Netherworld, Soul Guardians Book 4 (3 page)

Kara squeezed her friend back gently.
“I missed you too, Jenny. I’m glad to be back. Any idea why we were
called back so soon?”

Jenny released Kara and stepped back.
“Nope. But I’m sure we’ll find out soon enough. Whatever is
happening—it must be big. They’re all tight-lipped about
it.”

With an exaggerated pout, David lifted
his arms and pretended to hug the air before him. “What? Don’t I
get a hug, too?” Jenny ignored him and sat back down
giggling.

Kara squeezed Peter’s shoulder. “Hi,
Peter. It’s nice to see you again.”

“
Hi, Kara. Same here.”
Peter smiled and lowered his eyes.

After David and Peter exchanged a
complex hand-shake, Kara looked around. A large woman sat at the
head of the table. She was stunning, which shouldn’t have come as a
surprise to Kara. The archangels were known to be beautiful. Her
toffee colored eyes studied Kara and David. The woman pushed back
her chair and stood up gracefully. Short tight curls bounced
lightly above her head like soft springs. She wore black cargo
pants tucked into a pair of shiny black boots and a short-sleeved
black shirt, which blended beautifully with her mocha colored skin.
Her full lips spread into a smile.

“
You must be Kara
Nightingale and David McGowan,” said the woman, her voice smooth
and rich. Kara instantly liked her. “Welcome back. I am the
archangel Ariel—the new commanding officer for the Department of
Defense. I am very pleased to finally meet you. I have heard many
great things about you both. I hear you possess
remarkable
individual talents. And I
look forward to observing them. Please, sit down.”

Obediently, Kara seated herself into
an empty seat opposite Jenny and Peter and waited. David flung
himself in an empty chair and placed his feet up on the table with
his hands interlaced behind his head. Ariel didn’t seem to take
notice. She watched Kara, who tried to level her eyes with the
archangel but forced herself to look away.

“
I’m sure you must be
wondering why the GAs that were on Earth have been summoned back so
soon.” Ariel paced around the table calmly. Heads bobbed up and
down in agreement. “As you might already suspect, we have a serious
problem on our hands.”

Kara shifted nervously in her seat.
She pressed her hands on her legs. What had prompted the legion to
call them back so soon? What was this serious problem? Asmodeus was
dead. She had killed her own father months ago, and had nearly lost
her soul in the process. She remembered it as if it were yesterday.
Perhaps it was. She could still remember his ugly triumphant grin
right before she stabbed herself with the inferno blade. How
surprised he had been—he had never expected it. His body had been
consumed in golden fire. She remembered his scream over the
crackling fire that consumed his body. He was not coming back after
that. It was impossible. Or was it?

Could a new threat have
surfaced so quickly? She recalled the chief’s words when she had
visited him—
where there is good there will
always be evil
. The mortal world and
theirs would always be at risk of new evil. Demons and angels
coexisted. It was just a matter of time before evil resurfaced. She
just hadn’t expected it to be so soon.

She stole a quick glance over at David
who winked at her. She rolled her eyes. Clearly, David was up for
some action. She envied his calm resolve.

The archangel Ariel halted and clasped
her hands in front of her. She regarded the group thoughtfully for
a moment. “We have been made aware of a new situation in the mortal
world,” began the archangel. Kara cringed as Ariel’s eyes rested on
her again. A coolness rushed inside her head, and she suppressed a
shiver. She sensed a presence in her mind. It was as though Ariel
could see right through her and read her most intimate thoughts.
Ariel’s eyes widened. “Which is precisely the reason why we have
called upon your services once again, Kara Nightingale.”

