Hunted tgl-3

by Ednah Walters

  “Come here, Red.” He patted the seat beside him. “Knock some sense into their heads. Tell them it’s wrong and unfair to move in with us. I don’t want to watch chick flicks and forgive snippy comments at a certain time of the month.”

  “That’s insulting,” Izzy said indignantly.

  “Who’s moving in?” I asked, my gaze volleying between the girls.

  “Izzy and Kim,” Remy said.

  Sykes gave a mock shudder. “Don’t you mean Miss Rules and Miss Stuck Up? The things that go on in this house stay in this house. My women won’t, uh, you know, be themselves with you two around.”

  “What women?” Kim said in a disparaging tone. “Don’t you mean the poor human girls parading in and out of here like it’s a cheerleading camp?”

  “We can have our bedrooms upstairs,” Remy continued. “You girls can take downstairs.”

  “We get upstairs,” Izzy corrected him. “And we get to redecorate the living room.” She and Kim laughed and high-fived each other.

  “You two are actually thinking of moving in?” I asked, sitting on the bench by the TV. “With them?”

  “My parents are bending the rules again to suit themselves,” Kim explained, a defeated expression settling on her pretty face. “When Cardinal Guardian trainees turn eighteen, which I did a month ago, they are supposed to get places of their own. My parents insist there are no houses available, yet Kenta’s house is empty.”

  Kenta was our disgraced former master trainer. He had betrayed us by feeding my father information about me, and been banned from our Council.

  “And even if his house wasn’t empty, it takes Guardians…what? A week to build a house?” Izzy rolled her eyes. “Hardly a reason to keep us under their thumbs.”

  Izzy had lived with Kim’s family since her family moved back to Xenith. “You too?” I asked.

  Izzy shrugged. “They can’t allow me to move out and refuse Kim, so I’m being punished too. Worse, they’re trying to find Kim—”

  “Don’t,” Kim snapped and slapped a hand over Izzy’s mouth.

  Izzy teleported and appeared beside me. “Amate.”

  Kim growled. “You need to mind your own business, Isadora Salazar.”

  I expected the guys to burst out laughing because it was absurd. No one arranged marriages anymore. But everyone went quiet, their expressions serious. Immediately after joining the Guardianship program, Izzy had told me something interesting about Kim’s family—the Larsons had a history of arranging marriages to produce powerful offspring and future Cardinals, which was why every generation of Cardinals included a member of their family.

  “That’s messed up,” Remy said, frowning. “You can pretend to choose one of us to get them off your back.”

  Kim smiled. “Thanks, Remy, but there’s no need for that. Can we discuss something else?”

  “I second what Remy said,” Sykes added, his expression earnest. “It might mess up my rep with the ladies, but we’re friends and friends help each other out. So, yes, count me in for as long as you want me.” He stretched and pretended to check Kim out. “But if you want to upgrade it by adding benefits, I’m calling first dibs, bro.”

  Kim laughed and leveled Sykes a mocking glance. “You couldn’t handle me.”

  “Try me,” Sykes said, then he winked.

  “So? Should we rearrange the rooms for you guys?” Remy’s glance bounced between Izzy to Kim as he spoke.

  “Whoa, slow down, dude. We are still in the maybe-it-might-happen-depending-on-the-ground-rules stage.” Sykes pointed at Remy, then tapped his chest and indicated upstairs. “Let’s go.”

  They disappeared upstairs.

  “Are you guys really thinking about moving in with them?” I asked, not buying it.

  “Do you have a better idea?” Izzy asked.

  “I can talk to my grandfather. As the head of the Cardinals, his ruling trumps Kim’s father when it comes to Cardinal Guardian business. Because of him, you guys lived with your parents when you moved here from Xenith, instead of rooming with members of the High Council like the new students.”

  Kim studied me with narrowed eyes as though thinking about my suggestion.

  “There was no ‘Academy’ at the time and parents weren’t willing to send their kids to this High Council after the demonic raid, which, your father led, princess,” Izzy teased.

  I stuck out my tongue. “It was just a thought. Don’t call me princess.”

