I’m proud to say my wife started the campaign to get Angels and humans to connect more. Although I tease her, she takes her job as Death very seriously. I see how hard she works to balance out good and evil. It’s not an easy job with two kids. Our second Sib, Sam, came about ten human years after our daughter, Pryor.
We spend half of our time on Earth and the other half in the light. Being on Earth too long used to be a problem but when you are married to the second most powerful being in the universe after Omnis, she strengthens your soul without your needing to go to the light as often.
When we are on Earth, we live in a three-story town house in Manhattan. It reminds me of the first Guardian home with it’s modern décor and paintings. But there is one difference between our house then and our house now: our house now is a zoo thanks to our children.
I’m in the kitchen when I see a certain redheaded daughter of mine whizzing through the air on her way to the living room.
“Pryor Reese Cane, what did I tell you about flying in the house?” I scold.
“But Daddy, I gotta be fast. I’m a Noru. We’re gonna go on missions to save the world. Just like you and Mom,” she replies.
My son comes up to me and pulls on my shirt.
“Daddy, why do they call us Noru? What does it mean?”
“It means we can do whatever we want because we are going to be powerful,” Pryor says.
“Okay, both of you sit down,” I instruct.
We get on the sofa. Pryor sits next to me and Sam sits on my lap.
“Yes, being a Noru means you are a powerful hybrid of Guardian and another dominant race. You and your sister are half Guardian and half Council. That makes you a Noru. Among the most powerful in the world.”
“See, I told you,” Pryor says.
“But that does not mean you can do whatever you want,” I correct them.
“Why not?” Sam asks.
“Because no matter how powerful you are, you are still Angels. And what did your mom and I tell you about being an Angel?” I ask.
“An Angel’s job is to protect humans from evil and sometimes from each other,” Pryor replies.
“That’s right. So no matter how strong your powers get, if you are not using them to help humanity, then you are not doing your job. Okay?”
“Okay, Daddy,” Sam says with a simple shrug.
“Do Norus have their own school, Daddy? I wanna go there because at my school in Daraquin, the kids are mean to me because of my hair and my eyes,” Pryor complains with a pout.
“You have red hair like my human grandmother did. And your purple eyes come from your mom. And you are beautiful. Your eyes and hair are who you are meant to be. Your mom and I would never want you to change that about yourself,” I tell her.
“I like my hair, Daddy. It’s like fire,” Sam says with smile.
“Yeah, but he doesn’t have purple eyes.” Pryor complains.
“We think it may be that only the girls will have purple eyes in this family,” I tell them.
“I suffer for being a girl,” Pryor says, shaking her head with a sigh.
I can’t help but laugh at her and her sense of drama. I can’t imagine how much hell she will put us through when she’s a teenager.
“Daddy, can’t we go to Noru school?” she asks.
“No honey, you can’t.”
“Why not?” she asks.
“There are only five Norus in the world,” I reply.
“I know who they are: Pryor and me. Then Uncle Jay and Auntie Pretty’s twins, and um… Uncle Rage’s son, Aaden,” Sam says.
“Very good, now go clean up before your mom comes down from work,” I tell them.
They run out of the room, no doubt to make a bigger mess. Then seconds later I hear a thud come from upstairs. I run and find Sam lying on the floor motionless with a black hole in his chest. Pryor stands over him with her palms out.
“What did you do?” I ask her.
“I killed him,” she replies.
“Pryor!”
“He said I could,” she counters.
“It was so cool, Dad, I just sucked the life out of him. This time, I did it with only one hand,” she says.
“I am very proud of you. You ability to Pull is growing. But what did I tell you about killing your brother?”
“What did we both tell you?” Emmy says as she enters the room.
“Hi, Mommy! I missed you.” Pryor says excitedly as she runs to Emmy.
“I missed you too, but young lady, what did we say to you about Pulling your bother?” she asks Pryor.
“I can only kill Sam when there’s a grown up around,” she says.
“Exactly, so you owe your dead brother an apology,” Emmy says.
We did not anticipate our children having this much power. Every day Pryor’s ability to suck life out of the living, referred by Angels as ‘Pulling’, gets stronger. And Sam being immortal still amazes us. In addition, both of them have inherited my strength. Given the above, it’s always a battle to teach them that power is not to be taken lightly or misused.
“Sorry I killed you, Sam,” she calls out to the dead body.
“It’s okay!” Sam says as he springs up from the floor.
Sam leaps into his mother’s arms and wraps his hands around her neck. By the time she gets home, Emmy has to dim her power so that we can actually see her. But she doesn’t mind. She loves coming to earth and loves being a working mom.
“Are you ready?” I ask her.
