Innocence and Evil (The Arcadia Falls Chronicles #6) (3 page)

Damn, he was offended. The last thing I
wanted to do was piss off someone like the Warrior Angel. “I do not
mean to disrespect. I truly appreciate everything you have done.
But … I’m worried that I may be doing it wrong. That maybe the gift
is leading me in the wrong direction. I … I’m afraid of hurting
people.”

“Listen to me closely, Zander the Warrior.”
The angel tilted his head and tightened his grip on the hilt of his
gigantic sword. “You will know. This gift will not let you harm
those who have not committed ultimate crimes. It does not matter
that you have learned one sin is as terrible as the other. That is
not true, someone who steals bread to live is not the same as a
murderer. Your gift will know the difference.”

“How can I be sure?” I asked.

“You will simply know.”

“I am afraid.” That was the first I have
admitted that to anyone … ever, and it wasn’t easy to say.

“Do not fear. You are a young warrior and
your gifts are still developing. They will grow and prosper, just
as you will as a man. You have a purpose now and lying in fear will
not accomplish what you are meant to do. It is time to move onward
… you are forbidden to hide any longer, my child.”

Forbidden. What?

“So you don’t want me sitting around the
house anymore, is that what you’re saying?”

“That is correct.”

“What should I do then?”

“I shall give you a mission, to ease your
conscience.” The Warrior Angel took a step toward me. “You will
hide no longer. In the city is where the evil is breeding. It grows
with each passing moment. A particular group of humans have taken
allegiance to the vampires. These humans have not decreased since
Korina’s vampire line was eradicated. If anything, the amount of
people who are pledged themselves to evil is growing. They are
hiding the remaining vampires, being their eyes when the sun shines
upon the earth. These humans will lead you to large numbers of
vampires. Find the humans and there you will find the demons.”

I shifted, suddenly uncomfortable. “I don’t
want to kill humans.”

“Hopefully you will not have to. They are
merely being led astray.” The Warrior Angel gazed out over the
expanse below them. “It is my hope that these sheepish humans have
enough morality left in them to choose the correct path in the
end.” He turned his eyes back to Zander, “However, if you have to
eliminate them in the process, then that is what you must do. Your
gift will lead you.”

I sighed. Then gift would lead me, but where
exactly would it lead me.

“Okay, so killing these vampires that the
humans are hiding is my mission. I can do that. I am just afraid of
hurting innocent people.”

With a slight shake of his head, the Warrior
Angel stared down at me. “My child, innocence is difficult to
attain these days.”

I nodded my agreement. That was true. As
time passed our world seemed to become uglier and uglier. But, I
was determined. We had nearly stopped the Vampire Apocalypse and we
couldn’t stop now. We had to keep taking them out before they
started to multiply again.

The Warrior Angel lifted his giant sword.
“Is your need for guidance satisfied now?” he asked.

“Yes.” I nodded. “Thank you for coming to
help me.”

“I have merely provided you with a slight
nudge, you did the rest on your own.” He turned his eyes to the
clouds above us. “I must take leave at this time. Be well, my
children.”

With that, the jean clad Warrior Angel
lifted his sword into the sky and shot off the mountain like bullet
from a gun.

Releasing a deep breath, I turned to
Christina and raised my eyebrows. “That seemed to go well.”

***

I didn’t talk much on the way back, and
Christina didn’t push me to either. I was trying to process
everything that would need to be done. The first thing I was going
to have to do was talk to the whole group. Which meant, in the long
run, I was going to have to talk about why I had gone to the
Warrior Angel in the first place. Even though they all knew what
was going on with me, we never discussed it, but that didn’t mean
that it was any easier to reveal my faults.

I glanced over at Christina and felt a
sudden happiness flood over me. She knew me, she knew that I was
mentally processing all of this and needed to come to terms with
myself before we talked about it.

It was nice having someone who knew me that
well.

She caught my gaze and offered me a small
smile.

“The first thing we are going to have to do
is talk with the rest of the group.”

