Forgotten (Guardian Legacy Book 3)

by Ednah Walters

  My heart was pounding hard by the time I finished, but I felt good. I had laid out my plan and it was solid. I glanced at my father. The expression on his face made me feel invincible.

  “So, as the representative of the Subsixers, I want to see them trained, educated, and contributing members of our society. They have an equal stake in this world, just like you and me.”

  Everyone started talking at once, but I focused on Solange. She was studying me with a frown, not particularly pleased with my ideas. She was also super jealous. The lessons in diplomacy I’d received from Lady Nemea flashed in my head.

  I can’t do this without you, sis, I said. I need your help.

  Her eyes narrowed.

  You’re in charge of education, I added. Without your approval, I can’t get this project off the ground.

  Solange gave me a slow smile. It wasn’t the yeah-I’m-eager-to-helpyou kind. She was going to make me pay for calling her a bitch.

  Okay, little sis. Leave everything to me.

  Thanks, Solange. This is going to be…huge, I telepathed her excitedly.

  She rolled her eyes and then glanced at our father. “Lilith and I can work together on this project, Father.”

  He didn’t respond to her right away. Instead, he studied the others and then glanced at Sir Malax. The head of security telepathically demanded silence.

  “When my daughter joined us after the Great Battle, most of you thought it wasn’t a good idea. You suspected her of spying for the Guardians, doubted where her loyalties were.” He paused and studied the faces around the table. He leaned forward. “No need to be embarrassed or apprehensive. I understood your misgivings. However, I didn’t doubt her for one single moment.” He glanced at me and smiled. “She’s been conscious for two months now, and within that short time, she’s figured out something we all overlooked in our hurry to solidify our hold on the world—preparing all of our people. The little things she pointed out could easily foil our grand plan if ignored.” He reached out and gripped my shoulder, his eyes on my face. “Lilith, I’m very proud of you. You have my support.” He studied the others. “We all are going to do what we can to make sure her plan works.”

  “Father?” Solange asked from his other side.

  He reached for her hand. “My dearest Solange, I love your suggestion. The two of you will work together. Lilith is going to need your help with the students at the Academy and your guidance.”

  Oh, he was good. I had felt Solange’s jealousy from across the table, but he’d smoothly defused it by making her feel good about my problem.

  The rest of the meeting passed fast. As I left the table, Lottius’s mother placed a hand on my arm. “That was well done, Princess Lilith,” she said.

  “Thank you.”

  The praises followed me out of the room, but Solange had the last say. She was waiting for me outside the conference room. She put an arm around my shoulder, and said, “Looks like we’re going to work together, little sis.”

  “Yeah, us,” I said weakly. Solange chuckled, though there was no humor in the sound. Over her shoulder, my eyes met Father’s. He smiled.

  “Listen,” Solange snapped, and I sighed. “This is how it’s going to be. You want the students to work on your beach project, go to the Academy and ask them.”

  “But you said—”

  “I know what I said, but I’m going to be busy jumpstarting your minion education program.”

  “But I don’t know the students and they don’t know me.”

  “There you go. I knew you’d get it,” she said. “They need to know you and you them. On Monday, you will start at the academy as a new student. Your tutor agrees with me.” She smirked. “I’ll notify the principal to expect you. Have fun.” She pinched my cheek playfully, then walked back into the room. I fumed, wishing I could scream at her. And why hadn’t Rahm told me himself I was starting on Monday?

  “It’s okay, princess. She’s just a little miffed because you came up with a brilliant idea,” Lady Nemea said from behind me. When I faced her, I was surprised to see her eyes bright with unshed tears. “You made us proud in there,” she added, and enveloped me in a hug. “Very proud.”

  This was huge, coming from her. She hadn’t approved of anything I’d done since the day of my party. “Thank you. But we still have a lot of work to do.”

  She stepped back. “Just not right now. Go with them.” She indicated Ruby and Callum. “Your friends are waiting upstairs.”

  They were finally my friends? She disappeared before I could say anything. Not that I wanted to antagonize her. I glanced at the guards. “Come on, guys.”

