Chapter One
A Week Later
Ikelia
The kettle on the stove whistled in the silence.
I poured the boiling water in the mug. Steam rose and swirled around my face, and I realized it had been exactly one week since the war with Cyrus, the lord of the possessor demons. The angels from Crossroads and the united supernatural beings of Hawaii—witches, vampires, and mixed breeds, helped bring down a tyrannical monster.
The supernatural beings called the Chosen Knights, including Davin, Lucia, Zackary, Brody, Malini, Jack, Eli—my son—and Abel, may he rest in peace, astral traveled to the past. They followed the Knights Templar to locate the three missing pages from Jacques de Molay’s journal, which led to a treasure.
I pulled my favorite tea from the cabinet and dropped a few dried chrysanthemum flowers in the hot water. When the petals opened up, it reminded me of the treasure the Chosen Knights had found—a simple crystal cut like an edelweiss flower. When the crystal opened up, the Knights Templars’ spirits had flowed out.
The Knights Templars’ spirits had glowed with beauty and righteousness. It was an honor to have fought alongside them. They helped end the brutal fight between good and evil that left Hawaii in tatters.
Cyrus had been searching for the same treasure. What would have happened if he had found it first? Perhaps opening the treasure would have meant his doom. Or would the Knights Templar have sided with Cyrus, recognizing him as their master?
I stared out the kitchen window, cradling my hot tea between chilly hands. As I was about to take a sip, something buzzed on my granite kitchen counter and scared the living daylights out of me. I jerked back and barely avoided spilling the scalding tea on my shirt and my long brown skirt.
Damn that phone.
Eli had gotten me a cell phone, and for the life of me I couldn’t figure it out, even though he’d taught me the functions countless times. I was born and raised when we rode horses to travel from town to town and a letter might take weeks.
I didn’t bother to learn or use most high-tech stuff. Simple. That was how I liked things. Who needed technology when magic was so much better? And who needed computers and cars… Well, maybe I needed a car to get around sometimes; however, I didn’t live in the city, but on the hills of the big Island of Hawaii with my horses.
Or I could teleport.
I finally took a drink when my heart settled to a steadier beat as my phone screen flashed for what seemed like forever. Davin was texting me. Non-stop texting. This guy was on speed or something. The texts came fast, one after the other.
Speed was the word Davin used to describe Jack, the teenager who happened to live next door to him, who happened to be a descendant of Jacques de Molay.
Davin: You asked to see me.
Davin: I’m on my way.
Davin: Hello.
Davin: Why don’t you answer?
Davin: Hello
Davin: If you’re not home when I get there, I’m letting you know I’m going to wait outside. By the door. No. I’ll let myself inside. Wait. I don’t have the key.
Davin: Did I tell you that I don’t like waiting?
Davin: Hello?
Davin: Do you have your phone off? Cause you should turn it on. It’s rude to make me wait for an answer.
Davin: Your horse is staring at me.
Davin: I’m waiting at your front door now.
I had enough of the phone beeping and vibrating on my counter, so I opened the door. Davin was still texting so I cleared my throat.
Davin held up a finger without looking at me. “Hold on. Let me finish this text.”
Seriously? I suppressed a smile, crossed my arms, and leaned against the doorway. He looked different than the last time I’d seen him and I was trying to figure out what had changed. Ah, that’s it. He had gelled his hair back, which made his cheekbones more prominent.
As if he sensed my scrutiny, the dark eyebrows framing his emerald eyes hiked up.
He wore jeans and a T-shirt with a rock band’s name on it. Sometimes he looked so human, even acted like one, that no one would know what a powerful angel he was.
Davin’s facial structure was soft around the eyes and mouth but hard at the jawline. He had a muscular body and a handsome, symmetrical face, like all angels. But his manner wasn’t like other angels I’d come across before. He could be rude, obnoxious, weird, and cunning, but my son looked up to him.
If it hadn’t been for Davin and his Chosen Knights, I might still be in my prison, moving from realm to realm at Cyrus’s whim. He and his Knights reunited me with my son. All of that added up to gratitude—the reason I tolerated his strange behavior and didn’t turn him into a frog. Waiting was not my forte.
My phone beeped.
Davin: Hello. I see you now. You’re staring at me. I don’t like it.
I shook my head and yanked him inside my cozy, humble home. He smelled like chips and salsa. Always chips and salsa.
“You have a texting addiction. Or chips and salsa addiction. Have a seat.”
Davin stumbled forward and anchored his feet to the wooden floor. “Did you say sexting or texting? Because those are two different things.” He waggled his eyebrows and brushed his hand to straighten his shirt by his collarbone where I had gripped a second ago.
I rolled my eyes with exaggeration. “You know what I said. Don’t put words in my mouth.”
I had forgotten to add “flirting” to the list of Davin’s character traits.
“One cannot put words in another person’s mouth.” Davin shoved his phone inside his back pocket. “You can put objects, but not words.”
I gazed up to the wood panels on the ceiling and headed to the kitchen. He needed a lesson on figure of speech. When it became too quiet, I took a quick peek.
Davin sniffed the air. “Edelweiss flowers?”
“Yes, but not real flowers. Candles from my bedroom,” I said, coming out with two mugs of tea. “The real ones are stored in a special place.” Locked away in my workroom, where I kept my crystals, herbs, and books.
He’s gaze shifted from the kitchen, hallway, and around the family room, and then he finally planted himself on the black leather sofa. He always sniffed for demons, even in a safe environment.
I understood his precaution very well. We’d both learned that from experience.
Davin furrowed his brow. “So … you think I have a texting addiction? You only say that because you barely know how to use a phone. It comes in quite handy. So, what can I help you with?”
So blunt, but he made me laugh.
I placed a mug on the table, and then I sat across from him and held out the pendant around my neck. The clear crystal was cylinder-shaped and about the size of my pinky.
“I haven’t been able to get Eligor out of this Keeper crystal. I’ve tried everything to bring my husband back, but I can’t do it. I’m missing something.”
Eligor and I had set a trap to capture Cyrus, his older brother, and put Cyrus inside the crystal, but Cyrus had been one step ahead and tricked us. Halina, who I once considered my sister, had backstabbed me and helped Cyrus.
Cyrus took the extra step and locked his brother’s essence inside his body. When Cyrus was finally defeated, I drew Eligor’s soul out into the crystal in hopes of bringing him back.
Davin tapped at the mug, glancing up to the ceiling with his lips twisted to the corner as if in thought. “So your husband …” He rubbed at his temple. “It’s been a week. You haven’t been able to get him out? It’s no wonder you haven’t introduced him. After all, I figured you would want to tell him how great I am.”