Knights v Hunters; The Return

Rafe stumbled through the woods, his vision hindered by his tears as pain ripped through him, affecting his every step. He couldn’t believe what had just happened, and yet, didn’t he always know that this day would come? That a few words would bring about grief so great, that it took his breath away?

He stopped for a moment, hoping to catch his breath, waiting for the pain to subside, but a few seconds later, he realised that it was pointless. Nothing would ever be the same again.

“Eden,” he whispered. “How could it be so easy for you to walk away?” Eden, the woman he loved, the daughter of Gabe, leader of the Knights, had decided during her Year of the Choice, to remain a Knight and to fully commit to that society. In the year before they turned twenty-one years of age, known as the Year of the Choice, each Knight had a momentous decision to make: remain a Knight and protect the Normals, as per the covenants of Knight society or join the world of the Normals, sans your powers as a Knight and your memories of the very existence of that society. As the youngest child of the leader of Knight society, Eden’s choice had already been made at birth; however, her encounter with Rafe, the oldest son of Jude, leader of the Hunters had resulted in a forbidden romance, for the Hunters and Knights were not allowed to mix. Although both these societies existed for the sole purpose of protecting the Normals, the ones without any powers or abilities, the Hunters and Knights chose different paths to achieving their goals. The Knights believed in offering redemption to those condemned Normals who were worthy, whilst the Hunters made no such distinction and simply eliminated the condemned by using the arrows which flowed within them.

While the paths of these societies rarely crossed, a failed Knight mission resulted in the near fatality of Eden, who was rescued by Rafe and his brother Caleb who had been dispatched to eliminate the very condemned that Eden was trying to redeem. It was subsequently discovered that Knight intelligence had been compromised and Jude had reluctantly agreed to pair with the Knights to eliminate a great threat against the Normals. However, both Jude and Gabe were startled to realise that the greatest current threat to the Normals was actually a group of Untouchables who still retained their abilities and memories after being banished from Knight town. Untouchables, or former Knights, were usually removed from Knight society if they breached sacred Knight covenants and they were forced to live amongst the Normals, after being cleaned of their abilities and their memories as Knights. This failure in Knight protocol not only endangered the Normals, but also former Knights who now lived in Normal society. Former Knights were those who made the decision during their Year of the Choice, to voluntarily live amongst the Normals, after being cleaned. However, the failure to clean the abilities and memories of the Untouchables also seemed to have been extended to a few former Knights, who were now being targeted by the Untouchables to partake in a yet as unknown mission. The Untouchables had already left a slew of bodies in their wake whilst gearing up for this very mission. Noah, a member of the Council of Elders in Knight town, had been identified as the Cleaner who had breached Knight protocol and was subsequently sequestered by the Guardians in his own home. However, not too long into his sequestration, Noah had fled Knight town, killing three Guardians in the process.

Since returning to Knight town from New York, Eden had been involved in helping to stave off internal threats to her father’s leadership of the Knights, whilst grappling with her decision before her Year of the Choice ended. Rafe hadn’t realised that he would become collateral damage of that very decision. At that moment, he doubted whether Eden had felt the same powerful emotions that he had, when they had first met. Maybe she had just been swept away by the romantic notions of a Hunter who had fallen too hard and too fast for someone he could never truly have. I am the fool, he told himself. I should have known better! She never loved me! And yet, he couldn’t forget her gentle hands on his face, as if she was imprinting the very structure of it or her laugh, so clearly from her heart, that it warmed him every time he heard it.

Rafe’s chastisement of himself was put on hold when he heard light footsteps behind him. He turned and scanned the now darkened woods and knew in an instant who it was.

Caleb met his brother outside their parents’ home. Rafe looked the worse for wear. It probably didn’t go too well with Eden, Caleb guessed. His older brother had always been pretty intense, but since meeting Eden, he had mellowed to an extent that surprised even Caleb. Now, he wondered if his brother’s secret romance was over.

“Ready for dinner, bro?” Caleb asked cautiously.

Rafe looked at him for a second, almost as if he had just seen his brother. “Yeah, I guess so. Not too hungry though. I have a blinding headache.”

“Nothing that Mom’s lasagne can’t cure,” Caleb joked, although he couldn’t fail to notice his brother’s unusual gait as they walked the few steps to the front door. Maybe he does have a headache, he thought.

Jude and Ava enveloped their boys in bear hugs, like they always did. If Ava noticed her eldest son’s stiffened response, she didn’t remark, yet her glance slid sideways to Caleb, who merely shrugged.

