“Josten,” Brant said, identifying the man in front of them, and held up his hands to show he didn’t have any weapons either. “We’re unarmed. We simply wish to speak with you.”
The man’s gaze swept over them and assessed the room behind them. He grabbed Kayla’s arm, jerking her inside. She stumbled, only staying upright because of the man’s iron grip. Two other men stood nearby and grabbed Brant and Carl.
Rough hands pushed her up against the wall for the second time that day. With brisk movements, she was patted down and searched. She would have objected to the invasiveness, but the guard’s thoroughness was rather impressive. They didn’t bother searching her belt. Instead, the guard yanked it off and tossed it to someone else. They’d also made her remove her shoes, taking the time to search them as well. Apparently, Brant had been right about the weapons. Damn. She owed him an apology.
When they finished, she was led over to the side of the room where a small group of people wearing formal robes were being held. Brant and Carl were still being searched. The brief reprieve gave her an opportunity to assess the situation.
The former council chambers were in complete disarray. Furniture was toppled on its side, some pieces destroyed beyond any recognition. Either an intense battle had raged in the room or a bomb had gone off. The council members had been split into two separate groups and were being held on opposite sides of the room. At least twenty armed guards wearing the distinct OmniLab security uniforms were scattered throughout the room watching over their captives.
The room was thick with the slippery shadow energy. Kayla could sense the council members trying to grasp energy threads under the thick blanket, but the threads kept moving out of their reach.
A loud scraping noise caught her attention. She turned, discovering she’d been right about the sound of a barricade being moved. They’d finished searching Carl and Brant and were now moving the barricade back into place, effectively sealing them in the room—like a tomb.
Kayla turned back to the guard who had pulled her into the room. “You’re Josten?”
The man inclined his head but didn’t speak. A weapon was still loosely held in his hand, but the casual way he carried it implied he wasn’t a stranger to using it. If he had half the training of Brant, he’d make a formidable foe. For all her teasing, she knew Brant had treated her with kid gloves. The man standing in front of her had no such inclination. Kayla just hoped she wasn’t wrong about her assessment of the Shadows.
“Is this really necessary?” Brant demanded after one of the guards led him and Carl over to her.
“Your presence is somewhat suspect, Brant,” Josten replied, his voice deeper and holding much more grit than she’d expected. “Especially since you’ve brought Tal’Vayr’s bondmate and a trader with you.”
Kayla scowled. Seriously? Was that her identity now? Why wasn’t Alec referred to as her bondmate instead? “How about you just call me Kayla?”
Josten glanced over at her but didn’t seem overly interested in her request. He turned back to Brant. “Why are you here?”
“To try to reason with you,” Brant began and gestured to the room. “This situation does not further our cause. What are you thinking taking the councilors as hostages? What do you hope to accomplish?”
One of the men who had moved the barricade back into place took a threatening step toward them. He was at least a head shorter than Josten, with a small scar at the corner of his lip. It made his lip turn slightly downward, giving him the appearance of a permanent scowl. “We won’t be treated as second-class citizens any longer. The High Council needs to know what’s it like to be pushed around and deprived of everything.”
Brant regarded the other man. “Are you even listening to yourself, Rob? You think the High Council will suddenly see our side of things if you terrorize them?”
“It’s better than letting them push us around like chess pieces,” he retorted, the vein at his temple throbbing.
Kayla studied the Shadows in front of her and the others within the room, trying to decide on the best approach. Josten appeared more even-tempered, while Rob was a loose cannon. The other guy standing near them hadn’t said anything yet, leaving her to believe he was more of a follower than a decision maker. Some others were listening to their conversation, while the remainder focused on the council members they guarded.
She needed to stall until the transponder activated. “I get it.”
Rob sneered at her. “You don’t get anything, but you will. You’re just like all the rest of them.”
