Darkest Knight

I was losing my grip and the threatening voices inside the house grew louder. A flap of giant wings forced my gaze upward and I half expected to see Shojin sweep down for the kill. But Shojin, whom I now thought of as a gentle giant, was dead. This must be another gargoyle. A hungry house and a demon weren’t enough for these guys? Give me a break.

I squinted up into the darkness and saw nothing but gray clouds and falling snow. Yet my nose detected more. Damp fur, old blood, and dirt that smelled like a farm. As well as a familiar scent that hurt my heart.

I barely had time to think when I saw the set of enormous curled talons appear inches from my face. They latched onto both my arms and lifted me aloft with the Maågan’s claws still gripping my jacket. I released my hold on the door frame and the jacket slipped free from my body. In a burst of speed, my rescuer surged upward, away from the fatherhouse and into the snow-filled sky above.

I was hardly conscious by the time my feet touched solid ground. Icy cold cut through me like a blade and my skin had turned numb. Frostbite would soon follow. The thought had barely touched my mind when a thick woolen blanket fell across my shoulders. Only one person knew me so well that he practically read my mind.

“Aydin.” I whispered his name, which was difficult to say with a nearly frozen tongue. He stayed out of my line of sight, but I heard him shuffling around in the dark. I took a minute to gaze at my surroundings. The crackle of a fire gave me tingles as I anticipated the warmth it would offer.

This structure must be his temporary home, a hidden place relatively close to Shojin. I imagined the Vyantara were still looking for Aydin, as he’d be a valuable asset if caught. Gargoyle assassins weren’t easy to come by. They were ancient creatures, but new ones could be made by binding humans with a curse that would transform them into winged devils. I’d been cruelly bonded to one named Shui, but the monster’s death had set me free. Aydin hadn’t been so lucky.

I sniffed the air. That’s where the farm smell had come from. This old farm looked abandoned, the barn’s walls rotted and boards missing, though it appeared Aydin had tried making repairs. His dexterity compromised by claws, he’d been ill-equipped to wield a hammer.

The scent of roasting meat wafted through the air. Rabbit. I grinned in spite of my situation. He’d never cooked for me when he was human.

“Thanks for coming to my rescue,” I said to the hulking shadow by the fire. This was the first time I’d noticed he had a tail and I watched it twitch like an irritated cat. “I’d be dead if not for you.” Again.

He grunted. That’s all he could do. The ability to speak wasn’t included in the gargoyle transformation package. He could, however, rip someone apart with his bare paws and chew through bones like they were jawbreaker candies.

“I’ve missed you, Aydin,” I said softly to his back. His bat wings were folded at his sides and they shifted as if in a shrug. “Did you miss me?”

He seemed to ignore me, but I sensed he was listening. So I prattled on. “I haven’t been back to Denver since, you know…that day.”

He growled low in his throat.

“I couldn’t agree more.” Though I had benefited from my experience, he had not. I wondered if he resented me for that. I wouldn’t blame him if he did.

“I’ve been staying with the Arelim since then,” I told him, and waited for his reaction. Guardians were Arelim angels from the twelfth order of the angelic hierarchy, sworn to protect the Hatchet knights. But Aydin had been my real protector. He had explained to me my role in the knighthood and showed me how magic could be good if used in a good way. He even taught me how to fall in love.

Aydin turned sideways to peer at me. His eyes were still that lovely shade of jade, clear as ice. His face, however, looked like that of an oversize cat. That didn’t matter because I would recognize him no matter what he was.

“The silver veil is kind of nice, but it’s too solitary—even for me. And to be honest, I felt claustrophobic most of the time. There’s nothing to do there but meditate.”

Aydin pulled something from the fire he’d been tending and blew on the flame that engulfed what was on the stick. Charred rabbit. So much for his cooking skills.

He gestured for me to come closer, which I eagerly did. I could hardly feel my feet and I stumbled. Aydin caught me before I did a face-plant on the hay-strewn ground. He was surprisingly gentle for a gargoyle, but he let go of me so quickly I nearly fell anyway.

“Thanks.” I sat on one of the logs positioned around the fire and he handed me the skewered rabbit. “Aren’t you going to have any?”

He glanced away, then turned his wedge-shaped head to stare at me. He placed both paws on his belly.

“Ah, I see. You’ve already eaten.” And no doubt his had been rabbit tartare.