Rafe ate his dinner in silence, while the conversation flowed around him. He felt a bit off, his headache worsening with every bite of his meal. Yet, he soldiered on, knowing that his parents would be worried if he ran off now. Too many questions, he decided. Questions I don’t feel like answering!

“Tomorrow, Ethan and I will be going to New York,” Jude announced. Only Ava didn’t look surprised, Caleb realised, knowing that there weren’t any secrets between his parents. “We want to get a feel for what’s happened there with the Untouchables. We know that whatever they were planning is still on, especially since Noah escaped from Knight town. Ethan and I have to ensure that it doesn’t involve the Hunters in any way. If this is going to be a battle between the Untouchables and the Knights, we can’t get involved, do you understand?” Even since the two Untouchables, Roan Gentry and Gage McCall, were eliminated, Jude and Ethan, his second in command, had floated many theories on the possible mission of the Untouchables. Now, they needed to go back to the scene of the crime to test one of those theories.

The boys nodded in unison. Jude continued, “Gabe and his Knights will have to deal with this on their own. We will only get involved if it affects the lives of the Normals. Having said that, I think that the leader of the Knights is naïve if he thinks that Noah is the only powerful Knight in their town to be involved.”

“We always suspected that there were more Knights involved,” Caleb said, waiting for Rafe to interject. When his brother failed to do that, Caleb continued, “so does Gabe, but he and his Knights seem unable to find the other conspirators. They know that the Cleaners haven’t performed their duties for decades now, but they can’t do anything to the former Knights without causing them harm by disrupting their lives.”

“The former Knights could prove to be a problem,” Ava said, noticing Rafe’s total absence from the conversation. “They have moved on with their lives and by all accounts, have stayed out of trouble, but their memories and abilities were preserved for one reason only, which is to be used in this unidentified mission. Gabe will need to ensure that they do not become pawns of the Untouchables, but how can he prevent that if they cannot be cleaned?”

“I think that is a problem the Knights need to resolve,” Rafe added. “Dad is right. Our mission right now is to ensure the safety of the Hunters and our compound. The Knights have brought this upon themselves. We should have no part in it unless it directly affects us.”

Both Caleb and Ava turned towards Rafe. Those words were so unlike him. Surely it was only weeks earlier that he had expressed a wish, albeit separately to his mother and brother, that he could help Eden and the other Knights with cleaning up Knight town and ridding them of the dangers posed by the Untouchables? What had happened to suddenly reverse that wish?

“True,” Jude said gently, aware of something having changed around the table. “Our purpose is not to rescue the Knights, but we have to warn them if we find anything that could harm them. I don’t want either of you communicating with the Knights from now on. Anything we find will be sent to them through Ethan. Understood?”

Rafe looked confused. “Why would we communicate with them about anything at all?”

“Well, ever since your last mission, there has been some communication between Knights and Hunters, even if it was to exchange debriefing reports,” Jude explained, noticing that Rafe’s frown had become more pronounced with each word spoken. “You okay, son?”

Rafe shook his head. “Just battling a headache,” he explained. “Obviously one that is… confusing the life out of me.” Rafe stood up. “If you don’t mind, I think I will just go to bed.”

“I’ll get you something for the headache,” Ava said, while Caleb also excused himself. Ava was one of the best Healers in the Hunter compound.

“Dad, be careful out there. You should start at Ginello’s Bakery, since that seems to be where most of the Untouchables worked or met,” Rafe advised. Caleb breathed a sigh of relief. At least Rafe was not so totally out of it since he had just directed their father to a very relevant starting point.

Just then Ava returned with some natural medication for Rafe’s headache. Caleb offered to accompany Rafe whilst Ava sat and worriedly looked at her husband.

’So, will you tell me what’s wrong with our boy?” he asked. Jude didn’t have to name him for Ava to know to which son he was referring.

“Oh, Jude!” she exclaimed. “I suspect that he is walking around with a broken heart, something that even I can’t fix!”

