The Nightwalkers Saga: Books 1 - 7

by Candace Wondrak

  With the mental reminder of a burnt down kitchen, Michael snatched the spatula from his hand, saying, “Tell me why I allow you to set foot in the kitchen again?”

  Gabriel leisurely reached for a cereal box, ripping the seal and tossing a piece in the air seconds after. Like an expert, he caught the marshmallow on its way down. Goodbye, little rainbow. “Because I can make a mean bologna sandwich?”

  Michael’s eyebrows flew into the air, as did mine after that comment. Sure, his bologna sandwiches were good, but one needn’t have a good culinary skillset to make a bologna sandwich. It was bologna.

  Since I wasn’t feeling very hungry, I got back up and headed to the vestibule. I stopped myself at the front door. Something was missing, but what was it? My mind quickly came up with the answer. My tennis shoes. Last time I came home from running, I set them right here. But here they weren’t. “Where are my tennis shoes?” I directed the question to anyone who would respond.

  “Oh, yeah.” Gabriel shoved two bites of cereal in his mouth before finishing, “I tossed them outside. Boy, did they reek.”

  Sighing, I rolled my eyes and reached for the door. He threw them outside because they stunk? I’d have to remember to return the favor. Twisting the handle, I expected to see my shoes lying there. What I did not expect to see was a tall, thin Englishwoman arguing with a giant, muscular, stone-silent man.

  I really should have, because we spent the last two-ish days going over every inch of this house with a white glove.

  Chapter Two – Kass

  “Kassandra,” the woman spoke my name before, to my bewilderment, entering the house, “or is it Kass? Well, either way, I’m glad I’m finally meeting you. You are a mirror image of how Koath described you.” Her English accent was impossibly thick, even more so than Michael’s.

  Her round face was framed by her long, strawberry blonde hair, and her light brown eyes seemed kind. She clutched an ugly, worn-out and beaten purse, whose flower pattern looked like puke from a kid who just ate a ton of M&M’s.

  Her gaze fell to the floor. “I heard about what happened, and I’m sorry we couldn’t get here sooner. But now there’s no need to worry. We’ve taken up residence a few streets down, so we’ll always be a short holler away.”

  “How do you know all this?”

  Covering her mouth with a quick hand, she sighed. “Oopsie-daisy. Right. Bugger…why do I always forget to introduce myself? Blast, I’m terrible. Just terrible.” The woman calmed herself enough to say, “I’m Liz Bennet, Councilmember eight—”

  It took me a good few seconds to make the corners of my mouth curve slightly upward, into a welcoming smile, though the last thing I wanted to do was smile. “Hi. If you, um, don’t mind me asking, why are you here?”

  “Ooh, right. I came here with Taiton—” Liz gestured to the giant man standing behind her. “—to help defend you.” With that, she pointed to me, sighing again, because she probably realized that she was speaking to me like a child.

  What she told me was pretty clear, but I was still having some hard times thinking of why they both came here to protect me. Sure, Taiton was big, but Crixis could make short work of him. Besides, the bigger they were, the harder they fell.

  “Taiton,” Liz whispered to the stoic man, elbowing him in the side. “Smile and say hello.”

  As Taiton inhaled, he seemed to think about it. This guy must either not like to talk/smile, or just not talk/smile often. Somehow that didn’t surprise me.

  Instead of saying hello like any normal person would, Taiton bowed his dark head. When he straightened himself out, I realized his skin was almost the exact same color as Liz’s eyes. A medium brown. His head was shaved, showing off the few scars that were littered on his scalp. God only knew what they were from.

  Liz turned to me, apologizing, “I am sorry about him. He hardly ever talks. Or smiles. Or does anything remotely customary like that. Still, he’s the best Agent I’ve ever seen.”

  “Agent?” I echoed, sounding incredulous.

  “Yes,” Liz answered me with a white smile on her face. “He’s here to terminate Crixis, and he is armed with everything he needs to do it.”

  I bit my lip and eyed Taiton up some more. “What am I supposed to do? Call him over when I’m feeling scared? When I need to be tucked in?”

