Rylan barges his way into Ms. Peterson’s office and she jumps in shock as she registers the crowd who has suddenly gathered around.
“Bianca,” she cries getting up from her seat and throwing her arms around me. If I wasn’t in so much shock I’d probably find this quite awkward. “I’m so happy you’re ok, I thought we’d lost you.”
“Ok…,” I say, pulling her off me and ducking out of her grasp.
She takes a further look around and her eyes narrow in on Kaylee followed by the expression on Rylan’s face. She takes a seat, indicating for the rest of us to join, which of course, none of us do. There’s simply no time.
“What’s going on?” she demands using her serious principal voice.
Rylan fixes her with a look that demands her full attention. “We need a meeting with The Guard and every member of the Front Lines needs to be called in. We’re going to war.”
Chapter 20
five hours.
Five hours is what it took for The Guard to arrive at the Academy and even less time for every member of the front lines to arrive, well, every member in the state, that is. We sit in the great hall surrounded by The Guard who sit right up front then The council members behind followed by the front line and all the faculty and senior students at the back. There must be at least three hundred people crammed into this very room, with at least another hundred expected to arrive within the next few hours.
Ms. Peterson stands at the podium getting the rooms attention as some technician fiddles with her microphone so she can be heard over the crowd. “We thank you all for making the effort to be her on such short notice,” she starts. “Now, I will not waste any of your time and get straight to the reason such meeting has been called. I would like to introduce my Head of Combat, Rylan Neill.”
Rylan stands immediately as I watch from the side with Jacinta, Trey, and Daniel. Rylan doesn’t muck around with ridiculous introductions and gets straight into it. “Saturday afternoon, I chaperoned the weekend shopping trip. Some of you may recall my top ranking student, Bianca Moore. She attended the shopping trip with her friend Jacinta Cooper. The girls met up with a friend and spent the day together. At roughly 1 pm, Jacinta excused herself from the trio, in her absence, Kaylee and Bianca were approached by two Fairy Knights. The girls were abducted and taken to the Fairy Kingdom where they were held prisoner and tortured,” he stops for a short while as the room is filled with gasps and outraged cries. Once the room has settled down he gets right back to it.
“Due to the severity of the situation, a private rescue mission was launched,” he says, skipping over the part of who was involved in the rescue mission. “The Fairy Kingdom was infiltrated and the girls were rescued. It has since come to our attention that the Fey had hoped the complete front line would infiltrate the Fairy Kingdom, where they would then proceed to slaughter every last one of us,” more outraged cries are heard around the room.
Hands start raising as questions are shouted out. “Please, keep your questions to the end, the reason you are here is still to be discussed,” he says, shutting them all up.
“It has come to light that Kaylee Neill,” he continues, indicating towards the woman in question. “Is part fey and was behind the kidnapping and put the events in motion. Some of you will remember her. She is my half-sister and was dismissed from The Guard nearly ten years ago.”
“Following the rescue, she spoke of the Fey’s plan B, had the initial plan failed,” he says, glancing around the room to ensure he has every single person’s attention. “The Fey have built an alliance with the vampires who have, over the last year, been creating an army in order to take out The Guard. Their plan is to start with The Academy. They plan on a mass murder then will move on to our communities and eventually headquarters,” he says. “We believe, due to recent events they plan to move soon. We must be prepared.”
At this, he allows for questions to be asked. One man in a dark suit and silver hair stands as Rylan directs his attention to him. “You mentioned that they have been building this army for a year. Why is it believed they will make a move soon?”
Rylan straightens himself out, looking directly at the front row of suits. “Because last night, I shot and killed the Fairy Queen.”
The room erupts. Some in shock while others cry out in glee. Questions are thrown all over the room and it becomes impossible to make out just one voice. People stand from their seats and the room turns into a flurry of activity. The fighters from the front lines immediately get up and leave the room as a few linger behind, hovering near any exits and windows.
“What’s going on with the front line?” I ask Daniel.
“I’d say they’re putting The Academy into Lockdown,” he says. “It’s standard procedure when our people are under threat.”
Damn it. I should have known that. “Right,” I answer. “It was pretty impressive that they just got up and acted, nobody needed to say a word or even give an order. They just knew,” I say in awe.
“Yep,” he agrees. “That will be us in six months,” he smiles.
It takes at least ten minutes for the noise to die down and for the crowd to begin taking their seats once again. Rylan lets out an ear shattering whistle that has the last of the crowd paying attention.
“We don’t have time for all your bullshit arguing and mindless chatter. A plan needs to be put in place as to how we’re going to protect the children in this Academy and our communities. Now, does anybody have any further questions that will actually be helpful?” he asks as I stare at him in shock for the way he’s just spoken in front of The Guard, even more shocked that they haven’t called him out for it, though, this is The Rylan Neill.
“Yes,” one man responds, standing up to be seen amongst the crowd. “I’m curious why the part fey was brought along?” A few murmurs are heard around the room, all in agreeance and all wanting to know why Rylan hasn’t disposed of Kaylee yet.