Kara drew back as all eyes fixed on
her. She studied Ariel’s face for a sign of what was to come, but
she could see nothing. She wiggled in her seat. Her fingernails
gouged her thighs. She hated to be the center of attention. The
tension in the room was unbearable. She could practically see the
silence spread through the entire chamber. Every single angel in
CDD waited anxiously to hear what Ariel had to say. Two young women
Kara did not recognize held hands, their eyes wide with fear. It
appeared everyone wanted to hear why the new threat involved Kara
specifically. She bit her bottom lip and prepared herself for what
the archangel would say next.

Ariel leaned forward. “Our
Scouts have identified a new
elemental
.”

Whispers spread along the great table.
Curious eyes met Kara’s. And by the befuddled look in some of the
others, she wasn’t entirely sure they were thrilled to be sitting
next to her. She heard her name murmured once or twice. She kept
her eyes down until the sound tapered off. She felt angry, but she
wouldn’t let her emotions get the best of her, especially now. It
would only make matters worse. Let them stare away. She did her
best to ignore the whispers.

Only a small group of people knew what
had really happened that night in the cemetery last year. She
remembered the tear stricken face of the little boy she had plucked
from the hands of the demon lord, Asmodeus. She had held him close
as his tiny body shivered against her. She knew that she was
unique—she had been the only angel capable of withstanding the
touch of the elemental. That was when she had learned about her own
exceptional power. It seemed so long ago now.

“
We know of her existence,”
said Ariel, “and as we know with any elemental being, she’s in
great danger of being tortured for her untamable power. We cannot
allow her to fall into enemy hands. She must be
protected.”

She
, repeated Kara in her head. This time the elemental was a
girl. Kara frowned and wondered where her mortal mother was. Did
the mother know she had given birth to a supernatural
being?

“
She has managed to avoid
capture by the demons so far, but it won’t be very long until she
is within their grasp and lost to us forever. We cannot allow that
to happen. We have already witnessed the devastation that the enemy
can cause when elemental power falls into their hands. The legion
has suffered enough.

The High Council has specifically
asked for our help in this matter, and we will not fail them.”
Ariel’s voice rang throughout the chamber. Although Ariel was
smaller than her male counterparts, Kara was sure that Ariel was a
force to be reckoned with when she got angry.

Ariel straightened herself and cocked
her head towards Kara. “Kara is the only one who can touch the
elemental. A single touch from an elemental would destroy an
ordinary angel, so Kara’s special talents are essential to this
mission. This assignment is entrusted to you, Kara…and to your
team.”

Without realizing it, Kara
nodded in acceptance. She knew she was the only one suited for the
job. With the demon lord gone, she didn’t think retrieving an
elemental kid would be difficult. She and her friends could take
care of a few demons. She sat straighter in her seat, and ignored
the scrutinizing eyes around her.
Yes,
she knew she was no ordinary
angel. She was different. And she was proud to be different. It
made her special.

“
Your teammates are...”
Ariel pointed with a long finger to the different faces across the
table and then rested on her friends. “Jenny, Peter, and David. The
four of you have proven that you excel as a team. We need the very
best on this assignment. You cannot fail. In any event, you will
each receive a pair of sparks. Use them wisely.”

Kara locked eyes with Jenny, who gave
Kara a reassuring smile. Kara smiled back. She couldn’t ask for a
better team. With Peter’s brains, Jenny’s self-assuredness, and
David’s adept fighting skills, they were an unstoppable force. They
were going to recover the elemental. She was sure of it—a piece of
cake.

Ariel raised her voice slightly as she
addressed the team. “We have pinpointed her last location to
Boston, Massachusetts. We believe she’s hiding in a youth safe
house. You will begin your search there. If you succeed in finding
the girl—a group of Sensitives is on standby and ready to take the
elemental into their care as soon as she is safe with
you.”

“
Sounds great.” David
cracked his knuckles and tapped the table with his hands. “When do
we start? I’ve been meaning to kick some serious demon butt. I’m
thinking it’s payback time for all the sh—” Ariel raised her
eyebrows, and it was enough to silence David.

