Absolute Zero: Soldier of Light Chronicles Book 2 Read online

  “I'm flattered,” he said with a slight bow of his head.

  “Good. You should be. Don't do it again.” I confiscated the box cutter from his hand.

  Hayden laughed. The doorbell rang when I'd just started cutting the tape off of the rest of the kitchen boxes.

  “Early,” Hayden muttered, shaking his head in disapproval. “I knew she'd do that.”

  “Elka's here already?” I asked him as I followed him down the hall to the front door. “I thought you told her 'later.'”

  “I did.” He chuckled.“But she doesn't take direction very well.”

  I knew Hayden had invited Elka over so we could officially meet sooner than later. She was one of the angels of the Guardian Council, the head angels. I'd imagined that she would be stunning, just as the boys were handsome. And she didn't disappoint. I watched Hayden open the front screen door and saw the morning sun illuminate her silhouette as she stepped into the house; a tall, petite body dressed in a light pink summer dress, white blazer and pink ballet shoes. And that long, blond hair, with its beautiful, loose curls bouncing with each, quiet step she made through the doorway; she was as graceful as a feather in a light breeze.

  “Got a thing for pink, Elk?” Hayden said.

  She stretched her full, pink lips into a playful smile and patted Hayden gently on the cheek. “Why does this seem to surprise you, silly angel?” She glanced past his shoulder, and our eyes finally met. Hers were a dark, chocolate-brown, framed by an oval-shaped face with a light, olive complexion. Her smile widened.

  “Evika!” she squealed as she extended her hand, her curly, blond locks bouncing as she flitted over to me. “So nice to meet you....again. And this time, you're awake!” She giggled.

  I took her hand, and we shook as I looked at her curiously, until I realized where we would have met before. “Oh, right!” I acknowledged. “My apartment. I was unconscious.” I laughed as I thought about the first day I'd met Hayden. I'd passed out on the curb after getting wounded by a Drone. I woke in my room wearing my pajamas and smelling of soap. Hayden explained to me that he'd called Elka for help while I was still unconscious.

  “Yeah,” her smile started to dissipate as she paused. Then her face suddenly brightened. “But, no worries,” she waved her hand at me, “I saw nothing. Kept my eyes closed the whole time and just felt my way around to get you cleaned up and into those clothes,” she explained innocently. Then a look of horror washed across her face. “Oh, jeez! That sounded horrid! Evika,” she attempted to redact her previous comment, “I just meant---”

  “Elka,” I put my hand up and laughed heartily, “it's fine. I get it.” I liked her instantly. It was hard not to. Her perkiness and innocence was refreshing. “And thank you for your help that day. I'm glad Hayden called you,” I assured her.

  She smiled at me with that purely innocent face of hers. “Quite the gentleman, this one,” she nodded to Hayden. “He called on me right away for help.”

  From the corner of my eye, I caught Hayden staring at me with a crooked smile, arms folded while he leaned in the doorway.

  “What?” I humored him.

  He flashed his alluring grin. “Oh, come on. You know you want to ask her.” I looked at him, confused, then realized what he was referring to.

  “Ask me what?” Elka turned to me with an inquisitive stare.

  “Uh....” I gave her a sheepish smile. “I'm kind of fascinated with the whole color spectrum of angel wings now,” I admitted.

  Elka's high pitched laughter filled the room. The echoes of her voice chimed melodically throughout the foyer, giving me no choice but to join in with her song.

  “I see,” she said as her laughing dwindled down to a slight giggle. “Well, I think I know where this is leading.” She scoped the right and left sides of her shoulders and stepped back, giving herself more room.

  “Hey, hey, hey, Blondie. Not in the house. You'll break stuff.” Hayden chuckled, waving his hand to the door.

  Elka wrinkled her nose while sporting her flawless, pouting lips. “Jeez, Hay-bird, you are just no fun,” she jeered. “As if I don't know what I'm doing.” She shook her head.

  “Why don't you just tell her, for cryin' out loud?” Hayden asked. “It makes it so much easier.”

  “Ugh!” Elka guffawed as she put her hands to her hips and cocked her head. “Now, where's the excitement in that.....Darkwing?”

