fine.”
He didn’t look fine. I could see that he was stunned.
The king looked at me, his eyes opened wide with grief. I assumed he was trying to process what had happened. Well, my lord, I wrapped up your guards and shipped them off to Pleasantville.
“Want a chair, my lord?” I threw in a smile for free and dropped the guard’s bloody heart on the ground.
A moment of silence in which we all stood still, staring at each other. Tristan and Daligo looked forlornly at me as if my ship had just arrived from Hell.
“All right, you guys win!” I shouted as if we had been having a staring contest. “If you’ve got something to say, let it out.”
“Gideon,” Tristan finally said in the form of a greeting.
“That’s my name,” I sneered. “Don’t wear it out.”
“It’s been a long time,” Tristan said.
Was this guy for real?
Of course, it had been a long time. The first time I met Tristan, we were both four. The only reason we talked then was because we felt a strange, but strong, deep connection to each other. Tristan was curious as to why he felt such a connection to me, and he had asked me if I felt it, too. I had. Neither of us could explain it, so we chose to ignore it.
The last time I saw him was a year ago, when he tried to stop me from killing some innocent angels who were on their way home from Earth. Of course, he’d tried, but he wasn’t able to save them all. One small victory for me.
“Apparently not long enough,” I grumbled.
“Tristan was here to…” I waited for Daligo to continue his sentence, but he didn’t.
“Well, if this little rendezvous is over, I’ll go grab some dinner now.” I didn’t wait for an answer. When I snapped my fingers, I found myself at the center of Grands.
The center of Grands, more commonly called the town square, was where angels and other creatures from different planets came to shop and sell their wares. It was a lot like New York City.
Creatures from many planets came to the town square. Aside from the market, there were also museums that displayed articles from Earth so the younger creatures could learn about humans. This way, if they ever visited Earth, they would know how to blend in. The angels who were older and no longer went to Earth told tales of their journeys to the visiting creatures. Gods from Olympus came to talk of their purpose on Earth. Athena loved coming here and teaching others about the lives of humans and other species from around the universe.
Creatures also came here because although the Grandinians brought havoc to the human race, they weren’t evil creatures, and they were kind to others. There were very few like me—those who chose to be evil to others. Most of the visitors were as peaceful as the Lumenians.
However, I only went to the town square for one reason: to kill.
As I stood in the middle of the marketplace, no one spotted me because they were all too preoccupied with goods and with each other. Young angels chased one another through the crowd, shouting and laughing. Some of the people were mesmerized by an earthly house hanging in mid-air. Women, mostly, picked through colorful clothing from different planets.
“Gideon, what do you mean by grabbing some dinner?”
Tristan again! Seriously, did he live in Grands now?
Tristan landed across the marketplace in his angel form, glimmering as brightly as ever. His huge white wings stretched out behind him.
“My lord,” I bowed down to him, “I think I wasn’t clear on that part.” I then explained, in the most patient voice I could master. “My fault. Please allow me to clear things up.”
Heat emerged from my hands as I conjured a ball of fire. I launched the fire straight toward a couple of angels who stood beside a table, admiring a computer.
When the fire was inches from hitting them, it turned to ice, frozen in mid–air.
“I think I got it,” Tristan said through his teeth. Someone shouted my name. Panic ensued.
“Good,” I said, clenching my own teeth. I threw another fireball at the escaping creatures, and again, Tristan stopped it. I threw another, which barely left my fingertips before it evaporated.
I growled in anger. My whole body heated, but I knew it wasn’t the fire burning me from the inside.
“I can’t let you hurt these innocent creatures,” Tristan said, staring at me from across the marketplace.
I glared as