“I know who she is.” Alanii’s unnaturally green eyes turned snakelike. “And I’m ready to take her on if I need to.”
To my surprise, Esther laughed. “Leave her alone.”
“We need to keep this quick,” Quinn said. “We can’t be seen with you.”
“I know,” Esther said. “It’s time we spoke properly, though.”
“It’s true then.” Quinn didn’t hide her disappointment. “You’ve chosen traitors over your brother, over us.”
“She’s trying to do the right thing,” I snapped.
“They call you a traitor, too,” Alanii told Esther. “Not in front of me, but still, they talk.”
“They say she’s poisoning you.” Quinn looked me up and down. “They’re calling you weak minded for falling for her lies. They say it’s better for you to die than continue to betray us.”
I asked, “Oh, and was Illeana a traitor, too? Or is Esther one because she’s upfront about what she’s doing?”
“Who are you to speak of our fallen sister?” Quinn asked in a tight voice.
“She was after the truth before us,” I said. “She was hunting down the same people we are.”
“Do you have proof?” Alanii asked.
I exchanged a glance with Esther. “Not exactly, but—”
“Then it’s just your word. I don’t know you,” Alanii said.
“You know me,” Esther replied. “I wouldn’t lie to you. Someone in the Council ran the slave markets. They’re sending assassins after us, killing innocent people. Illeana tried to get to the root of the problem before she died. I’m just following in her footsteps. There’s something very wrong, sisters. We need to stop it before more die.”
“You’re protecting rebels, Esther. Enemies. Criminals.” Quinn sounded exasperated.
“What were their crimes?” I asked. “Most of them came from rich or powerful families and are on the run for ridiculous reasons. They just want to go home and feel safe again.”
“Convince us, Esther,” Alanii said, “or join us again. We can’t go on as we are.”
Esther swallowed hard. “Alanii, you of all people can’t agree with what’s happening to the children from the slave markets. The Council talked about using them against the BVA’s army, until they remembered the werewolves they have locked away in a dungeon. You didn’t see it, how trapped the werewolves are. That could happen to any race of people. And the assassins have been trained for some purpose. I don’t know what, but some of them are Guardians. And they’re murdering other Guardians.”
Quinn adjusted her ponytail with trembling hands. “Your people are murdering the Guardians.”
“We’ve only fought the ones who attacked us,” I said firmly. “I’ve seen them turn on each other. Watch out for yourselves. You don’t know who to trust. The bad ones all seem to be tattooed, though.”
“Remember Garvin?” Esther asked. “The spirals that his entire Circle had? They are the enemy. And he tried to kill me. I didn’t want to fight him, I swear.”
Alanii licked her lower lip thoughtfully. “I told you the story about his death didn’t make any sense,” she said to Quinn.
“If there was really something going on, we would know about it by now,” Quinn said dismissively.
“Except you never got the meaty missions, did you?” I said slyly. “Your male counterparts have a completely different job from yours.”
Quinn’s smile was humourless. “That’s nothing new.”
“They underestimate you,” I said. “Or maybe they don’t think you would touch what they’re really doing. Illeana wanted to know, and she was prepared to die for it, according to her real sister.”
“It’s true,” Esther said. “I swear to you, this is all true.”
“You could help us,” I said. “We’re all trying to find out who our enemy is, who’s controlling the slave markets, but we need your help.”
“Loyalty is important to us,” Alanii said. “We can’t betray everything we know.”
“And Esther should be standing next to us, not you,” Quinn added.
I eyed both of them. “You protected her when we fought against the beasts. She could have hidden away like most of the Council, but she wanted to fight. And you cared enough about her to protect her. Did you see her afterward? Talk to her, or…?”
Alanii shook her head. “She was taken from us, and Aiden refused to let us see her.”
“That’s because he had me locked in a room, drugged up to my eyeballs,” Esther said fiercely. “He wouldn’t let me shift or heal. Does that sound like normal behaviour to you? Phoenix got me out of there. Phoenix!”