  Hayden rolled his eyes lovingly. “Touche, Miss Herring. Touche.”

  My laughter continued, of course. Their bantering was quite amusing, and he and I both knew his approach was the same as Elka's just a short time ago; I was dragged out behind my apartment building without any warning before Hayden unveiled his wings. Forever memorable.

  Elka grinned my way, showing her perfect, white teeth again. “I'll show ya later, when Hayden can't suck the fun out of everything,” she promised me with a wink.

  “I'll hold you to it.”

  “So, you ready to take her out?” Hayden asked, nudging Elka in the arm.

  “Out?” I inquired.

  “Oh, yeah. Out. You're going with Elka to the mall and bringing me home a new leather,” he leaned into me with a smirk, “pursuant to our previous agreement, if you've forgotten.” I remembered, all right. I owed him a new jacket after the last Drone attack. The only reason the monster had been lurking was because I'd darted out of the apartment in a fit of rage and ran around the city's dark alleys. “I'll be taking care of some household matters while you're gone, anyway,” he added.

  “And these are matters I am not to be a part of?” I tightened my lips.

  “Only because they would bore you.”

  “Oh?” I perked up. “Then, it sounds like a good deal to me.”

  Elka laughed. “Well,” she said to Hayden, “that was easy.”

  “Hey, if I'm lucky, he'll have everything unpacked by the time we get back.” I gave Hayden a playful nudge.

  “Don't hold your breath, Pony-girl. I have a lot to do. Setting up appointments for utilities, satellite---”

  “You're right,” I interrupted. “Not my cup of tea. I'd rather be shopping.”

  Hayden laughed at me.

  Elka locked her arm with mine. “Hence, the reason I'm stealing you away this morning, so go get your purse and make sure you have your bank card. We have a mission.”

  “Ah, yes,” I said as I walked over to the couch to grab my purse, “the mission for a new leather. He won't let me forget.”

  “Oh, believe me. He'll never stop. Be glad you're getting this done today,” Elka assured me.

  I looked at Hayden, who was nodding. “It's true,” he said. “I'll never stop.”

  “So,” I smirked, “you're trusting me to pick something out for you, huh?”

  “Absolutely,” he bobbed his head. “Total trust” He paused, and I waited, looking at him incredulously. Then finally, he grinned widely. “Just be sure to bring home the receipt.”

  “Ha!” I pointed at him with a laugh. “I knew it.”

  “Ugh!” Elka grunted exasperatedly. “You and those leathers. I swear they have a name for angels like you,” she poked with a smile.

  “Yes. It's called bad ass. Take notes,” Hayden boasted as he dug into one of the boxes in the living room.

  Elka rolled her eyes. “I have to wonder, Hayden, if that ego will ever fade...should you ever decide to,” she teased. Hayden belted out a hefty laugh as Elka tugged my arm. “Come on, girlie. We're burnin' daylight here. See ya, Hay-bird,” she called behind her shoulder as she flitted to the front door with me in tow.

  “Have fun, you two,” Hayden called to us. “Oh, and Ev,” he winked at me, “try not to miss me too much.”

  I smiled at him and gave in to my urge to rush to his side and plant my lips on his cheek. “I'll try not to, Angel-man.” But no more than two steps out that door with Elka and I already did miss him.

  Elka and I got into the pony and looked at each other. I had no idea where I was going and wonde
red if she even knew, but she just held a girlish smirk on her cute face and folded her arms, staring back at me. “Holy Moses.” She laughed. “Luka wasn't kidding; the match between you two is impeccable.”

  All I could do was blush. “Uh,” I felt the heat in my face instantly, “yeah, well....I care about him,” I admitted with a nervous laugh. “A lot,” I added.

  “Sweetie,” she placed her hand on my shoulder and smiled, “there is no doubt in my mind that you two were made for each other. I'd bet my wings on it.”

  I smiled back at her, hoping that the subject would be dropped, and we could just go shopping. I wasn't really up for any more “bets” with angels.

  “Anyhoo,” she locked in her seatbelt, and I mimicked her, “Oglethorpe Mall isn't too far from here and they have over one hundred stores and tons of restaurants. You can take me out to lunch.” She winked at me playfully. I couldn't resist her charm. It was impossible. She grew on me, indefinitely.

