Hunted

- 21 - GUARDIANS DON’T RING DOORBELLS

After the acrobats, the trapeze walkers, the clouds and all the wonders that made Stromboli Circus so great, they sang “Happy Birthday” and the Guardians joined in. The applause as the lights turned on was thunderous.

Two Academy cooks wheeled in a tiered birthday cake and brought it to our table.

“Make a wish…make a wish…” the room erupted.

I studied the grinning faces around the hall through teary eyes, made the wish, and blew out the candles. The cooks cut and distributed pieces of cake, but I couldn’t eat. I left our table and walked to Grampa’s.

“Thank you, Grampa,” I said, kissed his cheek and gave him a hug, which brought on another round of applause.

“I didn’t do anything. Junior organized everything,” he said, his voice carrying. A few chuckles followed. He really should stop calling Bran Junior.

Bran sat at the end of their table, grinning. I wanted to run to him and show my appreciation with a kiss, but I couldn’t. Everyone was watching.

Blushing, I started toward him. He got to his feet. Oh, forget the others. I ran straight into his arms and wrapped my arms around his neck. He lifted me up and laughed. We didn’t kiss, not in the traditional way. Our energies caressed and melded, which brought on a whole different kind of sensations. The applause didn’t surprise me, and I was sure my face matched my hair.

He leaned back and chuckled. I give you your birthday wish and you cry?

I hadn’t realized I was crying until he mentioned it. I’m not crying.

He wiped the wetness off my cheeks. Of course not. Let’s get out of here.

We can’t leave while everyone… I turned and realized people were already leaving, most of them carrying their slices of cake.

“How did you do it?” I asked as soon as we left the Academy behind us.

“It was nothing.”

How like him to downplay his role. “It couldn’t have been easy. They move a lot and are suspicious of strangers.”

“A little? Even after I showed them pictures and talked about working with your grandfather, they didn’t believe me. They kept saying you wouldn’t break the family tradition.”

“How did you convince them?”

He pulled me closer and chuckled. “That is my little secret.”

It didn’t matter how he did it. He was the best boyfriend ever. I hugged his arm as we continued toward the tunnels. “Let’s go to my place and shut the world out.”

“Not yet. Your friends have planned something for you.”

“Really? What?”

He laughed, dimples flashing. “Always impatient.”

I loved surprises. “Come on.”

“At least pretend you are surprised when we get there.” He covered my eyes with his hands before we entered the basement. We walked into the room and stopped. “Ready?”

There was no sound, but I felt the others’ presence. Bran’s hands dropped. I looked around and laughed. The room was decorated with birthday balloons and streamers, and everyone wore silly birthday hats. I loved it. Izzy blew a kiddie horn while Remy pressed a drink in my hand.

“Guys, you shouldn’t have.”

“Ahoy, matey,” Sykes called out by the wet bar, where bags sat side by side on the counter. He wore an eye patch and a glove with a large hook. Lifting one of the bags with the hook, he added, “Me found you some booty over here.”

On the coffee table were drinks and one of Remy’s special cakes.

“Where is Kim?” I asked.

“She’ll be here,” Izzy said. “She’s talking to your grandfather about the housing situation.”

Bran picked up one of the hats and placed it on my head. I plopped one on his head too, then picked up a horn and blew so loud he covered his ears. We danced, ate and acted silly, until the sound of the doorbell intruded.

Guardians didn’t ring doorbells. I performed a quick scan and jumped up. “It’s Kylie. She’s here for the party.”

We all teleported upstairs, hurried to the door and opened. “You got here right on…” My voice tailed off when I noticed her expression. She was scared. “What is it?”

“Kim is missing.”

We pulled her inside and closed the door. She kept wringing her hands, her eyes bright with unshed tears. “I took her to the cave tonight. She said she’d only be gone for half an hour, so Cade and I waited. Then the two kids appeared. I think one of them is that kid…Angelia.” Her gaze stayed on me. “They want to talk to you, Lil.”

Everyone starting talking at once.

“How did they find us?” I asked.

“How long has she been sneaking out?” Sykes added.

