Warrior Saints - Destroyer Read online

  Warrior Saints - Destroyer

  Stonehaven Academy Saints Book 2

  Carla Thorne

  Copyright © 2020 by Carla Thorne

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Cover Design - Najla Qamber Designs

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Chapter 41

  Chapter 42

  Chapter 43

  Chapter 44

  Chapter 45

  Chapter 46

  Chapter 47

  About the Author

  Chapter 1

  Sebastian

  The boy had died.

  Grief both crippled and propelled me into vast emptiness. My spiritual form churned in the depths of pain as anger and compassion warred in my supernatural psyche.

  My presence shook with the burden of Mary’s tears until the weight of it split the natural sky in a thunderous clap of utter despair. I soared until I could soar no more, and still could not escape the earthly desolation of the lost human.

  I had done everything the Creator expected of me, yet the Warriors faltered.

  Choices spiraled out of control, and the Destroyer took every opportunity to decimate the brilliant and gifted souls in my care.

  And now those left in the wake of a staggering blow crashed against the rocks, all but defeated, and withered beneath a tidal wave of guilt.

  My Creator loved me, of that I was sure, but how was I to reconcile my assignment and my failure and ever be worthy again?

  I gathered Mary’s tears and counted each one. I saved them to remind me of her anguish and of my own inability to help.

  There would be no comfort. Nothing we had established carried us through the torrent of the loss, and I could only wait for the Warriors to trust me again.

  I hovered in their atmosphere and lingered with them in their personal space.

  They’d lost faith in the Creator, and they’d lost faith in their abilities.

  And all I could do was suffer in their midst and contemplate the horror.

  How had it happened?

  How had we gone from that promising time in the garden to the end of a life?

  Where did the Destroyer gain ground?

  The days, weeks, and months of the Warriors passed in human time, and I vacillated in the spiritual realm—in the past, the present, and future—and waited…

  And wondered…

  And grieved…

  I contemplated their series of moves and their battles. I retraced the steps, but the end was the same.

  We’d lost him.

  The boy had died.

  Chapter 2

  Scout

  I went back to that garden every week for months after we’d met Sebastian.

  Spring came, our finals blurred by, and I went to that garden regularly, and I sat on that hot bench in hopes of finding answers.

  I’d all but given up on the thought of a god-like supreme being until that night we’d met the apparent angel. How was it possible there was an omnipotent ruler somewhere who loved us and wanted the best for us when so many people suffered and died?

  Where was the Creator when a mass shooting was being planned?

  Where were the Enforcers, Guardians, Protectors, and Warriors when children in other countries faced atrocities I couldn’t comprehend?

  And where was the Creator in the death of my family?

  I wanted to talk to the man-angel-holograph-something-or-other who landed in the reflection garden that night and spoke all kinds of unbelievable things to us. If anyone knew where my family was, or how I could talk to them, wouldn’t it be that guy?

  “Umm… Scout?”

  Ivy approached in my favorite pair of white shorts. Well, not my white shorts, but the pair of white shorts of hers that were my favorites when she wore them.

  I forced my eyes off her shorts. “Just sittin’.”

  She shoved her hands into her back pockets. “Well, it’s really hot out here and we have work to do, so…”

  “It really happened, right? We were in this garden this past December and we met a freakin’ angel, right?”

  Ivy’s shoulders sagged as she slid onto her usual large rock. “All right. We’ve been over and over this, Scout, and it’s so hot I could cook fajitas on this rock, so can we go inside and finish what we came for and talk about this later?”

  “Fajitas sound good.”

  She frowned.

  “OK, OK, I know.” I tossed my stick on the ground. “I need to get out of my own head and back into the real world and stop dwelling on all this.”

  “I’ve never said that. There is no rush on your grief. I know you want answers about your family, and everyone has to grieve in their own way and time—”

  “Yes, I know.” I stood. “You think what happened here with Sebastian was a special, isolated occurrence, and that his appearance doesn’t mean he knows anything about my family.”

  “I didn’t say that either. I understand you think if there’s an angel there might be a heaven, and it would bring you comfort to know more, but what happened to us is so unbelievable and…”

  “And even if he knew exactly where my family was, it wouldn’t change a thing because they’re not coming back the way I knew them.”

  “Oh Scout, I also never said any of that. This is you being you and talking your own self into your own logical conclusion.”

