Page 31 of One Bad Knight

“You think you are different than our masters, Calan? Now that you run the five orders, maybe you are simply turning into them.”

“That’s not true,” Emma protested. “There are no more lies, no more manipulations. Everyone works together to fight the Stygian.” She walked over to Calan and slipped her hand into his. “Everyone has freedom now. To do what they want and be with who they want.” She shot a meaningful look at me.

I shifted my weight under her gaze, suddenly uncomfortable.

Gatsby’s tone turned vicious. “The girl is business. As inmybusiness, not yours, is that clear?”

The sting of rejection and the warmth of his possessiveness mingled into an incomprehensible feeling that left me on the cusp of everything and nothing. I wasn’t sure if I liked it or not, but either way I felt the sudden and deep desire to process those feelings in private.

“Grab your things,” Gatsby commanded to me in a low tone, as he picked up his sword. I didn’t hesitate. I grabbed my upturned laptop, shoving it in my bag. As soon as I’d done so, Gatsby grabbed my arm.

“Looks like you got the cleanup well in hand,” Gatsby said to the people standing around, leading us out toward the door.

We had to pass Calan to get to my car. He stopped Gatsby with a hand on the shoulder.

“We could use good men like you,” Calan said. Pain, maybe guilt, flashed in his eyes.

Gatsby shrugged him off. “I’m not looking to be used anymore, and I’m sure as hell not good.”

12

Gatsby

“So what’s the deal with Mickey Blue Eyes?” Kat asked as she drove us away. I didn’t bother looking to see if Calan watched us leave. And I didn’t bother asking where we were going.

“What?”

Kat recoiled. I realized my voice came out sharper than I meant it too. I was still on edge from the run-in, but she didn’t deserve that.

“What is a mickey blue eyes?” I asked. It was frustrating when I didn’t get people’s references or slang, which was often. It reminded me of my upbringing.

“I mean,” she said in a quiet voice, “who was the guy with blue eyes? His name was Calan?”

“He’s… my brother,” I said after a moment.

“Wow, you look nothing alike.”

“Leonidas is also my brother. But none of us are biologically related,” I said, hearing the defensiveness creep back into my tone.

“Then how are you brothers?” Kat asked, shooting me a side-eyed glance.

I didn’t talk about this. Not to anybody, not ever.

“We are… were Knights of the Light. We were taken at birth, the chosen ones, and raised in a temple well hidden from civilization by a secret cult known as the Order of Luxis. From the beginning, we were trained to be soldiers, warriors to fight the darkness of the Stygian, the hell dimension that opened up and spilled over onto ours. For hundreds of years, our dimensions have brushed against each other, and darkness has come onto our lands, and it is the Chevalier’s duty to hunt it down and destroy it. Until last year, it had remained a secret from civilization. But now the world knows that demons and evil spirits exist.”

A deep line formed between her eyebrows. “And you’ve been fighting these things since you were how old?”

She turned the car onto the familiar route I’d learned led to the art studio.

“Since the beginning. I was one of the lucky five to survive the trials, along with Calan and Leonidas. They sent us into the jungles and set magic-made beasts on us. If we survived the trials and emerged from the jungle, we would be named the true Knights of the Light.”

A bitter taste filled my mouth as it always did when I thought of the trials. I’d emerged from the jungle poisoned, delirious, with broken bones and deep wounds. When the remaining few of us stood over the bodies of our fallen brothers, I couldn’t help the tears that spilled from my eyes. I was the only one who mourned for our fallen brethren. Calan stood stone-faced, as if they were strangers laid out before us, and was commended for his poise.

Master Wu punished me after, for my weakness. Anytime I felt even the barest prickle of tears in my eyes, my back would light with phantom fire. My flesh remembers the wrath of my master’s switch. He’d beaten all the tears out of me, leaving only anger behind.

“Wow, a knight,” she breathed. “Like King Arthur and—”

“No,” I cut her off. “Those were tales of heroes. We were knights, but we were considered damned. Our masters lied to and manipulated us into perfect obedience. I was considered the weakest of the order. My magic was flawed and unreliable. And no matter how many lessons they gave me, I did not improve.”