Tatiana shook her head. “It wasn’t shocking when she did. She never really did seem that loyal to begin with.”
The rest of the walk was spent in silence as the four of them made their way to the courtyard. When they finally arrived, the Speirs family and the chaperones were already there, minus Kat.
“Where is she?” Rebekah heard Jason say to Annabelle, and there was no doubt in her mind that he was referring to Kat.
Annabelle shrugged in response. “Arizona,” she said, addressing a chaperone with black hair and mixed-blue highlights, “where’s Kat?”
Arizona shrugged. “I don’t know.”
Rebekah was about to turn away from that conversation when she noticed Tatiana march up to them. She slowed her tracks before stopping in order to observe the interaction.
“She left yesterday,” Tatiana told them. “I don’t think she’ll be back.”
Annabelle’s face turned white. “Did she say where she was going?”
Tatiana shook her head. “I overheard her on the phone talking to someone named Melissa about Henri Anderson and the Massacre.”
“Melissa Young,” said Annabelle before turning towards her husband. “Did Kat betray us?”
This time, Courtney stepped into the conversation. “It’s kind of hard to betray someone you were never loyal to in the first place,” she said. “I’m surprised, Jason, that you hadn’t put the pieces together yet. William did eventually see through Kat’s mask several years ago, but I guess people had neglected to tell you that.”
“What are you saying, Courtney?” Jason demanded.
“Kat’s immortal,” Courtney concluded. “She’s always been immortal.”
Jason didn’t say anything for several seconds. To Rebekah, Annabelle looked just as shocked, and so did Jeffery, to a certain extent.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Jason questioned.
“You wouldn’t have believed me. You wouldn’t have believed any of us,” Courtney said. “In your act of trying to keep this place safe and secure, you had inadvertently let one of Henri’s spies be a chaperone for a clique that had an Innocent in it.”
“She requested that assignment, Courtney. Much like you did with your assignment.”
“Obviously, there was a reason why she requested that assignment!” Courtney bellowed. “Requesting the American assignment would have been too obvious and make her look suspicious!”
“That means Henri had two people on the inside, Jason,” Annabelle said. “Kat and the Foreseer.”
“Henri can no longer reach the Foreseer!” Jason snapped. “As for Kat, she will no longer be allowed to return here and continue being a chaperone. That means Henri no longer has anyone on the inside.”
This made Rebekah think back to the conversation with Ava in the hotel room and how Ava mentioned the possibility of there being a third person on the inside. That’s not true! she wanted to scream. There’s another, someone who probably has betrayed us!
But Andre was the one who said what Rebekah was thinking. “There is someone else, Jason.”
Out of the corner of her eye, Rebekah watched Jeffery tense up.
“Who?” inquired Jason.
“I don’t know,” Andre admitted, though Rebekah got the distinct impression she wasn’t telling Jason the full story. “Ava told me there was another one, though she remains as clueless as I. But even though Kat technically did not betray us, someone else probably has.”
Jason sighed heavily. “Will the four participants please make their way to the front of this meeting?”
Rebekah’s pulse quickened, knowing the only reason Jason chose to host the ICW was because of them. The four of them.
Including Tatiana.
Tatiana, who seemed to know what she was before she came here. Whose Other Part was killed by Andre.
As she reached the front, Rebekah positioned herself between Tatiana and Holly with Mandy being on the left of Holly. By that time, Annabelle had returned to her husband’s side, and Jeffery was on the other side of Jason.
“I was informed today that Henri is planning a mass murder on the twenty-fifth of this month—a battle in which we will be horrendously outnumbered,” Jason began, addressing the entire crowd. “He’s calling this battle the Massacre, where he isn’t planning on leaving anyone in this facility alive—including those that have no knowledge of the magic users.”
Rebekah expected to hear gasps from the crowd, but all she heard was silence.