“Yes, date night!” She smiles.
Just then someone knocks on the door. Knowing who is coming to babysit them, the kids rush to the door.
“Uncle Tony!” they shout as the Angel enters the apartment.
“Tony don’t let them stay up too late. They have to Recharge,” my wife says.
“I’m hurt, Emmy; hurt that you would doubt my babysitting talents,” Tony replies.
“So, you never let they stay up past their Recharge time?” I ask.
“No,” Tony says.
Emmy makes lightning strike outside.
“Okay, okay, maybe once or twice. But I promise, tonight they will Recharge.”
“Mommy, can we read the Guardian story now?” Sam asks.
The entire history of our mission has been written by various beings and assembled into a Muse; a red leather bound Journal. There are eight of them. My wife and I haven’t decided if we are going to let the kids read all of it. However, there are things in there they need to know. Like how wonderful Reese was and why we gave her his name.
I look over at Emmy and she agrees to let the kids read the first few pages before bed.
Pryor and Sam sit on the sofa along with Tony-Tone. She places the journal on her lap and opens it. Before she reads, she looks up at all of us.
“Mommy, does this story have a happy ending?” Sam asks.
My wife and I look over at each other. She then replies with certainty.
“Yes, this story has a very happy ending.”
Sam smiles brightly and turns to his sister.
“Pryor, read it to me.”
Pryor opens the Muse and begins to read out loud.
“It’s official, I’m a coward…”
EPILOGUE:
DEATH SPEAKS
The Angel world has been pretty peaceful since Lucy was killed. In addition to integrating more with humans, the Council and I have ordered Daraquin to be open to the Quo. Given that they spent many cycles imprisoned, it is only right that they should be a part of the Angel world.
However, there are zones they are not permitted to go. And Quo activity is monitored carefully. Quos and Angels now share schools and work alongside each other. This arrangement has not been perfect. But there is progress among our race.
“Baby, you ready to go?” my husband asks.
“Yeah, just a minute,” I reply as I head over to Pryor’s room.
Marcus and I are off to a meeting tonight. We’re leaving Tony-Tone to look
after the kids. They love him so much. I think it’s because he’s a child, much like them. Although Pryor isn’t really a child anymore; she’s fourteen in human years.
My daughter is smart; maybe too much so. She doesn’t like rules without a thorough explanation as to why that rule exists. She questions everything. Marcus and I love that about her but it also worries us. We know firsthand what can happen when a being tries to alter the status quo. Oftentimes there is a very steep price to pay.
Pryor is like me in so many ways. She loves books. She’s protective of her family and she’s outspoken. But that’s where the similarities end. She is daring to a fault. She will challenge any and every boy who thinks they can outfly her. She gets into fights every other day at school and has vowed never to fall in love.
“Boys make you weak,” she said to her father.
When asked what she wants to do with her life, she says she wants to make her own island. A place where she can play Runner ball, kill demons and Soul dive. She gets asked all the time if she will take on missions like her parents. That pisses her off; big time.
“I’m not my mom; I’m Pryor. So, get off me,” Jay tells her to say when she gets asked that question.
I stand in the doorway and look over at my little girl. She’s trying so hard to get away from the weight of being Noru. They are only teenagers but they are feared around the world. And if they aren’t being feared, they are being gossiped about or envied.
Most of the fights Pryor’s been in are because she refuses to let things go. While she will not start a fight with you, make no mistake about it, she will end one.
Sam lies besides her Recharging. He has his own room but he won’t Recharge unless he’s next to her. She pretends to hate it but I’ve seen her call him to come Recharge on her bed. They argue like crazy. And she kills him off every other day but they love each other. And Marcus and I are so very proud of them.
“Hey, Tony’s here. We should go,” Marcus says as he takes my hand.
“I don’t have a good feeling about this,” I admit to the First Guardian.
“I know, baby. But it’ll be okay. It’s just a meeting.”
“A meeting that Fate and Time has assembled. They’ve never left me out of the loop, Marcus. We work as a unit. If they are not telling me something, it means it’s bad.”
“Whatever it is, I’m sure it’s no big deal.”
“Then why do they need the whole team to join us too?” I ask.
“I don’t know, but we are going to find out.”
He takes my hand; we say good-bye to Tony and head out to Lincoln Center where the meeting will take place. Since Rage is a part of the team now, Marcus insists, and rightfully so, that all meetings take place on earth so that he can be a part of it.
We gather near the fountain in front of Lincoln Center. There we find with Rage, Miku and Jay. As soon as we are all gathered, I stop the world.
“Yo son, I love when you do that. It never gets old,” Jay says with a big grin.
