Angels of the Knights

by Valerie Zambito

  He let out a moan of pleasure at the same time that the Kur on her arm flared to life with a searing burn. Her head snapped to the side and she pushed him away from her.

  Three guys were passing by on the sidewalk in front of her house. She wondered for a brief second if it could be Professor Marc Ellis, but it was not. All three of the men were young.

  “Oh, so this is where Kade went. Getting himself a little piece of our new neighbor,” one of the guys commented.

  Kade turned around and the anger etched into his features was unmistakable. “Have a little respect, Ethan.”

  Ethan put his hands up. “Hey, I don’t blame you, dude. She’s gorgeous.”

  “Just shut up and keep walking, Ethan, or I will be only too happy to help you on your way.” Kade moved down one of the steps of her porch to back up his words.

  The other two guys on the street grabbed Ethan’s arms. “Just ignore him, Kade. We’re leaving.”

  Ethan let himself be propelled down the sidewalk, but Fallon noticed that his eyes did not leave hers for half a block.

  “Who is that?” she asked him.

  “Ethan Kiley, my roommate and supposed best friend.”

  “What do you mean supposed?”

  Kade shook his head. “The guy has been acting really weird all day and even the last time he came to visit me in jail. Not like himself at all. I honestly don’t know what’s wrong with him. Maybe he’s having problems at home.”

  He is a Kjin, that is his problem, thought Fallon.

  “Listen, Kade, I really have to get inside.”

  His eyes held disappointment. “Yeah, me too, I guess. School starts tomorrow.” He paused. “I would like to see you again if you’re okay with that.”

  “I…yes, I would like that.”

  “Okay, see you tomorrow.”

  She nodded and went into the house. After closing the door, she ran up the stairs, quickly changed out of her skinny jeans and into black pants and a black hoodie. She slipped the Aventi into her back pocket.

  She wished more than anything that she could lie in bed and think of Kade’s kiss, think about how good it felt. But, she did not have any time to spare.

  She had to go and kill his best friend.

  CHAPTER 5

  Painful Memories

  Fallon tossed and turned as she listened to the creaks and rattles of the old Victorian most of the night. It was not just the unfamiliar noises that kept her up. In the darkness, she could deny reality and choose instead to remember how good it felt to have Kade kiss her and put his hands on her. But, now, in the harsh brightness of the morning, she could no longer escape the truth.

  She could never see Kade again.

  Although returned to her human body, it was foolish really to think she could develop a meaningful relationship. Last night, she had only lost herself in Kade for only a few moments and a Kjin managed to get within striking distance. Her focus should be on her duties to all of humankind where a single moment of inattention could mean the lives of those she had been entrusted to protect. Darius and the Knights of Emperica put a tremendous amount of time training and honing her skills, and she could not—would not—allow all of their hard work be wasted.

  As if to drive home that point, the two long scars on her shoulder blades began to throb. The wounds where her wings had been removed pained her most mornings. It was at its worst when she first awoke, but lessened to a dull ache as the day wore on.

  It was the agony of that amputation that she remembered now.

  “Turn toward the wall and put your hands in the manacles,” Darius instructed.

  “Is that really necessary?” she asked, suddenly frightened as she stepped into the small room.

  “Yes. I will not lie to you Fallon. The pain will be unlike anything you have experienced, but in order to make clean incisions, you must be restrained.”

  With a deep breath, she stepped over to the wall and lifted her hands to the chains that hung from the wall. Another angel locked the irons over her wrist and then secured her ankles in place into metal rings on the floor.

  Darius stepped behind her and made three expert cuts in her shirt and it fell away from her body leaving her back bare.

  “While this sacrifice is necessary for your chosen path,” Darius informed her, “it is not required by the Creator. It is a choice you must make for yourself and should not be made lightly. Are you certain, Fallon Angell, you wish to give up your wings and become a Knight?”

  Fallon had already heard the screams from the other angels. Julian had gone through before her and when he came out, he usual smiling face was ashen and tormented. But, her mind was firm.

  “Yes.”

  Darius did not waste any time. A blazing hot thrust stabbed through her wing, and her back arched as she screamed. It felt like Darius was cutting off her arm. White feathers drifted around the floor next to her as the Elder pulled and cut through her new appendage. By the time he moved to the second wing, she was hanging listlessly from the manacles, no longer able to stand upright. Mercifully, halfway through the removal of this wing, she blacked out.

  Fallon shuddered. She had only had her wings for a short time, but still missed their beauty and the blissful energy that emanated from them. She shrugged her shoulder blades again with a groan and got out of bed to shower. Hopefully, she could leave the house without seeing Kade. Right about now, he and his roommates would be wondering where their friend, Ethan, was and why he did not come home last night. She left the body out in the open so he could be discovered quickly. There was no point in prolonging the grief for Ethan’s parents and friends.

  She wondered why the Kjin picked Ethan. According to Kade, his friend had only started acting differently the past few days so it was a new possession. Was the Kjin simply trading an older body for a younger, healthier one? For some reason, she did not think it was that simple. This was the third Kjin operating in this area, and she had an eerie feeling that they were missing something crucial.

