by Kristie Cook
Speaking of traitors, I wondered what Julia thought right now, knowing secrets were about to be exposed. She knew Rina kept a secret about the next daughter, and this was probably it. Was this why she didn't trust Tristan and me? Because she knew we'd discover Rina's secret before Rina wanted us to? Or did she expect to find us somehow betraying the Amadis with this trip? Was that why she really came, to prove herself right? Did she really think we'd take her along with us to have a powwow with the Daemoni? Or …
Shit! Why hadn't we thought of this sooner? She could have been setting us up! Perhaps this was all her doing. Now that I thought about it, it was rather convenient that she showed up just as we received the information we'd been seeking all this time. Only one way to find out.
I felt out for her mind signature but before I latched onto her thoughts, three extra signatures floating around distracted me from Julia. Three more than our expedition accounted for, and two were relatively close by. And very different than I expected. The childlike one was vivid, like Dorian's, but not quite the same. It had a rougher and darker edge to it. The other one felt more human than anything, but that wasn't quite right. Something … different … layered it, a suppressed undertone. Tristan had expected a witch, and Jax had confirmed it, but this signature didn't feel like a mage's. Perhaps the witch worked with a Norman who helped care for the child. Perhaps that third signature belonged to the witch, but now I couldn't find it. The third one had disappeared from my range.
I tried to focus in on the second signature, the strange one, to find the thoughts that followed it, but there was nothing there. No thoughts at all. Completely blank. Perhaps she was a witch after all and was somehow able to block me. Did she know we were coming? Did she know about my telepathy? Or perhaps she was extremely cautious, which made sense considering she'd purposefully been hiding for all these years.
The trees began to thin, and beyond the edge of this wooded area was a clearing with a small pond and a little shack jutting out of its center. Jax held his hand up, and we all stopped short and fell silent.
"Nona, someone's here," a young child's voice said.
"It's okay, Lilith," said a scratchier voice, one that sounded as though it belonged to someone elderly. The second mind signature with the blank thoughts must have belonged to her. "They are friends."
At this, we took several steps closer and emerged into the clearing, seeing the faces of the voices for the first time. Oh! My breath caught, and my hand flew to my mouth. Partly to keep my heart from flying out because it had jumped into my throat.
They crouched on the other side of the pond, and now they both stood. The elderly woman's dull gray hair sprouted everywhere in a wild nest, seeming to have a life of its own as she lifted her head up to us. Her light gray eyes looked our way, but I had no idea if she actually saw us through their milky lenses. She hunched over in a stoop, her hand resting on the child's shoulder.
The child. The child took my breath away.
"Tristan," I whispered, grabbing his arm. We both stood frozen in complete shock.
This girl, this Lilith, looked nothing like I'd expected, how I'd envisioned her for the last several months. I looked so much like Mom, who appeared to be Rina's twin. Tristan had once mentioned my features–brown eyes, dark auburn hair and light olive skin–gave me away as an Amadis daughter. I assumed our genes dominated in our daughters, giving us all a similar, distinct appearance. But this girl …
She stood a couple inches shorter than Dorian, but since he was taller than average, I guessed them to be the same age. And her hair was a darker blond than his, but otherwise … she was a spitting image of my son.
"Friends and ...," the old woman paused for a moment, "…some are even closer. Family."
Holy shit! Can it be? Is she for real? I waited for something in my heart to pull toward her, some kind of mother-daughter connection we surely had to have. I'd been looking forward to this moment for so long, but the emotions I'd expected didn't surge through me. I felt nothing but a shocked numbness. She apparently felt nothing for me either, because her eyes skimmed over me and dismissed me. But when she looked at Tristan, they stopped, and something flickered in them. Recognition? But how?
"Family?" Lilith echoed. "Family like … like my brother?"
The woman never had a chance to answer. The last few minutes had passed as if in slow motion as we took in the scene, Nona and Lilith, and their conversation. Now someone pushed the fast-forward button, and everything sped in a blur.
