The moment Diggy would leave, Zantry would arrive with takeout food, stay for an hour or so, and always ask permission to kiss me goodbye. He'd offered to heal the puckered marks, but I declined, not knowing the toll my healing took on him. Later in the evenings Vicky would drop by and prepare dinner, and fuss over me like a mother hen. She'd have slept over too if I let her, but I was afraid Diggy already suspected she knew too much, and I didn't want anything confirmed.
Before I'd joined the Hunters, I'd had no problem revealing the reality about the preternatural community, but now was a whole different matter. For one, exposure was punishable by death, not mine but the human who'd been exposed – Vicky in this case. And two, now that I was a Hunter in training, I was, by default, a protector of the law. So I made her leave every night, not wanting to risk anyone wondering how much this human knew.
By the end of the third evening, I decided I was strong enough to return to base in the morning, though I didn't tell anyone.
I walked the six blocks to base, half expecting Zantry to fall into step beside me. But I reached the Edgar Lon-Kis building without any sign of my blue-eyed hero.
To my delight, I found Vincent by the lockers getting ready for his morning work-out. He smiled at me, warm and welcoming, and scanned me from head to bottom, no doubt searching for proof of injuries.
“If you're feeling well enough,” he suggested, “we could do warm-ups together to loosen muscles.”
I hurried into a stall, changed into yoga pants and a loose T-shirt. I wasn't sure if something had happened out there or what, but for the first time since I'd arrived the gym was empty, save for Vincent and me. He wasted no time. We went through the slow motions of tai chi, and even if he scowled when I fumbled with some moves, he didn't comment or criticize me – the way I'd come to expect from Diggy.
Each flowing movement tightened, stretched, and relaxed my wounds, then helped restore flexibility. I realized with some amusement that Vincent had been soft on me, even when I'd complained about him being too strict. I guess it took one evil to recognize another.
After the energizing tai-chi session, Vincent motioned me to sit down. I complied, sensing he had something important to tell me. Or a lecture to impart. I watched as he strolled to a small metal cart tucked near a large water cooler and fetched two steaming cups of coffee. I'd never tried the coffee here before, and was surprised it tasted this good.
“How're the injuries?”
I shrugged. “They no longer feel like they'll tear open with every move I make.”
His eyes tightened with concern and I waved him off. “They're healing fine, Vince. I'm fine.”
He looked like he wanted to argue, but he only nodded once, his eyes warm. “Alright. Tell me, Roxanne, what have you been up to since I left?”
“I trained. Then I trained some more. Then I'd go home and soaked my sore muscles. Then I trained again. And again.” I replied, chuckling. “What else was there for me to do?” My mind flashed back to my conversation with Vicky…. It's a bleak existence, Roxy. You might as well put back that blocking bracelet.
Vincent grinned, the corners of his black eyes crinkling. “Then I guess it's time for you to step up. How about you start going on assignments?” The surprise and delight in my eyes must have been comical because he gave a hearty chuckle.
“I thought the trial stage was six months?”
“It is,” Vincent confirmed, bursting my bubble. “But the remaining time will be in assignments, before you become a full member. For the next two months you'll be accompanying me, observing, and learning the ropes. Twice a week you'll train with Natalya, so we can determine how much of your father you've inherited. After that you'll be teamed with a partner, and…” Vincent turned to look at the door before scrambling upright.
I turned, alarmed. And there he was, standing like a Viking warrior, his gaze fixed on me.
Archer.
My heart skipped a beat before I could contain it. He came forward into the gym, stepping on the matt with his shoes and walking up to us as if he owned the room, holding himself straight, arrogantly proud and self-assured. The resentment I felt for him was strong, an ugly feeling I wasn't proud of but couldn't help.
Archer took in the entire training room with one swift glance before focusing on us. Beside me, Vincent snapped to attention like a good soldier. I stood slowly, not caring if it was viewed as disrespectful.
“Sir,” Vincent said with deference.
