Knights of Light (The Conjurors Series Book 2)
Read Knights of Light (The Conjurors Series Book 2) Online
Authors: Kristen Pham
of Contents
Knights
of Light
The Conjurors Series
By
Kristen Pham
Text copyright © 2014 Kristen Pham
The dreams were never
exactly the same, but they usually began with Sanguina’s terrified eyes, life
draining out of them the moment before Valerie saved her. Then the ecstatic
burst of power that she released in a torrent she could barely control.
Finally,
a sinking into darkness. The most frightening part was the emptiness inside her
that was in stark contrast to the connection she had with all of life seconds
before, when she had channeled her magic to save her enemy’s life. It was a
familiar, abandoned loneliness that she had run from her entire life.
The
next part of the dream was different every time. She had a choice—give in to
the blackness or fight against it. Sometimes she let herself dissolve into the
darkness until there was nothing left of her, and with that came a kind of
peace, finality. Other times, she struggled back toward light and life. This
choice required monumental effort, but it also led to the knowledge that she
wasn’t really alone anymore.
Always,
no matter what she chose, she knew that she had traded something incalculably
precious for Sanguina’s life, but she didn’t know what it was—some of her
magic, years of her life, a piece of her soul? Then came the pain, emotional
and physical agonies that mirrored each other. Even though she knew it was
coming, she couldn’t stop herself from moaning.
“Come
back, it’s okay, you’re safe now,” Thai’s voice pulled her from the dream. Every
time the nightmare had swept her away over the past four months, he was there,
pushing her sweaty hair back from her forehead. His eyes were deep brown pools
of sympathy.
Whatever she had given up, it was worth it
for that moment.
“Feels
a lot like paradise,” Valerie said, skimming her hand through the cool sand on
the beach in Half Moon Bay, California. The chill in the air stung her cheeks, and
she tipped her head back to soak in some of the warm April sunshine.
“Agreed,”
Thai replied, and he gave her the little half smile like they shared a secret.
Even
though for the past four months, Valerie and her twin brother, Henry, had
technically been hiding from the evil Fractus, they were the best months of her
life. They had been camping with their close friend, Thai, at a remote site, spending
their days walking the beaches, learning about their powers, and plotting their
next move to travel from Earth to the Globe, a world filled with magic.
“I’d
like to stay here forever,” she admitted.
Thai’s
eyes were warm when they met hers. “Me, too. But you know how important it is
for you to go back.”
She
shrugged. “I’m fine.” She was better than fine. She was happier than she’d ever
been, which left her questioning if she really wanted to return to the Globe, a
world that had been created in the center of a black hole for magical beings
called Conjurors. A world she’d had to try to explain to her newfound twin. A
world he, too, would soon have to call home.
She
had tried to explain to Henry what her friend Cyrus had explained to her. Many
centuries ago, magic had existed on Earth, but some chose to abuse their powers
and enslave humans who didn’t have the gift. In order to protect those without
powers, the rest of the Conjurors—the good ones—created the Globe and forced
everyone with magic to leave Earth. Rules were put in place to prevent anyone
born with magic in the future from using their powers.
The
problem was, every now and then, someone—like Valerie—was born with too much
magic. On Earth, that could make you very sick, and ultimately you could die. Such
people had to be transported to the Globe where they could use their magic freely
and live a full life. That was what had happened to Valerie six months ago.
She’d traveled through a portal to the Globe, which was separated from Earth
with a barrier so that no one with magic could ever return. But Valerie somehow
broke that rule when she came back to Earth to save her brother’s life.
“You
may be okay now, but that might not last. Remember, I had to watch you almost
die when your magic was too strong,” Thai reminded her, his forehead creased
with worry. Then, so low she almost didn’t catch it, he added, “Worst three
minutes of my life.”
He
was staring into the surf with a familiar brooding expression on his face, and
she decided to change the subject. “It’s a stupid rule the Conjurors put in
place in the first place. Why repress everyone’s magic on Earth?”