“You were badly injured,” Quinn said. “Perhaps your memories are unreliable.”
Esther made a disgusted sound. “I feel safer with the rebels than I did with my own brother. He’s my alpha. You know I had to fight to walk away from him. It causes me physical pain every single day. Do you really think I would put myself through this if I wasn’t sure?”
Alanii took Esther’s hand. “Oh, Esther, we know you believe what you’re doing is right, but—”
“So prove us wrong then,” I said.
“What?” all three said as one.
“If you don’t believe us, dig into it and prove us wrong.” I smiled. “If you can. I’ll walk away if you convince Esther she’s wrong.”
“I like this idea,” Alanii said. “We won’t have to kill her and upset Esther.”
“Talk to Gabe,” Esther said. “Hear him out and see what you think. Follow up on Illeana. The months before her death. Her sister told us she was working on something big. And some of her belongings are still missing. Maybe you could find them.”
Quinn flinched. Curious, I watched her, but she glared back at me with defiant eyes.
“We’ll do this if it will bring you back to us,” Alanii said solemnly. She cocked her head. “We will be the family we once were.”
“Be careful,” Esther said. “If anyone finds out what you’re doing, you could put yourselves in danger.”
Quinn let out a harsh laugh. “Nobody pays attention to us. You should know this by now. We’re the perfect people for this task.”
After Esther had reassured them some more that she was healthy and not brainwashed, they left, eager to get away from us.
“Think they’ll do it?” I asked Esther once they were gone.
“They’ll do what it takes,” she said. “Whatever comes. Just because the Council underestimated us doesn’t mean it was for a good reason.”
“And if you have to face Aiden? Go up against him in battle? Are you ready for whatever comes?”
Her nod was shaky. She could easily change sides at the last minute if the loyalty that was part of her DNA reared its head.
“Come on,” she said. “Let’s get home. It’s been a long day.”
We walked home together, but Esther had lost her light-heartedness. The niggling fear that she would eventually turn on us refused to leave, and I was glad when we got close to home.
Margie stood outside the cul-de-sac as we approached. She held out her hands. “Now don’t worry yourself,” she began.
“What happened?” Esther asked, but I had already imagined all of the worst possible scenarios.
“They’re bored,” Margie said, looking at me pleadingly. “They needed to blow off some steam, let loose a little.”
“What’s going on?” I was surprised by how hard my voice sounded.
“Some of them left for a bit to have a few drinks and—”
“How many left?” I demanded.
“Seven, I think, but—”
“Esther, take her inside. I’ll wait here.”
“Oh, Ava,” Margie said softly.
“I’m not discussing it. Get inside and warn everyone to leave me alone for a bit.” I was fuming too much to be around anyone I actually liked.
Esther led Margie away, and I focused inward. I was holding up too many strings for anyone to ruin it all
for a drink in a pub. We had to protect what we had worked so hard for, especially when all of the pieces seemed to be coming together. Shay, Moses, Phoenix, Quinn and Alanii… they were all helping us grow closer to the truth.
Night had fallen by the time six figures strolled down the road toward the cul-de-sac. They sang as if celebrating. I was beyond disgusted to see Ry amongst them, leaning against Desmond. His brother had desired a few moments of freedom, but he had gotten caught and committed an awful suicide rather than face the Council’s judgement. And there was Ry, flaunting himself. The Council could have popped out of the shadows and arrested him in the time it would have taken me to reach the group.
“Uh-oh,” Desmond said loudly when they finally noticed me.
His voice was followed by laughter. Idiots. Complete bloody idiots.
“Now, Ava,” Ry said, slurring his words, “it was all a bit of fun. We were very… very stealthy.”
I stared at them coldly until the laughter died away. “Explain it to me. Explain to me why the fuck my landlady died protecting you people. Explain to me why any of us risked our lives to get you into the cul-de-sac. We could have left you there. You weren’t my responsibility, but I took you in.” I pointed at the houses. “The people who live here risked everything for a battle they had no part in, and here you are, throwing it back in their faces.”
