Chapter 1
Chapter 1 Just breathe. Something I shouldn’t have to remind myself to do, but at the moment, the task was easier said than done. Pushing the air out of my tight lungs proved simple enough, but in through the nose was a different story, as each inhale brought with it an eye-watering fetor of body odor, liquor, cigarette smoke, and vomit pooled somewhere in the dark corners. I could handle the stench, as well as the flashing lights, the pulsating music, and a sea of Norman bodies dry-humping to the beat, but making it all exponentially worse were the drunken mind signatures, swirling and gyrating and pinging all over the place. A nightclub in the middle of a seaside tourist village was probably the last place a new telepath should be hanging out. Yet here I was. I hadn’t been off Amadis Island for eight months, since the trial last September, and didn’t particularly want to be here either. I preferred to be in one of my usual spots, next to either Rina or Lilith, both still comatose from the dark magic inflicted by Kali the sorceress. But my Amadis power seemed to be doing neither of them much good, and Vanessa had recently been seen in this small town, which meant something was going on. The Daemoni simply didn’t hang out here—not anywhere on this little key in the Aegean Sea that was the Amadis Island’s closest neighbor. Too many Amadis passed through here on their way to and from our island, and many came for a day or weekend of mainstreaming without wandering too far away from the safety of our haven. So Vanessa being here was perplexing—as well as bold and stupid on her part. Except the vampire wasn’t stupid, which meant she wouldn’t be here alone for long. The Daemoni seemed to be planning an ambush, and our current strategy was for me to hear her thoughts and learn their plan. She’d also stolen something precious from me, and I needed it back. Unfortunately, I hadn’t been able to find her mind signature tonight, so here I was, hoping to pick up a thought of someone who’d seen her today or knew where she stayed. The sensory overload made my head pound and set my teeth on edge. The packs of women not so discreetly waiting their turns to hit on my husband certainly didn’t help my mood. Tristan’s long and hard body leaned against the bar on the other side of the room from me, blue and green lights from the dance floor flashing over his perfect features. An American girl in a sundress and stilettos twirled her red hair around her fingers as she and a similarly dressed brunette talked to him. More small groups of women stood nearby at the bar and tables, stealing glances his way to see if he’d dismissed these two yet. After all, he’d been dismissing foolish women practically falling at his feet all night, but for some reason, each newcomer thought she’d be the exception. His eyes slid over to me, and he smirked. I fought the ridiculously immature but overwhelming urge to stick my tongue out. Instead, I turned away from him and gave my full attention to the intoxicated Greek god offering to buy me a drink. Well, I tried my best to give it to him, but I could barely provide more than a forced smile while my mind scanned the thoughts of the women talking to Tristan. If they knew anything about the vampire-bitch, they weren’t thinking about her. In fact, their minds were pretty focused on how they’d be willing to give Tristan a threesome if that’s what it took to get him into bed. No wonder he was smirking. Just breathe, I reminded myself again. It was your idea to separate. This is your own doing. Right. I needed to focus. Even if I didn’t find Vanessa, scanning mind signatures and thoughts in this kind of environment provided good practice, which I needed. I’d acquired the telepathy during my Ang’dora last year and fought it and its intricacies for a while. Well, I still had some issues, but I experienced a big breakthrough last September when I protected Tristan from being banished for betrayal and saved the Amadis by exposing the real traitor. I’d been trying ever since to embrace the gift, but the only people I could practice on were the people in the Amadis village, and they were nothing compared to this. Especially since the Amadis knew I could hear their thoughts, so they kept them subdued. Here, thoughts exploded from inebriated minds like fireworks, some bright and cheery and others simply loud and obnoxious. I could hardly fathom how all these people could be here partying it up with everything else going on in the world. Of course, they didn’t know what I did—the increased homicide rates, animal attacks, and missing persons reports weren’t solely a result of depressed economies and political unrest as the media told them, but rather, the workings of the Daemoni. Norms only joked about the world going to Hell, not realizing how right they were. They hadn’t attended funeral after funeral as I had in the last few months. Or, perhaps, they had. Perhaps they sought to forget it all in the alcohol, drugs, dancing, and sex. Perhaps if I delved deeper into their thoughts, beneath the blanket of intoxication, I’d find they were on vacation here to escape their own terrible realities. Escapism was a part of human nature, after all, and the people here had apparently found what they needed. I didn’t delve, though. Invading people’s private thoughts was one of the issues I still had with this ability. Luckily, those thoughts didn’t automatically blast in my mind, or I’d never be able to live with myself. As an introvert, I needed my head to be my own and couldn’t imagine a constant party going on inside it. That would have been so much worse than the situation I was in now, which was bad enough. Skimming along the surfaces of tourists’ minds to listen for the smallest hint of Vanessa’s whereabouts, I concluded no one else was suffering a near anxiety attack like I was. Everyone else seemed to be enjoying the loud music, the strobe lights, and the press of the crowd around them. I accepted the drink from the beautiful man with the dark but glassed-over eyes, and threw it back, grimacing at the ouzo’s burn as it slid down my throat, wishing this would be the shot that would dull the senses. But, of course, it wouldn’t. I couldn’t get drunk. Unlike the norms, I couldn’t find my own escape. “You okay?” Tristan silently asked me. I clenched my jaw, not wanting to lie, but not wanting to give in, either. Don’t worry about me. “As if I could stop. I always worry about you.” I stared directly at him and all the girls surrounding him, particularly the one he smiled at even as he thought his concern toward me. Well, don’t, I thought to him as I drew in a steadying breath. I can take care of myself. “Are you sure?” he asked precisely when the guy in front of me asked me to dance. I nodded, although I truly just wanted to get out of here. “Alexis, don’t think—” I never heard the rest of his sentence—what he didn’t want me to think. The handsome stranger thought I’d nodded to him and had me by the hand, stumbling over his own feet as he dragged me to the dance area. As soon as we stepped onto the sunken floor, his hands were on my hips, pulling me close to him. For a brief moment, I forgot about all the mind signatures, the twirling lights, and the pounding music, and could only think about how strange it was to be that close to a man other than Tristan. But only for a brief moment. Before I could even do anything, a growl ripped through the music—or maybe just through my head—and Tristan suddenly stood between the guy and me, his back to me and his arms out protectively. The drunk guy swung without even looking, and Tristan caught his wrist in mid-air. With the pain of the grip, the guy finally looked up into Tristan’s face. His eyes grew wide, and his Adam’s apple bobbed as