The trip from the Kingdom of Cindelore to the human part of Earth was as easy as walking through a door – in this case, a shimmering magical portal which took me exactly where I needed to go. One minute I was standing on the outer edge of my mother’s gardens, the next I was in front of what looked like an abandoned warehouse surrounded by weeds and trash. Overhead, elevated highways twisted in different directions. The faint smell of factories stung my nose and puffs of smoke drifted above. I glanced toward the sky, noting how blue it was, so different than the pink-tinted one of my Kingdom. In the distance, the setting sun threw off hues of purple, pink, blue and green. “Where are we?”
Blackwing adjusted his leather satchel, then clapped me on the shoulder. “New Jersey.”
He stood out like a sore thumb. Whereas I wore black leather pants, combat boots and a black fitted tank top, he wore the Old World fashions, with his leather vest and trews that had been cut in the era of the King Richard of England. “New Jersey? Are the Witch Queens here? And why New Jersey?”
When Blackwing turned from me and walked toward the double door entrance, I followed. “Because this is where criminals come to bury the bodies they don’t want found. What better place than under the highways? And you will see the Queens soon enough. For now they remain hidden, but I suspect they will over see the trials as they usually do.”
Evermore was what the supernatural races called the world we lived in, even though we lived mixed in with human. Humans were completely unaware of our kind and the many different species of Evermore liked to keep it that way. But like any other species we had both our good and bad apples. Blackwing paused and turned toward me, meeting my eyes. “Protected from the evil beings of Evermore, and of course the High King Alataris.”
At the mention of his name the fire within me roared to burn him, to fight against his reign. “I will do what I have been trained for.”
“I have no doubt of it. You know, eight hundred years ago he came so close to getting what he wanted, to ruling all.” He held his thumb and index finger only an inch apart. Then he leaned in. “This close. The history books don’t speak of this, but during the second cycle King Alataris held four of the five Ascended Queens under his rule. He nearly channeled all their powers for his own. A force like that would be…”
“Unstoppable,” I finished for him. “So what happened?”
“In the end a Knight, a Phoenix, sacrificed himself for the last Queen. In doing so she was able to end the other Queens to save Evermore.”
“Wait, she killed the other Queens?” I’d never heard this history before and for a moment I was utterly shocked.
Blackwell nodded gravely. “She had no other choice. She couldn’t overthrow Alataris on her own. The only way to ensure he didn’t get those powers under his control was to eliminate them completely. And so with the help of her Knight it was done.”
“Why…” I glanced around to be sure no one else was listening. “Why are you telling me this now?”
“Because you need to know as a Guardian or Knight, what you do matters. You’re not just a bodyguard for a Queen Witch. You have the power to be involved, the power to choose, the power to win, Tucker. Imagine the beings you could help.”
It was true, the witches were oppressed under King Alataris’ tyrannical rule and many other lesser beings were enslaved in his kingdom, forced into lives they never wanted to lead. Evermore would be a better place without him.
The power to choose. What a thought, that the one born into a destiny already laid out for him now had the power to choose.
Blackwing reached out and pulled me to the side, away from the main entrance as another Knight candidate strode by, eyeing me closely. Blackwing waited until he passed before speaking.”All your life you’ve been completing your duty. But now, as your mentor, I am telling you to choose. Do you want to go into these Trials?”
“Why now? Why are you asking me to decide what I want to do now?” I crossed my arms.
“Because being a Knight isn’t about following some path that’s already laid out for you. It’s about taking command of one of the most difficult situations in Evermore. We both know you have the skill to do this, but Tucker, do you have the heart? Because without heart you will fail. This has to be your decision, to either move forward or go home.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “Go home? And what would I be going home to? Just show up and tell my father, guess what dad, I decided after the ten years of training you put me through I don’t want to be a Knight? It isn’t that simple.”
“Yes, it is that simple, and that’s all there is to it.” I could tell he was nervous for my answer. The muscle in his sharp jaw ticked as he waited.
I glanced from the abandoned building toward the shimmering portal I’d just traveled through. If I wanted to leave then all I would have to do was step through and forget about the Queens, Evermore, and King Alataris. I could go home to start a new life, or I could choose to stay. As I glanced back and forth from my old world to what would become my new one I felt that unbridled smoldering in my chest. The constant yearning ache that had been there from the moment I was born. I knew beyond those doors lay the witches, and my fellow competitors. The phoenix in me called out, wanting the challenge, wanting to win, wanting what lay ahead. It wasn’t just a mark on my neck that secured my destiny…It’d always been in me. “Let’s do this.”
“And that…was your final test.” Blackwing grabbed my shoulders and pointed me toward the glass double doors. “You passed.”
When I reached forward and yanked them open, I was met with the sound of an arena full of beings. From the outside it was an abandoned building, but on the inside it was like one of those huge soccer stadiums I’d seen in the books I’d read. Though I only stood in the entrance I could feel the magic swirling around. A spell had made this area bigger on the inside then it was on the outside. I leaned closer to Blackwing. “Is this place enchanted?”
