piece.”
“Brutal,” Sykes said, smirking.
“Don’t you want to see him suffer?” Kim asked.
I tuned them out as they discussed everything they hated about Gavyn Llyr. Finally I couldn’t take it anymore. Gavyn was Bran’s brother, and whether he should be sent to Tartarus or not depended on Bran.
“You know there’s no proof he helped summon the Tribe,” I said when there was a pause in their rant. “We can’t just jump on the bandwagon because Bran thinks he’s guilty.”
“Why are you giving that fiend the benefit of doubt?” Sykes asked. “He’s never done anything to deserve it. Come to think of it, Valafar would not have known of your existence if it weren’t for Gavyn.”
“I don’t understand why Bran keeps hoping he would change,” Kim added.
“Gavyn wasn’t always evil,” I said.
Sykes faked shock. “You mean he wasn’t born with a trident, horns and a red skin?”
I laughed. “Before his father tried to escape with them from Coronis Isle, Gavyn was your typical big brother. He watched out for Bran and Celeste. In fact, he was the family jokester. Their mother hated being mated with a Guardian and took it out on them.” I explained everything Bran had told me about their upbringing, then the attempt to escape with their father and what happened afterward. “Their mother torched the Guardian amulet Bran wore and tortured them for weeks.”
“You mean the scar…” Izzy touched her chest.
I nodded. “You asked about it before, but I couldn’t say anything because you guys weren’t exactly crazy about him joining the Guardians, but things are different now. He’s one of us.”
“What did the mother do?” Remy cut in.
“She kept Bran in a shack somewhere in the forest and made sure he couldn’t self-heal, so that the burn scarred.” I’d never forget Bran’s pain when he’d narrated the story. “Celeste found him, sneaked him food and nursed him. Gavyn wasn’t so lucky. Their mother and her guards kept him somewhere underground and tortured him. Before, he had black hair like Celeste and Bran. When they finished with him, it was all white.”
There was silence.
“He became a carbon copy of his mother after they finished with him,” I continued. “Cold and ruthless. Bran sees the brother he once was, not the soulless jerk he’s become. That’s why he will do everything in his power to help him.”
“Poor Bran and Celeste,” Izzy said.
“I’ll try to be nicer to her from now on,” Kim added.
“As long as you don’t feel sorry for Gavyn too,” Remy said in a hard voice. “He’s had a chance to change and chose not to.”
Keiran appeared beside our table, a weird expression on his face.
“Where’s the chow, man?” Sykes asked.
“Food will have to wait. There’s a situation in my office that needs your attention.”
We exchanged glances and pushed back our chairs to get back. I did a psi scan. There was a demon with Bran, his psi energy familiar.
“What situation?” Remy asked.
“Just follow me,” Keiran said.
Remy grabbed his arm before he could teleport. “Not that we don’t trust you or anything, but—”
“You’re acting like it.” Keiran yanked his arm from Remy’s grip.
“When it comes to Cardinal business, we have a response protocol.” He glanced at me. “Psi scanned the office yet?”
“Already did. Bran is not in any danger,” I answered, feeling bad for Keiran. He didn’t understand we didn’t rush into situations in case of an ambush. “He’s with a demon. Someone with familiar psi energy.”
“Gavyn,” someone murmured.
Our weapons were drawn when we materialized inside Keiran’s office. But instead of Gavyn’s lithe body and silver hair, a tall black guy with diamond studs glistening in his ears stood in the middle of the room. His eyes narrowed on our weapons.
“Is this the welcome we get after braving Keiran’s overzealous guards to reach you?” Dante asked in an annoyed voice.
“You didn’t hurt them, did you?” Kim asked.
“Of course not.” Dante sounded insulted. “We compelled them to go to sleep. Kael is keeping an eye on me, just in case.” He bowed toward me and touched his chest. “Lilith. It’s nice to see you again.”
Memories of everything he’d done for us after my father kidnapped us rushed through my head. They seemed so fresh, like they happened yesterday. Deciding to give him a hug, I pushed my dagger in its sheath and moved toward him.
“Where have you been?” I asked, hoping we hadn’t seen him for a while.
“Here and there, trying to make a liv—” Dante doubled over as I got closer.
“Are you okay?” I asked, touching his arm.
Dante hissed and yanked his arm away from my hand. He staggered backward, putting as much distance between us as he could, his face wreathed with pain. He clutched his arm where I’d just touched.
Kael materialized beside him. “What is it?”
“It’s nothing,” Dante insisted, his eyes not leaving mine.
Kael’s eyes narrowed. “What’s going on?”
For a moment I was confused, then everything fell into place. My gaze flew to my hand. The ancient writings covered the back of my hand. I pulled back my sleeve. The writings snaked up my arm like tattoos. Horrified, I checked my other arm.
My gaze collided with Dante’s as Bran pulled me away. “I’m so sorry.”
“It’s not your fault,” Bran insisted.
“What did you do?” Kael demanded.
I shook my head, feeling terrible and helpless. “I’d never knowingly hurt Dante, Kael. You know that. I was going to hug him but…but…I guess I can’t.”
Bran’s arms tightened around me. The silence in the room stretched.
“Can someone explain to us what is wrong with Lilith?” Kael demanded.
“Excuse us, Kieran?” Remy asked.
Keiran hesitated. “My guards?”
“We’ll awaken them before we leave,” Kael said impatiently.
Remy didn’t speak until Keiran teleported from the room. “Lil was attacked by demons.”
“Who?” Dante asked, sounding outraged.
“When and where?” Kael added.
“A few hours ago,” Remy said. “Do you know anything about demons that hide inside a cloud and shoot lightning bolts, shatter glass but leave everything else intact?”
Dante shook his head. “Shatter glass? Banshees can use sound to break glass, but they are all in Tartarus. At least the ones we knew existed were sent there by Coronis. Did Banshees attack Lilith?”
“We don’t know, but the demons use sounds and get inside your head and mess with your memories.” Remy paused long enough to telepath us.
Kael and Dante studied my hands, which I lifted for them to see without getting too close. The writings were still there, which meant my body considered Dante and Kael as threats even though they weren’t. Shouldn’t I be able to control these powers and how they reacted?