Feeling warmer already, I pulled a leg off the rabbit and peeled away its burned hide before taking a bite. Not bad. Not bad at all. I devoured the meat as though I hadn’t eaten in days. Come to think of it, I couldn’t remember my last meal.

I didn’t like the awkward silence between us. I’d always felt comfortable with Aydin, and though I realized he couldn’t speak, it wasn’t a lack of words that made our meeting so uneasy. We were both different now and we hardly knew each other anymore. I hoped we still shared the same goals when it came to my sister knights in the Order of the Hatchet. In spite of everything, I still loved Aydin; claws, wings, fangs and all.

I cleared my throat. “Anyway…” I gently swung my pouch of ill-gotten gain between my knees and the few objects inside clattered against one another.

Aydin lifted his chin and wiggled his feline nose. He sniffed and jerked his head at the pouch in my hands.

It was time to tell him what was inside.

“This? I’ve begun reclaiming stolen artifacts from the Vyantara.” I held up the bag. “My sisters can make good use of these.” Our original plan had been for Aydin to help me steal back the magical objects from all the fatherhouses, then help me teach my sister knights how to use them to protect themselves.

I pulled out each item, one by one, starting with the pocket watch. I slowly withdrew the halt charm made of oak bark. “There’s an interesting story behind this one.” I held it out to him and he nodded as if he recognized it. I smiled. “It was actually Shojin who found it.”

Aydin’s cat whiskers twitched.

I nodded. “Yep. I saw him today. He gave me something to give you.” My heart hammered so hard against my ribs I thought they’d break. I tossed the empty rabbit stick in the fire. “Shojin loved you very much.”

Aydin straightened and backed away from me. Though fur covered his face, I could still see his scowl. I think he guessed what I was about to give him. He shook his head.

“He made the ultimate sacrifice, Aydin.” I lifted the beautiful glowing heart from the pouch and held it up. “Shojin died so that you could become a man again.”

Aydin’s chest rose and fell like he had trouble breathing. He pointed at me.

“No!” I gave my head a quick shake. “It wasn’t me, I swear. He harvested the heart with his own claws because he loved you that much.” And so did I.

Still frowning, Aydin gently took the heart from me. My shoulders slouched in relief. Once he ate the heart, I’d have him back the way he used to be. We’d be together again, both free of our curses, both ready to start new lives. My eyes felt hot and I realized they’d filled with tears. Tears of hope.

Aydin’s paws rubbed over the heart as if cherishing a precious gem, which it was. Rare and beautiful. Then he threw back his head and roared. His anguished cry tore through me and I stood to hold my arms open to him. To comfort him. But he tossed the heart at my feet.

I crouched down to snatch it, unbroken, from the frigid ground. “What are you doing?” I yelled.

His lips peeled back from fangs sharp enough to pierce glass without making it crack. He fisted his claws and spread his wings before abruptly vanishing from sight.

three

“AYDIN!” I RAN OUT OF THE BARN AND GAZED up at the dense clouds that had dumped buckets of snow. I didn’t see him, but I sensed him up there. Invisible, and he was flying far away from me.

I clutched the gargoyle heart to my chest and whispered, “Shojin, you didn’t die for nothing. We’ll get him back. I promise.”

“I see he didn’t lose his ability to vanish like a thief in the night.”

I spun around to see Rafe standing behind me.

“How long have you been here?” I asked, blinking hard as I tried to figure out what was wrong with this picture. He looked so…different.

“Long enough to hear him roar and see him vanish,” Rafe said, sounding annoyed. “As I suspected he would.”

I squinted at him. “Rafe, what have you done to yourself?”

He placed both hands on his chest. “Me? Oh, you mean the clothes.”

I nodded and stared, openmouthed. “The clothes, the hair, the skin, and the fact you cut about a foot off your height.”

He turned his back to me and I gasped.

“Oh, my God! What happened to your wings?”

“Relax.” He faced me again. “This is a disguise. We can take human form whenever we wish. It’s often necessary when we interact with mortals.”

His hair was no longer white but a wheat-blond that looked as natural as the stubble on his tan cheeks and chin. What a change. His skin was normally porcelain-smooth, and he was usually taller than a pro basketball player. I had to give him credit for his choice of clothes. Acid-washed denim from top to bottom, but his jacket looked thickly lined with fleece, his gloves leather and his muffler cable-knit. Even his boots were stylin’. He looked like he’d walked straight out of GQ Magazine.

