Authors: Christine Fonseca
Lacrimosa (4 page)
I joined the Sentinals so I could forget. Adam. My human life.
Everything.
Trained in combat and dedicated to control, the path of the Sentinal was my best hope for survival. My time on Earth had scarred me. Secrets and feelings no angel should possess were permanently tattooed to my soul.
Images of my training stream through my thoughts. Decades learning to handle a sword. Even more time spent learning the ways of the UnHoly and the Dark One.
I trained my mind, closed off my heart, transcended all emotions. I forgot.
Until tonight.
Tonight’s events rewind and I relive each heart beat, looking for the moment I lost control. Aydan fills my thoughts.
Amber eyes…
so like his.
The feel of his body against mine…
inviting, familiar.
The taste of his lips…
Adam.
I broke every rule. Lost control. Endangered my order. It’s a miracle Zane and Cass found me. A miracle Aydan didn’t walk outside and discover the truth. A miracle the Dark One wasn’t there.
I have to fix this: find the UnHoly, finish my task. Before the Council comes and Mikayel asks questions that have no answers.
I draw in a deep breath and stow away my thoughts.
Control, Sentinal. Stay in control
.
That time is gone. It has no meaning to you now.
Yeah, right.
“I see you’re awake.” Zane, my best friend and confidant, stands in the doorway. We could be twins, our angelic statures identical except for his jet black hair and the dark emerald green glow to his skin and robes. It’s the color of the Mediators, angels whose job it is to protect humanity from the evil seduction of the dark creatures and relay messages from the Council. It’s that last part that worries me.
Do they know?
Zane helped me transition from my life on Earth. After sixteen years in human form, you forget a few things about being an angel. He filled in the holes, healed my mind, reminded me of my duty. It was Zane who introduced me to the Sentinal order, Zane who encouraged me to trust Mikayel. I owe him my life a thousand times over.
A thousand-and-one if you count tonight’s fiasco.
“Hey, I was just coming to find you. Where’s Cass?”
“She’s confirming your orders.” Zane clenches his jaw, something he only does when he’s angry. Really angry.
This can’t be good.
“Orders? What orders?” My voice screams the unspoken question—how much does the Council know?
“You had to know they’d see everything. What happened? Why isn’t that UnHoly gone?”
“Being human happened.” I turn away, unable to handle his interrogating glare. “There’s something wrong with my host—her mind isn’t clean. She still has memories, feelings.”
“Impossible. I took care of it myself.”
“Well I don’t fail, whether I’m trapped in a human body or not. My host has to be the problem. It’s the only explanation.”
“Are you certain?” Zane’s accusing tone fills me with anger, doubt.
“Of course I’m certain. What else can it be?”
The question lingers as my mind crafts the answer. My past. My memories. My feelings.
No! I refuse accept that. I purged everything centuries ago.
“You were only in form for a few hours, too fast for your host to change you.” Zane pins me with his stare.
“What are you saying? That this has to do with last time?”
He furrows his brow and reaches into my mind. “Does it?”
Images and feelings race past my vision. Aydan singing to me, the feel of his skin on mine, the taste of his lips.
Blazes. What’s wrong with me?
“Your form isn’t the problem, Nes. Is it?” Zane takes a deep breath and retreats from my thoughts. “You’re going to have to manage the emotions—yours, the girl’s, whatever. You said you could handle this. The Council expects this taken care of quickly.” I open my mouth to speak and Zane raises a quieting hand. “And I expect you to do your duty.”
The disappointment in his voice stings more than my failure. “What do you want me to do? I didn’t expect any of this to happen.”
“I expect—”
Before he can finish his thought, Cass appears next to him. She’s shorter than either of us, with long black hair that reflects the indigo color glistening from her skin and wings, the color of her order, the Anointed. Where Zane healed my mind so many centuries ago, Cass healed my heart.
“So, did you tell her?” Cass smiles, a stark contrast to the scowl still etched on Zane’s face.
“Yes. She understands her duty.”
“My
duty
was never a question, Zanethios.” This is how it always is with Zane. I do something a tad reckless, and he lectures me about duty. Most days the routine is comforting.
Today it only illuminates my shame. My failure.
Cass ignores the frustration in my voice. She’s used to the constant bantering between Zane and I. “So,” she says. “Tomorrow you’ll enroll in Aydan’s high school, find him, and finish your task. No problem.”
“Whoa, what? High school? No one said anything about high school.”
“You should’ve thought about that at the club.”
“Zane, stop. She’ll get it done.” Cass smiles at me. “We’ve been ordered to stay with you until you’ve completed the assignment.”
“Why? I’ve never needed a team. Or a babysitter.”
“You’ve never missed an opportunity to vanquish either.” Zane’s voice is flat. I’ve never seen him so disappointed, so angry, with me.
I want to argue, justify every action. But the words won’t form. Zane is right. I messed things up. Just me. I let the stupid emotions of a teenage girl confuse me. Let myself feel broken. Let myself remember.
