King Collins bent, whispering at my ear, “You’re not leaving this damn room again.”
My gaze swung to his. “I only knocked over a plant.”
A frank look. “I’m not talking about that. As soon as you left,” a head tilt down the table, “he started arguing and wouldn’t shut up.”
My lips parted in an ‘O’. “About?”
“I know you’re informing her what I spoke of,” the One groused from down the table. My attention swung in his direction. His glare was in full force. “Since she still has my property, I would prefer to do it.”
Instant reply. “My property. Not yours.”
Everyone stopped their quiet conversations or their studying of reports.
All eyes were glancing between us.
King Collins waved a hand. “Be my guest. I’m sure she’ll find your idea interesting.”
Well, I was bound to find it interesting with that lead-up.
The One rested his chin on his hand, gazing at me for a long moment, his silver eyes skimming over my face. “They believe it to be,” his head tilted, “cruel of me, since they do not know our ways.”
“Explain, please.” I leaned forward on my chair, my hands clasped calmly on the table.
“It’s no secret I can find any spirit anywhere on this earth. The only exception being you, of course.” A lazy shrug, even if his eyes were still narrowed. “My plan is to send one of our less fortunate individuals with the Primal Diamond to the location of Jacob Angel or Philip Masterson.”
I understood what he was saying and my gaze instantly hooded, not looking anywhere else but him. I was quiet while the newly arrived Elders had questions about what a Primal Diamond was, needing information to partake in this discussion. It gave me a moment to think. Queen Cooper gave a description, including a history of the diamond’s past and current ‘owners’.
Tilting my head back, I stared down the end of my nose into narrowed silver eyes. I rested more comfortably on my chair and steepled my hands in front of my mouth, thinking this through. When Queen Cooper was finished updating the newcomers, I stated quietly, “It would be a suicide mission, even if it was considered a mercy.”
He stated bluntly, “It would be their choice.”
This wasn’t what I wanted to do. “You would be signing their death warrant.” I inhaled heavily. “As would I, if I agreed to this.”
He lifted a white brow. “I know.”
My lips pinched behind my hands before I slashed a hand through the air, furious with his blasé attitude during a conversation such as this. “They are fucking innocents, Leric. They can’t help how they are.”
He leaned forward on his chair, his eyes instantly furious, which showed me he did care about them. “And how they will be forever.” He stared at me pointedly. “Put yourself in their situation. If you were given the option of an honorable death, wouldn’t you take it?”
I ground out between my teeth, “Your plan is to send one individual, track them, and when they come back—too fucking injured to be saved—we’ll have the location. While the poor, innocent bastard dies in front of us?”
“Yes.”
“Your damn job is to protect them. Not to send them off to be slaughtered.”
His nostrils flared. “Caro, this isn’t an easy decision for me, so don’t make it any harder by attacking my position.” He stared me down. “I want you to seriously attempt to put yourself in their situation. I know what I would want if I were them.” He shook his head slightly, lifting his hands as he sighed. “But what would you want?”
I stared down at the table, again leaning heavily on my elbows…but I already knew the answer to his question. My eyes shut slowly, my voice void of all emotion. “There’s no guarantee this individual would even make it back to us. He or she could easily die there, and then the diamond would be in the wrong hands.”
With wide eyes, King Collins interjected, “Caro, you cannot seriously be considering this…”
Roselle’s voice was rough. “You may think you know our ways, but you know nothing.” I opened my cold eyes to her. Her face was flushed with anger as she glared at King Collins. “This is a hard decision to make but with all due respect to you, King Collins, and the rest of you here,” her jaw clenched, “you all need to shut the fuck up and trust Ms Jules to make the correct decision.” Blue, frosty eyes met mine. “I have no idea how the hell you’re going to survive here with them.” She stared at me hard. “You should rescind your choice and come home where you belong.”
“Roselle, enough,” the One murmured quietly. But it was a direct order. “Her choice is currently here.” Silver eyes met mine in the silence Roselle’s outburst had created. “To answer your question, I can find any spirit anywhere.”