“Come on now,” Desmond said. “You’re overreacting, girl.”
“Remind me,” I continued, “why I should make more deals to get magical protection over this place if you’re incapable of staying where it’s safe. Why the hell am I wasting my time running around playing these stupid games when you lot are ready to feck it all away for nothing?”
“Ava,” Ry said, “calm down. We didn’t think that—”
“Don’t even speak to me,” I snapped. “You, of everyone, should be ashamed of yourself after what happened to your brother. Do you want me to watch you die, too?”
“Who exactly put you in charge?” Desmond demanded, sounding suspiciously sober. “You’re a child. I don’t bow before you or anyone else. That’s the point of being a fucking rebel.”
“Some fucking rebel. Doing what you like while others risk their lives to keep you safe.”
“I don’t have to listen to you.” His tone was mocking. “Not now or ever.”
“If that’s what you think, then you’re obviously in the wrong place,” I hissed. “I’m not about to babysit some idiot who doesn’t know how to work as part of a team. If you can’t abide by the rules, then fuck right off.”
Desmond’s smirk lingered. “I’ll take many of them with me.”
“Good luck keeping them alive,” I said. “We’ll discuss it in the morning, see who wants to go and if we can spare you any supplies.”
His smile faltered. “What?”
“Exactly what I said. I’m not wasting my energy on people who don’t want my help. I’ll be glad to see you go. Means there’s more for the rest of us.”
“You’re power mad,” Desmond said.
I frowned. “Where’s the other one?”
“What?”
“The other one. They said seven left. There are six of you. Who’s missing? Gareth?”
“Gareth?” he parroted.
“Yes, Gareth. Chubby man who rarely leaves your side. I assume he left with you.”
Desmond coughed as the others looked around in confusion. “Ah, I saw him chatting up a fine-looking woman earlier. He’ll find his own way home when he’s finished with her.”
My skin itched. “Get some sleep. You’ll have a long day tomorrow.”
But I was the only one who went indoors. The others lingered, and the scene was likely repeated to everyone else within the hour. I heard Carl’s voice outside, but nobody came near me, and I was glad for that. I didn’t want them to try to talk me down. We needed to be a team, and that meant making sacrifices. Eddie had told me they needed to respect me. Maybe it was time to harden my heart some more.
I slept little that night. Early the next morning, I threw caution to the wind and ran around knocking on doors to gather everyone outside. Carl had slept elsewhere.
I stalked up and down in front of too many sullen faces, desperately trying to figure out what I wanted to say. In the end, I spoke my mind.
“Okay, we all know where we stand. You’ve all had plenty of time to discuss yesterday’s events. Now it’s my turn to talk. I want to point you all to the exit. If you take it, don’t come back. I’ve never asked to be in charge, but I went through a lot of hassle to get you here. Folsom died, and Mrs. Yaga died, but I’m not planning on dying, least of all for people who are willing to throw their lives away. Risk yourself all you want, do whatever it is you want to do, but do it far away from here. I won’t allow you to put everyone else at risk. I don’t care who you are—or what you are—because we’re all in the same situation. I believe we’re safer together, but if you think differently, then you can go.” I pointed toward the mouth of the cul-de-sac. “This isn’t a prison. You can leave at any time. Just don’t expect to come back after risking the safety of us all. That’s all I have to say.”
“This is ridiculous,” Desmond called out. “This is worse than before, worse than the Council even. We can’t even have any fun? We’re stuck here, in yet another prison, being dictated to by a tainted child. It’s insulting.”
Murmurs ran through the crowd of people.
“Off you go then,” I said. “Don’t like it? Leave. This is my home. You don’t get to squat. Find your own place, follow your own rules. I’m not going to stop you, but I’ve had enough of this shit.”
