Court of Nightfall (11 page)

"My parents, they fought to keep you safe. To keep you out of the hands of the Angel."

"Please come with me, Scarlett. If not for your own safety then to fulfill the will of your parents."

I chuckled without humor. "That's the same argument the Chancellor of Castle V used to keep me here. But my answer is still no. Not now." An image of Jax came to my mind and I knew I couldn't leave him. Despite everything that had happened, he was still the only friend I had left in this world.

"You can be my ally, or my enemy, Scarlett. And you do not wish me as your enemy."

"My answer remains the same. I have to finish my mission here."

"Very well, then."

In a blur of darkness, he spun around and pulled a sword, black as night, onto me.

Where had that come from? I didn't even see him draw it. One moment he was sitting next to me, the next he was armed like an avenging Angel.

He thrust at me with his sword and I dived behind a rock, scraping my knees on the rough granite and leaving a small dark mark of blood. He came at me again, this time faster, and I fell back, scrambling through silver sand to avoid the slash of metal on skin.

As he continued his assault, I dodged to stay out of the way, but was forced to remain on the defensive. I realized quickly I lacked the skill and training to even attempt a counter-move against him.

"If you came straight to find me after waking, where did you get the sword?" I asked, avoiding impalement by the hair on my arms.

"A Nephilim Blade is never far from its master," Zorin said. "You would know more, if you accepted my offer."

He attacked me again and I reached for him. If I could just use my power on him I could end this. But he dashed out of my way, black tendrils billowing behind his wings as he glided through the air.

He was toying with me, like a human taunting a cat with a flashlight.

"You prove no match for me, yet you seek to kill an Angel?" he asked.

"I will train. I will become a Knight Templar like my parents. The strongest Knight the Orders have ever seen."

He swiped at me faster and I didn't dodge in time. It took a moment to feel the pain. To see the fine lines of red swelling with my blood on my arms and legs.

"Your father was the best of them, and not even he could best me," Zorin said. Then he thrust the blade at my throat… and stopped just as the blade teased my flesh.

We both froze. I tried not to breathe lest the movement tip the fragile balance we held.

He held my eyes with his as he kept me at Death's door. "Tell me, who lasted longer against the Angel… me, or your father?"

I was so done playing his games and listening to his insults. "You're the reason he's dead. The reason they're both dead."

At that, his wings fell to his side, along with his sword. "Your father once told me that when he died, he would die for what he believed. And if what he believed in was me, then you are right, I am responsible for their deaths. And I am sorry."

I wanted to stay angry. Stay furious. But I could only stand there and shake, my head too confused, my heart too rattled to know what I was feeling.

Zorin bent down and drew a symbol in the dirt at our feet. He made a narrow X with the top smaller than the bottom. "Wings," he said. Then he drew a line down the middle. "And a sword."

He stood and we both looked down at the symbol. "When you are ready, draw this upon your window in your own blood, either at your home here or at the castle, and I will come and help you, as your parents helped me."

"Why blood?"

His grey eyes darkened. "We are of one blood, you and I. By saving each other we have become a part of each other. Your blood calls to mine as mine does to yours. This symbol focuses that energy."

"What is it?"

"A symbol of trust, created so that Nephilim and Nephilim supporters could safely identify each other. One would draw half this symbol casually, and if the other completed it, you knew they could be trusted." His wings expanded to full height and width, and he caught the wind and flew into the night before I could respond.

The silver tree above me faded away as the forest returned to the familiar. I shivered in the cold as I stood there staring up at the moon. How could I trust him? He'd just attacked me. Hurt me.

I looked down at my cuts, at my clothes, at the light marks on my skin… and I realized, he hadn't really hurt me. The cuts were so superficial they had already healed. The bruises already fading. He'd shown remarkable control.

He hadn't meant to kill me.

But he had meant to show me that he could.

The sounds of the forest came back to me slowly. A night owl hooting in the distance. The scurry of critters who preferred the cover of darkness. Crickets singing their songs to the moon. The noise filtered through my mind as I wandered back to my house in a partial daze.

I could feel my body wearing down, too tired to think anymore about everything that had happened. I hadn't slept much in Jax's room last night, or rather this morning, and it was already burning into the midnight hour yet again. I needed rest. My body and mind and heart needed rest.

I locked up the house and dragged myself up the stairs to the comfort of my own room. I hadn't actually been in here since before everything. Before my vision test, which now meant nothing. Before the battle that took my parents' lives. Before I died.

Before I became something new.

The blue comforter on my twin bed was still crumbled at the foot, my sheets looking slept in. My laundry basket stood in the corner nearly overflowing with dirty clothes. I'd promised my mom I'd do laundry yesterday after my test. A book I'd been reading, a rare print edition about the history of flight, sat open on the dresser next to my bed. My walls were lined with posters of planes. It was all so normal. So everyday.

I stripped off the stranger's clothes I'd borrowed and pulled on my sweats and an old t-shirt. One of Jax's old t-shirts, I realized, the thought almost too much for me.