“Wow,” was all I could say.

He scowled, looking uncomfortable, and glanced down at himself. “Did I miss something?”

I shook my head. “Not a thing.”

He smiled. “Good.” Squinting up at the sky, he said, “Now that it’s gone, we can leave.”

Though Aydin’s rejection of the heart was a setback, I wasn’t angry, just disappointed. He needed time to grieve for his old friend and I could be patient. After everything Aydin had done for me he deserved at least that much.

“Rafe, Aydin is a he, not an it. And by the way, I still have the gargoyle heart so we can’t travel through the veil. I already tried and it wouldn’t open for me.”

“Of course not. I made an attempt to warn you about that, but you cut me off, remember?” Lips pressed firmly together, he added, “This is why I acquired a motor vehicle for our transportation.”

Like any good Boy Scout, Rafe had come prepared. This kept getting better and better. “Tell me you’re kidding.”

He scowled again. “Why would I kid you? Don’t you think I can drive?”

“Um. No?”

Shaking his head, he stalked past me and rounded the corner of the barn. I followed. Parked out back in a foot of snow was a shiny black Cadillac Escalade.

Pointing at the tires, I said, “You put the chains on yourself?”

He sighed. “Just get in. Thanks to the trophy you just acquired, we have a long drive ahead.”

Ah, yes. I was finally going to meet my sister knights and my grandmother for the first time. A Hatchet knight herself, she lived with my grandfather—an angel who chose to become mortal—in the very state I’d fled from a month ago. Colorado, here we come.

“Are we there yet?” I sounded like a petulant child, but I didn’t care. We’d traveled over two thousand miles and as nice as this SUV was, I wanted out.

Rafe glanced at his watch. “That’s the second time you’ve asked me in the last fifteen minutes. My answer is still the same. Two hours to go.”

“Correction. That should be one hour and forty-five minutes.”

“Traveling with me hasn’t been that bad, has it?”

I slumped down in the seat and uncrossed, then recrossed, my ankles on the dashboard. “I’m bored and I’m tired and my back hurts.” I wished we’d park in one spot long enough for Aydin to find me. I glanced out the window and peered up at the overcast sky. He had to be up there somewhere.

Rafe followed the direction of my gaze. “Still on the lookout for your winged devil, eh?”

“Don’t call him that.” I understood angels and gargoyles didn’t get along, but for crap sake, this was Aydin. One of the good guys. “He’s on our side, remember?”

Rafe grunted.

I stared at his resolute profile. He looked mortal, but he didn’t behave like one. He’d hardly eaten anything in over thirty hours and he never slept. Not once. The only time we stopped was to gas up and for me to eat and use the bathroom. I wanted a shower in the worst way.

Feeling grungy, I gave myself a sniff. “Do I stink?”

He scowled. “No, you don’t stink.” He shook his head. “You smell fine. You smell like…you.”

I didn’t know if that was good or bad. He had no odor whatsoever and if anyone would know it would be me. “How do you stay so clean without taking a bath?”

“I’m an angel.”

“Duh. I know that.” I rolled my eyes. “But you’re mortal at the moment. You’ve got mortal parts, right?” I looked pointedly down at his crotch.

He dropped a hand from the steering wheel to his lap as if to hide his manly bits. “Of course I do.”

Leaning toward him, I looked closely at his face. “I don’t believe it. You’re blushing.”

“Look, there’s a truck stop. Hungry? Need to use the facilities?”

“Sure,” I said, settling back in my seat again. “I could eat and take a pee. Don’t you have to pee?”

“No.”

I jutted my chin toward the hand that covered his package. “Then what good is that?”

“It’s plenty good, I assure you.” He turned the wheel a bit too sharply and I slid across the seat. I nearly landed on top of him.

I moved over to hug the door on my side.

“Sorry about that,” Rafe said, and a shadow of a grin touched his lips. He wasn’t sorry at all. He’d done that on purpose. “Don’t pout. It’s unbecoming for a knight.”

