I gasped as I took it all in. I couldn’t help it. “Wow.” I glanced back up at my escort to see that he had a small smile on his face, but when he noticed me looking at him, it was quickly replaced by that inscrutable look of his.
A few people stopped and stared as we walked by, but I kept my face forward and pushed my chin up. It made me uncomfortable to be paraded around like a circus freak, but it’s not as if I had much choice. I was also grateful that I had put on my jacket. I didn’t need to be stared at any more than I already was.
We took a side street and followed it to an area with more of the same beautiful buildings. We came to one that I assumed was guest housing. It resembled an upscale apartment building. Sure enough, we climbed the stone steps to the building and entered a foyer.
To say it was opulent would be an understatement. Golden chandeliers hung from the ceilings, and more golden trim lined the walkway that led to two golden elevators. The floor was marble, covered with plush blood-red carpets. My escort released his hold on me and walked up to a young woman sitting behind a counter. When she saw him, a smile lit up her face, and I was surprised when I felt pang of jealousy. What was wrong with me? I didn’t even know this man.
He was courteous but very business-like, and I noticed her shooting looks at me and my companions as he signed us in. Then he walked back over to where I stood and led us over to the elevators. I was a little disappointed that he didn’t take hold of my arm again.
We rode the elevators to the sixth floor, and I glanced around and counted our escorts. There were three—one for each of us. I had a feeling they’d be guarding us until morning. Again, this pissed me off. It’s not like we could escape over the wall or anything. And I didn’t think my flippant behavior earlier was enough to be considered dangerous. Maybe I was wrong.
I was surprised when each of our escorts led us to separate rooms. Nelly shot me a look of alarm, and I turned to face Scottish-accent-guy.
I waved my hand toward Nelly. “We’re not staying together?”
He brought his deep, golden eyes down to mine, and I felt my heart do a little flip. Then, he shook his head. I blew out a frustrated breath. “Look, I know that you don’t owe me anything… In fact, I guess I kind of owe you, but”—I lowered my voice and glanced at Nelly—“will she be safe in there by herself? I mean, someone will be watching over her, right?”
He seemed a little shocked at my question, and for a moment I thought he wasn’t going to answer me. Then, he slowly nodded his head, as if coming to some sort of realization. “I assure you she’ll be fine. I’ve been instructed to keep watch over you all tonight, and I don’t take my duty lightly.” It was both a reassurance and a warning.
I looked him up and down as I considered his reply, and a slightly amused expression crossed his handsome face. I gave a slight nod, and he reached around me, slipping a key card into the room door and pushing it open. I stepped inside and caught the door before he closed it.
Before he could protest, I held up my hand. “I just… um… What’s your name?”
He hesitated, as if deciding whether or not to tell me. Then he said, “Kayden,” and shut the door.
I walked into the room and found it was like a small apartment. It had a small kitchen, a living room, and a bedroom with a connecting bathroom. The furniture was tasteful and comfortable. Unsurprisingly, it was decorated in gold and red. Much to my delight, it also held a large, flat-screen TV. I didn’t feel like I needed any more entertainment for the night, though, so I moved into the bedroom and threw myself across the bed, muttering, “What have I gotten myself into?”
Chapter Nineteen
I woke up early the next morning and helped myself to a shower. I pulled out a clean pair of jeans and a black V-neck, long-sleeved shirt from my backpack. It was probably a little warm for long sleeves, but I figured it was important to cover up my tattoo, considering the reaction it received last night. I found a blow dryer in the bathroom and set it to my hair. After I was reasonably presentable, I went to the small kitchen in search of food. I found Pop-Tarts and an apple and devoured them in record time. As I was throwing out my apple core, a knock sounded at the door.
I glanced toward the bedroom, where my sword was resting on the nightstand. When I didn’t feel an overwhelming urge to pick it up, I walked over to the door and threw it open.
Kayden stood outside the door, looking just as wonderful as he had the night before. And, like before, I got that strange yet wonderful feeling that his presence seemed to evoke. He must have left to change and shower at some point, because he now had on a gray T-shirt and jeans. And it looked good on him. He seemed a little tired, but alert. He was also looking at me. I was glad I decided to do my hair this morning.
I propped a hand on my hip and feigned a sigh. “You know, I’ve got a camera if you want to—”
“Just come with me,” he interrupted, shaking his head.
“Where are we go—?”
“Alexa!” Jackson and Nelly appeared down the hallway, and I stepped outside my room, shutting the door.
Nelly ran to me with a look of relief. Jackson stepped up beside me and lifted me off my feet in a hug, then kissed my forehead.
“Morning, beautiful,” he said.
I glanced over to see Kayden watching us.
“Morning, Jack.”
Jackson grabbed a lock of my hair and ran his fingers through it, stepping back so he could look at me. “Wow. You look gorgeous this morning.”
I was still looking at Kayden, who was looking at Jack. I couldn’t distinguish his expression, but for a second I thought I saw a little animosity behind his eyes. I decided I must have imagined it, because a split second later, it was gone.
“Umm… thanks,” I said, pulling my eyes away from Kayden. I gave Jack a smile, then turned to Nelly. “You okay?”
