Hunted tgl-3 (29 page)

“No,” Grampa said firmly.

After giving his verdict, the matter of meeting the Order was all but forgotten. I didn’t get to visit the Specials either, which worried me. Angelia would think I had abandoned them. Grampa’s stance didn’t change despite my arguments. I even begged, which earned me a long lecture on priorities. Apparently mine were to train, train, and train some more. He promised to visit them instead.

My next visit with Kylie, the day after we met Raphael, didn’t exactly go as I’d hoped. Everything went downhill as soon as I mentioned the archangels.

“Please, mind-blend with me. I have to see
him,”
she begged.

“Did you hear anything I just said? Gavyn used you to find my cell phone number, Valafar might be back
and
the archangels want me dead.”

She shrugged. “I don’t care if Gavyn used me, and Valafar is a total loser, so whether he’s back or not, he’ll never convince you to join him. As for the archangel,” she giggled, “even saying the word fills me with, I don’t know, a shiver. The way you described him…”

Annoyed, I reminded her, “Cold eyes? Mean? Hates us and humans?
And he
wants me dead.”

“Oh, I know, but you are…the Chosen One. You have the powers of the Kris Dagger and the entire Guardian army behind you. The archangels won’t win. Please, show me.”

“No.” I got up from her bed, too annoyed to stay. “I can’t even link with Bran to get my lost memories because I’m scared of messing up his energy. There’s no way I’m going to link with you.”

I didn’t hear from Kylie for days. Just as well. Our houseguests, six female SG instructors, monopolized my time at home. They were nice, if I looked past their need to share every story about Xenith and make me watch homemade clairvoyant movies. It was like dangling something I really wanted in front of me, but keeping it out of my reach. So many times I just wanted to say “enough”. But I couldn’t be rude.

The first time we met, I’d entered the kitchen to find them making breakfast. I took a step back, wanting to teleport back and disappear in my room until they were done, when the one standing by the stove had turned and smiled.

“Join us, Lil,” she’d said with a smile. “Unless you’d rather not.”

How could I refuse?

Watching the Guardian children frolic in the water and chase butterflies at a park in Xenith made me wonder what my childhood would have been like growing up there.

“Those little girls could easily have been me,” I told Bran when were alone after another long training session.

“Do you feel cheated?” Bran asked absentmindedly, his concentration on the pad he was sketching on.

“Hmm, no.” My childhood had been complicated. First living with Grandma’s circus tribe, then later moving from place to place with Grampa as he tried to keep the promise he gave my mother—keeping me safe from Valafar. My relationship with my grandfather was special because of the years we’d spent together. “I wouldn’t trade the years I spent with Grampa or my Gypsy relatives for anything.”

O
ur training became mentally, physically, and psychically draining as the week progressed. Each power team took over a classroom, while the SGs used the pit. Evenings, we ate together. The Cardinal Guardians sat in one corner of the cafeteria with our regular/sector teams, while the SGs took over the rest of the tables. They outnumbered us five to one.

The first two days were a nightmare. The Psi team focused on telekinetically controlling suspended swords while wielding one or two with their hands. Lucky for me, Master Haziel and I had already started working on the routine. The others hadn’t. They grumbled and whined, and drove Mrs. D nuts.

I began to bond with a quiet guy with wavy brown hair and gray eyes. I didn’t even know his name, but he was determined to master the move and seemed the nicest. I’d hoped his niceness would rub off on the rest of the Psi team. It didn’t. Their attitude toward our team was like poison that seeped into everything they did.

On the third day, Master Haziel walked into the psi training room just as we were warming up with wooden staffs. He and Mrs. D spoke in low tones and kept glancing at us.

“Are you sure they are ready?” Mrs. D asked, her voice reaching us.

Master Haziel answered, so quietly that we could not hear, then left.

“Today, we are using the pit, Psi Cardinals,” Mrs. D announced. “Grab your preferred swords and let’s go.”

The other Psi Cardinals looked at me for answers. Considering how they’d treated me with distain the last two days, I gave them a blank stare.

There were eight in total. Two of them—a black girl with red-streaked hair and a guy with pitch-black hair—came from Esras’ team. The guy was either a full-blooded Nosferatu—or at least half, he was so pale. The other six were split evenly between Solaris and Lunaris’ sectors. One had all guys, a redhead and two obnoxious dweebs. The last group had the nice, quiet guy I liked and two girls—a bubbly girl with freckles and a Werenephil with yellow cat eyes. Mrs. D’s eyes only shifted when she was angry, so it was interesting to be so close to a pure Werenephil. The first time she caught me staring, she’d glared and hissed. I wondered what other unusual features she had. As for Mrs. D, after two days she was getting frazzled by the animosity in the room.

Ask him what’s going on
. Someone telepathed me, without pinging first, which was totally rude. I recognized the voice as Onora’s, the girl with streaked hair. After two days, she was the only one I knew by name because the Nosferatu from her sector tended to defer to her.

Why can’t you ask him yourself?
I shot back.

