Angels of the Knights (14 page)

“What?”

“It feels like a trap.”

“It is a trap.”

He turned toward her. “Then why are we going in?”

I’m
going in because I have no choice. I have to eliminate Marc Ellis and the threat he poses to Alden.
You’re
going in because of your
conditions
.”

“About that. I decided I may have been a bit hasty with those demands.”

She scrunched her face at him. “Oh, really?”

“From here on out, my only condition is the one about me helping you. I changed my mind about the bikini. You can fight in that any time.”

“Kade, this is serious.”

He smiled at her in the dark. “I know, Fallon. Your fellow Knight, Gabe, and I used to use humor to cover our fear all the time.”

That surprised her. “Are you scared now?”

“I would be an idiot not to be. Aren’t you?”

“Only for you.”

He was silent for a moment. “So, Emperica really is beautiful?”

“Indescribably so. Why are you asking?”

“Because it means that no matter what happens tonight, we win. Either we are successful in eliminating my uncle or he kills us and we go to Emperica together.”

She sighed and let her head fall back on the seat. “Kade, I am looking forward to returning to Emperica. More than anything. But, not until every Kjin on earth is destroyed. The people here need me, and I have sworn to protect them.”

He nodded and turned back to gaze out of the windshield. “If I die tonight, I’m going to train to become a Knight and come back and find you.”

Her heart clenched at the thought of him dying. “I will be a middle aged woman by then.”

“It takes that long to become a Knight?”

“Thirty years. Sometimes more.” She thought about Blane still in Emperica.

“That settles it then. Neither one of us is going to die tonight. I just found you and I am not going to lose you.”

She ran her fingers down his cheek. “My brave, Kade.”

Leaning over, he cupped her head and kissed her deeply. After several moments that left her breathless, he let go of her and opened the door. “Come on, let’s get this done.”

It took her a moment to pull herself together. With shaking fingers, she opened the car door and got out.

He pointed to a large cottage built on a promontory that jutted out into the lake. “That’s my uncle’s house. On the main drag, it’s four streets over from here, but we’re going to get there by the beach. Follow me.”

Kade started off at a jog and she fell into step behind him. The lake was deserted at this late hour with only the moonlight and sporadic house lights to guide their way. Kade ran quickly, but she easily kept pace. As they neared the white cottage, Kade ducked behind a sandy berm that concealed their passage the rest of the way. Just under the outcrop where the house was built, Kade put his hand up and they stopped.

Fallon looked up. The cottage was completely dark. All of the coiled up adrenaline in her body fled from her in a frustrated exhaled breath. She thought for sure, he would be here, and she just wanted to end this. Now.

Kade turned to her. “It doesn’t look like anybody is here. Should we come back?”

She thought about it for a moment. Should they try and track Marc Ellis at his house in Alden? Try to find Father Tomas again? “Let’s go in,” she finally decided. “Maybe he left behind some clues.”

“As long as it isn’t a bomb,” Kade muttered, and together they ran up the wooden stairs that led from the beach to the wide covered porch of the house. Silently, Kade walked across the deck and tried the door. It was unlocked.

Kade gave her a suspicious glance and went inside at a crouch, keeping his silhouette as small as possible. Fallon followed suit, wishing she had more light, but not daring to light the Aventi that would just put a target on their backs if anybody was in the house.

The place was completely silent.

“You go upstairs,” she suggested. “I’ll look down here.”

While Kade climbed to the second level, Fallon searched through the rooms. It was a very luxurious home with the best of everything, but she did notice that it did not have the touch of a woman here. There were no prints or flowers or toys or family photos. This was a place for Marc Ellis alone and not his family.

What are you hiding here, Mr. Ellis?

Fallon made her way down a hallway off the kitchen. There were two doors off the corridor and both were closed. She walked to the one on the right first and opened the door a few inches. Reaching inside, she felt along the wall and flicked on the light.

It was a laundry room. And, empty.

Closing the door, she went to the room on the left.

She opened this door cautiously as well, and found the switch easily, sending light flooding through the room. It was a small bedroom, and it, too, was empty.

She started to close the door, but stopped when she heard a very faint rustling noise.

Somebody was in there.

Marc Ellis? Another Kjin? No, her Kur had not given warning.

She opened the door wide and stepped inside, pulling her Aventi from her back pocket. There was no closet where a man could be hiding, so she dropped to the ground to look under the bed.

Nobody was there.

Standing, she noticed a wide wardrobe in the corner, and made her way toward it. She heard the noise again. There was something in the wardrobe. Shrugging her left arm out of her hoodie, she lifted the Aventi and made contact with the Kur, igniting the weapon.

Without hesitation, she threw open the cabinet doors.

“Oh, crap,” she murmured at the sight of two children with duck tape over their mouths and wrists.

A boy and a girl. The two missing children.

She leaned down toward them, and they shrank back from her in fright.

“It’s okay,” she reassured them. “I’m here to help. I promise.”

She reached out and peeled the tape from the boy first and then the girl.

“Are you hurt?” she asked them.

Both children shook their heads.

“I just want my Mommy,” the girl cried.

Fallon pulled the little girl from the wardrobe and held her tight. “I will take you to your Mommy. Can you walk?”

She nodded, so Fallon put her down and helped the boy out.

“Is the mean man gone?” the boy asked.

“I think so, but we better get out of here. I have a friend upstairs and he will help us.”

Fallon ushered the children toward the door. “Quickly now, go into the kitchen.”