She nodded. No need to ask me what I meant. She knew I was just worried about her.
“We’re going to see the Council this morning,” Nelly said. She looked nervous, and I couldn’t say that I blamed her.
I spun around and looked at Kayden, who was staring straight ahead. “Hey, buddy, this Council, they’re not going to, like, sentence us to death or anything like that, are they?”
He raised an eyebrow and one side of his mouth pulled up ever so slightly. “No, why would you think that?” I shrugged and he continued. “They’ll bring in a Searcher to distinguish your races, and then, because you are minors, they will probably place you in one of the schools. We haven’t seen a Warrior in ages, though. I’m not sure what they’ll do about you.”
Oh, wonderful. “Great, so, no pressure then,” I replied.
He picked up on my sarcasm. “I doubt they’ll execute you,” he said dryly.
I feigned a sigh of relief, though some of it didn’t have to be faked. “Well, now that that’s settled, shall we?”
Kayden led us across the town, or city, with Jackson, Nelly and I trailing behind him. I leaned over to Nelly, panic shooting through me as a thought came to mind. “What will they do if they find out what you are?” I whispered.
She looked over at me as though she had been worrying about this, too. “They’d kill me,” she answered. When I almost choked on my saliva, she added, “Really, I’m more worried about what they’ll do with you. I think I can control what I let their Searcher see in me. I’m pretty good. I should be able to keep the Lamia part hidden from the Search.”
I gave a slow nod and steeled myself for what was ahead. “Let’s hope so,” I whispered.
A look passed between us that needed no words to interpret. I wasn’t worried about myself. I could handle whatever they threw at me.
But Nelly, well, Nelly I’d kill for. She knew this too.
She nodded. “Let’s hope so.”
Chapter Twenty
We passed what seemed like thousands of more of the same structures and flowers I had seen near the gates. I tried to allow myself to enjoy some of the beauty, but it
was hard when I was so nervous about this stupid meeting. The place seemed to take on an ominous feel as we walked toward our fates. More people were out this morning, heading to whatever it was that they did with their days. A few stopped and stared like last night, but for the most part, they seemed to just be hurrying toward their destinations.
Finally, we reached a building that stood out from all the others. It kind of reminded me of a courthouse, only it looked way too rich to be a courthouse. Enormous statues of robed people lined the stone steps leading up to the building. There was a large mural of a sun painted over the tall silver-trimmed doors. I reached up and touched my shoulder. The mural looked almost exactly like the sun at the top of my tattoo.
Kayden led us into the building, and if I’d thought our apartment building was opulent, I clearly had no idea what that word meant. Unlike the apartment, everything here was decorated in silver, and somehow, it managed to look even classier than the gold décor had. The foyer was enormous, with a high ceiling made all of glass, sending in the sunlight and illuminating the room in an almost heavenly light. Two sets of curved staircases led up to a long balcony with ivory railings. I couldn’t help but stare wide-eyed all around me. Once again, I wondered what the hell we were walking into.
We headed up one of the staircases. I ran my hand over the ivory railing, its surface silky smooth. We took a left and followed the hallway down to where a bright red door waited at the end of it. All of the other doors were silver. I silently hoped we weren’t headed to that red one.
To my relief, we stopped at a silver door with another sun carved into it. Kayden punched in a code on the door’s electronic lock and ushered us inside. It was just a plain room—if you could call something that extravagant plain—with rows of chairs separated by an ivory railing where five more chairs sat behind a long table on a raised platform.
Kayden directed us to sit down in the first row of chairs, and we did as we were instructed. Nelly leaned over and whispered in my ear. “Just let me do the talking, okay?”
Normally, I would’ve made a joke about that B-movie line, but at the moment, my stomach seemed too tangled up in knots to attempt comedy. I just nodded.
Kayden took up a position by the wall, and I noticed that he wasn’t the only one doing so. Other men, including Scar—I guess his name was Gavin but Scar seemed like a better fit—were lining the walls, too. All of them, with the exception of Kayden, were wearing the same black outfits from last night, and I noticed a tiny silver sun embroidered on the shirts’ right shoulders that I hadn’t seen before. None of the men looked at us; they stared straight ahead, stone faced.
I was sitting between Jackson and Nelly, and Jackson reached over and clutched my hand in his. I gave him what I hoped was a reassuring smile and squeezed his hand. A quick glance at a clock on the wall told me that it was five minutes till ten. I hoped this meeting was scheduled on the hour, because I was starting to sweat.
Exactly five minutes later, a door behind the platform in front of us opened up and five people filed in. Three were women and two were men. They wore long silver robes and walked with an air of royalty. Sparing no glances for us, they took their seats and adjusted their robes accordingly. Not surprisingly, I had to suppress the urge to laugh.
The woman in the middle chair cleared her throat and gave me and my companions a once-over. I tried not to shift in my seat. I didn’t want to let these people see me squirm.
The middle woman had a sharp nose, beady blue eyes, and pale blond hair that was pulled tightly up into a bun. She reminded me of my English teacher. When she spoke, her sharp tone reminded me of my teacher, too.
