Traitor

by Claire Farrell

  “Who else should go tonight?” I asked. “I’m thinking Shay should be there to speak for the humans. They’ve seen him around, and they know he isn’t afraid to get his hands dirty.”

  “Bring as few as possible,” Gabe said.

  “Esther can speak for the shifters, but I’m not comfortable with too many others going. Val’s injured, and she might be needed here. I’m not sure it’s time to spring the twins on people.”

  “The fae will never accept the twins,” Elathan said. “Phoenix will be forced to choose.”

  “The fae need to get out of the past and realise that this is the way things are now,” I said sharply. “The twins are proof that human blood doesn’t dilute fae magic. If anything, the twins are better than most fae because they have none of the prejudices or darkness.”

  “We all watched the female murder an important British royal fae,” Elathan said.

  “That important British royal took the twins from their mother and helped Fionnuala remove Phoenix’s memories!”

  “Believe it or not, I’m on your side,” Elathan said. “But this is what people will hear.”

  “Well, we just have to make sure they hear other things, too.”

  “The world will never be ready for all of the truth that exists,” Gabe scoffed.

  “None of us are ever ready for anything,” I said, thinking of Moses’s words to me. “We deal with what comes. I’m going to let the others know what we’re doing. Take over from Carl for a few minutes, you two. Be ready to leave soon.”

  I headed over and patted Carl on the back to get his attention. We herded the people we trusted most into my living room.

  “I’m going to visit the children with Gabe and Elathan, then we’re heading straight to this meeting,” I said. “Phoenix needs to be there. I’m going to ask Shay to go, and I think Esther should come with me.”

  “Surely it would be safer for all of us to go,” Lorcan said.

  “You died yesterday,” I said. “And even if you didn’t, I still don’t think it’s a good idea. The fae need time to accept what’s happened. You and Lucia are a reminder of what Fionnuala feared. Besides, there’s something else that makes me want you all to stay here.”

  “Brogan,” Aiden said, limping into my living room.

  I still wanted to kill him, so I took a deep breath and thought of Esther.

  “You don’t think he’ll try something, do you?” Carl asked.

  “Those children,” I said. “He wants them as badly as Fionnuala did. He has plans. Almost everyone had plans. Except for us, really. I haven’t seen him. He isn’t at the bookshop, and I’m afraid of what he might want, what he might try while everyone else is busy with change. We need to minimize the damage from losing the Council, but we don’t know who has sided with whom or what the fallout will be. There are going to be Guardians who refuse to believe in Phoenix or the rest of us, those who still believe Aiden murdered Koda. Some people will never accept working with humans.”

  “We need to be careful,” Esther said, “but we still need to be there.”

  I would go because I had little choice, because only I really understood what Eddie was capable of. I needed to see for myself what would happen.

  “We still have other problems,” Carl said. “What side are the Guardians on? Where are the rest of Fionnuala’s assassins?”

  “Maybe they all were killed,” Aiden said in a low voice.

  “You know, don’t you?” I said. “You know who the assassins are.”

  He shrugged. “It was meant to be a special unit, a privilege to be chosen by Fionnuala.”

  “Where’s your tattoo?” Val asked coldly.

  Aiden made a face and looked away.

  “Aiden?” Esther asked. “You’re one of them?”

  He was on his back in two seconds, despite my wound, despite the way I kept being told I needed to let it heal, despite the promises I kept making to myself to keep him alive for Esther’s sake.

  “Did you kill him?” I hissed.

  “Who?” he asked, eyeballing me angrily but not fighting back because I was surrounded by friends, including the sister he wanted to impress—or fool.

  “Folsom. A goblin who never harmed anyone. Who only helped people survive. Did you do it? Torture him? Murder him? String him up on his gates to send me a message?”

  “I don’t know him. I didn’t kill any goblin. Esther, tell her.”

  “I have no idea if you’re telling the truth or not,” she said sadly. “That’s the problem.”

  “I’m not lying.” He looked back at me, his eyes widening. “I’m not who you think I am. I didn’t do anything you wouldn’t do.”