  Her cell phone rang, so she stepped out of the shower and grabbed a towel before running back into her room. “Hello.”

  Surprisingly, it was Julian. She thought he was still asleep in the next room. “It’s me. I left early this morning, but didn’t want to wake you.”

  She toweled her hair dry with the phone balanced in the crook of her neck. “No problem. Did you have fun at the party?” He was still not home after she returned from dealing with the Ethan Kjin.

  “A gentleman never kisses and tells, Fallon.”

  “Exactly. That’s why I’m asking you.”

  “That hurts.”

  She laughed. “Keep your secrets, dear friend, but don’t be such a stranger, okay? Let’s get together again sometime before this year ends.”

  “I’ll try. Be careful, Fallon.”

  “You too,” she replied and snapped the phone shut. It took several minutes to get all of the snarls out of her long blonde hair, but as soon as she was done, she dressed and stuffed a pen and notebook into her backpack. That was all she brought from her apartment in Buffalo. How could she have known when she left that she would be going back to college?

  She hefted the pack and flew down the old Victorian stairs. She took only a moment to grab a granola bar out of the cupboard in the kitchen and then walked out the front door.

  A group of girls was walking by her house so she paused on the steps. Of all the different types of humans, teenage girls were the closest to Kjin without actually being them. They were not evil, of course, they were just…well, mean. Not wanting to get caught up in the mean, Fallon avoided them at all costs.

  She glanced over at the white house next door. Thankfully, Kade was not around either.

  The school was only four blocks away, which was just as well since she did not have a car. She fell in behind the girls and joined the growing trail of young people making their way to Alden University.

  Hoodie up and eyes averted, Fallon peeled off from the group and h
eaded to the registration office. There was a long row of students waiting to pick up their schedules, so she waited in line with them.

  When she finally made it to the desk, she accepted the white paper from the clerk and was pleased to see Forensic Science typed across the top. At least Father Tomas did not sign her up for something way out of her comfort zone, like Engineering or Nursing. In order to have the access she needed at AU, she did have to play the part of a college student and, unfortunately, that included attending classes.

  She had two that morning and hurried to the first one—Psychology.

  The Professor was a portly gentleman who apparently saw himself more as a stand-up comedian than a teacher and spent most of the hour and a half telling jokes and inappropriately ribbing his returning students. The Professor of her second class, Biology, could have been speaking a foreign language for all Fallon understood a single word he said. Biology was definitely not for her.

  She was a bit proud of herself, though, for managing to get through both without speaking a single word to anyone. She had become very skilled over the years at avoiding small talk and could head off a potential conversation with single glare.

  Now that they were over, though, she had to find out where Professor Ellis’ office was so she could start her surveillance and figure out a way to kill the monster.

  She walked back toward the administration wing where she picked up her schedule that morning. The same woman was behind the desk.

  Fallon put a smile on her face. “Hi. I am just wondering where I can find Professor Marc Ellis’ office.”

  The woman raised her eyebrows. “Professor Ellis is not even teaching any classes this semester.”

  This was not going well. Fallon tired to avoid drawing attention to herself when asking questions. It should be in and out. One question, one answer. No extra conversation. Unfortunately, it was too late now. “Oh, I was just going to interview him for an upcoming project.”

  The woman snorted. “A project already?” She muttered something under her breath about demanding professors, and then looked back up at her. “Mr. Ellis’ office is on the second floor of Bartlett Hall, but he’s not there. He won’t be in until Friday.”

  “Okay, thanks,” she said and backed away quickly before the woman had time to remember her face. She headed for the exit.

  Fallon did not hear his footsteps behind her, but smelled his spicy soap scent a few seconds before he clasped his hands around her waist.

  She yelped. A high-pitched, girl yelp! One of the most powerful Knights of Emperica just yelped like a schoolgirl.

  “What are you doing?” he asked her.

  “I…I had to talk to the clerk.” Since honesty was a virtue she embraced completely, she refused to lie. Even a white lie.

  He took her hand and started to walk. “Come on.”

  She pulled back. “No, Kade, I can’t…I have to…”

  He turned to her, and she noticed that his eyes were rimmed red. “Look, I had some bad news today and just need someone to talk to.”

  “I wish I could, Kade.”

  “Ethan’s dead.”

  She reached out and cupped his cheek with her hand. “I’m so sorry. I don’t know what else to say.”

  “Don’t say anything. Just be with me. I need you.”

  This was crazy. She had to find out more about Professor Ellis. She had to find a way to stop this Kjin from hurting any more innocent people. Just this morning, she made the decision that she could not see Kade again.

  “Please.”

  The pain in his voice touched her heart, and her mouth betrayed her head. “Okay,” she said, and felt herself being pulled along by the force of Kade.

  CHAPTER 6

  The Guardian

  “I wonder what happens when you die,” Kade wondered aloud as he stared up at the sky with his hands behind his head.

  “You go to heaven.”

  “Do you really think so?”

  “I know so.”

  She saw the corners of his mouth twitch up in a wry grin. “I wish I could be so confident.”

