The Nightwalkers Saga: Books 1 - 7

by Candace Wondrak

  “An older guy. And certainly not a priest,” Koath smiled back at me. “Now, if you don’t mind, I would like to talk to Kass. If your lesson is over, that is,” he added as an afterthought.

  “Ah, yes. Yes, it is,” I said as I walked out of the room. I didn’t look back, for if I did, I feared that it would give something away to Koath.

  A guilty conscience.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine – Kass

  Koath and I watched Raphael walk out. All the while I was thinking: why did I lie for that man? He lied to me about Crixis, and that was why I was so angry with him. One reason. Other reasons involved the things Raphael just said to me.

  Weak. Annoying. A terrible Purifier.

  Who did he think he was, saying those things to me? I knew I didn’t listen to him, but it’s just him. If Michael told me to do something, I went and did it right away, because I respected him. Raphael did not deserve my respect, that’s for sure.

  “So,” Koath smiled at me, “he seems like a good man.”

  “Yep,” I said, faking a smile. Truthfully Raphael was a nice guy, deep down. Maybe. It’s just when he’s with me he got angry quickly and didn’t bother hiding it. Then again, maybe he’s like that because I didn’t bother hiding my anger from him, either.

  “Come on,” Koath’s head motioned to the door. “I have something I want to show you.” He turned and walked out.

  I followed him.

  I stared at the back of his head as we went through Michael’s library. His hair was getting gray, meaning that he was getting old. And that was sad. When I was growing up, I always imagined Koath would stay the same. I thought his hair would never gray, his personality would never change, and that he would never leave me.

  Two of them I got wrong. His hair was graying and he did leave me. Except he came back. Only because the old principal was murdered. That’s beside the point, though, for he came back not to be my Guardian again, but to watch over the Demon-filled town. He had a new charge now, one that effectively replaced me.

  Honestly, I was still a tad jealous.

  “Now if I know Michael like I think I do…” Koath scanned the rows and rows of books that lined the walls. “Then what I’m looking for should be right—” His hand fell on a prehistoric rawhide-bound book. “—here.” Plucking it off the shelves, he handed it to me, saying, “Take a look.”

  I took the book and sat in a nearby sofa. As I opened the cover, Koath sat next to me, watching me. I flipped the pages rapidly, for it was filled with gibberish. I was sure that, at one point in time, thousands of years ago, this gibberish was a language. But, obviously, that language was lost over the times.

  I came across a picture. It was inked in, creating an antiqued look. In the center was a man holding a thin sword. All around him were bodies, humans and Demons alike. This image…it was Crixis.

  “That,” Koath pointed to the picture, “is Crixis.”

  I knew it. I freaking knew it.

  “Why?”

  “Why am I showing this to you?” He asked, receiving a nod from me. “Michael told me about your curiosity about him, and how you say you saw him at the football game last night, so I thought to show you one of the only pictures we have of him. This is the man you saw?”

  “Yes,” I answered him. His hair was a little different, but everything else was the same. Even though it was inked in black, I could tell this was Crixis.

  “You know, undoubtedly, that Crixis is a very dangerous Vampire.” Koath ran a hand through his short hair, making me realize that he was as concerned as I was about this whole thing. “I do not take this situation lightly. If he truly wishes you dead, there is almost nothing we can do but wait.”

  I gulped. What was Koath saying to me, that I should just give up and die? Sorry, that was never going to happen.

  “However, I do believe that we can protect you, help you, train you so that when you next face him, you are a match to be reckoned with.” Koath placed a reassuring hand on my back, trying to calm my tense nerves.

  “Is there nothing else we can do?” I implored, praying that he would say it would be easy.

  “Just don’t worry, go on with your life as if nothing fazes you. I have notified the Council, and they are sending an Agent over.”

  “An Agent?” I echoed, remembering what Michael had told me about the methods the Council uses to deal with Daywalkers. “You mean an assassin?”

  “Well, I don’t like to use that term, just as you and Gabriel stray away from saying Vampire, I avoid calling them that.”