  I let go of him in disgust. “I wouldn’t take children from families who love them. I wouldn’t kill a young mother to prove a point. We are nothing alike.”

  He laughed, rubbing his throat. “You’re a murderer, just like me. We do what we have to do.”

  I bit down on my anger and moved away. I wanted to rip off his head. I breathed deeply, trying to control my urges, but his presence was enough to send me into a rage.

  He got to his feet. “Yeah, I have tattoos. They made me stronger, helped me become alpha. When my father found out I was this… this monster, he tolerated me because of Esther. But when she turned out just like me, he sent us away. It was tough. I suddenly had all of these responsibilities and questions. I wanted to know if there were others like us, and there were.” He shrugged. “But the shifter world can be dangerous. Fionnuala found me, told me she could make me strong enough to protect me and Esther forever. The tattoos helped me beat the alpha into submission. In exchange, Fionnuala had my loyalty.”

  “You cheated,” Esther said in disgust. “You cheated your way to the top.”

  He didn’t look as though he particularly cared. “Call it what you want. I did what was necessary for survival. Our mother wasn’t from here. We’re a different kind of shifter. It was harder for us to be accepted, and yeah, I did what I could to grab any advantage possible. So I know some of the others. Pretty certain I know who would be part of her little army, and I’ll be able to point out a lot of them if they survived.”

  “She didn’t trust you to all know each other?” Carl asked. “Sounds like a sucky job.”

  Aiden smirked. “Being a human sidekick sounds worse to me.”

  “Look at yourself,” Carl said scornfully. “You have nothing. Everyone deserted you except for us. Think on that before you mouth off.”

  All of the fight flooded out of Aiden. “You’re right. I’m sorry. This is a big adjustment. Everything I’ve known has been turned upside down. And Coyle…” He hunched over with sadness. “Thank you all for getting me out of there. Really. Thank you. And if I figure out who the rest of the assassins are, you’ll be the first to know.”

  “If you ever lie to me again, I’ll end you,” Esther said. “I’m not the person you knew, Aiden. Blood only counts for so much. Remember our father if you doubt me. These people have taken us in when they would have been better off fighting against us. My own Circle cared more for me than you did. You drugged me, took away my choices, and picked the worst person on the planet to fight for. I think Coyle is the perfect example of your instincts being off.”

  He walked outside, and Esther followed him, but her chin was held high and stubbornly.

  “This is going to get awkward fast,” Val said. “I don’t trust him.”

  “Neither do I,” I said. “But we might be able to get information out of him. He’s a symbol, too: shifter alpha, head Guardian, consultant to the Council. We may need him to get more of the shifters on board. The ones left who trust him, that is.”

  “What’s the deal with him and Coyle?” Carl asked.

  “He cared about him. Loved him, even. And he killed him for what was right. He’s probably going through something huge right now. That’s the only reason I’ll cut him any slack. We’ll see how that goes later on.”

  I left to find Es
ther. She was still arguing with her brother.

  “You ready to go?” I asked her.

  Aiden glared at me, but I ignored him.

  “Yeah, I’m done here,” she said.

  We slowly walked over to where Phoenix stood speaking with Elathan and Gabe.

  “You okay?” I murmured.

  She stopped chewing her thumbnail. “How is it possible that the one person I’ve relied on my entire life is a complete stranger now?”

  “You’ll work it out when all of this is over. And if you don’t, you’ll move on from him.”

  She hesitated. “I’ve always had somebody telling me what to do. My father before he turned on us, Aiden, the Council. What if I make mistakes or—”

  “You think your brother hasn’t made mistakes? He’s set a pretty high bar for failure.”

  “That’s true.” She stretched. “I suppose we should get on with this. I’m really stiff. Let’s hope we don’t have to fight. I could do with a bath and a week-long sleep.”

  “Yeah, you’ve missed hibernation and everything.”

  She thumped my arm and jogged ahead. Rubbing what would likely become a bruise, I followed. When I reached the group, Gabe’s strain was obvious.