  Fallon reached over and grabbed his hand. “Trust me. I have an inside connection with the big guy.”

  “Do you now?” He turned on his side and propped up on an elbow to look down at her. “I do know that I feel much better with you next to me. Thanks for being here. I didn’t think you would come.”

  She laughed. “You really didn’t give me much of a choice!”

  He gave her a dimpled smile. “No, I didn’t.”

  A hangout for college kids, they were lying together in the grass in a remote section of Highland Park adjacent to AU. They had been lying together for hours now getting to know each other.

  She learned that Kade’s parents lived locally, but he had been out on his own since he was eighteen and joined the local sheriff’s department. He never wanted to do anything other than be a cop, but since that part of his life was over, he enrolled at AU to study physical education. He had a younger sister named, Chelsea, and a dog named Titus, and he spoke fondly of both. He talked about his friend, Ethan, and she laughed with him as he recalled some of their best childhood pranks.

  Fallon let him do most of the talking and only divulged that she lost her parents and brother to a home invasion some years back and now lived by herself in Buffalo. She actually traveled all over the east coast in her efforts to track the Kjin, but her apartment in Buffalo was her primary residence. She did not call it home, because it wasn’t. A home was a place of comfort and memories and love. Buffalo was a place to lay her head at night.

  Because of the criminal nature of her loss, Kade’s ears perked up. “A home invasion? Were the perpetrators ever caught?”

  “No.”

  A look of sympathy filled his eyes. “I can’t imagine how difficult that must have been for you. You were so young.”

  “Yes, it was pretty hard.”

  “That’s why I always wanted to be in law enforcement. To get scum like that off the street. I’m sorry you had to go through that.” He reached out and rolled a piece of her hair between his fingers. “You are very beautiful,” he commented huskily. “But, it is not just that. There is something special about you, Fallon. I don’t know. You just seem to have this amazing aura around you.”

  “I’m just a girl, Kade, who likes a boy,” she admitted shyly.

  Desire colored his handsome face. “Now, that is something I can get used to hearing.” He lowered his lips to hers.

  “Help! Somebody help me!”

  She jumped to her feet in a flash. Probably a little too fast if the look on Kade’s face was any indication. Fallon sprinted to the sound of the cries.

  “Help! My daughter!”

  A woman was waving her arms frantically at one of the scenic areas common in upstate New York that overlooked a fairly large gorge. Fallon rushed to the waist high stone wall where the woman was pointing.

  There, thirty feet below, a young child was crouched on the edge of a small protrusion in the cliff face.

  The child’s mother climbed over the wall, ready to try and rappel down, but the terror on her face was clearly evident.

  Fallon grabbed the woman’s arm before she fell, too. “No, let me. I have some skill in rock climbing.”

  The terrified woman hesitated, apparently not sure if she wanted to put the fate of her daughter in the hands of such a young girl. But, she did scramble back over the wall. “Are you sure? Can you save her?”

  Fallon nodded. “I can.”

  Kade caught up to her. “Boy, you’re fast. What’s going on?”

  “There’s a little girl stuck in the gorge. I’m going to go down and get her.” She ignored his look of disbelief.

  “Can you find a rope or something that I can tie around her waist? Then, you can pull her back up.”

  “What? No! You are not going over that wall! I’ll go.”

  She shook her head. “No. I’ll need your strength to pull us up after I get d
own there. Don’t worry. I’ve done this before. Just get me the rope before that little girl falls.”

  She actually was not worried about the child in the least.

  She had already seen the glow of the guardian angel next to her.

  Kade looked divided. He wanted to help the child, but was worried for her. “Go!”

  He did not need to be told again. He sprinted off.

  Now that the mother was safely back on this side of the wall, Fallon went over. It was a vertical descent, but she would have no problem. She could clamber down easily, but the real trick was in making it look like she did not have otherworldly abilities.

  The guardian angel spoke to Fallon in her mind as she started her descent.

  Hello, Knight.

  Hello, Sentinel. Is the child all right?

  Yes, she will not fall with me by her side.

  What is her name?

  Emma. The angel said the name with pride and love. She is a curious little girl. I can see that I will have my hands very full with this one over the years.

  It was frustrating to proceed so slowly down the cliff face. How is everything in Emperica, Sentinel?

  Soft tendrils of mist surrounded the angel’s head as she smiled. Glorious. How goes your fight here?

  Unending, Fallon said with a sigh.

  Have faith in yourself, Knight, as we all have faith in you.

  Fallon stepped onto the ledge and had to fight back her tears at the endearment. This beautiful angel floating majestically in front of her was home. This was her family. And, she missed both desperately. But, it was not yet time to return. She still had work to do and all in Emperica were counting on her. Thank you, Sentinel. Your presence here has lifted my spirits.

  “Fallon! Here is the rope!” shouted Kade. “I have a few guys up here, and we will pull the child up once you tie it around her waist.” The rope dropped down over the side of the embankment.

  Fallon crouched in front of the girl. “Emma, my name is Fallon, and I don’t want you to be afraid.”