Hunted

“Some of you are already aware of the identity of the Tribe,” Grampa said, his voice echoing around the pit despite lack of microphone and speakers. “But there is more you need to know, things that are not stored in clairvoyant crystals or found in books and scrolls in Xenithian libraries.” He glanced to his right. “Cardinal Hsia will explain.”

Cardinal Hsia was the Time Guardian and the history guru. She leaned forward, the usual twinkle missing from her eyes. “When Goddess Xenia charged us with guarding humanity, she told us something else. From the beginning of time, it was decreed that for there to be good, there must be evil to balance it. One can’t exist without the other. Even before Coronis rebelled and started her Hermonite group, there were Nephilim left behind as demons. Her group just made things worse.”

She paused and looked at us.

“The Tribunal,” she glanced at me, “is a special court that convenes to discuss Nephilimic matters. They solve disputes between Guardians and demons. Disputes that impact the balance between good and evil. Their answer usually involves sending hunters to correct the problem. We didn’t summon the court this time, which means the demons did. The court ruled in their favor and sent a Tribe of archangels to correct the problem.”

There was a ripple of murmurs through the room. Some raised their hands.

“Silence, please,” Grampa bellowed. “I know you have questions and we will try and answer them in an orderly manner. Yes, the tribe we are dealing with is not made up of demons. They are archangels, and their job is to correct what they presume are mistakes we have made. This is why the humans whose contracts you canceled are either dying or are in comas. This is also why they are hunting us. We don’t know why, but we’re sure we’ll learn the answer in due course. Any questions?”

This time, the ripple of conversation was telepathic and more hands shot up. Solaris leaned forward and glanced at me, then smiled. Her gaze not shifting, she raised her hand, too. She was going to tell them what Raphael had said—that I was the one they were after. I had planned to discuss it with Grampa first.

It’s okay, Bran reassured me telepathically.

Our gaze met and clung. It wasn’t okay. We should tell them what Raphael said.

Master Haziel said it was nonsense, Bran insisted. Let it go.

It was easy for them to dismiss everything. Their head wasn’t on the chopping block.

“Yes, Remy,” Cardinal Hsia said.

“What exactly have we done to make them think we could destroy the balance between good and evil, Cardinal?”

I didn’t bother to look at Solaris. I was sure her hand was still up, her butt barely touching the seat in her eagerness to respond.

“I’ll answer that,” Grampa said. “After conferring with the CT, we reached the conclusion that killing Coronis might have been a coup for us, but it was a major blow to the demons. Stopping their plans to select a leader, and acquiring Coronis’ list of damned souls scared the demons even more. They’ve lost hundreds of thousands of souls. Typical of them, they summoned the court and complained.”

“Yes, Solaris?” Cardinal Hsia asked.

I shrank back into my seat and waited.

“When we were in L.A. this morning with Cardinal Lil, we learned there might be more than one reason why they summoned the Tribunal,” Solaris said.

I held my breath and waited, my heart pounding with a mixture of dread and fury.

The senior Cardinals looked at each other, then me and scowled.

“What other reasons?” Grampa asked.

“The demons believe the Specials belong with them,” she said.

Bitch. Wasting my energy hating another Cardinal was wrong, but she made it so easy.

“What if we summon the Tribunal and agree to return the Specials and the remaining contracts to the demon? Would that stop the archangels from coming after us?”

“We can’t do that, Solaris,” Grampa interjected, his dark eyes glistening. “That means sacrificing human souls and those helpless children to save ourselves. It is immoral and cowardly, the very opposite of everything we stand for. Once the Tribunal reaches a decision, it is final.”

I grinned. Where were the pom-poms? Go Grampa! Put. Her. In. Her. Place. I caught Izzy’s gaze. What?

What did you do while we were gone?

Long story. I’ll explain later.

“The Specials, the Brotherhood, and Neutrals are our allies,” Cardinal Hsia added. “We don’t turn our backs on our allies.”

“So we are going against the CT’s directive?” Solaris asked, like an idiot hell bent on digging her own grave.

The Senior Cardinals looked at each other, but once again, Grampa explained. “The CT decided not to give refuge to the Specials, the young and the elderly members of the Brotherhood in Xenith. We make our own decisions when it involves our enclaves, which means we can offer refuge to anyone if we so choose.”

Solaris open her mouth again and there was a collective groan from the Cardinals seated around her. Maybe it was their response or something else, but she decided not to continue being a pain. Tension hung heavy in the air, but more hands shot up.

Cardinal Hsia looked at Sykes and nodded. “Yes, Sykes?”

“Who are the members of this court? What are their credentials? And how dare theyjudge us?”

Laughter followed.

Trust Sykes to lighten the mood. Cardinal Hsia grinned as she explained. “The tribunal is made up of Guardians and demons. Six demons get free passes from Tartarus to join six ascended Cardinals.”

Sykes got up and talked louder, to be heard above the questions being fired left and right. “How do we summon it? We would like to appeal its decision, because it’s obvious whoever represented us never finished law school.”

Cardinal Hsia chuckled as she motioned him to sit. “One question at a time. We are always represented by the same person, Sykes. Goddess Xenia. And since she was the one who charged us with the task of guarding humans, I’d say she graduated summa cum laude.”

Laughter rolled through the room.

Sykes slowly sat down.

“The court usually convenes whenever and wherever you summon it,” Cardinal Hsia continued, “which means, it could appear right here and right now.”

I raised my hand. “Do we really summon it by calling out its name?”

“Yes,” Cardinal Hsia answered. “When a group of Nephilim—Guardians or demons—gather and synchronize their thoughts and energy while calling its name, the Tribunal will appear, so please refrain from saying the name. If you must refer to them, use ‘Nephilim Court’ or the term ‘The Tribe’. It is a generic term that refers to both the archangels and the court they serve.”

“Has the Tribe ever had a reason to hunt us like this?” someone asked.

“Yes. They are the ones who rounded up the Principalities and later their children, our forefathers, and sent them to Tartarus. Luckily, our Goddess had already created Xenith and we relocated it before the attack. The Tribe is also behind the fall of every ancient civilization known to man…Egyptian, Roman, Persian, Mayan, Mesopotamian,” Cardinal Hsia continued. “When the balance is in our favor and evil is at an all-time low, civilizations thrive. More inventions are made, illnesses and diseases get cured. Humanity is at its best. The demons are never happy when humans thrive and there is peace. Then, they usually summon the Nephilim Court, which sends the Tribe to reset the balance.”

“How?” someone asked.

“They let out more powerful demons from Tartarus to counteract our influence.”

A shiver ran down my spine. My gut said Valafar was back, that Solaris and Lunaris were right.

“Others say they undo some of the work we’ve done,” Cardinal Hsia continued. “The next thing you know, demons have the upper hand, and they start messing with people’s heads.”