  “We should go,” I said. “Get this over and done with.”

  “Good,” Gabe said. “There’s a car out front.” He gestured at Phoenix, Esther, and Elathan. “You three go on ahead. I want to speak to Ava.”

  We watched the three of them walk out of the cul-de-sac.

  “Everything okay?” I asked.

  “I feel as though we haven’t won anything yet,” he said. “I don’t know what’s going to happen next, but if anything should happen to you, the others need to know what to do, who to trust.”

  “Do you think something’s going to happen to me?”

  He shrugged. “Maybe all of us. If I die, I want you to know a few things. I think you can trust Elathan for a while. I still haven’t made up my mind about Phoenix. Get out from the clutches of ancient beings as soon as you can, Ava. None of them can be trusted to care enough to do the right thing.”

  “Even you?”

  His lips twitched a little. “Especially me. Remember what Fionnuala said. I didn’t act, and that’s what she counted on. Don’t make my mistakes.”

  My cheeks flushed with heat as I thought of Mrs. Yaga’s will and Martin Breslin’s pleas for my help.

  “There’s something else,” he said. “I once told you that you were immature, that one day you would reach maturity and pick a side. I made it sound as though you had no choice, as though it were already predetermined.”

  I held my breath, panic flooding me.

  “That was bullshit,” he said. “Fuck all of that crap.” He shook his head. “I’m beginning to sound like you. Seriously, don’t let them fill your head with destiny and responsibility. You’re the only one who can ultimately decide the path you’re going to take.”

  “But the angel who—”

  “There are no guarantees. Ever. Traps can be laid. People can point you in the right direction. But in the end, you’re the one who chooses to react. The way you were raised could have turned you into the ultimate bloodhound. It could have gone any way. But you are you, and that’s the difference. You decide. Nobody else has power over you. Don’t let anyone make you think otherwise.”

  He gazed at me meaningfully until I grew uncomfortable.

  “I feel like we’ve having a silent conversation,” I said.

  He patted my head. “Maybe we are. Let’s go. The others are waiting.”

  I folded my arms across my chest and walked next to him. “You know something.”

  “We all know things.”

  I glanced at him suspiciously, but his face remained neutral, giving nothing away.

  Phoenix was leaning against the car, Esther and Elathan already inside. “Ready to go?” he asked.

  “I’ll drive,” Gabe said, getting in behind the wheel.

  “Are you ready?” Phoenix asked.

  I glanced behind me before nodding. “Probably should get this over with.”

  He touched my shoulder. “You’ve done a good job so far. Almost there now.”

  He got into the front passenger seat, and I sat in the back, putting Esther in the middle. She seemed totally relaxed, but I felt so jittery, I couldn’t sit still. At one point during the drive, I realised that everyone in the car was closely involved with the Council, and the trembling started anew. I blamed it on the memories of the whip.

  “This is just a quick stop to check on things,” Gabe said. “We want to be early to the meeting at Headquarters. Deals are always made before meetings officially start, and we don’t want to miss anything.”

  The car pulled in outside the gates of the children’s home. I caught a familiar smoke and salt smell in the air. The tension in the car ratcheted upward.

  “Are those bodies?” Esther asked, leaning forward in her seat.

  I got out of the car in a hurry, alarmed and horrified to see bodies of Guardians strung along the walls. The others followed. Gabe’s expression was grim, but unsurprised.

  “Oh, shit,” I whispered as I took a few steps toward the gates. “I told them to be ready to defend themselves.”

  A voice rang out in the air. “No further!”

  I froze. The teenage boy I had met was approaching warily from behind the gate.

  “Did you do this?” I asked.

  He shook his head, his face pale and unsure, the cockiness long gone. “Witches. They came, and the Guardians just kept dying. They made us carry the bodies outside, and they did something to them.” He trembled. “They hung up the bodies, said we couldn’t leave. That the same thing would happen to us. We can’t get out. Nobody can get in. More Guardians came. They tried to get inside and died instantly. Don’t touch the gates or the wall, just in case.”