  “Fine, then. Maybe a better question for Sebastian is where the heck was he and my Warrior helper when everyone died? Huh?” I looked to the sky. “What’s the answer to that, angel? And why don’t you answer? You said you’d be here when we needed you!”

  Ivy stood and adjusted the big buckle on the belt she wore with those white shorts. “All right. We need to get out of this heat.” She pulled me toward the path. “Remember. The visit that night was about our assignments, and about how Sebastian would be there when we needed him with our jobs. I don’t know if you’ll ever get all the other answers you want, Scout, but I’m here for you.”

  And I was there for her, but I’d been a mass of confusion since December and couldn’t seem to pull myself out of the tangled mess. I was gonna have to get my brain straight if I was ever going to help anyone. Thankfully, there’d been no sign of any so-called assignments since that night. We were all still loosely bound together by our angel sighting, but it all seemed to fade—like everything did—with time.

  “To recap,” I said. “You’re still on board with the wh
ole Warrior thing.”

  “Oddly enough, I am. I don’t know what it’s all about, but I’m rollin’ with it. I don’t feel like I have a choice.”

  “And you think I’m putting too much thought into it.”

  “You put too much thought into everything, but that’s what makes you you. Look. You have to do your grief journey on your own schedule. As for all the other stuff, you’ll have to remember how much you already know. Seriously. You knew more of what was going on in the garden that night than anybody.”

  “Yeah, I felt pretty confident back then. Now? Not so much.”

  She pulled close beside me and bumped me off the path. “You’ll be back.”

  “Hey, have you heard from Corey since our visit last week?”

  “No, and it’s weird. I know her parents have her on lockdown and she’s getting better as fast as she can, but it’s so messed up. She doesn’t act like she used to. I mean the good parts. Not the sad parts.”

  “I know what you mean. The music and favorite subjects and stuff. But her parents explained how they’re balancing her meds and she’s in therapy all the time.”

  “Yeah, but the Corey I know doesn’t seem to be there. You know? My mom’s gone through medication adjustments and it’s never looked like that.”

  “No two cases are the same.”

  Ivy stopped cold. “She’s not in there, Scout.”

  Her tone sent chills up my arm. It would have felt good if it wasn’t so scary. Ivy’d been right about the heat. I was sweating in places I know no creator ever meant for people to sweat.

  “She’ll be back too,” I said. “It takes time.”

  Ivy didn’t seem convinced. It took a moment for her to shake off her intense expression—and for me to shake off the chills.

  “Anyway,” she finally said and skipped down the path. “Do you know what day this is?”

  Oh boy.

  I didn’t know much, but what I did know was that question never ended well for a guy. “Not gonna lie. I do not know.” Then I braced for the blast.

  “I guess you wouldn’t really know it… But this is near the same day last year that I came to Stonehaven Academy. This very ice cream social we’re setting up for was the day I met Paige and some of the other student ambassadors and club sponsors.”

  “And it wasn’t long after that we met over the snake in the garden.”

  “Yep,” she said. “The first part of September. And here we are. About to start school again…”

  I wiped dripping sweat from my forehead. “…and about to die from the heat…”

  She laughed. “That’s your fault. Honestly, I don’t know how you kept your lawn care business going all summer in this misery. And believe me, I didn’t want to hike down to that garden.”

  “All right. I get it. I’ll get a hold of myself before school starts.”

  “I know you will,” she said. “Now go cool down and get into your school shirt for this meet-n-greet. We’re representing Stonehaven.”

  “Hey Ivy?”

  She turned and I couldn’t speak. That hopeful expression and warm smile was the reason I got up every morning.

  “Yes?”

  “It’s going to be a great year.”

  Her expression changed. “Sure it is, Scout.”

  But I’d seen that look before.

  Ivy already knew something wasn’t right.

  Chapter 3

  Shanar

  Everything had been going as planned—for a while.

  The Agent I’d fought for and won from his parents seemed to do exactly what I wanted, but there’d been an utter disaster.

  I cornered the kid in my supernatural form as he walked home. “What happened with the Corey situation? She’s still alive.”

  The kid didn’t even blink anymore when I surprised him. He glanced over each shoulder and didn’t slow down. “I’m not talking to you out loud. There’s always a camera somewhere. I won’t be caught looking like I’m talking to myself on the street.”

  I hovered near him as he went. “Fine. What about Corey?”

  “I don’t know. Paige had everything under control, but something went wrong.”

  “Don’t pretend you don’t know what went wrong, boy. You have competition, and you failed.”