“If the Specials can find us, so can Raphael,” Remy muttered.

“If Kim’s been taken, we need to tell the senior Cardinals,” Bran said.

“No,” Izzy said. “She wouldn’t want them to know she’s been sneaking out to meet Kieran. We have to get her back without them.”

“We need weapons,” Bran said.

“I’ll get them,” Remy offered.

“No.” Bran gripped his arm before he could teleport. “A single person in the hallways will draw attention, and if you get caught, our plans will be blown. We all go. Sykes and Izzy take the west hallway. Be loud and your usual obnoxious self, Sykes. Izzy, do your best to shut him down. Lil and I will take the East hallway and walk towards the Academy. If anyone appears, detain them. We want Remy to get everything we need because once we leave the valley, we can’t use our powers.”

“Me? Obnoxious?” Sykes asked.

“Yes, you are,” Izzy retorted as the two headed downstairs to the secret door in the basement.

“What about me?” Kylie asked, biting her nails.

“You stay here,” Remy snapped. “What were you thinking, driving her out there in the first place?”

Kylie’s eyes grew big and she visibly cringed.

“It’s not her fault, Remy,” I warned him. “Kim fed her a story and she fell for it. It’s not your fault, Kylie. Kim should have known better.”

“She shouldn’t be involved in Guardian business in the first place,” Remy retorted, following us downstairs. He disappeared inside his room and came out with a satchel.

“How long have they been doing this?” Bran asked as we entered the tunnel leading to HQ.

“About a week,” I said. “Cade let it slip when we met at Fun Park this afternoon.”

“Why didn’t you tell us?” Remy asked.

I glanced at him over my shoulder. “Tattle on her? I don’t think so. Besides, isn’t our motto, ‘Don’t confess unless you are busted’?”

“You of all people should know things are different now,” Remy snapped. “Archangels are just waiting for one of us to screw up and lead them back to the valley. You should have told us.”

“I found out this afternoon, Remy. You guys live with her. How could you not know she wasn’t in the house every night?” I retorted just as we reached Izzy and Sykes.

Remy shot me a nasty look. “We can’t all close our eyes and find the exact location of people’s energies.”

I blinked. Where did that come from?

“Ease up, man,” Bran cut in. “We are all worried about her, so there’s no need to turn on each other.”

“I’m with Bran on this,” Sykes said. “You need to chill, dude. Because if we are passing blame, I shouldn’t have told her about the caves.”

“Damn right.” Remy turned to Izzy. “You knew about them too?”

Izzy’s eyes narrowed. “Don’t you give me that nasty look. I tried to talk her out of it several times, but no one tells Kim what to do.”

“You should have tried harder,” Remy said through gritted teeth and stomped ahead of us.

“What crawled up his pants?” I heard Sykes ask as Bran and I followed Remy.

“You know how protective he gets,” Izzy said. “He’ll probably blame himself if something happens to her.”

No, Remy’s behavior went beyond that of a team leader. Could he have feelings for Kim? He disappeared into the short hallway leading to the weapons room.

“He’s kind of overreacting,” I said.

Bran shook his head. “I don’t know. He’s been in a crappy mood since they graduated. Sykes said he needs some girls.”

Or maybe just one. “When did Kim start dating Keiran?”

“The beginning of sum…oh, you think Remy likes her?”

“It’s possible. His reaction right now was over the top, very unlike him.” We reached where the hallways met and branched off to the Academy and the Psi-dar room. The lights were blazing on the Academy side, loud cheers reaching us. They must have been re-watching the circus performance.

The wait was hard. Any second, I expected us to be caught. I sighed with relief when Remy reappeared in the hallway with the bulging satchel and hurried toward Izzy and Sykes. Once he was in the clear, we followed.

Back upstairs, we found Kylie pacing. She was a hot mess.

“We can’t suit up here,” Bran said when Remy unzipped the bags. He had brought our hunting clothes, including boots. “If anyone sees us, we will look like we’re going hunting.”

That made sense. I’d worn a Gypsy skirt and ballet flats to go bowling. Remy could have transformed them easily, but we couldn’t afford to use our powers.

