Shadow of Death: Book Two of the Chosen Chronicles (9 page)

“
Ugh. If you won
’
t get an iPod or at least a CD player, I swear I will,
”
complained Fernando, Master of Britain.

“
Oh, quit your complaining,
”
countered the Mistress of Britain.
“
I think it
’
s nice.
”

“
If you
’
re a mouse.
”

A smile tugged at the corners of Notus
’
face and he turned around to face his houseguests. It was the same thing year after year, but only when Bridget and her Chosen deigned to join them at his place.

Fernando lounged in the large green leather chair, its ottoman tilted to one side under the crossed Italian shoed feet of the Noble. For the umpteenth time he pushed away one of the pine branches from sticking out close to his head. Again the tree snapped back the decorated limb, making the whole tree wiggle and the lights flicker.

“
If the tree is bothering you, then move.
”
Bridget sat at the end of the matching green couch closest to Fernando, her slim pale legs curled under her despite the blue sequinned dress that hugged her body. Her long blonde hair curled loosely around her shoulders.

“
No,
”
harrumphed the Noble. A dying tree gaudily made to twinkle at him would not force the Master of Britain from his spot. He grabbed the offending branch and twisted it away from him. The snap as the wood gave way under the Chosen
’
s strength surprised the Noble as he came away with the decorated limb.

Bridget sharply exhaled through her nose and shook her head. Fernando was, typically, being Fernando.

The smile on the monk
’
s face fell for a moment before turning into a grin at the shocked expression on the young man. Walking over, Notus took the branch from Fernando and gave it a look over before giving it back to the Noble.

“
You broke it, you fix it,
”
grinned Notus.

“
And how, pray tell, do you expect me to do that?
”
Fernando
’
s brown eyes glared up at hazel.

“
Oh Fernando, it
’
s easy.
”
Bridget uncurled herself and took the branch in her small delicate hand and started to pick the decorations off of it. Gliding around the tree, she found areas on it where greenness outweighed gaudy. With artistic precision she added to the tree
’
s bulk until the broken branch laid bare in her hand.

“
Ah, my dear, you are ever able to bring beauty to every occasion,
”
remarked Notus as he took the naked branch.

Bridget smiled and sat down, resuming her curled position.

Since his and the boy
’
s return to London about a decade ago,
Notus enjoyed having Fernando and Bridget over for the holidays.
It was nice to finally settle back into a life of peace after over a century of moving from one country to the next as the Angel was called to hunt down and exterminate the Vampires.

It had been hard on the boy. Notus could see and sense it. At first, when the Grand Council declared that the Angel of Death was to be their instrument to clear away the threat of genocide by the Vampires, the boy had accepted it with relish. It was the perfect opportunity to exact his revenge against those that had done so much harm to the ones he loved. It was also a way to make sure that no matter where he travelled, no Master or Mistress would seek his Destruction. Even Hugo, Master of France, had relinquished his demands for the Angel
’
s execution for being different.

It was after the third encounter with a group of Vampires in Italy that the Angel began to lose heart. It was not so much that he no longer wanted to exterminate the Vampires, but they were now placing their mortal servants into the mix and the Angel was reluctant to kill these innocent humans. His sentimentality nearly killed him in Germany, when the humans outnumbered their Vampire masters, but kill them the Angel did. It was then that his slaughters, using those demons, became more prominent. The regret in the Angel
’
s soul blossomed.

Notus knew what made the Angel hesitate, what ate at him even as he killed Vampire and mortal alike. It was the understanding that when the Angel looked at these people, he knew that his lost love could have ended like any one of them. The boy would look into the crowd and see people that had mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, children, turned into mindless slaves by creatures bent upon their dominance and the Chosen
’
s destruction. His heart broke every time he killed them as they were forced to try and kill him.

Nearly a century of scouring Europe clean of the Vampires had darkened the Angel
’
s soul and both were glad when they returned to England where friends awaited them. The condition for returning to London was that the Angel would not go to the courthouse again to stand before the British Chosen. If they wanted to talk with him, they would have to move to a new      location. The agreement Notus had to make was to ensure they would not move back to the district where they had once lived and Jeanie had been their maid and the Angel
’
s beloved.

