***
Sophie hadn't slept well since Tristan had been poisoned two days ago. She didn't feel safe in a place where she should, and that angered her.
"What are we going to do about this?" Aidan paced the floor of the conference room where everyone, including the Council, was gathered.
"Aidan, sit down. Please." Sophie didn't want to watch him walk back and forth. They were all worried, and he was only adding to it.
"Vanessa gave Tristan the food. I know no one wants to say it, but I am,” Aidan said. “We were eating lunch in the cafeteria, and she walked over all sweet saying she wanted to start over. That she knew he only had eyes for Sophie."
"Vanessa did this?" Sophie moved to stand, but Jackson placed a hand on her arm. She'd known Vanessa was going to be trouble from the first time she saw her.
"We have to know for sure before we do anything rash." Jackson removed his hand. "I know how it feels to want to rush in before the options are examined. Hell," he ran a hand through his hair, anguish in his eyes, "sometimes I still want to rush and find Lilli."
Sophie shut her eyes, leaning back. Jackson lived with the same pain she did every day, if not worse. He missed Lilli as much as she did. She should've seen this sooner since they were siblings in a past life. That tied them together as much as Lilli did, as much as their destiny did.
The Council's faces remained expressionless as they cocked their heads to the side and stared at Demetri.
He didn't seem uncomfortable to have twelve pairs of multi-colored eyes trained on him like birds of prey. "I think all angles have to be investigated. We don't want to detain the wrong person, giving the Betrayer time to escape or strike again. Vanessa may not have poisoned Tristan, but she may inadvertently know who did."
"Rory and I are going to interview the people in the cafeteria. For now, I think we should carefully screen what's going on around the Guardians," Ruth said before she and Rory headed out.
Demetri nodded. "With your permission, Council, I'd like to send Seline and Casey out on reconnaissance. We have a lead on a demon in Washington that I think we should look into."
"Permission is granted," the Council spoke as one. "We want the matter of the poison resolved as fast as possible. We have bigger issues that need our attention."
Demetri inclined his head and stood as the Council exited. When they were gone, he nodded for Seline and Casey to pack their things.
"I'm going to see Tristan." Sophie pushed back from the table and stood. As she reached the door, she collided with Foster. He panted out an apology.
Jackson bent over and picked up Foster's glasses. "Th-thanks." Foster pushed them onto his nose then gestured to the small leather book he held in his left hand. "I've found it."
Sophie looked at the book again. "It? As in the book we need?" When Foster nodded, triumph lit Sophie's eyes. "What did it say?"
He laid it carefully on the table.
"It looks old," Morgan said as she peered at it.
"In the betrayal dream, the demon told me about a book hidden deep in the library. It's supposed to tell us how to kill Akeldama."
"That's a book I'd read." Aidan got up and stood beside Foster.
"Don't crowd him," Demetri ordered. Everyone sat back down.
Foster pushed his glasses back up his nose. "It took me a while to decipher it. It's one of very few books I've found that were written in our dead language. Akeldama destroyed most of it when she took over the old island."
Sophie noticed Foster didn't stutter when he talked about things he was passionate about.
"How do we kill her?" Jackson cut through Foster's excitement.
"It says here there was a dagger made that the Oracle knew would kill Akeldama. It was fashioned by the Six. They each poured a little of their power into it." Foster flipped through a few more pages. "The Six will have to pour all of their power into the Light Keeper. Only the dagger, coupled with the Light Keeper's purity, can send Akeldama back to the darkness."
"Okay. So in our past lives, we created a dagger. Where is it now?" Aidan asked.
"I'm not entirely sure."
"Figures. Not only do we have to find Lilli, we have to hunt down a dagger." Jackson tapped his fingers on the table. His mind was already running strategies on how to find the weapon, and Sophie was glad he could focus on that right now.
"Sophie's not facing Akeldama alone." Morgan glanced around at the group. "We can't let that happen. No one should face that demon witch by themselves. I know I'm not the only one who thinks this."
