The Sun Angel

by Ashley Martinez

  “Whoa, dude,” someone scoffed. “You sure know how to piss off Angels.”

  “Liam,” Will breathed a sigh of relief and strode forward to shake his friends hand, “I have to say you have impeccable timing.”

  “As always,” Liam grinned as he cleaned his blade and catching sight of Jenna. “Hey there, Jen!”

  “Liam,” she blushed. “Um, thanks.”

  “No problem,” he waved away her thanks. “So tell me, Will, where’s James?”

  “I’m here,” James walked into the clearing Will landed them in. “I’ve got the Guardian too.”

  Lena stepped out from behind James looking clearly shaken. “I hate flying.”

  “What do you mean?” James turned in surprise. “You did great!”

  “I have to admit, Guardian, James’ got a point,” Will said coming over to Jenna who was still on the ground. “You okay, Angel?”

  She nodded still feeling a little breathless.

  “Need help up?”

  “I’m afraid I wouldn’t be able to stand,” she whispered.

  “Hmm,” Will reached down and hauled her to her feet, making sure she was steady before letting her go. “You can stand, and we have to go. There’ll be more of them soon.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  “We’ll have to meet Emanuel there,” Will said stepping out of the small clearing and into the playground of a school.

  “Where are we?” Liam asked coming out from behind Will.

  Will ignored him and continued to walk with purpose across the playground, “Jenna, keep up,” he called back seeing her fall behind. He couldn’t wait for her to get her powers back so she could keep up with him again. Seeing her helpless angered him, mostly out of fear for her life but also out of irritation. She’d been able to do so much, and now she was so weak. It didn’t slip by him that Jenna had been exceptionally quiet after being attacked in the sky. He made a mental note to see what was bothering her but for now she’d have to deal with it on her own; he needed to get her to safety.

  “We need a car,” James said.

  “I know,” Will answered.

  “Everything okay, Mate?” James said quietly.

  “No.”

  “The attack?” James guessed.

  “Yes,” Will answered.

  “Worried about her?”

  “Yes.”

  Like always James knew what bothered him. “She’ll be okay,” James patted his shoulder.

  “How do you know?” Will asked softly.

  “Because you’ll make sure of it,” James answered assuredly.

  Will didn’t answer; he just continued to walk, worrying about what they were going to do next. If they couldn’t fly, then how would he get Jenna to Arizona without being caught? He growled in frustration causing everyone to jump.

  “What’s wrong?” Liam asked loudly.

  “Shut up,” Will snarled then abruptly stopped. He could hear something in the distance, someone running and headed their way fast. “Quick everyone, hide!”

  Will reached back and grabbed Jenna’s arm, noticing how cold she felt. Alarm prickled through him as he jerked her forward then pushing her under a slide to hide.

  “Stay here, I’ll be back,” he instructed.

  “What?” her eyes were wide with fear and confusion.

  “James?”

  “Yes, sir?”

  “You hear that?”

  “Yes.”

  “I’ll lead him away then double back for you, Jenna, and the Guardian.”

  James nodded and drew his sword.

  “Liam?” Will straightened.

  “Here, boss,” Liam scrambled to stand back up after crouching under a jungle gym.

  “Come with me,” he turned and began running, not looking back to see if Liam was following. He knew he’d come; he could always count on his men-- that’s why he’d chosen them so long ago. If only Paul was with them, it’d be like old times.

  Running fast Will tried to keep his panic under control. He hated leaving Jenna behind but knew he had to. Whoever was chasing them would follow him, he hoped. His thoughts went back to Jenna and how cold her arm was. Why was she so cold? It worried him; she’d never been cold.

  “Stop.”

  Will stopped automatically when Liam called out. Turning around he faced his friend looking for an answer.

  “We’re not being followed,” Liam was panting.

  “For how long?” Will asked hating how he hadn’t noticed.

  “The last couple minutes, I can’t be sure,” he shrugged still trying to catch his breath. “Why weren’t you paying attention?”