“Power
corrupts,” Thai said grimly. “They were saving humans from being slaves to
magical evil overlords.”
“There’s
got to be a better way.”
“Maybe
you’ll think of one and things can be different. But for now, we have to get
you off the planet. Besides, admit it. You want to use your magic again.”
“I
want to be able to defend myself,” she said with a grin. Her power was her
ability to fight, and it had been incredibly satisfying on the Globe to be able
to protect herself and her friends in a way she was rarely able to on Earth. “And
I know Henry’s curious about how his psychic powers will work.”
Thai
threw a rock into the surf. She couldn’t stop sneaking peeks at his golden tan
and deep brown eyes. He was the best-looking guy she’d ever seen. Even better,
he could make her laugh till she could barely breathe, and he was the first
person in her memory who had taken care of her. It wasn’t up to her to always be
on guard for danger, because she had a partner who would help shoulder the
burden.
As he
leaned in to brush some sand off of her cheek with his thumb, she became a
little breathless. She wondered if the thrilling energy that zinged through her
every time they accidentally touched affected him as well. Suddenly, the sound
of a loud motor interrupted her thoughts.
They
turned toward the ocean in surprise as a girl with long, blonde hair zoomed
through the choppy waves a hundred yards out on a jet ski.
“It’s
early in the year for that. It’s too wavy out there, and the water’s freezing,
even with a wet suit,” Thai said.
The
words were barely out of his mouth when the engine abruptly cut out. They
watched with horror as the girl was smacked from the jet ski by a huge wave.
Valerie
started kicking off her shoes. But Thai stopped her. “I’m the stronger swimmer.”
He
raced down the beach into the water. He expertly dove under the waves toward
the girl, and she picked up his cell and called 911. After she made the call, a
boy with dark hair streaked with silver came running toward her—Henry.
“I
could tell that something was wrong,” he said. Valerie and Henry had always had
an intense mental connection, even before they had met in person. Now that they
had grown to be close as brother and sister, their bond was even stronger. As
hard as they tried not to use their psychic link, since using magic on Earth
made them both sick, sometimes it was impossible to stop the connection.
She
quickly explained what happened, scanning the ocean the entire time for Thai. At
first, she couldn’t spot him. “He could die out there,” she said, a vision of him
being sucked out by one of the notorious rip tides along this stretch of beach making
her heart pound.
“He’s
gonna be okay,” her brother insisted, but he was chewing his thumbnail down to
a nub.
She
strained her eyes down the beach and was flooded with relief when she saw Thai
bent over the girl, giving her CPR. By the time she and Henry reached them, the
girl was coughing up a lungful of water.
“Welcome
back,” Thai said, patting the girl gently on her slender back.
“Thank
you,” she said, turning to him with big blue eyes brimming with tears. She was
around Thai’s age, eighteen, and Valerie could see that even with tears
streaking her face and her hair plastered against her forehead, she was strikingly
beautiful.
“You’re
welcome. Can we help you get back somewhere, um…”
“Logan,”
the girl said. “I’m Logan Sparks.”
“I’m
Thai, and this is Valerie and Henry.”
Loud
sirens screeched from the top of the cliff, and two paramedics hurried down the
stairs. They reached the group and began assessing Logan for injuries. She
appeared to be okay, but they put her on a stretcher to take her to the
hospital anyway.
“We’ll
come with you,” Thai said, but Logan shook her head.
“No,
I’ve put you through enough trouble already. I’ll call my parents and they’ll
meet me there.”
The
paramedics hefted Logan onto a stretcher, and she held out her hand. “How can I
find you again? After this is over? I’d like to thank you properly for saving my
life.”
She
fluttered her eyelashes at Thai, and Valerie was dangerously close to rolling
her eyes. Logan was laying on the damsel-in-distress act pretty thick. She
looked over at Thai, to see if he was buying it, and she saw with relief that
there was a spark of humor in his eyes.
