“Aren’t you getting kind of paranoid, Drew?” Jaden asked.
“It’s not paranoia if it saves all our lives,” Andrew replied. “Why are you so early.”
“We ended up not eating dinner,” I told him.
“You said it wouldn’t be safe for Shaylee to eat alone.”
“Shaylee’s mad at Aaron,” Jaden said, looking both smug and irritated.
“What do you mean? Shaylee doesn’t get mad. Ever.”
Andrew looked angry and I sighed, wishing I had not managed to somehow anger everyone who was currently important in my life.
“I know I messed up,” I said in my own defense, already tired of apologizing. “I spoke recklessly.”
“Fix it. Fix it now. She cannot be vulnerable. Not now. We’re so close and we only have one shot at this. If she shuts all of us out, her life could be in jeopardy. If we lose her, we’re all dead,” Andrew said.
“I am well aware of what could happen,” I replied. “I’ll fix it. We still have time.”
I wasn’t sure who I was trying to convince, Andrew, or myself.
“Could we focus on the point of this meeting?” Jaden asked.
It never failed that Jaden was straightforward and liked to keep things on track. I was grateful to her for moving things along. I didn’t want to spend any more time dwelling on my mistake.
“Alright,” Andrew agreed. He looked at me. “Where are things with the Council?”
“As far as I know, Dominic still believes that I am investigating several leads. He hasn’t contacted me to suggest otherwise.”
“Do you think he could send another Warrior?” he asked.
“Absolutely. I still don’t know how much the last one saw, but we are by no means safe. The last one was born here so he wouldn’t have a first-hand account of what to look for, but it’s definitely a possibility that they’ll send someone who would know.”
“We must remain vigilant,” Andrew nodded.
“I’m still having trouble with the idea that the Council is responsible for everything,” Jaden said. “They twisted everything around to make us all forget what really happened. How did everyone just forget that they were traitors?” She turned to me. “How did you live with them all this time?”
“It wasn’t easy, but someone had to keep an eye on them,” I replied. “We needed someone on the inside and I had nothing left to lose…until now.”
“Does that mean you’ll finally admit that the Prophecy is real?” Andrew asked, leaning towards me in thinly veiled excitement. “It’s obvious you’ve grown attached to her, but I think there’s more to it than that.”
“I’d like to say I’m convinced,” I replied. “but in the end, it doesn’t really matter to me. I want to be with her because of who she is, not who she could be. I’ll protect her either way, because it won’t matter to the Council if the Prophecy is real or not.”
Finally admitting my feelings aloud was a relief. It was as though a heavy weight had been lifted.
“It doesn’t matter what I think,” Jaden said. “Like Aaron said, the Council’s opinion is what we have to worry about. Whether she is or isn’t, they’re going to think that she’s the one they’ve been afraid of all these years. She’s my best friend and we need to protect her. I will say, her dreams are compelling.”
“Yes, the dreams,” Andrew replied. “As a young child she would often have such vivid dream that I felt I was back in the Isle again. It’s interesting that she would be dreaming in such a way again so close to her Transition.”
“They could simply have been normal dreams,” I argued. “There was nothing then or now to definitely say that she’s not just having normal dreams.”
“Think what you want,” Andrew said, dismissively. “All I care about is that you’ll be sticking around to protect her.”
“Can we expect any help from the Resistance?” Jaden asked, clearly thinking about the danger we were in.
“No, I don’t think so,” Andrew told her. “I haven’t spoken to anyone in the Resistance for a long time. It was safer for Shaylee that way. I’d been planning on taking her to New York, but there were some rumors a few weeks ago about a Council attack, so now I’m not even sure how to reach them.”
“So we’re on our own?” I asked.
“At least until she Transitions. That amount of power, will draw attention. It’s possible the Resistance will find us at that point.” He paused, a frown creasing his face. “I hope you both know that I still think it’s a mistake. A party will cause too many complications.”
“Well Shaylee’s expecting one now. We need to do something to keep her occupied until her Transition starts,” Jaden said. “Even if it’s just the three of us, it’ll be the biggest party she’s ever had. Besides, what was your plan, Drew? Hide with her in here until it’s all over? What are you going to do if you’re attacked?”
“Jaden’s right,” I said, feeling like we were just rehashing last night’s argument. “It gives us an excuse to stay close to her without her being suspicious.”
Looking thoughtful, Andrew said, “We could take her to Salem. We can have the party at my house. That way we won’t have to worry about anyone walking in or someone eavesdropping.”
“The more secure the location the better off we’ll be,” I said, nodding. “Getting away from school could buy us more time as well. If she is who you say, we need to keep her a secret as long as we can.”
“What about after?” Jaden asked.
“She’ll be confused and afraid. Even if she’s just a Mage and has nothing to do with Sophia and the Prophecy. We’re going to have a lot of explaining to do. Especially me,” I admitted. “To be honest, I’m not sure how she’s going to react to everything. She always surprises me.”
“No matter what she says or does, we