  “I had other things on my mind,” Will snapped and began running back to Jenna at double speed. He had to make sure she was safe.

  “Slow down, Will!” Liam called out as he fell behind, “I’m sure she’s fine!”

  Will’s scalp prickled at Liam’s comment pushing him to run harder. He had an uneasy feeling. Pulling out his sword, he burst through the trees across the street from the school. A scene of fighting silhouettes caused him to falter for half a second before he jumped into the air to get to Jenna.

  He came down, swinging his sword at an Orc who was wrestling with Lena. He fell dead on top of her, and she shoved him roughly off her.

  “Thanks,” she muttered as the two of them turned to take another three down.

  “Why are we always being attacked?” Will hissed as his shoved his sword up into the chest of the last Orc.

  “Because we have someone everyone wants,” Lena answered, wiping the sweat off her forehead as she put away her own sword. “If they were smart, they’d send everyone at the same time, but luckily for us they haven’t advanced to that kind of intelligence.”

  “Where’s Jenna?” Will began looking for Jenna and James but couldn’t find them. “Elena, where’s Jenna?”

  “Keep your hair on,” she rolled her eyes at him. “James took her to the school while I held off the Orcs.”

  “We’re here, mate,” James’ voice sounded behind them.

  Will whipped around and strode toward Jenna, “You okay?”

  She nodded as she hugged herself.

  “We’ll talk later, for now we need to go into hiding,” Will gently took hold of her cold arm and pulled her with him. “I need you to stay right next to me at all times. Can you do that?”

  She nodded looking up at him, but he didn’t dare look at her. He couldn’t bear it if he saw fear in her eyes. He needed to keep his head clear so he could think of what to do next.

  A few blocks away from the school, they found a car and quickly climbed in. Will wired the tan Suburban and started it up. He glanced at Jenna, who sat next to him. She looked calm, but Will had a feeling she might be going into shock.

  Without thinking, he reached over and took hold of her hand and squeezed it softly. He hated feeling her so cold but ignored it when she clasped his hand with her two. She didn’t look at him, only held his hand staring straight ahead. She was losing her glow. Will quickly calculated how much time they had left and to his horror realized her eighteenth birthday was tomorrow. She was fading away and would soon be sent away to be reborn as a baby to start all over again. He pushed his foot down on the accelerator speeding to save not only Jenna’s life but the world as well.

  ***

  An hour later, Will pulled off the interstate. Jenna glanced around in confusion.

  “Are we here?” she asked softly looking all around.

  “No, but we need to change vehicles,” he was out of the car and opening her door before she could blink.

  “James,” Will glance over his shoulder at him. “You know what to do.”

  “Yes, sir!” James nodded and ran off into the dark.

  “Is it day time?” Jenna asked no one in particular.

  “I’m not sure anymore,” Lena whispered, “but I don’t like it.”

  “I kind of do,” Liam grinned at them.

  “How?” Lena asked incredulou
s.

  “I’ve always loved the night,” Liam looked up to the sky taking a deep breath. “It smells of freedom.”

  “But without the sun, then everything will die,” Jenna said quietly.

  “Not everything,” he smiled at her, his eyes gleaming. “The Night Angels will thrive.”

  “No, you won’t,” Jenna said softly.

  “Jenna, we’re the rulers of night. All creatures run from us in fear; we do not need the sun.”

  “Every living thing needs the sun. Are you saying you aren’t alive?”

  Liam glared at Jenna, “I’m saying we don’t need your sun.”

  “Watch it, Liam,” Will growled. Liam’s attitude was reflected by many Night Angels; in fact, it used to be Will’s attitude, but that was a long time ago. How could Liam be so dense?

  “No, it’s okay, Will,” Jenna rested her hand on his arm. “Liam, just because you don’t like the sun doesn’t mean you don’t need it. You act like a five year old who won’t eat their vegetables. Just because they don’t like them doesn’t mean their bodies don’t need their nutrients.”

  Will laughed, “There you go Liam, eat your vegetables.”

