Tribe.”
Solaris’s brown eyes flashed. “Maybe we should give them back, along with you and Bran, and get the Tribe off our backs once and for all.”
Now I understood why they only let Cardinal Guardians fight demons. These SGs were wimps. “You know what? I’m done arguing with you. Cardinals don’t give in to demons, and they don’t run away. If SGs are taught to act cowardly in the face of danger, then you should head to the valley right now, pack your things, and go back to Xenith.”
Another silence followed. From the look on Solaris’s red face, she wasn’t backing down. Neither was I. If she opened her mouth again and spouted more nonsense, I was going to reduce her to a blabbering idiot forever. The others avoided eye contact. Keiran continued to grin.
I marched out of the room, barely resisting the urge to slam the door. Burying my face in my hands, I slid down the wall and sat on the hallway floor. Me and my temper. It didn’t matter that the CT’s decision was callous. I shouldn’t have said the things I did. Of course, I wanted to visit Xenith, see where my grandfather was born. That I’ve never been invited rankled me a bit.
“Somehow I knew you weren’t told about the Specials,” Keiran said from behind.
I glanced at him. “I was awful.”
“You were brilliant.”
“I shouldn’t have said anything. They’re scared, that’s all.”
Silver flashed in his violet eyes.
“Of a bunch of children?” he asked in disbelief.
“No, of the Tribunal,” I said.
He winced. “Don’t say that name out loud.”
I glanced at him. “Why not?”
“It is how they are summoned. The council warned us against calling out the name.”
Interesting. “Yeah, a court made up of demons. No wonder they were impartial.”
“No, Lil.” He slid down the opposite wall and joined me on the floor. “The Tri-whatever is made up of both demons and Guardians…dead ones. They mediate Nephilimic matters. When the Brotherhood wanted recognition as a legitimate subgroup of the Guardians, neutral to the war between demons and Guardians, my people summoned the Tri… the Nephilimic court. We lost the petition, but we still went ahead and formed the Brotherhood anyway. Whoever summoned them this time has a grudge against the Guardians.”
Or felt they were cheated out of a leader and powerful children. What if Gavyn had spoken the truth? It meant there had been a trial and we’d lost, except the verdict was unacceptable and so out there, I couldn’t begin to imagine leaving the Guardians to live with the demons. Whoever had represented us had to be a freaking Guardian Law School dropout. If such a school existed.
“What else do you know about the Tribe’s powers?”
Keiran shook his head. “Our council was stingy with those details. We were hoping you’d fill us in.”
“We?”
“A bunch of us believe we should fight with the Guardians regardless of the CT’s decision. I want you to talk to them, convince them that you’ll have our backs if we are attacked.”
“Me?”
He nodded. “Yes, you, Lil. You are the Chosen One.”
Not again. What would he say if he knew the Tribe was after us because of what we did?
“We’ll have your back. The decision not to offer shelter to the children and your elderly came from the CT, not my grandfather and the Cardinals.”
“The Cardinals will do what the CT tells them. That’s what Darius said. We’d rather have a pact with you and the junior Cardinals. Meet us at Club Zero, talk to my friends, and convince them you are our allies.”
“When?”
“Tonight. We’ll be there from ten to one.”
I nodded. “The others will be back by then.” I slanted my head and indicated his office. “Did they order lunch?”
“The men did. The women didn’t.” He got to his feet. “I’ll ask them again. You want the usual?”
“I’m not really hungry. I’ll have a drink…the usual. Whatever that is.”
He chuckled. “Oh, I forgot about your memory loss. Kim mentioned it. One tall glass of strawberry-lemonade slushy coming up. And you usually a prefer shrimp salad sandwich for lunch and oven-baked chicken pasta for dinner. If you change your mind, let me know.” He disappeared into his office.
Kim must have shared quite a bit of Guardian business with Keiran. Not that I was complaining. Love made us do all sorts of crazy things. I leaned against the wall and sighed. I wasn’t sure how long I sat there before Keiran returned with my slushy. “You sure you don’t want the salad?”
I smiled. “Thank, Kieran. I’m okay.”
He disappeared back into his office and I went back to my thoughts and my drink. Noon came and went, but Bran didn’t appear. Refusing to worry, I put my empty glass down, then sat straighter and slightly forward, closing my eyes and letting my mind go blank. I took deep breaths, held and released.
As though I’d pushed a switch, calmness rushed over me. Reasoning returned. Instead of getting worked up, I realized I had to talk to someone from the inside—Kael and Dante. They’d know about the Tribunal and their verdict.
I gave Bran fifteen more minutes, then got up and went inside Kieran’s office to join the others.
Esras and Lucien were chatting with Kieran, but stopped when I walked in. The two empty plates on a tray said only the guys had eaten. The twins must have declined Keiran’s offer. Their loss.
“Thanks for lunch, Kieran, but we have to go,” I said. “If Bran stops by, please tell him to wait here. We’ll be back in a few minutes.”
“If he asks where you guys are?”
“Tell him we’ve gone to see Kael and Dante.”
His brow shot up. “The two nature-benders?”
Someone protested, Solaris or Lunaris, I didn’t check or care. Instead, I focused on Lucien, who didn’t bother to hide his excitement. “Follow me.”
We materialized on the rooftop helipad on U.S. Bank Tower. While the others peered at the buildings around us, I studied the sky. There was a heavy haze over the city and a few planes heading to LAX, but there was no sign of the cloudy mass hiding the Tribunal’s army.
“How are you going to contact them?” Lucien asked from behind me.
“By sending a signal, but first there’s something you need to know. Don’t threaten them in any way because they’ll react and you won’t like it.”
“But I heard they were loyal to us,” Lucien said, his voice rising.
“To me, not all Guardians.” Even as the words left my mouth, I worried. Our last meeting hadn’t been fun. The monkey on my back was calm now, but I knew the tingle would begin when Dante and Kael appeared. “When attacked, they’ll defend themselves.”
He swallowed. The others stared at me as though they weren’t sure whether to believe me or not. The twins were having a heated telepathic argument about me. They were so loud I couldn’t help overhearing them.
Arrogant? Unfit to lead a mission? That rankled. Hadn’t I offered to feed them? Put up with Solaris’s snarky comments? It wasn’t as if they were model Guardians either.
“Ready?” I interrupted them rudely.
“Not yet,” Solaris said.
“Listen, you can discuss my shortcomings later. We need to do this now.” The sky was still murky, but at least there were no planes. I focused on a position, then willed a bolt of lightning to appear above the city. It went straight into the air, then split in four different directions.
