LITMIR.BIZ

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Damn. Now I felt guilty. I was trying hard not to feel anything at all and being a smart-ass usually worked for that.

       Rafe and my grandfather stood by the fireplace in stony silence. They hadn’t involved themselves in our discussion, which was probably just as well. I’m sure they grieved in their own way.

       “Am I interrupting?” asked a young but strong voice from the foot of the stairs. A teenage girl stood with her arms crossed, her jeans torn in a way that should be fashionable, but I didn’t think hers were like that on purpose. Her razor-cut white hair that was too pale to be bleached hung over half her face and the dark liner around her eyes made her look ghoulish. She tugged at her woolen cap as if trying to hide her eyes. Wise choice. She had so much eyeliner on that I couldn’t tell what part of her face was real and what was painted.

       “Xenia, come in,” my grandmother said, making a scooping gesture with her hand. “I want you to meet my granddaughter.”

       Oh, another knight. Great, but I wondered why she hadn’t come with Natalie and Rusty to the kitchen this morning. Had she slept in?

       Xenia avoided my eyes, and she didn’t venture any farther into the room. If I thought I was out of place, this one acted like she was in a whole other world.

       Aurora smiled. “Xenia is a new recruit for the knighthood,” she explained. “She came to us last week.”

       “A normie,” Rusty said under her breath.

       “A what?” I asked.

       “Normie,” Natalie repeated. “Means her father wasn’t an angel. She just talks to them.”

       Exactly like Quin Dee, who was an angel whisperer like his father had been, and his father’s father, and so on down the line. Saint Geraldine had been an angel whisperer, too.

       “Where do the Arelim find these…normies?” I asked.

       “Angel whisperers have a telepathic link with the Arelim,” my grandmother said. “The ones selected to train as knights have been screened based on their willingness to devote their entire lives to serving our order.

       “Now that we have to practically start the order over from scratch, more young women like Xenia will be joining us.” Aurora gave each of us a long look before adding, “And I’ll be depending on you three to train them.”

       I was almost as new as Xenia and still had a lot to learn myself, but I’d do my part. “What kind of powers will the new recruits have?”

       “None,” Aurora said. “Their only gift is an ability to communicate with all Arelim, not just their guardians. Plus they will only die if the Arelim allow it.”

       “Normies are immortal?” I asked, stunned by this news.

       “Sucks, doesn’t it?” Rusty said. “I mean for us. Not for them.”

       “This only applies to those whisperers who become Hatchet knights. Possible immortality compensates for their lack of supernatural powers,” my grandmother explained. “It’s their only protection from the evil they will vow to fight.”

       Of course. Quin had sacrificed himself to the enemy, and the Arelim had given him his life back. It made sense that these new knights would be granted the same gift.

       Xenia rolled her eyes. She obviously didn’t appreciate her immortal status, or she didn’t believe it. If I were her, I’m not sure I’d believe it, either. Pretty far-fetched if you asked me.

       “Does this mean they’re protected from whatever is killing the knights?” I asked.

       “We don’t know,” my grandfather said. These were the first words I’d heard out of him since this morning. “The angel whisperers, or normies as you girls like to call them, don’t have to succumb to natural causes of death. At least not permanently. We’re not so sure about the unnatural kind.”

       “And I suppose guinea pigs for testing this theory are in short supply,” Rusty said.

       “Let’s just say we’re not taking any chances,” Zeke told her.

       Wow, what a day. Too much too fast, and I was starting to fade. I stifled a yawn.

       My grandmother cleared her throat. “Chalice, you’ll be sharing a room with Xenia.”

       Xenia rolled her eyes again. If she kept doing that they’d get stuck staring at the back of her own head. The girl jerked her chin in the direction of the stairs before heading that way herself.

       “Hold on, Xenia. I need to give Chalice something first.” Aurora tugged at a loop of thin chain she wore around her neck and pulled a shiny object out from beneath her sweater. She dragged it up and over her head, then held it out to me. “This belongs to you now.”

       I glanced at Rafe, who stood still as a mannequin beside the fireplace. He nodded and tilted his head toward my grandmother.

       I stepped closer to see what she offered. About the size of my palm, it looked like a talisman in the shape of a shield. An embossed crest was divided in half, with one side the scarlet cross of the Crusades, and the other a silver angel wing. The sight of it brought a lump to my throat. I’d never seen it before, but I knew exactly what it was.

       “My mother’s shield,” I whispered.

       Aurora nodded. “I gave this shield to your mother on the day she was old enough for knighthood, just as my mother had given it to me, and her mother to her.” She lowered the chain with the shield over my head. “It symbolizes dozens of generations from our bloodline, all the way back to the first Hatchet knights who fought in the Crusades.”

       Which meant my ancestor was a knight who had fought beside Saint Geraldine. A chill skittered down my spine and made my ears ring. My chest felt tight with so much emotion I was afraid I’d crumble, but it wouldn’t do for me to show weakness in front of a recruit who already had doubts.

       I inspected the old shield and found deep cracks in the metal and evidence of rust or blood beneath a surface of thick, clear lacquer. “Is this the original?” I asked.

       My grandmother tilted her head to one side. “Part of it. The original shield was used in battle, where it was nearly destroyed. After the war ended it was broken down and reshaped into what you hold in your hands.”

       “Wow.” It felt heavy and I couldn’t imagine wearing this around my neck 24/7.

       “It’s a symbol now, Chalice.” She smoothed the hair from my forehead, then cupped my face in both her hands to stare into my eyes. “This shield of knighthood is yours to keep. It’s who you are and who you’ll always be.”

       I inhaled a shaky breath and pressed the shield to my chest. “I’ll take good care of it.”

       She lightly patted my cheek. “I know you will. Now scoot. You must be exhausted and you have a big day tomorrow.”

       “I do?”

       “A half-dozen squires are expected here before noon.”

       Squires were knights in training. Oh, my God. So soon? I wasn’t ready.

       “You’re ready,” Rafe said, as if he’d heard my thoughts.

       I shot him a look and narrowed my eyes. Such a know-it-all. He gave me a crooked grin.

       Dazed from my surreal day, I robotically followed Xenia up the stairs to our room. A bed never looked so good. My bag of meager belongings sat on the floor beside it.

       I think Xenia was talking to me when I trudged bonelessly to the edge of the bed. She could have been speaking Mandarin Chinese for all I knew. My brain was fried and sleep called to me like a siren’s song. I did a face-plant on the mattress, missing the pillow completely, and fell instantly asleep.

      * * *

       I awakened slowly and thought my bladder was about to burst.

      

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