The third mind signature appeared back in my range–a very familiar one. One I hadn't felt since we'd been on the Amadis Island. In the Council Hall, waiting for the coronation ceremony to begin. When Julia had threatened Rina.
"Alexis and Tristan," she thought. The other voice, the other person no one else had sensed then, and no one seemed to now. "Finally, they found her. And now it is time …"
At exactly the same moment, Julia's face twitched in my peripheral vision, and then she was suddenly on the other side of the pond, gripping the old woman in a chokehold.
"Explain this," Julia demanded. "Explain this girl!"
The woman choked and gasped for breath. Lilith's eyes grew wide at the threat to her caregiver, and her sweet face, so much like my Dorian's, immediately changed. Her hazel eyes narrowed to slits. She bared sharp, pointy teeth. Her features twisted into those of a monster. Then she flew our way in a blur. She hit Jax first, and he dropped like a stone. Then she whizzed by Owen, and he, too, fell to the ground.
"Owen," I cried out, springing toward his still body.
But the girl already zoomed at me now, a noise like a siren escaping her throat.
"No, Lilith," Nona yelled. "Stop!"
Lilith halted in mid-motion. But not out of obedience. Tristan's hand was up, palm facing her, paralyzing her with his power.
I dropped to Owen's side and took his limp hand into mine.
"Why?" I cried, heartbreak ripping through my throat and causing my voice to crack.
But I knew why. I knew why Rina had taken her, why our daughter had been kept from us, away from everyone, why I didn't feel as I should about her. Why she needed to be kept a secret.
Her Daemoni blood was too strong.
It overpowered her Amadis blood and humanity. Evil dominated her. She'd never be able to lead the Amadis, so her existence failed them. Rina had told me they would have killed me when I was an infant, if the Daemoni power was too strong in my blood and there had been no hope.
But … they hadn't killed this girl, which meant …
"Lilith, you don't need to do this," I said, conviction now strong in my voice as I slowly rose to my feet. "There's no reason for it. You don't have to be this way. We can help you."
The hatred in her eyes flickered, then dissipated. Tears welled up and spilled over her cheeks. "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry. But I can't help it."
"Alexis–" both Nona and Julia warned at the same time. I waved them off.
"I understand, Lilith," I said. "Sometimes we can't control our feelings. But we can help you. You can learn to be different."
I lifted my right hand and pushed Amadis power her way. She yelped, but she didn't writhe in pain as the vampire yesterday did or Sheree had when I'd tried to help her change over. Maybe Lilith wasn't as bad as everyone thought. Maybe she simply needed Amadis power and real love–love only her parents could give her–to overcome the Daemoni blood.
"Do you know what love is?" I asked her.
"Nona loves me," she said in a small voice. "I love her."
I nodded. "Good. Think about that love."
I delivered more Amadis power at her for several moments. Her body stiffened at first and trembled in mid-air, but it eventually slackened, even under Tristan's power. He slowly lowered his hand, and she dropped to the ground in a heap. Nona struggled in Julia's arms, wanting to comfort her charge, but Julia refused to let her go. Lilith lifted her face, streaked with tears and dirt, but so much like Dorian's. My heart fin
ally responded.
I looked at Tristan, a small smile tugging at the corners of my mouth as I started toward Lilith to give her more direct Amadis power. Everything would be okay, just as I'd hoped. We already had the next daughter, and she would eventually be fit to lead. She had at least a hundred years, after all, to learn the Amadis ways, to overcome the Daemoni within her and become a true Amadis. She only needed our help.
Tristan's face twisted in horror. It's okay, I told him. She'll be okay. We'll all be okay now.
"Alexis," he shouted, looking past me. "Focus!"
Uh-oh. I spun back toward Lilith in time to see her springing to her feet. She crouched, one hand on the ground. She reared her head and curled her lip to bare her teeth. Her eyes glowed red. She became a monster once again.