  Izzy shook her head, her ponytail whipping left and right. “Princess… princess…princess…”

  She could be so annoying sometimes. I waved a hand, and a pillow from one of the gaming chairs shot toward her. She caught it and flipped it back at me. I stopped it before it reached me and sent it her way again.

  “Stop it, you two,” Kim snapped, then nodded at me. “Do it.”

  I blinked. “Really?”

  Kim arched her right eyebrow. “You offered. Let’s see if Grampa really is putty in your hands, princess.”

  With a lift of my chin, a pillow shot up and flew toward her. Air shot past me as the pillow reversed directions with a whoosh. The guys came back to find a pillow fight and giggles.

  Sykes laughed. “Now this, I can live with. Saturday night strip poker and pillow fights are a must for roommates.” He ducked when four pillows flew toward him.

  “We’ll pass for now,” Kim said. “Lil will talk to her grandfather about getting us our own place.”

  “Now, or after this Tribe mess is over?” Remy asked.

  Just like that, the playful mood disappeared. The discussion moved to the Tribe.

  “They’re still discussing what to do?” Izzy asked, outraged.

  “From what my grandfather said, the Cardinals would like us to face the Tribe head on, but the High Council prefers diplomacy.”

  “I wonder what the CT has to say about all this,” Kim murmured. “Do they even know what’s going on?”

  “It’s been four days since the attack and Academy students and their teachers are still in Xenith,” Remy said. “Someone must have explained their presence.”

  “Meanwhile we train without knowing the Tribe’s weaknesses and strengths,” Izzy added.

  “Master Haziel knows something but he’s being so close-mouthed,” Kim griped.

  “Did Bran tell you what they discussed this morning?” Remy asked. “It seemed intense, but they were both grinning like they’d found the Holy Grail.”

  I shook my head. “I haven’t seen Bran since our morning training session.”

  “You trained this morning?” Izzy asked.

  “Around five o’clock,” I said.

  Kim reached out and rubbed my arm. “The nightmares again?”

  Surprised by the gesture, I nodded. “I agree with Remy. Master Haziel knows something. Remember how he pointed out a passage on the book on Mediums before we knew Kylie was a medium? He gave me a book…” My cell phone dinged. I fished it out of my pocket and read the text.

  Is Bran with you?

  I typed. No. Why?

  When I pressed the send button and looked up, the others were staring at me with annoyance. Making a face, I put the phone back in my pocket. “Sorry. It’s Kylie. Uh, where was I? Yeah, Master Haziel gave me a book on the Goddess and he keeps pushing me to read it.” I shrugged. “So are we going to continue hiding and waiting?”

  “We should sneak out and do our own investigation, beat the senior Cardinals to the punch like we’d planned before,” Sykes said. “Like we did with Coronis and on Jarvis Island.”

  Silence followed his announcement, then everyone started talking at once.

  “I don’t know, guys,” Izzy said.

  “Live a little, Izzy,” Sykes said with a gleam in his eyes. “We can round up demons and torture them until they talk.”

  “Or ask Darius and the Brotherhood to help us,” Remy added. “The problem is how to contact them without the senior Cardinals knowing about it.”

  “Don’t worry
, Keiran and his friends will help,” Kim said confidently.

  “How do you know that?” Sykes asked then he smirked. “Ah, I forgot you two are joined at the hip now.”

  “We’re not,” Kim protested.

  Everyone laughed while she blushed. My cell phone dinged again. I reached inside my pocket and muted the phone.

  “Dante and Kael might help too,” I said, “if they don’t hate me for hurting him.”

  “The big guys can handle pain,” Remy said dismissively. “They’re nature-benders. Who wants something to drink?” He got to his feet.

  Everyone nodded. While he went and got sodas, my phone dinged again.

  “Give me that,” Kim snapped and stuck her hand toward me.

  I cocked my brow. “What?”

  “Your stupid phone keeps making that annoying ding,” she explained. “I know you and Kylie are tight, but she can’t monopolize your time. She’s always calling with some cockamamie excuse about needing your help or…”

  I tuned her out, pulled the cell phone out of my pocket and checked the last text. Kylie was desperate. Her ‘get here now’ had exclamation marks. I powered it off. “Are we done? Because I’ve got to go.”