Archer gave him a small nod, glanced at me – and a reluctant “Sir” passed through my lips.
“I have come to collect due payment,” He announced without any preamble, in a very deep voice.
Beside me, Vincent stiffened. “For what?”
“Ruben's child hasn't been found.”
There was a small silence where my heart paused, holding its breath. It didn't help that I could feel the tension emanating from Vincent, or the total indifference I sensed from Archer.
“That's not true. Roxanne would never do that,” Vincent protested.
“How would you know? You've been too busy with the guild's politics to properly guide her,” Archer snapped, his anger at Vincent surfacing.
“With all due respect, sir, my position with the guild was your suggestion.”
“Yes, but not at the cost of your clan. I gave you a directive and you shifted that responsibility to your subordinate, a Seelie Dhiultadh no less, just so you could play hero for the guild.”
“I was given permission by my alpha to serve this guild to my utmost capacity.”
Archer waved a hand in dismissal, “This is not the reason I am here today.”
Vincent paused, shifting gears before he repeated, “And on what grounds do you claim due payment here?”
“She has threatened the child. She lured the child here. She–”
“I certainly did not!” I snapped, cutting Archer off.
“Sir, those accusations are ludicrous. They're all lies,” Vincent objected.
“Alleena says otherwise,” Archer challenged.
Vincent gritted his teeth. “Sir, she lies.” A muscled ticked spasmodically on Archer's temple.
“She has sworn by our father.” His eyes dared Vincent to deny. “And this scion has admitted being the last person to see the child.” He reached inside his jacket and extricated a folder from his pocket, handed it to Vincent.
Vincent spared me a glance before extracting the contents of the folder. A picture of me and Mwara, as I held the door of the café open for the child, stared back at us.
Shocked, I stared at the photo, my mind blank. Mwara's face looked up at me, with that gaze no child her age should possess. I snapped out of the haze when Vincent flipped to the second image. Another photo showed me standing with a hand on Mwara's shoulder, her eyes brimming with fear as she looked back at me. Blood began roaring like a current in my ears.
“This is her last trace,” Archer said in a quiet tone, or maybe the roaring in my ears muffled his voice.
Vincent turned to look at me, his eyes stricken.
“Fosch's daughter has confessed meeting the child, but only when she realized she had been cornered,” Archer added, and my jaws dropped open with the realization that Logan had betrayed me.
Vicky had been right after all.
It had indeed been an ugly trap – with all the snares and barbed wires attached. “Do you deny the evidence, daughter of Fosch?”
“She came to see me one evening while I–”
“And do you admit threatening the child to her mother?” archer cut me off, not wanting to hear any explanations. I could see it in his eyes, for him, I was guilty of the crime.
“I certainly did not,” I replied hotly. “Whoever this Alleena is, she is lying.”
Archer's hand clenched beside him. Anger pulsed from him once, a biting, red wave. “Have you not,” he took a step forward, his dark eyes hard, daring me to deny, “Escaped your duties to this guild to question Elizabeth's righ
tful deeds and threaten her child with exposure to the scientists in her own home?”
I opened my mouth to protest, then snapped it shut again, narrowing my eyes at him when comprehension dawned. “Rightful deeds? You mean sending a twelve year old to the mercy of the scientists? You've been there before, sir,” I said with a touch of derision I couldn't hide, “you tell me, do you think it was a rightful deed to leave a twelve year old there for years when you, older by centuries, couldn't bear a few weeks?”
I ignored when Archer's lips thinned in anger and Vincent made a warning sound low in his throat. “You think it was right, a great decision when you donned your important robes and decided that Fosch's daughter would be a great diversion to keep the scientists from looking too hard at you? After all, she's just a human hybrid.”
Archer's eyes grew harder, if possible, and the menace I had felt from him that night in the charity ball filled the entire room. Flecks of yellow appeared in his black eyes, his jaws clenching.