  “Excuse me, Princess,” Ruby said before I could teleport. “Thank you for what you said in there. We”—she glanced at Callum—“have family members who are Subsixers. My older brother,” Ruby added.

  “Oh. Does he live here?”

  She shook her head. “No, Princess. He works on an oil rig off the California coast. He always wanted to be an engineer, but—” She broke off in a wobbly voice, her chin trembling.

  “Then he will become one.” I closed the gap between us and hugged her. At first, she was too shocked to react. Then she hugged me back. My eyes met Callum’s.

  “My parents and my little sister are all Subsixers,” he said.

  “How old is she?” I asked.

  “Twelve.” A sheepish expression settled on his face. “I taught her to read and write, but that’s all the education she’s ever received. She wants to be an author when she grows up.”

  “And I look forward to reading her books.”

  -14-

  “You did it,” Katia yelled, and ran to give me a hug. I have a message for you from Lord Gavyn. I’ll give it to you later, she added.

  Over her shoulder, I made eye contact with the others—Lottius, Skylar, Ravan, Gus, and Jazreel. Everyone converged on us, talking and laughing. Lottius pulled Jazreel along, the poor girl not sure whether she should be included in the hugs. They wanted to hear what I’d said, word for word. I did what I could, but I wasn’t a parrot. I finished with “I’ll be starting at the Academy on Monday.” I hoped Solange hadn’t made that up.

  Katia squealed. “We have a few weeks till the tourney, so this is perfect.”

  I laughed. “I’m supposed to charm the students into signing up to fix Rocky Beach, not win tournaments.”

  The kitchen workers streamed in and out with drinks and food as we talked. The bold ones thanked us. Even Bilal came upstairs to see if we wanted anything else. I don’t know how long we talked and plotted before Katia indicated my bedroom with a nod, and we excused ourselves.

  “Gavyn asked me to give you this.” She pressed a clairvoyant crystal in my hand.

  I looked at the CC and frowned. “He said he supports what you are doing and this should help. It is for your eyes only.”

  I nodded, my heart pounding.

  “I’ll, uh, leave you alone.”

  “Thanks. Tell the others I’ll be out shortly. Are you meeting Lord Gavyn later tonight?”

  Katia blushed and nodded. “Ten o’clock. We have a date.”

  I glanced at my watch. It was almost eight. She had time. “Don’t leave yet, okay? Please.” She nodded. “Oh, and make sure I’m not interrupted.” I disappeared inside the bathroom, closed the door, sat on the lounge, and activated the crystal.

  Light shot from the crystal and Lord Gavyn’s face appeared. The picture zoomed out and showed him seated on some sofa, legs crossed and elbow resting on the arm of a chair. He looked furious. Not exactly what I’d expected.

  “Listen, Lilith,” he said through clenched teeth. “Once again, I’m asking you to send my brother home. You don’t need him here. In three months, you’ll be together again, so you shouldn’t allow him to risk his life.” He paused and glowered.

  I shook my head in confusion. What was he talking about? I didn’t know his brother.

  “Celeste is threatening to come to the island to search for Bran
. I can put up with his bullshit because he loves you, but I will not allow him to drag her down with him because of you. If you truly love Bran, get him off the island before someone discovers his presence and he ends up in your father’s dungeons.” He scrubbed his face and then disappeared from the image.

  My heart pounded with both excitement and dread. Bran. The name sounded familiar. “Bran.” I practiced saying the name out loud and closed my eyes to see if an image popped up in my head.

  “Celeste has changed,” Lord Gavyn said, and my eyes snapped open. He was back with a bottle of water. He chugged and scowled some more. “She took it hard when you left and even harder when Bran disappeared. She left the Guardians and came to find me. If you are her friend as she claims, you do not want her on the island, being brainwashed by your father’s minions. I’m begging you”—he made a face as though he’d swallowed something rotten—“get Bran off the island before it’s too late. Use Katia to get in touch with me if you run into trouble. Bran can be stubborn.” The light dimmed and the recording ended.

  Bran.

