Marked (22 page)

“Don’t waste your time with them—you need to stay focused on your new mission.”

She stared at the small gathering of angels. “Hey? I’m the only rookie—everyone here is a petty officer? Is that normal?”

“I don’t know.”

“And look—Benson is here.”

David scowled. “Well, well…my favorite douche bag. What were the odds of him showing up?” Benson looked at David with contempt. He puffed out his chest and squared his shoulders.

Kara bit her lip and followed David towards the group. Gabriel lifted his head as they approached and met her eyes. She looked quickly away and stood next to David.

“Kara Nightingale,” said the archangel, “glad you could join us.”

He waved a large hand over to the group. His attention then turned to David. “You don’t have to stay with Kara, David. She will be well taken care of.”

David kicked some red sand and looked up. “I’m here for
moral
support, Gaby,” he grinned. He met Benson’s glare and blew him a kiss.

A moment later, Benson sneaked away from the group and moved closer to David, so that only he and Kara could hear what he had to say. “Didn’t know you liked your women
dirty,
David?” Benson cracked a smile.

Kara saw David’s jaw tighten. “You’ve got five seconds to piss off, dickhead.”

“I would have never pictured you
frolicking
with the enemy,” said Benson, as he cocked an eyebrow and stared at Kara, before looking back at David. “I didn’t think it was your
style
.”

A cool smile curled David’s lips. “My
style
is my foot up your ass if you don’t leave.”

Kara sensed a rush of anger spilling inside her. “Stop it! Why are you doing this? I haven’t done anything—”

“I don’t speak to traitors—I kill them.” Benson smacked his fist into his hand. His face twisted in an almost animal expression. He looked at David. “I’d watch my back if I were you.”

Rage flashed in David’s eyes. “Thanks for the advice,
dumbass
, why don’t you run along now—I hear your mother calling.”

“She’ll have you killed, you know.” And with that, Benson walked back to the group.

It was worse than Kara had hoped. If Benson openly loathed her, who else did? David looked in a worse mood than when they left the council. His expression was livid. He stared at the ground.

“You’re—you’re never going to believe me, are you?” Kara’s voice started to crack. “You still think I’m a traitor…don’t you?”

“I don’t know what to think anymore,” said David softly.

What was more frightening than the dangerous life-quest before her was losing David’s friendship. Kara felt him drifting away from her. She forced herself to look away from David. Gabriel was about to begin his briefing.

Gabriel straightened himself, a scowl on his brow as he pursed his lips. He placed his two hands on the table facing the angels and addressed them. “Listen up, guardian angels! You are gathered here now, because you have all been chosen to carry out a life-quest. Do not be mistaken. This is no
ordinary
assignment—and some of you will not return—”

At that moment there was a sudden collective silence. Kara looked around at the five guardian angels, looks of bewilderment spread across their faces as they gawked at Gabriel.

“We have acquired information regarding the whereabouts of the elemental child,” continued Gabriel, his dark eyes darted from face to face. “Our Scouts inform us that the child is in the hands of some higher demons and is being held in one of their many demon safe houses. They move the child around from house to house—and they use decoys, so we’re not sure in which safe house the child could be.” Gabriel paused as he concentrated.

“You will be put into pairs—and assigned to three different locations,” continued Gabriel after a short moment. “All of you will be geared up with the weapons and tools you will need to survive. We know this is probably the hardest assignment of your GA careers, but remember, you have been chosen out of thousands because we
know
you can succeed. You all have what it takes.”

The last time I checked, I didn’t have any special talent,
thought Kara.
Can I paint a demon to death? Drown it in some gouache?

“Keep in mind, you are responsible for your partner. Let’s not make this harder, than it already is. Good luck.” Gabriel stepped back and folded his hands in front of him.

An oracle steered his great crystal ball at the front of the table. He carried a folded piece of paper. He opened the paper and cleared his throat. “The groups are as follows,” he called, holding the file in front of him.

“Benson Henderson and Ravi Aruna!” Kara watched as Benson walked over to stand next to a thirty-something East Indian man.

“Lindsey Steel and Carlos Lopez!” Lindsey was a thick forty-something brunette who stood at about five foot ten. To Kara, she looked more like an Amazon than a guardian angel. She turned her head as Carlos walked over to Lindsey, his five foot five frame seemed fragile beside hers.

Kara blinked as she looked around, realizing this meant there was only one guardian angel left to be paired with her; a twenty-something woman, who was probably regretting her acceptance of the life-quest about now—to be paired with Kara.

The oracle’s eyebrows shot up on his forehead as he continued. “And for our last group, Brooke Miller and Kara Nightingale!”

Kara bit her lip and shot a glance at David, who gave her a reassuring nod. Fidgeting on the spot, she moved towards her new partner who was walking towards her. Kara saw a reflection of disappointment in Brooke’s eyes, for just a second, but it was long enough for Kara to see. Then Booke’s face cracked into a wide smile and she extended her hand. “Hiya! I’m Brooke,” she said. Her long blond ponytail bounced behind her.

“Kara.” The two girls shook hands and turned to face the oracle.

Wow, that was awkward.
Kara blinked as she watched Gabriel step forward.

“And one more thing,” declared Gabriel, “as you know, if you succeed in this life-quest, you will indeed get your mortal life back as it was. But if you decide to stay in Horizon, the legion will promote you to first officer. So, you will have a choice.” He stepped back, clasped his hands behind his back and lifted his chin.