In Knight town, that same night, Eden skipped dinner with her family and opted to walk solo around the town. She hadn’t been able to stomach the thought of food and conversation, not after what had happened tonight. The Choice, when made, did not offer her the relief that she had once expected. Instead it had sounded the death knell to her one and only love. She would never forget the look on Rafe’s face when she had told him of her decision. He had already known, she realised. She wiped away the tears that had flowed unabated since she had started her walk. Would she ever feel loved like that again? Corny as it sounded, she had made sense when she was with him. He had wiped away any doubts she may have had about her role with the Knights. They might have been from different worlds, but he understood her like no one had. How was she going to make it through the next few months without him? One step at a time, one breath at a time, like I’ve done for twenty- one years, she told herself. She had let him go because she knew that he had wanted more from her. She could not give him anything more without becoming a Normal and then she would never remember who Rafe was or their life together in any case. How could she do that to them or to her family?

Eden turned around as she heard Kyra call her name. Her big sister caught up to her and turned a questioning face towards her.

“Everything okay, Eden?” Kyra asked. She noticed her little sister’s drawn face, her almost tightly-held control and knew instinctively that something had hurt her.

“Yes,” Eden replied. “As okay as anything can be right now, I guess.” She turned away from her sister and wiped away the last of her tears. She had never been a crier, yet she had shed more tears these past few days than she had her entire life. “Father mentioned that there was still no sign of Noah,” she said instead.

Kyra knew that Eden was trying to divert her attention. “Yes, we have not been able to track him. Seth has also been reaching out to all our contacts amongst the Normals. No one has seen or heard from Noah since he left town.” Seth was the oldest member of the Council of Elders, a committee which helped to run Knight town, and helped to advise and guide most of the Knights at some point in their lives. Gabe’s children thought of him as a grandfather.

“I can’t believe that he killed three Guardians in his escape. Noah’s always been as strong as Father, but even he couldn’t have managed this without some help.”

“We all know that. The problem is that we haven’t been able to find evidence against any other Knight. The Council of Elders has asked Father to pull out records of all communications in Knight town during Noah’s escape. Nate is helping Father with that. So far, nothing untoward has turned up.”

Eden smiled and looked at her sister. Kyra was soft on Nate, the green-eyed blonde haired Knight who was a techno-wizard as well as a Guardian to boot. Eden knew that Nate returned those feelings, but Kyra was too shy to approach him. Instead they pined for each other on their own. Maybe it’s time I interfered, Eden thought. It grated her to know that these two Knights, who felt so strongly about each other, would choose to stay apart when nothing stood in their way. Unlike with Rafe and her.

“You should help them with that. I think that Matthew, Josh and I should go back into Normal society and look around a bit more. I’m sure that the Untouchables have re-grouped and they would have left a few clues around as to who they are. We also need to find out who is protecting Noah, because only the Untouchables have the ability to block us from tracking them.”

“So do the Hunters,” Kyra remarked and Eden looked confused.

“You think the Hunters are involved in this?” she asked incredulously.

“No, of course not! I’m just suggesting that the Untouchables have similar strength when it comes to blocking us. We can only read these Untouchables with great difficulty or when they let their guards down, but we can never read the Hunters.”

“The Hunters and Untouchables are nothing alike!” Eden declared vehemently. “The Hunters have never compromised their principles or broken any of their covenants and unlike us, they don’t banish their traitors to live amongst Normals.”

“Hey, I wasn’t belittling the Hunters and nor do I think that they have anything to do with what’s been happening, especially since they protected us on our last mission when they didn’t have to. I’m merely suggesting that they have the ability to track and read the Untouchables which would have been useful to us right now.”

Eden shook her head in resignation and the sisters made their way back home. Despite what had transpired tonight between her and Rafe, Eden trusted the Hunters more than she currently trusted the Knights. Unfortunately, she would never be able to call upon them for help again!

A week later, the Council of Elders called a special meeting to review their findings from their various investigations. Gabe’s children were also invited to attend the meeting, together with several other younger Knights. Eden noted that Nate was amongst them, which was unusual, because he, like the other Guardians, normally only attended sessions with her Father. She remembered though that he was working with her Father on some aspects of this investigation.

Seth called the meeting to order and the discussions began. After three hours, Seth brought the meeting to a close, after summarising the findings. “Essentially we have found nothing substantial. The review of all our communications show that nothing has been exchanged to suggest anything untoward; none of the former Knights or Untouchables that we have managed to locate and who still retain their abilities and their memories, admit to being approached by Noah or others to join any mission. They all live fairly separately from each other and never interact. We have not been able to track Noah or find any information on who may have assisted him in his escape. All Knights are currently accounted for and none were found to be missing during Noah’s escape. There are no records of anyone having entered Knight town during Noah’s escape. This would suggest that he orchestrated his escape without any assistance, that he overpowered and killed three of our strongest on his own, that he is living amongst the Normals undetected. How is this possible? Knights, we have to find answers and very soon because I have a feeling that if we don’t, then we won’t know what is likely to come our way via the Untouchables!”