  “Did you hear anything I just said?” Kim asked.

  I grinned. “No. See you guys tomorrow morning.”

  Izzy gripped my arm. “Wait a sec. Do you know that Kylie’s family moved?”

  Another lost memory. “When? To where?”

  “Beginning of summer. They live in Nibley now. I’ll show you. We’ve had to drag your behind from her house a few times in the past few weeks.”

  - 11 -

  TRUTH AND LIES

  A big dresser stood in the middle of Kylie’s bedroom and I would have bumped into it if I hadn’t slowed down my teleport. Izzy wasn’t so lucky.

  “Dang it, Kylie. What’s this doing in the middle of your room?”

  Kylie looked up and grimaced. She had been watching something on her laptop while lying on her bed. She sat up, a frown on her face. “Sorry about that.”

  “Never mind. Gotta go.” Izzy glanced around and whistled softly. “Nice décor. You two have fun.”

  Kylie wore a confused expression. “What was that about? I mean, what was she doing here?”

  “Long story. But seriously, what’s this,” I pointed at the dresser, “doing in the middle of your room?”

  Kylie wrinkled her nose. “Dad had it repainted and brought it in an hour ago. I tried to move it, but it weighs more than I do. What time is it?”

  “Nine-thirty-ish,” I guessed without looking at my watch, my gaze on the Celtic symbols all over the dresser. With the black background, the squiggly drawings popped. Her new bedroom was spacious and beautifully decorated. “This is beautiful.”

  “I know.” Kylie stood and stretched, her tank top hiking up to reveal a tattoo on her hip. “It’s perfect. Matches my curtains, don’t you think?”

  “And your tattoo.” Kylie was a petite five-foot-four with a pixie face, grey eyes and brown hair—her natural hair color. Before, she’d dyed it black during her Gothic phase.

  “So what took you?” she asked. “I texted you, like, an hour ago.”

  I laughed. “What took me? Who do you think I am? Your servant?”

  “Clark Kent to my Chloe Sullivan, faithful sidekick and best friend ever.” She grinned when I scrunched up my face. Still grinning, she walked to where I stood beside the dresser, hands going to her hips. “You’re not just the Chosen One, you are Lil Fáthaig. That means—”

  “Lil the Mighty, I know.”

  She made a face. “I hate that you can speak, like, a gazillion languages.”

  “Okay. From now on I’ll pretend I don’t know Gaelic.”

  “Don’t bother, smarty-pants. Anyway, when I need heavy lifting, you’re the one I text. When you need R&R from Guardian biz and computer research, I’m your girl.”

  I made a derisive sound. “You can’t be Chloe. You suck with computers.”

  “Nitpicking, and not my fault. My parents gave all the smart genes to my brainiac brother.” She pouted. “It’s so unfair. You can find me any time and any where, while I have to send a stupid text.”

  “Texts,” I corrected her. “As in five of them. What is the emergency anyway?”

  Kylie frowned. “What are you talking about? I sent you one text message because of this,” she waved at the dresser, “not four.”

  “Four more after the first one. My cell phone kept vibrating while I was in the middle of a conference.”

  She searched for her phone “That doesn’t make sense.”

  “What?”

  “I texted you once.”

  She was getting pissed. “Forget it. It’s not important.”

  “Is too.” She marched toward the door, her frown fierce. “I’m going to kill the slimy worm.”

  Before I could ask her what she meant, Kylie had yanked open her door and stomped to the one down the hall. It had a quantum physics poster and a picture of Albert Einstein. She banged on it with her fist. “Jesse!”

  No response.

  “Open up or I’ll break it down!”

  The door jerked open to reveal her brother, pimpled face red, a mop of curly brown hair falling over his forehead. He wore a T-shirt with the writing Schrödinger’s Cat, Dead and Alive, and a drawing of cat in a cage. Two of his friends appeared behind him and stared at Kylie with wary expressions, video game controllers clenched in their hands.