“Therefore, I propose that all of you hold training sessions in which you better your abilities. If you wish to partner up with people from your same group, that’s fine,” continued Jason as he motioned towards the four participants. “Even though the other participants are important, these four are our main priority. Therefore, I propose they also have a means of defending themselves.”
Rebekah widened her eyes at the possibility of having to defend herself against an immortal magic user. With the wrong help, she knew she would lose. Before she could ask any further questions, the meeting was adjourned.
Before Mandy, Holly, or Tatiana could stop her, she found herself sprinting in the direction of Andre, pushing herself past the other chaperones.
At that moment, she didn’t know what she was doing. All she knew was that Andre and her found out about the Massacre together, and she didn’t feel comfortable going to anyone else for that very reason.
When she repeatedly called Andre’s name, the witch finally stopped walking and shot Rebekah a confused look.
“Rebekah,” she said without saying anything else.
“I don’t understand. I thought you said you weren’t going to tell Jason until we had more information,” said Rebekah.
Andre shrugged. “I changed my mind. He deserves to know.”
Someone else called Andre’s name just then, and Rebekah first expected it to be Holly or Courtney. As she glanced behind her, she realized her second guess was right. However, there were two others with Courtney, ones Rebekah didn’t know.
“Courtney,” Andre said briskly, barely acknowledging the other two. “What do you want?”
“I’m sure you know Aspyn and Tiana by now,” said Courtney.
Andre nodded.
The one who was introduced as Aspyn took a step forward. “We know what happened between you and Arizona.”
Andre turned her attention to Aspyn. “Do you?”
Aspyn nodded. “Ever since Courtney told us about how you killed Dimitri Andreivich, we’ve been observing you. Then, the incident with Arizona happened, and even though we don’t fully agree with that, it was enough to convince us you could be valuable to us.”
“We already asked Alan, Aaron, and Reilly about this decision,” Tiana said. “Reilly caught a glimpse of how your mind works when you helped him track down Cameron in Marywood. Aaron also agreed to this decision, since he knows you. As far as Alan is concerned, even though he doesn’t know you as much as the others, he’s on board with this decision too.”
“What we’re trying to say is that we would be honored if you joined the Royal Guard,” Courtney concluded.
Even though Rebekah didn’t fully understand exactly what was going on, she watched as Andre’s eyes widened at the sudden gesture.
“You know, there was a time when I wanted nothing more than to join you,” Andre said, “but I don’t know.”
“Why?” questioned Courtney.
“Because that means I would also be leaving the Solar Coven,” Andre explained. “The coven my family has been in for generations.”
This confused Rebekah even more. She never recalled Holly or Andre mentioning being a part of a coven.
“So, this is about loyalty,” said Aspyn. “But you and Arizona are no longer friends.”
“It’s not because of Arizona,” said Andre. “It’s because of Holly.”
“She has the freedom to leave that group when you do, Andre,” stated Aspyn.
“I know, but you know how nomads are usu
ally discriminated against,” said Andre as she searched for Holly. Instead, what she found was Arizona and Olivia conversing with each other, possibly about training together. Rebekah watched as a look of distain flashed across Andre’s features. “You know what?” she finally declared. “I’ll leave the Solar Coven for the Royal Guard.”
Courtney smiled briefly. “Then, would you mind staying here and training with us for a little bit?” she wondered, glancing at Rebekah. “And Rebekah can as well.”
Without answering Courtney right away, Andre turned to Rebekah. “Where’s the knife William gave you?”
“Underneath my bed,” answered Rebekah. “Should I get it?”
Andre didn’t answer her, and a look of concentration flitted across her features. Within a few seconds, Rebekah’s knife appeared in her hand, and she handed it to Rebekah.
Rebekah stared at it for a few seconds before finally deciding to take it. Then, she followed the four witches to a corner of the courtyard.
“Usually when we train, we break into groups of two and practice on each other,” Courtney explained to Andre. “Since there are five of us, that won’t be possible. So, would you and Rebekah be willing to work with me, and the other two can work together?”
Andre agreed for both her and Rebekah.