“Speedy here isn’t feeling too well after I beat his ass in Runner Ball,” Rage says.
“You wish you had my skills,” Jay counters.
“Hey, where are my God kids?” I ask.
“The twins are with Winter. She likes having them around whenever she misses Rio,” Miku says.
“I dropped Aaden off at your house just before I came here,” Rage says.
“Couldn’t find anyone brave enough to babysit a demon?” Marcus teases.
“According to them they don’t need looking after,” I reply shaking my head.
“Hey, does anyone know why we’re meeting?” Miku asks.
“No, I’m out of the loop,” I reply.
Moments later the rest of the Council descends upon us.
“We have summoned all of you because we have news. Lucy’s replacement has been named. A new evil has risen,” they inform us.
We all look at each other, extremely troubled.
“Well we knew that Lucy was going to be replaced sooner or later,” Marcus says.
“Yes, it’s the natural balance of things,” I reply in full Council mode.
“Wait, we’re not responsible for the new evil right? I mean there is no bridge anymore. The souls go directly to the light or the dark based on their deeds now, right?” Jay asks.
“Yes,” Time replies.
“So the new evil is out to do what? Destroy humanity, again?” Rage asks.
“No. That is not the goal of the new evil,” Fate replies sadly.
“Okay, tell us what then, what does the new evil want?” I ask.
“According to the Traveler Angels we sent to investigate, he’s not after the humans. He’s only has one mission: Destroy the Noru.”
Back when I was human, that would have created fear in me. But now fear is a foreign concept to me. I am not afraid; I am angry. I look over at Marcus and the team. The thought that someone is targeting our kids infuriates them. The mood in the air quickly changes. All of us are instantly on high alert.
“There is also another matter. When you and Death were on the final mission you encountered the Malik family. In fact you married one of them: Bianca,” Fate says to Marcus.
“Yes, it was a marriage of politics,” Marcus replies.
“I take it you are aware of the Malik family’s reaction to citrus?” Time says.
“No, we only heard they react badly to it. Marcus said Bianca had lemon juice when they went off to their honeymoon but we don’t know what affect it has,” I admit.
“The Quo have what you could call a ‘reaction’ to various elements. For the Malik family, citrus counters the effects of Tam when used on them,” Fate says.
“What? Wait, what are you saying?” I ask.
“There are six Noru, not five,” Time says.
“What? Who’s the sixth Noru?” I ask.
“Marcus’s other son,” Time says.
“My what? That can’t be, Bianca never showed any signs of—”
“—Marcus, if she could hide her entire body in plain sight why would it be difficult to hide a swollen belly?” Fate asks.
“Wait, she didn’t have enough time to have a child before she died,” I protest.
“She only needed a few weeks in order to find a mixture that could sustain the fetus. It’s a difficult mixture to find: It’s called an Orvid. It sustains life by forming a cocoon around it. We suspect she struck a deal with Lucy so that Lucy would hide your child in there,” Fate replies.
“That’s why she needed access to the light so badly. The baby needed to go to Noni,” Miku says.
“Yes, but she never got to the light. So, how did a child who is half Angel survive with no light at all?” I ask.
“Children are very resourceful. As a former human, Death, you should know that,” Time says.
Marcus and I look at each other again with great concern.
“And now the new evil is coming after him; it’s coming after my son isn’t it?” Marcus asks angrily.
He turns his attention towards me.
“We have to find him and have him come live with us. I know he’s Bianca’s child but—”
“—Marcus, if he’s your child, then he’s mine too,” I assure him.
“Are you certain?” he asks.
“Very.”
He leans in and gives me a passionate kiss.
“Okay, there’s a new evil out to kill our kids. So first I find the son I didn’t know I had, and protect him from this new evil. We can do that,” Marcus replies and looks at the team. They all nod in agreement.
“So, how do I find my son?” Marcus asks Fate.
“Marcus, your son is not being chased by the new evil; your son is the new evil. And there is no need to look for him; he will find you.”
END OF THE GUARDIANS SERIES
Other Books by
Lola StVil
The Guardians Series
Book 1: The Girl
Book 2: The Fallout
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Book 3: The Turn
Book 4: The Triplex
Book 5, Part 1: The Quo
Book 5, Part 2: The Lyris
Book 6, Part 1: The Shoma
Book 6, Part 2: The Nycren
The Noru Series
Book 1: Blue Rose
Book 2: The Last Akon
Book 3: Fall of the Chosen
Book 4: When Angels Break
Book 5: Ways of the Wicked
About the Author
Lola StVil is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author living in California. She enjoys spending time with her family and staying in touch with her readers.
Lola St. Vil, The Nycren
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