by Kristie Cook
His outfit was comparatively simple–black dress pants and a black, silk, button-down shirt–though he looked especially stunning in it.
He eyed me appreciatively and grinned, the gold flecks in his eyes shining brightly. "Because I pulled some strings so I'd get to see you in something like that again."
I narrowed my eyes, but he was teasing. He shrugged unabashedly.
"So I had nothing to do with it," he admitted. "It is traditional. But if I did have any say, I'd definitely choose this for you."
I stuck my bottom lip out. "I thought you loved me."
"I do." He brushed his lips across my forehead. "And I love showing you off."
"This is so unfair," I muttered, tugging at the top of the bodice. As with every other part of me, the Ang'dora enhanced my boobs, and whoever made this dress must not have taken that into account.
We flashed to the little holding room in the Council Hall, where Solomon, Rina and Mom waited. The fact that Mom's and Rina's dresses were similar to mine–Mom's was a darker purple with both amethysts and diamonds around her neck and Rina's was a deep violet with large diamonds–didn't make me feel much better. They surely felt just as uncomfortable as I did, even if they didn't show it. Rina favored floor-length gowns and Mom was more casual, like me, though Mom preferred dressy jeans and blouses, while I believed life should be lived in shorts, T-shirts and flip-flops. They both looked exquisite, of course, making me wonder how I could ever think I was now as beautiful as them. It simply wasn't possible.
Before we could go to the arena for the ceremony, we had to wait for all of the council to arrive. Many had been delayed because they'd been helping Martin with a situation in Italy. As I wondered–and wished–if they might cancel the ceremony, I noticed Rina's head cock slightly, and a second later I, too, picked up on the new mind signatures in the building.
"I will be back in a moment," Rina said. "Julia requires me."
With the mention of Julia's name, I identified the vampire's mind signature. She waited in the large, archaic meeting room with the round, wood table. Another mind signature hovered nearby as well, though Rina didn't mention anyone accompanying Julia. It was the same signature, with the same strange, almost-mage-like texture, as I'd heard the other night in the woods. Rina was gone before all of this registered. Should I warn her the traitor was there, too? I hadn't told her about the incident in the woods, and there was no time to explain now. So, I listened to see what I could learn.
Rina and Julia didn't speak aloud. Too many people had way-too-good of hearing, and I was sure neither of them wanted eavesdroppers. My impenetrable shield wouldn't allow me to listen to both of their thoughts at once, but since they "spoke" to each other, I didn't have to. I listened through Julia's mind–Rina would sense my presence in her head.
"What is so important it cannot wait until after the ceremony?" Rina asked.
"Many people are restless with Tristan here," Julia said. "Some of the council members, and others, demand that he leaves the island soon. Alexis and the boy, too. They want to know today when they'll be leaving."
"I am well aware of some feelings against Tristan. Do you share these feelings, too, darling?" Rina's tone, though warm, held the edge of a challenge to it.
"I believe it would be wise to remove the child from the island and from all the Amadis," Julia said, not answering the question. "I have seen him use powers."
My breath caught in my throat, and I fake-coughed to cover it up. Tristan wasn't fooled. I gave him an I'll-tell-you-later look and refocused on the telepathic conversation.
"Dorian is too young to have powers," Rina said.
"I have seen it myself. We cannot have him near our people or our secrets. The Daemoni will be hunting him soon."
"They already hunt him and his parents. We must keep them protected as long as possible, not send them out to fight on their own."
"We cannot keep them here!" The intensity of Julia's thoughts escalated drastically. "Their presence on the island is a danger to all of us!"
"What ever is the matter, darling? You seem quite upset all of a sudden."
"It is not all of a sudden. I have my doubts about all three of them. The people who question Tristan's loyalty make excellent points. How do we know he's not actually betraying us by being here? He could be the traitor! Even Alexis–her father is Daemoni! We have no guarantees–"
Rina cut her off, her own thoughts full of anger. "This is ludicrous, Julia. I will not stand for this."