“State your names,” she said, looking at the three of us.
Nelly spoke first. “Nelliana Montgomery.” “Jackson Kane.”
I cleared my throat. “Alexa Montgomery.”
The woman looked completely disinterested, as if she had only asked our names as some sort of formality. “And your races,” she continued.
A lump formed in my throat, and I had to swallow twice before I could speak. Luckily, Nelly had gone first.
“Searcher,” she stated.
“Wolf Son,” said Jackson.
The woman’s eyes fell on me, and I felt my heartbeat pick up in pace. Summoning up my courage, I was glad when my voice sounded clear and strong.
“Warrior,” I said.
The woman looked like she had been ready to move on to the next line of questions, but upon hearing my answer, she stopped and fixed that sharp gaze on me.
“I beg your pardon.” Her words were clipped.
Again, I cleared my throat and enunciated. “Warrior.”
Her eyes narrowed. “Miss…Montgomery.” I was right, she hadn’t been paying attention to our names. “I would advise you to take my questions seriously. We will not stand for insult in our own house.”
I was forming a response when someone spoke up for me. It was not someone I would have expected.
“She bears the marks, Your Majesty,” Gavin replied respectfully.
Her eyes snapped back to me and she waited expectantly. I nodded my head in confirmation. She sat back in her chair. “Would you be so kind as to show us, Miss Montgomery?”
I stood up slowly and reached down, pulling my right sleeve up as high as it would go and tucking it under my armpit, revealing the silver design on my arm. I heard a collective gasp and looked up to see all of the Council members were leaning forward in their chairs.
None of them spoke for several moments, and I was tempted to sit back down. The middle woman regained her voice first. “Approach, please, so that we may take a closer look.” Her voice was still sharp, but there was an uncertainty to it now. I suppressed a smile.
I approached the platform and stood before the five Council members, meeting their eyes and nodding to each one of them. I hoped I looked respectful. They leaned forward even more, and I worried that one of them might tumble out of their chair.
One of them mumbled, “Impossible,” and I almost laughed. Maybe I should consider changing my name to Ms. Impossible. It would certainly be fitting. Then again, so would freak.
The woman stood and moved to stand directly in front of me. I worked to hold her gaze. To say she was intimidating would be an understatement. She looked down at my arm, and her blue eyes widened in wonder. Reaching up slowly, she asked, “May I?”
I’m not sure why, but with her so close to me, it suddenly hit me that this was someone I should show respect to. That’s not to say that I liked her—it’s just that everything had changed recently, and if I was going to have to live in this new world I’d found myself in, I could at least respect their customs. This was not normal for me. I usually hated authority figures, but things change when your life is on the line.
Still, my words surprised me. “Certainly… Your Majesty.”
She looked up at me then and I saw a smile behind her eyes, though her mouth didn’t so much as twitch. She ran her fingers lightly over my wrist and then trailed them up my arm, stopping at the sun on my shoulder. “Sol Lilliums,” she whispered. “I haven’t seen these in a very, very long time.” She spoke so only I could hear her. “How long have you had this?”
I spoke in a hushed tone. “They just appeared. After I…”
She nodded, and again spoke only to me. “After you freed them. May I Search you?”
I hesitated, remembering the vulnerable feeling I’d had after Akira had Searched me, but I had a feeling this woman could do as she wanted, and was only asking out of courtesy. I nodded.
She stepped back a few inches and released a heavy breath. Then, she held out her hands, palms up. I reached up and placed my hands in hers. She closed her eyes and her brow furrowed. Just like last time, I felt a tingling sensation where she was touching me, and that unmistakable feeling of someone reaching deep into my soul. My mind instantly felt muddled, and I had a hard time focusing on anything but her face.
I was feeling a little light-headed by t
he time she released me a few moments later. Her eyes popped open and now the uncertainty that was there before was replaced with a shocked acceptance.
“How can this be?” she mumbled.
“I don’t know. I didn’t even know there were such things as Warriors until a couple of days ago,” I said in a low voice.
She considered this. “And what has brought you to us, young Warrior?”
I felt an unexpected pride well up in me at her words and decided I would think about it later. “The Lamias found us… They took my mother, but my sister and I managed to escape. We’ve come because we have nowhere else to go that’s safe.”
She stared into my eyes so long that I almost dropped my gaze. At last, she nodded, as if coming to some sort of decision. “We’ll be happy to accommodate you, young Warrior,” she whispered. Louder, she said, “You may return to your seat.”
When I was seated, the other Council members leaned together and started speaking in hushed tones. It was obvious whom they were talking about because they kept shooting confused looks my way. The woman’s eyes never left me, and finally, she held up a hand so that the others would stop their questioning.
“All right,” she said, once again taking on that sharp tone. “A Searcher, a Wolf Son and a Warrior,” she announced. I suppressed a laugh, I almost expected her to say walked into a bar. “I assume you would like to continue your schooling?” she continued.
Nelly, Jackson and I exchanged glances. We nodded.
She looked like she was pleased with this. “Good. Nelliana and Jackson, you will be attending the school that caters to your races. Alexa… since you are the only one of your kind, you have a choice as to where you attend.”
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