Mom sighed and wrapped her arms around me. I cried into her shoulder for several minutes. Then she gently pushed me back and looked into my eyes. 'The trial will start soon. I assume you want to be there?'
I nodded.
'Then you need to straighten up. You can't be a mess, especially if they call on you as a witness. You need to look and act confident, not like a blubbering idiot.'
I nodded again and inhaled a deep, jagged breath. Mom cleaned my face off once more and ran her hands over my hair to straighten it. Once I could breathe without hitches, she led me to the front of the Council Hall and inside. The low thrum of many muted conversations carried out from the meeting room, but Mom turned the opposite way. We entered the smaller holding room where we'd come six months ago when I attended my first council meeting.
The atmosphere then had been tense, but had also held a bit of a homecoming buzz, making the room feel bright and inviting. Now, with only Rina there and no light flooding the room or conversation filling it, the room felt dark and cold, and I almost expected to see Rina shivering in her sleeveless silk gown. She leaned against the wall, peering out the same window I had looked out that day, seeing the same village that had awed me at the time–her village, her people. I could only see her profile silhouetted against the window, but the slump of her bare shoulders was expression enough. Her sadness felt almost palpable, hanging in the air as if a dark cloud had settled in the room.
She finally turned to us, and I'd never seen anyone look so haggard. Dark half-moons shaded the skin under her tired eyes, and her bottom lip looked swollen, as if she'd been chewing on it nonstop. Considering we regenerated every night while we slept, returning to near perfection each morning, her appearance was a result of only this morning's stress. Either that or she hadn't slept. Seeing us, though, her mouth pulled into a small smile, and her eyes brightened a tad.
I should have felt sorry for her, but when she said, 'Alexis, darling,' and spread her arms out to welcome me with an embrace, something in me snapped. I took a step backward, pulling away from her.
'Don't 'Alexis, darling' me,' I sneered. 'I want nothing to do with you right now.'
Her arms fell to her sides, and her eyes opened wide. 'Alexis …'
'You knew about this little girl–my daughter–all along. You knew! And you called me absurd for even thinking it possible.'
Rina shook her head. 'No. I did not know at all.'
'I don't believe you! You're still lying to me, after all this. I get it, Rina. She's evil. Her Daemoni blood's too strong. I understand that you–or someone–decided she needed to be taken away. I get it. But why do you stand here and lie to me now? Why did you lie to me before, when I first heard about her? Why would you make me feel like … like such a failure?'
'Alexis, darling, no. That is not how it is.'
'Stop lying to me! You had a secret about my daughter. Tell me the truth for once. Please, Rina, just tell me the damn truth.'
She looked at her hands clasped in front of her, then up at me. Her answer came in my head, keeping her confession from powerful ears. 'Alexis, I do have a secret. A secret about your daughter. But it has nothing to do with this girl you found.' Rina paused and I almost went off on her again. 'My secret is actually very simple compared. Alexis … I never received a message from the Angels that you would have a daughter. That is my secret.'
My mouth fell open. That's all? If that's it, why wouldn't you tell me sooner? All this time … I thought …
'I wanted to give you hope. So you would keep trying. I wanted to give the council hope so they would not give up on you and Tristan. I tried to make them believe for as long as I could.' Rina shook her head as she stared at the floor, then she spoke aloud, in barely more than a whisper. 'But it only–how do you say–backfired? I have failed. I have failed you and Tristan. I have failed the Amadis. And now–'
'And now you're still a liar.'
The door opened before she could respond, and Solomon stepped inside.
'The meeting hall is standing room only,' he said. 'The council would like to meet here, in private, before the trial.'
'It matters little what I would like, no?' Rina asked with a sigh. Then she nodded, and Solomon opened the door wider. The council, all dressed in black robes, filed in.
Everyone stood in silence for a long moment, tension heavier and colder than a three-foot blanket of snow. The village clock tolled a single note, muffled through the window and stone walls. Rina looked at them all expectantly, but they remained silent.
'Armand, I believe you have something to say,' Solomon finally said, his baritone voice sounding tired, as if he, too, had been beaten down by the council.
'Yes, I do,' the short and stocky vampire said, taking two steps forward and turning to face the council who stood in a half-circle. As the chief of the Amadis police force, Armand had probably been the one who'd taken Tristan into custody. My mouth soured with hatred as he straightened his spine and cleared his throat before making his announcement. 'I believe we need to temporarily remove Katerina Camilla Ames from the role of matriarch.'
Chapter 21
Mom and I both gasped, along with a few others. Rina's face, however, remained emotionless.
'Don't be absurd, Armand,' Charlotte said. 'We can't remove her from our rule. We're ordained.'
'It is temporary only,' Armand said.
'Only for the trial?' asked Robin, the were-falcon. 'There is a … conflict of interest.'
'Until further notice. Until she has returned to herself,' Armand said. 'There has obviously been a lapse of judgment with the handling of Tristan and Alexis and this whole situation.'
Several conversations broke out among the council members, and I took the moment to silently ask Mom if they could actually get away with this. But she didn't answer me. Mom? She ignored me, her full attention engrossed in one of the debates. Mom! I screamed to no avail. What the hell? Even if Rina had sourced that last conversation, I'd used my power with Tristan only ten minutes ago. How could Mom not hear me?
'Sophia will take her place, right?' someone asked.
'Of course she will,' Solomon answered. I couldn't believe he actually went along with this and tried to listen to his thoughts for an explanation but I heard nothing. In fact, with all the mind signatures floating around, I couldn't focus on a single one. I couldn't hear anyone. The traitor must have learned about my gift and now blocked me, too. Shit.
'No one else–' someone started but was interrupted.
'Sophia can not take the seat!' Adolf, the German werewolf, declared. 'Her actions do not prove her trustworthy.'
Mom spun on him. 'You can't name anyone else leader of the Amadis. It is against the Angels. Against God!'
Adolf stumbled over his English. 'The Angels are apparently not caring about us with the moment. Neither of you are worth the position.'
Anger flared within me, but I bit back my temper.
'Then who?' someone demanded as I watched Rina exchange a look with Julia.
'Solomon,' someone else suggested.
'He's no better than Sophia,' Armand said. 'He'll just be Rina's puppet.'
Solomon hissed but otherwise didn't respond. Rina and Julia shared another significant look.
'I propose Martin,' Julia said. I was surprised she didn't say herself.
Mom freed Adolf from her glare and returned to my side. Apparently, she and I agreed with Julia, for once: if not Rina, Mom or Solomon, Martin was the next best leader. Temporarily, of course. He had enough distance from our family that the council might accept him, but he and his family were close enough to us that he'd defend our wishes. I wondered if Rina had actually told Julia to suggest Martin.