“I’ll drive,” Remy said, still sounding pissed. He stuck out his hand toward Kylie, who quickly handed him the truck keys.

We snuck out of the house, looked up and down the street to make sure no one saw us, and piled inside Cade’s truck. Bran and I shared the front passenger seat while Sykes, Izzy, and Kylie piled into the back. Tension hung in the air as we took off. Any moment, I expected a Cardinal or Master Haziel to appear in front of the car and stop us.

The tension eased a bit when we reached Mountain Road without being stopped. We barreled down the hill, cut through the Island and headed toward First Dam. “So you left the Specials with Cade?” Izzy asked.

“I had no choice. The girl did something to him,” Kylie said. “He kept asking who they were and where Kim was. The girl was so rude. She told him to shut up, waved her hand and Cade fell. I don’t even know if he’s okay or not.” Her voice shook to a stop. “Then she ordered me to get you if I valued my friend’s life. She was so scary.”

The Angelia I knew was sweet. She often listened to Daryl, who was the oldest of the Specials. Another long silence filled the car as Remy raced past First Dam and hit Highway 89. The canyon road meandered, but he didn’t slow down as he took the corners. No one complained.

The parking lot near the Wind Caves was empty when we screeched to a stop and jumped out. “Where are they?” Izzy asked.

Right on cue, Daryl and Angelia materialized. Cade wasn’t with them.

“Where’s Cade?” Kylie asked in a screechy voice.

Daryl pointed toward the cave. “He’s up there. Asleep. We’ll bring him out.”

Despite his words, Kylie stared toward the cave and chewed on a nail.

My gaze swung from Daryl to Angelia. She usually couldn’t wait to give me a hug. This time, she stayed by Daryl’s side and glowered.

“How did you find us, Angelia?” I asked.

“We followed Cardinal Kim’s telegate,” Daryl answered, his silver eyes eerie under the truck’s headlights.

“What happened to Kim?” Bran asked.

Daryl reached out and took Angelia’s hand. Her lips were still scrunched up and her eyes narrowed.

“Angelia?” I moved toward her. She took a step away from me, her hands fisted. Frowning, I stopped. “Did something bad happen to Kim?”

“You lied to us,” Angelia hissed.

I blinked. “What are you talking about?”

“You destroyed our home and killed Coronis,” she yelled. “You killed our mommies and daddies.”

My heart dropped. We’d defeated Coronis and her followers nearly a year ago, but I’d dreaded the day she would learn the truth about what happened.

“Angelia.” I took another step toward her.

She launched herself at me, catching me unaware and nearly making me lose my balance. Punches rained on my arms, stomach and chest, anywhere she could reach.

“Why did you do it?” she yelled. “Why? You are one of us.”

Too shocked to grab her wrists and stop her, I just stood there and let her vent.

Someone plucked her up from behind and lifted her away from me. Bran. Without speaking, he marched with the kicking and screaming Angelia to the other side of the parking lot.

I didn’t realize I was shaking until Izzy put her arms around me. She said something I didn’t catch or didn’t want to, I don’t know. Tears welled in my eyes, but I blinked rapidly. This was no time to cry. We had to take Angelia and Daryl home before the Psi-dar detected their presence, the find Kim and bring her home before the security team noticed we were gone.

Across the narrow parking lot, Angelia continued to struggle against Bran. We were too far to hear his words, but his mouth opened and closed as he talked to the little girl, then she went limp and slumped against him.

Shrugging Izzy’s arms aside, I swiped at the tears and focused on the conversation between Daryl and Remy.

“…wanted to know what’s going on, why everyone’s so scared,” Daryl said. “Cardinal Seth and the Council talked about where to hide us until the hunters were defeated. They wanted to take us to the Academy in South America or Europe. Someone asked about Coronis Isle.”

“And?” Remy asked when Daryl paused.

“Cardinal Seth said there was nothing left after you destroyed it and sealed the portal. We all heard them.” He turned his head as though to glance at Angelia. She and Bran now sat and faced each other. Whatever he was telling her seemed to be working.