“Good question,” he starts. “As part fey, Kaylee possesses the gift to sense when her Fairy relatives make decisions. As such, when the fey have decided to move against us, they will call for their brothers and sisters to join them. Kaylee will feel this call and I believe we should keep her around and exploit this gift to give us an advantage.”
“How do you know she won’t lie to us or send a message back to the Fairies about our plans. I mean, after all, she seems like some kind of criminal mastermind,” another person asks.
“We don’t know that,” Rylan responds coldly. “But at this moment, it’s all we’ve got. As the kidnapping was Kaylee’s idea and I, being her brother, was the one who infiltrated the Fairy Kingdom and killed their Queen. She’s currently on their radar and has been ‘missing’ since the rescue mission. It is more than likely she will be labelled a traitor by the Fey and killed upon sight. She cannot leave this academy without her life being under threat, by us or by the Fey. I believe she has nothing to lose by remaining honest with us.”
Rylan gets a few nods of agreement from the crowd as he continues. “I believe there’s not much for us to do at this moment until The Guard, The Council Members and the Front Line make a decision on how to proceed,” he says dismissively. He gives a nod and begins to clear away from the podium.
A tall man with broad shoulders and dark hair, sitting directly in the very center of the front row stands. The most impeccable suit covers his body and I know immediately that this man is extremely important, every eye in the room follows his movements. “Rylan Neill,” he calls out.
Rylan stops mid step with his back straightening as he turns his sharp gaze on the man. I notice a slight tightening in Rylan’s body, the only tell that whoever this man is, it’s not ok for him to be addressing Rylan. A desperate need to rush onto the stage and stand by Rylan’s side to offer my support and any kind of assistance fills me, but a nagging voice in my heads tells me that probably isn’t the best idea.
Rylan’s eyes narrow at the well dressed man. “You have led the very first su
ccessful rescue mission into the fairy Kingdom, taken out one of The Guards biggest threats, managed to save the girl, and come out alive to tell us about it. I would be interested in hearing what your thoughts are on how to proceed.”
Rylan turns his body to directly face the man and takes the few steps back to the podium. He lets out a breath then quickly glances to me. I give him the quickest nod, letting him know he has my support and love. I watch on as he addresses the crowd.
“I believe our smartest course of action would be to take the fight to them. We wait until they have made the decision to attack. It will take a while for them to gather their vampire army, but as soon as they do that, we make our move. They believe they have the element of surprise, but they’re wrong, that lays in our hands. We draw them out. The vampires cannot teleport the way the Fey can, so they will need to travel here. We will meet them at the time and place of our choosing with a great show of force and take out the threat before they know what’s going on.” Rylan nods to show he has finished his explanation and murmurs fill the crowd once again.
The very man who had asked the question steps up to the stage and takes the podium as Rylan subtly makes his exit. He comes and stands by me, not touching or acknowledging my presence as any professional instructor of The Guard would.
“Thank you for calling this meeting and bringing this matter to our attention,” the man nods to Rylan, who studiously ignores him. The man takes his dismissal in stride and faces the crowd. “Rylan has given us all a lot to think about and discuss. I would like to now excuse you all to have a closed meeting with The Guard, Council, and Front Line to discuss our options. Please exit the great hall in a timely and appropriate manner, making your way towards the guest housing. All students please go immediately to your dorm rooms as the Academy is now on lockdown. Thank you.”
The room immediately erupts into loud buzzing noise as people begin to scatter around me. “Who is that?” I ask Rylan who hasn’t yet moved.
“That’s Brett Norrington,” he scowls.
“Whoa… as in current Leader of The Guard, Brett Norrington?” I ask, picking my mouth up off the floor.
“Yep,” he answers, staring straight ahead at the very man in question.
“Ok…,” I say cautiously. “What’s with all the grouchiness and death glares you’ve been sending his way?”
His eyes finally focus on mine as he lets out a breath. He attempts to remove the scowl from his face, but it just doesn’t work. “You should get back to your dorm before you get yourself in trouble. I’m going to stick around for the meeting,” he says dismissively.
“Rylan,” I say, sending him a look a mother would send a naughty child. “What’s going on?”
He stands up and takes a step into my personal space, towering over me. I look up into the dark, gold speckled eyes I’ve so desperately fallen madly in love with. His eyes soften as he gazes down at me and I watch as his lips press into a tight line. “Brett Norrington is my father,” he says ever so quietly.
For the second time in just as many minutes, I’m picking my jaw up off the ground. What the hell? His father? Who would have ever known? I spin on my heel and take in the man still standing behind the podium, who I find is currently gazing at me with the same curious eyes. Eyes that I now notice, seem quite familiar, as does the striking jawline and beautiful dark hair. Holy cow. This man is 100% Rylan’s father.
Brett’s eyes flick between me and Rylan, clearly coming to some sort of conclusion about our relationship. I give him a tight smile and a quick nod, hoping he understands that on a personal level and turn to face my still brooding man. “Can you come and let me know how the meeting goes?” I ask, hoping I’m not crossing some sort of imaginary line.
“Yeah,” he whispers with a quick nod. “Now get out of here before I have to get you out of yet another detention,” he says with a small smile returning to his lips.