  “The mall it is, then,” I agreed as I plugged the info into my navigation system. I started backing the pony out of the driveway and looked up to see Hayden waving goodbye at the screen door, holding his ripped leather in the other and waving it around. I laughed heartily.

  “Oh, that boy is relentless. Seriously,” Elka muttered. “Just look at him,” she said with a giggle. Elka didn't have to tell me twice. I was already staring at him. “He'll probably be popping in a Coltrane CD any minute now.”

  “Coltrane?” I gave her a quick glance.

  “Oh, yeah,” she said. “Huge fan. It's all he'd listen to during his entire trial at the House of Council.” She looked at me solemnly. “I kind of figured you already knew about that by now, his trial?”

  I nodded as we drove down the street. “Yeah, he told me,” I answered in a sad tone. I thought about that bittersweet night; Hayden revealed something so personal and upsetting, yet it was the night that I felt the truth in my heart about my feelings for him. “At first, he didn't want to tell me because he thought it would show him in bad light,” I told her.

  “That's because everything is so hard on you already, Evika. He takes great pride in being your Guardian, and I'm sure he just didn't want you to think any less of him. Or worse; for you to be afraid of him.”

  I turned to her as I braked the car at the stop sign. “I could never be afraid of him, and I could never see him as anything differently than I do now. He's....I'm....” I couldn't think of how to describe my feelings to her without needing to resort to words like “in love.” I hadn't even said those words out loud to myself yet and I wasn't about to belt it out to Elka. I needed a good word for Hayden; something to explain what he was to me. “He's like my---”

  “Haven.” Elka finished for me with confidence.

  A smile of satisfaction grew on my face as I felt myself agreeing with her, entirely. “Yeah.” I nodded. “He's my haven.”

  2

  Right as Rain

  Elka and I made it to the mall in less than fifteen minutes and headed in to find Hayden's new jacket right away. I wanted to find something different for him, not just the typical black leather he'd had. I sifted through so many racks of coats in so many stores until I spotted the most bad ass leather I'd ever seen. It was dark brown with four pockets, zipping up the middle and worn at the fold and hem lines. The first thing I did was pull it off the rack to smell it. I imagined Hayden's scent blended with the scent of the leather. The thought of it intoxicated me as I finally held it out for Elka's approval.

  “Holy, masculinity. Now, that is our Hayden,” she approved with enthusiasm.

  “I'll take that as a yes, then.” I laughed and walked the jacket up to the register, completely satisfied with my purchase.

  Elka and I strolled around the mall, going in and out of every store, talking as if we'd known each other forever. It was just like we were a couple of old friends. Elka was so easy to talk to, and I admired her honesty and her poise the most. I was fascinated by her graceful step and her gregarious personality. She seemed like a girl who wasn't afraid to be herself.

  I learned a lot about her “gift,” and I found it engrossing. It was similar to my father's gift, only she could see a full picture; glimpses of life-changing events caused by nature, and the Council relied on her to report these glimpses as it meant a better chance of survival for humanity. A lot of these events needed more than just the usual one-angel-to-one-human setup. It took a whole group sometimes. Nature would always take its course, as the Creator intended it, but as Elka explained to me, nature does not choose sides, so the Council is there to keep that balance in the best way they can.

  She told me that fate can change in one second, and even the smallest detail can throw off the future. She often had problems with her gift, in the beginning when she was first created, but was soon able to decipher the importance of the information in her visions. I was shocked to find out that, even though many lives were lost during certain eras, without Elka's help they would have been even more tragic. Hurricanes, earthquakes, floods, fires, volcanic eruptions; these were all things she'd seen over time. And whatever next, big thing was going to hit was going to be near Los Angeles. She wasn't allowed to tell me about the next event in detail because it was, of course, against the rules for her to share outside of the Council. However, she did explain that “details” aren't exactly what she gets all of the time. Sometimes, the glimpses are very vague, and the only hint given to her is the “where” and “when.” And occasionally, even part of those details are omitted.

