The Swords of an Angel: The Guardian's Fall Chronicles

by Urania Sarri

  “Emma? Can I come in?” That voice. The voice I adored.

  “Come in,” I said, biting my lip. Christopher looked tired too. It was obvious that he hadn’t slept either. He was holding his cell phone.

  “They’ve just called. In about two minutes they’ll call back. You’ll be able to talk to your boyfriend.”

  “Stop calling him my boyfriend.”

  “Right. I meant your…friend,” he mocked.

  “Did you get anything out of them? Did they say where they’re keeping him?”

  “No. I’m sorry. It’s obvious that they still don’t trust me.”

  “Why don’t they? You’re one of them now, aren’t you?” I was deliberately trying to hurt him, but he didn’t seem to take the hint.

  “You’re absolutely right. I am one of them. Maybe I’ve always been one of them.” And just like that, he’d turned the bow toward me. The arrow hit its target, aiming straight at my heart.

  “Hmmm.” He looked around. “It looks exactly the same. I’m surprised you haven’t changed anything,” he remarked.

  What was I supposed to say? That I’d been waiting for him to come back and that I didn’t want anything changed because it all reminded me of him? I preferred to let him think exactly the opposite.

  “I’ve only been here a couple of times. I never thought about changing anything. I’ll probably sell the place.” I’d never thought about selling our house, of course, but now it occurred to me that I should put an ad about it as soon as this doomed-to-fail mission would be over.

  “That will be a very wise thing to do.” His face remained annoyingly unreadable.

  “Won’t you come inside?” I challenged him.

  “Sure. Why not?”

  Christopher walked into the room with stealthy, cat-like movements. He lay on the huge bed, his palms supporting the back of his head; a sight for sore eyes to every woman. In another world, I would have thrown myself at him and covered him with kisses.

  With a leisurely air, he fixed the pillows behind his head and gazed at me.

  In an act of senseless bravery, I sat on the other edge of the bed. “How… How does it feel?” I asked.

  “What do you mean?”

  “How does it feel to be here? To be back.” Back with me, I wanted to say.

  He smiled, but the smile did not reach his eyes. “What do you want to hear? That I’ve missed this place, this house, this…bed?”

  “Have you?”

  “You know the answer to that, don’t you? Trained assassins do not become attached to places or people. We cannot afford to be.” He closed his eyes. “But I have to admit, I’ve always liked this bed. Especially after having spent the last three hours lying on the sofa.”

  So that was his only emotion about being here. The comfortable bed. So uninspired, so unromantic.

  Then he looked at me through his half-open eyes. “But you know this, don’t you? I’m sure you and your boyfriend make the most of this bed when you meet here.”

  “What are you trying to prove?”

  “To prove? It’s just pure biology. Don’t tell me I still shock you! As far as I remember, you’ve overcome that stage.”

  I felt my cheeks burn. I had an intense urge to slap him.

  “There’s no need to be so cynical,” I said instead. Suddenly, thinking of Alex made me want to laugh. What would he say if he heard Christopher talk this way, considering my silly fixation on keeping myself pure “until the prince came back” as he used to tease me?

  His mobile vibrated next to him and he took his time to answer it, ignoring the twitch I couldn’t hide.

  “Yes?” he said. Then he passed me the phone without saying anything, his eyes more blank than ever.

  “Alex?” My voice trembled.

  “Emma?” I could barely hear him. His voice sounded too low, too distant, too exhausted.

  “Where are you? Have they hurt you? Tell them not to touch you!” I croaked out, my voice tight with anger and panic.

  “Relax, Emma. I’m okay. Don’t worry about me. Look after yourself.” he tried to comfort me a strained voice.

  “I’ll get you back, Alex. I’ll get you back. I promise.” I sobbed.

  “Listen, you don’t have to do this; what they’ve asked you to do for them. I’ll deal with them myself.”

  “No! Alex, don’t! They’re dangerous!”

