“Where are you?” Grampa looked around the room, then he zeroed in on my location. “Since when can you control your movement in energized state?”
Since the Tribe’s attack.
“The Tribe?”
The shock in his voice got me to return to my seat. Heads turned when I rematerialized but I ignored them and focused on Grampa. “Yes, the Tribe, Grampa, as in the demons who attacked us. We also know they were summoned by other demons you call the Summoners. We went searching for them.”
Instead of surprise or anger, the feeling I got from the senior Cardinals was relief. Weird.
“Permission to speak, Cardinals?” Remy asked.
“You don’t have to ask permission, young man,” Cardinal Seth said sharply.
“The decision to go after the Summoners was not Master Haziel’s or Bran’s, Cardinals,” Remy said, glancing at the seniors. “We all decided to go, so if you want to yell at someone, yell at all of us.”
Sykes, Kim, and Izzy nodded.
“Now can we just be honest with each other?” I asked. “Not knowing what we are dealing with is scary. Seeing what they can do is even scarier.”
Grampa opened his mouth to interrupt.
“Please, let me finish,” I added. I glanced around at the faces around the oval table before stopping with Cardinal Moira. She might be the quietest of the senior Cardinals, but she had a way of making them stop acting like a bunch of dictators and listen to our opinions. She nodded, an encouraging smile lifting the corners of her lips. “I got lucky because of the Kris Dagger. If they’d attacked one of my friends, the effect would have been worse. We are on the same team and shouldn’t keep secrets from each other. Oh, and Bran is right. Whatever is happening to me, the headache and the heightened powers, I can deal with them now that I know their cause.”
“Their cause?” Grampa asked.
“Master Haziel said that the powers of the Kris Dagger were transferred to me. He said it was the dagger’s way of protecting…” My voice trailed off when Grampa got up, an expression of utter horror on his face. “Me,” I finished.
Cardinal Janelle gripped his arm and shook her head. She waited until Grampa sat down before she got up and moved to my side. “Show me your arms, Luminitsa.”
I shrugged off the hunting trench coat and extended my arms. There were no writings on my skin. I glanced at Grampa to reassure him, but he was scowling so furiously. Aunt Janelle beckoned Cardinals Moira and Hsia, who pushed back their chairs and joined us.
“Turn around,” Cardinal Janelle instructed.
After my meeting with Master Haziel, I knew what was coming and balked at being examined in front of the others like a freak. No. Let’s do this at home, Aunt Janelle. Please.
Cardinal Janelle glanced at her friends, then they nodded and we teleported.
“Remove your top,” one of them said as soon as we arrived in my bedroom.
My face hot, I pulled off my T-shirt and turned around. Someone touched my waist, then my middle and upper back. My embarrassment changed to puzzlement when cool air touched my neck as they lifted up my hair.
“Are they there?” I asked, turning my head to study their faces since I couldn’t see anything.
“Yes, from your lower back to the base of your skull. See?” Cardinal Hsia gave me a portable mirror and turned me so my back faced the larger one on the dresser.
Markings dotted my back like tattoos, spreading along my waist, up my spine and disappearing under my hair. I lifted the hair out of the way. They actually looked pretty. Like some ritualistic markings I should be proud of instead of fear.
“Here you go, love,” Cardinal Hsia said, handing me my T-shirt.
Cardinal Moira cupped my face and studied me intently. As usual, her hands were hot. “Do they hurt or tingle?”
“No, though I felt a slight tingle when they appeared on my hands.”
She nodded. “That’s good. You will be able to know when you are about to use them and therefore will learn to control them. It’s not going to be easy, but you can do it.”
“Master Haziel said the switch was temporary.”
The Cardinals looked at each other again.
“Of course,” Cardinal Janelle said. “Let’s go back. Your grandfather will want to know we’ve confirmed it.”
“Why was he horrified when I said the powers had moved from the dagger to me?”
The Cardinals exchanged glances again. I was beginning to hate their glances, especially since they weren’t accompanied by thoughts I could listen to.
“Your grandfather loves you and worries when anyone, demon or otherwise, targets you,” Cardinal Janelle explained. “He’ll be fine once this mess with the Tribe is over.”
Back in the conference room, my eyes sought Grampa’s as soon as we materialized. He looked like he’d aged a century. Something about having the powers of the Kris Dagger inside me bothered him.
Master Haziel said it is only temporary, I telepathed him.
He smiled, but his eyes were sad. Of course it is.
“The marks appeared on her arms when someone tried to hurt her with an athame,” Remy said, answering a question from one of the Cardinals. “She touched the blade and it caught fire. They appeared on her arms again when we met with Dante. He couldn’t get close to her without feeling pain.”
Cardinal Seth studied me thoughtfully. “So you reacted the way the Kris Dagger would react to a demonic energy.”
I gave him a tiny smile. “Yes, but the power switch is only temporary. Master Haziel said so.”
Cardinal Seth nodded, though I had a feeling he didn’t agree with me. His focus shifted to Remy. “Did her powers ebb with her headache?”
Remy glanced at me. Do you want to tell him?
No. I didn’t like the way they reacted whenever I insisted the power shift was temporary. Besides, Cardinal Seth often treated me like I was a child who needed to be told what to do. In my mood, I might make a snarky comment. I studied the other senior Cardinals instead. I couldn’t shed the feeling that they were operating at a different level from us. They were keeping secrets and only talking to us to get information. They hadn’t shared anything new.
“We visited a few more humans, whose contracts we’d canceled months ago,” Remy said, answering another question. “Their stories were the same—they had no memories of ever seeing us and their fortunes were reversed. We don’t know how widespread it is.”
“It is worldwide,” Cardinal Hsia said.
“Anything else you’d like to add?” Cardinal Seth asked impatiently, focusing on us.
“I think my brother might be one of the Summoners,” Bran said.
“Why would you think that?” Grampa asked, not masking his shock.
Bran explained his theory then added, “I’d like a chance to find him and talk to him.”
“Not now,” Grampa said firmly.
“Can you at least tell us about the Tribe and how to fight them?” Bran asked.
“We’ve never dealt with them before, but Master Haziel suggested we find the demons who summoned them and reverse the summoning.” Cardinal Janelle glanced at the other Cardinals, who nodded, then she continued, her expression earnest. “We spent the last week searching for them. When we heard rumors about the humans getting hurt, we went to investigate. Hsia treated some, but the majority of them were beyond help. However, it was too soon to conclude that the demon you encountered on the island and the one hurting humans was one and the same.”
“Since we didn’t meet any, we were beginning to doubt your account of what happened,” Cardinal Seth added.
“After today, we believe you,” Grampa said. “We owe you an apology, because their reappearance today confirms they are here and we must stop them.”