Midnight Fire - Rise of the Dark Angel - Book One (17 page)

             
“Oh, you would be so busted if you shot me,” Phoenix taunted her brother and then took off running, as he chased her out the door. “You’re too slow
,
old man,” she yelled back at him and then he gave up. Jayden wanted to join in the chase
but
tha
t would certainly give him away
, when he flew past the rest of them
.

             
“Good, I like doing traps
,
anyway,” Brian said. They
started walking
, since the
area
was about an hour
away
just to reach a good picking and trapping spot. They had traps set out all over the
woods
and you had to be
careful where you walked
or you m
ay end up upside down in a tree.
It
was great for the animals, not so great for people, as Phoenix knew we
ll
.
She’d
ended up in a net trap her first year there.

             
She’
d been so mad when John
heard her scream and ca
me runn
ing, only to find her in the ne
t, moving i
nside like a trapped fish. He’
d doubled over in laughter, which really escalate
d her temper and she’
d continued struggling until she was beyond exhausted. John cut her down, once she promised not to hit him
.
S
he didn’t keep the promise. She never got
caught
again
,
though
,
after that day. She could spot a trap five miles away, which made her a
great
picker. It was hard to train somebody new to do the outside jobs, which is why she got away with some of the things she did, even if her big brother didn’t like it.

             
Jayden knew the instant his sister was in the area. He looked high into the trees and spotted her spyi
ng on them. She sent him a wink
and he tensed
,
wondering when she was going to show up and what her story was going to be. He didn’t want her to blow his cover
, letting them all know what he truly was.
He didn’t think she’d do that but he’d
have to
wait and
see how the whole
event
played out. He
sighed as he followed the girls
,
listening
to them chatter about what
seemed most important to
them
.
Their excited chatter amused him
. They seemed to forget he was with them, which was an unusual experience for him.

             
He may have taken offense if it weren’t for his worry about what his sister
’
s next move
would
be. He wondered if
Dark Angels could have anxiety
because he certainly
felt an attack coming on.

             
He’d been outside every chance he could over the past week but
since
Phoenix
was
under cave arrest he hadn’t wanted to wander too far. Her brother would’ve kept her inside forever if her dad hadn’t intervened.

             
“We’re here, Jayden. If you’
re on babysitting duty, then you may as well help us,” Sadie said. She’d finally stopped blushing each time she spoke to him.
Jayden figured her infatuation with Brian helped her get over her crush on him.

             
“Tell me what you want me to do,” he offered with a blinding smile. Phoenix swooned a bit, which made his smile even brighter.
He wouldn’t mind the two of them wandering off alone, somewhere. There was no way either of them would leave Sadie alone, though.

             
“Um
…
well
…
uh, just pick what you want,” Phoenix said.
Her
faced turned red and she quickly turned away. He loved
it
when she got tongue tied
because of him
. He could kill thousands with one hand but a tiny girl
,
stuttering
,
made him feel powerful
, simply by fawning over him
. He laughed out loud, thinking about it. Phoenix and Sadie looked at him for a moment, shrugged their shoulders and started working on an herb patch.

             
“What do you do in the winter when you’re stuck inside most of the time?” Jayden asked.

             
“I really, really hate
winter time
. I offer to go out
,
even if it’s pouring down rain. We have limited medical supplies, though
,
so dad doesn’t usually allow it to happen. He says if one person brings the flu or a cold in, there’s a good chance the entire group will get it, so he takes
extra preventative measures. I do a lot of reading and writing, mostly. Plus, I normally double up on my boxing classes,” she answered him.

             
“I can’t imagine being stuck inside for days on end. I think I’d lose my mind,” he told her.

             
“I’m not going to lie and say
it
’
s
all peachy
keen
but it’s better than having no shelter or food,” Phoenix said, once again proving she always tended to look on the bright side.

             
“We do still sneak over to the hot spring. It’s always hot
,
and John made a really cool roof out of leaves and
sticks
that we easily put up
for shelter
. Water still drips through it but not very much and a few drops feel good when you’re in the hot water,” Sadie spoke up.
             

             
“Hopefully the war ends so I don’t have to experience a winter underground,” Jayden said. Phoenix looked at him like he was crazy.
He didn’t know when he’d started thinking of helping the refugee’s verses sabotaging them, but he couldn’t put Phoenix in danger. He’d have to figure out how to please both Vyco and keep Phoenix safe. The problem was that it wasn’t only Phoenix anymore he wanted to keep safe. He liked many of the people and didn’t want to be the one responsible for their deaths.

