been so terrified, she would have thought it looked magical.
“Let’s go,” urged Ryan. He climbed over the iron fence and stepped onto the rocky shore of the lake. James and Will jumped over the fence easily. They all turned and waited for her.
Carefully, Alexa swung her legs over the fence. But then she grabbed the fence and didn’t move. She stared at the lake. She felt detached from her body. She couldn’t do it. She felt like a fraud and a failure. She wasn’t a real angel. She couldn’t be, not when she felt like this.
“Alexa?” She heard Ryan’s voice, but she didn’t move.
“What’s the matter with her?” Will and James didn’t know whether to sneer or to laugh.
But Ryan’s face shone with victory. A cold smile formed on his lips as he said, “She’s afraid of the water.”
Water.
The one-way-ticket to Earth from Horizon wasn’t on a magical train. There was only one portal for angels to travel back and forth from Horizon, and that portal was water.
Ponds. Lakes. Streams. Pools. Bathtubs. They were all the same to her. She could already feel its icy, gray hands pulling her down, choking her and burning her lungs until she was no more. She could feel the light slipping away.
“What?” James and Will started to laugh and snapped Alexa out of her nightmare.
“You do know you’re dead, right? You can’t die from drowning. You’re already dead. Is she stupid or something?”
Drowning. Her secret was out. The entire Legion would know she was frightened of water.
Alexa gripped the iron fence as she strained to keep herself from falling. She heard the sound of a crunch on the gravel and cringed when she turned around.
Erik was moving towards them.
She wanted to cry. Had he decided to come and watch her humiliation? No doubt he would relish her utter failure as a guardian angel. Why couldn’t she have stayed in Horizon? She would have made a great Oracle’s assistant.
“What a joke,” said Will. “A guardian angel who’s afraid of water. That’s really pathetic. What kind of idiot chose her? She’s completely useless as an angel. Maybe we should just do her in. We’d be doing the Legion a favor.”
Alexa had put on a bravura performance for the Sensitives, but now she was shivering in fear and embarrassment.
“I always knew there was something wrong about you,” said Ryan. He made his way towards her until his boots nearly touched hers. “Ariel’s going to hear about this. Your days as a guardian angel are numbered. Consider yourself terminated.”
Before she could stop him, Ryan reached out and clamped his hand around her arm. “You’re going in. Whether you like it or not.”
“NO! Please stop. Please. Please don’t do this.” Alexa pulled and kicked with all her strength, but it was like trying to break free from metal shackles. Ryan wouldn’t let go. She could feel the cold emptiness of the water calling to her, mocking her.
“Let her go.”
Alexa stopped struggling, and Erik hopped over the fence like a pro athlete. He seemed bigger than she’d remembered, and stronger.
“This is the Legion’s business, mortal,” spat Ryan. “Get lost. Or suffer the consequences.”
To Alexa’s surprise, Erik pulled a long silver dagger from inside his jacket. She could see the symbols etched along the blade. It looked a lot like a soul blade.
“I hate bullies,” he said, staring at the blade. “Almost as much as I hate demons.” He twirled the blade in his hand with the skill of someone who’d been trained with it for years. The moonlight reflected off its sharp edge, and Alexa noticed tiny white scars on his hands that she hadn’t seen before.
“She said she didn’t want to go,” said Erik. His voice was low and threatening. “Leave her alone, or suffer the consequences.”
At this threat, both James and Will reached for their weapons, but a single look from Ryan caused them to drop their hands.
“Let’s settle this discreetly, shall we.” Ryan sounded as if he were condescending to Erik. “Besides,” he looked at Alexa as if he despised her, “she’s not even worth it.”
He pushed her hard against the fence. Pain flared in her back as the iron pickets sliced into her mortal suit, and something cool dripped down her spine.
“You’ve no business being a guardian,” he said, and then his smile returned. “The Legion will see to it. Good luck finding your way back, Lexi. You won’t last a day on your own.”
And with that the three angels dove into the water. Brilliant white light flashed in the place where their bodies had been moments before. Alexa watched in silence as their illuminated bodies disintegrated into millions of iridescent particles.
Her eyes moved to Erik. He still looked rather angry, but he was not at all shaken by the sudden disappearance of the angels.
Alexa didn’t know how long she stood there, staring off into the lake. It was only when Erik spoke that she realized her face was wet with tears, and he was still there. He hadn’t left her.
“Come on,” he said. His voice was strangely soft.
When she turned to look at him, she didn’t understand the expression on his face at all.
“You’re riding with me.”
He jumped over the fence and walked away. Alexa stared at him in awe.
CHAPTER 6
NEITHER OF THEM SPOKE during the car ride.
Alexa didn’t know how long she sat in the passenger seat staring at her reflection, too embarrassed and ashamed to speak. She was a coward. There was no other word better. Who was she kidding? She wasn’t a guardian angel. She was a scared little girl.
The day of her mission, wh
en other guardians had been clustered around the Vega water tanks in the elite Counter Demon Division, readying themselves for transport to Earth on their assignments, Alexa hadn’t made the jump. At least not technically, it had been purely accidental.
She had been standing next the edge of the tank, staring at the water’s surface, while her fears increased. She knew she had to jump. There was no other way to get to Earth. And just when she’d been about to reveal to everyone that she couldn’t do it—someone bumped into her, and she fell in.
And now she was stuck in the mortal world, too frightened to get back to Horizon.
Alexa rubbed her temples as a throbbing migraine thumped her head. The icy water still haunted her, and she had a feeling that her nightmare was just beginning.
Ariel had said that her M-9 suit would last for a few months before it deteriorated, and she became a defenseless target for demons. It gave her some comfort that she didn’t have to think about it for a little while longer. She hoped Ariel was right, and that she could last that long.
“You don’t talk much, do you?” said Erik after a period of excruciating silence.
Alexa met his gaze. “Maybe, I don’t,” she answered. “But you’re worse.”
Erik turned his attention back on the road.
She took the time to really look at him. His face was perfectly aligned with his straight nose, square jaw, and deep set eyes. She liked the way his dark hair curled around the nape of his neck and ears. He was a bit of an ass, but he was handsome. Very handsome.
“What?” Erik looked at her.
“Nothing,” said Alexa. She realized she’d been staring at him like a stalker.
She turned back to her reflection in the window. She looked the same. The same brown hair with sun-kissed streaks, the same hazel eyes. It was her face that stared back at her. She felt strangely relieved that she looked like herself. She would probably have died of fright if it had been someone else’s face staring back at her.
Alexa was still too humiliated to speak, and she was completely confused about Erik. He had appeared to hate her. But then he had offered her a ride. She just couldn’t figure him out.
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