She nodded. “I know. You good?”

I concentrated on the narrow dirt road in
front of us. “Yeah, I’m better than I was before.”

“Now that you have a direction?”

I nodded in response.

When we approached the gate to the house I
only stopped for a moment before it rolled back, opening the way to
our home.

As I parked the truck next to Oscar’s
motorcycle, I shifted into gear and stared at the sizable log home
and the expanse of grounds within the fence. Sudden memories of my
mother and our small apartment flashed inside my head.

Closing my eyes, I saw my mother sleeping on
the couch, a book lay open and down across her chest where it had
fallen when slumber had finally claimed her. Then I saw the two of
us at our small kitchen table for supper. She was laughing and
pouring iced tea out of a plastic pitcher. The vision changed and I
saw myself burst through the front door after school, fling my pack
on the couch and head for the kitchen where I found a note from mom
telling me she was working a double shift again.

Then, I was back in the truck with
Christina. The memories were only memories again.

But, they were my memories and it had been
my life. Sometimes I hated the man I’d never met, Trevor … my
father. It didn’t matter that he was a vampire, my mom sacrificed
everything for me and we lived in squalor while he had more than
one mansion.

I tried hard not to hate him.

It never worked. I would always hate
him.

We found Chloe and Drew in the living room.
They were sitting on the floor, one of them on each side of the
coffee table. They were chatting and cleaning their guns, which
were in pieces and spread across a thin cloth that had been placed
underneath the weapons to protect the wood.

“Hey.” I strode into the room with Christina
right behind me. “I’m glad you guys are here. I thought you were
going to the training center today.”

Drew didn’t look up. “We did. Unfortunately,
there was no one there today except the trainers.”

Christina and I exchanged a glance and then
she leaned against the door frame. “That isn’t good.” She pushed
some hair out of her face.

“No, it’s not,” Chloe agreed. “So, what’s
up? You said you were glad we’re here, which means that something
is happening.” She set a spring on the table and leaned back
against the couch.

Christina bypassed me, headed for the
recliner. “Nothing, except that Zander and I had a visit from the
Warrior Angel.” She plopped down onto the soft cushions. “Well, he
had a visit, I was just along for the ride.”

I remained standing and watched as Chloe and
Drew turned their heads toward each other, gazes locking.

“The storm,” Drew said knowingly.

Chloe nodded in agreement. “We should have
known it was something paranormal. A storm doesn’t just come and go
like that.” She turned back to me. “So, what warranted this
visit?”

I shifted and glanced at Christina, who
nodded encouragingly. “I think it’s best that everyone is here when
I explain.”

Drew had begun putting his gun back together
as we spoke. He finished the job by sliding a full clip into place
and tucking the weapon away into his holster. “Let’s gather up the
crew then.” He stood and held out his hand for Chloe.

Twenty minutes later, I stood beside the
entertainment center in the living room. Christina was at my side,
but Chloe, Drew, Alice, Oscar, Luke, Gavin, Sarah and Daniels were
scattered around the room in front of me.

I cleared my throat nervously. “All right,
you all know public speaking isn’t my gig.” I paused, trying not to
look as uncomfortable as I felt. “So, I’ll get right to it.” As I
told them the story and explained what the Warrior Angel wanted, I
watched their faces. No one seemed too awfully surprised, which was
a plus. I didn’t want anyone thinking I was crazy.

I finished up and for a moment, silence sat
heavily in the room. Then, Gavin leaned forward, placing his elbows
on his knees. “Those who pledged to the Vampire Council aren’t
dying with the vampires, they are trying to rebuild the faction
again.”

Drew nodded. “That’s what it sounds
like.”

With a shake of her head, Chloe closed her
eyes and whispered, “Dragons … strength, courage, and immortality.
They won’t go down as easily as we thought.” She sat up straight.
“They know now what kind of power they can have with vampires at
their side and they don’t want to give it up.”

“Maybe we’re giving them too much credit.”
Daniels frowned. “Maybe it isn’t as serious as all that.”