"She's right," Aidan agreed.
"If that's the only way Akeldama can be destroyed, I'm doing it."
An argument broke out, and Demetri whistled. "We will discuss that part later. Foster, does the book reference when the dagger was last seen?"
"The last time it was seen was on the island."
Demetri swore.
"What does that mean?" Sophie asked. "Why is that bad?"
"The island was where the Society lived before Akeldama came. That is where she now has her fortress."
"This just keeps getting better and better." Aidan's scowl matched Jackson's.
"Do you think the dagger is still there?" Morgan asked.
Foster blushed to the tips of his ears when his gaze met hers. "Um, y-yes. As far as I can tell."
"First, we get Lilli. Then we get the dagger," Demetri told them.
CHAPTER SEVEN
AFTER THE MEETING, Sophie went straight to Tristan's hospital room. He looked up from one of the demonology books she'd borrowed from the library, and his lips curved. She stumbled a bit, the warmth in his eyes causing her to forget how to walk.
"How'd it go?" He set the book down in his lap and his messy hair managed to distract her even more.
"Okay." Sophie sat in the chair next to him when she could gather her thoughts. She wasn't sure how to tell him what Foster found. She knew how he'd react. "How are you feeling?"
"I want out of here." He shifted. Sophie could sense the animal in him pacing, wanting to get out of confinement.
"It must be torture being stuck in here." She glanced at the book in his lap. "Read anything interesting?"
"Why don't you tell me what happened in the meeting?" At her surprised look he said, "We're connected, Soph. I can tell something's bothering you."
It was a little uncomfortable being that connected with someone. "Foster found the book from the betrayal dream. It says the Guardians have to pour all of their power into the Light Keeper, and then the Light Keeper has to face Akeldama."
He stared at her.
"Alone."
"Hell no! Not going to happen!" He sat up and grabbed her hand. Irritation crawled under her skin.
"If it's the only way, I'm doing it."
"There's no way you can face her by yourself."
"Thanks for the support."
He ignored her scathing tone. "I don't mean it like that. I care about you. I can't stand down and let you do that alone. None of us will be able to."
"Let's not worry about it right now. We have to find Lilli first." Then she told him about the dagger.
"Foster thinks it's still on the island?"
"Yeah."
He mulled it over a second. "Has Allison said when I can go back to training?"
Sophie smiled to show her appreciation that he changed the subject. "No, not yet. Demetri has a lead on a demon that might know where Lilli is."
"When do we leave?" Tristan moved restlessly.
Sophie placed a hand on his chest to keep him in the bed. It took her a minute to remember what she was saying, especially when his eyes darkened as he glanced at her lips. "Anyway, he sent Seline and Casey to check on it. We should know within a couple of days. Ruth and Rory are investigating what happened to you. They want Jackson and me to meet them in the conference room to sit in on the interviews."
"I swear I am going to tear apart whoever did this to me." An animalistic growl rumbled in his chest.
&nb
sp; "Easy there, cowboy. We have to find out who did it first." They both knew who'd given him the food but refused to voice the fact that Vanessa might be the Betrayer.
They both looked up when Allison entered the room, Tristan's chart in her hand. "I know you're ready to get out of here. I'm going to let you go on one condition."
"Anything."
Allison laughed at the vehement tone. "Nothing drastic. I just want you to take it easy for a few days. By the time Seline and Casey return, you'll be ready for your first siege."
Sophie and Jackson joined Ruth and Rory in the conference room a few minutes later. They took a seat to the left, prepared to observe the people who came in. The first was the cafeteria workers that had given Vanessa Tristan's lunch.
"You gave Vanessa the tray?" Ruth asked.
The lady sat up straight, every muscle in her body tense. She glanced at Sophie and Jackson, her eyes widening, before looking back at Ruth and Rory. "I did. But it was the same food I'd given everyone else. I didn't poison him."
