Deceived (8 page)

Kye
knocked on a thick wooden door, and when Holly’s voice ordered for us to enter,
Kye
opened the door. Holly was sitting behind a large desk, and a roaring fire danced within a large fireplace off to the side. An antique chandelier hung from the center of the room, the lights meant to look like candles, emanated a soft glow.

Two leather wingback chairs sat in front of Holly’s desk. I caught a glimpse of a man’s hand resting on the arm of the chair, but its tall back obscured his identity. The office door closed behind me, and I turned to see that
Kye
had left.

“Gwen, there’s someone I’d like you to meet,” Holly announced. I looked back at her, and she motioned for me to sit in the unoccupied chair. With a
n annoyed
grumble
, I walked the short distance and sat in the offered seat. It was one in the morning, and I didn’t have the energy to deal with Holly’s antics or meet another anti-vampire patron. I crossed my legs and leaned back in the chair, but my curiosity got the better of me and I looked to my left. A man with short blonde hair and sunglasses watched me with interest and a smirk on his lips. He seemed familiar, yet I had never met him.

“Training starts tomorrow, as you may know,” Holly began. Her voice seemed distant as I was locked in the mystery man’s gaze. I didn’t read auras, but I felt a coldness emanating from him, like his whole being was lonely and
full of death
.  “Mr. Hade has offered his services in training you.
Kye
has been most helpful, but I’m afraid you need training on a more personal level. Mr. Hade can offer spectacular guidance as you come to terms with what you are. I need you in tip-top shape.”

“Hade?” I hadn’t meant to say it aloud.

“Dorian Hade,” the blonde man said and held out his hand. I eyed him cautiously, my inner voice telling me that something wasn’t right
with
him.

“I believe we met earlier,” Dorian said.

I gasped as I watched his appearance change to the man at the wreck. His short blonde hair darkened and lengthened. His face reshaped so his jaw line was squarer, and his eyes swirle
d with different shades of gray as he took off his sunglasses.

“What are you?” I rudely blurted out.

“I apologize, Mr. Hade, Gwen’s knowledge of her own kind is limited,” Holly said on my behalf. I eyed her and then brought my attention back to Dorian. “You’re a spirit walker
?” A smile crept onto his lips. H
e lifted one of his legs so it rested on his knee. He was dressed in jeans, a white t-shirt, a black leather jacket, and black boots.

“No. I’m the Angel of Death. Spirit walkers descend from my kind.” His gray eyes watched me with humor as my mouth
twisted in confusion
. I looked between Holly and Dorian as if they were joking. But that wouldn’t happen; Holly didn’t have a sense of humor that I was aware of.

“So, does that mean I’m…part angel?” my voice came out in a shriek, s
o I cleared my throat.

“No, but your darker gifts are given by us, not your goddess.” Dorian said.

“But why?” It was better if I kept my speaking to the minimal. I was too shocked to form complete sentences.

“We need soldiers just like everyone else,” Dorian said simply with a shrug of his broad shoulders. My eyebrows scrunched up, and I frowned at his explanation. I could barely walk without tripping over something, definitely not a soldier.

“What does that mean?”

“We collect spirits and guide them to the hereafter. Spirits have a choice if they want to go or not, but if they stay, boredom is bound to drive them insane. If this happens, we usually call a spirit walker to track them down and take care of the problem. We can’t do everything.”

I leaned back in the leather chair and absorbed the new information. “So, I’m like Death’s bounty hunter?” I laughed sarcastically.

Like I need another problem.

“I suppose you could say that,” Dorian agreed with a nod of his head. I glanced over at him and quickly away, his eyes frightened me.

“What’s with the changing appearance?”

“My normal form is not accepted as well as a human one. I can make myself look like anything or anyone, but then so can you, Ms. Sparks.”

My hands shook as I wondered what his
normal
form looked like. The only reapers I’d ever seen had been in books or on Halloween decorations. Maybe Dorian Hade strolled around in a black cape and carried a scythe. I appreciated his current look much more than what I assumed an Angel of Death might look like.

“You’re anti-vampire?” I asked. I caught Holly shaking her head out of the corner of my eye, but I ignored her.

“I am neutral. I do not pick sides in frivolous matters. I am only here as a favor to your High Priestess,” Dorian said, his tone sounding almost bored. I was curious as to why the Angel of Death would owe Holly a favor, but I decided not to ask.

“Gwen was dating a vampire, one that I’m sure she still has urges to meet with. I do not want you encouraging her. Our war may be frivolous to you, Mr. Hades, but it’s very serious to us,” Holly hissed and looked at me. “I assume you are done with that parasite?” Like every other question Holly asked, it was more of an order than a request for my opinions or thoughts.

I nodded my head, afraid she might have laced her question with a truth spell. The spell bewitched a person so they could only speak the truth, but it would not influence body movements, so the nodding of my head was the only confirmation she would get from me.

Dorian smirked and slid me a knowing look. I focused all of my attention on chipping the nail polish from my nails. I had complained about training with
Kye
, but now he looked like a saint compared to my new teacher. I didn’t want anything to do with the dark angel.

“You will train with Dorian every other day. On days you are not with him, you will be training with us.” Holly walked over to the fireplace. She reached her hands towards the dying flames. They reared up and licked the sides of the hearth.

“When do you plan to strike?” I fisted my hands and tucked them under each armpit. My nails dug into my palms, but it helped channel my attention away from my rising anger.

