Hunted

“He is not here to explain anything, but I’m sure he gave you a reasonable explanation for allowing all of you to leave the valley after an attack and with a dagger that is practically useless.” He pinned me with a glare.

I made a face and glanced at the others. All the junior Cardinals looked down without speaking. Bran was the only one staring at Grampa as though he’d lost his mind. This wasn’t what we’d expected. I couldn’t tell them Master Haziel hadn’t approved of the way they’d kept the secret about the Tribe from us.

“You have nothing to say? Could it be that the decision to leave the valley didn’t really come from Master Haziel?”

“That is correct, Cardinal,” Bran said, leaning forward. “Master Haziel didn’t suggest it. I did, and he supported my decision. I thought seeing Mrs. Watts might trigger Lil’s memories, especially after some words we’d mentioned caused her to remember a few things.”

“Did it?” Cardinal Seth asked sharply, speaking for the first time.

Bran shook his head. “No, but we learned something else while in L.A. Demons visited Mrs. Watts, wiped her memories just like the ones that attacked us wiped Lil’s. Even though they also made all her children ill, we thought we might be dealing with the same demons.”

The Cardinals didn’t look surprised, confirming our suspicions that they already knew about the attacks.

“Why didn’t you come right back home once you realized the same demons were out there attacking humans?” Grampa asked.

Bran’s eyes narrowed. “We had to confirm that the attack on Mrs. Watts wasn’t an isolated incident. You told us to always confirm things before bringing them to your attention, Cardinals.”

Grampa’s eyes flashed. “That is beside the point. Lil had just been attacked, her memories wiped and she had no control over the Kris Dagger—”

“She could handle herself, Cardinal,” Bran snapped.

“You do not tell me what my granddaughter can or cannot handle.”

Bran sat back, hands fisted.

“You have no idea what’s at stake here,” Grampa continued, “the danger you put all of them in.”

“That is not my fault, Cardinal,” Bran shot back. “She would not have been attacked if we’d known what we were dealing with in the first place, how to fight them and protect ourselves. She should have been prepared. We all should have been prepared.”

“No one can be prepared—” Grampa paused then added, “Where did she go?”

Until he asked the question, I hadn’t realized I had dematerialized. I hovered near the ceiling, so angry I wanted to zap them both. It hurt to watch them tear each other apart because of me. Worse, they were fighting over something they couldn’t change.

Lil, Bran ordered, looking directly at where I hovered as though he could see me. Get back down now!

Don’t talk to me in that tone.

He sighed. Please.

No. I refuse to sit there while you two continue with your stupid and senseless fight.

“It is not senseless when you and your friends’ safety are at stake,” Grampa snapped.

He heard me? Of course, he could. He was a powerful Psi. It’s not Bran’s fault, Grampa. He gave me a choice to either stay behind or go with them. I chose to go.

“Where are you?” Grampa looked around the room, then he zeroed in on my location. “Since when can you control your movement in energized state?”

Since the Tribe’s attack.

“The Tribe?”

The shock in his voice got me to return to my seat. Heads turned when I rematerialized but I ignored them and focused on Grampa. “Yes, the Tribe, Grampa, as in the demons who attacked us. We also know they were summoned by other demons you call the Summoners. We went searching for them.”

Instead of surprise or anger, the feeling I got from the senior Cardinals was relief. Weird.

“Permission to speak, Cardinals?” Remy asked.

“You don’t have to ask permission, young man,” Cardinal Seth said sharply.

“The decision to go after the Summoners was not Master Haziel’s or Bran’s, Cardinals,” Remy said, glancing at the seniors. “We all decided to go, so if you want to yell at someone, yell at all of us.”

Sykes, Kim, and Izzy nodded.

“Now can we just be honest with each other?” I asked. “Not knowing what we are dealing with is scary. Seeing what they can do is even scarier.”

Grampa opened his mouth to interrupt.

“Please, let me finish,” I added. I glanced around at the faces around the oval table before stopping with Cardinal Moira. She might be the quietest of the senior Cardinals, but she had a way of making them stop acting like a bunch of dictators and listen to our opinions. She nodded, an encouraging smile lifting the corners of her lips. “I got lucky because of the Kris Dagger. If they’d attacked one of my friends, the effect would have been worse. We are on the same team and shouldn’t keep secrets from each other. Oh, and Bran is right. Whatever is happening to me, the headache and the heightened powers, I can deal with them now that I know their cause.”

“Their cause?” Grampa asked.

“Master Haziel said that the powers of the Kris Dagger were transferred to me. He said it was the dagger’s way of protecting…” My voice trailed off when Grampa got up, an expression of utter horror on his face. “Me,” I finished.

Cardinal Janelle gripped his arm and shook her head. She waited until Grampa sat down before she got up and moved to my side. “Show me your arms, Luminitsa.”

I shrugged off the hunting trench coat and extended my arms. There were no writings on my skin. I glanced at Grampa to reassure him, but he was scowling so furiously. Aunt Janelle beckoned Cardinals Moira and Hsia, who pushed back their chairs and joined us.

“Turn around,” Cardinal Janelle instructed.

After my meeting with Master Haziel, I knew what was coming and balked at being examined in front of the others like a freak. No. Let’s do this at home, Aunt Janelle. Please.

Cardinal Janelle glanced at her friends, then they nodded and we teleported.

“Remove your top,” one of them said as soon as we arrived in my bedroom.

My face hot, I pulled off my T-shirt and turned around. Someone touched my waist, then my middle and upper back. My embarrassment changed to puzzlement when cool air touched my neck as they lifted up my hair.

“Are they there?” I asked, turning my head to study their faces since I couldn’t see anything.

“Yes, from your lower back to the base of your skull. See?” Cardinal Hsia gave me a portable mirror and turned me so my back faced the larger one on the dresser.

Markings dotted my back like tattoos, spreading along my waist, up my spine and disappearing under my hair. I lifted the hair out of the way. They actually looked pretty. Like some ritualistic markings I should be proud of instead of fear.

“Here you go, love,” Cardinal Hsia said, handing me my T-shirt.

Cardinal Moira cupped my face and studied me intently. As usual, her hands were hot. “Do they hurt or tingle?”

“No, though I felt a slight tingle when they appeared on my hands.”

She nodded. “That’s good. You will be able to know when you are about to use them and therefore will learn to control them. It’s not going to be easy, but you can do it.”

“Master Haziel said the switch was temporary.”

The Cardinals looked at each other again.

“Of course,” Cardinal Janelle said. “Let’s go back. Your grandfather will want to know we’ve confirmed it.”

“Why was he horrified when I said the powers had moved from the dagger to me?”

The Cardinals exchanged glances again. I was beginning to hate their glances, especially since they weren’t