Grace walked home beside her husband. Their children lagged behind, with Kyra hoping to start a conversation with Nate; Matthew and Josh were analysing what they had just heard in the meeting and Eden seemed lost in thought. Something was plaguing her and Grace knew that her Choice had possibly ended her relationship with Rafe. Grace had not been able to talk to her best friend these past few weeks, because Knight town was essentially in lock down and her leaving to meet Ava would have brought great embarrassment to Gabe, not forgetting the suspicion that would be cast on her entire family. However, she knew that her daughter was walking around with a wounded heart, but that Eden would never approach her for advice or comfort because Grace was not supposed to know about her love for the Young Hunter. Grace sighed. Sometimes, secrets caught up with you in the worst possible ways.

Gabe meanwhile, was reviewing Eden and Matthew’s proposal that they be allowed to go into Normal society to track a few leads, starting at the bakery. A month ago, Gabe would have said that it was too dangerous, but after Noah’s escape, he realised that Knight town had become just as dangerous. Yet the thought of his children being out there alone on this mission scared him. Before, they had had the protection of the Hunters when dealing with the Untouchables. This time around, they would be left to the mercy of their own abilities against that of the Untouchables. Maybe he should go with them. Grace was more than able to hold her own in Knight town, but Kyra and Josh would be with her. As would Nate, Gabe suspected, as the young Guardian had nervously asked him if it would be okay to ask Kyra out. An amused Gabe had relented, knowing that he couldn’t have picked anyone better for his eldest daughter. However, he knew that Nate had not yet worked up the courage to approach Kyra.

Gabe was plagued by doubts which he couldn’t yet express to the Council. He had discussed this endlessly with Grace, to an extent where they had both agreed to dwell on it a bit more. Something Eden had said shortly after the Council had sequestered Noah, had been playing around his mind lately. She had expressed surprise that Noah would have been involved in any betrayal of the Knights or their covenants. He had felt the same. Noah, his childhood competitor, had always been living on the edge, yet over the past few decades, he had led and assisted on many missions, even when his views had clashed with Gabe’s. Amongst the Normals, he stood side by side with Gabe, executing their missions and saving condemned Normals, without openly defying him. Over the years, Gabe had come to depend on him even though they often had differing views. Yet Gabe had never doubted that Noah, despite his outbursts and his quest for Knight leadership, always had the best interests of the Knights at heart. Noah’s actions had always been out in the open and there were times when he was chastised and other times when he was feted by the Council. This underhandedness did not seem to speak to the character he had consistently displayed and yet, how else could you explain what his escape meant?

Seth wandered in his garden after dinner, too unnerved to be tired. His wife Dina had long ago retired to bed, claiming fatigue. His day had been too frustrating to tire him out. He acknowledged that the Council meeting had not rendered anything useful and he knew that something big was coming to Knight town, for which none of them would be prepared, least of all Gabe. Seth paused at the oak tree and ran his fingers along a low hanging branch. The tree was almost 15 feet tall and he had planted it the day that Lucas, his only child, had been forever banished from Knight town. This tree served as a reminder of what he and Dina had lost, of the son they would never see grow up, of grandchildren, they would never get to hold in their arms. Their hearts had been broken when they had planted this tree, for no parent deserved to have their child ripped from them and to be forbidden from ever seeing them again. Yes, Lucas had breached a covenant, which had justified his banishment, but it had never managed to salve their pain. Seth had come straight back here a few months ago, when he had heard of Lucas’s death in Normal society, as if this oak tree could offer some comfort. It didn’t. It merely strengthened his resolve, which only threatened to crumble when his wife talked about Lucas, for he hadn’t yet summoned up the strength to tell her that Lucas was no more, that he had been targeted as a condemned and was eliminated by the Hunters.

Seth realised that his years of work were finally coming to fruition. The condemned Untouchables and the murders of former Knights had put a major spoke in his plans, but he felt for the first time in a long time, that all was right with the world. Order would soon be restored. He needed to chat with Gabe about contingency plans should Knight town ever be invaded. This had never been a priority before, since the Guardians had been indestructible, but now, it seemed as if they were no better than mere Knights. Seth laughed, the absurdity of it all finally getting to him. He sensed a fear in Knight town like never before. Were the Knights losing faith in Gabe’s leadership? Even the Council of Elders was starting to talk amongst themselves of ways to strengthen their leadership. Sam, who had been a close friend of Noah, still could not wrap his head around the fact that Noah had betrayed them all. Were his arguments convincing enough? Seth wondered.