  “When is the Agent,” I put the word agent in air quotations, “going to be here?”

  Koath told me, “Soon, but not as soon as you or I would like. There is a lot of paperwork to be done, and the whole thing needs to be approved.”

  “What?” I closed the book sharply. “So, it might not get approved?”

  His graying head nodded solemnly. “If they do not deem it necessary, then the Council won’t send an Agent to aid us.”

  “Us?” I repeated him, staring him square in the face.

  “Yes,” he assured me. “Us. I will not leave you again. I am here for the long haul. And, as long as I live, I will not let Crixis hurt you.” I smiled and he pulled me in for a hug. Under normal conditions, this would have made me very happy, but considering that there was an evil Daywalker who was intent on destroying my life before killing me, it only filled me with uneasiness.

  I knew one thing: regardless of whether it was an impossible battle or not, I was going to give Crixis my all.

  “Is that guy ever going to wake up?” Gabriel peeked around the stairs and into the living room. “I’m seriously beginning to have doubts. Anyway, if he doesn’t, I call his leather jacket. That thing is cool.”

  I reached the bottom stair to give him a strange look. Koath was right behind me.

  “Gabriel,” Michael said, trying to reason with the boy who had his sights set on the man’s costly leather jacket, “try being sympathetic. That man almost died last night, and all you can think about is how badly you want his bloody jacket?”

  “I’m sure if the positions were switched, he’d want to shave my head and take my hair, so I think I’m being pretty sympathetic.” Gabriel’s eyes landed on me. “Good to see you again. For the past few hours I was starting to wonder if you and Koath had gotten lost in this house’s secret passageways.”

  “There’s secret passageways?” I stood by him, gazing up at him and expecting a sarcastic response.

  To my amazement, he wasn’t sarcastic. All he said was “No.” Although he then said, “But if there were any, I’d be the first to know, meaning that you’d be the second to know. Possibly the third.” Gabriel pondered it. “Maybe even the fourth. No, no, no.” He shook the idea away. “That’s ridiculous. You’d definitely be the second.”

  “Who in the world would you tell before me?”

  For the first time in a while, Gabriel winked at me. “I don’t know, I haven’t met everyone in the world yet. But as soon as I do, you’ll be the second to know.”

  Koath went out of the kitchen and into the living room to check on the man, who was still laying on our floor, sleeping/unconscious. In moments he was back, saying, “No changes. I fear that if he does not wake soon, we will have to come back here after the funeral.”

  Oh, yeah. The funeral. Claire’s dad’s funeral. That kind of put a damper on my mood. Though, I wasn’t sure how my mood could get any worse, since Crixis wanted me dead and all that. Not to mention the fight with Raphael and the creepy nightmare I had last night.

  “I wasn’t going to go anyway,” Michael told us. “I’ll remain here and watch him.”

  “Thank you, Michael,” Koath showed gratitude. “Now I told Max I’d swing by the house to pick him up at two, so—” His eyes flicked from me to Gabriel. “—you’d better start getting ready.”

  “How long do you think it’ll take for us to get ready?” I asked him, placing a hand on my hip. “We have
an hour and a half till then.”

  Koath chuckled and replied, “I think both of you are going to need every minute. If I’m correct, you two will both lay about in your rooms for the next eighty minutes and then rush to get ready.”

  “Oh, yeah?” Gabriel countered, though I had no idea where he was going. “Well, for your information, we are going to lay in Kass’s room for the next seventy-seven minutes and then rush to get ready. If you’re going to describe our actions, I want you to do it perfectly.”

  “Then you better get to it,” Koath said, still holding back a laugh or two.

  Gabriel lightly touched his shoulder, saying, “Thank you, my good man.” He then grabbed my hand and dragged me up the stairs.

  Once we made it to our floor, I said, “So we’re going to lay around in my room, huh?”

  “That’s right,” Gabriel said, swinging my door open and launching himself on my overly sized and comfortable bed.

  “And when did I agree to this?” I walked to my bed and plopped down. My back hit the mattress with a soft drop. Gabriel rambled off and I attentively listened. We continued this exchange for what seemed like forever.