  “No.” She quickly said, “Taiton will be with you all the time, until Crixis is taken care of.” Liz smiled and glanced from me to the man, who must have been at least six inches taller than Gabriel. Impressive.

  “Even in school?” Why would I be worried about school at a time like this?

  “Don’t be silly.” Liz placed a hand on my shoulder. “You’re not going to school this week, or any week, until we deal with Crixis. And don’t worry, I’ll be sure to collect your assignments and drop them by after work.”

  “Work?”

  Her eyes studied the inside of our house, settling on the huge staircase. “Yes. I am to be filling in the principal’s position. And, of course, I will be taking care of Max until the Council locates a free Guardian. Now, this house is quite lovely. How about a tour?” Liz glimpsed to Taiton. “Doesn’t a tour sound brilliant?”

  Taiton said nothing as he exhaled loudly and stepped into the house.

  I took it that meant yes.

  Chapter Three – Michael

  “Gabriel,” my voice took on a scolding tone, “you really should not have eaten Kass’s omelet.” I watched the boy shrug, as if it were nothing that he devoured, like a rabid animal, the meal I spent the last hour trying to create.

  “It’s not my fault she’s taking forever to find her stinky shoes.” His tongue played with the fork he recently shoved in his mouth. “Besides, she won’t find them.”

  Tearing off my glasses, I smiled and cleaned them. “Why won’t she find her shoes?” It seemed my glasses were always collecting dust, even though they were constantly on my nose.

  “Because,” he paused, lifting both feet on the kitchen table, “I put them in her room.”

  I couldn’t help but laugh. I didn’t want to, but sometimes this boy was so ridiculous that I forgot he was an adult. He resorted to childish pranks and sayings on nearly a daily basis. That got old, really quickly.

  My ears heard collective footsteps entering the kitchen beside me, way too many to belong to Kass. There were others with her. Couldn’t be Raphael already, could it?

  I placed my newly-cleaned glasses on my nose the moment the woman next to Kass said “Hello, Michael. You’re looking well.” Elizabeth’s brown eyes were warm with gentleness and recollection.

  “Elizabeth.” I could barely force myself to say her name, fearing I didn’t have enough breath in my body to do so. Seeing her awakened many memories I had not too long ago forgotten. “What are you doing here?”

  Elizabeth smiled her all-too familiar smile, dimples around her full lips. “You always had a way with words, among other things.”

  My comeback was cut short by Gabriel, who immediately yelled, “Oh, gross. Get a room! And by get a room, I don’t mean any room in this house—I mean a hotel. Go to a hotel before you make me barf up Kass’s omelet.” He set a hand on his stomach for an added effect.

  “Gabriel,” I spoke without tearing my eyes from her, “sit with Kass on the back porch please.”

  He forced a sigh before saying, “Okay. We’ll give you some privacy, but that also means we get some privacy of our own—”

  I shooed him off, not paying much heed to what he said. “Yes, yes, that’s fine. If there’s a sign of Crixis, shout, will you?”

  “Shout?” He was unbelieving. “Yeah, we’ll be sure to do that.”

  “Good,” I said, never once taking my gaze off of the woman before me.

  “Sick” was what Gabriel chose to say before grabbing Kass’s hand and leading her out of the kitchen and out of the house. I was too besotted to think of a snide remark about him, and that said a lot.

  Elizabeth faced the tall man near her
, gently whispering, “You know what to do.” The man nodded and was following the two kids in an instant. She faced me, smiling and saying, “Taiton. You’ll grow to love him, trust me.”

  Chapter Four – Kass

  Our walk to the back porch was fast, quiet, and awkward. We left Michael and Elizabeth alone in the kitchen, while a tall, dark and intimidating man followed us like our own personal body guard or secret service agent.

  As we exited the house, my mind flashed back to a day I spent in the town park with Koath. The memory of us eating hot dogs there was alive in my mind. It seemed like it was just yesterday, but I knew it wasn’t.