  I'd asked Elka why it was only glimpses of natural disasters she could foresee, and why it was not world wars or acts of genocide. She told me she didn't know for sure, but she thought it was because anything like war or mass murder is all done by man, decisions by humans. Guardians are always there to guard their own humans, but that is all that is given. Nature does not know right from wrong like human kind, it only exists. As much as I'd have liked to disagree, I knew she was right. And as much as I wanted to gripe about how unfair that fact was, I knew in my heart that it really wasn't.

  “Oh, Evika! Look!” Elka pointed to the costume store. It was one of those Halloween set-ups that only lasted for the month of October and there, in the display window, was a mannequin in a black dress sporting black-feathered angel wings. “You have to get those. You just have to,” Elka demanded.

  I looked at her curiously. “What, the wings?”

  “Absolutely!” she exclaimed as she jumped, curls bouncing.

  I laughed at her excitement. “For the purpose of....?”

  “Are you kidding? Savannah has tons of hot spots for Halloween events and I happen to already know that Hayden plans on taking you to one,” she told me.

  I smiled at the thought and looked back to the mannequin to observe the wings more closely. They were hanging on the mannequin's shoulders by black ribbon so elegantly. Black feathers layered every inch of them while a strand of fluffy boa material aligned the thick of wings along the top. They weren't even close to replicating the angel wings that I came to know, but I had ideas of my own that started brewing in order to make them even more fabulous. A few of my tweaks, and the wings would be extraordinary. I turned back to Elka, who had been watching me eagerly and biting her bottom lip as she awaited my decision.

  “Oh,” I said with a shrug, “why not?” No sooner did I give in than I felt Elka's petite hand yank my forearm through the store's entrance.

  “I knew you'd comply,” she said smugly.

  About eleven stores and five shopping bags later, we were hungry. We decided to leave the mall and drive down a ways to the Big Boy we passed. I had to laugh at myself. There I was, walking around with mad cash and able to eat wherever the hell I wanted, and all I could think of was the comfort I'd left in Cleveland. But Elka didn't seem to mind at all. She seemed to have an appetite much like mine, and she certainly found joy in that double cheeseburger. We sighed simultaneously, sank into our booths, and stared out the window.
r />   “Wow, I haven't had one of these in years,” Elka said.

  “I used to live on this stuff until Joel started becoming all chef-y.” I giggled at the memory of Joel using me as his guinea pig for new recipes.

  “Ah, yes.” She grinned and nodded. “The best friend who adores you to no end.” She winked.

  I laughed, blushing at her comment, then felt my expression grow serious. “He really got me through a lot a few years ago.” I shrugged. “Still does.”

  Elka studied me for a moment. “I don't know much about him, but Joel is a good person and a good friend to you from what Hayden has always told me.” She smiled. “He would dive into on-coming traffic if it meant saving you.” She was right. Joel would do anything ridiculous like that if it meant saving my life, which made me remember how fragile a human life can be. One irrational decision, and sometimes, that means the end. I'd already seen it first hand in my own First Death, when I met Hayden.

  I half smiled at Elka's comment. Every human had a Guardian angel. Even Joel. “Elka, do you know all of the Guardians and their humans?” I couldn't believe I hadn't asked Hayden the same question before.

  “I do.” She bobbed her head with a smile, but her expression turned incredulous. “But you're prohibited from knowing who they are due to conflict of interest, especially those close to you; Joel's, Ms. Makerov's, even your mo---” she cut herself off. Her lips tightened, and her hard blink was indicative that she'd regretted her words.

  I sighed. “Even my mother's,” I finished for her.

  She looked at me apologetically. “Listen,” Elka said solemnly, “I'm an angel, so I can't condone the joy of what I'm about to show you. But,” she pulled out a folded up newspaper article and handed it to me, “I do know that this may give you some sort of closure on the matter of your mother.”

  I looked at her inquisitively, reluctantly taking the folded article from her hand and unfolding it. The headline of the Cleveland Plain Dealer read: WELCOME BACK, CARTER. I read on: A Cleveland man by the name of Anton Carter hanged himself on Friday evening after his incarceration. Carter was dragged back home after attempting to flee the country to Mexico, less than a day after his last murder in Newark, Ohio. His crimes range from May, 2007, up to his most recent only weeks ago...