he gulped. Without so much as an apology to me, he carefully stepped away from the dance floor. Tristan turned to me and wrapped his hands around my waist, pulling me to him as he swayed to the music. I looked up at him with a raised eyebrow. “You can talk to girls all night, but I can’t dance once?” His nostrils flared. “There’s a difference. His hands were all over you.” “I had things under control.” He leaned closer to me and growled in my ear. “I didn’t like it.” I stepped back. I should have been warmed by his concern, but his eyes were alit with real anger and his tone acidic. “I told you. I can take care of myself.” I added silently, He’s only a norm, after all. Tristan cocked his head and considered me for a long moment, then jerked his hands off my hips. “Of course you can,” he snapped before walking off. I stared after him, clenching my jaw to keep it from falling open. Warrior Boy seemed to have lost his cool. Which wasn’t, well, cool, considering the circumstances. Tristan! I stomped off the dance floor and toward the front door of the club, expecting him to follow me, but he sauntered back to his place at the bar amidst all the girls who now looked at me like wild cats about to pounce. I almost gave in to the urge to lift my lip and snarl at them as Tristan had done to my Greek god, but I didn’t. Only because something else caught my attention as I reached the door. The mind signature I’d been searching for all night. Tristan, come on. Game’s over. Found her. I looked over my shoulder to see him still leaning against the bar. Are you coming? He shrugged without looking away from the blonde who’d moved in on him. “You can take care of yourself.” I turned to glare at him, but he still ignored me. What was wrong with him? It had been my idea to go in separately, to appear as though we were single so the norms would be more likely to talk to us, but Tristan was taking it too far. I wanted to clock him, knock some sense into him. Vanessa’s mind signature was on the move, though, and I didn’t want to lose her. So I rushed outside, knowing Tristan would come to his senses and follow, while mentally reaching out for the other nearby Amadis. They were all on the other side of the island, keeping their distance, as was part of the plan. Vanessa must not have sensed me yet, because she didn’t move toward the club, as expected. Too many people stood outside to see me flash, so I jogged down the street toward her mind signature as it continued to slowly move away from me, as if she were taking an evening stroll at two in the morning. Probably looking for her midnight snack. I tried following her signature to her thoughts, but although she remained in my range, my mind struggled to grasp them. My head physically hurt from the effort, probably because of the bombardment it had already suffered in the nightclub, but I pushed harder, desperate to discover her plan. But I didn’t latch on fast enough. Several new mind signatures popped into existence about a half-mile away. All of them Daemoni. Vanessa’s mind prickled, but she didn’t move. She remained frozen in place. I didn’t wait to find out what she was thinking. If the Daemoni attacked the nightclub—the only place on the island with so many norms in one spot at this time of night—they’d have to go through Tristan and me first. Tristan, they’re here! I yelled at him as I ran toward the club. I stopped at the door, waiting for him to come out, and wondering if I should somehow get the outside loiterers indoors to safety. My heart pounded, but rather than feeling scared as I always had in the past, I actually felt excitement as the adrenaline pumped through my veins. I hadn’t been in a fight in ages—in fact, I wore my leathers and carried my dagger for the first time tonight since last September. I palmed the hilt of my cloaked dagger, and a burst of power surged through me, as if the weapon knew it was finally released from its spot in the boring closet and returned to where it belonged: in my hand. For the first time ever, I felt like the warrior I was supposed to be, every bit as powerful as Tristan. But that didn’t mean I didn’t want him with me. So why did I sense him still inside, as if nothing was going on out here? Tristan! Get your ass out here. I felt out for the Daemoni as I waited. They hadn’t moved yet from where they’d flashed onto the island, close to the shore on the far side of the nightclub. And a new signature popped right into the middle of them. A familiar one, although we hadn’t heard from its owner since he disappeared after the trial. The sounds of a fight broke out immediately. Vanessa’s mind signature finally moved at an inhuman speed. Owen’s here! He’s fighting them by himself. Let’s go! Confident that would get Tristan’s attention, I bounced on the balls of my feet with impatience, but he didn’t come flying through the door. Where was he? Was he really that distracted? I couldn’t stand here doing nothing anymore. I ran toward the fight, Vanessa close behind me. Ah, shit. She was herding me right toward the cluster of Daemoni. I stopped, ready to take her on by herself. But she blurred right past me. Surely she had to have smelled me, but she didn’t even hesitate. She headed straight for the others. I stood in the middle of the dark street, flabbergasted for a moment. But I knew what I had to do—I couldn’t let Owen fight unassisted. My heart raced harder, and my hand shook a little as my thumb slid over the stone in the dagger’s hilt to expose the weapon. It would be stupid to do this alone, but if Tristan didn’t get his act together, I’d lose the opportunity to recover my pendant and my protector. “You are not alone.” I nearly jumped out of my skin at the sound of the soft woman’s voice in my head, vaguely familiar but not mine. However, it wasn’t attached to any mind signature around. And although the internal voice didn’t belong to me, I somehow knew it came from inside me. “You have what you need within you, Alexis. I am here.” The voice did anything but comfort me. Memories of Psycho and Evil Alexis came to mind instead, and I wondered if I was losing my sanity. I’d slowly but surely become used to voices in my head since the Ang’dora, but this was different. I hadn’t sought it out. I released my hold on the dagger’s hilt and massaged my temples. Get a grip. You’re just panicking. I drew in a deep breath and blew it out slowly. The voice didn’t return. Hopefully, it had been some strange fluke, my subconscious finding a different way to try to calm me. My mind remained quiet, even as I reached out again to track the nearby mind signatures. The fight between Owen and the Daemoni had escalated, and Vanessa was about to land in the middle of it all. A yelp of pain in the voice of my protector shot through the quiet night, and my body immediately responded. Tristan, I’m going in without you. I called out as my legs carried me down the street. I reached out to the other Amadis soldiers, as well, ordering them to join us. Tristan finally appeared by my side. Owen, we’re coming! “Leave me alone, Alexis,” Owen barked in my mind just as we rounded the corner to the fight. Just as the Amadis appeared, too. And just as the Daemoni flashed out of sight, Owen on their trails, and Vanessa on his. But we were physically too far away to catch hers. “Owen,” I shouted as I reached out for their mind signatures. They were gone. Not on the island at all. They could be anywhere in a hundred-mile radius. I spun on Tristan and pounded him with my fists. “Where were you?” I yelled at him. “What is wrong with you? If you’d been here—” He grabbed my wrists and pulled me to him, and the rest of the Amadis slipped away into the shadows, not wanting to be a part of this. “I know, ma lykita. I’m sorry.” I jerked backwards