Hunted

“We are in the middle of a crisis and I will not tolerate your shenanigans anymore. How you do things in Melbourne,” she glared at Onora, then cocked her head toward the blond boy and his curly-haired friend, “or Brussels is none of my business. But when you are in our sector, you will behave like Cardinals. You will listen to your trainers. And for the love of Xenia, keep your poisonous opinions to yourself. Your behavior the last two days has been unworthy of Cardinals. From now on, you listen, train, and master whatever Master Haziel throws your way. Without mouthing off.”

“But—”

“Do…you…understand?” Mrs. D cut Onora off, her voice deceptively calm.

Onora swallowed and nodded. “Yes, Mrs. Deveraux.”

Mrs. D turned, faced the blond and his sidekick, and cocked her brow.

“Yes, ma’am,” they said in unison.

“Good. Now move. Wait by the door. Lil, stay behind.”

Onora glowered as she walked away. I waited until they left the room. “She had no right to say the things she—”

“That’s enough,” Mrs. D snapped.

I blinked. She’d never spoken to me like that before.

She started to pace. “What she said was wrong and I didn’t intervene at first because I thought you could handle the situation. Not by attacking her. Not by yelling, but by calmly explaining how we do things here.”

“Reason with them? After the way they’ve been acting the last two days?”

“That is beside the point. You know better than to use your powers against a fellow Guardian. What if you’d shot lightning bolts and killed her? Do you know the consequences for killing another Cardinal?”

I sighed and stopped short of rolling my eyes.

“A dead Cardinal would bring the wrath of the Circle of Twelve on your head. Do you know why? They were forced to ascend early, leaving no energy and consciousness behind to feed the Psi-dar. I know you occasionally use your abilities while goofing around with your friends, but you cannot act the same way with other Guardians. There are rules we all must follow or there will be chaos.”

“But you heard them, Mrs. D. They were disrespecting Master Haziel.”

“I understand, but that doesn’t give you the right to lash out like you just did,” her voice softened. “You may be the youngest in the group, but you’re the most powerful. You could hurt them quite easily.”

Great! I defended my teacher and/was the bad guy. “They are impossible to train with. You’ve seen the way they act. Why do they hate our team so much? We are on the same side. Who cares about accomplishments?”

Mrs. D sighed. “They don’t hate you. They fear and envy you. Most of them only know you by your reputation. Once they get to know you better, they’ll see what we see—a humble young lady. Give them a chance.”

I rolled my eyes this time. Fear? I didn’t think so. Curiosity, resentment, envy, yes. “I’ve tried.”

“Try harder. Spending more time with them might help, too. Invite them over for video games or a movie. They don’t have such things at the guesthouses. Or go downtown for coffee or something.”

No way. I already had to train with them for three hours in the mornings.

“Come on,” Mrs. D said. “Let’s not keep Master Haziel waiting.”

The others were waiting for us outside the pit. This time, I was the one who avoided their probing gazes. Mrs. D waved and the door flew open.

About a hundred men and women were warming up inside the pit, some using jump ropes and freestanding punching bags while others jousted with wooden staffs or sprinted around the pit, which was now five times its usual size. It had been completely gutted out, all the seats and the booths removed to create more space. More Guardians training meant more weapons, which lined the wall.

The other Cardinal Psis smiled and waved to the Guardians they knew. Growing up on Earth meant I’d never had any contact with the SGs in Xenith while all the Psi Cardinals, like Remy, Sykes, Izzy, and Kim, hadn’t moved to Earth until they turned sixteen. Before, I would have been envious of them. Lately, I’d come to appreciate my unorthodox upbringing.

I made eye contact with men and women I’d only seen from afar in the cafeteria, until I saw a familiar face—Lucien. He waved enthusiastically. I smiled and waved back. Two more familiar faces jumped at me from a group on my right. They were the SGs I’d met on the island the day I was attacked. They smiled and nodded.

“Guardians,” Master Haziel barked, “I want half of you on this side of the pit,” he pointed to his right, “and the other half on this side.” He pointed left. “Grab a wooden staff.”

The room split, leaving a clear area in the middle section.

“Cardinals, put your swords away and move to the middle of the pit.”

We did as Master Haziel instructed. Now there were two empty areas between us and the SGs. Just wide enough for a combat zone, except the Guardians had weapons and we didn’t.

As though he heard me, Master Haziel added, “Cardinals, use whatever means of defense you can to stop them. There are about one-hundred fifty of them and nine of us. Let me know when you are ready, Cardinals.”

I looked at the other Cardinal Psis from the corner of my eyes. They looked worried as they studied the SGs.

This is bull, the blond whiner telepathed.

Shut up, dude, his curly-haired friend snapped. We need to come up with a plan.

We need weapons, the blond insisted.

We are the weapons, I wanted to correct him.

Then he would have given them to us, the quiet member of the trio said. He rarely said much. Our gazes met. What do you think, Lil?

I shrugged. We use all our abilities to win this.

Uh, please, Onora said. It’s obvious he wants us to use the move Mrs. Deveraux has been teaching us.

But we haven’t mastered it, Cat-eyes griped.

We’ll do the best we can, Onora said, glancing at everyone except me. Let’s stand back-to-back, four facing one group and four the other. Lil can fight both sides.

I was tempted to let them take a beating, but Mrs. D’s words kept ringing in my head. My gaze collided with hers. She stood near the door, arms crossed and narrowed eyes locked on me. Opposite her, near the weapons on the wall, was Master Haziel. His eyes were closed as though he was meditating. He didn’t fool me.

Onora opened her mouth to signal him, but I cut her off. We are not ready, Onora.

Her eyes narrowed. Excuse me?

Just listen without interrupting, okay? I glanced at the others. They were all looking at me with suspicion. I know how Master Haziel thinks. This little jousting thing is a test or a lesson, and you won’t like the results if you treat it as a joke. Nothing happens in this enclave without his knowledge. He knows about the dinner fiasco and that we are not getting along, and this is his way of telling us to start acting like a team or else. They continued to stare at me like I had two heads. Do you want to double your training hours?

They shook their heads.

So what do you say we surprise him by joining forces and doing this right?

Why should we trust you? Onora asked.

Because I have nothing to lose while you do.

What do you mean? the blond asked.

You have former teachers, childhood friends, even relatives in this room. When you fail, guess who will be humiliated?

Silence followed my question. I didn’t expect an answer anyway.

We are Cardinal Psi Guardians, guys. We don’t get defeated by the very people we’re trying to