“We should talk inside,” he suggested, peering up at the clouds.“It’s going to rain soon,” he added, then hiked his thumb at the six-foot three sculpture.“Where do you want me to put that?”he asked.
“It can go in the barn for now,” Oaklie said in a flustered tone.She waited for him to pick it up, then led the way to the large structure across the yard.The corpses of animals were still in their pens, what was left of them.“Put it there,” she requested, pointing at a random spot near the wide entrance.
Arkas carefully put the statue down where it would be out of the weather.“After you,” he said, gesturing towards the house.
She kept glancing back at him as she crossed the yard to the building.Putting her hand on the door, she didn’t use a key to open it.The wood obeyed her mental command and swung open long enough to allow them to enter.She closed it behind him and the wood fused together again.
“Am I trapped in this house now?”he asked her in a teasing tone.
“Yeah,” she replied, narrowing her eyes.“You’re at my mercy, Knight of Order.Sit down and answer my questions honestly and I might let you leave here alive.”
Arkas laughed at her audacity and bravery.He was twice her size in sheer bulk, but she wasn’t the least bit afraid of him.“As you command, female,” he said with a grin.He sauntered over to the long golden leather couch and sank down onto it.“That stag is mine, now, by the way,” he said, pointing at the carving that sat on a pedestal.“You owe me for saving you from that mob.”
“I didn’t need your help,” Oaklie said with a sneer, taking a seat on an armchair that was too large for her small frame.Her black hair was tied up in a bun, but he knew it would fall to her waist.“I’ve been taking care of myself just fine ever since the Rapture,” she said fiercely.
“So I saw,” he agreed, remembering the bodies that were strung up in the trees.“Tell me something, Oaklie,” he said.“How is it that I felt your pain when you were stabbed in the back?”
Her forehead wrinkled in confusion.“Why don’t you tell me?”she retorted.“While you’re at it, how did I sculpt you even before I knew you existed?”
“Probably for the same reason why I whittled your likeness,” he said wryly.He saw her surprise and nodded.“I carved a female who looks exactly like you.”
She shook her head in bafflement.“We both have supernatural strength, speed and hearing,” she said.“I can manipulate wood with magic and you can call a sword out of thin air.What are our origins?Where do we come from?”
“It’s a long story about how and why the Knights of Order were created,” Arkas replied.“First, I’d like you to explain why I can’t sense you.We seem to have some kind of connection, but you don’t show up on my internal radar like my brothers, our enemies and humans do.”
“I learned to shield my power a long time ago to hide that I’m different from everyone else,” Oaklie said.“I’ll drop my shield and maybe you’ll be able to sense me.”
Arkas smiled in anticipation.It curdled the moment she lowered her protection and he finally sensed exactly what she was.On his feet in an instant, his sword returned at his call.He moved so fast that she didn’t get a chance to try to flee.Eyes almost as dark as his commander’s widened in shock when the tip of his sword touched her throat.“You’re a cambion,” he snarled in realization that she was the spawn of one of his enemies.
Chapter Sixteen
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OAKLIE FROZE WHEN ARKASwas suddenly standing in front of her with the tip of his sword pressing against her neck.The warm flirtation that had been on his handsome face was gone.He now looked as cold and hard as stone.Fury blazed from his pale blue eyes.He didn’t give her a chance to speak and began a rapid interrogation.
“You look at least eighteen,” the knight said accusingly.“How long have Rahab and his squad been on Earth?Which one of them sired you?Are you bait intended to draw my brothers and me into a trap?”