out of his grasp. “You’re sorry? Don’t you think you took that ‘let’s pretend we’re not together’ thing a little too far? And now Owen and Vanessa and my pendant are gone. Again! It’ll probably be another eight months before we get another chance, Tristan. Eight. Months!” I threw my hands in the air with my violent frustration. “Actually, we’ll be lucky to ever see Owen again considering what he just flung himself into. What the hell, Tristan?” He looked at me with guilt-filled hazel eyes, the gold flecks dim. He scrubbed his hands over his face and exhaled slowly. “I don’t know.” He rolled his neck and his shoulders, then stared at something off to the side, avoiding eye contact with me. His jaw muscle twitched. “An off night for me, I guess.” “An off night?” I echoed, my words dripping with venom. “You don’t have off nights. You are the warrior who’s supposed to be ready for anything and everything. Remember that? Besides, you sure didn’t look off to me. In fact, you looked to be pretty on with all those women.” His gaze returned to me. “I admit I lost focus, but not because of them. Because of you. I didn’t like the damn act, especially when that guy put his hands on you. Then I was pissed and . . . I don’t know. Not right.” “We’re supposed to be a team, Tristan. I need you.” He pressed his lips together and nodded. Whatever had happened in that nightclub, he knew he’d been wrong. But he obviously had nothing else to say, so I broke my eyes from his, and my gaze traveled around the street where we stood. Stucco houses glowed white in the moonlight, and many flights of stairs twisted and wound around the homes, leading to those at the top of the hill. Not a single person sat outside on the various verandas and rooftops; no one climbed the steps. I opened my mind but Daemoni and Amadis alike were gone. “Let’s just go,” I said with a groan. I didn’t know what to think about Tristan’s behavior. We were on a mission. How could Tristan—Tristan, the experienced warrior—become so distracted? We’d fought side-by-side before. He couldn’t blame me, especially when he pretty much ignored me when I needed him most. But what else could have been going on? We flashed to right outside the Amadis Island’s shield, then swam the rest of the way in. The physical exertion quieted my anger and frustration with Tristan, and then I completely forgot about it when a new idea occurred to me. “Were they there for Owen?” I asked once we stood on the beach of the Amadis Island, dripping wet. I’d thought Vanessa was corralling me into the arms of the enemy, but she’d shown no interest in me. Had Owen been the one they wanted? But why? “What if …?” I couldn’t finish the thought of what may have happened to him. “I’ve told you before. Scarecrow can handle himself,” Tristan said, taking my hand. “Remember, he’s pretty damn powerful, even for a warlock.” How could I forget? His extraordinary power was exactly why he was gone. He’d disappeared the day he learned the source of all his power: Kali, the evil sorceress whose spirit had taken over the body of Owen’s father, Martin. I shook my head. “I still don’t get it. Why would he throw himself into the middle of so many of them? I don’t care how great he is, that was plain stupid.” “You know why. He still needs time.” I let out a harrumph. Everyone, including Mom, kept saying Owen was a grown man and needed to work things out the way he felt was right. Although the Amadis had rules, each member had free will. Well, everyone but us daughters, since the council tried to control us at every chance they could, but we’re a different story. As for Owen, if he wanted to abandon us to deal with his own issues, he could choose to do so. And apparently, that’s what he chose, still. But he’d been so close to home. There had to have been a reason he showed up on that island tonight. He had to have been thinking of coming back. But if that were true, why would he follow the Daemoni when they’d left the island? I kicked a stray rock on the path from the beach to the mansion, thinking about how much I missed my protector, my friend. Tristan missed him, too, I knew, and Dorian constantly asked about his uncle. But the way Owen had snapped at me earlier—he didn’t sound worried about my safety. Rather, he made sure I knew the door to his life remained closed. Why did he shut us all out when he needed us most? Because he’s a man. That’s all I could figure. As we walked into the mansion, I expected to find it quiet and dark with Mom sitting in Rina’s quarters and Bree staying with Lilith. Dorian slept in his room—I sensed his dreaming mind signature. But Mom wasn’t in Rina’s suite. She came rushing from the sitting room, tears streaming down her face. “Alexis, Tristan,” she croaked, her wet eyes flitting between us. Her hand covered her mouth as she shook her head. Mom rarely cried. Something was terribly wrong, and considering both Rina and Lilith had been on the brink of death for so many months, it wasn’t hard to guess what. And Mom had been down here, waiting for us, while Bree was noticeably absent. “Oh, my God,” I whispered. Tristan’s arm around me was the only thing keeping me upright as my knees gave out from under me. Whatever had happened between him and me tonight became a distant memory—we would need each other in the days to come.
Chapter 2
Chapter 2 The late spring breeze whipped at the hem of my skirt, promising to bring a thunderstorm within the next few hours. Salty sea air filled my nose and coated the back of my throat as we stood on the edge of the cliff, saying our farewells. My hair lashed at my face, but the tears that stung my eyes rose from the deeper pain in my heart. Grief and the boulder of guilt that had replaced my insides made it difficult to breathe. Tristan stood tightly against me, his hand intertwined in mine, returning the squeezes I gave every few minutes. Reassuring me that he didn’t hate me. “It’s not your fault,” he’d told me numerous times over the last two days, and I’d tried to make the statement my mantra. Still, I couldn’t help but feel that it was all my fault. Mom stood at the head of our group, leading us in the prayer that we’d said and heard much too often these last few months. Bree stood on the other side of Tristan and Solomon to my right. No one else had come to this private funeral, but only one major absence bothered me. Owen had missed them all, of course, but since this one hit closer to the heart, I’d hoped he’d make an appearance. But no. Still no word from him since the other night. Perhaps he was unable to make it. Perhaps we’d be holding his funeral next. Don’t think that way. No news is good news. That’s what everyone kept telling me. After all, if the Daemoni killed or even held Owen captive, they’d certainly be bragging about it. Trying to push Owen out of my mind, I refocused on Mom and the pyre she stood next to. The body lain out on top, with her hands folded over her stomach, looked so tiny, so helpless, so vulnerable. So still. The tears brimmed the rims of my eyes and slid down my cheeks. I’d tried so hard to help her. I gave her as much Amadis power as I possibly could over the months, trying to fill her with goodness and eradicate the darkness within her. Trying to draw her out of her coma. But giving her all I could still hadn’t been enough. I hadn’t saved her. Even if Tristan didn’t hate me, I didn’t understand how Bree could not. She’d given up her own world, the Otherworld, and her faerie life to serve the Angels and give them Tristan, only to lose him to the Daemoni when he was six years old. Lilith had been her everything for the past three hundred years. And now her daughter, Tristan’s sister, was gone. Because I’d failed. I shouldn’t have been at that stupid nightclub the other night. Maybe