Then she lunged at me.
Julia shouted something incomprehensible and flew our way, a murderous look in her eye.
"NOOO!" I screamed.
I threw myself in front of Lilith. Julia's stone body collided with mine, knocking me to the ground. My head slammed against a rock with a deafening crack, and stars shot across my vision. My eyes rolled up to see Julia's arms wrapped tightly around Lilith, both of them still as statues. Tristan stood over me, his hand facing them.
"You threaten a council member?" Julia seethed.
"You harmed an Amadis daughter and are about to kill another?" Tristan shot back.
"This is not–"
I didn't hear the end of her statement, distracted by the voice in my head.
"Perfect," thought the traitor. "This ended perfectly."
A tree branch snapped in the woods behind us. I rolled over and peered into the trees, catching a glimpse of movement. I pushed myself to my knees. The world tilted, then settled. Forcing myself to focus, I finally made out a cloaked figure half-hidden behind a palmetto tree. I tried to stand up. I lifted my left hand in defense. But as I struggled to my feet, before I could shoot electricity, a flash of blue light flew at me and drove into my chest like a double-edged sword.
My heart exploded.
Ice shot through my veins.
All I could think about was the Ang'dora and how that pain felt nothing like this.
I screamed.
Then all went silent and dark.
Chapter 20
I came to with a gasp and bright light blinded me. When my gaze focused, it rested on Dorian and Sasha sitting on a bed next to me. Dorian's eyes grew huge.
"Mimi," he called as he bounced on the bed. "Mimi, she's awake! Mom's awake!"
I tried to sit up, to get my bearings, but I didn't have a chance.
"Oh, thank God," Mom breathed, gathering me in her arms and holding me tightly. "I was so worried."
As she held me, my eyes drank in the familiar surroundings. We sat on the bed in my suite. But not in Tristan's and my bedroom on Sanibel Island. This bed had stone pillars at the corners and a gossamer canopy. Somehow, I'd been brought to our suite in the Amadis mansion.
Mom pulled away, and her eyes scanned my face from forehead to chin. "Are you okay?"
I blinked in confusion, then remembered the explosive pain before I blacked out. I felt no discomfort at all now, though.
"Yeah. Fine. But why am I here? How'd I even get here?"
"You were really sick," Dorian said before Mom could answer. "You've been sleeping for three whole days!"
"Three days?" I echoed with disbelief. Then I looked around the room again and felt out with my mind for Tristan, but didn't find his signature. Why wasn't he here? Of course I hadn't actually been sick, but whatever was wrong, if I'd been out of it for three days, he should have been here, waiting for me to wake up. Healing me, if anything.
But he wasn't, and we were on the Amadis Island. Which meant only one thing.
"Where's Tristan?" I asked, my voice lilting with panic.
Mom frowned. So did Dorian. His eyes filled with tears. Oh, no. They really took him!
"He's even sicker, Mom," Dorian said, his lip trembling. "He's in the hospital and they won't let me see him. Uncle Owen, too."
My stomach knotted with the lies they'd told Dorian. "Mom? What's going on?"
Mom looked at Dorian and back at me. She couldn't talk with him around. I pulled him into my arms.
"Little man, I need to talk to Mimi for a minute, and then I need to take a bath. You and Sasha go to your room and play, okay?"
He sighed and his shoulders sank, making it obvious he didn't want to leave my side. I couldn't blame him, not when Tristan, Owen and I, the three people closest to him besides Mom, had been out of commission for several days.
"Actually, Dorian," Mom said, "Ophelia probably has lunch ready for you, and then she's taking you out to the beach."
"Okay," Dorian said with no enthusiasm at all. He skulked out of the room with Sasha at his side. My heart squeezed painfully, and I wanted to tell him to stay with me. Because that's what I wanted more than anything–for him to stay with me forever. But something was really wrong.
"What's going on?" I asked Mom again when I sensed Dorian had moved out of earshot.
