The massive doors to the rotunda closed with a thud and we whipped around. Kim and Izzy walked it. Kim’s usually gorgeous hair was a mess and her eyes were red-rimmed.
“Please tell me he canceled,” she said hopefully.
Sykes laughed. “Nope. What happened to you? And don’t say you couldn’t sleep because your life sucks. Lil called dibs on that first.”
“I’m too exhausted to argue with you,” Kim mumbled.
“Let me guess.” Sykes smirked. “You went back to L.A. to visit a certain violet-eyed Brotherhood Guardian and spent the night tangoing between the sheets?”
Kim opened her mouth to respond, and closed it without saying a word.
“She was up late last night helping her mother pack, and this morning dealing with her tears,” Izzy explained.
“Pack? Why?” I asked.
“Most Civilians have been ordered back to Xenith,” Izzy explained. “They will stay there until we finish with the Tribe.”
Kim looped her arm around Izzy’s. “And the sooner we send them packing, the faster things will return to normal around here.”
“Lil is the solution,” Remy said, causing the other two girls to stop and glance my way. But before they could speak, Remy gripped their shoulders and turned them toward the pit. “We’ll explain later. Right now, Master Haziel is waiting.”
“You can’t just drop that bombshell and expect us to forget it,” Izzy griped, digging her heels in.
“The power of the dagger didn’t just switch to Lil temporarily; she bonded with it because she’s the Goddess’ true vessel,” Sykes said.
I shook my head. He couldn’t keep a secret if his life depended on it.
I ignored the questioning looks from Kim and Izzy as we left the rotunda. Already, the noose of responsibility and of everyone’s expectations was tightening around my neck. How could I train and mentally prepare myself to fight the Tribe with thoughts about the Goddess and being her vessel hanging over my head? When would the Goddess need me?
As we got closer to the pit, we could hear thuds and voices. We glanced at each other without saying anything, but we were all asking the same question—who was with Master Haziel?
Kim, still in the lead, pushed open the door and stopped, forcing us to stop too. We stared. There were at least sixty men and women, all dressed in black sweats and tank tops like us. Unlike the gold six-sided star on the breast of our uniform, their insignia looked like a rising sun. From their sweaty skins and the wooden staffs in their hands, they’d been practicing for a while.
Were they new trainees? Most of them looked older.
“Come on,” Master Haziel called out impatiently from somewhere in the back. “Grab a stick and step forward.”
Propped on the wall by the door were six wooden staffs. We grabbed them. When we faced the new trainees, they had split and created a path between them.
“Come forward, please,” Master Haziel called out. “No need to be hesitant. You are among your peers.”
You’d think he would have warned us we had visitors, Izzy griped.
Where did they come from? I asked as we walked forward.
Remy chuckled. Xenith, of course.
I made a few eye contacts and received nods and smiles. How do you know?
They are SGs—Security Guardians trained to defend Xenith. I recognize a few hotheads from the Institute, Sykes said. Don’t worry, they love us. They consider us heroes.
My hand tightened on the staff. Master Haziel had a wacky way of doing things, but parading us before these Guardians just didn’t seem like him. Unless…
Guys, get ready, I warned. We were in the middle, nearly surrounded by them.
Ready for what? Sykes asked, smirking and nodding at the SGs he knew.
An ambush, I said.
They rushed us from all sides just as I finished speaking, two against each of us. I raised the staff, ducked and blocked, and counterattacked. The flurry of movements kept me from being hit. Two sticks came at me, their movements so fast they were a blur. I teleported and reappeared, knocking the attackers off-balance from behind. I delayed rematerializing until I saw an opening, over and over again.
The SGs meant business, and as soon as two went down, two more replaced them. They got time to rest, we didn’t. My gaze connected with Sykes’. Hero worshipping, huh? Nice red carpet.
He smirked. I know. Incoming. Nine o’clock.
I turned and parried, then attacked. Switching to autopilot, I went on offense. I anchored the staff on the floor and swung on it, using a split kick to stop my two attackers at the same time. More replaced them. Sweat ran down my face. My lungs hurt with each breath and my arms grew tired and heavy. How long was Master Haziel going to let this go on?
“When outnumbered, go for the unexpected,” Master Haziel often said. But we were out to defeat these guys, not kill them. Still, the unexpected came in many forms.
I locked on some of the psi energies and telepathed one message. A woman was in the air, aiming a kick at my side. In a fraction of a second, she adjusted the arc and caught the man on my other side instead. The man responded. Grinning, I blasted them with my power of persuasion. The ones in the periphery joined the fight, first one by one, then in droves. In seconds, the floor was filled with fighters, all more interested in each other than in us.
I teleported to a booth on the upper level of the arena, settled on a seat and watched the mayhem below.
What are you doing? Kim yelled.
Resting.
She materialized beside me, her breathing labored, and gave me a high-five. “Nice move.”
“Thanks. These guys mean business, don’t they?”
“Yep.” She leaned forward and studied the booths below. “Where did Master Haziel go?”
“Home. He’s probably having potato soup for breakfast,” I said. “Ready to go back?”
She gripped my arm. “Not yet.”
We grinned and watched the fight.
“They’re good,” I said. “I’d like to see their sword skills.”
“They are just as good as us. Master Haziel trained them. But if we used our powers, we could take them out in seconds.” Kim winced when Izzy got hit. “That was some mind control you pulled.”
I was beginning to feel bad. I watched a girl trying her hardest to beat Remy into the floor. She was totally focused on him, which might explain why my mojo hadn’t worked on her. “Do you know some of them?”
“No. My family didn’t allow me to associate with other students before or after I joined the Institute.”
“Friends?”
“No time,” she said airily, as if it didn’t matter, yet she sounded regretful.
“I’m not buying it,” I said.
Kim shrugged. “Mom kept me busy. I had a private tutor, private trainer, movies, and computer games from Earth for entertainment.”
I frowned. “I thought Xenithians despised earth things.”
“We do, but my parents knew I’d be joining the Academy, so what better way to prepare me? Dad brought the gadgets home; Mom selected appropriate DVDs and games whenever she visited him. I grew up watching Veronica Mars, The O.C., Gossip Girl, 90210…even Buffy”
I grew up on Earth and yet never watched any of these programs until I’d met Kylie.
Izzy dropped on a seat on the other side of Kim. “Bitches, you should have telepathed me.”
Kim laughed. “You were having so much fun.”
“Fun?” Izzy elbowed Kim.
Watching them, I now understood why Izzy’s friendship meant so much to Kim. She was her first and only friend.