“Go,” Bran barked from behind me.
Lucien teleported, but Esras and the twins stayed.
“Before we leave, I have something to say.” Esras moved closer, his gaze intense. “Let’s start over. I’m Esras, son of Fearghal, head of Southeast Sector, headquarters Melbourne. Master Haziel was right. There’s much we can learn from the way your team operates and the alliances you form. It doesn’t matter whether they are with demons or Neutrals, they come in handy. We would not have made it out alive today if it weren’t for your friends.”
He smiled, but I wasn’t ready to forgive him yet.
“It is true Master Haziel told us not to say anything,” Esras continued. “I wasn’t happy with his decision, but I was trained to never question orders from my superiors.”
“Funny, my team is the opposite. We question everything and break rules often.”
He nodded. “We’ve heard. Maybe we will learn to be more… spontaneous with time. All I know is Guardians should stick together.”
Tell that to his two companions, especially Solaris.
“To make up for this afternoon’s fiasco,” Esras continued, “I’d like to invite your team to our house for dinner tonight. The rest of my team will arrive this evening after visiting their families in Xenith. We’re staying at Cardinal Hsia’s until this crisis is over.”
“We’re staying with Cardinal Moira,” Lunaris said. “I head Northeast Sector, headquarters Brussels.”
“Southwest Sector, Buenos Aires,” Solaris said. “We’re staying with Cardinal Janelle.”
Bran lived with Aunt Janelle too. From his scowl, he wasn’t too thrilled by Solaris’s news. I’d hate to have a twin and live away from her just because of my powers. I wondered how often they saw each other.
“Is the dinner for all the Cardinals or just us and Esras’ team?” Bran asked.
Esras glanced at Solaris and Lunaris. “You should all come, so we can get to know each other in a relaxed environment. So? How about it?” He glanced at me.
I didn’t really want to deal with a roomful of Cardinals who knew so much about us while we knew next to nothing about them. On the other hand, we had a common enemy—archangels—to defeat. We had to learn to work together.
“I’ll talk to my friends as soon they return and we’ll let you know,” I said then started for the kitchen.
- 16 -
PHEROMONES
“I still don’t like them,” I said as soon as the Cardinals left. “Especially the twins.”
Bran chuckled, following me into the kitchen. “I’ve hunted with them. They’re not so bad.”
“They deliberately misled me about where they were from. Solaris and her sister even refused to eat at Keiran’s,” I made a face, “which was so insulting because we can’t use his restaurant anymore, yet he offered us food.”
“I know. The Brotherhood is pissed at the CT because of the Specials’ situation.”
“Your Cardinal buddies didn’t seem to care.”
“They’re not my buddies,” he protested, though the corner of his lips lifted and a dimple flashed on his cheek.
“It’s not funny. They’re stuck-up. I never thought I’d say this, but I miss Kim. In fact, I can’t wait for her and the others to come back.”
“I don’t know about that. I like having you to myself.” He wrapped his arms around my waist, lifted me, and placed me on the kitchen counter. He moved closer, his expression serious as he studied my face as though he hadn’t seen me in weeks.
“The archangels are after me, Bran,” I whispered.
“They’ll have to go through me first to get to you,” he said confidently. “And through your grandfather, the Cardinals, the Brotherhood…I don’t know if Keiran told you, but he and his friends are with us. Then there’s Dante and his nature-bender friends, Jethro’s Hermonites. No one is touching you.”
Feeling a little better, I pushed my fingers through his hair, held his head in place, and leaned forward until our lips touched. I gently rubbed my lips across his. “You need a haircut.”
“Are you offering to trim it?”
“Maybe.”
He chuckled and mashed our lips together, taking me to that special place where want, need, and acceptance met, where nothing else mattered. No Tribunal, no archangels, no annoying brother. Our breathing came out faster and faster, hearts beating at the same pace and threatening to burst free of our chests.
He eased back and pressed his forehead against mine. I opened my eyes to find him studying me intently as though memorizing my face, his emerald eyes fierce. “I couldn’t sleep last night.”
He frowned. “Nightmare?”
I shrugged, not wanting to bring up Goddess Xenia and the vessel thing. “You must have slept in a hard, bumpy place.”
“Sorry about that. I found the Order’s new quarters, an old hotel in Detroit. It is being renovated on the outside, but all the action is in the sub-levels. After they refused me entrance, I used the back door.”
“Filthy underground sewer?”
He cocked his eyebrow. “How do you know?”
“I saw your shirt at Jethro’s, and you still smell awful.”
He chuckled. “The funniest thing was they didn’t seem to care about us. Not once did any of them think or mention the Tribe or the archangels.”
“That’s because they aren’t the ones who summoned the Tribunal, uh, the court.”
He cocked his eyebrow. “Tribunal?”
“We have a lot to talk about.”
“Just a minute.” He dropped a kiss on my forehead and stepped back. “Do you have anything to eat around here?”
“Sure. We have some cold cuts. I can make you a sandwich and—”
“No, I’ll do it.” He stepped around the counter and went to the sink to wash his hands. He knew where everything was. “I overheard what you told the Cardinals about Gavyn.” He spoke calmly, but the way he scowled said he wasn’t calm.
Wishing I could spare him the heartache, I said slowly, “I, uh, didn’t mean for you to hear that until I explained everything.”
“Then explain away.” He got busy making his sandwich.
“Gavyn was in high spirits when he came to Jethro’s,” I started. Bran went chalk-white as I talked. He came around the counter and sat on a stool, his sandwich forgotten.
“That’s a load of crap. For starters, no one convinced me to change sides. Second, the contract I signed to fight on Jarvis Island was a fake. It was between me and Damien, but since he doesn’t exist, the contract was null and void. I’m no more the winner of that stupid combat than you are.” Angrily, he turned and grabbed his sandwich.
That thought had never crossed my mind. Hope stirred deep inside me as I continued to talk while he demolished his sandwich. His eyes flashed dangerously when I explained Gavyn’s claim that the Tribunal could bring a demon back from Tartarus.
“That’s explains why you think Valafar is alive. Yeah, I overheard your conversation with Solaris. Tartarus is the end of the line for demons, Lil. There’s no coming back until time stops. Who represented us in this cockamamie court? Either they weren’t prepared or they were just incompetent.” Bran blew out air, ruffling the hair sloping over his forehead. “Did Gavyn ask about Celeste?”
I shook my head.
“It doesn’t make sense. He knows this place,” Bran said. “If he and his new friends summoned the Tribunal, why didn’t he give the archangels our location?”