The oracle fidgeted on the spot and cleared his throat again.

“Guardian angels—each group will have
precisely
two hours to complete their mission. If you stay longer than that, pay attention now, your M suits will
expire
—did you all hear me? Good.” His blue eyes glistened with unease.

For a moment, he studied the three groups, and then he grabbed three separate files which were piled on top of one another on the table. He opened the first file and glanced quickly inside before shutting it.

“Group 1—Benson Henderson and Ravi Aruna. Here is your assignment,” said the oracle, as he stretched out his tiny arm and waved the closed file in their direction. Ravi walked up to the oracle and took the file from him, opened it and read it while returning to his spot. Once Ravi had finished reading the file, he handed it to Benson. Kara watched Benson’s eyes widen as he kept on reading.

“Group 2! Lindsey Steel and Carlos Lopez!” he called. Lindsey broke away from Carlos and took the file from the oracle. She only opened the file once she was back beside Carlos. Their heads nearly touching as they absorbed the information on the file.

One group left
, thought Kara. Her eyes flicked to David. He stood with his arms crossed, scowling at the oracle..

“And lastly, group 3!” the oracle called as he opened the remaining file. He took a quick look inside, before closing it.

“Brooke Miller and Kara Nightingale—here is your assignment.”

Kara couldn’t move. Brooke gave Kara a nod and then hopped over to the oracle. She grabbed the file and came bouncing back, her large blue eyes glistening, as she settled beside Kara. She and Kara opened it and read:

Group 3: Life-Quest

Guardian Angels: Brooke Miller, Kara Nightingale

Rank: Petty Officer W-2, Rookie 1
^st
year, W-1 Guard squad,

Assignment: Rescue Elemental child, from Demon safe house #3;

1228 Pine Avenue West. 9:00 pm.

Kara pulled out a blue print of a house.

“Please report back here within two hours,” the oracle told the groups. “You will be debriefed and sent out again if the child is still missing. Quickly now—report to the weapons tent for gearing, right away!”

The old man clapped his hands. “Off you go! Off you go!”

Kara watched the other groups break away and march towards the weapons tent. David jogged over to her.

“So…do you know what to do?” he said, as he jammed his hands into his front jean pockets, avoiding her eyes. “You think you can handle this?”

“I think I can manage.” Kara watched David as he eyed the file in her hands. “Uh—you want to take a look?”

“That won’t be necessary.” Gabriel came striding behind them. “This isn’t your assignment, David. And the location isn’t of your concern.”

David turned to face Gabriel. “It is when
I’m
her Petty Officer, Gabe!”

“You’re not on this assignment.” Gabriel towered over David, his dark eyes threatening as he tightened his jaw.

“Um—it’s okay.” Kara lifted her hands in protest. “I don’t mind David taking a look—seriously, it’s fine.”

David took his hands out of his pockets and made them into fists. “You know as well as I do, that this is an
impossible
mission!” he yelled at Gabriel, his face cracked in contempt.

“
You
shouldn’t even be here, David.”

“YOU’RE SENDING THEM TO THEIR DEATHS!” said David angrily.

Kara thought it strange that he was pointing only to her at the mention of
them
. She could see that David was really concerned.

“What?” asked Kara, puzzled. “What are you saying, David? The Legion wouldn’t send us on a suicide mission? Would they?”

Gabriel pulled out a massive hand and grabbed David by the arm with such force that he lifted him off his feet, as though he were a toy soldier.

“I’ve had enough of you today! It’ll be a pleasure to escort you out personally.”

Kara took a step back as Gabriel started to emanate a golden glow. The air around them tightened and the light dimmed.

David kicked his legs and shot Gabriel a dangerous look. “Go ahead,
your holiness
…I’d like to see you try.”

“Enough!” shouted Kara, her eyes wide, shocked that the words had actually escaped her lips. “Uh, sorry—Mr. archangel, sir, uh, your majesty,” she stammered.

Your majesty? What the heck am I saying?
“Um—I’d like David to help me chose my weapons…please?” Kara pursed her lips, scrunched her forehead and tried her best to make sad puppy eyes.

Gabriel studied Kara for a moment, still holding David off the ground with one arm.

“If you think
he
can help you—then I will let him stay.” He dropped David to the floor and bent over him. “Open your mouth again, and I will rip out your tongue.”

David stuck out his tongue in Gabriel’s face when he looked away for a second.

Kara walked over and pulled David back on his feet. “Very mature—you know that. You’d think you were twelve.” She looked across to the weapons tent and could see that Brooke was already gearing up. “Let’s go, I need some weapons—and I’m running out of time.”

“Sure,” David said. He and Kara marched up to the weapons tent; with Gabriel following closely behind.

Kara could see that the GAs from the first group had finished gearing up and were headed down towards the pools. She watched Group 2 stuffing blue arrows and daggers into their duffel bags. And over at the far end of the tent, Brooke was trying out a long silver dagger. She sliced the air with it. She looked up and saw Kara and David approaching. Her face broke out into a grin.

“Hiya, what do you think of this one.” Brooke jumped into the air and stabbed the invisible foe in front of her. She landed with a slight
thump
and looked up at them, eyes blazing. “I think I can cut me up some shadow demons with this little baby!”

Kara had a strong feeling that she and Brooke were going to get along just fine.