The Chosen Knights (Read Prequel--The Angel Knights first) (The Angel Knights Series Book 2) (2 page)

Chapter 1

Present Time

Lucia

“Lucia,” my brother spouted with annoyance. “That human boy is spying on you again.” Lying on top of my bed, his arms were crossed behind his neck for support. My twin-sized bed looked too small for his over six-foot-tall body.

“What human boy?” I swung my chair to face him.

Studying human history on the computer was the fastest way I could review and get caught up. Though we’d studied the history of mankind at Crossroads, we also needed to learn a lot of additional information to be successful in our mission.

“Your friend. The weird one next door. What’s his name? Jock? Juck?” Zachary gazed up at the ceiling. “By the way, don’t get too attached—I’m just saying, for your own benefit. It’s rule number one in the Venator handbook.”

The logical question would be to ask him how he knew what Jack was doing when the window was on the opposite side of the room, logical if we were human. Our predominantly archangel blood allowed us to sense the presence of beings even when we couldn’t see them. Our speed, strength, and senses were superhuman. Unlike some angels on Earth, my brother and I had archangel wings—grand, fluffy wings that touched the ground. In Crossroads, our home, many of the angels were envious of them. In between Heaven and Earth, having extraordinary wings was a status symbol. The bigger your wings, the more prestige you had.

“He’s not weird, and his name is Jack. Don’t worry,” I snapped. I wanted to say he was cute, not in a handsome way, but in a sweet and “he makes me laugh” way. I turned back to my computer, doing two things at once—talking to my brother and researching.

“You know he has a crush on you. It’s the reason he keeps peeping over at your window,” he continued.

I chuckled lightly. “You seem to be infatuated with him. I think you have a crush on him.”

Zachary snorted. “You’re funny. I’m just looking after you. Someone has to, and it’s not because I’m older. You’re the reckless one.”

Reckless?
I spun around in my chair furiously, but quickly regained my composure. It was true. When Zachary and I were on a mission in New York City to hunt Fallens and demons with other Venators—demon-hunting angels—I had charged ahead without thinking or strategizing, or seeing the whole scenario. I had wanted to save one of ours who ended up dead by the hands of a Fallen named Mortem.

Never
would I forget his name or his face. I could have gotten our team killed if it hadn’t been for Father and Uncle Davin. What had started out as trying to be brave by charging after Mortem, turned out to be foolishness on my part because it had been a trap. The Fallen had suddenly surrounded us from where they had been hiding.

“Zachary,” I said calmly, trying to suppress my anger. “Maybe he’s staring at something near the window and not at me. And besides, high school starts in a couple of days. It will be good to have a friend like him. He’s already told us he is popular. We could fit right in, and with his help, we’ll get to know the students quickly. We’ll be able to find out if anything unusual happened the night these kids went missing.”

I suddenly groaned from the heartache that had been slowly building inside me. Covering my face with my palms, I let it all out. I couldn’t believe everything I felt. I didn’t like it at all. Unlike my brother, I had a difficult time taming my emotions.

“Lucia.” My brother placed a hand on my shoulder. I had seen him move at angel speed to reach me in less than a second without making a squeak on our hardwood floor. “I’m sorry. What did I say?” He racked his hand through his dark-brown hair. “Girls are so—”

“It’s not what you said,” I muttered. “How did you read up on human history and not get annoyed? It’s so tragic. Humans can be so evil and crazy. It’s no wonder they need the Divine Elders to guide them.”

“Not all humans are like that,” Zachary consoled, rubbing my shoulder. “Read about the good ones. That should help you. Because of these decent people, there is still hope for humanity and a reason for them to exist. Don’t let human emotions get inside you. Allowing them to enter our hearts will weaken us. We have to stay strong together.”

I nodded and noticed my brother’s smiling face. Though we were twins, he resembled my father, and I my mother. At least so others told us. My brother was handsome, like my father. I could picture it in my mind—on the first day of school, he would crush the girls’ hearts with his looks and charm. It was a good thing he had a one-track mind—to complete the mission.

A soft knock broke me out of my thoughts. “Come in.”

Uncle Davin, our Venator mentor, peeked through the crack in the door and rolled his emerald-green eyes. In the human world, people knew him as our guardian.

Uncle Davin appeared so laid back with stubble running along his jawline. Wearing jeans and a T-shirt, and with his youthful appearance, he could have passed for our older brother rather than our guardian. “Jack is here to see you again. Doesn’t he have other friends? And….” He lifted his index finger and pointed at me, “if he tries to do anything I might have done to pretty girls way back when, I promise, he’s going to see me in his dreams.”

I blinked in confusion. “I didn’t hear the doorbell or anyone knock.” Too busy arguing with my brother, I didn’t home in on my angel instincts.

“Because I got to the door before he did. Something smelled...fishy.”

I tried not to laugh but Uncle Davin was too funny. He was so goofy and likeable—well, not to everyone. Sometimes he annoyed my father, but I knew without a doubt, my father loved him like a brother. They would have done anything for each other. I hoped one day I would find a friend like Uncle Davin. Crossroads made friendships difficult, with all our time spent training to be demon hunters. We had hardly any time for a social life, and even if there had been, my brother and I lived with my parents.

For all of my seventeen years, I had physically and mentally trained to hunt and kill demons. Some demons took over human souls, and I had been hunting those on various parts of Earth with my team. Our mission was simple: go to a specific location, find the demons, and kill them. And no matter what, emotional attachments to humans were prohibited. I learned to build a wall around myself because caring for the target could lead to distraction, loss of focus, and poor judgment, and as a result, jeopardize the team or the mission.