“I’m not pouting.” Crossing my arms firmly against my chest, I sat up straight and looked longingly at the coffee shop ahead. Hungrier than I thought, I wondered if it was morning or afternoon. I’d completely lost track of time. “Waffles. No, make that French toast. Two eggs over easy and order me extra bacon.” He parked the Escalade and I hopped out to make a beeline for the restrooms. “Thanks, Rafe. You’re an angel.”

I gave myself a whore’s bath in the restroom sink, using generous amounts of hand soap in the process. The hand dryer was an awkward way to dry off, but I was used to it. I’d done this countless times on the road during my thieving days so I was no stranger to prancing around a public bathroom in the buff. Luckily no one came in while I indulged in my trucker’s toilette.

Moderately refreshed, I got dressed and strode inside the restaurant to find Rafe. He sat in a booth looking worse than dejected. He looked lost.

“Hey,” I said softly, sensing something was wrong. I slid onto the bench seat across from him. “You okay?”

He blinked at me. “I just received a message.”

I cocked my head. “Yeah? Who from?”

He swallowed, his Adam’s apple making a deep bob in his human throat. “The Arelim. It’s bad news.”

My heart sank into my stomach. Rafe had a telepathic link with his angelic brothers, who were never chatty without good reason. An angel with bad news always meant trouble. I waited for him to tell me what it was.

“Your sister knights,” he said slowly, his human eyes shining brighter than they should. He closed them and his hands curled into fists on the table. “Almost all of them are dead.”

four

“WHAT? No!”I STOOD UP AND NEARLY TOPPLED the table. I’d waited so long, struggled so hard to finally join my sisters in the knighthood. My mission was to train them in self-protection. I refused to believe it was too late. “It must be a mistake.”

Rafe gazed down at his fists and shook his head. “No mistake,” he whispered. “It happened a few hours ago. I was just told that those who didn’t perish were either out of the country, in a warded area, or on sacred ground. That’s the only common link the Arelim have found.”

I blinked over dry eyes that stung from the effort to control my sensitive vision. This news was too distracting. Lights became too bright, I saw people’s auras spike with the colors of their emotions, and smells from the kitchen roiled what little I had in my stomach. I no longer had an appetite.

“How?” I asked.

“Suffocation.” Rafe leaned back in the booth seat, his handsome face looking haggard, as if defeated. Angel or not, the dark circles under his eyes were proof he needed sleep. “How they suffocated is unclear, but it happened as they slept.”

It was mildly comforting to know they hadn’t suffered. I grieved for Shojin and now I added my sisters to what seemed to be a growing list. I hoped this wasn’t a sign of more to come. “What killed them?”

“Unknown, but the cause appears unnatural,” he said. “And by that I mean supernatural.”

That didn’t surprise me considering each knight had a supernatural ability of her own. “Magic?”

Narrowing his eyes, Rafe said, “Not exactly. The Arelim detected no spells, charms or curses.”

“Yet they weren’t strangled or smothered?”

He shook his head. “It’s as if their breath was snatched right out of their lungs.”

Now I was really puzzled. “What could do that? A demon?”

“Possibly.” He gave me a long look. “Or another knight.”

Wow. “Don’t tell me my sisters are prone to killing each other.”

“It’s been known to happen in the past, but that was hundreds of years ago. The motive had always been jealousy, usually of another knight’s abilities, or if her guardian angel chose to become human after mating. It’s very rare within the order to have an angel for a husband.”

Yet my grandmother had wedded her guardian after my mother was conceived. Had her sisters been jealous? Was her life ever threatened? There was so much I still didn’t know. “Are the surviving knights under suspicion?”

“No one is above suspicion, Chalice. Not even you.”

“Me?” That surprised me. “Impossible. I’ve been with you this whole time.”

“Perhaps it was someone you know.” His eyes became hard. “Someone who can enter a body and make it do whatever he wants.”

He was talking about Aydin. Even though he had that ability, Aydin would never use it to harm a living soul. Just because gargoyles were assassins for the Vyantara didn’t automatically make him one. “I know who you’re talking about and he’s not like that.” I felt my ire heating up. “What reason could he possibly have to hurt my sisters?”

Rafe shrugged. “He’s a beast of darkness now. Who knows what he would do, or why.”

I glared at him. “You’re wrong. Aydin took a vow to Saint Geraldine that he would protect the Hatchets. He’d never go back on his word.” Saint Geraldine was one of the very first knights in the order, but she was a mummy now. Or at least her head was a mummy. Suffice to say she still lived despite existing over nine hundred years without the rest of her body.