  “Break it down?” Jesse asked. “Physically impossible since you are only five-three and weigh about one—”

  “Shut up, you freak,” Kylie snapped. “You took my cell phone again! Where is it?”

  “I don’t have it,” her brother protested. Then he saw me and smiled. “Hi, Lil.”

  I gave him a tiny wave.

  “Don’t talk to her. Just because she’s played a few video games with you doesn’t make her your friend. You can’t pretend to be me and text her.”

  His brother shook his head. “I didn’t touch your stupid phone, Kylie. We’ve been in here playing video games all evening.”

  “Liar! My phone is missing and you’ve been bugging me for days to ask her to come over.” She thrust her face forward and hissed, “She’s got a boyfriend, you loser.”

  Jesse glanced my way one more time, face redder than before, then whispered through clenched teeth, “Ask Mom. She’ll tell you we haven’t left my room for hours. Maybe your witches,” he wiggled his fingers, “took it.”

  “Goddesses,” Kylie snapped. “Celtic deities.”

  “Get a life.” He slammed his door.

  “I have a life,” she shouted through the door. “And it’s not in some online gaming world.”

  Feeling bad for Jesse, who’d had a crush on me since the first time Kylie had invited me to their home, I retreated into her room. He was a year younger than her, tall, gangly, and going through the zits stage. The few times we’d played video games, I had had fun, though.

  “I swear my parents found him in a crashed spaceship,” Kylie snapped when she re-entered her bedroom. “He’s so weird.”

  “I’m sure he just wanted my help with a game. Where do you say you wanted the dresser?” I asked, hoping to distract her, but I shouldn’t have bothered. She continued to search for her phone while muttering under her breath.

  “I’m telling on him, the worm.”

  “It’s no big deal, you know,” I said, trying to calm her down.

  “Is too. He’s always stealing my phone to text his friends. It’s not my fault he lost his.”

  I stopped trying to help and studied her room instead. It was done in black and white, from the bed cover to the draperies; the only colors were the wooden floor and colored pillows on her bed. Celtic spirals and knots dominated everything. It was beautiful and so Kylie.

  “Okay?” she asked.

  I raised my brow, feeling a little guilty for ignoring her rant. “What?”

  “I sa
id, let’s move the bed first from this wall to that,” she pointed to the wall adjacent to the window. “Then the dresser to where the bed is. This way, the mirror can reflect the window and give an illusion of more space.”

  “Move out of the way,” I warned. I waited until Kylie stood by the door, then moved her bed to the adjacent wall. The books shifted a little but didn’t fall. Next, I put the dresser where the bed had been while Kylie issued orders like a drill sergeant.

  “A little to the right…not too much…an inch or two to the left,” she said. “Perfect. Thank you. Look, I found my phone.” It was inside the top drawer of her new dresser. “And it’s dead. I swear if catch him with it again, his DS is mine.” She placed the phone on the dresser, jumped on to her bed, scooted over and patted the area beside her. I moved the pillows behind me then flopped on my back and stared at the ceiling.

  “Start talking,” she said.

  I frowned. “About what?”

  “What the Guardians have been up to…what I’ve missed. Duh. I haven’t seen you in over a week. You promised to keep me in the loop and I look forward to hearing about your escapades.”

  “Escapades? We’ve been canceling contracts. Hardly exciting.”

  “Not from the way you often tell it, and there was also the meeting with that lightning demon that blocked the light from the Kris Dagger. So start talking and don’t leave anything out,” she warned.

  Obviously, I’d shared everything with her. “I’ll start with why Izzy came with me to your place. I was attacked on Saturday and lost months of memories, including those about your new home.”

  Kylie sat up, her eyes round. I started with the attack and the more I talked, the more frantic she became—surprise giving way to worry then panic.

  “Powerful demons are after you and you waited for nearly a week before telling me?” she screeched.

  “Four days,” I corrected her.

  “Whatever. And your powers…do you have a headache right now?”

  I shrugged. “Just a dull throb. Sleeping this afternoon helped. But, I’ve learned to live with them.”

  “Have you taken something for it?”

  I cocked my brow. “Something?”

  “Headache meds. It doesn’t have to be prescription strength. Just over-the-counter ones.”