The children ran out of the room and, too late, Fallon felt the burn on her arm. Just as she stepped out of the room, an arm snaked out of the hallway and covered her mouth.

“Listen up! I know you can kill me, but if you want those children and your little boyfriend to survive the night, send them away. Now!”

Fallon elbowed the Kjin in the face and broke his nose. Spinning, she grabbed him under the throat and slammed him against the wall.

“Last warning, Knight! The place is surrounded. If you kill me now, your boyfriend and the children will die!”

C
HAPTER
15

An Unlikely Hero

Fallon let the Kjin fall to the floor. “You better hide, then. If my
little
boyfriend sees you, I will never be able to convince him to leave.”

The Kjin scrambled to his feet. “And, tell him not to bring up Marc Ellis’ name to the police,” he warned her before disappearing into the bedroom.

She took a deep breath and walked into the kitchen. The children were huddled together, but broke apart and ran to her when they saw Kade coming down the stairs with a look of utter disbelief on his face.

Fallon bent down to them and began to remove the duck tape around their wrists. “Don’t be afraid. This is my friend, Kade, and he is going to take you to the police station, okay?”

“No! We want you to take us!”

She shook her head. “I can’t, but I promise that Kade is a very good guy, and he is going to take you to your parents. Okay?”

Reluctantly, they nodded.

“You’re coming, too,” Kade said, his tone determined.

“Kade, just take them for me, please. I still have to track your uncle.”

“We’ll drop them off together and then go to my uncle’s house. I can show you where he lives.”

“Just give me the address. There’s no need for both of us to go to the police station.”

He narrowed his eyes at her.

“Please, Kade. They are so defenseless. They have been through too much already. Just take them to the police, and I will call you and let you know where I am.”

“Did you find some kind of lead?” he asked, suspiciously.

She nodded. She did find a lead. It was a big, evil Kjin, and she had no doubt that he would lead her directly to Professor Marc Ellis.

Kade grasped her shoulders hard enough to make her wince. He knew something was not quite right. “I don’t want to leave you.”

“I know, but you have to.”

He looked over at the children and then back at her as if searching for an argument. In the end, he could not find one. “Call me within fifteen minutes and let me know exactly where you are. I’ll meet you.” He went into the kitchen and found a pad of paper and pen.

After scribbling the address down, he handed it to her. “Be careful.”

“I will. I love you.”

“I love you, too. More than anything.”

She swallowed past the pain in her throat when she realized that this was the last time she would ever see Kade Royce. Impulsively, she flung her arms around his neck and held him close, inhaling the scent of him. She could only describe his smell as masculine spice. So unique. So Kade.

Finally, she broke away, and Kade faced the children. “Okay, guys, ready to go home?”

The two children squealed and ran to him. He took one tiny hand in each of his and led them to the door with the big porch. “Fifteen minutes,” he reminded before picking up the kids and running off toward the beach.

“Goodbye, Kade,” she had time to whisper before a needle pierced her arm and darkness swallowed her.

Twenty minutes after leaving Fallon, Kade walked into the Alden Police Department and into complete chaos. He had already called ahead, so the parents were waiting along with a reporter and single cameraman. He knew it would not be long before more showed up. The story of the missing children had been nationwide news for over a month now.

Fallon hasn’t called yet. Why?

“Mommy! Daddy!”

Kade let go of the kids, and they ran into the waiting arms of their parents.

The Chief of Police immediately came up to him and gave him a terse nod. “Royce.”

“Chief.”

“Can we get a statement, Chief Mignore?” interrupted the young, local reporter, a woman with short blonde hair.

The Chief scowled. “Not yet. I’ll have something for you in a few minutes.”

Where are you, Fallon?

Kade started for the door.

“Royce! You’re not going anywhere, my friend. I have a lot of questions for you.”

Kade ran his hand through his hair. This was going to take more time than he was willing to give. He had to think of something fast.

“Where?”

“Interrogation Three. Now.”

Reluctantly, he followed his former boss into the small room.

“Start at the beginning,” Chief Mignore said, plopping down into one of the two chairs in the room. “Wait.” He got up again. “Gates! Stevie Gates! Bring two coffees in here.” Shutting the door, he sat back down.

Kade thought about his story on the way and decided it was best to make it as simple as possible. “I found the kids at my uncle’s lake house.”

“Your uncle? Marc Ellis?”

“Yeah.”

“And, why would two missing children be at your uncle’s lake house?”

“I don’t know.”

The Chief slammed his fist down. “Stop playing games with me, Royce! Tell me what happened and don’t force me to drag it out of you one morsel at a time!”

“I honestly don’t know! Your questions should be directed at my uncle, not me!”

The door opened and Deputy Gates set two cups on the table and, after seeing the looks on both of their faces, quickly left.

Chief Mignore rubbed his face. “Did you ask him?”

“He wasn’t at the house. I went there to talk to my uncle and when I went in, I found the kids. I don’t know how they got there or who left them.” He leaned forward across the table. “You know me, Chief. That is the truth of it. I swear.”

“There has to be more.”

“There is no more! I went to my uncle’s house, and I found the kids there. Trust me, I am going to find my uncle and get to the bottom of this.”

“You’re not a cop anymore, Royce,” the Chief pointed out.

“Look, if you’re going to arrest me on some trumped up charge, do it! I’ve been there before! If not, I’d like to leave.”

The Chief leaned back in his chair and entwined his fingers over his ample stomach. “So, you are just the hero in all of this? Is that what you want me to believe?”

“I am no hero. I stumbled across the kids and did what any other law-abiding citizen would do.”