Rafe blew a blast of air out his nose. “How can you be so sure? You hardly even know each other.”

“I know him better than I know you.”

He looked stunned for a second, but quickly recovered. His eyes hooded as if he were bored. Though we hadn’t ordered anything, Rafe threw a couple of bills on the table and stood. “Let’s not keep your grandmother waiting longer than she already has. She needs you. And you need her.”

What I really needed was to be away from Rafe for a while. He’d been wearing on my nerves ever since we left Quebec and after seeing his hostile attitude toward Aydin, I’d rather be alone. Rafe’s ego was big enough to fill a small planet.

We finished our drive to Golden, Colorado, in awkward silence. I was angry and Rafe was…who knew what. Angels were hard to read. He appeared deep in thought, but he also seemed to be sulking.

The long, snow-packed driveway leading to my grandmother’s home had tall pines on either side that sparkled with frost. It looked like a fairy winter wonderland.

Rafe stopped the car. “We’re here.”

My gaze wandered over the majestic ponderosas and skeletal aspens that had lost all their leaves. No house in sight. “We are? I don’t see anything but trees and a few big rocks.”

He opened the car door and stepped out, his boots squeaking on the snowy ground. “That’s because it’s protected by a privacy ward.” His hand waved through empty space and like a mirage, the air rippled and gradually formed the image of a house.

No ordinary house, its size made it more like a mansion. Yet it still looked like a classic mountain home of exposed cedar logs and natural stones set into the walls. Awesome.

“Wow,” was all I could say.

“After you,” Rafe said, making a slight bow.

I stepped gingerly over the invisible barrier between the seen and unseen. A massive door on the front porch opened and out walked a woman who could have been my mother’s twin. On closer inspection I saw she was much older, with gray streaks running through her wavy ebony hair, and her frame was more generous than my mother’s had been. My grandmother had meat on her bones.

“Rafael!” she called to angel-man beside me. “And oh, dear lord! Is this our Chalice?”

I felt my cheeks grow hot.

“Yes, Aurora. It sure is,” Rafe said, a genuine smile in his voice. He liked her, I could tell.

“She’s the mirror image of Felicia, rest her soul.” My grandmother pranced down the steps, her breath steaming in the icy air. She hugged a thick wool cardigan closed against her chest and the knitted muffler at her neck trailed behind her. As she came nearer I got a good look at her eyes. Turquoise and gold. Just like mine.

Smiling, she stopped about a foot from me and opened her arms. I knew she expected a hug, but I wasn’t a hugger. I made only one exception, but getting to hug Aydin wouldn’t happen for a while. For my grandmother I compromised, leaning forward to touch my cheek to hers. She smelled like vanilla and cinnamon.

Eyes twinkling, she seemed satisfied with that. “Chalice, I’m so happy you’ve come.”

I was about to say how glad I was to be here when an enormous figure appeared at my grandmother’s back.

“So this is the granddaughter I’ve heard so much about.” The man stood slightly taller than Rafe in his human form, and his hair was black as Aurora’s. He looked mature, but it was hard to tell his age since there wasn’t a speck of gray in his hair. Signs of years gone by and exposure to the elements creased his handsome face. This must be my grandfather.

“Zeke, say hello to Chalice,” my grandmother said.

“Hi, sweetheart,” he said to me, a grin tweaking the corners of his mouth. It made me feel like a little girl again. As happy as I was to finally meet my grandmother, my heart swelled at seeing my grandfather. I knew the sacrifice he’d made. He’d been an angel before deciding to become human just so he could marry the woman he loved and be a father to his child. His courage and commitment took my breath away.

“Honey, are you all right?” My grandmother placed a hand gently on my shoulder.

I blinked and sniffed, then rubbed my nose. “I’m fine. Just cold. Can I get a tissue, please?”

Eyes wide, she said, “Of course! Grab that angel of yours and let’s get you two inside to warm up.”

Rafe drew to my side and I jumped ahead before he could touch me. I wanted nothing to do with him right now.

“Welcome to Halo Home,” Zeke said.

I stood at the entrance and stared, wide-eyed, at the vast interior of the first floor. The foyer opened out into the living room, which opened to the dining room, which opened to the kitchen. One great room with a giant round fireplace in its center. This house was way too large for only two people.