"There are too many unknowns with those three."
"I have assessed them myself. They are Amadis. Both of them!"
"Are you sure about your assessments?" Julia sneered. "Maybe you want them to be with us so much, you're not being completely objective."
Julia's eyes showed the shock on Rina's face.
"How dare you!" Rina seethed, her beautiful face contorted with a mix of emotions. She took a moment to regain her composure. "Where is this coming from? What is wrong with you, Julia? Questioning me? This is not like you at all!"
"Everyone questions you. They think you make poor decisions based on emotions rather than fact or past experience."
Again, Rina's face showed shock. Then her expression melted into … defeat? No, it couldn't have been defeat, but I wasn't sure what Rina was feeling, and I couldn't take the risk to hear her thoughts.
"I sense a division in my council," Rina finally said. "I will take this all into consideration. Thank you for being forthright with me, Julia. I can always count on you."
Rina's tone was amicable, but the disappointment and dismissal came loud and clear.
At that precise moment, Owen barged through the door to our room and bellowed, "Attack!"
We all spun at him with surprise, and he explained in a rush.
"The situation in Italy has escalated. The Daemoni have attacked our village in Tuscany, along with a Norman town nearby. They surround our island now!"
"What do they want?" Solomon demanded.
"Tristan and Alexis, of course," Owen said. "They say they'll continue attacking until Tristan and Alexis come out of hiding."
"Absolutely not!" Solomon barked, the rage in his eyes blowing away any doubt that a good vampire could be frightening. I was glad he was on our side.
Julia's voice rang in my mind. "I told you there would be trouble," she said to Rina in the grand room. "They need to leave. Immediately."
Tristan's voice brought me back to our room. "What exactly happened? What do you mean by attacked?"
"An old-fashioned raid," Owen said. "Dad arrived a few minutes ago and said they set fire to the Normans' homes and businesses and attacked the citizens. All to provoke us. Our people lifted the village's shield to flash to the Norman town and fight, but Daemoni were already waiting for them. We've lost several lives–both Amadis and Normans. Including a few … children." Owen's voice cracked with that last word.
My stomach rolled as if I'd plunged over the highest hill of a roller coaster. I clutched at my chest, finding only leather straps instead of the missing necklace.
"People … died … for us?" I gasped breathlessly. "We can't let them keep attacking. Tristan, we have to get out of here."
"You cannot leave," Solomon said. "If the Daemoni surround us, you cannot get off the island without being captured … or killed."
I stared at him with disbelief. "We can't let them kill anyone else because of us."
Julia piped up again, reminding me I remained connected to her mind. "Even Alexis knows they can't be here, Rina."
"Yes, she is concerned about everyone else's safety, but we must keep her protected," Rina insisted.
"We must let her leave! Let them go, Rina. It is best for everyone."
Next to me, Tristan murmured, "Give me a moment, my love."
I let him search for the best solution while Rina and Julia continued in the back of my mind.
"Her safety is paramount to our survival," Rina said.
Julia blew o
ut a breath. "I didn't want to do this, but if you don't let them go, if they don't leave immediately, I will expose your secret."
My full attention jetted back to the other room in time to see Rina's eyes narrow. "What secret?"
"Your secret about the next daughter."
My breath caught again. Rina knows? She knows about the girl?
"Yes, we should go," Tristan said at that moment, covering the noise in my throat. "It's the only way to keep everyone safe."
I barely heard him, still reeling, as though I'd been punched.
"We're getting out of here," I said, again sounding breathless.
"No!" Rina commanded as she burst through the door. "You cannot leave our protection!"
"You choose your own blood over all of the Amadis?" Julia's thought followed her in, though her body did not. "Do you forget your role?"
Rina's face blanched, but I didn't feel sorry for her. Not when her betrayal stabbed me like daggers in the heart. She knew something about our daughter–the very one she dismissed after the council meeting, saying it was a ludicrous idea.