             
“We all want the war to end. I don’t even care much anymore that I’m living in the woods. What I really hate is all the people being tortured and killed,” she said sadly.

             
“I know, Phoenix. I’m sorry for
all you’ve gone through
,” he said, instantly feeling
guilty
.
He found that he really was sorry for the pain she’d suffered in losing people she loved. He hoped she’d never find out he was partially responsible for some of those losses. He didn’t know how he’d handle it if she looked at him with contempt in her eyes.

             
“You don’t have to apologize, Jayden. We all have our reasons for wanting the war to end. It’s always okay to be honest,” she said. They continued to pick herbs and berries. They all agreed to a much lighter topic of conversation.

             
Chastity sat in the tree, watching her brother with the humans. She moved along the upper branches, trying to decide how and when to show up. She could see the other humans off in the distance
,
working on
varying tasks
,
and felt a strange pull
in
that direction. She ignored it
, not understanding why she’
d want to
know what they were doing
. She shook her head
,
thinking it had to be because she wanted to know
who
her brother was choosing to be with.

             
After watching Jayden with Phoenix and her friend, she knew she couldn’t simply
show up
and
give away what he really was. She knew he still had goodness in him, and it seemed that the human girl was pulling him back toward the light
.
Chastity
continued
sitting
in the tree and
made her plans
.

             
After a couple of hours she
was ready
, though she wasn’t entirely sure it was a great idea. She made eye contact wit
h Jayden, sending him a message
,
then
flew through the trees, knowing
he’
d break away and follow her. He met
her a
safe distance away from the girls.

             
“Wh
y are you still here
?” Jayden asked her
, trying to sound cold and uncaring. He didn’t know if he succeeded or not
.

             
“I’ve already told you I’m not leaving so deal with it,” Chastity said, but there wasn’t any antagonism in her tone. She’d missed him so much she couldn’t even pretend to be angry.
Jayden shrugged but she could see she was starting to get to him. It was progress.

             
“I have an i
dea that would explain why we’
ve been apart and still keep your secret safe,” she told him and waited. Jayden was
n’
t up
for
her games
but
she didn’t care
.

             
“Just spit it out,” he finally said, sounding exasperated.

             
“Okay
,
fine
. B
ut
,
you really need to control
your temper, especially if you’
re going to be hanging out with humans,” she said with a
smile, which earned her a glare. “I’
m going to get captured and taken into one of the human camps
,
then break out,” she said with a smug smile.

             
“That’
s not a good idea,” Jayden said, vetoing her idea.
Chastity was too good of a person to deal with the horrors of one of those human camps. The thought of her in there made his chest tighten.

             
“It’
s a brill
iant idea and you know it. You’
re only saying that because you aren’t the one who came up with it,” she pouted.

             
“You’ve seen those places. They’re really bad and you’
ll end up having to
kill a lot of people and blow
your cover,” he said.
He knew the toll it would take on her to kill humans, even if they were horrible people, who didn’t deserve to live. He could wipe out the soldiers without batting an eye.

             
“I promise you
I’m capable of taking care of myself. I also won’t do anything
to show who
I really am
,” she said,
hoping he could
trust her.

             
“I don’t see how you’
re going to be able to do that,” he said, though he was starting to cave in.

             
“
Trust me, Jayden,
I have a
fool
proof
plan.
,
” she
pled
, trying to convince herself as well as him
. She was going to do it, with or without his blessing
but
she’
d like his approval.

             
“Fine, it’s not like I can stop you
,
anyway,” he finally conceded, though it was done with reluctance.
Chastity t
hrew
her arms around
him
before he could stop her
,
then
took off before he could protest further. She ran through the woods, wanting to get started as soon as possible.
             

             
Josiah
had
created Jayden and
Chastity
at the same time. It was unusual for two Angels to become
so
close. They
had once been inseparable
. Josiah
had
created them from the same star,
which was something he
never had done before
. Each Angel
he created was done
uniquely
. B
ut
,
with Jayden and Chastity he’d felt
inspired to create
the pair together, making them brother and sister.
Their
bond could never be broken
, no matter how much Jayden tried
to fight it
.