  Whoever he was, he loved me and was on the island because of me. I hadn’t met any guy who claimed to love me or know me…

  Green Eyes. It had to be him. He knew so much about me, and my reaction to him always defied logic. No, it couldn’t be him. He looked nothing like Lord Gavyn, who had silver hair and gray eyes.

  I had to know more. I had hours before my midnight date with Green Eyes…with Bran. I couldn’t wait that long for answers. Besides, Bran had refused to tell me anything. On the other hand, Lord Gavyn seemed to have no problem talking to me about the past. I was friends with his sister Celeste, whoever she was. I didn’t like the part about “brainwashed,” though. What did he mean?

  I hid the CC in a stack of towels and left the bathroom, almost bumping into Katia, who was pacing in my bedroom.

  “Well?” she asked.

  I stood a little straighter and kept all emotions from my voice. “I want to talk to him. He said you can arrange it.”

  Katia blinked and nodded. I had blindsided her by shifting from Lilith the friend to Lilith the Princess, just like Lady Nemea had taught me.

  “Good. I will meet him at the east corner of the castle’s back terrace.”

  Katia nodded again. “Okay.”

  I smiled. “Thanks.” I went to my closet to grab a cloak. When I reentered the bedroom, Katia was wringing her hands. “What is it?”

  “He said, uh, he’ll be done in thirty minutes.” She winced. “I tried telling him he can’t turn down a meeting with you, but…” She shrugged. “He can be so…stubborn.”

  “Stubborn,” I said at the same time, and frowned. How did I know that? “Tell him he has five minutes.” I watched her face as she telepathed Lord Gavyn. She didn’t know how to hide her feelings. “What did he say?”

  She grimaced. “Thirty minutes.”

  He was being difficult. Well, he was about to meet his match. “Do you know where he is?”

  “At Lord Z’s. I mean, Lord Zhane’s. He owns a penthouse in the city and a club on West Coronis Beach.”

  “Let’s go.”

  Katia blinked. “Lilith—”

  “If he won’t come to me, Katia, I’m going to him.” I was getting answers about his brother tonight. “You don’t have to come. Just give Ruby the location.”

  Katia’s chin shot up. “No, I’ll come.”

  She followed me outside. Jazreel and Lottius were arguing about something but stopped and looked up when we appeared.

  “Guys, feel free to stay and keep ironing out our plans. If you need anything else from the kitchen, let them know.” I indicated the guards at the station at the other end of the room, then glanced over at Ruby and Callum. “We’re going to the city.”

  Surprise flashed on their faces, but they didn’t question me. Lottius, as usual, didn’t accept anything without an explanation. “What’s going on?”

  “It’s private, Lottie,” I said firmly. “Hold the fort until I come back.”

  She nodded. Switching to princess mode had its perks. People responded without question. I adjusted the hood of my cloak, then something else occurred to me and I frowned at Ruby and Callum. “Shouldn’t you two be off duty by now?”

  “We requested longer hours today,” Callum said.

  After the development at the meeting, I kind of understood why. They’d probably wanted to eavesdrop on our discussion. “Okay. Lead the way, Katia.”

  Soft jazz music and a buzz of telepathic conversation greeted us when we appeared in a hallway. Strong psi energies pulsed in the air. When Katia had said a penthouse, she hadn’t lied. Lord Zhane had an entire floor at the top of one of the buildings. Through a glass window, I could see the spectacular view of the castle and the city center where the three streets converged.

  The tingle at the base of my spine started. I hadn’t felt it since the morning I sparred with Sir Norath. I hadn’t thought about it since Green Eyes had said it was my body protecting me.

  Katia pointed at an arched doorway ahead. “That way.”

  We moved as a group, Katia beside me, Ruby and Callum taking the rear. We paused at the entrance and I tried not to gawk at the room.

  A large three-dimensional mural of the beach at sunset covered two of the walls and continued onto the ceiling. I wasn’t sure how he did it, but the clouds in the sky, or ceiling, actually drifted. The third wall had another mural of arches and a broad hallway, adding to the illusion of space.