  “How about this?” Gabriel held up a thin V-neck.

  “No,” I said, shaking my head to match my word. He held up a black, button-down, long-sleeved shirt. “Nope.” My legs swung back and forth as I eagerly awaited his next choice. He picked a plain gray t-shirt. “Uh-huh.” He threw it on the ground and I laughed at his irritation.

  “Kass,” Gabriel began, sliding a hand through his light blonde hair. “The whole point of me picking your outfit is so that you wear what I pick out.”

  I shrugged, saying, “You haven’t found anything good yet.”

  “I’ve been through your whole closet. Pretty much everything’s either black or gray and you still say I haven’t found anything good yet?” Gabriel aimed a finger at my closet doors. “I am going to look one more time in that heap of a closet and the next thing I pick you are going to wear, whether I have to dress you myself or not.”

  “I think you’d enjoy that too much,” I told him seriously, because it was true. He would enjoy that way too much, being a horny teenage boy and all.

  “I would,” he agreed with me a little too quickly, “I definitely would. Once I undressed you, I doubt I’d want to re-dress you.”

  “Fine,” I gave up, “I’ll wear the next thing you pull out. But just remember that I get to pick your outfit next.”

  After bending down to search some more, Gabriel glanced back at me. “Was that a threat?”

  Crossing my legs and folding my hands, I said, “Did it sound like one?”

  “Keep this up and you’ll be going to the funeral in a clown costume.”

  “If I go in a clown costume, then you’ll go in a jester costume. Which is like a clown, only worse.”

  Dimples appeared on his face before he broke out into a wide smile. “As long as you dress me in it, I’d have no objections.”

  I laughed the thought off. “No, I wouldn’t dress you. I’d have your newest friend Max do it.” I giggled at his face. The thought of Max dressing him was obviously a frightening one.

  “That settles it,” Gabriel stood and held it up. “This is what you’re wearing.”

  “Gabriel, that was on the bottom of my closet for a reason. I don’t do dresses,” I told him.

  “And why not?” His blue eyes studied the dress that was resting in his hands. “It’s a sexy black dress. What’s not to love?” I didn’t respond, so he continued, “I’m wondering two things…one: where did you get this thing and two: why haven’t I ever seen you wear it? And please don’t tell me you don’t do dresses, because that’s not a good enough answer.”

  “That is the answer. And…” My eyes stared holes through the dress. “…I have no clue where I got it. I don’t even remember getting it.”

  “Well, this is what you’re wearing.” I started to object, so he said, “But I will compromise. I will allow you to wear your boots with it. See? I think I’m being more than fair. And I’ll let you cover yourself up with that leather coat you have.”

  Sighing, I stood and yanked the dress from him. I threw it on my bed and headed for his room. Gabriel never let me dress him before. This was going to be fun. As I hunted through his closet, I asked, “Since when’s your room been this clean?”

  “Hmm, I don’t know.” Gabriel sat on the edge of his bed. “Since I had hours by myself this morning while you and Koath talked. I was bored out of my mind.”

  “I can tell,” I told him. Soon I found the perfect pair of pants. They seemed a bit old, so they would be a little snug on him, but that was the price the blonde boy would pay for making me wear that dress.

  “I haven’t seen those in a while.” Holding out a hand, he added, “Here. Toss them.”

  I did, after saying, “Don’t start stripping now, Gabriel. Wait until the whole outfit is ready and I am out of the room.” My eyes scanned his pile of shoes. There were no dressy ones. The only pair that would kind of match was his own leather boots that he hasn’t touched in a very long time.

  A very long time.

  Would his feet even fit in them anymore? Figuring why not? I dug them out and held them up. I looked at him and asked, “Do you think these will fit?” His gaze went from me to the boots and back to me. All he did was shrug. “Well, you’re a great help.”

  Gabriel prolonged his shrugging as he said, “I know. But I’m sure that if they don’t fit, Michael will have something I could borrow. Bet you didn’t think of that, my dear raccoon, did you?”

