Angels of the Knights (7 page)

Kade patted his back. “Good to be home, Dad.”

The two came apart and Mr. Royce smiled at her. “Welcome, Fallon. If you don’t mind me saying, you are even prettier than Kade described.”

“Dad!” Kade’s cheeks turned scarlet.

“What? What did I say?” he asked with feigned innocence.

“Come on,” Kade said with a glower and grabbed her hand.

Despite the scowl, it was all in good fun and the affection between father and son was obvious. The rapport warmed her heart.

“Hi, honey,” Mrs. Kade greeted her son with tears in her eyes.

“Hi, Mom.” Then, he turned to her. “Fallon, this is my Mom, Judy.”

“Hello, Mrs. Royce, nice to meet you.”

“Mrs. Royce? Your parents have taught you well, Fallon. I don’t think any of Kade’s other friends call me that.”

“Yes, my parents were strict about that.”
After all, it was the seventies
, Fallon thought to herself.

Mrs. Royce held the door open, and Fallon stepped into a nicely decorated living room. The smell of cinnamon permeated the air. “Mmm. Smells delicious, Mrs. Royce.”

“Oh, that’s dessert. Kade just loves my homemade apple pie.”

A shrill scream that started at the top of the stairs to the second floor and continued down in the form of a young girl, caused Fallon to laugh. The girl, who looked very much like Kade, could only be Chelsea. She jumped over the last two steps and threw herself into her brother’s arms.

Kade caught her. “Chels! Relax. You just saw me three weeks ago.”

The girl pouted. “Well, I haven’t been able to hug you in way too long. I wanted to be there for you when you got out, but Mom and Dad
forced
me to go to Paris.”

“Yeah, terrible aren’t they?” Kade responded.

Chelsea laughed and Mrs. Royce snorted and disappeared into the kitchen.

Kade set her back on the ground and directed her gaze toward Fallon. “This is my friend, Fallon.”

“Hi, Chelsea. Nice to meet you.”

The feminine version of Kade raised her eyebrows. “Friend or girlfriend?”

“Give me another day and then ask again,” Kade answered with a smirk.”

Fallon punched him in the arm.

“Ouch!”

“You’re very pretty,” Chelsea commented to her.

Fallon blushed. “Thanks. You are, too.”

Kade put his hand at the small of her back. “Come on, I want to show you my old room.”

Fallon pulled back. “Won’t your parents be upset?” she whispered.

He made a face. “Why would they?”

Fallon shook her head and let herself be pulled up the stairs.
Get a grip, Angell. This is a new millennium.

Halfway up the stairs, Fallon nearly tripped when the Kur on her arm flared in a hot burn. A Kjin? Here?

She whipped her head around and glanced back down to the first floor. The front door was opening and a man stepped in, followed by a woman and four children.

“Hope we’re not late!”

“Uncle Marc is here,” Chelsea screamed to all within hearing distance.

“Marc?” Fallon hissed at Kade.

“Yeah, Marc Ellis. He’s my uncle.”

Fallon was stunned. The Kjin that had killed women and children was Kade’s uncle? According to Father Tomas, he was also the one responsible for setting up his nephew on bogus charges that sent him to jail for an entire year.

It took more resolve than she thought she was capable of to suppress her anger and turn from the Kjin and continue to follow Kade up the stairs.

Shaking her head in regret, one thought filled her mind.

Why must she continue having to kill the people Kade loved?

C
HAPTER
8

Caught in the Act

Distracted, Fallon glanced around at Kade’s old bedroom. Apparently, nothing had changed since he last lived here.

“I still come and stay a lot,” he said in response to her unspoken question.

It was a typical guy’s room. Bed, laptop, and a fathead of Tony Romo gracing one wall. She turned to him. “Nice room…”

There was that yelp again! He grabbed her shoulders and pinned her against the door, snaking his knee between her legs to hold her in place. “What are you doing?” she croaked out.