Courtney led them farther away from Tiana and Aspyn and towards the center of the courtyard. “The first thing you should know, Andre, is that we value physical combat as much as magical combat. From what you did to Dimitri and almost did to Arizona, it is evident you are capable of doing both,” she explained. “I want to test you first and see where your current level is.”
Rebekah backed away slowly so she wouldn’t accidentally become a part of this fake battle. Looking around her, she noticed the only ones who remained in the courtyard were other training partners. Holly, Mandy, and Tatiana must have decided to make their way back to their rooms, and there were no other clique participants around.
Courtney was the one who made the first move. Her eyes never left her opponent as she hoisted Andre into the air and threw her across the courtyard as if she were some sort of ragdoll. Andre landed on her back as Courtney crossed over to where she was. As Courtney was about to cast another spell, Andre countered it with a spell of her own and knocked Courtney to the ground. Keeping her eyes on Courtney, she slowly stood up, yanking Courtney off the ground with her. Before she could throw Courtney across the courtyard, Courtney used her magic to form an invisible shield around her—and she dropped to the ground.
By this time, Rebekah took note of how the other training groups around her stopped what they were doing in order to watch.
Then, Courtney leaped off the ground and lunged at Andre, slamming her back against a wall and pinning her shoulders there. As she tried to perform another spell, Andre struggled against her, eventually kicking Courtney in both shins in order to free herself. Then, she pinned both of Courtney’s arms behind her back and slammed her into the same wall.
Murmurs broke out throughout the courtyard, and Rebekah tensed. This situation was all too familiar to her.
If this were a real fight, Rebekah knew Andre would have done to Courtney what she had done to Dimitri. Yet, she saw Andre’s hesitation—and Courtney used that to her advantage.
In one motion, Courtney managed to break free from Andre’s hold and pushed her to the ground, assuming a position on top of her. Then, she pinned Andre’s arms to the ground, and Rebekah knew Courtney had won.
“For a second there, I thought you were going to win,” Courtney admitted as she helped Andre off the ground. “Then, you hesitated. That was your first mistake.”
“I didn’t want to hurt you to the point where you blacked out,” said Andre.
“But you should have,” Courtney said. “You don’t need to worry about me during these training sessions. If I needed it, I could have gotten a healer.”
Without saying anything further, Courtney and Andre began to make their way back to Rebekah as everyone else resumed their training sessions.
“You’re next,” Courtney said to Rebekah. To Andre, she said, “You’re going to be a part of this, too.”
Rebekah felt confused but waited for Courtney to finish explaining.
“You are human and therefore unable to defend yourself against magical attacks,” Courtney said. “Therefore, Andre will defend you from any magical attack that I may throw at you, and you are going to defend yourself physically.”
Frightened, Rebekah glanced at Andre.
“I don’t know if that’s a good idea, Courtney,” said Andre, sensing Rebekah’s discomfort. “She may have accepted the magic users as people, but I don’t know how she would feel if we started throwing magic at her.”
“The immortal magic users won’t wait until she is ready, Andre,” Courtney pointed out before turning to Rebekah. “You’ll be fine. I promise not to hurt you.”
Rebekah still felt uneasy when she assumed a position in front of Courtney. She felt uneasy when Courtney attempted to lift her into the air for the first time—when Andre casted a spell on Courtney, causing her to lose her concentration and Rebekah to fall to the ground. More especially, she felt uneasy when Courtney lunged at her, successfully pinning both of her arms behind her back. No matter how much she struggled against Courtney’s grasp, she couldn’t free herself.
Andre took one step towards them with the intent of helping her, but with one shake of the head, Courtney willed Andre to stay put.
Rebekah didn’t know what to do. Every move she tried, Courtney would counter and gain the advantage.
“Think,” commanded Courtney.
“I’ve tried everything!” Rebekah bellowed, once again trying to wrench her arms free from Courtney’s grasp. As expected, that attempt went unsuccessful as well.