Kayla blew out a breath, resisting the urge to give in to her impulses. It was tempting to slam her fist into the asshole’s nose, but it wouldn’t help anything. She needed to appeal to Josten and maybe some of the others.
“Yeah, I do get it. I get it far more than almost anyone here in the towers.” She lifted her head, silently daring Rob to challenge her words. “I know what it’s like to live between two worlds and not fit into either one of them.”
Josten didn’t reply, but he didn’t dispute her words either. She took that as encouragement and squared her shoulders, determined to make her point. “I grew up on the surface and spent my whole life believing I was a ruin rat. Shit didn’t change for me just because Alec found me one day and brought me to the towers. I didn’t grow up learning their ways or even knowing I had weird woo-woo abilities. I don’t fit in here. I probably won’t ever fit in, but I’ve changed too much to ever go back to my old way of life. So here I am, stuck between two worlds but not fitting neatly in either one.”
Rob scoffed. “Are we supposed to feel sorry for you?”
Kayla wrinkled her nose. “For fuck’s sake, no. I wasn’t asking for your pity. I don’t feel pity for you either. It’s a useless emotion. I’m just telling you I understand where you’re coming from.”
Josten watched her thoughtfully. “What’s your point then?”
Good. She had his attention. Now she just needed to keep it. The transponder should have activated by now. “My point, Josten, is that we’re not so different. In fact, I’d argue that we have more similarities than you probably realize.”
Josten’s eyes narrowed. “I find that hard to believe.”
Kayla gestured at Brant. “When I left the towers, I asked Brant to come with me. I needed him. I respect the hell out of him and trust him implicitly. There are only a handful of people in this world I can say that about.”
Brant glanced over at her, his eyes widening in surprise. Rob didn’t seem to be buying what she was selling, but Josten was still listening. A few of the other Shadows were also paying them a great deal of attention.
“Even though he’s a Shadow? Even though he suppresses your abilities?”
Kayla nodded. “Because he’s a Shadow and can suppress my abilities. I don’t know what the hell I’m doing most of the time, and Brant has looked out for me. Trust me, none of us want to see if I can collapse the towers simply because I got a little overzealous with the energy shit. I know Brant won’t let that happen. I trust him.”
Brant straightened. “You should listen to Kayla. She’s treated me the same as everyone else, no better and no less. She’s a pain in the ass, but for entirely different reasons than we’re used to. There’s no pretense. Even when she was told about my relationship with the Tal’Vayr line, it didn’t change anything in her eyes.”
A fourth man had wandered over while they spoke. “You openly acknowledged your ties in front of her?”
When Brant nodded, Kayla harrumphed. “I think this whole bloodline thing is bullshit. Who cares? We all share common origins. At least one of our parents could do the woo-woo finger wiggle. Big fucking deal.”
Another Shadow shook his head in disbelief. “We’re not the same. The Inner Circle won’t accept us.”
Rob pointed his weapon in her direction. “This is some sort of trick. She was probably sent here to say whatever they think we want to hear. They’ll do anything to have us release the High Counci
l. We should just end her now.”
Carl jumped in front of her, holding up his hands and trying to draw the weapon toward him. “Kayla was not sent here by anyone. In fact, she came here against orders. She wanted the chance to talk to you.”
Kayla put her hand on Carl’s back and nudged him, trying to get him to move. He refused to budge. The infuriating man was determined to put himself in harm’s way to try to protect her. She poked her head around him, but he moved in front of her again, blocking her from sight. He continued speaking as though she weren’t there.
“All of you know her history. Kayla stands up for people who need a voice. She’s stood up for the ruin rats and demanded they have a tower built for them. She’s stood up for the Inner Circle against the tyranny of Edwin Tal’Vayr. She’s stood up for the people of the towers and agreed to an engagement with Alec to promote stability. And now she’s willing to stand up for you. If you kill her, you’ll be destroying one of the staunchest supporters you could ever have.”
