I shook my head but kept my tone polite. “My Order would never do any such thing as steal a child out of revenge. Besides, I could not possibly be your child as I am a Chevalier.”
Regina released Phillip’s hand and straightened. Her blue eyes cooled to a frosty temperature. “They made you a Knight of the Light?”
Again, I shook my head, “They did not make me what I am, only showed me. So you see, I could not be from another Order.”
Phillip’s dark eyebrows slanted down over his eyes in a menacing glower. “Those bastards.”
“Phillip,” Regina chided then turned to me. “You don’t know what the Luxis is capable of.”
I had wasted enough time with these people, and I didn’t know yet what they truly wanted from me. Standing, the chair screeched back behind me. “I am a Chevalier. And that’s who I am.” Though other Orders didn’t have Knights of the Light, Regina and Phillip knew full-well what I was. It was impossible for me to be born in another Order. Surely, they sought to usurp the great power of the Luxis, the most formidable of all the Orders.
As I walked away, Regina reached out and grabbed my hand, stopping me. Her palm was warm and dry, and half the size of mine. “Please, you must listen to me. You belong with us at the Order of Veritas. Your Masters have been lying to you. They have been controlling you through lies. You belong with your true family, serving the truth. Not the Light.”
Looking into her pained eyes, I felt sorry for the woman. Gently extracting her hand from mine, I said, “I am very sorry for the loss of your child, but I am not him. I wish light to you and your Order.”
They didn’t try to follow as I collected Emma and Travis, threw some money on the table, then left the diner to the disconcerting, cheery chime of the doorbell.
Emma skipped to match my pace. “You okay? You got one big ol’ case of the frownies on your face because of whatever those people said.”
I immediately cleared my face and my mind. “I am fine. We must get to the safe house, but I’m afraid our route has been compromised. It will take us additional time to take the safer path.”
As if knowing it was best not to fight me right now, Emma simply said, “Okay.”
Whether that couple truly thought I was their long-lost son or not, their contact greatly unsettled me. A pin prick of ice stuck at the center of my chest. I fell back onto the chants my Masters had taught me to hone my faith, silently repeating them in my head to clear all other thoughts.
When I informed Travis of our delay in the car, he was less accommodating. As he complained about the additional stretch, I pinched the bridge of my nose, feeling the hot coils of a headache form.
“Travis,” Emma said, a quiet warning in her voice as she looked at me with concern. “Shut up.”
For once, he listened to her and I was grateful.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Once again, Travis was slumped in the back, snoring noisily, after his driving shift. Emma’s delicate fingers gripped the wheel and I was mesmerized by how they flexed and relaxed as she sat deep in thought. Though I’d observed her for only a short time, I’d learned the lower her brows dipped, the deeper her thoughts were.
We’d been driving most of the day in silence, everyone too exhausted to talk. Soon darkness would descend and take my view of Emma’s beautiful face.
Emma broke the silence. “So, if you can’t drive, how do you get around? I mean if you have a safe house so far away from where we were, I’m guessing you aren’t walking back and forth.”
“Sometimes.”
Emma shot me a look of horror. “Sometimes?”
“I also hitch rides with people. Mainly truck drivers.”
“You’re an intrepid soul, aren’t you?” Then she added to herself, “Well, I guess if you’ve been slaying demons and ghosts, strangers probably don’t worry you.”
I smiled.
Emma spoke softly, “Are you worried they’re following us?” She was talking about the people at the diner.
I sighed. “Yes.”
“Who were they?”
I struggled to explain. “They are from a different Order than me.”
“Order? Like the Order of the Temple we are going to?”