I considered changing again, but I was too tired and instead sank into my bed, pulled my covers over my head and let the night lull me to sleep.

I slept late and woke to an early afternoon serenade from a bird in the tree by my bedroom window.

After showering and changing into jeans and a t-shirt, I pulled out my suitcase and packed as much as I could, not knowing when I'd be back here again. I'd have to sort out the details of the house eventually. Would I have the money to pay the taxes and keep it maintained, or would I have to sell it? I couldn't imagine selling. Going through my parent's belongings. Getting rid of all traces of their lives. No. I'd find a way to keep it all. At least for now.

As I packed and sorted through my clothes and personal items, my mind went over everything I knew about Nephilim. It wasn't a lot. I was young when we went to war and hadn't really needed to know more since then.

"Evie," I said into my e-Glass as I shoved another sweater into my bag.

"I am here, Scarlett. What can I do for you?"

"Can you access the best footage you can find on the Nephilim War and show it to me?"

I flipped the e-Glass over my right eye to access the holographic display screen.

"Would you like the most popular news reports?" she asked in her crisp British accent.

I thought about it a moment and shook my head, which I had trained her to identify as 'no' from my movements. "Too censored. I need the files the public didn't get access to."

"Are you approving the use of hacking to acquire these files? They are stored in the U.F.I. database."

Another safety I'd programmed into her so she wouldn't just hack whatever she needed to get information for me unless I said okay. You can never be too careful in these situations. "Yes, I approve, Evie. Thank you."

"You are always welcome, Scarlett. The database is showing two thousand, three hundred and forty-two files. How would you like to view them?"

I paused in my packing and sat on my bed. That was too many to watch. "Sort by order of highest classified files and look for anything related to the Orders, Nyx… and look for files that might contain Jaxton Lux."

As she worked, I filled my suitcase and zipped it up, then grabbed a backpack for my laptop, books and anything else I thought I might need.

I didn't know what I hoped to find. Maybe proof that Nephilim were the monsters I'd been raised to believe. Maybe proof they weren't.

When Jax appeared as a holographic image before me, I sat back down and watched the scene. He looked so much younger. Barely old enough to be holding the sword at his side. And yet there he stood, in formal Teutonic Knight dress, sword at belt, back straight, chest out, on a stage before a small crowd. Ragathon stood before him smiling like a proud father as he pinned a medal onto Jax's chest. "Good job, son," he said, patting his shoulder.

"I did as commanded, sir," Jax said, staring out at the crowd.

"We ask no more from a soldier," Ragathon replied.

Jax turned his face toward Ragathon. "Which is why I would like to request a promotion, sir."

Ragathon rubbed his chin, a serious expression creasing his face in fewer lines than he had now. Then he chuckled. "Ha! I like you, boy. I'll put in a good word. We could use more soldiers like you."

"Yes, sir," Jax said, dead serious. "We really could."

Even then, he was hoping to change things for the better.

Evie flicked to the next video and I almost told her to go back to Jax when the council chambers appeared. My grandfather, Ragathon and the other Council Members sat in their assigned seats, a tense silence hanging in the air. Nyx, the instigator of the Nephilim War, and his apprentice, Erebus walked in, both of them cloaked in back. Nyx wore a white mask with black patterns, while Erebus wore a white mask with red around the eyes and gold details weaving across it. They were meeting with the Four Orders and Chancellor. I didn't remember ever hearing about this, and it would have been big news if the Four Orders were in negotiations with the leaders of the Nephilim.

"Evie, while I watch this, search all news records. I want to know if news of this meeting was ever leaked."

In the holograph, Ragathon was complaining that Nyx acted unjustly. "We had a peace, a truce between our people. We thought we could work with the Nephilim—"

Nyx interrupted, his voice deep, primal and fierce, but also synthesized, likely being altered by the mask. "Peace? You've killed my people for ages. You wish me to stop killing yours? Then surrender and abolish all laws related to Zeniths."

This shocked me. The Nephilim weren't just fighting for themselves, but for all Zeniths? While it was true that anyone with para-power technically derived them from Nephilim blood, they were at this point separate races and the public had always been led to believe the Nephilim were in it for themselves and no one else. That if we didn't eradicate all Nephilim, they would destroy all of humanity, including the Zenith.

"The people won't allow Zeniths to go unregulated," Ragathon argued.

"The people will allow whatever you tell them," Nyx said.

Ragathon’s robes rustled as he shifted in his chair. "We are their representatives, not their masters."

Nyx laughed without amusement, and my grandfather interrupted them. "Come now, Ragathon. Nyx is not wrong. The time for pretend is over." He turned to speak to Nyx. "We are no longer a democracy, that much is true, but we cannot give you what you ask. The Pope would never allow it. Nor, I'm afraid, would he allow you to live."

"And if I were to surrender myself?" Nyx asked, once again surprising me.

My grandfather shook his head sadly. "Then Zeniths would have peace, but not equality."