  Overlooking the fact that my dear raccoon was the worst-ever nickname, I replied, “Actually, I did. I just assumed that you wouldn’t wear anything of Michael’s, because…well, it’s Michael’s and that means that he’s been in them.” I turned my full attention back to his closet and rummaged through all of his shirts.

  Why didn’t this boy have any button-down shirts?

  “Because I’ve never had any use for them?” Gabriel offered as he sized up his old boots. “Yeah.” He held one up. “There’s no way I can cram my foot into this.”

  “Okay. Then I’ll be right back.” I didn’t wait for a reply. And I didn’t think he said anything, anyway, because he knew where I was going. Michael’s room.

  For a moment I stood there, staring at all the unexplored territory. I’d never been in his room before. It was weird.

  Shaking the strange feeling off, I walked to his dresser and took my time finding just the right things. Once I had it, I went to his shoe area and grabbed the nicest-looking pair. Here’s hoping they would fit Gabriel’s gargantuan feet.

  Gabriel was sitting in the exact same spot where I left him. When he saw me, he perked up. “What’d you get me? Anything faintly cool?” I dropped the shoes by his feet and held out the shirt and tie I had taken from his room. He stared at them, blinked, and then stared at them some more. “You really expect me to wear that?”

  There was no doubt in my mind that he was talking about the shirt. It was a nice shirt, all black, long-sleeved, and hardly ever worn by Michael.

  “Yes, Gabriel, I do.” I flung the shirt at his face. It drooped down, hanging on his wide shoulders.

  “Fine.” He seized the shirt and took the tie from my hand. “I hope it fits. And, by the way, if Michael comes to me asking why his new black shirt is ripped, I’ll blame you.”

  “Why wouldn’t it fit?”

  “Michael and I aren’t exactly the same size, you know. And if you don’t know that, then you must be blind, because how I could be mistaken for a guy who’s Michael’s size? He’s more of the research man.”

  I laughed. “Well…just try putting it on. You might have to do it without an undershirt because you’re going to need all the room you can get,” I gave him my advice as I walked out of his room, for it was time to change.

  “Wait,” Gabriel yelled for me when I reached his door, causing me to stop in my tracks. “You need
to wear an undershirt with these things?”

  “I think most do. I can’t be sure, though, because I’m not a guy,” I said. “Google it.”

  “Okay, thanks for telling me because I was starting to wonder if—” I closed the door behind me, anticipating that it would make him stop talking. But it didn’t. He raised his voice to make sure I heard it. “—you were a man underneath that small-boned, girly exterior.”

  I had a feeling that wasn’t what he was originally going to say.

  My ears heard him yell, “You’re right.”

  I was right. Of course I was right. I spent too much time with him, because I knew him way too well.

  Chapter Thirty – Gabriel

  Okay. The pants were on. They were tight, but they were on. The shoes were on. They were tight too, but they were on. Only one thing left to go: the shirt.

  I uncoordinatedly took off the T-shirt that I wore, stumbling over the boots Kass had pulled out in the process. Once I was shirtless, I kicked them aside, making a mental note to throw them out later. After we get this funeral over with.

  I shouldn’t even be going. I didn’t even want to go. No one ever wanted to go to a funeral, though. I didn’t even know Claire that well. No one did. Kass only met her a few days ago. The same with Max. Me? I didn’t think I’d ever said anything to her directly.

  The only reason I was going was for Kass. Kass never did deal with death well, even though almost no one she ever knew had died. Just when the word death was mentioned, she got all quiet and gloomy.

  Death was something everyone had to face at one time or another, and she just found it hard to deal with. But I understood. Purifiers usually died around our age, in their twenties if they were lucky.

  I gripped Michael’s shirt that I was, for the moment, stealing. Quickly I realized that it was buttoned, making me wonder why it was buttoned and folded. Seemed like overkill to me.

  I wouldn’t know if that was normal or not because I didn’t own any shirts like this. Maybe these things needed some kind of special treatment. They were special shirts that needed special treatment and only to be worn in special situations.