“Oh yes, how else could they fit a stadium full of citizens of Evermore into this small wear house? Not to mention the trials will need major space.”
I nodded my head. “I thought so.”
At the first set of gates we were stopped by a teenage girl. She was short and round, with dark brown hair falling just to her chin. When she looked at me through narrowed eyes she tilted her head to the side, studying the mark on my neck. “You’re a…a…Guardian.” Her eyes went round and for a split second I thought they were going to pop out of her skull.
I shrugged. “Yes.”
She shoved her hand out toward my chest. “I’m Bertha, I’m a boar shifter. Huge fan, Mister Brand. Huge fan. I’ve seen your greatest hits and highlights. Just can’t wait to see you in action. Most of the Guardians use the back entrance. You’re the first to come right through the front door.” She turned toward the girl at the gate next to her. “Charlene, we got a Guardian here.”
A surge of beings came toward me all at once. Shifters of every kind, all looking human in form with only small signs of being supernatural pushed forward. Their eyes held different colors and shapes, while their bodies moved with speed faster than any human. The noble elves gazed on with boredom etched into their faces yet they didn’t move away. Above pixies of all shapes and sizes flitted about lighting the corridor with glowing dust. I took a step back as Blackwing stood in front of me like a bodyguard. “I’ll be getting Tucker to the area reserved for the Guardians.”
Bertha shoved forward. “The Guardian entrance is in the back of the building. Male Guardians are supposed to go to the right and female Guardians are to the left.” She waved him forward. “Come on, I’ll take you to where you belong.”
I leaned in closer to Blackwing. “I wasn’t aware this was a sporting event.”
“ Of course it’s one of the biggest events of Evermore.” Blackwing waved me forward to follow Bertha, past the throng of beings who stopped to watch me.
As we walked through the industrial halls, the cool of the concrete seeped into my skin and the smell of earth invaded my nose. Overhead, exposed beams held up the concrete stadium walls. The floor vibrated beneath my feet and just inside I could hear the crowd roaring. What the hell is going on? “I thought this was the Knight Trials. I didn’t realize there would be spectators.”
Bertha glanced over her shoulder, nodding at me. “Oh, most of us wouldn’t miss this for the world. Seeing how you never know when the next Trials will be.”
I swallowed around the nervousness forming in my throat. “Great.”
Once we arrived at a pair of blue doors Bertha stepped to the side. “Here we are, Mister Brand. Just through here is the preparatory area, where you’ll find a locker assigned to you. You’ll be shown where to go from there.”
“Um, thanks. And please call me Tuck.” I reached out for one of the metal handles, but before I could wrap my hand around it Bertha slammed her fingers into mine. She grasped my hand and shook it so hard I felt my bones chatter.
“I’ll do that, Mister Tuck. And good luck.” She dropped my hand. “I hope you don’t die.”
Beside me Blackwing coughed into his fist stifling his chuckle. I bumped him with my elbow. “Thanks, Bertha.”
As she turned and walked away from me I thought I heard a little squeal of excitement. I shook my head. “In all the years of training I’ve been through, you might have prepared me for this.”
Blackwing glanced over his shoulder toward Bertha. “I must admit, it’s gotten a bit more out of control than I ever thought it might.”
“These beings all know who I am?” I paused with my fingers wrapped around the handle. “Did she say she’s seen clips of me?”
Blackwing shuffled from one foot to the other. “I had to submit footage of your training sessions to the Queens. They selected the competitors for Knighthood from what they’ve seen. You know every species in Evermore has a Guardian that must train but some of them wouldn’t even be able to come close to what the Witches need in a Knight.”
“So you’re telling me the field had been narrowed to how many?”
“About fifty.”
I yanked on the door and pulled it wide open. “I like those odds.”
Before I could step through the door a pixie, the size of my thumb, flew directly in front of my nose. “Tucker Brand?” Her high-pitched voice pierced my ears, yet her childlike features and long white hair made me want to hold her in the palm of my hand and protect her.
I cleared my throat. “Yes?”
Before she said another word, she flew around my head tying a leather cord around my neck. From it hung a blood-red crystal. I held it in my palm. “What’s this for?”
She threw her hands up and shrugged. “Every competitor must have one, that is all I know.” Then she turned and fluttered away, her glittery wings flapping so quickly she looked more like a hummingbird than a pixie.
I shrugged it off and stepped through into the locker room. A plush carpet squished under my feet. All around the wide room beings were warming up. Some sat on benches with trainers rubbing them down, others hopped around like they couldn’t contain themselves. At the back of the room stood a row of lockers. One of them had a phoenix painted across it. I headed straight for it, at first trying not to look at the enormous figure who stood beside it.
Years of education from Blackwing had taught me that in each of the most powerful species of Evermore, a Guardian was born into each generation. But this was my first time seeing another who bore a mark similar to my own. The male hovering near my locker stood over six and a half feet tall and was built like a boulder. He bore the mark of the wolf across the right side of his neck, the same as I bore a phoenix across mine. His lips rose into a sneer and he nodded to me in a mock greeting. “Bird.”