  “You got it right, sugar.” Tex’s familiar but still eerie voice said. “I’ll take good care of your friend. For a week. After this, I can’t promise you anything.”

  “You sick bastard!” I cried. But his only response was gleeful laughter a moment before hanging up on me.

  Christopher took the phone from my hand. He stared at my soaked face for a few seconds before walking to the door.

  “I’ll be waiting for you downstairs,” he said, leaving me alone to burst into tears once again on the disgusting bed, right on the spot where his beautiful head was resting a moment ago. And again I wasn’t sure whether I was crying for Alex or for the long lost, sweet, familiar scent on my soaked pillows.

  Christopher was waiting for me in the living room, in front of the big glass doors that overlooked the sea. A fresh morning sun was trying to warm the wet, polished landscape. Still, dark clouds made their glowering presence, as they moved aggressively to take over the orange-velvet of the eastern sky.

  He cast me a fleeting glance when he heard me coming down the stairs.

  “Ready?” he asked, already shrugging on his brown, leather jacket. “This is for you.” He nodded toward a small red thermos, which I guessed contained strong, hot coffee; the way he knew I preferred it.

  But that was Christopher. He’d never stopped surprising me.

  During the long, tormenting drive to Pylos, none of us spoke much. Christopher asked me if I needed to stop but I refused, determined to get over with this trip as soon as possible. I kept my eyes closed, pretending I was asleep, which in fact was impossible with him being so close to me. When my hurt pride succumbed to my full bladder’s demands, which threatened to explode at the next jolt of the car, I put my self-dignity aside and asked him to stop at the next rest area. He waited for me in the car and as soon as I got back, he started the engine; and that was the only kind of contact we had during the three-hour drive.

  CHAPTER 3

  Pylos

  When you are given a second chance you have no right to waste it. Basically, you shouldn’t even think of wasting it.

  Two years ago, I came really close to death. Too close. But, somehow, I made it through. I found the strength to come back to life, to the people I cared about, but mainly to the mission I had been assigned by Plato, to free Christopher from the Squad’s claws. A mission that had become my purpose in life.

  I had gone a long way since then. I’d done inconceivable things in order to find Christopher, overcoming my fears, my personal limits, and of course, totally ignoring a lot of my moral principles. That newly acquired power of mine instinctively drove me to him. It was the same power that had led me to Plato and to the future world. A power that wouldn’t let me give up. I was condemned to stand up fighting ‘til the end. I was an improved version of myself. A new Emma with skills I never thought I was capable of. What scared me the most was that I got used to the new me really fast.

  Sometimes giving up was a blessing. A blessing I was forever refused.

  That was how I kept going. That was why I compromised with the League’s terms. That was the only reason I endured the torment I had brought upon myself.

  Mateo, the Squad agent and Denzel’s snitch, must have been very busy during our absence because I found my new house fully equipped and the kitchen cupboards and fridge bursting with food enough to feed a whole family for a month. A new state-of-the-art laptop was on my desk. But that was nothing compared to what they’d brought to my partners’ house.

  A huge screen covered the surface of a large table in their living room and two laptops that looked exactly lik
e mine were connected to it. The whole room was transformed into a small but impressive computer lab. Mateo explained to me that the advanced programs of their era had been installed into the ‘primitive-looking’ laptops and all my dad’s archives, which I had entrusted to Christopher another life ago, had been converted into small chips that enabled my partners to load them on the computers. Mateo had also found a group of workers who worked for an entrusted contractor from Athens and had arranged for them to arrive the following morning to the excavation area.

  We started working immediately. My duty was to study my dad’s archives in order to find any possible clues that would lead us to the new position of Point–X, to the Gateway that was so valuable to the future world and upon the discovery of which my best friend’s life depended. Christopher guided and supervised the excavation process according to our findings. Mateo worked with a remote-controlled radar that scanned the subsoil for indications of any kind of alterations that would reveal the existence of the portal. Nevertheless, I was certain they only allowed me to know the necessary information about their methods of research, holding back the technological advancement of their time.