“It was the deed agreed upon by the council,” Archer growled with a thick voice. “You are not to question the decision of your elders. Now answer the accusation. Have you not threatened Mwara, Ruben's child, with exposure to the scientists?”
I huffed out a laugh. “How ironic.”
“You dare mock this grave accusation?”
“Roxanne.” Vincent warned. I could tell Archer was furious, but damn it, so was I. In his eyes, I was already condemned, and he hadn't even given me a chance. This was just an inconvenient formality he had to check out before I was dealt my judgment. I wondered what my punishment this time would be – another trip to the PSS; solitary confinement somewhere remote and cold; a few years in a dark dungeon cell while the clan lead on their lives, unconcerned. With all the possibilities that crossed my mind, indignation and outrage grew and took root on the resentment I already felt towards this clan.
“Answer the accusation, scion. Did you threaten to set the scientists upon Mwara, Ruben's child?”
I ignored Vincent's warning glance and said to Archer in a voice that shook with anger, “No, sir, with all due respect, I believe that's your specialty.”
The slap that sent my face rotating ninety degrees was so loud, I was sure it could be heard down in the streets. My ears roared with blood, my cheek burned with aftershock. My lips bled from a wide cut, and I'd bitten the inside of my cheek.
In front of me, Archer's jaws were clenched so hard, his teeth should have cracked. “You will show respect, scion!” he thundered in a voice that didn't belong to him.
Seeing the blazing anger in my eyes, Vincent took a step forward, bravely coming between archer and me and raised both hands in a placating gesture, before reaching for me.
I sidestepped, avoiding his grasping hand.
“Why did she come to you? Why ask help from you?” Vincent asked, trying to diffuse the explosive atmosphere.
I inclined my chin at Archer. “Ask the all-knowing.”
Archer growled and Vincent's eyes turned pleading. “I want to hear it from you. Please.”
I was silent for a second, and only the plea in his eyes had me saying, “Because she's afraid the clan will send her to the PSS. Because she isn't sure Elizabeth is her mother.”
“Nonsense,” Archer scoffed.
Vincent shook his head. “Elizabeth would never do such a thing to her own daughter.”
I raised my eyebrows high and ignored the need to cover my throbbing cheek with my cold hand. “No? That's weird. I thought that was exactly what she did to me.”
Vincent's mouth opened and closed twice before he said,, “Mwara is her child. She loves her.”
“I thought I was too.”
“You lie,” Archer spat, his voice as cold as frost. “Ruben's daughter has no knowledge of you. She has no reason to mistrust or fear her own family. She is loved by everyone.” his eyes narrowed, “Have you been meeting with her in secret, telling her wild fables?”
“I had never met the child before that day.” I pointed at the photos clutched in Vincent's hand. “And she was the one who approached me. She was here in New York, not the other way around. Plus, she told me she eavesdropped in on a council meeting when you were discussing me.”
“Roxanne, why didn't you come to me?” Vincent asked.
I leveled my eyes at him. “Because she's afraid of you too. She's afraid of all of you.” I turned to archer. “The people who let the scientists torture a twelve year old child with the blessing of the council.” I met and held Archer's angry eyes, not flinching when he took a step forward.
There was a heavy pause before Vincent spoke again. “Sir, I believe her. The annual meeting was held in Ruben's home. I can see Mwara sneaking around in the corners, trying to eavesdrop. Roxanne didn't do it. I'll talk to Roland; put some of our men in the hunt. We'll find her.”
Archer's angry eyes dragged slowly from me to Vincent. He spoke each word with care, as if he was having trouble putting the sentence together. “She has disappeared from the ether.”
This time, Vincent's pause was heavy with denial. “Alleena didn't tell me.”
“You were unreachable. And she has reasons to mistrust you. Apparently they're good ones.” Archer glanced at me when he spoke his last words. “She has been missing for over two months. We have searched all over for her.”
“She ran. She told me she was going to,” I said.
“She is but a child.” Archer snapped at me. “She is naïve and inexperienced. She would never be able to hide from trained trackers, unless someone was covering her.”
