Dark Calling (44 page)

Nick smiles.  “If it is a question of equality, the Princess i
s equal to no one.  She’s better than all of us
.  S
he comes from a Guardian mother
and undeviatingly from a Watcher.  Nobody else can say that.  I know how special she is.  And I will guard her as such.”

“We are fully aware of where the Princess comes
from,” Principal says.
 
“
I worry that perhaps your commitment
is too zealous.”

“I have sworn to die for her, my commitment cannot run any deeper than that,” Nick scoffs.

The
y sit
in complete silence.
  If someone were to drop a pin, everyone would hear it.
  Keely feels like she should say something in his defense.  They can talk about her, but she isn’t allowed to talk?  She disagrees.  Keely holds up her hand as if she were in class.  “May I say something, please?”

“I don’t see why not,” Coach says with a shrug.  “She’s the reason we’re here.”

Keely squeezes past Bryon and walks quickly to where Nick is seated. 
She takes a deep breath and smoothes her hair. 
“
I just want to say that t
here have been
a lot of attempts on my life, b
ut I’m still here.  Nick has done his job well.  I owe him my life.  He’s great at what he does.  His whole team is.  And if you choose to give me a Guardian after today, I want that Guardian t
o be Nick.  I trust him.  I care about
him.”

“
Very nice, Princess, b
ut
your feelings have little to do with Guardian Wallace’s actions,” Princ
ipal says as if he is tired of hearing
everyone’s voices.

“Princess? 
I am interested in your opinion,” the pretty woman begins.
 
“
If Guardian Wallace were to be placed with another charge, how would you feel about that?  Would
you
accept another Guardian?”

“I would accept t
he Hierarchy’s decision.
I would not feel…happy about it
, but I’d accept it.  I wouldn’
t want another Guardian
, though
.  I’m half Guardian
, so I c
ould just learn to protect myself.  I actually w
ould like to attend school here and train to be someone else’s
Guardian.”

Again, the room breaks out in whispers.  Keely’s face grows warm.  She rubs her arms.  No matter where she goes, she’s the freak.

“We’ll take a break before judgment is passed,” the man in charge declares. 
“
All students need to report back to your classes.
”

Nick guides Keely to the side of the room as
the students clear out.  “Thank
you for speaking on my behalf.”

“I don’t think it did a lot of good.  They don’t seem to like me much.”

“It doesn’t matter if they like you.  They can’t act as if they
feel any specific way.  They’re supposed to be
neutral.”

“How long will it take for them to decide?”

“I have no idea.  Hopefully they do it quickly.  I just want this over with.  I mean, if they want me to resign, I will.  They can’t stop me from being with you.  And if they assign you a new Guardian, you need to take it.  The more protection you have, the better.
”

“I don’t want another Guardian,
”
Keely sulks.

“You can’t go without one.”

“You can teach me how to take care of myself.  Train me to kick ass like you and Bryon and Lila.”

“Keely?”  Nick takes her hand.  “You should have told me about Dustin.”

“Why?  He did what anybody would have done.”

“No
,
he didn’t,” Nick says
,
disgusted.
 
“
We are supposed to be a team.  We work together.  If he had done the right thing, he would have been with me when I found you
and Lila.
”  He shakes his head.
 
“
When I think of Dustin holding you so Apophis could hit you, I just want to kill him.”

“What?”  Bryon stands behind Keely, his face a mask of disbelief.  “What did you just say?”

“Bryon, it’s not like it sounds,” Keely begins, but he cuts her off.

“It soun
ds
like Dustin held you so
your s
i
ck
and
demented Demon brother could
hit you.  Dustin?”

“Nothing wrong with your hearing,” Nick says.  “To the point of unconsciousness, isn’t that right?”

“I only remember him hitting me once.  Then I woke up in that cell.”

“Why did he do it?”
Bryon asks, his voice tight with anger.

Keely explains once again why Dustin was forced to do what he did.  She gives him the short version because her mom and dad make their way over to them.

“
I can’t believe he did that.  I mean, I believe you, I just can’t believe it,” Bryon says.  “If they don’t kill him, I will.”

“They won’t kill him.  Will they?”  Keely puts her hand over her mouth.  If she had thought that, even for a second, she would have lied.

“He’s been branded with treason.  It is punishable by death most of the time,” Nick says.

“He doesn’t deserve to die.  Hasn’t he been punished enough?”

“I kind of want to kill him,” Bryon says casually.

“Ugh.  Stop it.  Both of you.  I would have done the same thing for either one of you.  Would you want me to be sentenced to death?”

“Keely, you need to calm down,” Kimberly says stiffly.  “They can’t hear you speaking pertly about their practices.”

“It’s wrong, M
om.  Who are they to judge?  They are not God.  I unders
tand in some circumstances it may be
necess
ary to kill, but not for what Dustin
did
.  He was tortured.  He lost an eye.  And I’m fine.  He did no permanent damage to anyone but himself.  It isn’t right.”