That will never happen again.
East Side Prep looks more like a large brownstone than one of the best prep schools in the city. I climb the steps, unfamiliar doubt surfacing in my all-too-human thoughts. But not just doubt. Fear. Something feels wrong. Evil. Maybe the UnHoly isn’t the only dark creature walking the halls of this school. Maybe there is something worse, much worse.
I get my schedule from an office clerk and walk into the European History class, late. The loud bang of the door announces my presence to everyone. Not that I care. I’ll be gone by tomorrow and the UnHoly along with me.
I hand the registration slip to the teacher and search. Ayden’s easy enough to spot: back row, dressed in black, whispering to his tablemate, a black-haired, Goth boy I recognize from last night. Neither of them have a care in the world.
Let’s see how long that lasts.
I stare too long into his amber eyes, feeling an ache of yearning that twists in my abdomen.
Inhale…1…2… 3…Release…1…2…3…Control your thoughts, Sentinal.
The mantra repeats as I ignore the urge to jump into his arms and lose myself in his touch.
“Pick whatever seat you want,” the teacher says, pausing. “Nesy, is it? Nesy Walker?”
I nod and move towards the cluster of desks closest to Aydan.
Aydan’s conversation seeps through my thoughts along with something that makes my skin crawl. The same evil I noticed before. I steal a glance at Aydan, trying to locate the source of my newfound anxiety.
“So, I think I know what you’re doing after school,” the Goth boy whispers to Aydan. “Just save some for the rest of us.”
“No promises,” Aydan says as he looks my direction. His eyes find mine and for a moment I forget my purpose.
Again.
“That’s why I like you, Aydan,” Goth boy laughs. “You always take care of yourself first.”
Sit by me, Nesy.
Aydan’s voice rings in my ears. I glance away, pretending not to hear him. Goth boy watches. Waits. And I have to wonder, is he the source of evil?
I feel Aydan pull me toward him. Catching his gaze, I smile and deliberately slide into the vacant seat two desks in front of him.
His frustration fills the air between us. It’s all I can do to keep from laughing. Being in this body, being undetectable to him, has some perks after all, even if I have to endure these stupid emotions.
“Looks like she’s going to make you work for it. Interesting.” Goth boy chuckles, a chilling sound that makes me again question
what
he is.
Another surge of quiet fury rolls from Aydan into me.
“Don’t worry,” Goth boy continues. “Her fight will make it all the sweeter in the end.”
His words explode a sense of dread through me. Whatever he is, he’s not human. No doubt about it.
I turn and look straight at Aydan, daring him to make a move. His lips turn up in a seductive smile. Hunger filters through his eyes. Followed by…
Anguish.
The teacher’s voice pulls my attention back to class. “The werewolf legend originated in Bedburg,” he says. “Peeter Stubbe…murders…a demon.”
I know that legend all too well, know the details they don’t print in the history books. I lived that legend.
All at once I remember the forest near my home, the wolf that stalked the edges, the warnings.
And the attack.
My emotions attempt to spin away from me as pieces of that time spring to life.
Not again
. I start the breathing mantra, determined to wrangle my emotions. Within a single heart beat, my mind is my own. I swallow back my feelings and focus on my task.
Aydan.
His thoughts float through me as I see his need to rip me from my soul. I understand his weakness, my way in.
Abruptly, the connection breaks. Something has changed. I look to Goth boy. He glances around the room almost like he’s felt it too. I follow his gaze to a quiet girl sitting in the corner. She looks out of place, her clothes—a black dress that looks more like a tunic and lace-up boots. So different from the other students. Her auburn hair and ghostly green eyes stir more memories. The room begins to shrink.
Green-eyed girl pins me with her stare and the walls close in around me. It’s all too much to absorb: the teacher’s voice talking of legends I’ve lived, vacant eyes that are too old, too familiar, an evil I’ve sensed only one other time.
And a voice, sweet and clear.
Help me. Please. Someone help me.
The events combine and form a tempest in my soul, one I can’t contain. My breathing falters as the words continue their pleading in my head. I quiet my thoughts, force some control. But it’s no use. The voice won’t stop. A voice that can’t exist anymore. A voice that died centuries ago.
The voice of my human sister.
Chapter 6 – Prey
Aydan
She’s here, in front of me. Just my luck. I obsessed about her all night, working out a plan to find her and take her soul. After the disappointment in my kill last night, I knew nothing would satisfy me until I had
her.
Only her.
She stares at the strange girl hiding in the back of class, one I don’t remember seeing before today. She is a plain girl with out-of-date clothes, notable only for her flaming auburn hair and green eyes, features that are eerily familiar.
I feel like I should know her, like I
need
to know her.
My master watches Flame with an intense interest that seems odd for such an ordinary girl. What does he see that I don’t?
I look back toward Nesy. A pained expression blankets her face, an expression that makes me want to do something I’ve never done.