“Angelia thinks you are a bunch of liars and killers,” Daryl added in a whisper, adding to my guilt. “She’s the one who suggested we follow Kieran and see if he could lead us to you. She wanted to hear the truth from you. Tonight, we got lucky.”

It didn’t matter that Coronis and her followers had been evil or that, for centuries, the Cardinals had tried to find the portal to the island with little success. No one wanted to tell Daryl his parents were killed because they were evil. Worse, strong psi readings ebbed and flowed from the cave, indicating he and Angelia hadn’t come alone. I tried to get an exact reading to see how many Specials were in the caves but couldn’t.

I felt a tug and peered at the road in the direction we’d come from. We were not alone. My eyes met Remy’s.

What is it? he asked.

We are not alone. There are more Specials in the cave and we have Guardians shadowing us. I indicated the road with a nod.

He turned to look, just as a car zipped past without stopping, and its headlights lit another car parked on the shoulder of the road.

Remy nodded toward the road. Sykes, see who they are.

“Where are you going?” Izzy asked him softly.

“To take a leak.”

She made a face. “You are so gross.”

Sykes just laughed and disappeared in the shadows. He had explored this valley and the surrounding canyons, and he could sneak up on whoever was spying on us before they knew he was there, unless they were Psi.

“Look, Daryl,” Remy said, placing the palms of his hands on his knees and bending until he was eye-level with Daryl, even though the gesture was wasted on the blind boy. “What happened on Coronis Isle couldn’t be helped. Coronis was evil and had to be stopped. I’m sorry your parents died too.”

“Goddess, Remy,” Izzy swore. “What happened to being subtle?”

“That was subtle,” he retorted. “I focused only on Coronis.”

“It’s okay, Cardinal Isadora,” Daryl said, sounding mature for his age. He was fourteen and the oldest of the Specials in our sector. “My father and mother were Primes, but because I was blind and not very big, they thought I was not perfect. They dumped me at the institute with the other Specials when I was four. Five was the minimum age for admission. They didn’t care that I wasn’t being trained, that I was often used as a guinea pig and sent to fetch things for the other Specials. They were ashamed of me, but Coronis had a need for children like me. My powerful hearing abilities meant I would one day be a power source for her, to be drained when she needed an energy boost. You could say my life sucked, but now…”

Suddenly, his bravado disappeared. His chin trembled and his eyes filled with tears. He shoved his hands in his pockets, mentally controlling himself.

“My new mom and dad are nice,” he continued. “I don’t want anything to happen to them. I don’t want to leave them behind, especially my mom. She doesn’t have powers like the others.” He looked toward the cave and frowned. “We don’t want to go to the Academy in South America or Europe. We want to stay here with you.”

There was no room in the valley for the Specials. Not in the Academy or our homes. We also had no Civilians to keep an eye on them while we trained.

“You must protect us,” Daryl added. “You owe us.”

“You are blackmailing us?” Remy asked, not masking his outrage.

Daryl grinned. “Yes. You protect us, or else we’ll go all over your valley and use our powers. We’ll do things, good and bad, to make sure the people see us doing them.”

A giggle drew my attention to Kylie. I’d completely forgotten her presence.

“It’s not funny,” Remy reprimanded her, then glared at Daryl. “There’s nowhere for you to stay in the valley and you cannot threaten us.”

“Then we won’t tell you where Cardinal Kim is or who took her,” Angelia said from behind me.

We whipped around to face Angelia. Bran’s hand tightened on her shoulder, and from the way she tried to shrug it off, she didn’t like it.

“You are holding her hostage?” Remy asked in an outraged voice.

Angelia made a disgusted face as though Remy’s suggestion was beyond dumb. “N-no.”

“Tell them,” Bran ordered.

She shot him a mean look, then mumbled, “Demons took her.”

“Which ones?” Izzy asked at the same time as Remy. “Were they hiding in a cloud mass?”

“Was there lightning?” I added.

“There were no clouds. Is that what everyone is scared of? Lazari?”

“Back to the question, Angelia,” Izzy said impatiently. “What kind of demons?”