"Yes, I think that's exactly what we need to do," I said, trying with everything I had to keep my cool. "We don't need your protection. Tristan is the most powerful creature on this planet. According to you guys, I might be the second most powerful."
I didn't personally believe that last part, but, hell, everyone else did, and it supported my argument. I'd say anything to get out of here.
"Where will you go?" Mom demanded. "You'll be attacked everywhere."
I didn't have an answer, but Tristan did.
"The States, as we'd originally planned," he said.
"And if she is recognized as A.K. Emerson?" Rina challenged. I knew she didn't believe that possible. She grasped at straws. Why did she want to keep us from leaving, especially if her secret would be revealed? I didn't understand her anymore–no, I never really knew her at all.
"We all know I look nothing like the author's pictures."
"We'll use disguises, if necessary, but that's where Alexis wants to go," Tristan said. "It takes us away from the direct center of the current action here in Europe, and it's a place where they likely won't search for us. They won't expect us to go anywhere near where we once lived."
Just then, I realized Julia's mind signature was still close by–she was listening to our plans. And so was that other signature, which I'd nearly forgotten about.
"Rina, who was with Julia?" I demanded, seemingly out of the blue. She looked caught off guard.
"Nobody," she said.
"Bullshit!" Everyone gasped but I ignored them. "There was someone else."
I wanted to tell her about the other mind signature, but I couldn't. Too many people in the building weren't aware of my power, and I wasn't about to try telepathy with her while still minding Julia and the other signature. Too many thoughts to manage safely.
"I do not know what you speak of, Alexis," Rina said, sounding offended. "It was only Julia. I would have sensed anyone else, would have heard their thoughts."
Again, I couldn't say what I wanted to–that it was the traitor who could block her. I had no idea why I felt the need to protect her and her plan, after what I'd heard and the betrayal I felt, but I didn't push it anymore. Instead, I zeroed in on the other's thoughts, trying to gain any additional information before we left.
"It does not matter if they go to America. Yes, they may come dangerously close, but as long as they do not suspect, we can keep the girl right under their noses, as we have been all these years."
That was enough for me.
"We're going to Australia," I blurted for some instinctual reason, and without hesitation, I flashed to our suite. I was already hurling clothes out of the closet, not with my hands but using my powers, when Tristan appeared in our bedroom, followed by Mom and Owen.
"Alexis, what happened?" Tristan asked.
"Pack! We're getting the hell out of here," I seethed. My eyes cut across each one of them and they all just stood there, including Tristan. He wasn't packing. "Fine! You really want to know what happened? Are you really sure? Because you're going to be pretty fucking disappointed."
"Alexis!" Mom admonished.
"I don't want to hear it, Mom. Not after what I heard. This Amadis thing is a bunch of fucked-up shit. I thought the Amadis were good, unified under the Angels to do good in the world. But it really is nothing but a bunch of politicians looking out for their best interests. Including Rina!"
"Alexis," Tristan murmured, taking my hands and trying to calm me down. The clothes I'd been sending to the bed fell from mid-air to the floor. "That's rather harsh. Tell us what you heard so we can make sense of it."
I told them everything, including Julia's silent comment about Rina's secret and the other mind signature.
"I didn't sense anyone but Julia," Mom said. She looked at Tristan and Owen, and they both shook their heads.
"Because she's blocking you! I didn't sense her presence, only her mind signature. She was there." I shook my head. "It doesn't matter. Julia may not be the traitor, but she's in cahoots with her. They're holding something against Rina, and it happens to be the secret of my daughter."
"You're saying Rina knows you already have a daughter?" Owen asked with skepticism.
"That's absurd," Mom said. "You're jumping to conclusions and making a fool of yourself."
"Thanks for your understanding and support, Mother. I guess you're just like the rest … sheep following fools. I know what I heard, the first time and today. Everyone's stabbing each other in the back, and my own grandmother's knife is between my fucking shoulder blades."