             
She reached the edges of the forest and looked around. It was a good place for the first
part
of her plan, she thought with satisfaction. She knew the enemy troops regular
ly searched the area
so she
began to prepare herself.

             
With a grimace, she ripped her clothes
and spread dirt around
so
she looked as if she’
d been on the run for a
long time.
T
hen
she
lay
down, partially h
idden in the
bushes
, as if she’
d been trying to hide
but
still making it easy for them to find her. She hoped they didn’t take too long because she wanted to get the unpleasantness over with.

             
She laid there for about an hour before she heard the crunch of boots. The soldiers would be so easy to take out, considering they were overconfident and not careful. It would take all her control to allow them to manhandle her. She knew the s
econd they spotted her
because their steps faltered and they began whispering loudly
.
S
he had to fight to keep the smile from forming on her lips. She heard the click of one of their guns as they made plans to approach her.

             
“Look around and mak
e sure there’
s no one else,” one of them whispered. There was silence for about five minutes as the soldiers looked
at
the area. They weren’t
quite as stupid as she thought.
A
t least they had brains enough to check for a trap. When they were satisfied she was indeed alone, one of them approach
ed
her.
T
he tip of the gun poke
d
into her side and
she
had to fight every instinct that wanted to rip the gun away.

             
“
You,
wake up,” the man shouted, poking her again. She slowly opened her eyes and looked up at the man, hoping she was doing a convincing job
of
pretending to be scared. If the man saw hu
mor shining in her eyes
the situation could quickly go downhill.

             
“
Wh
…
what?” she spoke groggily,
acting
confused. By the smirk in the man’s eyes she was doing a good job.

             
“Looks like you picked the wrong spot to take a nap,” the man
sneered
, puffing out his chest, thinking he was superior. She
had to fight the urge
to show him how weak he was
because she
knew she couldn’t.

             
“I’m sorry, I’
ll move,” she said
feebly
.

             
“You aren’t going anywhere
,
except
with us,” the man
sneered
again and grabbed her hair
,
using
it to yank her to her feet. She glared at his chest,
knowing
if she was human that would’ve really hurt. She was beginning to think the man was going to be one
she’
d kill. He had zero compassion
for what looked like
a hurt, young girl.
She wasn’t looking forward to killing anyone, but she knew in order to save the refugees, soldiers would have to die.

             
“I don’t understand,” she said, managing to keep her voice so
unding scared and hurt. The two men looked at her, someone they deemed
feeble
and they could abuse and started laughing as if they enjoyed their job.

             
“You’
ll under
stand soon enough,” the man said
and grabbed her arm roughly in one of his dirty hands
,
marching her forward
,
while his friend kept watch for other people. They soon reached one of the co
mpounds
and walked to
the
gate.

             
“What do you have here
,
Tom?” another uniformed man asked with glee.

             
“We found us a pretty little girl,” Tom
sneered
, while the other man opened the gate and the two guards marched her forward.

             
“Mmm, she looks positively yummy,” the disgusting man stated
while licking
his lips,
making
her want to strike him. She was really going to have to work on holding her
newfound
temper during her short stay with them.

             
“Yes
,
she does,” Tom said
and brought his head down
,
sniffing
her neck.
She wanted to wrap her hands around his neck and snap it. H
e would pay soon enough
. That thought was the only thing keeping
her from attacking him right then.

             
“Don’t
forget to share,” the man said
and his laughter followed them
as the two men marched her into a building on the compound.

             
“Hey
,
Sergeant
, we found us another one,” Tom said to a man in full uniform. The man looked
at
her from
head to toe
while circling
around her. She kept her head down as the man seemed to size her up. “Where do you want this one?”

             
“She certainly has possibilities, doesn’t she boys?”
The
sergeant
finally said
and gave the men a look she didn’t like
. “Take her to the
cleanup
area
so I can see
if she’s worthy of keeping
. Don’t taint her,” the
sergeant
continued. His words made the
men’s
shoulders slump. It seemed
the
sergeant
had given his men a reprieve
from her killing them,
because if the
y would’ve tried to violate her
she wouldn’t have allowed
it.
N
o matter what her promise had been to her brother
, there were certain violations she couldn’t stomach
. Of course
,
Jayden wouldn’t
want
her to allow that.