  “Do you have food? Are the other kids all right?” I asked.

  “We have plenty. They’re okay. Some of them are freaking, but we’re used to that. They didn’t hurt us or anything. The kids act like I’m in charge, but I just don’t know what to do.” He looked even younger than I had previously thought.

  “Just stay indoors, and whatever you do, don’t let those witches inside the building. Don’t let them take any children or—”

  “And how do you propose they stop us?”

  I looked around to see a woman walking toward us.

  “Leave them alone,” Esther said. “They’re just kids.”

  The woman flickered, and I realised she wasn’t really there at all.

  “We’re protecting them,” she said. “Don’t worry. Nobody will hurt them. I promise.” She vanished.

  I looked at Gabe, who seemed sick. “What’s going on?” I said. “How do we fix this?”

  “It must be Brogan,” he said. “They have control over the children. Whether they want to use them or stop us from using them is another question.”

  Those mistakes I had been making were coming full circle. At some point, I would have to go up against the one person who had the power to help me, the one who had brought me deeper into the supernatural world. At some point, I would have to face off with Eddie Brogan, Keeper of Gods, and see if I could still live another day.

  “Maybe we’re wrong,” I said.

  Gabe shook his head. “We’re not wrong. We need to get to that meeting and find out exactly what he’s up to. Marina’s coven are likely behind this, but I can’t imagine this being their idea. Marina’s the only natural witch amongst them.”

  “What do they plan to do next?” Elathan asked grimly. Nobody had the answer. “We should hurry.”

  “You’re leaving?” the boy called out.

  “I’ll be back,” I promised. “We just need to figure out what we’re up against. We’ll fix this. I swear to you. What’s your name?”

  “Unit…” He squeezed his eyes shut. “Noah. I chose Noah.” He shrugged. “But any name will do.”

>   “Noah, keep those kids calm. Get the older ones to keep the younger ones occupied. Don’t let them know exactly what’s happening. Not right now. Can you do that for me?”

  He nodded. “Are we going to die?”

  I shook my head. “Trust me. You’re too valuable for that.”

  As we headed back to the car, I prayed I was right.

  Chapter Twenty

  We were early to the meeting, but the place was already full of wannabe politicians and spokespersons. Guardians were spread throughout the room, all glancing around suspiciously. Friends stood against friends. I wondered how many of those hooded assassins were left.

  Everyone hushed when we entered, and I felt angry eyes on us. Gabe took his usual seat to many whispers, and the rest of us stood behind him.

  “I know there’s a lot of confusion and anger,” Gabe said. “So I’m going to briefly explain what’s been happening. For a long time now, Koda has been concerned about a betrayal within the Council. I had my own suspicions, but sadly, both of us trusted each other too late to save his life. Fionnuala has been training an army of assassins for many years now, all imbued with fae magic.”

  “That’s nonsense,” a fae called out. “Fionnuala was a purist. She would never have done this.”

  “It’s true,” Phoenix said. “Half of the Guardians were part of this group. Aiden has admitted his involvement, although he claims he wasn’t aware of all of her plans.”

  “He murdered Koda,” the fae said in disgust. “Why would we believe him?”

  “He didn’t hurt Koda,” I said. “Coyle was sent by Fionnuala to murder Koda. I was there. Aiden murdered Coyle. That was all.”

  “I was there, too,” Quinn called out, and the crowd separated as she pushed her way through to the front. “I didn’t believe the tainted one either, until I saw for myself.”

  “Fionnuala was involved in the slave market, along with Elaria, her son’s betrothed,” Gabe said as if there had been no interruptions. “They worked against all of us. Elaria helped the BVA, in effect causing the deaths of her own family members in order to inherit a position of power. Fionnuala also worked with the BVA, giving them information about our weak points. Many of us wondered at the bad decisions she made when the beasts came—turns out that it was all part of her plan. But when she saw the vampires would lose, she turned on them, too.”