The archangel’s face changed. Her
expression became serious. “There is something else. Our Scouts
have felt a dark presence around the elemental, something evil
lurks around her…almost like a shield or guardian. They were unable
to give us more details about this dark aura. But one thing is for
sure…they’ve never sensed anything like it before.”

“
Do you think she’s
marked?” Kara remembered her own experience with the demon mark. It
hadn’t been very pleasant. The legion had been very quick to pass
judgment on her. What if this poor girl suffered that same fate and
ended up in Tartarus too? “If she is…it’s not her fault. You can’t
blame her for something out of her control. She’s just a kid. An
innocent kid.” Kara’s voice rose before she could control it. She
knew she had everyone’s full attention now. She didn’t care. She
wouldn’t stand for another incident in which an innocent was blamed
for a demon’s touch. Not again.

Ariel’s eyes were filled with
tenderness. “I understand how you feel, Kara. This must be very
difficult to hear, but you were an exception. You are an angel—she
is a mortal. We just can’t say for sure whether this child has been
compromised, and we can’t afford to take any chances with her. The
dark presence emanating from this child is something new, according
to the Scouts. They don’t know what it is—except that it feels
evil—extremely evil...and dangerous.”

“
I don’t like the sound of
that,” whispered Jenny, as she tried to make eye contact with Kara
but to no effect.

Anger and fear welled inside Kara. She
squeezed her hands into fists until she couldn’t feel her fingers
anymore. This all sounded a lot like what had happened to her. The
legion had already labeled this poor girl as a freak. Just like
her. They had no proof other than what the Scouts said they felt.
What if they were wrong? What then? What were they going to do with
her once she was in their hands? Kill her? If she was as dangerous
as the archangel had informed them, she doubted whether they were
going to hand her off peacefully to the Sensitives. No, she was
sure they had other plans.

The unfairness of the
situation fed a wild rage inside her. A hot tremor rolled down her
back, and Kara strained to subdue her own power. This little girl
was innocent. She wasn’t a
thing
—but a frightened mortal girl
who needed help. Kara had to protect her. She had to find her
before the legion did. She wasn’t sure what she would do with the
girl once she had her, but she would figure it out later. One thing
was certain—she wasn’t going to let them touch a single hair on her
head—no matter what.

The archangel looked
directly into Kara’s eyes. “Kara. Please understand. We only want
to help. This is a very
delicate
situation, and we trust you will not fail us. You
must be very careful. Never let your guard down. We do not know
what surrounds the elemental. We know it’s evil, but we don’t know
what it can do to
you—
specifically. Do you understand?”

Kara met her eyes. “I understand. I
won’t let my guard down.” Her tone was rough, and she didn’t regret
it.

Uncertainty tinted Ariel’s face for a
moment. She searched Kara’s face and then recovered quickly with a
sigh. “Good. I want everyone back safe within two hours. Let’s go
people. Get to it!”

Everyone jumped to their feet
excitedly. Kara watched Ariel walk way and wondered what she would
have looked like if she had accepted the Chief’s proposal of
becoming an archangel, too. Would she have been as beautiful and
fearsome as Ariel? Or more demure, like the soft-spoken, but
traitorous Cassiel? She wasn’t sure if she’d have a choice in the
matter. Perhaps you would just become a bigger version of yourself.
She would never find out.

Kara knew that the legion needed her
unique talents for this special assignment. She didn’t plan on
failing them—but she wasn’t going to hand them the girl either. Not
until she first found out personally what this dark presence was.
Then she would decide what she was going to do with the elemental
girl. What was this new darkness Ariel spoke of? Although fear
crept into her mind at the possibilities of what the darkness might
be, the need to save the girl surpassed everything else. Something
deep inside told her that the elemental was innocent, and that the
evil presence was after her.

“
Kara! You coming or what?”
David yelled from the weapons wall. He pocketed two soul blades, a
firestone, and a moonstone before heading towards the Vega
tanks.