Dina heard her husband move in the garden outside their bedroom window. He had seemed more energised these last few months, as if the troubles within Knight town had given him a new purpose, a new strength to fight. When Lucas had been banished all those years ago, Seth had almost slunk away in embarrassment, refusing to mix freely with the other Knights, even initially ignoring the outstretched arms of Gabe and Grace. It had taken him a long time to realise that Lucas’s failing were not his, that he had been a good father and that he had nothing to be ashamed about. Dina refused to cry about Lucas anymore. They had been good parents and had doted on their only child, ensuring that he had the best of everything, but he had chosen a different path, one that had brought shame on their family. He had used his abilities to harm Normals, to break the covenants that they had held dear for centuries. He had let the Knights down, his father most especially. Seth had been a respected elder in Knight town and he and Lucas had had a very special relationship. Dina knew that her son had broken her husband’s heart, whereas she had probably taken his betrayal better. Hadn’t she always suspected that there was something dark within Lucas? He had been restless and reckless growing up in Knight town. She had begged Seth at one time to speak to Gabe about Lucas, to see whether the young leader could serve as a role model for their son. Her husband had looked at her in disbelief, refusing to acknowledge that their son was anything other than perfect, but Dina had known better. She had known! Just as she knew now that Lucas was no more. She saw it in Seth’s eyes, even though he refused to voice the words. She saw something else there, something that scared her and which made fear creep into her heart about what was yet to come their way. She needed to speak to Grace about it. Grace would know what to do and whether it would be right to take it to Gabe.

Jude and Ethan were in the control room before dawn. Their venture into New York had yielded some interesting information and insights. Rafe had been correct, for Ginello’s Bakery had provided an abundance of intelligence. A week earlier, Jude and Ethan had stopped by the bakery with the cover story of requiring a cake for Ethan’s twenty-fifth wedding anniversary party. They had met Mrs Ginello, the grey-haired half owner of the bakery who still looked a bit rattled at the loss of her partner Gage McCall and her star baker Roan Gentry. Mrs Ginello had sat with the men, jotting down their requirements, asking about Ethan’s wife, trying to gauge her tastes. Mrs Ginello explained that her own husband had passed away almost fifteen years ago, and that they had never got to celebrate their twenty-fifth anniversary. Ethan and Jude asked the appropriate questions while looking around Mrs Ginello’s office. There was nothing obviously out of place in the office and the bakery itself seemed well run and extremely busy.

“Mrs Ginello, I’ll be honest. Someone recommended this bakery to me a while back, but each time I’ve driven past, it seemed to be swarmed by the police,” Ethan began. “However, my anniversary’s soon and I couldn’t put it off any longer.”

There was barely any reaction from Mrs Ginello. “Well, to be honest, the police seem to think that my partner and one of our bakers were involved in a few murders! Can you believe that? I’ve known those boys for a long time and I never suspected anything. I could never have run this place initially without them. When my Antonio passed, I was so lost and they helped me to focus and build up this business to what it is now. You know, people drive for miles to come to us and we don’t even advertise, it’s all by word-of-mouth. The police have never indicated what evidence they had against them and those boys died before they could get the opportunity to defend themselves. That’s a shame. They were like my own children.”

The more Jude listened to her, the more he realised that she was no innocent little old lady. There was a steeliness about her that he had seen in few before. When he read her thoughts, he also discovered that she did indeed think of Gentry and McCall as her children. She had cared for them, trusted them and confided in them. Their betrayal must have come as a shock. And yet, Jude couldn’t sense that from her thoughts. Whatever had happened hadn’t shocked her, he realised, startled.

Ethan meanwhile also sensed that there were a few Untouchables still working in the bakery. Had Gentry and McCall lured them here, offered them employment in return for their loyalty? Or were they simply here by co-incidence? Rafe had mentioned that two members of the Untouchables named Francis and James also worked here, but that they were not complicit in the murders of the former members of Knight society. In fact, James’ recordings of the murders had provided the final evidence that had led to the downfall of Gentry and McCall.