"We're not saying that you did, Kathy. We're just trying to figure out the order of events so that we can narrow down who might have done this." Rory flicked a glance at Sophie and then back at Kathy. "Do you mind if Sophie reads you?"
Sophie blinked twice, her mouth opening. At first she wanted to protest reading these people, but then she thought of the fact that Tristan had almost died. She couldn't let that go, or let anyone else get hurt because of it.
"I don't mind." Kathy sent a tentative smile toward Sophie. "It won't hurt?"
Sophie shook her head, standing to go to Kathy. "It will feel like a tickle in your mind. At least that's what people tell me." Her brother, Todd, and Lilli had occasionally asked her to do it, but it was surface glances only. How deep would she have to go?
"That's fine, then. What do I need to do?" Kathy shifted in her chair, turning toward Sophie.
"Close your eyes, and you'll have to consciously let me in. I know that all of you are trained to have natural shields. I won't look at anything other than what I need to," Sophie promised as Kathy shut her eyes. "Let me see your hands." Sophie's insides were shaking. Reading people wasn't something she normally did, and it felt like that's all she'd been doing since she learned who she and the others were. What she really wanted was for all this to go away, but that wasn't a wish that would be granted any time soon.
She held Kathy's hands and took a deep breath. "Okay. I'm brushing your mind now. Do you feel me?"
Kathy giggled slightly. "It is a weird sort of tickle, isn't it?"
"Yes. Now gently lower your shields, just enough for me." Sophie felt it the instant Kathy's shield lowered. The woman was a grandmother, something Sophie felt was an achievement in this society. She was a happy person, still in love with her husband of forty-five years. There was a dark spot in the happy and Sophie hesitantly probed it. She'd lost both a daughter and a son to the war, and as Sophie looked deeper, she learned that Kathy held no resentment for it. She'd grown up in the life and understood that was how it was.
It was a sad way to live, Sophie thought, but the only one the woman had known.
She pulled back. "You can let your shields back up. There was nothing."
Kathy nodded. "I understand why you had to be sure."
"Can you describe exactly what happened?" Ruth asked.
Sophie sat back down next to Jackson, who paid rapt attention to what was going on.
"Do you think we'll find the person who poisoned him?" Jackson asked.
"I hope so. We don't need this on top of worrying about Lilli and if we can get to Akeldama."
"I know. Demetri has had me working with some of the warrior leaders, learning the ropes, their strategies and plans in case something happens when we’re out on a mission."
"That makes sense. You were a prince in a past life."
Jackson's lips turned up in a slight smile. "I don't think I'd be very good at it."
"You married Lilli."
"Then I think I'd be great."
Sophie was glad that she got him to smile, if only briefly, and that part of it was because of Lilli. She could feel his love for her best friend; it ran strong and true.
Kathy left, and as the others filtered through, Sophie learned more about people she saw daily than she wanted to know. Some were angry at other people, one had a cheating husband, one was cheating—Sophie guessed drama really was everywhere—and one had a crush on Jackson. None hid a nefarious dark side, and frustration began to run along Sophie's skin.
"One more left, Sophie," Rory said.
At his tone, her heart dropped. The only person left was Vanessa, and she was the last person Sophie wanted to look into.
Vanessa opened the door and walked in, looking beautiful besides the dark circles under her eyes. Two guards followed her in and chained her cuffs to the chair. She kept her gaze down, and Sophie almost pitied her, but remembered that she may have had something to do with Tristan being poisoned.
Jackson stood with Sophie, and she knew that he had his suspicions about the lovely redhead. Are you sure you want to look inside her mind? he asked.
I don’t have a choice. If she did this to him, I have to know. Like Demetri said, even if she didn’t, she may know who did.
I’ll be right beside you.
Sophie appreciated his concern and that he would be with her as she looked into Vanessa. She approached the chair slowly, having to force her feet to move. Vanessa looked up, barely meeting Sophie’s gaze before looking down at her lap. “This won’t hurt.”
Vanessa shrugged, and Sophie wondered if she really didn’t care. If she had poisoned Tristan. If she had, Sophie wasn’t sure she could hold back the violence she felt at that.