if I’d been here right before she died, I could have done something at the last minute. Mom finished the eulogy, and Solomon moved forward with a match as long as a chopstick. Tristan let go of me, stepped up, and placed a hand on Solomon’s arm. “Please. Let me,” Tristan said, his voice low and gruff. Solomon returned to my side as Tristan moved to the pyre. He lifted his hand to Lilith, caressed her forehead and smoothed her blond hair away from her face, so peaceful now, so much like Dorian’s when he slept. Tristan’s other hand faced the pile of logs and twitched. A flame shot out of his palm and ignited the wood. I dropped my head and closed my eyes, too much of a coward to watch. When Tristan returned to my side, though, I forced myself to give Lilith all that I had left to give her. Mom, Bree, Tristan, and I lifted our hands and the burning pyre rose from the ground. We sent it over the edge of the cliff and let it hover there for what felt like hours, waiting, but nothing happened. In the other funerals, the pyre—body and all—had disappeared before incineration. We’d given Lilith an Amadis send-off, but she apparently wasn’t Amadis enough for the Angels to take her in the same way they had the others. Because I had failed. Plumes of black smoke with a tinge of purple began to darken the sky in front of us as the flames grew bigger and licked at the frail little body. A sob caught in my throat, choking me. I can’t watch this. I forced myself to keep my eyes open. “Lower her to the sea,” Bree whispered. “Please. She would like that.” With our powers, we carefully lowered the flame-engulfed pyre to the sea below and silently watched. “Ms. Alexis! Ms. Alexis!” Ophelia’s voice cried out. I automatically turned toward the woods that separated this part of the island from the mansion, although the sound came in my head. Panic immediately swept over me at her urgent tone. Ophelia served as the head of staff at the Amadis mansion and often babysat my son. Dorian? I asked her in response. “He is fine. He is fine. It is Ms. Katerina! Please, send Ms. Sophia. Now!” My heart stuttered at her desperation, and if the grief of Lilith’s death hadn’t already swallowed my ability to breathe, news about Rina did. I mentally passed the message to everyone else. Mom’s head snapped toward me, her eyes wide. Then she disappeared. I looked up at Tristan. He gave my hand a squeeze, leaned over, and pressed his lips to my temple. “Go,” he said. “Solomon, too. Bree and I’d like to be alone, anyway.” A popping sound behind me meant Solomon didn’t wait to be told twice. But I couldn’t bring myself to leave Tristan’s side. Not with that look darkening his beautiful hazel eyes. He’d kept telling me he’d never known Lilith as a sister, that he didn’t feel the same kind of grief, but I knew he’d hoped to develop a relationship with her, and that hope was now incinerating in the flames below. I lifted my hand to his cheek, and he leaned into my palm. “I don’t want to leave you, though.” “My love,” he whispered, “Rina might need you. You must go.” And although he didn’t say the words, I thought them: Don’t fail Rina, too. I swallowed the lump in my throat and nodded. With another look at the blaze floating on the sea below, I said a silent goodbye to Lilith before flashing to the mansion on the other side of the island. Bedroom suites had a special shield that only allowed their owners to flash inside them, so I appeared in the hallway of Rina’s wing. Her suite door stood wide open, and I rushed through the ornately decorated front room, into her bedroom of browns and beiges, dimly lit by a few candles and lanterns set upon the antique furniture. Ophelia, the ancient witch, stood at the end of the bed, wringing her wrinkly hands, her severely creased face pulled tight with worry. Julia, the dark-haired vampire who rarely left Rina’s suite, paced along the near side of my grandmother’s bed. Solomon’s cornrows hung around his face as he watched Rina from his stance on the far side. Mom sat on the bed in front of him, holding Rina’s hand and whispering to her. And Rina’s eyes shifted to me. Rina’s eyes shifted to me! They were open! For the first time in eight months, almost to the day, Rina’s beautiful, mahogany eyes, so much like mine and Mom’s, were open on her own volition. “Rina!” I gasped, a new sob filling my throat. Tears of joy replaced those of grief as I hurried to her bedside, nearly knocking Julia out of my way. As I knelt beside her bed, stretched my arm across the dark-chocolate brown duvet and took Rina’s hand into mine, Mom looked over at me with pursed lips. Surprised by her dim expression, I glanced at everyone else. Julia still paced. Ophelia continued to wring her hands. Solomon’s eyes were tight, the corners of his mouth pulled down. Why weren’t they overjoyed? I studied Rina’s face, which normally looked maybe eight or nine years older than mine but now appeared as though she’d aged decades. She stared at me, her face expressionless and her eyes vacant. Her dry lips parted but formed no words. She blinked, then her brows pushed close together, as though she concentrated hard on trying to speak. “Lil . . . ith . . . good,” she grunted. Then her eyes fluttered closed again. We all froze and watched my grandmother’s body with bated breath, waiting for her to open her eyes again, but she didn’t. “She’s just sleeping,” Mom said after a few minutes of monitoring Rina’s vital signs. “She didn’t slip back under.” A collective sigh of relief whooshed around the room. Julia sunk down onto the end of the bed and stared at the clasped fingers in her lap, and Ophelia dropped her hands to her side, only to anxiously twist them into the hem of her apron. “Is she . . . okay?” I asked. Mom shook her head, and her chestnut hair, pulled into the ponytail swung across the nape of her neck. “I don’t know. She didn’t respond normally. She couldn’t even speak. Julia, what happened?” The vampire slowly lifted her head and looked at Rina. “I was sitting right here. As always. Praying for her to wake up, as always. And then . . . her eyes slowly opened and she eventually focused on me. That’s when I called for Ophelia to retrieve you. She looked around the room, as if lost. Confused. Even when she saw you.” Mom nodded. “Yes, I noticed that, too.” “She . . . she does not recognize us?” Ophelia asked, her voice tight with worry. “She has been unconscious for eight months,” Mom said. “Although Tristan and I have thought her brain waves appeared fairly normal, she may have trouble returning to us completely. At least at first. We don’t know the extent of the dark magic’s effects on her.” Before we’d defeated Kali at Tristan’s trial, she had blasted Rina with a powerful spell. At least, we thought we had defeated Kali. We truly had no idea what happened to her soul after leaving Martin’s body. Or what happened to Martin’s body, for that matter. It had disappeared before anyone had noticed its absence. Lilith and I had been hit by a similar spell in the Florida Everglades, but somehow I had recovered. Lilith never had. Hopefully, Rina will, although she’d been hit at a much closer range than either Lilith or me. “Now that she’s come out of it, maybe I can reach her mind,” I suggested as I gazed at Rina’s once again still face. My telepathy had been useless with both her and Lilith before. Their brains were too far under to reach. Mom nodded, and I gave it a go. Rina’s mind signature definitely felt different than it had the last several months, as if it had more substance, but still not the same as it had been before. And when I followed it to her thoughts, they were thin, gauzy, like a mist trying to take shape but unable to solidify. I concentrated harder, as if I could focus her mind for her, but, of course, I