  He picked up the pace as he trotted across the street. “You don’t need to remind me of my competition. Believe me. I have a front row seat to keep an eye on them.”

  “And yet, you cannot handle them.”

  He made an abrupt stop on the corner. “What’s your point?”

  “My point is, you have a responsibility to me. Now that the Warriors are aware of their strengths, you must get stronger also.” I shifted my position. “I thought you didn’t want to talk out loud. I’m sure there’s a camera at this intersection.”

  He rushed toward his house. “Why don’t you go talk to my parents? Isn’t this more of their problem? Aren’t they the ones who have an alliance with you?”

  Ah, yes. The alliance. It’d been easy to trick them when he was a sick child. There was no better mark than a weepy father and mother whose son’s disease-ridden blood was about to kill their baby.

  Boo. Hoo.

  It was even easier when the father’s natural and inherent instinct was to lean into the darkness for help, rather than into the light.

  And that’s exactly what happened.

  Generations of his family drew strength from my side of the fence. It was as if their slant toward wickedness ran through the bloodline.

  I knocked the kid around a bit on the sidewalk and caused him to stumble. “Is that what they told you? It’s not the whole truth, you know. Bargains were made, but you grew. You could’ve made some of your own choices.”

  “Fine. I choose to not listen to you anymore.”

  Rage engulfed the dark matter of my presence. I channeled it toward the boy and used the sudden appearance of a stone on the pavement to thrash him to the ground, face first. “It’s a little late for that. You’ve already made choices and completed tasks I set before you—and I have rewarded you with gifts and favor you’ve chosen to keep and use.”

  The boy lifted his head from the steaming pavement. Blood pooled as drops fell from his smashed face. “Then take them back.” He spit on the sidewalk and tried to stem the red flow from his nose as he stood. “Take it all back.”

  “Really? Everything?” My laughter rocked our atmosphere. “You have no idea what that truly means. You should talk more to your parents. They’ve left out a couple of details.”

  “What details?”

  I glanced at the sticky blood on the ground. “The most important details.”

  The boy charged ahead. “I’m done here.”

  I let him go.

  He couldn’t get far anyway.

  Chapter 4

  Mary

  The ice cream social could not have gone worse—and that wasn’t even the biggest disaster of the day.

  The Saints Café wasn’t cool enough to be comfortable, let alone serve ice cream. Student Council wasn’t putting scoops into paper bowls so much as it was pouring melted goo and then topping it with sticky sprinkles.

  Ivy wandered over from the fine arts table. “What’s with the heat? I can hear the air conditioning humming at full blast, but it’s not getting any cooler.”

  “Mr. Silva came by a bit ago and told the sponsors there’s an issue. He’s called for help, but it won’t likely get better while this event is going on.”

  “Terrific. Who would plan this thing during August in Texas anyway?”

  “It’s tradition,” I said and pointed to a melting bowl of chocolate chips. “Want a spoon of chocolate?”

  “Normally, I’d be all over that, but it’s too hot and I need to get back to discussing drama and choir with new students. At least the air is moving around.”

  And with that, a loud clanking sound signaled the shutdown of the entire system.

  A collective sigh swept across the
room as attendees rushed to get around to all the clubs they were interested in so they could get out.

  Scout grabbed a handful of cookies from under the table and joined us. “What’s with the heat?”

  “Stay out of the cookies,” I said. “Those are to crumble up on top of the ice cream.”

  “Yeah. No.” He popped one in his mouth and paused while he chewed. “No one’s eating the ice cream puddles. Dibs on the cookies.”

  I glanced over the tops of bobbing, sweaty heads. “What’s Deacon doing here? He doesn’t actually participate in a club that I know of.”

  Deacon waved us over when he saw us. I checked my table. “I’ll be back to help you clean up,” I told the StuCo president.

  She gave me a save yourself kind of look and dropped her spoon.

  Ivy jumped to see over the crowd. “Who’s that with Deacon?”

  “Uh… The one guy’s his brother,” I said. “I don’t know who the other guy is.”

  She tugged on my sleeve and leaned in. “We need to find out because…wow.”

  “Right? It’s like Wonder Woman and Aquaman had a baby.”

  “And popped out a Thor—because he’s so fair and all. Or another J.J. Watt.”

  “Yeah, Wonder Woman and Aquaman’s baby would be darker. He can’t be a student here. He’s so big and seems older.”