The silence that followed my outburst was eerie. Keiran grinned. Lucien’s eyes were wide with, I don’t know, shock. Esras kept a straight, a face while Solaris sputtered with indignation. Lunaris was staring at her hands, so I couldn’t tell her reaction.
“You can’t talk to me like that,” Solaris said belligerently.
“I just did,” I said. “Third, the Specials are children, not warriors. We are not supposed to decide for them which side to support in this endless battle between us and demons. That will be their decision when they turn sixteen.”
Solaris opened her mouth to speak.
“I’m not done. Fourth, we are the ones who left them defenseless when we killed their parents and destroyed Coronis Isle. But my team did the humane thing—”
“We’re not human,” Solaris retorted.
“Yet it is our humanity that makes us different from demons. My friends and I rescued the Specials from demons when they were being forced to do despicable things. How’s the CT’s agenda different from the demons? Why should the shriveled old goats sit in their hidden world, destroy the only portal, and ask children to save them from the worst demons we’ve ever encountered? Where’s their moral high ground?”
“You shouldn’t talk about our leaders like that,” Solaris warned. “Xenith is our home. Of course, we must protect it.”
“You know what? I was born right here, so my leaders are right here on Earth, the ones I battle demons every day to protect. I’ve never met the CT, never been to your precious Xenith, and from what they’re doing, don’t ever want to visit it, so protecting your leaders and their perfect world is not my problem. If I were to choose between defending them and the Specials, I’d choose the children.”
“They’re hardly helpless,” Lunaris cut in, repeating what her sister had said.
“So?” I shot back. “No matter how powerful they are, they’re not ready to battle demons like the Tribe.”
Solaris’s brown eyes flashed. “Maybe we should give them back, along with you and Bran, and get the Tribe off our backs once and for all.”
Now I understood why they only let Cardinal Guardians fight demons. These SGs were wimps. “You know what? I’m done arguing with you. Cardinals don’t give in to demons, and they don’t run away. If SGs are taught to act cowardly in the face of danger, then you should head to the valley right now, pack your things, and go back to Xenith.”
Another silence followed. From the look on Solaris’s red face, she wasn’t backing down. Neither was I. If she opened her mouth again and spouted more nonsense, I was going to reduce her to a blabbering idiot forever. The others avoided eye contact. Keiran continued to grin.
I marched out of the room, barely resisting the urge to slam the door. Burying my face in my hands, I slid down the wall and sat on the hallway floor. Me and my temper. It didn’t matter that the CT’s decision was callous. I shouldn’t have said the things I did. Of course, I wanted to visit Xenith, see where my grandfather was born. That I’ve never been invited rankled me a bit.
“Somehow I knew you weren’t told about the Specials,” Keiran said from behind.
I glanced at him. “I was awful.”
“You were brilliant.”
“I shouldn’t have said anything. They’re scared, that’s all.”
Silver flashed in his violet eyes.
“Of a bunch of children?” he asked in disbelief.
“No, of the Tribunal,” I said.
He winced. “Don’t say that name out loud.”
I glanced at him. “Why not?”
“It is how they are summoned. The council warned us against calling out the name.”
Interesting. “Yeah, a court made up of demons. No wonder they were impartial.”
“No, Lil.” He slid down the opposite wall and joined me on the floor. “The Tri-whatever is made up of both demons and Guardians…dead ones. They mediate Nephilimic matters. When the Brotherhood wanted recognition as a legitimate subgroup of the Guardians, neutral to the war between demons and Guardians, my people summoned the Tri… the Nephilimic court. We lost the petition, but we still went ahead and formed the Brotherhood anyway. Whoever summoned them this time has a grudge against the Guardians.”
Or felt they were cheated out of a leader and powerful children. What if Gavyn had spoken the truth? It meant there had been a trial and we’d lost, except the verdict was unacceptable and so out there, I couldn’t begin to imagine leaving the Guardians to live with the demons. Whoever had represented us had to be a freaking Guardian Law School dropout. If such a school existed.
“What else do you know about the Tribe’s powers?”
Keiran shook his head. “Our council was stingy with those details. We were hoping you’d fill us in.”
“We?”
“A bunch of us believe we should fight with the Guardians regardless of the CT’s decision. I want you to talk to them, convince them that you’ll have our backs if we are attacked.”
“Me?”
He nodded. “Yes, you, Lil. You are the Chosen One.”
Not again. What would he say if he knew the Tribe was after us because of what we did?
“We’ll have your back. The decision not to offer shelter to the children and your elderly came from the CT, not my grandfather and the Cardinals.”
“The Cardinals will do what the CT tells them. That’s what Darius said. We’d rather have a pact with you and the junior Cardinals. Meet us at Club Zero, talk to my friends, and convince them you are our allies.”
“When?”
“Tonight. We’ll be there from ten to one.”
I nodded. “The others will be back by then.” I slanted my head and indicated his office. “Did they order lunch?”
“The men did. The women didn’t.” He got to his feet. “I’ll ask them again. You want the usual?”
“I’m not really hungry. I’ll have a drink…the usual. Whatever that is.”
He chuckled. “Oh, I forgot about your memory loss. Kim mentioned it. One tall glass of strawberry-lemonade slushy coming up. And you usually a prefer shrimp salad sandwich for lunch and oven-baked chicken pasta for dinner. If you change your mind, let me know.” He disappeared into his office.
Kim must have shared quite a bit of Guardian business with Keiran. Not that I was complaining. Love made us do all sorts of crazy things. I leaned against the wall and sighed. I wasn’t sure how long I sat there before Keiran returned with my slushy. “You sure you don’t want the salad?”
I smiled. “Thank, Kieran. I’m okay.”
He disappeared back into his office and I went back to my thoughts and my drink. Noon came and went, but Bran didn’t appear. Refusing to worry, I put my empty glass down, then sat straighter and slightly forward, closing my eyes and letting my mind go blank. I took deep breaths, held and released.
Pranayama often calmed my mind, but it wasn’t enough this time. I forced myself to replace the images with more loving ones. Bran. Grampa. People who loved me regardless of what I did, what I was, who would face anything to keep me safe.
As though I’d pushed a switch, calmness rushed over me. Reasoning returned. Instead of getting worked up, I realized I had to talk to someone from the inside—Kael and Dante. They’d know about the Tribunal and their verdict.
I gave Bran fifteen more minutes, then got up and went inside Kieran’s office to join the others.
Esras and Lucien were chatting with Kieran, but stopped when I walked in. The two empty plates on a tray said only the guys had eaten. The twins must have declined Keiran’s offer. Their loss.