Read Online Knights of Light (The Conjurors Series Book 2) by Kristen Pham - Free Book Online Page A

it through stories,
but another thing to experience it.
    “This is really
happening,” Henry whispered. His father gripped him in a close hug.
    “I know this isn’t
really goodbye, son, but I will miss you all the same,” Joe said. Then he
hugged Valerie. “I can’t wait to know you better. Please take care of my boy.”
    She gripped him tightly.
“I swear I’ll protect him with my life.”
    “We’ll take care of each
other,” Henry said, with a trace of annoyance.
    She laughed. “Agreed.
Though on the Globe, I could totally beat you in an arm wrestling match any day
of the week.”
    “We’ll see.”
    “How sweet,” Zunya’s
voice cut through the room.
    Her heart rate
immediately sped up, but she forced herself to swallow her fear. “You’re too
late,” she said. “We’re going to leave.”
    “My mistake. Is it
sunset already?”
    The beating sound
Valerie had noticed earlier was much louder now, and wind swept through the
cave, kicking up dust and making her cough. Footsteps raced through the cave.
It was definitely more than a couple of people.
    “Children, step back,”
Chisisi commanded.
    “Yes, children, hide
like little mice,” Zunya taunted.
    “We’re here to help,”
she said, straightening her spine.
    “Val, do what Chisisi says,”
Cyrus said, appearing beside her. “Trust me, he can handle himself.”
    Four figures dressed in
black burst into the room. Valerie barely had time to register that one of them
was the dark-haired woman who had attacked them on the highway before complete
mayhem broke out. She barely managed to follow the fight, because Chisisi and
Zaki moved so quickly that she couldn’t believe they weren’t using magic.
Expertly, they ducked and weaved away from blows from their attackers. Then,
with quick jabs to certain pressure points, first one, then another, dropped to
the ground, unconscious.
    “Idiots, get up!” Zunya
hissed.
    A sudden splash in the
pool alerted Valerie to the fact that the dark-haired woman had jumped into the
water. She swam straight to the bottom and pulled out the disc. The pool turned
dark as the magic was extinguished.
    Zaki dove in after her,
and Valerie listened as they grappled in the water. It was difficult to see
with only the ring of fire lighting the room. Suddenly, the woman leaped out of
the water and began running down the hallway to the exit of the cave. Valerie
and Thai chased after her, and Thai caught the edge of the woman’s shirt. She
tripped, dropping the disc, but was quickly back up and running.
    Outside on the ledge, Valerie
saw what was causing the noise and wind—a helicopter hovered unsteadily in the
canyon. The woman made an incredible leap off the ledge and into the
helicopter, which immediately rose into the sky.
    “It’s not over,” Zunya
said, but the immediate danger had passed.
    “You underestimated us—again,”
she said, and he vanished.
    “Guys?” Henry called,
his voice wavering with emotion. Thai and Valerie picked up the disc and ran
back to the chamber. Chisisi was giving Zaki CPR, surrounded by the unconscious
bodies of their attackers.
    “He has passed,” Chisisi
said, his voice trembling with grief. He rocked back on his heels, his hands
hiding his face.
    “She killed him? That
can’t be. I don’t believe it!” Valerie said, and fell to her knees beside Zaki.
She held her hands against his heart and tried to reach for her magic, the
magic that saved Sanguina’s life, but just like when she tried to help Ming, she
couldn’t touch it.
    “Someone has to help
him! What about Darling?” she cried.
    “He’s already gone, Val.
No one can help him now,” Cyrus said softly.
    Chisisi made a choking
sound as he tried to hold back a sob. Zaki was really gone.
    “Young ones, you must
go, now. It’s what Zaki would have wanted,” Chisisi said, no longer trying to
hide the tears that coursed down his cheeks.
    “We don’t know who else
might be coming. We can’t lose any time,” Thai