Read Online ARC: Cracked by Eliza Crewe - Free Book Online

one likes you. Your dad, Elijah, and my dad are brothers. Your mom, Becka, became a Templar when they married, so you have lots of normal non-Templar cousins.”
    “And a weird name,” adds the kid named Uriel. Seriously.
    I’m lost. “What?”
    They explain that Templars descended from the original Knights Templar, a religious order formed in the twelfth century. Their original goal was to protect pilgrims who wanted to visit the holy lands. Pilgrims were often good people willing to risk their lives to worship God. Some of them even had the potential to improve the world – Beacons. Demons figured this out and started picking them off, not that they needed a lot of help in those dark and dangerous days.
    To even the odds, the original core group of Templars were granted special abilities by heaven along with special responsibilities – defeat demons, protect Beacons. The problem was, they were good at their job. Too good, though they managed to keep the reason a secret. Religious and world leaders took interest and started using the Templars for their own purposes. They forced them to recruit new members to expand their ranks, but these new members weren’t given the secrets or powers that the originals and their descendants had. Eventually they were infiltrated by evil people controlled by demons and the whole thing went awry. The original Templars tried to restore its original purpose and, as a result, were violently disbanded in the fourteenth century. Many were executed, but some escaped underground. The surviving descendants regrouped. So only descendants of the originals have special powers.
    “Oh, and anyone who marries a Templar,” Uri adds.
    “But how?” I ask.
    They all blink at me.
    Finally Uri answers, “Because God says so.”
    Fair enough.
    “Templars are born with minimal extra powers – a little stronger, a little faster – until we undergo a ceremony on our thirteenth birthday,” Jo continues.
    “Some descendants of the original Templars are still out there, but they just don’t know what they are,” Chi explains, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees. “We try to keep an eye out and bring them back into the fold when we spot them. Usually families where all the kids have uncanny athletic ability. Unfortunately, sometimes we can’t get to them soon enough.”
    “Do the demons get them?”
    “Sometimes, but sometimes it’s fame.”
    “Fame?” Now that’s an enemy I wouldn’t mind catching me.
    “Yeah, like Serena and Venus Williams,” Chi says. “We’re pretty sure they’re Templars.”
    “Or Peyton and Eli Manning,” adds Uri and Chi nods.
    “Their profiles are way too high to bring them in now.” Chi shakes his head in regret. Somehow I doubt the superstar millionaires are as disappointed not to have traded their lives for a short, violent one accompanied by a vow of poverty.
    “Are Templars ever Beacons?” I ask.
    Chi thinks about it then shakes his head. “Not that I’ve ever heard of.”
    “In any case,” good ol’ Jo, keeping us on track, “on our thirteenth birthday, or when they are otherwise brought in, we undergo a ceremony when we come into the Inheritance and get all our super abilities. Or in Emma’s case, don’t.”
    “So I won’t be expected to have any super abilities?”
    “Nope. Maybe just a little extra athleticism.” Chi winks. “We’ll make sure no one asks you to play a sport.”
    This seems like the perfect opportunity to wrest more prudent information on my natural enemies. “So what kind of special abilities do Templars get during the ceremony?”
    Chi and Uri both open their mouths to answer but Jo cuts them off, her sharp eyes on my face. “It doesn’t matter, you don’t have any.”
    Blast. It’s becoming quite clear I’ll have to lose my darling cuz in order to get more information. I only have a week and it’d take longer than that to get her to trust me. I wonder if she traded her leg for extra