“
We
strike in five days’ time when the sun is high, and the vampires are at their weakest. You, however, will strike once Mr. Hade teaches you what to do.” She walked back to her desk and sat in the large leather chair. Holly gave Dorian a threatening look that I didn’t understand.

“What
exactly
am I supposed to be doing?” I knew it wasn’t smart to question a council member, but I couldn’t help it, I had to know what would happen.

“You’ll raise the dead.” Two pairs of eyes watched me with uncertainty while my stomach dropped and
a lump formed
in my throat.

“Why—what—how does that help?” I stumbled over the words as a flood of questions bombarded my mind. “Like zombies?” My eyes volleyed between Dorian and Holly.

Holly laughed. “No, not zombies. I should rephrase. You’ll raise spirits. I have soldiers out collecting the blood of our targets and your job is to raise all of the people
they’ve killed and direct them to attack their killers.” An evil smile spread across Holly’s lips.

My face scrunched up as I thought about what she had said. “You want me to send the ghost of people they’ve killed to haunt them?” That didn’t sound so bad. Ghosts were creepy sure, but they wouldn’t be able to cause too much damage.

“Yes. Dorian will teach you what to do. It’s late and training starts early tomorrow, you are dismissed, Gwen,” Holly said. I gave Holly and Dorian one last look and then stood and left the office.

When I came around the corner, soft purple light glowed f
rom the ball room. Couples slow danced
to a peaceful symphony. It had to be close to two in the morning, but the Midnight Magical was still in full swing. My feet hesitated on the steps as I watched my fellow witches and warlocks enjoying themselves. None of them seemed too upset about Holly’s plans and had gone about their business as if they wouldn’t be going to battle in a week.

“You should not envy them.” A male voice spoke behind me. I peeked over my shoulder to see Dorian Hade standing close to me.

“I don’t,” I protested. It was a lie of course, I envied how easy their lives were and how they could express their love without repercussions.

“They are simple witches, Gwen. You hold a power they could never possess, and when I’m done teaching you, you’ll be the one who’s envied.” Dorian walked so that he was facing me. I studied his eyes. Dark cloud-like grayness rolled within them and reminded me of a coming storm. There was only gray, no pupil to break up the churning gloominess. Long chocolate locks brushed his shoulders. His t-shirt clung tautly to his body and the black leather coat fit like a glove. There was something very bad boyish about him.

I realized I was staring entirely too long when my eyes fell to his lips and saw the smirk on them. Blood rushed to my cheeks and warmed my face.  “I don’t want to be envied. All I want is to be left alone.” I said with frustration and then headed up to my bedroom.

“Gwen?” Dorian called from the bottom of the steps. I turned around
and
stared at his mischievous smirk with annoyance, “What?”

“Sweet Dreams.” He winked and then walked away.

The next morning a small cardboard box sat on my dresser. I hadn’t noticed it before I showered and dressed. Walking over to inspect it further, I saw a letter next to it.
Gwen, do not open until your meeting with Dorian tonight—Holly.

I crumpled the letter and threw it away, not interested in whatever was in the box. My day was wide open; I wasn’t practicing with
Kye
anymore and the whole of Moon was training for battle so nothing was open except for a few restaurants. 

I knocked on Fiona’s door and waited. When she didn’t answer, I headed downstairs and towards the kitchen. Yells and banging brought my attention away from my destination and towards the lower level of the castle. The further I walked down the winding stairway, the louder the sounds echoed.

When I rounded the corner, groups of witches and warlocks stood in pairs fighting. Blasts of colorful magic shot and bursts of bright light flew around the cavernous room. One witch constructed an invisible shield all around her and when the warlock attacked he was bounced back five feet. Another warlock was in the process of conjuring stakes in rapid succession and flinging them at a padded wall.

“Gwen!”

I dragged my eyes away from the fighting to see Fiona running towards me with Ethan in tow. I pasted a fake smile on my face instead of scowling like I wanted to. I didn’t understand how I was the only one who had problems with going to war with the vampires.

“Are you going to train with us? Ethan needs a partner,” Fiona
exclaimed with wide eyes and an even wider smile
.

I eyed Ethan and then Fiona. He didn’t look too thrilled to have me as a sparring partner which made me more interested in doing it.

“She’s not going to be on the front lines, Fiona. There’s no point in her sparring.” Ethan gave me a dirty look that vanished as soon as Fiona turned to face him.

“It doesn’t matter you can still practice with her.” Fiona turned back to me and asked, “Will you help out?” I smiled. Ethan didn’t want to fight me, so I couldn’t resist. “Sure.”

Fiona clapped her hands while Ethan and I walked onto the practic
e
mats. I rolled up my sleeves and kicked off my high heeled boots. I hadn’t had a lot of practice in fighting with magic, but I had taken a couple classes at the dojo in Flora— mainly to stay in shape.

“Make your move, Ethan.” I taunted with a sly smile. His eyes squinted with anger, and he conjured a plastic stake with a flat bottom, so that it wouldn’t hurt if he got close enough to use it. Ethan stepped forward faster than I anticipated and knocked me backwards. I landed on my back hard and groaned when the air was jarred from my lungs. He didn’t waste any time and tried to get into a position on top of me, but before he could, I rolled backwards and regained my footing. A smile crept onto his lips as we watched each other. My feet moved in sync with his as we circled each other.