volunteer thing with Tegan this morning.”
She smiled as she pulled a box of cereal from the cabinet. “She’s the friend who planned Nadia’s vigil, right?” I nodded. “What are you doing?”
I crossed my fingers under the table. “Going to a soup kitchen. We’re helping to serve meals.”
She froze. “A soup kitchen here in Warwick?”
I considered lying, but Diane knew the area really well, and she’d figure it out. “No, um … Pawtucket.”
Her smile evaporated as she closed the cupboard and turned to face me. “Haven’t we talked about this? I don’t want you in that area. Every night there are more sightings. I just heard that a homeless man was mauled to death by something last night, right around there!”
I shrugged even though my heart was beating really hard. “But all that stuff’s going on at night, and we’ll be there in the middle of the day. With a lot of other people. Doing good.” And maybe spotting a Mazikin or two . If they were really attacking the homeless, whether to possess their bodies or to steal their supplies, maybe a homeless shelter was the best place for the Guards to be.
Diane folded her arms over her chest. “Can’t you do good somewhere else?”
“Diane, I’m going to be with a group of other kids, surrounded by responsible adults. This shelter serves meals to people who are homeless.” I cleared my throat. “If it hadn’t been for you, I might have been on the streets, too. So maybe I’d like to give back.”
It was absolutely true, but even so I worried I was laying it on a little thick. Then I saw that her eyes had gone all shiny. She turned away and wiped at them. “You can go, baby. Just be careful, okay? I couldn’t handle it if anything happened to you.”
Now my eyes were probably getting shiny. I swallowed the lump in my throat. “Thanks.” I got up and set my cereal bowl in the sink. “You don’t have to worry about me,” I said quietly.
Her laughter was brief and raspy. “The hell I don’t.” She waved at the door. “Have fun. Do good.”
I didn’t need to be told twice. I was pulling into the driveway of the Guard house about fifteen minutes later. I tromped up the steps and knocked, but no one answered, so I let myself in. Malachi had left a note for me on the kitchen table. I smiled at the tiny, neat script. And then I processed the words: Jim has not returned. Henry and I are training in the basement. Come down.
I groaned. We were supposed to pick up Tegan in an hour, and one of my Guards was still missing. And, with a twinge of guilt, I realized I wasn’t that broken up about it. Maybe we’d be better off without him. Not the most charitable thought I’d ever had, but there it was. Jim was a problem, and I had too many of those already. I could only hope Raphael and the Judge would realize that assigning him to this mission had been a mistake.
I paused at the top of the stairs, listening to the sharp breaths and grunts of my Guards sparring. The basement of the Guard house was a near-perfect replica of the training room used by the Guards in the dark city, except the light was provided by halogen bulbs instead of gas lamps, and it was about a third the size. Malachi had told me that Raphael sometimes opened some kind of door to the Shadowlands down here, and that the morning after we’d arrived on Earth, Michael, the Guards’ weapons supplier, had done the same. I guessed it was something only angels could do because the foul-tempered fat man had magically appeared, along with his entire blacksmith’s forge and a respectable arsenal. Along the far wall, staffs, knives, and sharp things I didn’t even recognize hung in orderly rows. Cloth dummies were clumped together in a corner. The floor was covered with a thick rubber mat, soft enough that we wouldn’t break bones when we hit.
And that was good because Henry crashed to the mat with a loud thud right as I reached the bottom of the stairs. His face was twisted in a
She smiled as she pulled a box of cereal from the cabinet. “She’s the friend who planned Nadia’s vigil, right?” I nodded. “What are you doing?”
I crossed my fingers under the table. “Going to a soup kitchen. We’re helping to serve meals.”
She froze. “A soup kitchen here in Warwick?”
I considered lying, but Diane knew the area really well, and she’d figure it out. “No, um … Pawtucket.”
Her smile evaporated as she closed the cupboard and turned to face me. “Haven’t we talked about this? I don’t want you in that area. Every night there are more sightings. I just heard that a homeless man was mauled to death by something last night, right around there!”
I shrugged even though my heart was beating really hard. “But all that stuff’s going on at night, and we’ll be there in the middle of the day. With a lot of other people. Doing good.” And maybe spotting a Mazikin or two . If they were really attacking the homeless, whether to possess their bodies or to steal their supplies, maybe a homeless shelter was the best place for the Guards to be.
Diane folded her arms over her chest. “Can’t you do good somewhere else?”
“Diane, I’m going to be with a group of other kids, surrounded by responsible adults. This shelter serves meals to people who are homeless.” I cleared my throat. “If it hadn’t been for you, I might have been on the streets, too. So maybe I’d like to give back.”
It was absolutely true, but even so I worried I was laying it on a little thick. Then I saw that her eyes had gone all shiny. She turned away and wiped at them. “You can go, baby. Just be careful, okay? I couldn’t handle it if anything happened to you.”
Now my eyes were probably getting shiny. I swallowed the lump in my throat. “Thanks.” I got up and set my cereal bowl in the sink. “You don’t have to worry about me,” I said quietly.
Her laughter was brief and raspy. “The hell I don’t.” She waved at the door. “Have fun. Do good.”
I didn’t need to be told twice. I was pulling into the driveway of the Guard house about fifteen minutes later. I tromped up the steps and knocked, but no one answered, so I let myself in. Malachi had left a note for me on the kitchen table. I smiled at the tiny, neat script. And then I processed the words: Jim has not returned. Henry and I are training in the basement. Come down.
I groaned. We were supposed to pick up Tegan in an hour, and one of my Guards was still missing. And, with a twinge of guilt, I realized I wasn’t that broken up about it. Maybe we’d be better off without him. Not the most charitable thought I’d ever had, but there it was. Jim was a problem, and I had too many of those already. I could only hope Raphael and the Judge would realize that assigning him to this mission had been a mistake.
I paused at the top of the stairs, listening to the sharp breaths and grunts of my Guards sparring. The basement of the Guard house was a near-perfect replica of the training room used by the Guards in the dark city, except the light was provided by halogen bulbs instead of gas lamps, and it was about a third the size. Malachi had told me that Raphael sometimes opened some kind of door to the Shadowlands down here, and that the morning after we’d arrived on Earth, Michael, the Guards’ weapons supplier, had done the same. I guessed it was something only angels could do because the foul-tempered fat man had magically appeared, along with his entire blacksmith’s forge and a respectable arsenal. Along the far wall, staffs, knives, and sharp things I didn’t even recognize hung in orderly rows. Cloth dummies were clumped together in a corner. The floor was covered with a thick rubber mat, soft enough that we wouldn’t break bones when we hit.
And that was good because Henry crashed to the mat with a loud thud right as I reached the bottom of the stairs. His face was twisted in a
Similar Books