Mom closed her eyes and rubbed her temples. She exhaled a sigh. "Everything. So many things, I don't know where to start and I don't know it all. I've kept myself sequestered in here with you to keep out of the influence of the council again. I didn't want to forget anything so I could tell you."
"Okay," I said, the knot in my stomach pulling tighter. "Let's start with Tristan. Where the hell is he? They have him, don't they?"
Mom dropped her hands into her lap and opened her eyes. They filled with a deep sadness. "Honey, he's … yes … they're holding him prisoner."
I sprang to my feet, looking around wildly for … something. Answers, I supposed. Or Tristan himself. "Why? Because we don't have a daughter yet? Don't they–"
An image of Lilith in Julia's arms and Tristan holding them under his power flashed across my vision. The vampire's words echoed in my mind: "You threaten a council member?" But after that … my mind drew a big blank.
"What happened out there? Do you know? All I remem–"
Mom jumped up and grabbed my hands. "What? What do you remember, Alexis? There are so many different versions about it. My sense is still blocked, so I can't feel the truth at all."
I stared past her, at the wall, as the memories flooded my mind. "I remember … chaos. The girl attacked us, but … I thought there was hope for her and tried to help her. Then Julia flew at us, nearly knocking me unconscious, and Tristan stopped her, but she already had Lilith in her arms, ready to kill her. Then there was the traitor–the one I'd heard here on the island. Only her mind, though. I never saw her. I did see someone hiding in the woods, but couldn't see their face. And … that's it. That's all I remember." I returned my gaze to Mom, and an array of emotions played across her face. "Why? What's everyone else saying?"
"Julia's accusing Tristan of attacking her, a council member, and attempting to kill the next Amadis daughter. If the girl doesn't make it …"
My breath caught. "What do you mean? What happened to her?"
"She's been unconscious this whole time, like you, but she's much weaker. It doesn't look good."
"My daughter …," I breathed, my eyes stinging and my throat tightening. I hadn't known her as a daughter, and now I might not ever have that chance.
Mom squeezed my hands. "Honey, we're not sure she's your daughter. It's practically impossible. Rina and I were at the birth."
"But Rina does know! She had a secret and this is it. She kept her from us because of her powerful Daemoni blood."
Mom frowned. "I understand that makes sense. But there are so many things that don't make sense. They're testing the girl's physical and magical qualities right now, to determine lineage."
A hundred-thousand thoughts and emotions swirled through me. The grief, however, didn't consume me. Not like it would if Dorian had been unconscious for this long. The worry encompassed the feeling of sadness when a young child, any youn
g child, was in grave danger combined with the loss of hope–hope for the Amadis. Regardless of the test results, Lilith would never be able to lead the Amadis. Tristan and I had failed them again. He'd been–
"Tristan didn't do it, Mom! He protected her. Julia was the one … Wait. If they don't know yet that she's ours, how can Julia accuse Tristan of doing anything to the next daughter?"
"She argues that it seemed a strong enough possibility so whether or not it's true, he intended to kill the next daughter. She's claiming he's the traitor."
"This is absolutely ridiculous! It's Julia. Julia and her creepy sidekick who's too afraid to show her face. Let me guess. No one has a clue about this other person, right?"
Mom shook her head. "No. There's no proof Julia is working with anyone and no proof Julia did anything wrong."
"But she attacked me. And her argument about the next daughter can be turned around against her. She had the girl trapped in her arms! And explain who the hell knocked me out."
Mom blew out a heavy breath. "Here's the story as I've pieced it together. Julia had called Martin the night before and told him about your plans. He agreed with Rina that Julia should accompany you and told her he would try to get out there in time, if he could. It took him a while to find you, and when he finally did, he said Daemoni were encroaching. You–" Her breath hitched, and she swallowed before continuing, sounding as though tears filled her voice. "You were hit by dark magic–that's why you were out for so long. A Daemoni warlock's spell. I … I was so worried."