Darkest Knight (7 page)

“Come on, Natalie,” I said, and led the way to the road. “I’ll show you where she was.”

Natalie followed me, and Rafe trailed behind her, his eyes narrowed as he scanned both sides of the road. He popped out of human form like an exploding firecracker and spread his impressive wings. Rafe wasn’t the type to flaunt his angelic beauty. What he did flaunt was far more lethal to any baddie who might be lurking nearby. I had no doubt his show was also for Aydin’s benefit, just in case.

When we arrived at the spot where I’d seen the woman, I scrutinized the disturbed snow. There was the indentation of footprints, but none leading to that area. It was as if she landed there from out of the blue. Maybe she had.

I sniffed and smelled nothing but pine and a well-used squirrel’s nest that had me wrinkling my nose at the stench. Ammonia tended to wipe out other scents, at least it did for me. I detected no other odors. But I did see something.

“A crow’s feather?” I said, bending down to pluck the black plume from the snow. “A damn big one, too.”

“Not a crow.” Rafe stood rigid, his broad chest expanding before a deep sigh escaped his lips. “That feather belongs to one of the Fallen.”

eight

“WHAT DOES THE FALLEN WANT WITH US?”
I asked, though I doubted either Rafe or Natalie could give me that answer. The angels who fell had no ties with the Hatchet knights, not once they chose the darker road. The Arelim and the Fallen kept to opposite sides of the fence and their paths rarely crossed.

“I wish I knew,” Rafe said, his voice lowered to a whisper. He appeared deep in thought and I imagined he was speaking telepathically to the Arelim about our curious find.

I clamped my jaw to keep from saying
I told you so.

Natalie held her hand out to me. “Can I see?”

I frowned. Though spells could affect me, I was immune to cursed objects and charms. But I wasn’t so sure Natalie could escape whatever nastiness the feather might contain. However, it could just as easily be harmless as a feather duster. “I don’t know, Natalie. It might be dangerous if you touched—”

She snatched it away from me. “Too late.”

Her tenacity surprised me, yet I admired her for it. I didn’t think she had it in her.

Rafe looked ready to pounce. “Don’t hold it too tight,” he warned, though Natalie had already gone into her psychometric trance.

An entire minute passed in silence.

“She should have said something by now about what she senses,” I said, concern tying a knot in my stomach.

Natalie groaned and whispered, “No. It can’t be.”

“What can’t be?” The fine hairs on my skin bristled.

She swayed slightly, then gasped as her eyes popped open with only their whites showing. Her lips were turning blue.

“Oh, my God,” I said. “She’s suffocating.”

Rafe lurched toward her and I shouted, “No! Don’t touch her. Break the connection and you could destroy her mind.”

“She’s dying,” he said, his eyes shining as he pierced me with a pleading look. “We have to make her stop.”

Whatever she had connected to was using the feather to steal her breath. Nothing I knew of had such power, but whatever this was obviously did. And it was killing Natalie.

The veins at her temples swelled like slender blue worms just beneath her pale skin. Her mouth opened wide as she struggled to breathe. I knew how she felt. I’d experienced the same thing just hours ago. I had survived and I was determined she would, too.

Broken mind or certain death, I didn’t know which was worse. We had already lost too many knights. I refused to count Natalie among the fatalities.

I nodded at Rafe and he grabbed the feather from her.

Natalie gulped in air like a drowning person and just before she crumpled to the ground, she whispered, “Maria.”

I sat beside Natalie’s bed as she slept. She’d lost consciousness right after saying the name Maria. It sounded so familiar, but I couldn’t recall anyone I knew by that name. It nagged at me like a fly buzzing in my ear. I should know what it meant, but the harder I tried to remember, the more evasive it became. As if the name itself was a spell created to halt any memory of it.

Natalie’s room was next to the one I shared with Xenia. Rusty slept in a bed at the other end and was oblivious to everything around her after crying herself to sleep. With the exception of Camael, she worried more about Natalie than anyone. I hadn’t seen her guardian, but I’d sensed his presence. Unlike Rafe, who enjoyed slipping into a human guise, Camael seemed shy and unassuming. I wondered if Natalie might consider a trade, but I knew better. Big brother Rafe and I were stuck with each other.