My nostrils flared as I realized he was saying—in code—that he could pull the individual through the ether, back to us. “Christ, Leric.” I shoved out of my chair, standing, and started pacing. I rubbed at my forehead.
This decision was eating not only at my gut but at my heart as well.
Elder Fergus murmured into the quiet, “You’ll have to excuse me because I am new to this situation, but if what I’m understanding is correct then I would like to know if this individual can make a sane, cognitive decision to do this.”
The One answered smoothly, “The individual I have in mind was once a Guardian, a strong protector and fighter.” God, the poor man. “If I asked this of him during a moment of sanity, he would unquestionably want it.”
“So it would be his sane decision to take the mission, if he chose to.” Elder Fergus rested further on his chair with a casual shrug. “With what I’ve overheard, I back the idea.” More than a few heads turned his way, including my own. Green eyebrows rose. “The man’s obviously in for a lifetime of hell he can’t escape, otherwise the One and Ms Jules wouldn’t even be considering this.” His head tilted, green curls dangling over his cheek. “Think of it as a Com who has an incurable, excruciating disease and wants to do one last good deed before his life ends.”
“Finally someone here is thinking outside the box to understand us,” Reese muttered under his breath, but everyone heard him in the thoughtful quiet. He nodded to the Elder. “Thank you, Elder Fergus. That metaphor is fairly accurate.”
“You’re welcome.” Elder Fergus dipped his head in return, but his voice turned stony with his next words. “But if this is a choice we decide, then we will want to hear the man say with our own ears that he desires it.”
I explained the best I could. “We truly will be cruel if we brought him into this room.” I met amber eyes steadily. “I can’t explain but,” I waved an arm at the individuals around the room, “with these people and the lives they’ve led, he wouldn’t do well.” I rubbed at my forehead further, letting my eyes fall to the ground. “I can go to the Temple and meet him, and judge for myself if his decision is credible or not.”
“I don’t agree with this,” Queen Cooper argued. “Any sane person wouldn’t agree to a suicide mission.”
I shook my head. “You’ve never experienced the life—no, the permanent hell—he’s experiencing.”
Elder Zeller asked, “How is he supposed to complete this mission if he can’t be in a room with us?” He shook his head. “His risk of dying would increase if he flashed into a room and started screaming.”
“Can he be sedated? Like a Com? We know Com drugs work for Caro.” Queen Ruckler asked gently, glancing up from the table and looking between me and the One.
My head cocked as I evaluated her. “To complete the mission? Or to help with his prolonged existence?”
She stared, her voice stronger. “If medication helped to improve his life, I’m sure we wouldn’t be having this conversation. I’m asking if he could be sedated to complete the mission and to possibly return to us alive.”
God, she really was a hardcore bitch when she wanted to be. My lips lifted cynically as I stared back. “Thank you, I just wanted clarification.” Eyes to the One. “Being sedate
d might work best, as long as you could still find him.”
The One’s eyebrows lifted lazily. “That won’t be a problem.” He turned his attention to Queen Ruckler. “I imagine a heavy dosage would help here, but it won’t help to the point it would save his life.” His lips pinched the barest bit. “You all need to understand, he more than likely won’t return alive.” Silver eyes looked to me, holding their gaze. “In the end, it is your choice since you hold my Primal Diamond.”
“My diamond,” I muttered quietly as I started pacing again. I waved a hand at the room. “And it’s not just my choice. This is a decision I believe everyone should make, not just me, considering it involves Philip Masterson and Jacob Angel.” I stopped behind my chair, staring at the table. I felt cold inside. “I’d like to call a vote among the Elders, Rulers, and Prodigies.” I swallowed heavily. “All in favor of the One’s plan, please raise your hand.”
And…I lifted my own hand, knowing I was signing the man’s death warrant.
Brann, London, Aria, Queen Ruckler, King Zeller, Elder Fergus, Elder Kincaid, Elder Merrick, and Elder Jacobs all raised their hands, everyone’s faces grave.
It was a yes.