  James pulled up in a black SUV sparing Liam from retorting. Lena climbed in the front with James and Liam took a seat in the very back. Will helped Jenna in before getting in next to her.

  Without hesitation, Will took Jenna’s hand, “You need to rest. Close your eyes. We’ll be there before you know it.”

  Jenna sighed, “I’m beginning to think we’ll never make it.”

  “Relax, Angel,” Will patted her leg then took back his hand. “I promise, I’ll get you there.”

  Jenna closed her eyes and leaned up against the door, sighing heavily, “I hope you’re right, Will, because we can’t run forever.”

  He turned his head to stare out his window, watching the cars as they passed them. He glanced to the skies and for a moment he thought he saw a Griffin circling ahead but with a blink of an eye, it was gone.

  Will wanted this journey to be over. Jenna was right: they couldn’t run forever. They’d eventually get caught or worse, Jenna would fade into nonexistence. There was so much Will had to figure out. Why exactly did the Queen want him dead? He hadn’t committed any treason… yet, but the Queen didn’t know about what he was really planning with Jenna. She should be happy that the sun was gone, so why was she after him? And how does Silas play into all this? Will knew what Silas was after before, but was that still what he was after? Why would he think killing Jenna would get him the sun? I thought killing Jenna would kill the sun, Will acknowledged bitterly. He shook his head in disgust.

  Jenna squirmed slightly and Will watched her, she looked so tired. He couldn’t let her fade and return to Richard. Hoping Richard hadn’t forgotten where they were supposed to meet, Will wondered if they would make it with all that was working against them. How were the seven of them supposed to beat full armies?

  “We’re here, sir,” James called after a couple more hours.

  Will looked up, “Don’t go directly to the rocks. Circle around; we have to be sure we weren’t followed.”

  James nodded and veered left.

  Will looked at Jenna who was still fast asleep against him. He’d nearly jumped out of the car when she’d leaned on him. He wasn’t prepared or expecting it. It threw him off guard, but he didn’t want to wake her, so he left her and somehow she’d managed to wiggle closer. Hating to wake her, but knowing he had to he gently moved, “Jenna.”

  She squirmed and then opened her eyes. Realizing she’d been asleep against Will she pulled away quickly.

  “Sorry,” she muttered as she blushed.

  “We’re here,” Will ignore her apology.

  “Here, here?” she asked looking out the window.

  “Well, not exactly,” Will leaned over her to look out her window. “You see that ridge over there?”

  She was having a hard time focusing with him so close. She inhaled quietly, taking in his delicious scent of peppermint and then feeling embarrassed despite the fact that Will surely had no idea the effect he had on her.

  “Yeah,” she focused on where he was pointing, still very aware of his closeness, his smell, and the tiny electrical sparks between them, making her want to touch him.

  “That’s where we’re going, but it won’t be so easy if we’ve been followed,” he couldn’t take his eyes off hers, so gold and inviting. Giving her a measured look he pulled away, abruptly ending their connection.

  Jenna sighed in defeat. He was more frustrating than anything else she’s faced.

  James pulled into a parking lot and got out; Lena following him. Liam didn’t wait for Jenna or Will to get out. He climbed over the seat and scooted around Jenna, opening the door.

  “Here’s an idea,” he paused in front of her. “Why don’t you two just get together already and save us all from having to endure the painful journey of the flirting and denial?”

  Jenna’s mouth dropped open in shock and Will was livid.

  “Get out!” Will barked, shoving Liam who fell into Jenna.

  “Hey!” He hissed as his arm knocked into Jenna’s, burning him.

  Will’s eyes narrowed and he quickly got out and rushed around to the other side, where Liam was getting out.

  “Show me your arm,” Will ordered.

  Liam looked pained, “Why?”

  “Now.”

  He held out his arm but the burn was gone.

  “Where is it?”

  “Where’s what?”

  “Don’t play stupid with me, Liam,” Will warned.

  “I’m not!”