The most amazing blue eyes she had ever seen stared down at her. “Looking at you.” He lifted his hand and reached out to stroke her cheek. “Touching you.” Slowly, he leaned in and hovered his lips above hers. “Kissing you.”

Her breath caught in her throat when he tipped her chin with his finger and their lips met in a slow, tender kiss.

This was so wrong, yet she was powerless to stop him. Her mortal enemy was downstairs at this very moment, and she was losing herself in a kiss.

Enough! This had to stop.

But, he was the one to pull away. He shook his head and let go of her to sit on the edge of his bed. “What have you done to me, Fallon? If I didn’t know better, I would say that you were a witch.”

“Not quite,” she murmured.

“What is it then?”

“Kade…”

He looked up at her with a sheepish smile. “I can’t stand next to you and not be moved by you. Come on, Fallon, you saved the life of a little girl yesterday with no regard to your own safety. How much more perfect can you be?”

“Kade…”

“Kiss me, Fallon. Kiss me like you mean it.”

She felt the same pull to him as he did to her. Her legs felt weak as she stumbled over to the bed and dropped to her knees before him. He reached out and framed her face with his hands, and when their lips met again, she melted into him with a soft moan. Fallon’s whole body tingled with unfamiliar desire, and she lost all abandon in his kiss. A low ache thudded through her lower body and she had to fight back the urge to cry out.

Embarrassed, she pulled away and sat back on her feet.

When her courage returned, she lifted her head to look at Kade, and the depth of the naked emotion in his eyes floored her. Desire, compassion, innocence and, yes, the beginnings of love. Every feeling displayed in detail across his face was easy to read, because she knew they mirrored her own.

Sitting up again, she wrapped her arms around his neck and snuggled her face into the crook of his throat.

“Kade! Time for dinner!” Chelsea’s shout up the stairs caused her to jump guiltily to her feet.

“It’s okay,” Kade assured her. “Nobody would come in here with my door shut.”

Fallon was surprised. “Even with a teenage girl in here? Your parents are pretty liberal.”

He shook his head. “No, they just trust me. Unfortunately, I don’t trust myself very much right now.” He stood and dragged her close to him once again. “We are together now, Fallon. Don’t try to pull away anymore, okay?”

She nodded. It was all she could do.

“Let’s go. I want you to meet my Uncle Marc. He’s great, you’ll love him.”

Reluctantly, she followed behind him and was grateful that he did not seem to notice her hesitation. How could she explain to him that his uncle was a vile demon? How long he had been so she did not know, but he had been killing women for a very long time.

Animated conversation drifted to her ears as they descended the stairs. Kade’s parents, sister, and relatives were gathered around the television.

“Ssh! Listen,” commanded Mrs. Royce.

The news was on and a pretty newscaster filled the screen. “Police have confirmed that there are still no leads in the disappearance of two local children. Six-year-old, Sammy Hutchinson, was last seen getting off the school bus three weeks ago, and seven-year-old, Carly Cox, went missing just last week from her own backyard. If anyone has any information regarding these two children, please contact Crime Control at the number displayed at the bottom of your screen.”

An image of the children’s crying parents came on next, and their heartfelt pleas were hard to listen to. Mrs. Royce walked over and turned off the television. “What a shame. Right here in Alden. It’s just too shocking to contemplate. I can’t imagine what those families are going through.” She walked toward the kitchen. “If anybody has an appetite left, please sit down at the table. I’ll be right out with the food.”

“I’ll help,” said Chelsea.

Fallon glared at the Kjin. He looked very scholarly in his square glasses, sweater vest, and easy smile, but Fallon had to remind herself that it was not the outside that mattered, it was what lurked inside.

As everybody walked to the dining room, Mr. Royce suddenly remembered his new guest. “Oh, wait, you haven’t met Kade’s friend yet.”

With difficulty, Fallon nodded politely to Marc Ellis and his wife, and then sat in the chair Kade held out for her. Her Kur was a painful flame this close to the Kjin.