couldn’t. “At least she has thoughts now,” I said. “I just can’t tell what they are.” “Well, that’s better than the complete blank you were getting before,” Mom said. “I hope they clear.” I squeezed Rina’s hand, giving her as much Amadis power as I could. Between sharing it with her and Lilith for so long, however, pushing all that I had into them to heal their bodies and souls, I was drained. “Alexis, you need a break,” Mom said. “I’ll stay with her today and tonight.” “I’m fine.” I laid my head on Rina’s bed. “I just need to rest a little.” “You need to sleep,” she corrected. “You need to recharge and regenerate.” “Rina needs me,” I said sleepily. “She needs your full power. Go. Get some real sleep. Spend some time with your family. You need it.” I opened my mouth to protest. I didn’t care what I needed. Not when I’d failed Lilith because I hadn’t given her enough of what she needed. Not when I could still fail Rina. “Your family needs it,” Mom said, cutting me off. “Rina needs you to do it.” She knew how to get to me. I sighed with resignation, but couldn’t bring myself to move from Rina’s bed. It wouldn’t have been the first time I’d slept in her bed, but as long as I did while keeping my hand tightly around hers and feeding her my Amadis power, I’d never truly regenerate. Mom was right. I was depleted. Exhausted. Too tired to even move. The next thing I knew, I woke up in my own bed. A large, hard body pressed against the back of mine, and a heavy arm draped over me and held me tightly. I wrapped my hand over Tristan’s and entwined my fingers with his. A thick, strong river of his love washed into me, filling every cell as though I’d immersed myself under a waterfall of emotion. Besides sleep, this was exactly what I needed. I drew on his love with a hunger I hadn’t realized I’d had, as if my soul had been starving for this connection. How blessed I am to be his, I thought as my power began to rebuild within me. Then Tristan stirred, and his mind signature brightened with consciousness as he awoke. And the strength of the love flowing from him diminished into a narrow stream. That thought pricked at my heart. Why would his love lessen? That couldn’t be right. No, not an actual lessening. Just normal restraint. We all do it. Of course that was it—consciousness kept his emotions in check. Tristan was so good at controlling his emotions, but I’d never before realized how much he kept his love hidden, even from me. “Good morning, ma lykita,” he whispered against my ear. I peered around the darkness of our suite. “It’s still night.” “Hmm . . . I’d say about three a.m. Technically morning.” He rolled away from me, onto his back. I turned over, saw his eyes still closed, and laid my head in the soft crook between his shoulder and chest. “Still night,” I said, closing my eyes. His mind signature relaxed again, and his current of love strengthened. I drank it in as I drifted to sleep. * * * “I don’t want to go!” Dorian crossed his arms over his chest, flipped his light blond hair out of his hazel eyes, and scowled at me as I leaned against the wardrobe in his room at the mansion, having delivered the news that he and Tristan would be going home tomorrow. “I don’t want to leave you. Why aren’t you coming with us?” He gave a football on the floor a kick across the room. Good thing the wall was made of stone; plaster would have been ruined with the force. I pressed my lips together and breathed deeply through my nose, practicing my own emotional restraint. As much as I hated being separated from my two men, I needed to stay to help Mom with Rina and with everything else. Mom couldn’t do it all—manage the entire Amadis as acting matriarch and also nurse Rina back to health—on her own. “I’ll be coming home as soon as I can,” I promised. “As soon as Rina’s all better. And look on the bright side—you’ll have Dad all to yourself.” He didn’t respond to this, but I could see in his eyes that he liked this perk. I hated it. Well, for me. It would be good for Tristan and Dorian to have some extended one-on-one time together, but I hated that they had to leave. However, it was unavoidable and not unexpected. Dorian had celebrated his eighth birthday a couple of months ago, and the older he became, the more likely he’d keep memories into adulthood—memories of Amadis secrets he’d take with him when he went to the Daemoni. If he goes to the Daemoni. IF, dammit. I refused to accept its inevitability. We’d been able to keep him on the island this long because Tristan and I both had reason to be here. With Lilith gone and Bree leaving, though, we were out of excuses for Tristan’s presence, which meant he could take Dorian home. Especially now that Rina was awake and we all knew it wouldn’t be long before I could leave, too. “I’ll miss you,” Dorian said. He looked away from me and stared out the window. “I’ll miss this place.” I felt his pain. Since Dorian had discovered the village on the other end of the island and the people within it, we began taking him there on occasion. After all, if we couldn’t somehow break the curse that would allow the Daemoni to claim him, it wasn’t as though the fact of a village or magical people living here would be such a great secret for him to share. The Daemoni already knew about that. He hadn’t exactly made friends here—the adults didn’t appreciate the idea of Dorian, their future enemy, getting too close to their kids, as if the curse, if there even was one, might rub off on them. But at least the kids here didn’t make fun of him as they had at the Norman schools, and they understood him better than any Norman kids ever would. Even if he hadn’t forged a tight bond with any of them, he obviously felt a sense of community here. I opened my arms to him. He ignored me for a moment, his fists on his hips and the corners of his mouth still pulled down. But then he rushed across the room to me and threw his arms around my neck. “I’m sorry, little man,” I said, hugging him tightly. “You still have Dad and me and Sasha, though.” “But not . . . not Uncle Owen.” And the dam that had been containing his tears burst. He sobbed against my shoulder. “Why did he leave us? Is he ever coming back? What if you don’t come home, either?” I blinked away my own tears at the realization of his true fear. He didn’t want to leave here, but his feelings had less to do about where he was, and more about whom he was with. Since Tristan had been gone most of his life, he feared that we’d each disappear on him. He didn’t want to lose his loved ones. This is good. He needs to know love as deeply as possible. I counted on love—ours for him and his for us—to help fight the curse or whatever it was that compelled our sons to convert to the Daemoni. “Uncle Owen will be back,” I said for the hundredth time, praying it was true. “And I’ll definitely be coming home. I can’t stay away from my two men for long.” Dorian pulled away just enough to look at my face. “Maybe Rina will be better tomorrow, and you can come with us.” I chuckled. “That would be wonderful. But really, little man, don’t worry. I’ll be home with you and Dad before you know it.” After some more coaxing and soothing, he finally gave in, and we spent the remainder of the day together as a family. I needed their love to rejuvenate me and took advantage of the last chance I had to absorb it and boost my Amadis power. I already missed them. I’d been spending so much time bouncing between Rina and Lilith, I hadn’t been able to spend nearly enough time with my own little family. And now they’d be leaving. After putting Dorian to bed that night, Tristan and I snuck off to our private place on the island, a little clearing in the woods, far from the mansion and even farther from the village. Having to stay here for so long and my