  “Fine, then touch her,” Will leaned back, folding his arms across his chest.

  Liam laughed, “You’re paranoid, Will.”

  “Touch her.”

  “What’s going on?” James asked coming around the car.

  “Liam’s hiding something, and I want to know what it is,” Will answered not taking his eyes off Liam.

  Jenna sat frozen in the car behind Liam. Why was Will being like this?

  James sighed, “Liam, you know how he is. Just touch Jenna.”

  “No, man, I don’t want to. No offense, Jenna, but you’re not my type,” He glanced at her with a wicked glint in his eye.

  She raised her eyebrow, not liking Liam the more he opened his mouth.

  “Touch her!” Will growled.

  “Oh for heaven’s sake!” Jenna cried and reached out and grabbed Liam’s arm.

  He dropped to his knees letting only a hiss escape his lips.

  “You can let go,” Will said softly to Jenna.

  She released him quickly, feeling disgusted with herself at what she’d accidentally put Liam through.

  “Why does her skin burn you?” Will asked as Liam kneeled panting and holding his arm.

  “Same reason as she always has,” He said through clenched teeth. “Just ask James.”

  “James can touch her,” Will nodded to James.

  He stepped forward and smiling at Jenna he took her hand in his and helped her out of the car.

  “Thank you,” she muttered, blushing.

  He released her next to Will and giving her a small bow he stepped back to stand over Liam who was watching them in shock.

  “But, how?” He asked bewildered.

  “The curse was lifted when Jenna fell,” Will explained. “So tell me how she can still burn you?”

  Liam looked lost for words, “I don’t know.”

  “I don’t believe you,” Will glared at Liam, who’d stood back up, the burn gone.

  “Fine!” he threw his hands up in the air. “The Queen sent me here to help you get rid of the problem, and she wanted to ensure that I couldn’t touch her.”

  Will nodded, “Sounds like her. She didn’t need to send you though; I’m doing my job.”

  “Look at it as double insurance, dude,” Liam grinned. “Do we really have to be up there to finish this job?”

 
“It’s essential,” Will muttered and turned to face Jenna. He smiled in reassurance and took hold of her hand. “By my side at all times,” he reminded her.

  She nodded and let him pull her forward.

  “I hope you know you won’t be killing her,” Lena whispered at Liam, but Jenna could still hear them.

  “We’ll see about that,” Liam sneered.

  “Okay, that’s enough!” James called out as he grabbed hold of Lena to keep her from attacking Liam.

  “You dirty son of a—“

  “I said enough!” James cut her off. “Settle down, Guardian.”

  “You’re not going to kill her,” Lena stopped struggling. “I’ll kill you all myself.”

  Liam laughed, “I can’t wait.”

  “Shut up!” Will snapped at them. “Let’s just focus on getting there first.”

  “Will,” Jenna said softly. She was a little worried about following them.

  “Do you trust me?” He asked already knowing her concern.

  Cautiously, she nodded.

  “Then show me,” he gently squeezed her hand.

  “Will,” Jenna said again.

  “What, Angel?”

  “I’m tired,” she sighed.

  “I know,” Will muttered. “Just stay with me. Can you do that?”

  She nodded.

  “Can we fly there?” James asked.

  Will looked up in the skies contemplating on his answer. He knew it’d get them there faster, but could they risk it?

  Jenna’s hand went limp in his as she suddenly passed out. Together James and Will caught her and lowered her to the ground.

  “What’s wrong?” James asked quickly.

  “She’s eighteen. We need to get her up there and fast. She’s fading and will soon be gone,” Will said, his voice tight with emotion.

  “We fly then,” James stood and beckoned Lena to him.

  She came without a word, watching them intently after Jenna had passed out.

  “Follow us,” Will ordered Liam and jumped into the air.

  “The one next to it, right mate?” James called over the wind.

  Will nodded as he carried Jenna limp body. He flew harder, wanting to fix her and his mistake. Jenna began to squirm in his arms, lifting an incredibly heavy weight off Will’s shoulders.