  “So,” there was a pause as Gabriel eyed up the huge man, who stood silently on my other side, leaning on the wooden railing, studying the expansive backyard that gave way to woods about an acre back. “Who’s he? And why is he so huge?” His voice had traces of amazement, shock, and confusion. “Unusually tall and muscular, I thought I was. Two of me, he is practically. Makes me feel tiny and insecure, it does.”

  Now was not the time for his Yoda. I wasn’t in the mood to play along.

  Realizing Gabriel waited for an answer from me, I snapped my attention back to him. “That’s Taiton. He’s the Agent the Council sent to help us take down—”

  Gabriel stopped me by cutting in, “I get it. What I still don’t understand is why he’s just so large. You do see that that man is roughly the size of a barge?” A sly smile spread across his face when he peered around me to stare at Taiton directly. “I want you to answer two questions. Listen carefully. When you were a lad, did you eat four dozen eggs every morning to help you get large? And, now that you’re grown, do you eat five dozen eggs, so you’re roughly the size of a…barge?” Towards the end of his Beauty and the Beast song reference, he started carrying the tune like he was an expert on the subject.

  Taiton looked at him blankly for only a second before deciding to ignore the blonde boy altogether, which was a good choice, I’d admit.

  “Seriously, though.” His deep blue eyes were back upon me. “No amount of eggs—regular, or even injected with steroids—could make him look like that.” Gabriel rubbed his chin, thinking of what outrageous thing to say next. When his eyes widened, I rolled mine.

  “It’s like he’s part Hagrid and part Juggernaut, with a sprinkle of Denzel Washington. Hmm. Maybe add a hint of Natalie Portman.” He lifted an eyebrow at my confused expression. “What? Don’t you see his hands? They may be oversized, but they’re woman hands. Elegant, feminine woman hands.”

  Rolling my eyes, I noticed Taiton gazing down at his supposedly woman-like hands. It was near impossible for me to believe that he was indeed wondering whether or not he had feminine hands. More like wondering how anyone could put up with Gabriel’s antics for more than a minute without going nuts.

  Poor Taiton. He had a long way to go.

  “So,” Gabriel dragged out the word, making it last five seconds, “is he going to be following us everywhere, even in school? Because, I seriously doubt that we can pass him off as a foreign exchange student.”

  I relayed what Liz had said to me earlier, “Liz said I can’t go to school. Not now, anyways. And besides, Taiton’s following me, not you.”

  Yep. This was my life. Just dandy, wasn’t it?

  Chapter Five – Michael

  Elizabeth ruffled her hair, that same enthralling smile glued to her tanned face. “Michael, aren’t you going to invite me to sit?” Her head gestured to the living room, where there was ample room for both of us to recline on something comfortable.

  “Oh, of course.” I managed a smile, though it was nowhere near the beauty of hers, I was sure, while I led her to the couch. Holding my hand down, I said, “Please, take a…” My mind was drawing a blank. Brilliant.

  Why did this always seem to happen when I was around her?

  “Seat?” Elizabeth finished my floppy sentence with a grin. “Why, yes, I will. You are a most gracious host. A tad on the awkward side, but that is one of the things I love about you.” Her light brown eyes were expectant.

  Love. Not loved.

  I gulped. It was most likely that she wanted me to say something similar to her, but all my mouth said was “Would you like some—”

  “Tea?” She hid her wide smile with a delicate hand.

  “Yes,” I mentally cursed myself for acting as if this were our first date.

  “I’d love some.”

  “Be back in a jiffy,” I spoke the words before I realized how strange they sounded. I took my time turning and walking back into the kitchen, but once I was alone, I hurried like there was no tomorrow. Thankfully I had some hot water boiling for myself, so making the tea took me a mere few seconds.

  Soon I was in the living room, rushing to her side and carrying the two steaming cups. I was so absorbed in her presence that, while I handed her one cup, I splashed scalding hot tea out of the other cup and straight on my hand.

  “Blasted—” I began to swear like a sailor, causing Elizabeth to set her cup down and take my hand. My stinging hand placed my own tea beside hers before she was able to pull me up and drag me back into the kitchen.

  Cold water ran from the sink in a steady stream after she switched it on. Her soft grasp held my burnt hand stable under the flow of water. I let her do it, even though I was almost positive that to treat a burn, one shouldn’t put cold water atop the injury. We stood there in silence for a while, until Elizabeth burst out laughing.