little problem with my gift during sex had led us to finding a place far enough away that I could let my shield down. We were right on the edge of the island, not far from where we held the funerals. We lay on the plush blanket afterward, the full length of our naked bodies pressed together, and stared at the diamond-studded sky. “I wish there was another way,” Tristan murmured, turning to press his lips to my temple. His warm breath tickled my ear. “I already miss you.” “I know.” I burrowed my face against his wide, muscular chest, and inhaled deeply, tasting his tangy-sweet scent of mangos, papayas, lime, and sage on my lips, on my tongue. “Me, too.” He trailed his hand down the length of my side, sending a current over my skin. “I already miss this.” “Me, too,” I breathed against him. “Not long, though, right?” “Rina looked good when I saw her today. As good as can be expected anyway. She’ll be back to herself soon, I’m sure, especially with your power.” My hand slid up his rippled abs and hard pecs, along his neck, and up to his velvety soft face where I held him. My thumb stroked his cheek. “I love you, my sweet Tristan.” “I love you, too, ma lykita.” He showed me again with his body exactly how much. And, although he made me feel as incredible as always, something seemed to be . . . missing.
Chapter 3
Chapter 3 Rina’s eyes glassed over as she looked away from Mom and stared out the open French doors to the balcony, though she didn’t appear to be gazing at the view of the cypress trees with the Aegean Sea sparkling behind them. She sat in her oversized bed, propped by a mountain of pillows, but her mind had traveled to another place . . . to another time. Perhaps to when she’d first met the people whose names Mom had just mentioned, or maybe to when she’d ordained them to her council. “Adolf and Shihab,” she murmured, dabbing a finger at the corners of her eyes. “And you said others?” “Yes, but we don’t need to discuss this right now,” Mom said, studying Rina’s haggard face as she adjusted the covers. My grandmother’s brown eyes looked even larger than usual in her thin face, accented by dark purple half-moons under her lower lids. Tristan had been both right and wrong about Rina’s quick recovery—she regained a good portion of her mental capacity the day after he and Dorian had left and had continued showing improvement in the ten days since, but physically she struggled. With as many hours of the day that she slept, her body should have restored itself twenty times over by now, but her cells weren’t regenerating as they should have been. “Yes, we do need to discuss it right now,” Rina said, shooing Mom’s fussing hands away with a flick of her own. Mom pulled back and instead made herself busy by pouring Rina a cup of tea. “Mother, it can wait—” Rina’s eyes snapped to Mom’s face. “My people are dying, Sophia. It can not wait!” Her chest rose and fell in a calming breath before she took the teacup and saucer from Mom. “Who else?” Mom pinched the bridge of her nose and squinted her eyes. She looked as tired as I felt. Now that Rina was awake and coherent, Mom and I had been spending more time in here with her, gradually bringing her up to date on the state of the Amadis. As her mind began to clear, one of Rina’s first questions had been about whether Tristan and I had recovered the pendant yet. I hadn’t been surprised she’d focused on the pendant, especially since we hadn’t yet told her about all of the Daemoni attacks. But they probably wouldn’t have made much of a difference. The next Amadis daughter would always remain a top priority, and the pendant housed the stone I needed in my possession to ensure Tristan’s fertility. Although it wouldn’t guarantee a daughter, I would definitely never conceive Tristan’s baby without the stone. The Angels may or may not have instilled the faerie stone with additional qualities, but if they had, the Daemoni could possibly turn it against us, making it a weapon. We needed the pendant, but we hadn’t been able to find it or the vampire-bitch who had stolen it until two weeks ago. Who knew when we’d find her again? “Alexis, I will need you to take further risks now. We need that pendant,” Rina had said. “It will be our top priority. You and Tristan will lead the operation, and I will give soldiers to assist.” Mom and I had exchanged a glance, but said nothing at the time to Rina. The matriarch had been returning to her authoritative self, which was good, but she didn’t have the full story then. She hadn’t known about the increase in Daemoni attacks or that our soldiers were already stretched thin. We hadn’t wanted to bring up all of the Amadis deaths until Rina’s health improved. Now, only a few days later, we could no longer avoid that discussion. “Who else?” Rina repeated. Mom didn’t need to answer. The memories others had shared with me flashed through my mind, and I passed them on to Rina. My grandmother closed her eyes, and the teacup rattled in the saucer as she watched the gruesome images of the fights Adolf and Shihab had been in with the Daemoni. Fangs flashed and blood splattered as limbs and heads were severed from bodies. Wolves, cougars, and lions transformed into human bodies as they died on the battlefield. Some of the German and Arabian troops had fallen with their leaders in the violent battles. Then more abhorrent visuals played of the Daemoni attacking Armand and his people as they tried to gather intelligence for us. My own memories of the funerals on the cliff also flashed for Rina, and I could feel her despair deepen with each one. “The last one we sent to the Angels, before Lilith, was Armand’s second-in-command, last month,” Mom finally said. I had liked Armand’s second a lot—much more than the French vampire himself who had been one of Tristan’s primary accusers last fall. His second had been a female were-bear and a much better leader than her boss. I’d only met her a couple of times, but admired her kind heart and tough demeanor. Hers was the only funeral, until Lilith’s, where tears had stung my eyes. I’d shed no tears for Adolf, the German werewolf who had also been one of Tristan’s adamant accusers. Yes, he was Amadis, so I probably should have felt some remorse, and I supposed I did. A little. But only because we needed every last soul. I certainly held no personal affection for him beyond that. “The rest of the Amadis are busy, but doing fairly well,” Mom added. “The Daemoni are focused on Normans.” “How many are they infecting?” Rina asked as she shakily placed her cup and saucer on the nightstand next to her. “How bad is it?” Mom shook her head. “We aren’t sure of exact numbers, but enough that Normans are taking notice. Some smaller countries have closed their borders completely, blaming the mysterious deaths and disappearances on foreign terrorists. It’s only a matter of time before leaders begin considering more drastic measures. If the Daemoni continue their current rate of attacks, or God forbid, increase . . .” Mom trailed off as Rina rubbed her finger and thumb against her closed eyelids. I took her other hand and pushed more Amadis power into her. She squeezed my hand in return. “This is too much for you, Mother. You need to rest,” Mom said. Rina stopped rubbing her eyes and glowered at Mom. “I apparently have been resting for eight months while the world falls apart around me. Do you truly believe I can sleep right now?” She shook her head. “Continue. How many have we converted?” Mom sighed and took a seat in the chair by Rina’s bed. She leaned forward with her elbows on her knees and her hands clasped together. “Not enough. Not many at all. Our safe houses aren’t empty, but we don’t have enough conversion specialists to be more aggressive with the Daemoni’s victims. Charlotte has been doing