“By now, I would have successfully either killed you or taken you hostage,” said Courtney, letting go of Rebekah’s arms. “You could have done better.”
“What more was there to do?” questioned Rebekah. “You pretty much countered all that I tried to do!”
“Not once did you try to hurt me,” said Courtney.
“I’m sorry that hurting you didn’t cross my mind,” said Rebekah sarcastically.
“And what if I were an enemy?”
“Then, I would try that!”
Courtney sighed heavily. “We’ll try this again later. For the rest of this session, we’re going to work with that knife.”
And Rebekah begrudgingly complied.
CHAPTER
TWENTY-EIGHT
Jamie: Munich, Germany
D
uring the morning of the fashion designing portion of the ICW, Jamie had no idea what she was feeling. Anxiety? Possibly. Confidence? Obviously. Nerves? Definitely not.
Without saying one word to her clique, she slipped out of the Eternal Division assigned room and made her way down the hallways towards the stadium. Knowing that materials would be provided for her, she brought nothing with her but her phone and a pack of joints. Not that I would be smoking those during the competition.
She was the second participant to arrive at the stadium, the first being Mallory Bertrand. Great, she thought to herself when Mallory shot her a dirty look. To Jamie, it was obvious Julie had told her entire clique the lies she accused Jamie of doing, that Jamie had told Holly to somehow find a way to cheat on the trivia portion of the ICW.
Slowly, the other participants began to arrive—Wanda Hundt of Germany, followed by Isabella Vasquez of Spain, then Oksana Radojevich of Russia, and then, Maya Colombo of Italy, Neko Ohayashi of Japan, and Katri Kross of Estonia. Jamie eyed all of them as they entered the room, her eyes especially studying Oksana.
The one whose leader tried to hold a conversation with Rebekah.
In a competition like the ICW, thought Jamie, one needs to be wary of the other teams. Tatiana was probably trying to hurt my group by distracting Rebekah.
Jeffery entered the room just then, motioning for
all of the clique participants to gather around him. Jamie didn’t hesitate to shoot him a glare for Teri, but he didn’t seem to notice her.
“For those of you who have seen this competition,” Jeffery began, “you may know this portion is basically a fashion show in which you each try to outdo each other.”
Of course, thought Jamie, smiling cockily. For a while, she had often fantasized about becoming a famous singer after her mother or an actress or a fashion designer. Since her mother was famous, she figured she already had sources so she could become all three, if she really wanted to. However, she decided to treat this competition as some sort of big break for her in which she gained her start as a fashion designer. Someone who became famous at the age of fourteen.
“As mentioned previously, all of your materials will be provided for you, ranging from different fabrics to buttons, zippers, and snaps to a sewing machine,” Jeffery continued to explain. “You will have an hour to design and create an outfit, and then, they will be judged as you model them.”
That’s what I could be as well! fantasized Jamie. A model! In the back of her mind, she knew she was getting ahead of herself, but she couldn’t control her thoughts. Soon, Jeffery led the eight clique participants into the stadium and to the assigned tables where they would be designing their outfits. As Jason introduced them by name, Jamie was instantly met by a screaming crowd.
Jeffery didn’t say anything to her when he situated her at her table and left her. It wasn’t like she wanted to talk to him, since he had blatantly rejected Teri for Rebekah. In her mind, Jamie knew that Jeffery made the wrong choice. After all, Rebekah was poor. She had always been poor, since both of her parents were lousy and lame school teachers. Teri’s father was a lawyer, and her mother was an engineer—two professions that were not only cooler to have but also paid a lot more.
Jamie pushed the thought of Rebekah and Teri out of her mind as she dug her right hand into the bowl of buttons that had been placed on her table, feeling them brush against her skin as she studied their vibrant colors. Then, she ran her hand across the fabrics that were also provided for her, which also consisted of many different colors and materials. At one point, her hand brushed against fleece, and a smile spread across her lips.
Bleeding Misery (Threatening Souls Book 2) Page 32