Because you are his favorite
, she retorted.

Who cares what he thinks?
one of the obnoxious guys said. He had pale blond hair and a perpetual sneer.
He’s senile
.

And bitter because he’ll never be a Cardinal like us
, his curly-haired friend added.
Trainers are expendable
.

We should tell the CT he’s incompetent
, the blond finished.

Cat-eyes and Freckles giggled. Onora’s Nosferatu partner and the other two guys caught my gaze and looked away. I was sure my fury was visible. Mrs. D, waiting by the door, shook her head in warning, but I was too pissed to care.

“You stupid, pretentious morons,” I said through clenched teeth.

They backed up.

“Lil,” Mrs. D called out warningly.

“Master Haziel is not senile, bitter, or incompetent,” I continued. “He is wise,” I pressed a finger for emphasis, “he’s strong, and he’s a saint for putting up with all of you. He’s trained more powerful Guardians than you’ll ever be, and he takes pride in all the Cardinals’ accomplishments.”

Mrs. D clapped to get our attention. “Cardinals!”

“Powerful Guardians?” the curly-haired guy whispered, but I heard him. “Think she’s talking about herself?”

“Must be,” his blond buddy answered. “No modesty whatsoever.”

I wanted to zap them both. “I’m not talking about me, you idiot. I meant the Senior Cardinals.”

“Lil,” Mrs. D called out again. She sounded pissed and closer.

“Listen to your Psi teacher, Lil,” Onora mocked.

“Why don’t you try listening, Onora? Maybe you might learn to lift multiple swords without whining. We could be attacked any moment while you play stupid mind games.”

“I hope we are,” the blond said. “Then we’ll see how ridiculous the trainers’ ideas are.”

“What does he know about fighting demons anyway?” Onora said with a sneer. “He’s never faced one, and if he did, he’d probably hide behind us—”

My hand shot up toward her, my reaction so instinctive I didn’t stop to think of the consequences. I sent her flying across the room. Lucky for her, the foam blocks and mats were piled against the back wall and cushioned her fall.

“Lil Falcon!” Mrs. D snapped as she appeared beside Onora.

Onora refused Mrs. D’s help and scampered to her feet. “You saw that. She,” she jabbed her finger in my direction, “used her powers against me. It is against the rules—”

“To disrespect your trainers, Cardinal Onora,” Mrs. D finished. “That alone is enough to put you on probation.”

“Probation? Since when?” Onora retorted.

“Since now,” Mrs. D snapped.

“I’m a Cardinal Guardian. You can’t order me around.”

“You have a perfectly capable, younger Cardinal Psi in your team.” She waved toward the Nosferatu boy. “We are in the middle of a crisis and I will not tolerate your shenanigans anymore. How you do things in Melbourne,” she glared at Onora, then cocked her head toward the blond boy and his curly-haired friend, “or Brussels is none of my business. But when you are in our sector, you will behave like Cardinals. You will listen to your trainers. And for the love of Xenia, keep your poisonous opinions to yourself. Your behavior the last two days has been unworthy of Cardinals. From now on, you listen, train, and master whatever Master Haziel throws your way. Without mouthing off.”

“But—”

“Do…you…understand?” Mrs. D cut Onora off, her voice deceptively calm.

Onora swallowed and nodded. “Yes, Mrs. Deveraux.”

Mrs. D turned, faced the blond and his sidekick, and cocked her brow.

“Yes, ma’am,” they said in unison.

“Good. Now move. Wait by the door. Lil, stay behind.”

Onora glowered as she walked away. I waited until they left the room. “She had no right to say the things she—”

“That’s enough,” Mrs. D snapped.

I blinked. She’d never spoken to me like that before.

She started to pace. “What she said was wrong and I didn’t intervene at first because I thought you could handle the situation. Not by attacking her. Not by yelling, but by calmly explaining how we do things here.”

“Reason with them? After the way they’ve been acting the last two days?”

“That is beside the point. You know better than to use your powers against a fellow Guardian. What if you’d shot lightning bolts and killed her? Do you know the consequences for killing another Cardinal?”

I sighed and stopped short of rolling my eyes.

“A dead Cardinal would bring the wrath of the Circle of Twelve on your head. Do you know why? They were forced to ascend early, leaving no energy and consciousness behind to feed the Psi-dar. I know you occasionally use your abilities while goofing around with your friends, but you cannot act the same way with other Guardians. There are rules we all must follow or there will be chaos.”

“But you heard them, Mrs. D. They were disrespecting Master Haziel.”

“I understand, but that doesn’t give you the right to lash out like you just did,” her voice softened. “You may be the youngest in the group, but you’re the most powerful. You could hurt them quite easily.”

Great! I defended my teacher and/was the bad guy. “They are impossible to train with. You’ve seen the way they act. Why do they hate our team so much? We are on the same side. Who cares about accomplishments?”

Mrs. D sighed. “They don’t hate you. They fear and envy you. Most of them only know you by your reputation. Once they get to know you better, they’ll see what we see—a humble young lady. Give them a chance.”