  The first three days had been a total waste. The rainy weather had stopped the workers from digging and confined them to the shelter of their dry and heated containers for most of the day. My research had also proved fruitless and Mateo kept searching his interactive map of the excavation area in vain. Christopher was out most of the time and when he came back he would always stay away from me, working with Mateo in their makeshift lab. And the clock was ticking, putting Alex’s life in mortal danger with every second.

  On Saturday evening, I was helping Mateo with extending his research a little further, showing him a few spots on the map that I considered important. Yannis, the mechanic whose murder was still a mystery to anyone but me, had helped me hide the exact position of Point–X on the map when I was forced to “donate” my father’s property to The League. It had been a vain effort back then, but I thought we would have nothing to lose if we searched the area where Yannis had located the Portal.

  It was a little after six when Christopher came back. His frown revealed his frustration with the delay in our mission. I still wasn’t used to his presence. Every time I saw him, I felt the same gratefulness someone experienced when waking up from a nightmare and realizing that it was over; that it was just a bad dream. Gratefulness didn’t last long. Disillusionment always followed along with the excruciating thought that he was there with me, but he would never again be there for me. In a way, he never really came back.

  Mateo looked at his watch. We’d been working on the radar measurements for more than six hours, not even stopping for lunch.

  “Leave it, Emma. We’re both too tired to go on. We can try again tomorrow.”

  “Don’t tell me you’re tired!” Christopher scowled.

  “I’m not talking about me.” Mateo cast me a fleeting glance. I felt Christopher’s eyes on me as I was rubbing my sore eyes. My back felt awfully stiff. I’d give anything for a massage.

  “All right. I’ll order us some pizza,” Christopher said.

  “Pizza? Not again,” I muttered.

  I was relieved to discover that Mateo felt the same. “It’s Saturday night, man. We could offer Emma something special for a change.” I’d already started to like Mateo, given that he’d been my only company since then. Snitch or not, he made me feel comfortable all the same.

  Christopher seemed interested. “Such as?”

  “Dinner out, maybe a drink afterwards in one of those bars downtown.”

  Christopher turned to me, lifting his eyebrows. “Emma?”

  I shrugged, avoiding his eyes. “Sounds good to me. If you allow it of course.”

  Christopher ignored my comment and turned to Mateo again. “Do you know any restaurants around here?”

  “I heard the workers talking about a nice tavern with live Greek music. It’s near the main square.”

  “Okay then.” He looked at me again. “How long will it take you to get ready?”

  “Not long.”

  “We’ll pick you up at eight. Is that okay?”

  “Fine.”

  The tavern was an excellent change after the computer screen that had dazzled me for hours. I was aware of the fact that we presented an interesting trio; a young woman with two impressive, sturdy men, looking like bodyguards, was not a spectacle that goes unnoticed in a small town like Pylos. I guessed the same thought made Christopher frown the whole time.

  The food was delicious and the music relaxing. None of us did much talking while we ate, but then, what was there to say? I had almost finished my chicken fillet when Mateo refilled our glasses with white, cool wine, bringing about disaster.

  I barely touched my glass when Christopher cupped it with his hand.

  “No more wine for you tonight.” He drew my glass to his side before nodding to the waiter to order a diet coke.

  I blinked. “What was that about? No more wine? Who are you? My mother?” I said, unable to contain my anger.

  Christopher remained cool. “It’s for your own good,” he said calmly as he emptied the bottle of Coke in my glass.

  “What would you know about my own good? You don’t have a clue!” I exploded.

  Instead of responding to my challenge, Christopher pushed the glass softly towards me. Mateo watched the scene without interfering. Who would oppose the almighty Squad member after all?

  “You drink it!” I snarled. I knew I would lose this battle too and I realized I was overreacting. Still, there was no way I could stop myself.