She placed her hands on either side of Vanessa’s head since the girl’s hands were cuffed to the arms of the chair. The first contact turned Sophie’s stomach, but she wasn’t sure if it was because Vanessa was guilty or because Sophie couldn’t stand her. Sophie closed her eyes, focusing on Vanessa’s mind, and slipped inside with only a little resistance. Still able to feel Jackson near her, Sophie went deeper.
Vanessa was a vain girl, thinking only of her looks and the eye candy around her. Sophie shuddered when she stumbled across thoughts of Tristan. She wanted to back away from them, to not see a glimpse, but she knew she had to. It was what she was looking for. She focused on them, following the trail deeper into Vanessa’s thoughts.
She saw the first time Vanessa saw him, dirty and covered in blood, his eyes yellow. Sophie couldn’t fault the girl there; he was really hot. As she flowed through the memories, Sophie realized that while Vanessa was obsessed with him, she wouldn’t hurt him.
Jackson was still next to her when she surfaced. Sophie jerked her hands away from Vanessa, whose eyes were full of unshed tears. Sophie could only imagine how violated she would feel if someone did that to her. “I’m sorry, Vanessa.”
Vanessa nodded but looked away.
“She had nothing to do with it,” Sophie said and left it at that. She wasn’t going to divulge anything else she might have seen about Vanessa’s childhood.
Ruth nodded. “Let her out of the chains. She can go.”
“Are you okay?” Jackson asked when the guards and Vanessa were gone. He placed a hand on her shoulder, grounding her back to the real world a little.
“Yeah. Just hate that we couldn’t find anything about what happened.”
“That is very weird. Maybe the Betrayer has more power than we think,” Rory said.
CHAPTER EIGHT
TWO DAYS LATER, SELINE and Casey returned. Both had dark circles under their eyes and swayed where they stood. Demetri called the Guardians to the Conference Room after the two had been fed and checked for major injuries.
Seline had two bruises on the side of her face and stared at the wall behind everyone. The Commander, the main leader of the warriors, stood nearby. He was a bulky man with gray hair and a permanent scowl.
Sophie didn't
like him or the way his aura felt. She couldn't pin down exactly what it was, but she had a feeling he didn't like the Guardians encroaching on his territory.
"We've found the demon’s hideout in a small town in Washington, his alias, and his demonic name,” Carey said.
Sophie leaned forward and stared at the picture on the screen. The face of the demon did nothing to give his secret away. Strong bones accented pale blue eyes, and his blond hair was spiked in a surfer-guy way. She couldn’t believe they could look so normal.
A mental push gently brushed her mind. Her head turned, and Tristan winked. He made her stomach flutter. She tried to ignore it, looking back at the screen. Sometimes the way they were linked could be a hassle, like when she felt too much for him. She didn't want him to know yet. She couldn't explain why, even to herself, but she put up a thin wall between their minds.
He hadn't complained about it so far, and she wondered if that meant he wanted the wall there.
"This is your primary target. His demon name is Cabariel, his human name is Jake." The Commander's booming voice and the scar on his face demanded respect. He advanced to the next slide. "He resides here." He pointed to the screen that showed the blueprints and aerial view of the house and surrounding woods. "His family lives with him, and a few lesser demons comprise his security. Your mission is to capture him before he gets to the portal in his home. For those of you who don't know what that is," he sneered at the Guardians, "it's essentially a gate to the demon realm. Watch for any type of mirrors, no matter what size. The demon's use them to house their portals."
"His family?" Sophie shot the others a glance, saw they were as surprised as her. No one said anything about demons having families. "As in kids? We can't hurt kids."
All the warriors held their breath as the Commander turned toward Sophie. The white scar stood out against a face red with fury. "Yes, you will. It can come down to you or them. They're not soft-skinned, cooing babies. Those demons rape and maim and torture every day. It's your duty to make sure they don't grow up to do that."
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