  I ignored the burning on my back and focused on finding Lord Gavyn among the guests. Lights were dimmed, so it was impossible to recognize anyone at first, but going by their psi energy, they were powerful. Some lounged on the couches, while others stood in groups, sipping drinks and laughing at their telepathic conversations. Floating trays delivered flutes of champagne to the guests, who were obviously comfortable because they were in their true forms. I spied fangs, wayward tails, pointed ears, and animalistic heads. I recognized a few of my sister’s friends from my party. Any second, I expected Solange to step into the room and reveal my identity. I pulled the hood of the cape lower.

  The burning at the base of my spine intensified. I reached back to rub it. Bad idea. Heat shot up my spine. I stepped back from the doorway before we were noticed, almost bumping into my guards.

  “Are you okay?” Katia asked, following me.

  I shook my head. The surge of energy shot to my limbs. I looked at my hands and sighed. The writings were back. Why now? Would I release energy and hurt people?

  Lil? Where are you?

  Impeccable timing once again by Green Eyes. Please, let him be Bran. I couldn’t afford to be in love with one guy while fantasizing about another. My hands were starting to glow. I hid them under the cloak. Despite the thick fabric, I could still see the light.

  Damn it, Lil! Talk to me. What’s wrong? I can feel your powers surging.

  His radar must be tuned to mine. The familiar gentle brush of energy against mine didn’t calm me down this time. Katia said something I didn’t catch and I could feel the concern from Ruby and Callum, but none of that mattered. The power surging through me was threatening to consume me.

  It’s happening again, I said. Heat is shooting up and down my spine and my hands are glowing. I don’t know how to stop it.

  Where are you? His voice rose in panic.

  Lord Zhane’s.

  He cursed. Why in Tartarus would you go to that man’s home?

  I need to talk to someone.

  Not there, you don’t. And definitely not tonight. Get out now.

  Sometimes, his arrogance was annoying. I blocked him and wrapped the cloak tighter around me, crossed my hands, and hid them under my armpits. “Let’s go.”

  We entered the room again and everyone turned to stare, the ones closest to us stepping back. The conversation died down as though someone had thrown a switch. Trays came crashing down, frothy drinks spilling on the furniture and carpet. No one bowed or
spoke. Instead, waves of fear and hatred hit me hard.

  What was their problem? Hadn’t I proven there was no need to fear me? I lowered the hood of my cloak and lifted my head. My glowing hands seemed to have a weird effect on them. There was mass teleporting, the people tripping and bumping on each other as they appeared on the other side of the house. Sharp fangs and canines bared as some snarled; hair rose on the backs of the hairy Werenephils as their ears twitched and their tails jutted up. I knew enough about animals to recognize aggression. Ruby and Callum flanked me, pushing Katia behind them.

  Stop blocking me, dammit! Is your body glowing?

  Yes.

  I can’t get in there, so we’re doing this your way. Repeat after me. These are my people. They cannot hurt me.

  Was he serious? These hate-filled people with claws unsheathed and fangs bared weren’t the Hermonites I knew. What?

  Just say it.

  Weird request, but why not. These are my people. They cannot hurt me.

  Again. Say it like you mean it and control your breathing.

  These are my people… I repeated the words over and over again, inhaling deeply, holding my breath, then exhaling. The glow disappeared first, then the writings. The tingle at the base of my spine remained, but it was deep. My body was reacting to the hatred in the room. I noticed that no one bowed. I didn’t particularly care.

  “I’m looking for Lord Gavyn,” I said.

  There was a collective sigh of relief in the room. Some looked behind them at the arched doorway, telling me Lord Gavyn’s location.

  A tall man broke through the crowd. He had neon green streaks in his black hair had and some serious tats.

  “Lord Zhane?” I asked.

  He bowed. “At your service, Princess. Welcome to my home.”

  “Thank you. I’m here to collect Lord Gavyn.” I hoped he heard me. That was for making me chase him to this party where people treated me like Public Enemy Number One.

  “Of course, Princess.” Lord Zhane glanced at his guests. “The party will continue at the club, guys.”