“We’re camping at the site on the top of
this cliff. Stop by anytime to say hi to my friends and me.”
“Do
you think it was safe to tell her where we’re camping?” Henry asked as they
made their way back to their campsite.
Thai
raked his fingers through his wet hair, worried. “You’re right. That was
careless of me.”
“Let’s
not overreact. Don’t turn back into Mr. Paranoid on me again,” Valerie said
with a grin.
“The
last time I was paranoid, it turned out to be a Fractus henchman trying to kill
us all with frog poison!” Thai exclaimed.
“Venu,”
Henry said darkly.
“I’m
never gonna live that down, am I?” she said, trying to lighten the mood, so
that Henry didn’t start reliving the horrific kidnapping that had almost killed
him.
“It’s
only a matter of time before the Fractus find us here. Chisisi can’t get us out
of here soon enough,” Thai said.
They
hadn’t seen Chisisi, who helped protect them on Earth, since he had watched
over them at the Mena House Hotel in Egypt where they had stayed before she had
used the portal at the Great Pyramid to travel to the Globe. Without his help,
she never would have made it there.
“He’s
right, Val,” Henry agreed, and a wave of worry washed from his mind to hers.
“How
would they ever find us? No one other than Henry’s dad and a handful of our
friends on the Globe knows where we are,” Valerie reasoned.
But
despite that fact, an uneasy tingle in the back of her mind warned her that the
Fractus were coming. They had tormented Henry for years, and surely finding him
again was a top priority.
Valerie
squinted toward the tents where they were camping and saw the tell-tale shimmer
of her best friends, Kanti and Cyrus, projecting from the Globe. She, Henry,
and Thai began to jog toward their camp, and she noticed that Henry was smiling
widely.
Valerie
got there first and wished she could give her friends a hug, but they were
mentally projecting themselves to Earth, so she had to settle for giving them
both their signature “air high-fives” that they had invented as an alternative
as long as they were half a universe apart.
Once
everyone was gathered around the tents, Henry, Thai, Kanti, and Cyrus burst
into a loud, off-key rendition of the “Happy Birthday” song. Henry threw back
his head to laugh at the shocked expression on Valerie’s face. This made
Valerie start giggling, too, half with surprise and half at the rare sound of
her brother’s joy.
For
the first time, she noticed a cake, presents, and even a few balloons set up
next to the tents.
“You
did all this?” Valerie gasped, clutching her brother in a tight hug.
“Naturally,
he had help from the best. We have a lot of birthdays to make up for,” Cyrus
said. He knew how lonely her childhood in the foster care system had been,
because he had been her imaginary friend for many years.
Seeing
her friends’ expectant faces, a rush of happiness that she had never known
almost overwhelmed her. It was the first birthday party she had ever had, and
it was perfect.
“It’s
your birthday, too,” Valerie said to her brother. “I can’t believe I forgot.”
“I’ll
forgive you if you let me have the first piece of cake,” he said with a grin.
“Don’t
forget the music for those of us who can’t stuff our faces,” chimed in Kanti,
and Thai pulled out a battery-powered radio and turned it on. The heavy beat of
a Drake song had Kanti busting out some of her legendary dance moves. She was
incredibly graceful when she danced, and it was easy to forget that she looked
like an evil witch in a fairy tale, warts and all.
Henry
laughed and tried to imitate her, but it was quickly clear that he had no
rhythm. Cyrus joined in next, and he was even worse. Valerie was doubled over
with laughter as Thai grabbed her hand and pulled her into the circle, and soon
she was demonstrating her version of the moonwalk.
“Not
bad!” Thai said, and then showed off with a windmill, where he got into a kind
of handstand, bending his arms at the elbows and whirling his legs around in
the air… like a windmill. After that, even Kanti’s mouth was hanging open.