She could feel Marc Ellis’ eyes on her. “And, does this lovely creature have a name?” he leered.

His wife seemed indifferent to her husband’s tone, but Kade was not. He threw a scowl at his uncle. “She’s not a creature. Her name is Fallon. Fallon, this is my Uncle Marc, Aunt Ellie, and the four rug rats are Mia, Gino, Joey and Rachel.”

After the greetings, Mrs. Royce came from the kitchen with a platter of ham and soon normal conversation broke out around the table.

Despite Marc Ellis’ constant looks, Fallon enjoyed Kade’s family. They were witty and smart and the conversation jumped from topic to topic.

After the dessert of apple pie, Marc Ellis scraped his chair back and declared to his family that it was time to leave.

With thoughts of the missing children still on her mind, Fallon did the same. She was not going to wait for Anthony to get her an address. She was going to get it herself.

“Thank you, Mr. and Mrs. Royce. It was a lovely dinner, but I must be going, too.”

“Good night, Fallon. We hope you’ll come back to visit again soon.”

“I will.”

Kade frowned. “Are you sure? I was hoping we could hang out for a little while yet.”

She shook her head. “No, I really have to go. See you tomorrow at school, okay?”

He frowned at her. “Wait. I’ll drive you home.”

“No, you said you were going to spend the night here. I’ll be fine, really. See you tomorrow.” She left him to say goodbye to his relatives and slipped out of the door.

Kade entered his bedroom with a frustrated growl. Why did Fallon leave so abruptly? As far as he could tell, she liked him as much as he did her, but something was holding her back. Was she having second thoughts because of his stint in jail? He never did explain to her that it was a set up. Would she believe him? Whatever it was that was bothering her, he was determined to find out. He wanted to know everything about her.

He thrust his fingers through his hair and sat on the bed, his thoughts drifting to Ethan. Selfishly, he wished his best friend was still here to talk to. Granted, Ethan did undergo a major personality change in the last few days of his life, but it was possible he had something going on in his life that Kade knew nothing about. He regretted now that he did not make more of an effort to find out what was going on with his friend. Even behind bars, he could have been there as a sounding board.

Downstairs, the front door slammed shut, and Kade stood from the bed and went to the window. His uncle, aunt and cousins were piling into their black Escalade.

Maybe he should go to Fallon. He really wanted to see her again. He was not lying when he said he felt an powerful connection to her. Even now, he was aching to be near her. Everything seemed drab and gray in comparison to the light of her presence.

As soon as the black SUV started down the street, he started to turn from the window, but a movement caught his eye. He peered back down onto the street. It was Fallon! And, she was running down the street after his relatives’ vehicle.
What is going on?

He ran for the door and then down the steps. “Mom! Dad! Be right back!”

Flying through the front door, he raced down the street. Neither Fallon nor the Escalade was in sight. Was Fallon really following his uncle and aunt? Maybe it just looked that way. The Ellis’ moved into a new cul de sac a month ago about six blocks from his house. He decided to head there to find out.

Pumping his arms and legs for three blocks, he finally caught sight of Fallon and the brake lights of the SUV. She kept to the shadows of the sidewalk and slowed every time the Escalade came to a stop sign.

There was no question now. She was following them.

But, why?

Another vehicle approached. It was a green truck and it pulled up next to Fallon. A young man stuck his head out of the window of the driver’s side. “Hey, beautiful. We’re headed for a party. Why don’t you come with us?”

“No, thanks,” he heard Fallon mumble distractedly.

The car pulled to the curb. “Wait up!”

The man threw the truck in park and opened the door. From the way he stumbled over to Fallon, it was obvious that he had been drinking.

Fallon started to jog away from him, but he ran after her and launched himself at her, taking her to the ground.

Kade cursed under his breath, but before he could act, the drunk went flying through the air and landed on his back in the street.