DEVON
Just like Verity to storm off, the woman was such a petulant child sometimes. Although it beat the alternative, which would have been her losing her absolute shit. She knew something was way off, and she had yet to be wrong when her instincts kicked in. That was part of the reason she was such a skilled Hunter, and had earned the name Shadow Walker. Although anyone could see something was really wrong, the way this was happening was far from typical. Of course Verity had never liked the Officials, which is what we called those in charge who worked for the government. And in turn the Officials had never really liked her, calling her feral and wild; which she was. In a sense we all were, this world had made it so.
Commander Ryan was just as frustrated as the rest of us, and understandably so. He would be s
“Ver, check your face!” Liam hissed into my ear. I couldn’t help it, my face said whatever I was thinking, and right now I was not pleased. This guy still gave me weird vibes, and I did not like him. Tall and lanky, he walked with an air of quiet confidence that made me want to break him. And break him I would. His long hair was down, dreadlocks peppered in it that had small silver beads woven in, he had a small hoop through his left nostril and his eyes were those of a predator. I grinned to myself; he had another thing coming if he even dared to confuse one of us with prey. Kenneth had just arrived; he had waited the week he said he would to come train; and now the week was up and here he was. He had said maybe a handful of words to us since his arrival, not that he was being rude; but obviously the guy wasn’t exactly into conversation. At least not yet or with us.
Ch.15Oh? Well didn’t that just make things more interesting. So, Kenneth knew the effect he was having on me, and knew why. Then I would make damn sure I won this. I already knew he was a long-range fighter, which meant he should be weak at hand-to-hand combat. The four of us had headed to one of the arena’s, one of the ones we knew wasn’t used as often; that way there was less of a chance of being disturbed. Whatever he was hiding I would find out, after all; we were going to have to work together. Getting into my stance I put my hand on my scythe, I knew I would be blocking arrows; but once I got close, I was hoping I could overwhelm him. Kenneth took up his place away from me, crossbow trained on me.It happened so fast; I felt the whoosh of air as an arrow flew dangerously close to my face. I hadn’t even seen him move, unsheathing my scythe
He wheezed, easing up on the pressure, I repeated my question. His eyes gleamed and I quickly looked down.“Don’t try that shit with me” I grumbled, pressing my knee into his arm harder than necessary. He winced.“Fine Verity, a deal is a deal” his smile was once again charming. I made a face.“Would you cut that shit out with me? I don’t like it, whatever it is” I said, leaning close to his face. “So why don’t you just tell me this secret of yours, since it must be why the Officials sent you.” My voice was low, smooth, and had every ounce of malice in it I could muster.He sighed, “it would be easier to show you.” I raised an eyebrow as I slowly let him up, wondering what it could possibly be.
The week had flown by, during that time we had trained hard to perfect the new team dynamic. The news about Kenneth had shocked the team, but they accepted it readily enough and realized while he was a threat, it wasn’t to us. He had wanted to be free, and this was one of the only ways to get out of the cage the Officials had created for him. None of us could blame him, and over the past week he had worked seamlessly with us, his ability for flight coming in extremely handy. I had grown to like him in my own way, however most of us continued to feel unsettled by him, recognizing him as an enemy due to his mixed nature. He knew this and wasn’t offended; it wasn’t something we could help despite getting to know him better. Now that our week was up, we were in Commander Ryan’s office receiving our official orders, to find a certain nest to the West. This nest was thought to contain the typical Nephilim but also a Watcher angel, th
We drove till dawn, Todd and Liam taking turns while the rest of us shifted as lookouts. My shift had finished, and I was curled up by Kenneth, snoozing comfortably under his wing. The downy feathers were so soft and the perfect spot for snuggling up, he didn’t mind either, it allowed him to have his wings out and not cramped. This drive would take over a day, and to make the quickest time possible we couldn’t stop driving. Gas cans were in the backseat, full to the brim to make sure we could get there and back and then some. Devon had made sure we had extra and had checked all the cans to ensure they were full; we didn’t trust this mission or the Officials that sent us on it. While some teams did, on the rare occasion, travel this far from base it was typically only to reach another base. Not to engage the enemy, because there was no way of returning, no matter how fast we drove, eventually they would catch us with the distance we w
I woke up slightly before dawn, the urge to pee way too strong to stay in my comfy bedding. Yawning I silently got up and snuck off to take care of business, careful not to wake the others. There was just enough light that I could make out where I was going, not wanting to stray too far but needing privacy I found the perfect spot and proceeded to empty my overfull bladder. Relieved of my burden I headed back toward camp, picking up some sticks along the way so we could make a fire or something, after all we would need to eat. Knowing that all of us could benefit from some fresh meat for energy before we did this, I gathered some rocks to also help with the fire. Digging a small hole, I lined it with the rocks and placed the sticks in it with a zig zag pattern. I felt a hand on my back and almost jumped out of my skin, it was Liam, crouching next to me he dropped a kiss on my shoulder.“I assume we a
We left at dusk, the truck bumping along the rough terrain. Kenneth in the front with Liam, who was driving; the rest of us in the back. The earth was flat and brown, which would serve us well as we traveled under the cloak of night. Not wanting to turn our lights on, the level ground was a blessing we hadn’t counted on. Liam turned the wheel, heading west toward our target.Nests were curious things, each one different depending on the inhabitants. We had surmised that the nests that were more aesthetically pleasing probably had an angel or two involved in them, whereas the sloppier ones were only Nephilim. If I had to describe it, I would say it appeared almost like a volcano, but more pronounced, the top of the opening easily as high as a four-story building. Usually a neutral color, gray, brown or a dark sandy type of color, these structures erupted from the Earth, forming a gaping maw. Sometimes
Kenneth slammed into him, his wings flaring out and beating the air violently as he fought to push the angel back. They stayed there, locked into place, both of their wings unfurled and pushing against each other. And as low and smooth as an ocean undercurrent, I heard Shamshiel’s voice.“Son of Baraqel, why do you stand against me?” He asked, his face passive. Kenneth grunted.“I am no son of his” he spat out. “You and your children need to leave us alone!” Shamshiel laughed.“Is that what you think? Do you truly think all of us are after you?” One dark brow raised up in question.“Don’t try to trick us” Liam said, striding forward, katana drawn. His eyes were narrowed and sharp, scanning the angel.