I didn't point out that I didn't have any experience either.
“Maybe someone took her for ransom?” Vincent suggested, grasping for straws.
“We have waited this long for any demands. None has come forth.”
“She could be inside a heavy ward.”
“For what purpose?” archer asked. “No one has made any demands. We have given up on the hunt. It is obvious someone has disposed of the child.”
“And you think that person is me?” I huffed out a laugh. The joke was on me.
“Maybe someone helped you.” Archer's eyes gleamed with suspicion.
My hysterical moment died without a trace. What? Who were they trying to accuse of helping me? My thoughts went to Diggy, but he wasn't from the clan. Vincent? He had just come back after a long assignment. Who else?
Swallowing back his grief, Vincent took a step forward. “Roxanne didn't do it.” He paused a fraction of a second before adding, “I swear on our father her innocence.” I knew this was some sacred vow. He was defending me, and he didn't even know me that well.
When Archer didn't say anything, he added in a decisive tone, “Sir, I promise you we will find out what happened to her.” Couldn't he see his leader was so angry he was beyond words?. His eyes alone could've frozen us to the spot. The anger that had pulsed from him before now battered at me like a hammer as his eyes flashed that yellow, alien color.
“do you know what you pledge, fool one?” archer demanded and the fury in his voice was like a double edged whip, it sliced through my senses in a way that had me gritting my teeth against the onslaught.
Vincent didn't cower or back down. “She didn't do it.”
Archer was silent for a long time. Neither Vincent nor I spoke, waiting for his verdict. At last, archer inclined his head, and Vincent exhaled a quiet breath of relief.
“Very well, she has a fortnight to bring back the child,” he raised a hand to cut off Vincent's protest, “or approved evidence by the council that she's innocent of the alleged accusations.” He glanced at me, and not knowing if I should protest or if I was expected to thank him, I stayed quiet. Focusing back on Vincent, he laced his hands on his back and took a step forward, his eyes coldly assessing him. “You will go to Salzburg, where Fin has committed some travesty against the human authorities and is wanted once more.” Vincent opened his mouth, but shut them again when Archer's eyes blazed, his patience at an en
d. “Ruben is here searching for his daughter. So you will go in his stead and find where Fin is hiding. You will bring him back within the fortnight.”
“But sir, Roxanne's training isn't yet complete. She has no skills in tracking yet”
“It is decided. This is the only concession I'm willing to make for her.” His dark eyes met mine and they were livid. “In a fortnight and a day, we will meet again by the stone circle.” He turned to leave, but paused when I called out.
“Wait.”
Vincent took a step toward me, his eyes begging me to stay quiet.
I took a deep breath, summoning the courage to speak my next words. “If I can prove I had nothing to do with Mwara's disappearance, I want something in return.”
Archer didn't snort, exactly, but I sensed the disdain he felt when he turned to glare at me. “You are in no position to make any demands, child.” The last was an insult, not an endearment, and I gritted my teeth against it.
“According to the rules, Sir, I am in the position to make this one,” I said with forced politeness.
Archer's head inclined once, indicating for me to go on.
“Once I have proven that I have been wrongly accused, I want to go through the abjuration ritual.”
“No!” Vincent whirled, his shock so strong, for a moment I wondered if I had just signed my death warrant. Then my resolve strengthened, and I clenched my fists. “I am tired of being accused for every wrong that happens within this clan I have never met. If casting myself as clanless is the price to be free, then so be it.”
“Do you know what you are saying, Roxanne?” archer demanded. It was the first time he called me by my name.
I swallowed once, then nodded. “Yes. I have read the rules.” And although it had been a possibility for the far future, I hadn't planned to make this request.
“No, sir, she doesn't know what she's saying,” Vincent protested at the same time, turning to look at me, his eyes frantic. “Don't do this. Let me first tell you what will happen to a rogue. You have no clan, no family, no one who can officially step in for you.”
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