He spluttered for a couple of seconds. “And where do you expect us to go?”
“I don’t care.” I walked away.
Carl followed me into my garden, blocking my way before I entered the house.
“You sure you want to do this?”
I glanced back at the crowd of people having a heated discussion mere metres away. “Very.”
“Okay. Does this mean you get to pick what we watch every single night now?”
“Oh, shut up! This isn’t funny, Carl.”
He grinned. “It’s a little funny. Mostly Desmond’s face was hilarious.”
“Take this seriously! They took the piss yesterday. They could have been picked off or led anyone here.”
“Pretty sure everyone knows where we live already.”
“Again, shut up! Is Gareth back yet?”
He shook his head.
“See? How am I supposed to protect them from themselves?”
He held up his hands. “You proved your point. We get it. We’ll be more serious about everything.”
I scowled. “I shouldn’t have to convince people to keep themselves alive. That includes you.”
His smile disappeared. “You don’t know what it’s like to be stuck here while you come and go.”
My mouth dropped open. “You’re not stuck here at all! But the ones wanted by the Council can’t exactly wander the streets. It wasn’t my idea to make them outlaws! Jesus, do you think I want to deal with Eddie and the million other people who don’t trust me? I’d much rather stay here and let somebody else do all of the work.”
“We’re sitting around like children, doing nothing apart from waiting for you to come back, never knowing if you will come back. Can’t you understand?”
“Understand that you think being here is nothing? Protecting these people is nothing? My neighbours were fine before I brought everyone here. Mrs. Yaga was alive before we arrived. These people have lost everything because of us. The least we can do is keep them safe!”
I turned my back on him and stormed into my house. It wasn’t working. I couldn’t lead, and nobody took me seriously, not even my friends. We had won a few battles, but we weren’t close to winning the war. We didn’t even know who exactly we were fighting against half the time. Danger swarmed me every day. Life with me had been so risky that Peter had taken Emmett away.
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I glanced at the window and saw them all outside, obviously discussing leaving me, too. I couldn’t blame them. I was so sick of kissing arse on their behalf, of trying to persuade people who hated me that the Council were the ones in the wrong. It was exhausting and made me feel like a crappy politician half the time. That wasn’t what I signed up for. I wanted to help people, but I didn’t want bloody hands for the rest of my life.
Val walked over and knocked on my door. I took my time opening it.
She studied my face. “It’s the battle. It heats up your blood and anything less than that is anticlimactic. Waiting for the next battle makes you warm but gives your violence nowhere to go.”
“I’m not Peter. I’m not you, either.”
She shrugged. “Come. Hear the people talk. Stop hiding away like a coward.”
“I will hit you.”
“And will that make you feel better?”
“Possibly. I’m feeling pretty happy about taking the chance.”
She smiled, gripped my shoulder, and guided me out of the house. “I told you that you should get more involved with training. You could hit me as often as you liked then.”
“Don’t actually want to break my hand.” I glanced at her. “Are your tattoos imbued with something, Val?”
She traced the swirls on her temples as if she knew them by heart, her expression grim. “Raven gave me bloodlust to help me kill my father.”
I wasn’t quite sure what to say to that.
“Ah, here she is,” Cam called as we approached, his smug expression provoking those violent urges again. He wrapped an arm around my shoulders. “I know you’re all angry,” he said loudly, “but give her a chance to apologise. After all, she’s grieving still over the loss of her man.”
I caught his jaw with my fist before Val got between us. I spewed heat and hatred from my eyes as I glared at him.
“Want to talk about Peter?” I asked. “Fine. Tell me when you first heard about him, Cam. Tell me who sent you to him when Emmett was taken. Were you the one who saved Peter’s life? Or were you just the one who made him forget it happened?”
At first there was silence, but a brief glimpse of something in Cam’s expression spurred me on. Gabe’s warnings and hints had grown in my mind; I was convinced we were surrounded by traitors, and I couldn’t hold back anymore.
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