I eyed the soldier, “Or maybe it is. Why
would the Warrior Angel direct us to them if they weren’t a
problem? However, he did say that they are misguided, that
hopefully some of them can be spared. He said my gift would let me
know.” I rolled my eyes at this last part.

Luke stood and joined me at the front of the
room. “Do not doubt the words of the Warrior Angel. If he said you
would know … then you will know.” He reached out and grasped my
hand. “I know you are struggling with a lot right now, but you need
to trust in yourself.”

I gazed at the people around me. I could
depend on them, that much was certain. Most of my life I had been
surrounded by false friends who bailed when I needed them. I hadn’t
had anyone … except my mother, she had always been there.

This group of people were tight. They were
loyal and loved each other. They had taken me in, made me one of
them. And here they were, listening to me tell them that I was
visited by a Warrior Angel and that we had to go after more humans
and vampires … and they believed what I had to say. They may even
believe it more than I did myself.

Beside me, Luke crinkled his nose and began
to pace the room. “We should have seen this coming. I agree, we
should have known that the pledged humans wouldn’t give up so
easily.”

Chloe stood, “Well, let’s start planning our
first move then.” She turned and left the room, her black pony tail
swinging as she strode away.

***

A map of the city was spread out on the
kitchen table. Its corners, which threatened to roll inward, were
held down by coffee mugs. Everyone who had been there when I gave
my message was there now. Christina leaned against the counter,
looking bored and flipping one of her larger knives end over end.
The rest of the group had squeezed in around the table, so that
they could view the map while discussing strategy.

“Zander, what exactly did the Warrior Angel
say about the location?” Daniels asked without looking up from the
map.

I sighed. “I already told you like twenty
times, he said that there is a group of human in the city. He
didn’t give a specific area.”

“Dammit,” Sarah cursed. “Could be
anywhere.”

I nodded in agreement. “Yeah, it could be
anywhere, so … I think that we should place split up into pairs to
scout the city for movement that would lead us to them. Once we
know where they are, then we can plan further. For now, we just
need to find them.”

“It’s a good plan.” Drew met my eyes as he
spoke. “No interaction, just watching at first.”

I stepped away from the table. “Of course
it’s a good plan, now let’s team up so we can get moving.”

Suddenly, I wanted out of this house so
badly. I had been cooped up for way too long, afraid to leave
because I didn’t want to hurt anyone. Now I had a mission, and
assurance from a higher power that I could go out into the world
again.

I couldn’t freaking wait.

The teams were pretty much already chosen,
it was as it always was. Christina and I usually went out together,
Drew and Chloe, Daniels and Sarah, but we teamed Gavin with Alice
and Oscar and they went out as a team of three since neither Alice
nor Oscar were trained Hunters. Neither was I, but I had Christina
and I actually was a vampire hunter, just not the kind that they
were.

I really felt like both Alice and Oscar were
capable of going out by themselves, both had been fighting with the
Hunters and training with them for a while now and both were great
fighters.

Better safe than sorry, I suppose.

Luke was going to stay behind. He rarely
went out anymore, hadn’t for years as far as I knew. He only went
on a mission when it suited him to do so. Like a rescuing his
granddaughter from the Pentagon.

We all left the living room to go suit up.
Even though we were only going out with the intention to scout the
area, we still needed to be prepared to fight. It was, after all,
almost dusk … time for the vampires to come out.

Christina was already in our room when I got
there. As I opened the door, I found her bent over, tugging on a
pair of black jeans. “Well, hello there.” I stepped into the room
and closed the door behind me.

“I’m so excited to be going out as a team
again.” She stood up straight, buttoning the jeans. She ripped off
the blue top she had on, leaving her in only the jeans and black
bra. I sucked in my breath, watching her as she turned and opened
the dresser drawer.

“Yeah, me too.” I strode toward her, hoping
to get to her before she could get another shirt on. I reached her
just as she was plucking one off the top. I grabbed her waist and
pulled her toward me, tilting my head so that I could kiss her
neck.