On the way out of the bakery, Ethan and Jude ran into a young man who had been off-loading a delivery van. He looked at Ethan and Jude, almost surprised to see them there. A look of fear was quickly replaced by something Jude couldn’t easily discern, but a second later, the young man whispered something so softly as he passed them, that no Normal would have ever been able to hear it. Ethan could read lips and looked at Jude in shock as his friend nodded and proceeded to their car.

“Did you hear that?” Ethan asked as soon as they got into the car.

“Yeah, I did,” Jude confirmed. “Let’s get out of here first. There’s a lot more we need to do before we can go back home.”

Now, in the control room, they pieced together the intelligence they had gathered. They had only shared this with Ava and Maya, both of whom had great analytical skills. Ava sensed that there was still one essential piece of information missing. A motive!

Jude summarised their findings. “We know that the bakery was and remains a focal point for the Untouchables and now we know why. We also know that the person in charge has access to information on all Untouchables and former Knights in this part of the world. What we don’t know is whether these former Knights and Untouchables have retained their abilities as well.”

“Let’s assume for the moment, that they have,” Ethan suggested.

“Okay, then the leader of the Untouchables now has access to some very powerful information. If they are in contact with Noah, the Knight who apparently escaped from Knight town, then they have more than enough knowledge to infiltrate the town. We also know that there’s another Untouchable or former Knight circling the bakery, someone who definitely still has their abilities, whatever it may be.” At that point, Jude pinned the photo of the Untouchable in question on their board. They had identified the tall, almost platinum blonde-haired Untouchable or former Knight from her DMV photo, as Harper Zolfar. She was thirty-seven years old and the owner of a construction company. She looked physically strong and had an air about her that indicated that she was always on alert.

“She could have been a Guardian,” Jude realised.

“I thought that they were the “indestructibles” in Knight town,” Ethan remarked. The Guardians were known to be totally loyal to the leader of the Knights and only took instructions from him.

“True, but we also thought that they made Knight town impenetrable and look what happened there. At one stage, it would have taken a small army to take down three Guardians, but it seems that they were taken down quietly and very effectively by a smaller group.”

“Okay, so no more suppositions since the dynamics seemed to have shifted in Knight town.”

“Exactly,” Jude went on. “Back to our intelligence – we know that Harper Zolfar is married to Leo Zolfar, an architect who also contracts with her company. They both seem like upstanding members of the Normal society since they don’t even have parking tickets. They contribute to charities, participate in activities in their communities and have even won awards for some of the work that they have done. They built a centre for children with difficulties from their own pockets and they both volunteer there quite often. So why are they circling other Untouchables? It doesn’t fit their profiles.”

“Maybe they cultivated their clean profiles for this very reason. It could just be a cover to cast suspicion off them should anything happen.”

“Anything is possible at this moment,” Jude agreed. “So, we also know that there are no new crimes similar to those that Gentry and McCall had committed. If the Untouchables have re-grouped, then they are doing so under the radar and less aggressively than their predecessors.”

“You know, we never found out who the other members were,” Ethan commented. “Now we know who is the person in charge, but who else is on their team? McCall hinted that there were other members, possibly all Untouchables but I wouldn’t be closed to the idea that a few former Knights could have joined them as well.” Ethan held the photo of the leader of the Untouchables in his hands, hardly able to believe it, but knowing that both he and Jude had conducted an in-depth investigation this past week which had confirmed the identity of the person who had organised the Untouchables and from whom Gentry and McCall had taken their instructions. Whether the person in charge was actually the ultimate leader of the Untouchables, was not yet known.

“We also don’t know their mission yet, not for sure anyway. I believe that the scenarios we played out a month ago, are very possible and you’re right. Once we identify the rest of their team and understand their abilities, the better we’ll be able to piece the mission together.”

Ethan walked to the board, photo of the person in charge in his hands. He wondered if there was a way that they could speak to the Knights to understand what were the abilities of the Zolfars, as well as the now identified leader of the Untouchables. He and Jude would eventually find out, but it would take a bit longer and they wouldn’t understand the circumstances under which these Untouchables or former Knights had left Knight town.

“Surprisingly easy to believe,” Jude remarked as Ethan pinned the photo of the leader of the Untouchables dead centre on the board.

“I knew you picked something up,” Ethan commented. “I saw it on your face when we were there.”

They both stood back from the board and stared at the photo Ethan had just pinned. When James had walked past them, he had whispered, “You’re looking for Lucia Ginello, she’s the one in charge and I can prove it!”