Mom glared at me. "That's enough, Alexis. This behavior is unbecoming for your position."
I started hurling clothes through the air again. "I don't give a shit about my behavior or my position. Right now, I don't even want my position. I'm going to take my family out of here so you all can be safe again, and then we're going to go find my daughter!"
Mom sighed heavily. "You don't have a daughter yet. That's not what Julia meant."
"Mom. I thought of all people, you would believe me. Since you don't, go. We don't have any more time to waste."
She stood there, staring at me as I stuffed the pile of clothes on my bed into my suitcase.
"Take Owen with you," she muttered, and she disappeared.
I turned to Owen. "We don't need you. I don't want you along if you don't believe me."
He chewed on his lip. "I believe you … all except for the Rina part anyway. I can't see her doing such a thing. But my job is to protect you and Dorian, and I want to help you get to the bottom of this."
"And we do need him," Tristan said. He shared his plan with us while I finished packing for both of us. Which ended up being useless because we couldn't flash with luggage and flashing was our only means of escape, from the Daemoni and from the Amadis.
"Okay, so there are two things I don't get," Owen said ten minutes later as he started the boat's engine.
He paused as he backed the boat from the pier and turned it away from the Amadis Island. Away from my son. Tears still stung my eyes from saying goodbye to Dorian. I was leaving him. Again. But it was part of Tristan's plan, the only way to get us–all of us–off the island. Owen would follow with Dorian, but Tristan and I had to distract the Daemoni first. Keep their attention away from Dorian. At least I was able to say goodbye this time, to hold him and kiss him one more time. I prayed Tristan's plan would work.
"First," Owen continued, "you said the person in the woods the other night had leverage over all of you, and you couldn't know about the girl until the plan had been executed. You think the secret of the daughter is the leverage they're holding over Rina, right? So how could they hide the girl from Rina? Or do you think the plan has been executed?"
I stared at the afternoon sun glinting off the steel-blue water. "She thought they couldn't know about the daughter, not any of us specifically, so maybe she only meant Tristan and
me … or anyone besides who knows already. Or maybe Rina knows about the girl, but doesn't know where she is."
It came out convoluted, but Owen seemed to understand my points.
"So you don't think this Daemoni attack is part of the plan?" Owen asked. We all looked at each other with the same coldness in our eyes.
"That would mean the Daemoni are involved in all of this, which means the traitor is working for them, not just against us," Tristan said.
"And that's impossible," Owen said. "Like Solomon said, they don't have enough control to pull it off this long."
"I think the plan is simply to gain more power," I said. "They're making Rina doubt herself. Julia was laying that on pretty heavily. And the other leverage they have over all of us is Dorian's powers."
"Yeah, that's my second thing," Owen said. "Dorian has powers? Already?"
"Yep, which means you need to keep an extra-close eye on him," I said. "We've told him he can't do those things around other people because it would make them feel bad that they can't do it, too. But that doesn't mean he won't try or do something accidentally."
"We're hoping it's the power from the island, and he loses his abilities, or at least the strength diminishes, when he leaves," Tristan added.
"Or he could be a freak like his mother," Owen said.
I narrowed my eyes and held up my left hand threateningly. "Not in the mood."
Owen got the message and focused on steering the boat. My eyes probed beyond the shield that stretched about a mile out from the island, and my stomach dropped. A whole fleet of boats spaced evenly apart, waiting for us. Idiots. They'll attract Norman attention. A few gigantic birds hung in the sky and, knowing now there were Were marine animals, I wondered what might be in the sea. I told myself it couldn't be bad–Tristan wouldn't have let us swim in it before if there was danger. That's what I told myself, but I didn't believe it one bit.
"Are you ready, ma lykita?" Tristan murmured in my ear. "As soon as we pierce the shield, they'll be aiming for us. Be ready for my 'go'."