Nyx turned on his heel, fire in his movement. "Then the war shall continue," he said as he moved to leave, his apprentice following him.

My grandfather called out from behind him. "Is it worth it, spilling so much blood for so few?"

Nyx turned to face my grandfather. "Is it ever worth spilling blood at all?"

He walked out, leaving the Council members whispering amongst themselves.

The image cut short as Evie's voice interrupted. "Scarlett, that meeting was never made public, but there's something you need to see. Something urgent."

She relayed a live newscast into my e-Glass. A blond reporter sat in a newsroom and read from a teleprompter, and above her they showed a picture of Jax.

"Jaxton Lux, a Knight of the Fourth of the Teutonic Order and a Zenith, Class 1, has been sentenced to death for treason. Video footage was recently recovered showing Lux slaying eight Inquisition Officers using his Zenith abilities. The execution is scheduled to take place at Times Square in New York City in three days, and shall once again serve as a reminder why all Zenith, even those a part of the Order, must be regulated. This is Colby—" I clicked off the video, my heart beating frantically.

"Evie, connect me to the private line of the Chancellor."

"That will require hacking into the Order, do you approve the—"

"Yes, I approve," I said too loudly. "Just do it! Hurry."

It only took her a moment and the e-Glass buzzed as it tried to connect to the Chancellor, my grandfather.

When he finally answered, I had taken enough breaths to keep myself in check, but just barely. "What are you doing to stop the execution?" I asked without preamble.

"I suppose I shouldn't bother inquiring as to how you reached this line?" He asked.

"No, you shouldn't bother. But you should answer my question if you ever want to see me at that school again."

My fingers shook with pent up rage and fear and more emotions than I could articulate right then. I didn't trust Jax anymore, but I loved him and I would not let him die. Not while I still drew breath.

"I've done all I can. I'm sorry, Scarlett. I know he's your friend."

"You know nothing about me or my life," I said sharply, then disconnected the call and threw my e-Glass onto my bed. I had to get to the Castle. Had to talk reason into the Chancellor. Had to stop this insanity before it was too late.

I grabbed my bags and dragged them to the plane, then did one last check on the house. I glanced at our family chess set, my eyes lingering a moment longer than I had time for. Without thinking, I plucked my King from the board and stuck it in my pocket.

We were never out of moves. There was always something we could do.

***

I stormed into the Chancellor's office without knocking, my previous calm shattered by the hours it took to arrive. "What do you mean there's nothing more you can do?" I demanded, startling him from a cup of tea at his fire. His cat jumped off his lap and ran under the desk.

My grandfather gestured me over and I reluctantly went and sat beside him, my spine straight and body still pulsing with the threat lingering over Jax.

"I've pulled every string I can. I'm out of strings."

"What laws did he break that would justify this?"

"When Jax killed those Officers, he crossed Ragathon's authority. There's also footage of an Inquisition vehicle helping the rebels escape. They likely have someone in the Inquisition forces working with them."

"Then the Order should be going after them, not Jax."

He put his tea on the table beside and sat forward, his long robes spreading before him. "Ragathon's operation failed in the most spectacular way it could, and eight of his Officers died at Jax's hands, plus many more Officers who were killed by the rebels. He's trying to minimize the damage."

"So he's using Jax as his scapegoat?" This made me so sick.

"I'm afraid so," he said.

The cat meowed and came back to us, stalking us over the Persian rugs until she lay at our feet in front of the warmth.

"Why can't the Council stop him? He's not an autonomous power, no matter what Order he controls."

"We did take it to the Council. Grandmaster Gabriella agreed with the verdict. As did the Grandmaster of the Hospitallers. The Templars were outvoted."

I stood, pacing the room, the agitation growing in my body. "He was just trying to protect me."

My grandfather stood and rested a hand on my arm. "I'm sorry, Scarlett. I truly am. But it took all of my pull just to exempt you from the same fate."

They would have killed me, too? For what? Being present? What kind of sway did Ragathon have that he could order the death of someone like Jax without challenge?

"If Jax had allowed the Officers to bring you in, then they would have resolved the matter and you would be free, along with Jax. Instead, eight men under orders to do their jobs died."

I'd been trying not to think of the men Jax killed, but now I was forced to face the truth of that day. "If Jax didn't want me going with them, if he was willing to kill to keep that from happening, then he was protecting me from something even worse. You know that and I know that. The Inquisition can't be trusted. This wouldn't have ended well no matter what we'd done that day."

"You may be right," he said, his shoulders caving forward as he sat back down. "You may very well be right, Scarlett. But nonetheless, there's nothing I can do. I'm sorry."

"Then I'll stop this myself," I said, leaving his office with rage building in me.

I headed straight to Ragathon's office, figuring it was the best place to start looking for him. I would control him with my power and make him change the sentencing.

I found him in the hall leaving his office. The sight of him made my skin crawl, but without a word I grabbed his arm and pushed my mind into him.