Brant nodded, also stepping in front of her. Now both men were acting like a blockade. “Carl speaks the truth. Kayla asked me to bring her here because she believed you might be willing to listen. We all want this situation to end peaceably.”
“Rob, holster your weapon,” Josten ordered.
Only when the volatile Shadow had lowered his weapon did Carl step aside. Kayla sighed, recognizing the need to tread carefully. Emotions were running way too high. There had to be a way to keep stalling without getting in the line of fire. “You have no reason to trust me, but I might be able to prove to you why I believe the way I do.”
“Explain,” Josten demanded.
“I don’t know how or when this whole segregation thing started, but you’re just as much a part of the Inner Circle as me. No, you can’t manipulate energy on your own, but you can negate it. Haven’t you ever wondered why you have that ability?”
“Lies!” a woman shouted. “The Shadows are abominations. They are nothing like Inner Circle members.”
Kayla’s head whipped around to find a furious blonde being held in place by an armed guard. Her makeup was smeared, her hair disheveled, and the arm of her fancy robe was torn. The naked hatred in her expression left no doubt this woman wanted to see each of the Shadows terminated.
Kayla blinked, trying to remember whether she’d met this woman before. “Really? I seem to recall another Inner Circle member holding all of you hostage once before. What’s the difference this time, except you don’t have a snazzy bracelet to go with your outfit?”
The woman huffed, jerking away from the Shadow holding her as though his touch burned her. She gathered her robes around her, pulling herself ramrod straight.
“I’m Lenora Ballentor, member of the High Council. You’re a foolish girl for walking in here and spreading these lies. The Shadows are nothing like us. If you knew anything about your heritage, you’d know this.” She turned toward Josten and the other Shadows. “If you don’t release us immediately, I promise you’ll pay for this transgression. I’ll see each of you exiled from the towers. You cannot continue to hold us.”
Kayla crossed her arms, staring hard at the woman. “You’re sitting here spewing threats at a bunch of people holding weapons on you? I’d say you’re the stupid one, lady.”
The woman’s face turned an angry, mottled red. “How dare you speak to me that way. I’ve been on this council for more years than you’ve been alive. Your father would be shocked to hear about your behavior.”
“Lenora, shut up,” another man barked. “You’re making things worse. Let Kayla speak. I want to know where she’s going with this.”
Kayla frowned at the silver-haired man sitting on the floor and leaning against the wall. He looked somewhat familiar, but she didn’t remember meeting him. “Have we met?”
“Devan Alivette, dear,” he replied. “We haven’t been formally introduced.”
“Alivette?” Kayla frowned, trying to remember where she knew that name. She snapped her fingers. “Aha. You’re Ariana and Jason’s father. Nice to meet you. Well, sort of. Bad situation, but you know what I mean.”
He gave her a tired smile and gestured for her to continue speaking with their captors. She turned back to Josten and the other Shadows. They were growing impatient.
Time to step things up a notch.
“When Alec was teaching me, he showed me there were four basic elements aligned with our abilities. Each element had a contrasting element, a counterbalance.”
Rob crossed his arms over his chest. “You don’t think we know all this already?”
She nodded. “Yeah, but that’s not exactly true. He realized I’m a Spirit channeler, with the ability to channel all four elements.”
An eerie stillness fell over the room with her announcement. Alec probably wouldn’t be happy with her sharing this information, but it couldn’t be helped. She needed to stall, and there were limited options.
“Impossible!” one of the council members shook their head.
Kayla shrugged. “Impossible or not, it’s true. Alec thought my ability to channel all four elements meant my energy could shift to strengthen my partner’s counter energy. While that’s true, it has more implications than any of us realized, especially when it comes to Shadows.”
Josten took a step forward, his attention solely focused on her. “How so?”
“You all negate energy, while I can channel all of it. I’d say there are two other elements that weren’t included in these lessons: Spirit and Shadow. To put it simply, I can channel my energy into a Shadow, turning them into an Inner Circle member.”