I nodded, lowering my hand. “I’ll go to the Temple and watch the proceedings while the One asks him—to verify his actions are coherent.” Running a hand over my face, I stared across the table to the One. “Shall we? I’m sure they’ll need time to set up MSA agents around each of the business locations, and have others on stand-by if Philip Masterson or Jacob Angel is elsewhere.”
The One nodded. “It may take a while before he’s…”
“I know.” I placed my right hand on King Collins’s shoulder. “I’ll be gone a few days.”
King Collins patted my hand, glancing up at me, his eyes completely blank. “Make sure to take Isolde with you so she doesn’t go batshit crazy again.”
My lips lifted at his attempt at humor. “Sin would have fun with that.”
He blinked. “And make sure you tell Sin where you’re going so he doesn’t go batshit crazy.”
I did laugh at that. “As if I would leave without warning him.” My eyes opened wide. “I mean, I don’t want you dead.”
Cocky eyebrows rose, and he deadpanned, “Not today, anyway.” His head tilted, all seriousness returning. “Make sure to call me, or whatever it is you do from there, a couple of times a day to let me know you’re okay.”
I stared for a moment. “Old worrywart.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
I was utterly spent from the conversation that finally happened four days later with the middle-aged Guardian, who was plagued by madness from the feedback of the Shadows. Some spirits were much more sensitive to the evil living throughout the world, eventually breaking. The evil ate through their minds continually.
I sat on the beach at the Temple, staring out at the blue water, wearing a bikini. I was trying to relax while other spirits sunbathed around me. I lay back on my white towel, petting Isolde softly, and waved a glowing hand. A screen opened in front of me, blocking the sun from my eyes. I asked for King Collins.
I instantly heard many loud voices from the neon blue screen, which was odd since it was the middle of the night there. “King Collins?”
“Caro?” King Collins asked, his tone urgent.
I finished the call and peered hard at the screen, trying to figure out what I was seeing.
The Elders, Rulers, and Prodigies were pressed together in a large mass.
“What’s going on?”
His nostrils flared. He was still dressed in casual, trendy clothing. “We’re being fucking attacked again.” I instantly sat up, the screen moving with me. His eyes shot behind me, and everyone on the screen also stared at all they could see on my side, as they had been doing with every other call I’d made in the past four days. King Collins growled, “While you’re sunbathing, Prodigy, Roselle, Reese and the Guardians have been fighting for the past three hours. While we’re stuck in this damn protective circle.”
“I’ve been thinking about that,” Elder Farrar stated. “I may have a solution—”
“I’m on my way,” I muttered, cutting him off and jumping to my feet, knocking sand off my body. “I’ll be there in a second.” I waved a glowing hand, cutting off the image. I grabbed Isolde, opened my Core, and pulled us through the ether. I ended up standing in the Elemental foyer wearing only a hot pink bikini, with Isolde in my arms. The night was dark outside the windows. I instantly placed Isolde on the floor and started racing toward the Shifter section of the building where it had appeared they were.
It didn’t take me long to feel the chill in the air, pulling goosebumps along my flesh.
I opened my Core again, floating then flying through the cosmos. I took two platinum handled daggers, the twelve-inch blades wickedly curved and made of pure diamond, reminding me of Arabian weaponry. These were another two of my favorites since I still hadn’t retrieved my short swords from Elder Merrick. One day—hopefully—I wouldn’t find him so intimidating.
Charging through the hallways, I started to glow dimly, ethereal, as I pulled on my power.
Icy wind whipped in a frenzy around me now.
I followed the shouts, coming to a stop inside one of the Shifter gaming rooms.
The picturesque windows were blown out on one side of the room.
There was a small force of armed spirits covered in black blood, fighting the horde of Shadows. The group of Royals were in the far corner, inside a golden protection being held together by the Mages of the group. A few of the Shadows were banging on the protection wall, shrieking loudly when it appeared to hurt them but relentless in their pursuit.
My blood boiled. I was pissed off.