It was said that time heals all wounds. It was true, but if one did not constantly pick at them.

Notus placed the naked pine branch under the tree next to the presents expertly decorated in a myriad of tasteless colour combinations. He would have to figure out what to do with the limb since his two bedroom flat did not come with a fireplace. Modern technologies and conveniences lent towards the diminishment of simple heart warming experiences, and it seemed that fireplaces were one of the first things to go in tenements such as this.

Frosty the Snowman
had given way to Bing Crosby
’
s
White Christmas
and Notus sat down in the matching green lounge chair at the other end of the couch. The night was perfect except that the boy was, as usual, late.

“
So when do you expect him?
”
asked Fernando, checking his gold Gucci wristwatch. Snapping his arm down so as to allow the black and silver pinstripe Armani shirt to flow over his wrist, the   Noble settled himself with a disgruntled smirk.

Notus glanced at the clock beside the front door and grimaced. The boy had called before morning to say he was staying the day. Despite the monk
’
s protestations the Angel said he would return shortly after sundown to see Notus off for Midnight Mass. It took another call from the boy to say that he would be back after Mass, but that was now over an hour ago.

“
He
’
ll be here,
”
offered Notus, silently wondering if the boy was trying to evade being around his friends. It was common. Fernando and Bridget understood it to a point. The Angel still found it uncomfortable to be around other Chosen even though he had mastered his empathic abilities. It was his otherness that kept him apart. Even after all these decades it was still hard for the boy to accept that others did not see him that way
–
much.

“
Have you decided whether you and the Angel are going to join us for New Years this year?
”
asked Bridget. She shifted on the green leather, making it squeak, so that she could see her host.

“
I hope we do, my dear, but I want to let the boy decide. It
’
s never gone well when I
’
ve thrust him into the spotlight.
”

“
Tell him that it
’
s an order from the Master of Britain,
”
grumbled Fernando. The Noble knew how well that would go over with his tall pale friend, but the Angel would do it nonetheless.

“
Fernando!
”
exclaimed Bridget, pushing back loose locks behind a diamond-studded ear.

“
What?
”
replied the Noble, innocently.
“
It
’
s going to be the first and only New Year’s party he
’
ll be attending before he and the Good Father head off to the colonies, which, by the way is the stupidest move I
’
ve ever heard any Chosen making in their lives!  What the hell were you thinking when you decided to go there?
”

Notus huffed. He had been expecting it from his friends, but did not think it would come up tonight of all nights. Then again, the piles of boxes with permanent marker scrawled over them would make anyone question this move.

“
Fernando,
”
warned Bridget. Regardless of the fact that they were Master and Mistress they also knew that the Good Father was the oldest Chosen they knew of. It was never a good idea to berate one
’
s Elders.

“
No, seriously,
”
replied Fernando, his ire up. It was a topic he wanted to bring up for some time, but never had the opportunity since the Angel would not talk about it. Instead, he closed up and shut down as was usual for him.
“
He
’
s done his work for the  Chosen. He
’
s forced the Vampires from Europe, killing as many as possible. There
’
s an uneasy peace now between us. They have the Americas and we have the rest of the world. Don
’
t either of you know what you two can cause by going there?
”

“
Fernando.
”
Bridget
’
s warning tones grew louder.

“
No, Bridget,
”
snapped the Noble.
“
If they go, they will make themselves targets of the Vampires and we will not be able to help. You weren
’
t there last time.
”

Silence reigned down upon the Christmas revellers. There was no escaping what Fernando was referring to.

“
I was there when you brought the Angel home,
”
whispered Bridget.

“
But you weren
’
t there to take him down from the manacles that shredded through his wrists. You weren
’
t there to see his back flayed open with scorch marks and...
”
Fernando shuddered involuntarily.
“
You didn
’
t see. What you saw was two weeks of recovery. Do you think that the Vampires will do any less than that to him after all he has done to them in the last century?
”