A few of the council members gasped.
Brant nodded. “We tested it, and it’s true. The energy doesn’t last, but Kayla was able to share her energy with me. Using basic energy theory, I was able to use her energy just like any Inner Circle member.”
“Show me,” Josten demanded.
Kayla nodded, not surprised by the request. She’d demand a demonstration too. It was tempting to throw one of the Shadows off their game by channeling energy into them, but there were too many of them. “I can do that, but you won’t have your abilities until you expel my energy.”
Brant cleared his throat. “Kayla, why don’t you link with me? We can move to the center of the room since there’s no furniture. If we’re away from the other council members along the wall, they’ll be better able to sense my change of energy.”
Her eyes flew to meet Brant’s gaze. With a nod, she let him know she understood he was trying to communicate the layout of the room to the transponder. “Sure.”
Josten frowned, suspicion etched on his face. He strode over to Carl, pressing his weapon against his neck. “Go ahead, but remember, if this is some sort of trick, the trader will be the first to die.”
Kayla swallowed, her mouth going dry and a hard lump forming in the pit of her stomach. “There’s no trick and no reason to hurt Carl. I’m simply going to show you how similar we are.”
Carl gave her a nod of encouragement, and it took everything she had to walk away from him. As though sensing her reluctance, Brant took her arm and led her to the center of the room.
“Relax,” Brant whispered and held out his hand. “Just channel a small amount of energy into me. They just want to see the change in energy fluctuations.”
Kayla nodded, acknowledging the instructions, and took his hand. They didn’t need to know how much energy she could channel. She reached for the energy threads within the room, but they were still oily and slick, proving difficult to grasp. It might be possible for her to force her way through the Shadow barrier, but they didn’t need to know that. If Alec didn’t come through in time, it might be helpful to keep this information in reserve.
Pretending to be affronted, she scowled and jerked her head up to meet Josten’s watchful gaze. “Mind dropping the shadow energy? I’m still learning my way around all this energy stuff.”
Josten inclined his head, and the shadow energy
retreated from the area around her. Kayla took a deep breath for the first time since she’d entered the room. Until now, she hadn’t fully realized the effect of having her abilities suppressed. It was a little like have one of your senses suddenly severed—you didn’t really notice it until it was gone. When it returned, the world became more vivid and full of color.
Brant cleared his throat, pulling her attention back to the situation. It might be interesting to explore the phenomenon later, but first she had a demonstration to perform. Kayla reached for the nearest energy threads, weaving them together, and channeled some energy into Brant.
There was a collective gasp from the people in the room. She cut off the energy transference, but even she could detect the difference in Brant. The energy threads that had once avoided him were now moving around and through him. If she hadn’t known who he was, she’d never have known him as anything other than a traditional energy channeler.
Keeping his movements slow and deliberate, Brant lifted his hand and used air energy to slowly move a chair across the room.
“I have access to all the different elements, but the quantity is limited. Once the energy is spent, I revert to the Shadows. Through contact, Kayla can maintain a connection and share her energy with me.”
Josten stepped forward, his hand brushing through the energy stream and negating it. It didn’t recognize him. At least, not yet. He frowned. “She can do this with any of us?”
Kayla nodded. “I believe so. I’ve only tried it with Brant, but I don’t see why it wouldn’t work with all of you.”
“How could Alec have allowed you to sully yourself by creating a connection with them?” Lenora demanded, shock and horror on her face.
“Enough, woman!” Josten spun around and targeted her with his weapon. “One more word and I will end you. You have no power here, not anymore.”
Kayla frowned, looking back and forth between Lenora and Josten. At least the weapon was no longer aimed at Carl, but this situation wasn’t much better. Kayla was the one usually riling people up. Her skills weren’t as sharp when it came to defusing tense situations. There had to be a way to distract them.
Tremors of the Past Page 28