what she can. So have our others. But you, Alexis, and I have the strongest Amadis power, and, well . . .” Rina gave me a sideways glance and looked back at Mom. “You two have been here with me rather than out there helping.” Accusation laced her tone, but what did she expect? She was family. Besides, she was the matriarch. We weren’t the only ones who needed her. “The Amadis need a matriarch, that is true,” Rina said. “But we have a line of succession. If I had not made it—if I still do not make it—we have you, Sophia. The infected need you more than the people need me.” Mom opened her mouth, likely to protest, but Rina didn’t let her speak. “That is knowledge for you to remember for the future. At the moment, however, I understand the predicament. Alexis is newly turned. She needs to be trained in the art of conversion. Or have you been, darling?” Rina turned her eyes on me. I shook my head. “As you said, we’ve both been here the whole time,” Mom said. “I did try with Lilith, but . . .” My eyes stung again at the thought of Lilith. I cleared my throat. “But I failed.” “Alexis, darling,” Rina said, “you did not fail. Lilith’s soul is safe. I made sure of it before returning.” My mouth fell open. We’d all thought Rina’s grunts when she’d first come out of the coma to be nonsense, perhaps a muttering of her last memory before she went down. “You mean . . .” I stammered. “The Angels took her soul, yes. I’d been holding the connection to the Otherworld for her, and when Lilith finally accepted your power and moved on, I was able to let go. You did well.” Rina tilted her head as she seemed to study my face more closely. “This explains your exhaustion, however. Your low power levels.” “What do you mean?” “Your Amadis power is low for you, Alexis. You have tried to do too much.” I shrugged. “I had to. I had to help Lilith. And you . . . you . . .” The tears came against my wishes. The emotions I’d been trying to hold inside for days burst through. “Oh, Rina, I’m so sorry I doubted you before. You always take care of us, and I had thought . . . I had thought . . .” I couldn’t admit now the blame I had put on her for betraying Tristan and me, of keeping our daughter from us, and calling me a liar about it all. I’d been so wrong, so very wrong about her. “I’m so sorry, Rina. It’s my fault you were even hit.” Rina withdrew her hand from my clasp, and I couldn’t blame her one bit. She’d probably blocked the ugliness between us from her mind, and now I had brought everything flooding forth again. What a miserable excuse for a granddaughter I was. I squeezed my eyes shut and stopped the sobs. I had no right to cry. Both of Rina’s hands wrapped around mine. “Darling, I do not blame you.” “Nobody does,” Mom added. I shook my head, denying it. Sure, I had revealed the true traitor, but both Kali’s spirit and Martin’s body were gone, so who knew if it was really over? And when I did reveal the truth, Kali had thought Rina shared the sorceress’s thoughts, resulting in the matriarch’s coma that had thrown the entire Amadis into a downward spiral. “Considering what I have heard about the events in that council room,” Rina said, “I am very proud of you, Alexis. You did what needed to be done.” “But at what cost? You’re my grandmother! I hurt you before the trial even began and then to see you . . . so . . .” I trailed off again, the fear of Rina dying choking me as it had done nearly every day since she’d been hit. “I was so worried,” I finished lamely. I mentally kicked myself in the shins. I’d been waiting so long to apologize and that was the best I could do? “Alexis, darling, everything occurs for a specific reason. Do not fret anymore. Worry is a waste of energy, and you obviously have little to spare.” She withdrew her hands from mine once again. “In fact, I do not want you sharing your power with me anymore.” “But you need—” “What I need, darling, is for you to have your full powers. Have you been meditating? Spending time alone? Allowing your body to absorb the power from the island as I suggested three days ago?” “I’ve tried,” I said. “I’ve sat on the beach. Even did some more writing.” Rina nodded. “I have noticed you scribbling in a journal while you sit with me as I rest. A new story?” “Not exactly new. It’s my story—mine and Tristan’s. I’ve filled three books and am finally about done. Well . . . caught up to now, anyway.” The itch to write again had nearly consumed me within the first week of sitting with Rina and Lilith. Holding them with my left hand allowed my right hand to be free—not exactly good for banging on a keyboard, but fine for old-fashioned writing. I’d started what I’d thought would be a journal, but it really came out more as a story, deeper than the one in my history book because my thoughts intertwined with the actual events. “If you would like, you may keep the filled books in the Sacred Archives,” Rina said, a twinkle in her eye. “The island and the writing have not helped, no?” I shrugged. “I think they have. I feel more rested . . . sort of.” Rina studied my face for a long moment. “Of course. You need your family. You need to be with Tristan and Dorian.” “I do miss them,” I admitted, trying to mute the desperation I truly felt. My heart ached with longing for them. “But I’ll be fine. You and Mom need me here. Besides, it’s only been ten days.” Ten days, three hours, forty-two minutes to be exact . . . but who’s counting? “That is settled. You go home immediately.” My jaw dropped. Am I that transparent? “Yes, you are,” Rina said in my head. I frowned. Really, I’ll be fine, Rina. Please, let me stay here with you and Mom. “You will not be fine. You will be useless to us if you continue as you are.” She spoke her next words aloud. “I may never fully recover, and in the meantime, the Amadis need us. All of us. As does humanity.” “Which is why we need to help you regain your strength,” Mom said. “Sophia, it is too late for me.” Mom and I both gasped, but Rina shook her head and let out a little chuckle. “No, no. That is not what I mean. The Angels visited me often while I was unconscious, but no, they did not share any plans for my impending death or ascension. I only mean that you have done as much as you can for me. I believe I am as well as I am going to be.” Mom and I exchanged a glance. If this was Rina’s best … “You continue giving me Amadis power, and I can feel it coursing through my veins, but I am not regenerating as I should be, no?” Neither Mom nor I could argue with her. “I know this. I accept it. The two of you need to accept it, as well. It is time to move on. To move forward.” She repositioned herself against the pile of pillows, straightening her back to sit up to her full height. Her eyes narrowed as they looked into Mom’s and then into mine. “It is time we prepare for war.” * * * Only two mornings later, Ophelia came into Rina’s suite as I once again protested my departure. “Ms. Alexis, the jet is ready and waiting for you,” the elderly witch said. I scowled at Rina. “Are you sure about this? I hate leaving you and Mom here.” “Honey, we’ll be fine,” Mom said from a desk in the corner that she’d set up so she could work while still being close to Rina. “We’ve been doing this for a long time.” “Preparing for war?” I asked. “Not so urgently, but, yes, that is what we do. Rina and I can manage things from here. We need you out there, serving your purpose.” “My purpose is not going home to sit on the beach and relax,” I argued. Who in their right mind disputes that? I wouldn’t have a year or two ago, but now we were on the brink of war. Mom folded her arms over her desk. “How many times are we going to discuss this?” “I just don’t get it. There’s so much going on, you need every bit of help you can get, and you’re sending me home? To do