How could I have let this happen? I’d wanted to protect my sister knights, not endanger them more than they already were. But my plan to prove Aydin’s innocence as a way to enlist his help had backfired. He might be clear of any wrongdoing, but wrong had still been done and I was the one responsible.

“Chalice.” My grandmother rested her hand on my shoulder. “It’s late. You need to eat and get some rest.”

I covered her hand with my own. “I can’t. There’s something I need to remember, but…” I shook my head in frustration.

“You’ll think more clearly in the morning,” she told me.

I looked up at her and asked, “Now do you believe that Aydin wasn’t responsible for any of this?”

She sat in the ladder-back chair beside me and leaned forward, her elbows resting on both knees. “Yes.”

Relief flooded me in a waterfall of tingles from head to toe. “Then you must lower the wards so he can enter Halo Home. Aydin can help take down the murderer.”

“That may be,” Aurora said slowly. “But we have to think about all the squires here, not to mention Rusty and Natalie. Removing the wards would leave them vulnerable to attack.”

She made an excellent point. Spirits crushed, I sought a different solution and an idea came to me. “What if the wards were reset to allow ghosts inside? That way Aydin could enter in his invisible form.”

My grandmother winced. “I hate ghosts.”

“So do I.” That confirmed she had the same talent for seeing ghosts that I did. “But they’re lesser evils than demons and other black veil entities, including the Fallen.”

She hesitated before saying, “True. But ghosts aren’t entirely harmless. There’s an old Indian burial ground about a half mile from here.” She shuddered. “It’s loaded with the things.”

I lit up with another idea. “How about a charm?”

Looking dubious, she asked, “What kind of charm?”

“A ghost-repelling charm. And I know just who can make it, too. Quin Dee.” Quin had a talent for creating pendants out of Celestine, a crystal with the power to connect to the realm of angels. Quin used to make them for the people he did angel readings for. “The Arelim can invoke a protection spell in the crystals and everyone can wear one.” Everyone but me, of course. Though I could still wear a pretty piece of jewelry around my neck even if it didn’t keep the ghosts away.

Aurora smiled. “I like that idea, Chalice.” She stood and grabbed my hand to pull me to my feet. “I’ll call Quin now so he can get started. I’m sure the squires will enjoy a pretty new bauble as part of their initiation into the knighthood.”

I still held the blighted black feather by its quill and absently ran my fingers over the silky vein, then the downy fluff at the feather’s base. How could something so beautiful be so deadly? I gazed down at Natalie’s serene face, her eyes closed in sleep. “Hang in there, Nat. We’ll get you out of this.” I prayed I was right.

* * *

The following day there was still no change in Natalie’s condition. We took turns sitting vigil at her bedside and I’m sure Camael never left her for a moment. I felt his presence every time I was with her.

Rusty had begun preparing the squires for their continuing education in the ways of the knighthood. Aurora had me sit in on her first session since I was about as green as the normies who had yet to receive their shields.

It was also a good way for me to get to know them a bit before I began their instruction on the fine art of charms. I still hadn’t decided which ones to use. I needed to go through Aydin’s collection to determine the most useful and least dangerous of the bunch. Some charms also went dormant after fulfilling their designated task and would require recharging before they could be used again. Who would recharge them? Yet another obstacle I had to overcome.

Rusty gazed down at her small gathering of eager young faces, all of whom sat in a circle on the floor of the great room inside the main house. “And that’s how the Hatchet Knighthood of Medieval Times continued on with daughters born of human women like you. We inherited our supernatural powers from our guardian angel fathers.”

“Will we have superpowers, too?” one of the women asked. She sat Indian-style with her arms wrapped around a pillow, her freckled face as innocent as a cherub on a Christmas card. I studied the others. They all had that wholesome look about them, the kind that made me think of gingham dresses and bobby socks. All but Xenia. Her innocence hid beneath a ton of kohl eyeliner and a bad haircut. Now I understood why she covered herself with that junk—she really was trying to hide. Why had the Arelim chosen these pristine little ladies? I’d expect them to recruit Amazons, not Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm clones.

Rusty smiled. “No, Lisa, you won’t have powers. But your daughter will.”

Disappointment flickered across their faces.