“If they shouldn’t judge, th
en neither should you.  If his O
ath meant that little to him to disregard it so easily
,
who is to say he won’t do it again? 
You should have told us, Keely.  You’re lucky he hasn’t hurt somebody else already. 
Everything worked out o.k. this time.  But what about next time?
What if the next time he decides someone’s more important than Nick
and
it
costs him his life?  Would
you be so forgiving then?
”

And too much of this little speech makes sense to Keely.  She nods, grinding her teeth.  “I would want to kill him too.  It’s just, nobody
did die.  Can’t they like, un-O
ath him?”

“I’d rather be sentenced to death
than have my Oath revoked
,
” Bryon says quietly.

“They can.  They’
ve done it before,”
her mom states.

“I jus
t find it
hypocritical t
he Hierarchy
may decide I’m too much of a threat and execute me, bu
t
Dustin
jeopardizing my life for Lila’s life may cost him his life
.”

“It’s a different world here,” her mom sighs.

“They
are not going to execute you, H
oney,” Kevin says.

“There is no way.  We would never allow that to happen,” Bryon adds
rigidly
.

The Hierarchy enters the room and take
s
their seats, same as before.  There are few people still in
the surrounding
seats, but the room has drastically cleared out.  Keely recognizes one man from Friday.  He came with Nick as part of his search party.  The rest she’s never seen before.  They all take their seats and wait for a ruling.

“We are unable to make a definitive decision about Guardian Wallace until we understand more about you, Princess.  Please come forward and take conference with us,” the man announces.

So this is it.  It’s her turn
.  She rises and as Nick moves to stand, she puts her hand out.  “I need to do this alone.”  She places he
rself in the chair in front of t
he Hierarchy.  He
r
stomach churns with nerves, but she tries to appear at ease.  She
reminds herself she
has nothing to
hide. 

“Princess, has the extraordinary circumstances surrounding you
r life
been
thoroughly explained to you?” the p
retty woman asks.

“That my real father is the Demon King?  That he was
a Watcher, the only fallen Watcher that didn’t return to Heaven?  That I am
the only
known
living daughter born directly from the bloodline of an Angel?”

The pretty w
oman smiles.  “Your Guardian keeps you well informed.  Do you under
stand how special you are
?”

Keely shrugs.  She doesn’t feel special, but this is what everyone tells her.  “I guess so.”

“When some
one has a parent
from an Arch
Angel bloodline, this person takes the title White Warrior.
  Curr
ently
they are our most valued
lineage
.
Long
, long
ago, if an Angel married another Angel’s offspring,
a Watcher, or a Guardian,
their children were also
very special.  They were given the title
Doyenne. 
These children were believed to have been sent from the Heavens in order to shepherd man.  Obviously over the years, these children have died, forcing the Doyenne into extinction.  It is a term no longer used until now.  You, Princess, are a Doyenne.  So you see, you are not a Guardian
, nor are you a Watcher.  What we must discover is if you are here to lead the Angel
’
s children, or the Demon
’
s.”

Keely can feel every eye in the room on her.  Feel the weight of their stares.  “I don’t think I’m here to lead anyone.  You see
,
whe
n we were in the Demon realm, someone
found a book.  A Demon Grimoire.  I was able
to read it.  M
y real f
ather
made sure he had daughters.  He did this because he knew he needed his daughter to fulfill a prophecy.”  She
tries very hard not
to fidget.  “I’
m here to bring Heaven and Hell to Earth.  But
I don’t want to do that. 
I saw what it looks like.  I saw what will happen.  It’s the most horrible thing you can ever imagine.  I have people here that I love very much.”  Tears fill Keely’s eyes.  “I don’t want to hurt them.”

“Princess, are you clai
ming you have no alliance with t
he Demon King?” Nick’s dad asks. 

Keely feels as if he is steering her in a specific direction. 
Feels as if she should follow. 
“Yes, sir.  I have no alliance with my father.  I do not want an alliance with him ever.
”

“You’ve been very forthcoming.  The prophecy does not help your case,” the man in charge says.

“Yes, I know, but
I can’
t do this on my ow
n.  I need your help.  How can t
he Hierarchy help me if they don’t know what I need help with?”
 
 

The man smiles.  “Indeed.”

“How do we know this isn’t a trick?  Some plan you and your father devised to earn our trust?” Principal questions.

“I’m not that clever.  Or that crazy.  And honestly, I could have gone and hidden in a Demon realm.  I could have kept this information from you.  Or I could have just fulfilled the prophecy,” Keely says curtly.  “I came here.  I asked for your help.
  That should be proof enough.”

“I’d like to hear more about this prophecy,” Coach announces.

Twenty-Eight
:

She watches him sleep.  He snores peacefully.  No sign of pain.  No sign of anger.  Not one spec of guilt found anywhere on his face.  His sweet face she loves so much.  Tears swell in her eyes until he blurs out of her vision.

Lila moves closer to his bed silently.  Part of her wants to wake Dustin up.  Beg him to tell her it isn’t true.  T
hat he didn’t do the things he’
s accused of, but she knows it would be a lie.  Knows in her heart that he did it.  All of it.  How has she been so blinded?  How could she, of all people, not know he was insincere every time he told her he loved her?  Every time he kissed her, hugged her, touched her.  It was all lies.  The lips, the arms, the hands of a traitor.