I rolled my eyes this time. Fear? I didn’t think so. Curiosity, resentment, envy, yes. “I’ve tried.”

“Try harder. Spending more time with them might help, too. Invite them over for video games or a movie. They don’t have such things at the guesthouses. Or go downtown for coffee or something.”

No way. I already had to train with them for three hours in the mornings.

“Come on,” Mrs. D said. “Let’s not keep Master Haziel waiting.”

The others were waiting for us outside the pit. This time, I was the one who avoided their probing gazes. Mrs. D waved and the door flew open.

About a hundred men and women were warming up inside the pit, some using jump ropes and freestanding punching bags while others jousted with wooden staffs or sprinted around the pit, which was now five times its usual size. It had been completely gutted out, all the seats and the booths removed to create more space. More Guardians training meant more weapons, which lined the wall.

The other Cardinal Psis smiled and waved to the Guardians they knew. Growing up on Earth meant I’d never had any contact with the SGs in Xenith while all the Psi Cardinals, like Remy, Sykes, Izzy, and Kim, hadn’t moved to Earth until they turned sixteen. Before, I would have been envious of them. Lately, I’d come to appreciate my unorthodox upbringing.

I made eye contact with men and women I’d only seen from afar in the cafeteria, until I saw a familiar face—Lucien. He waved enthusiastically. I smiled and waved back. Two more familiar faces jumped at me from a group on my right. They were the SGs I’d met on the island the day I was attacked. They smiled and nodded.

“Guardians,” Master Haziel barked, “I want half of you on this side of the pit,” he pointed to his right, “and the other half on this side.” He pointed left. “Grab a wooden staff.”

The room split, leaving a clear area in the middle section.

“Cardinals, put your swords away and move to the middle of the pit.”

We did as Master Haziel instructed. Now there were two empty areas between us and the SGs. Just wide enough for a combat zone, except the Guardians had weapons and we didn’t.

As though he heard me, Master Haziel added, “Cardinals, use whatever means of defense you can to stop them. There are about one-hundred fifty of them and nine of us. Let me know when you are ready, Cardinals.”

I looked at the other Cardinal Psis from the corner of my eyes. They looked worried as they studied the SGs.

This is bull
, the blond whiner telepathed.

Shut up, dude
, his curly-haired friend snapped.
We need to come up with a plan
.

We need weapons
, the blond insisted.

We are the weapons, I wanted to correct him.

Then he would have given them to us
, the quiet member of the trio said. He rarely said much. Our gazes met.
What do you think, Lil?

I shrugged.
We use all our abilities to win this
.

Uh, please
, Onora said.
It’s obvious he wants us to use the move Mrs. Deveraux has been teaching us
.

But we haven’t mastered it
, Cat-eyes griped.

We’ll do the best we can
, Onora said, glancing at everyone except me.
Let’s stand back-to-back, four facing one group and four the other. Lil can fight both sides
.

I was tempted to let them take a beating, but Mrs. D’s words kept ringing in my head. My gaze collided with hers. She stood near the door, arms crossed and narrowed eyes locked on me. Opposite her, near the weapons on the wall, was Master Haziel. His eyes were closed as though he was meditating. He didn’t fool me.

Onora opened her mouth to signal him, but I cut her off.
We are not ready, Onora
.

Her eyes narrowed.
Excuse me?

Just listen without interrupting, okay?
I glanced at the others. They were all looking at me with suspicion.
I know how Master Haziel thinks. This little jousting thing is a test or a lesson, and you won’t like the results if you treat it as a joke. Nothing happens in this enclave without his knowledge. He knows about the dinner fiasco and that we are not getting along, and this is his way of telling us to start acting like a team or else
. They continued to stare at me like I had two heads.
Do you want to double your training hours?

They shook their heads.

So what do you say we surprise him by joining forces and doing this right?

Why should we trust you?
Onora asked.

Because I have nothing to lose while you do
.

What do you mean?
the blond asked.

You have former teachers, childhood friends, even relatives in this room. When you fail, guess who will be humiliated?

Silence followed my question. I didn’t expect an answer anyway.

We are Cardinal Psi Guardians, guys. We don’t get defeated by the very people we’re trying to protect. So let’s knock them on their butts. Play games with their minds. Use your power of persuasion to turn them against each other. And when they are down, let’s place swords as a barrier between us and them
.

Chuckles and nods followed.

Like Onora said, four face one group and four the other
.

And you?
Onora asked.

I grinned.
I’m not going to let you guys have all the fun. Just remember, we are to disarm them, not seriously injure them
.

She nodded, then turned to face the other side.

“Ready,” I called out.

“Forty-five seconds,” he snapped, looking up. “If this was a real battle, we would all be dead.”

How did he do that? He didn’t even own a freaking watch. “Next time we’ll have a plan
before
we come to the pit,” I said.

He humphed. “Start in three, two, one…go.”

The SGs charged, but we were ready.