“That doesn’t mean you won’t have supernatural ways of protecting yourselves in dangerous situations,” Rusty told them, and tilted her head at me. “Chalice has some tricks to share with you.”

Six heads turned in my direction.

“Um…” I shrugged. “Yes, I do. They’re not really tricks, they’re charms. Magic invoked in objects to make them do special things.”

“Like what?” a blond ponytailed girl asked me.

I glanced at the paper name tag she wore on her chest. “Well, Dale, there are a variety of charms that can be helpful. There are some that make you invisible, fly, run faster than a speeding car, deflect bullets, block someone from reading your mind. I could go on and on, but I’ll save it for later. This is Rusty’s time with you right now.”

The little group erupted with questions.

“What charm do I get?”

“Can I be as strong as a super hero?”

“Is there one that can make me shrink to the size of a mouse?”

I held out my hands. “Whoa! Hey, I said we’d go over all this later.” Not to mention I wasn’t prepared. I needed to know something about each squire before assigning them a charm suited for their individual needs. Baby steps.

Rusty glared at me and I understood why. I’d stolen her thunder.

“Look,” I said to them, wearing my patient face that felt tight since I hadn’t donned it in a while. “Our attentions are divided right now. As you all know, one of our sister knights is in a coma caused by whatever took the lives of so many in our order. You’ll just have to be patient.”

They bowed their heads and tossed ashamed looks at one another.

“No worries, okay?” I melted the chill from my smile as I said, “I’m almost as new to this as the rest of you.”

“We heard,” said a pixie of a girl with black hair in a Peter Pan haircut. “Aurora told us you have a story to tell.”

Murmurs fluttered between them and they looked at me expectantly.

“That’s true,” I said. “And I promise you’ll get the full scoop on my sordid life and the curse that nearly killed me. Just not today.”

They groaned, looking dejected.

This session was as much for my education as theirs, so I had a question of my own. “You six are the chosen few, and I’m curious what you have in common.” They stared at me as if I’d just told them their panties were showing. “You’re all lovely young women with a unique talent for speaking with angels. But what makes you more special than other girls with the same gift?”

“I think I know,” Xenia said. “Without having talked to the others I’m betting they’re all orphans like me. Am I right?”

Each of them nodded. Okay, that made sense. No family ties, meaning no awkward questions from loved ones about how they lived their lives, and it lessened the chance for a division of loyalties. I sensed these girls’ need to belong. It takes one to know one.

“It’s not like we joined a cult,” the blonde Dale said. “We’ve had a telepathic connection to the Arelim since birth. No one understands us like they do.”

I nodded. “True enough. How old are you?”

They all said at same time, “Twenty.”

And less than a year away from meeting their guardians. Interesting.

“How do you feel about having a child destined for knighthood?” I asked.

“I feel honored,” said the girl with the Peter Pan haircut. “It’s my destiny.”

I frowned, but quickly sobered. No sense in giving away my personal opinions on the matter. Battling gargoyles and dealing with neurotic sorcerers is not a destiny I’d have chosen for myself. As far as feeling honored to carry a halfling child fathered by an angel I didn’t love? I’d just as soon be sterile. However, my life had been different from these girls’. My cynicism was justified. I slid a sideways glance at Xenia, who looked sad beyond reason, and I wondered at the source of her grief. Perhaps I wasn’t the only one with reservations about Hatchet knight traditions. Misery loved company.

A girl with bouncing red curls who could put Shirley Temple to shame said, “Let’s see a demonstration.”

Rusty scowled. “A demonstration of what?”

“Your superpowers,” she said.

The others applauded and nodded with enthusiasm.

“Mine’s a bit hard to demonstrate,” I told them.

“You’re Aurora’s granddaughter, right?” one of them asked. “So you have her powers. Super senses are awesome.”

And sometimes annoying, I thought. They had no idea how intrusive it could be and the amount of concentration required to keep it in check. “Okay, I’ll bite.

“Dale, you need to eat something. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day,” I told her.

“You can tell what I had for breakfast?”

“Or what you didn’t have, as the case may be,” I said. “Your dental hygiene is excellent, by the way.”

My nostrils flared as I caught a whiff of Xenia’s breath. “Xenia! Lay off the booze, especially before five. Alcohol blunts the senses and you need to be sharp at all times.”