nothing?” “We’re sending you home to recuperate. The sooner you do that, the sooner you can be of help to us.” “Alexis, darling,” Rina said, “there is much we need you for. But you are useless to us in your current state.” Hmph. As if Rina should be talking. She still couldn’t get out of bed for more than thirty minutes at a time without exhausting herself. “I am surrounded by people who love me here,” Rina said. She couldn’t usually listen to my thoughts as easily as everyone else’s so it must have been written all over my face. “So am I,” I countered. “Not the two whose love you need most,” Rina said. “Go home, Alexis. We will be putting you to work very soon, do not worry. We will need a new safe house to start with, and eventually, I will need you to oversee conversions in the entire Western Hemisphere, since Sophia will be here, and I will need Charlotte elsewhere. Most importantly, I will need you and Tristan to recover the stone.” Mom rose from her chair, came over to me, and took my hands into hers. She ducked her head so her eyes could catch mine. “See? There’s a lot you’ll be doing. But first, you need to be at your best.” “Darling, simply by leaving the Amadis Island, you are doing something for us,” Rina added. With a quiet groan, I gave her a nod of resignation. This part we’d gone over many times already. We hoped that when I left the island and the Daemoni saw both Tristan and me out of the Amadis’ direct protection, they’d lay off the norms and focus back on us. That had been their ultimatum before, so hopefully it still stood. We also hoped Vanessa would be too tempted to come after me and would abandon her game of hide-and-seek. In other words, I’d be bait, and although it could become dangerous, the role felt passive when there was so much going on. At least now I knew Rina had other plans for me, too. But still, my first and primary orders were to rest. Because I was useless. After two days of arguing this, however, I knew by now Rina wasn’t going to budge. So I reluctantly said my goodbyes to her and Solomon, Ophelia, and even Julia, then flashed with Mom to the island’s runway. A small private jet sat outside the hangar, the steps down, waiting for me. A figure moved from the cabin to right inside the entrance. “You need an escort,” Mom said, laying an arm over my shoulder. I already knew this, for the same reason I wore my leathers and had my dagger and knife on me—just in case. I had secretly hoped Tristan had returned to serve the role of protecting me, but the figure standing at the top of the steps was definitely not my man. Not any man, actually—admittedly, after Tristan, I’d hoped Owen would have been there. That would have been an even bigger and greater surprise. Before my heart plummeted too far, however, Charlotte moved closer to the edge of the doorway and waved. I grinned for the first time in days, happy to see her face. Mom turned me toward her and placed a hand on each of my cheeks. A small smile curved her lips, but didn’t reach her eyes. “Charlotte will be working with you again, but I wish it were me. I wish things were different. I’ve been waiting for this time since you were a little girl.” She pulled me to her in another hug as I tried to figure out what she meant. “But we each have our duty, and mine, for now, is to be here with Rina. So you take care, listen to Charlotte, and get some rest. Then I promise you’ll have more than enough to do.” “Love you, Mom,” I said into her ear as I squeezed her tighter. “I love you, too, honey.” And as she held me a little longer than what seemed natural, I felt she knew the truth of something ominous coming. The world would be very different the next time we saw each other. After all, everything that had happened in the last year or so had been only the beginning. “Ready for more training?” Charlotte yelled over the scream of the engines as I sprinted up the steps and threw my arms around her. “It’s so good to see you!” I gushed. “How are you doing? Are you holding up? Have you heard from Owen? Where the heck is he? Where have you been, anyway?” “Whoa,” Char said, giving me a squeeze then extricating herself from my embrace. “We have plenty of time for Q & A.” She led me into the main cabin. I’d only been in the Amadis jet once, and I’d been unconscious then. Julia and the so-called Martin had brought us all here after we found Lilith and Bree in the Florida Everglades. Every other time I’d traveled to and from the island, we’d needed to make a big performance—sinking the famous author’s boat right after the Ang’dora, and then ensuring the Daemoni knew when Tristan and I had left the Amadis Island and its protection. This time, however, Rina didn’t want the Daemoni aware of my departure until I was good and ready—well rested, in other words. The main cabin looked like a living room, with a beige leather L-shaped couch, cushy chairs, and tables. It could easily seat ten people. Charlotte gave me a brief tour, showing me the two bedrooms, a medical suite, and a full kitchen in the rear. The jet was piloted by a vampire whose blond buzz-cut backed up the claim that he’d been a fighter pilot in World War II, and a wizard with strawberry blond dreadlocks served as his co-pilot. “If something goes wrong, a mage in the cockpit can keep the jet airborne for a while,” Char explained. I nodded with understanding. Owen’s magic had powered the tiny plane we’d used to escape Australia. “He also keeps us cloaked and shielded.” We took our seats on the couch, and I watched out the window as Amadis Island shrank and then disappeared once we broke through the force field that kept the island invisible. As we lifted into the clouds and the scenery below was whited out, I looked at Charlotte, and my heart squeezed. I didn’t know her true age—at least ninety, I figured—but she appeared to be in her mid-thirties. Or, at least, she had when I’d first met her. Now she reminded me of how I’d looked right before the Ang’dora, when Tristan had been gone—a perma-frown creating lines around the corners of her mouth, her sapphire eyes tight and distant, her straw-colored hair short now and sticking out all over the place, as Owen’s often did. The shock and anger of learning about the real Martin had consumed her. She’d thrown herself into her work, unrelentingly pursuing the Daemoni, jumping into every fight even when Mom had ordered her to stop. Mom and I both knew why, though. Char searched for answers. Charlotte explained that Owen tried to do the same. They both wanted proof that Kali still existed. What worried us all, though, was that while Char sought revenge, we weren’t aware of Owen’s intent. After learning his life had been a total farce, he’d cut himself off from us so thoroughly, we didn’t know if he’d ever return. If he thought he somehow belonged with the Daemoni now. For all we knew, the fight a couple of weeks ago could have been for show, or perhaps his attempt to prove something. The thought of losing him to our enemy sucked the breath out of my lungs. “I wish I could give you better news,” Charlotte said, “but at least we know Owen’s alive and free. Otherwise, we would have heard about it by now.” “Right.” I sighed. She sounded like Mom and Tristan with their no news is good news bit. “So, uh, what kind of training will we be doing?” I needed to change the subject. We’d spent the last two hours talking about Owen and her, but mostly Owen, and I couldn’t take any more. Training was a positive action, a way to move forward and actually do something. “Well, first, you’ll be resting,” Char said, and I rolled my eyes. “I need to do some work around the States, anyway, before we can get started.” “Started with what?” “Conversions. That’s your next objective.”
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