  “You know—” Her tender fingers stroked mine. “—you haven’t changed a bit, Michael.”

  It had been a long time, more years than I could remember, since I last saw her. Regardless of what she or anyone else thought of me, I had changed. “Oh, but I have,” I said, turning my body to face hers.

  Her strikingly sculpted face tilted up, letting her eyes meet mine. “And how is that?”

  “Because now—” Under the water, our fingers intertwined, to the point where we were holding hands. “—I know what I want.” Such thoughts I hadn’t let myself think for countless years now came flowing into my head like a gallant rider.

  Elizabeth was about to ask me what it was that I wanted. I could see it in her eyes. She always liked to be clear on things. However, I was not going to let her do that.

  Taking my free hand, I set it on her waist and pulled her to me, so that our fronts were touching. Her left hand traveled up my chest and onto my neck as I let my body do all the talking.

  This kiss. I’d been waiting for this kiss for a long time now. And all the ones that came after the first were equally, if not more, incredible.

  Chapter Six – Kass

  “Wow. So this is where they live. Huh. I imagined more of a hut,” Gabriel said, putting both hands on both hips. “You know, since they’re animals.”

  I had a sudden urge to say they’re not animals, they’re Morphers, but I knew Gabriel would only say what’s the diff? like he was a hotshot for shortening the word difference because he was too lazy to say the whole thing.

  Tearing his eyes off the brick house, he glanced back at me with a look that said we were stupid to leave the back porch of our house. Eh. Who was I to play by the rules given to me? Taiton went along with us, mostly without a word, after trying to alert the two people in the house that we were setting off.

  Apparently the two people in the house were getting busy.

  I knocked on the door. Claire appeared in seconds, smiling a toothy grin. “Kass, hi! How are you doing? Are you feeling better?” Her short yellow hair stuck every which way. She wore baggy, torn jean shorts and a yellow tank top. Very bright and colorful. Kind of hurt my eyes.

  She was talking about Koath. My father. I didn’t know what to say. Actually, I didn’t want to say anything.

  “I’m fine,” I outright lied, knowing that everyone who knew me could tell that was a lie.

  Her lips pursed as she opened her door further, saying, “Do you want to come in?”

  “No, I got company.”
My head leaned in Gabriel and Taiton’s direction. They stood off to the side, so they didn’t look like creepers, just as I told them to.

  Claire’s blue eyes landed on Taiton. “Who’s—”

  “He’s Taiton. It’s a long story, but don’t worry. He’s…nice.” At least I thought so. Truthfully, the man hadn’t said one word so far, and I wondered how long that absolute silence could continue. “I came to ask for a favor.”

  “Sure. What do you need?” Claire was quick to agree.

  Never thought it’d be that simple. “I’m—I can’t go to school for a few days, and I was wondering if you could get all my stuff and bring it to my house after school?” I didn’t want Liz doing it, because I still wasn’t sure whether or not I liked her, let alone trusted her. She seemed to slip back into Michael’s life way too easily.

  “Sure,” Claire said the statement as if it were completely obvious. “You have to give me your locker and combination. Oh, and class schedule, too.”

  I stood on her porch and thought hard. What was my stupid locker number? And what was my combination? I had so much trouble with those things; I couldn’t believe I didn’t remember. How could a Purifier be so forgetful?

  It could be because I didn’t care. Or…nope. That’s pretty much the only reason.

  “Come on, there’s a notepad right on the fridge.” Claire walked into her kitchen. I could see the refrigerator from here, so hopefully, going into her house for a minute wasn’t going to be a problem with Taiton.

  I mean, if he couldn’t let me go (not even) ten feet away from him, did that mean he was going to be in the room when I showered? Creepy. No thanks to that, buddy.

  As I headed into her home, my ears heard creaks on the wooden porch. I spun to face them, saying, “The kitchen is right there.” I pointed to show them that I was not exaggerating on this. “I’ll be out in a minute. If you really want, you can watch me through that window, okay?”