Free Knight's Curse by Karen Duvall

were hiding.
    I turned down an alley for a shortcut when I felt a mild prickling sensation at the back of my neck. Someone was watching me. At the same moment, a man suddenly appeared in my path. And I do mean suddenly because he materialized out of nothing. He was stark naked, too. Considering how close I was to the Fatherhouse, I shouldn’t have been surprised.
    He crouched as if ready to fend me off, so I didn’t disappoint him. When threatened with attack, even a defensive one, I always fight back.
    I sprang at him feetfirst while reaching over my shoulder for my blade. His hands cupped my heels and he flipped me backward, forcing me to somersault in the air and land on my feet. When I stood upright, he was gone. Then he flashed into existence a few feet to my left. He disappeared once more, reappearing in the same spot he had stood the first time.
    “Stop winking in and out,” I shouted and prepared to make another go at him. He hadn’t hurt me, just defended himself, so I didn’t consider him a threat. Not yet, anyway. But anyone who could vanish and reappear like that had to be dangerous. “You’re making me dizzy.”
    He vanished again.
    I ran a hand through my hair and spun around. “What do you want?”
    There was a rustle in the leafless bushes behind me. He showed himself again, but out of the shadows instead of thin air, and this time he wore clothes.
    He let me study him, an amused smile curling one corner of his full lips. He looked just a few years older than I and wasn’t terribly tall, maybe five-ten at most, black hair, medium complexion. His eyes were crescent-shaped, very Asian, but the color was too pale. I’d have to see him in better light than a street lamp, but what I saw of him so far was enough to make me want to see more.
    He held out both hands, palms up. “I’m not a mugger.”
    “No, you’re a flasher.” My muscles tightened in anticipation. I’d had too many supernatural surprises for one night and it was wearing on me. I wondered at the extent of this man’s powers and if he could make other things besides himself disappear. Taking a deep swallow, I composed myself and tried not to give him attitude, though I wanted him aware I had plenty of nerve. “You didn’t answer my question. Aside from exposing yourself, what do you want?”
    “To get your attention.” He approached me slowly and I backed up a step. “Did it work?”
    “What do you think?”
    “That you’ll listen to what I have to tell you. It’s important.”
    I scrutinized his sincerity, unsure if I wanted to trust a man with the balls to go naked in public, pun intended. “Just because you think it’s important doesn’t mean I think so. What the hell are you?”
    He clasped his hands behind his back. “Why don’t you take out your contacts, Chalice, to get a better look.”
    He knew my name, and he obviously knew who I was. Though the notion unnerved me, it was a relief not having to pretend I was someone else for a change. I stared at him, half expecting him to vanish again, but apparently this ability had something to do with his clothes, or lack of them.
    He motioned at my face. “I mean it. Take a look.”
    So I did. His aura didn’t glow green like other Vyantara members. In fact, he didn’t glow at all. Alarmed, I backed away even farther. “You’re not alive.”
    “I’m very much alive.” He smiled and when he did, a silvery luminescence surrounded his body. It was a color I’d never seen on a human aura before. “See?”
    I squinted at him. “You can control your aura?”
    He nodded and thrust out his hand. “The name’s Aydin Berkant.”
    I ignored his offer of a handshake. “Tell me how you do that.” This aura thing was too strange. Forget strange, it was impossible. Not to mention the disappearing part.
    “Pleased to meet you, too,” he said, dropping his hand but not his smile.
    I popped the contacts back in to get a normal view of him. He looked like just a regular guy