I arched one eyebrow at him. “Dog.”
Blackwing snapped his fingers in front of my face. “You need to focus on what you are here to do. Leave the trash talk for another time.”
Easy for him to say. It wasn’t in my nature to let any kind of trash talk go unanswered. “A little competition never hurt anyone.”
“I hate to break it to you, but in this competition plenty of people get hurt, even die.” A man who was only a few inches shorter than me leaned against the lockers with his arms crossed. I would expect any competitor to be geared up and ready to go, but this guy wore a tailored black suit that seemed more appropriate for a boardroom than a physical competition. His white V-neck T-shirt was pressed and sat perfectly against his pale skin.
I made a show of looking him up and down. “I can see you’re ready for this competition. Those dress shoes will serve you well out there.”
“I’m surprised you’re wearing shoes at all. The way I hear it, the little bird could just flap his way through these Trials.” He ran his hand through thick mahogany-colored hair, then tilted his sunglasses down his nose and peering at me from over the top of them showing me dark chocolate eyes.
When I glanced at the side of his neck and studied his Guardian mark it all became clear. That perfectly-shaped circle was half sun and half moon, with two triangles facing down…Vampire. I sighed. “Well, little leech, whenever someone needs a blood test I’ll be sure to send them your way.”
I was standing in the lion’s den. Any sign of weakness would show. If I let them insult and walk all over me, I was sure they’d try to do it during the Trials. The vamp gave me a toothy smirk. “Not bad, tweety bird.” He jerked his chin up at me. “My name’s Grayson Shade. You can call me Gray.” His words had the barest hint of a British accent.
“Tucker Brand.”
I sat on the bench as Blackwing fussed with my locker. Meanwhile I took in the rest of the competitors. Just past Grayson stood a hulking male with long, sleek muscles, dark blond hair in a crew cut, and green, feline eyes. His jaw was obscenely square, and I could’ve sworn I saw a stripe or two running down his bulky shoulders. His army fatigues barley contained his thick tree-like legs and enormous arms.
Gray leaned toward me. “Oy, that’s the tiger shifter, Brax. He’ll be in the finals for sure. I heard he can lift an eighteen-wheeler over his head and toss it.”
I gave him a sideways glance. “Are you telling me this because you think it’ll intimidate me?”
With lightning-fast speed he was in front of me, leaning against his locker. “I’m telling you this so you know what you’re up against, pretty bird. A vamp and a tiger shifter are sure to be in the finals, but a bird…I don’t think so.” He shoved away from the locker to walk toward the other Guardians.
“Think what you like. Makes no difference to me.”
“Ignore him, Tuck.” Blackwing stood beside me with his hands balled into fists at his sides. With white knuckles he handed me my satchel.
“Ignore him like you are?” I chuckled as I pulled a spare pair of leather pants and a shirt from the bag.
The muscle in his jaw ticked. “Well, the fanger should know better.”
A steady bird-like whistle sang through the air. “Hey bird, bet you won’t last through the first round.”
“Tucker,” Blackwing warned, but it was too late. All my life I’d been told what to do, where to go, and how to act. I’d be damned if I was going to let a baby vamp walk all over me.
I spun on my heel and launched a small ball of fire toward Grayson. It smacked into his chest, sending him sprawling onto his back. With the wave of my hand I extinguished the flames before they could catch onto him. “Careful. This bird has bite.”
The locker room around me grew silent and I felt the gazes of the other contestants bore into me. Grayson brushed his chest where the hole had burned into his shirt. “Not bad, not bad at all.”
When the door swung open once more, the guys around me all shot tight with tension, quickly forgetting the fireball I’d just thrown. Their eyes were riveted to the door. Everyone stood still as stone as the latest arrival walked into the room. Whispers of the first male witch Guardian drifted around me. When I glanced at the right side of his neck, there it was, bright as day: the mark of the Guardian. A black star stood stark against his tan skin. His surfer blond hair fell into his eyes and he shoved it back out of his face. Our gazes locked and for a moment I swear I saw magic swirling behind his ice blue eyes. A male witch as a Guardian? I’d never heard of such a thing.
“You need to keep a close eye on that one,” Blackwing whispered in my ear. “He will be one of the most deadly competitors.”
“Who is he?”
He sauntered into the room, looking at each of the other Guardian hopefuls. His lips were set into a tight line as he looked past everyone. He was a mix of my style and Grayson’s. With his tailored black pants and expensive boots, he reeked of money. Even his black T-shirt had to be hand-made.
“Beckett Dust. The first witch of his house to be a Guardian and up for become a Knight.” Blackwing’s voice was tinged with respect for him.
“What’s his power?” I needed to know what I was up against, and how best to handle it.
“There is no known listing of his powers. He was instantly accepted on the terms of him being the first male witch to bear the Guardian mark.”
An anomaly…Perfect. I stood straight, meeting Blackwing’s eye. “This just got interesting.”