“K,” I say with a wink as I turn and leave the great hall.
----------
As I make my way out of the Great Hall, I take a quick look around for Jacinta and realize she must have taken off without me. I make my way across campus and head straight for my dorm. I push through the door to find Trey and Jacinta making out on her bed. “Ugh… you guys, I don’t want to see that,” I groan as Jacinta breaks into a fit of giggles.
“Well, you better turn around because it’s about to happen again,” Trey warns as his hand slides down her body and his head ducks back down to meet hers.
Ewww. I rummage through my wardrobe as quickly as possible and hastily make my escape into the bathroom. After not having a proper shower and having Rylan attempt to wash my hair, and on top of that, wearing someone else clothes, I’ve been dying to get into my bathroom with my own shampoo and body wash so I can scrub myself silly.
I strip off in front of the mirror, taking note of the ugly bruises and cuts that cover my body and remind myself just how lucky I am to be alive. To get to experience yet another day with Rylan and my friends by my side is simply incredible.
I step into the shower and give myself just what I need. I scrub and scrub until I’m squeaky clean and every tiny slither of dirt is out from under my nails. The dried blood is completely washed from my hair and even my teeth get bushed with my own toothbrush.
I climb out of the shower and wrap my wet hair up in my towel before I rub cream into all my injuries. I get dressed into my workout gear as all classes have been cancelled, which means, after not working out since Friday afternoon, I have just a little bit of energy to burn.
I throw my hair up in a bun and make my presence known to the occupants of my room before stepping out of the bathroom.
I grab my shoes and socks and sit down on the edge of my bed to tie them up.
“You’re not seriously going to workout, are you?” Jacinta asks in the most disapproving tone imaginable.
I send her a smirk and a look that say ‘duh’ as I reach for my iPod.
“No way,” she scolds as she pushes Trey off her and jumps to her feet in front of me. “You can’t, not after everything you’ve been through. Your body hasn’t healed enough,” she scolds.
“She’s right,” Trey says. “As much as I would like to be alone with Jacinta right now, there’s no way I’m letting you go out for a workout.”
“I’ll be fine,” I assure them. “I’ll keep it light and be back in an hour.”
“Rylan is going to kill you,” she warns.
“What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, right?” I ask with a smirk.
“Are you serious right now?” she huffs.
“Yeah,” I laugh. “Rylan is at the meeting, he will never know that I was working out. I’ll be back and dressed way before that meeting lets out.”
“Rylan always knows,” Trey warns.
I roll my eyes at them. No amount of ganging up on me is going to work. Not today. I’ve been through hell and back and if this girl wants to go for a quick run in the gym, then that’s what this girl is going to do.
I put my earbuds in as I flick through my iPod, searching for something to get my blood pumping. I pull the door open to leave and walk straight into a petite body. “Whoa, sorry,” I say on auto pilot. I pull my earbuds out and glance up at the person I just attempted to bowl over.
Nora. Great. “Can I help you?” I ask cautiously, wondering why in the hell she’s hovering outside my dorm room.
“Ah… yeah,” she responds equally as awkward as I. “I um… bought you these,” she says raising a handful of bags in front of me which I immediately recognize as mine and Jacinta shopping.
“Thanks,” I say taking the bags from her.
A guilty look passes over her face. “Don’t thank me,” she says. “I was on the shopping trip on Saturday and noticed the bags on the bus and when nobody claimed them I realized it must have been yours, so I took them out of spite,” she confesses.
“Ok…,” I say. “So, why are you giving them to me now?”
> “I was just talking to Daniel, he told me everything that happened. I just assumed you were late getting on the bus or something. So… um, yeah, I figured after everything you’ve gone through, you should at least have your shopping.”
I study her for a short while. Was that a Nora form of an apology? Who could be sure? “Ok, well I guess, thanks for bringing it back,” I say, stepping back into the room to put the bags down. I turn back to the door expecting her to have left, but am equally as shocked when I find her still hovering in my doorway. “Is there something else I can help you with?” I ask.
She looks past me to see who’s in the room, to find Jacinta and Trey gawking mindlessly at the events unfolding before them. She focuses her attention back on me with a slight scowl on her face. “I saw your little red lingerie you bought. Don’t be expecting to use that on Daniel,” she demands.
I choke on my own breath and give myself a second before responding. “Nora, there’s nothing for you to worry about with Daniel. Yes, I love him, but I love him like a brother. He’s one of my closest friends and there’s no way in hell I’d be getting together with him. That’s just kind of weird,” I say, exaggerating the truth, but I mean, she doesn’t need to know just how hot and steamy things between me and Daniel had once been.
“Look, I love him,” she declares. “I know he doesn’t feel that way about me, but I think he could and I see the way he looks at you. It’s the way I want him to look at me. Which is kind of why I hate you so much at the moment.”
“Yeah, I worked that out,” I admit with a smirk. “But quit stressing, he’s a friend and will always be just a friend.”
“Ok, whatever,” she says, bringing her snappy attitude back into play. “But if you didn’t buy that lace thong for Daniel, who did you buy it for?” she smirks.
Decimate: The Guard Trilogy Page 19