I walked in a calm fashion behind the first Shadow and sliced its head off with my glowing blades. Black blood splattered my face and chest. I instantly ducked below an incoming fist from an aggressive Shadow, stabbing another Shadow in the heart, before cutting off the attacking one’s head. My movements were smooth and flowing, precise hits until the throng trying to break through the protective golden bubble was dead. Lifting my glowing eyes calmly, I wiped black blood dripping into my eyes from my forehead. I pointed a glowing dagger at King Collins’s mute form. “I know you want out but don’t even think about it.”
Elder Fergus tilted his head, his arms crossed and his amber eyes glowing. He flicked a finger at me. “Fuck the mud wrestling.” His tone was hoarse. “This is a hundred times better than the internet.”
King Collins blinked. “Seriously? That’s what you say right now?”
One simple word. “Yes.”
King Collins waved his hands up and down my frame. “She’s got black blood all over her, or whatever that shit is.”
“Not really what I would have expected, but I’m sadistic enough to say, hell yes.” Green eyebrows lifted. “I am a virile man, and I can appreciate a fine form when I see it.”
My lips twitched. I kind of liked this Elder. He was very sure of himself.
Elder Venclaire slammed a hand on his shoulder and rolled his eyes at the earth Elemental. He motioned behind me while keeping a hand firmly on Elder Fergus’s shoulder. “You might want to pay attention to what’s happening behind you, Ms Jules.”
Sin’s voice cut into the conversation, drawling in an idle tone from where he sat comfortably on the floor watching the show. “While I agree that your appearance is much better live than on the internet,” he tilted his head, “I agree further with Elder Venclaire, love.” He winked. “Pay attention.”
I choked as a sneaky Shadow’s hand grabbed my neck from behind, gripping tightly.
It took us for a ride straight into the air, my daggers dropping from my hands. I heard multiple people inside the golden protection shouting. I grappled with the hand against my throat, unable to breathe. The ceiling was coming at me far too fast and instinct had me sending a pulse wave behind me, a blast of air ruffling my wet, bloody hair. A shriek followed as the
Shadow released me.
I was falling, tumbling back toward the floor.
Until another Shadow slammed against my side. It was deja vu all over again as we hit the protection wall hard. I sent a pulse wave…then I slid down the curved wall. The blood was still slick on my body. I was tumbling way too fast, side over side, and heading right for a rock fireplace.
I hit it.
But the rocks felt like silk as I sunk down into them, cushioning me before I was gently raised up even with the ground. The rocks turned solid under me. I sucked in air, holding my ribcage where the bastard Shadow had nailed me.
His face level with mine behind the golden protective wall, Elder Fergus hissed in a quiet tone, “I agree with them. Pay fucking attention.”
“Thanks for the save.” I glared at his squatting position.
Must be nice back there, all protected…and still giving orders.
A head tilt to the side. “Go get your weapons before another Shadow grabs you.”
“Fuck off,” I groaned, holding what was definitely a bruised rib as I got to my feet. “You’ve read the report, then?”
“I have,” he murmured, his voice eerily calm as he straightened with me.
“Wonderful. I think I’ll go fight now.” I brushed sticky, wet hair out of my face and moved around the protection wall, grabbing my knives from the ground. I assessed the situation and a small grin lifted my lips. I stared at the bookshelf at the side of the room, pretty sure I could climb to the top easily. “And I do believe I’m going to fly again.”
I sliced through Shadows until I reached the edge of the room.
The other spirits fought, and I climbed onto the bookshelf.
I dove straight into the air and rode the mass of swarming Shadows.
I killed each and every one I came into contact with.
Once my weapons had been safely put away inside my treasure trove, releasing the evil wasn’t any easier than it had been before. I had been hoping it would be, praying it was some type of game, or even spell, that Jacob Angel had been playing on me. But instead I knelt on the ground, forehead to the carpet, and gripped my hair as I screamed bloody murder. Tiny black insects of madness were bubbling under and directly over my skin, trying to keep control.
Chosen Fool (Forever Evermore Book 5) Page 25