“They were a mixture of Nosferatu, Werenephils, and some nature-benders,” Angelia spat out. “Kieran and his friends fought them two nights ago and he said they were from the Order of Hermonites.”

We sighed with relief. Demons we could deal with. The Order had asked to meet with me, but Grampa had said no. Could this be their attempt to get our attention? “Where did they take her?” I asked, my glance moving from Angelia to Daryl then back to Angelia.

She ignored my question, even refused to look at me. I sighed. The Brotherhood was doing what they were supposed to do—raise the Specials neutrally—teaching them about our history without labeling Guardians as good and demons as bad. If we had had time, I would have broken the rules and explained to her about Coronis and why we sent her to Tartarus.

“Lil asked you a question,” Bran reminded Angelia.

“I’m never talking to her. Ever,” she added, shooting me a mean look.

“Fine. Pretend she’s not here,” Izzy snapped through gritted teeth. “Where did they take Kim?”

Angelia sneered. “I don’t like you either.”

“You know what? Right now the feeling is mutual, brat,” Izzy retorted.

“Behave,” Bran cautioned, though I wasn’t sure whether he was talking to Izzy or Angelia. “Tell us everything.”

She jerked her shoulder from his grip and moved to Daryl’s side. “We followed Kieran and his friends when they left the compound tonight, because we knew he was meeting Cardinal Kim. We materialized at the same time she did. Then the demons attacked. They didn’t give the Cardinal time to use her powers before they grabbed her and teleported. Kieran and his friends followed. I followed them, while Daryl used the Cardinal’s telegate to find your enclave.”

“He followed a telegate backward?” Izzy asked.

“He’s the best tracker we have,” Angelia bragged. Trackers could detect trace amounts of Psi energies and follow them. If Kim followed protocol, she made several stops before her last teleport, which meant Daryl was really good. “I followed the demons to their den, then met Daryl at home,” Angelia continued. “You let us stay and we’ll tell you who took the Cardinal and where she is being kept.”

I glanced at the others. Their expressions were grim. We all knew why Kim hadn’t fought back. Using her powers might have alerted the archangels.

Bran’s gaze swung between Daryl and Angelia. “You two are going home or I’ll tell Darius what you’ve been up to. Lil can retrieve the images of the demon’s den from your heads.”

“If she knows what’s good for her, she won’t try it,” Angelia retorted.

“Come on, Cardinal Bran,” Daryl added. “Do you really think we would let you take away our bargaining chip?”

Izzy laughed. “We are being blackmailed by two prepubescent kids.”

“I’m fourteen,” Daryl said, sounding insulted. “The clock is ticking, Cardinals. So what is it going to be? Cardinal Kim’s life or a sanctuary for us?”

They had the upper hand and knew it. As children from Coronis’ evil breeding program, they had powers we didn’t even know about. I had no idea what I’d face if I mind-blended with Angelia.

“We have to find a place for them to sleep tonight,” I said.

“Lil,” Bran and Izzy protested at the same time.

“You’re not going to let her guilt you into helping her again,” Remy snapped.

“I’m not. If they were just the two of them, I’d say to take them back, but they’re not.” I looked at Angelia. “Tell the others they can come out now.”

She hesitated as though to defy me.

“Do you want me to do it?” I asked.

She shook her head, then looked at Daryl.

“No teleporting,” Bran warned.

Meekly, they walked up to the cave and disappeared inside. Within minutes, they reappeared with Cade, telekinetically carrying him. He was still out. Kylie ran to his side and cradled his head.

The others Specials followed, like a line of ants. Some carried backpacks, others their favorite toy. It wasn’t just the two dozen Specials we rescued months ago. They were accompanied by their adopted sisters and brothers, mothers, aunts and grandmothers—a total of nearly sixty children under the age of sixteen, and about thirty women.

“Tartarus’ pit,” Izzy mumbled, eyeing them with wide eyes.

“Okay, Angelia, we’ve agreed to your terms,” Remy said, not masking his impatience. “Where is Cardinal Kim?”

“Lord Valafar took her.”