I’d never had that problem since I never stayed on Earth long enough to care about any human. However, my current mission was different. My guardian, my brother, and I were to pretend to be a family and attend high school to determine why a number of teens had gone missing in Hawaii. We would also investigate the strong supernatural energy emanating from Hilo High School. Unlike my twin brother, I had a soft heart and was worried about the mission. But I couldn’t think like that. The Divine Elders, a group of twelve angels who oversaw these assignments, wouldn’t have sent me if I weren’t ready. It would be simple, in and out, like the other missions had been.

“Fishy?” I shook my head in amusement. “Don’t worry, Uncle Davin. Jack is cute, but he’s not my type.”

Uncle Davin’s expression changed from relaxed to alert. He entered and stood next to Zachary, staring straight into my eyes. “What’re you talking about ‘not my type?’ You don’t have a type. No way, Josie.”

“Josie?” my brother questioned, his brown eyes twinkling in amusement, and then he chuckled. “You mean no way,
José.”

Uncle Davin glared at him, trying to hide a smile. “Whatever. Josie, José. They all sound the same.” He waved his hand as if he could dismiss what he had said. “Anyway, no boy crushing.” He pointed at me and then shifted his attention to my brother. “No girl crushing.” He looked back at me. “You think this is going to be easy? Wait until school starts and the human teenage world, filled with crazy hormones, engulfs you. It’s going to be too much for the both of you. Talking and discussing what high school will be like with me is a whole different story than actually going through the motions.”

“We know, Uncle Davin. You told us, like, millions of times.” I stood up and placed my fists on my hips.

“Oh, is that all?” His tone became sarcastic. “I don’t think it’s enough. I’ll tell you a million times more. But don’t worry”—he winked—“stay calm, Uncle Davin will be near.” With a twitch of his eyebrows, he left the room.

What did he mean by that?
Zachary and I questioned each other; we were able to communicate telepathically, but only with each other. Uncle Davin had scolded us in the past when he’d caught us doing it. He reminded us demons could sense divine magic, which we’d already learned, but sometimes forgot. A habit of seventeen years was a hard thing to break all of a sudden. We would have to work on that.

“You did it, didn’t you? I could sense it,” Uncle Davin shouted from the kitchen. I could hear the refrigerator door being opened, along with a few cabinets.

“Shoot,” I whispered, bringing my chin down, running my hands through my hair. “Sorry!”

Zachary leaned over and turned off the computer. “Don’t say shoot. Teenagers don’t say shoot. They say crap. We have to try to fit in. Remember that, okay?”

“Okay.” I recalled Jack saying the word the other day. Uncle Davin had explained some of the slang to us. “Crap.” I came to the realization Jack had been waiting for us the entire time. I jumped out of my seat and came to a sudden stop on my way to the door. Uncle Davin sat on the brown leather sofa eating chips and salsa while watching some movie on Netflix.

“Uncle Davin.” My tone sounded a bit more scolding than I had intended. “You could have let Jack in.”

“Why?” He kept his eyes glued to our flat screen and laughed out loud. “I don’t like any boys looking at my niece that way. He can be your friend but that’s all.” He paused and then laughed harder than before.

His contagious laughter cracked me up. Not wanting to waste more time and feeling bad that Jack had already waited so long, I rushed to open the door.

“Jack. Hi,” I greeted.

Jack sported jean shorts and a T-shirt with a beautiful surfboard design made up of intertwining black lines. Wanting to make sure I wore the right clothes, I quickly glanced at what I had on—a flowery yellow summer dress with my long dark hair tied back into a ponytail. Perfect.

Though angels felt the difference between hot and cold, the weather didn’t affect us. We wouldn’t shiver in the cold, or freeze in the snow, nor would we sweat or have a heat stroke if we stayed out in the scorching hot sun. I only had to be concerned with wearing the right outfit.

“Hey, Lucia.” Jack’s hazel eyes lit up. The breeze softly tousled his ash-brown hair as his grin grew. I liked his warm, friendly smile. “I umm, thought if you weren’t doing anything, we could walk...or I could drive us...to the ice cream shop. It’s only a couple of blocks away. Since you just moved to our neighborhood a week ago, you probably don’t know where everything is. I mean...important places. You look like a girl who would like ice cream.”

“That better not be a pickup line,” Uncle Davin warned aloud.

I turned to glare at him, but he still sat on the sofa watching his movie. He could have been talking to the characters on screen or Jack. Hoping Jack hadn’t heard, I gave a fake giggle to play off what Uncle Davin had said. “Do you mind if my brother comes too?”

With his index finger, he pushed his glasses up slightly. “Uhhh, sure?” He didn’t sound enthusiastic about it. “His name is Zach, right?”

I didn’t want him to think it was a date. “His name is Zachary, but I guess we can call him Zach. Great. Thanks.” I turned my back to him and closed the door halfway to limit Jack’s vision. “Zach, we’re going to the ice cream shop. Come.”

“No thanks.” Hi voice boomed from his room.

“You can drive the car,” I bribed. The sudden soft breeze behind my back indicated how fast my brother had taken up my offer.

“Did you say I get to drive?” he asked in an excited tone.

“Uh-huh.” I gave him a sly smile.

“Did you ask Uncle Davin?” He seemed worried.

“No, but I’m going to. He’s going to agree, especially since he’s watching his movie. Make sure he has a lot of chips and salsa.”

Zach glanced over his shoulder. “He has enough. I don’t know how he eats the whole bag by himself.”

“He says he likes the texture. Anyway, listen—watch this.” I paused and turned back toward my uncle. “Uncle Davin, Zachary and I will be out only for a little bit. We’ll have our cell phones. We’re taking the you-know-what. We’ll be back.”