  “Don’t be such a child,” Christopher said coldly, but I sensed a hint of threat in his tone.

  I stood up, pushing my chair backwards abruptly.

  “I’m going for a walk. If you unleash me, of course.”

  I ignored his angry glare and walked out before he had time to react, certain that he would come after me. To my surprise, no one followed me. I crossed the street and turned into a narrow alley lined with small souvenir shops. I walked fast, trying to distract myself by looking at the storefronts around me. Absentmindedly, I stopped in front of a gift shop with a very attractive shop window. A young man standing at the entrance looked at me with a polite smile.

  “Come take a look inside,” he said in Greek.

  The idea that Christopher wouldn’t find me inside this small shop intrigued me. I walked in, smiling back to the handsome man who kept staring at me. A stand with colorful bracelets caught my attention, and I touched a blue one decorated with tiny, silver hearts.

  “Would you like to try it on?” the man asked. He didn’t look over thirty. He had warm brown eyes and a wonderful smile.

  I thanked him in Greek, but my accent betrayed me.

  “American?” he asked.

  “British.”

  “And you speak Greek!” He was surprised.

  “I’m half Greek.”

  I realized there was no need to have mentioned that, but it was too late.

  “That’s why you’re so beautiful!” he said in a very winsome manner. “You know, my sister makes these herself. Here.” He took the bracelet off the stand to put it around my wrist, slightly touching me with cool fingers.

  “Perfect!” he said as we both looked at my wrist.

  “How much is it?”

  He thought about it for a moment. Then his smile widened. “For you, it’s free.”

  “Free?”

  “Well, you just have a drink with me and we’re even.”

  “Oh!” The smile was wiped out of my face. “I don’t think I can do this.”

  He looked at me with a disarmingly childlike smile. “Why not? Can’t I buy a beautiful lady a drink?”

  “Not this lady,” Christopher’s calm but warning voice said behind us.

  The young assistant looked at me surprised. “Your boyfriend?”

  I sighed. “It’s okay, Christopher,” I said, trying to take off the brace
let. “I’m coming. You don’t have to make a scene.”

  “No. Please keep it,” the young man said, still smiling sweetly. “Some other time perhaps.” He nodded meaningfully.

  “But …” I hesitated, aware of Christopher’s oncoming rage. I was about to open my purse just as I remembered I had left it in the tavern.

  Christopher had already taken care of it, throwing a fifty-euro note on the counter.

  “Keep the change,” he said to the surprised assistant in a manner that made it clear he wouldn’t take no for an answer.

  He grabbed my arm and made me walk next to him fast in a fake-gentle manner so that I would be the only one who realized the force he imposed upon me.

  “Okay, okay. I got it. Let go of me now!” I protested.

  “Not until I’m certain you won’t run off again,” he said.

  “Why would I do that?”

  “You tell me! To make new acquaintances perhaps?”

  “Don’t tell me you’re jealous. I thought you couldn’t afford such petty feelings.”

  “Exactly. Jealousy is not included in my repertoire. But I’m sure your boyfriend would thank me for dragging you away from that guy.”

  I wanted to shout that Alex wasn’t my boyfriend, but I knew it would be useless. We were already next to the black jeep. Mateo was in the driver seat.

  “Crap! I left my purse in the tavern,” I said.

  Christopher opened the door for me, reminding me of someone else who used to do the same for me ages ago. The old Christopher.

  “Get in!” he said impatiently. “I’ll get your purse.”

  I had no other option but do as he said. So much for our night out! A total failure! I leaned back, trying to detach myself from everything that was happening.

  “You’ve got to cut him some slack, you know. He has strict orders not to lose you again.” Mateo said.

  “Do you really think it matters to him?” My voice sounded desperate.

  “Maybe not. But let me put it this way: losing you for a second time won’t help your friend. It won’t help him at all. Do you understand what I mean?”