Allyra turned the corner and found herself at the door to the Council Chamber. She hadn’t intended on coming here tonight though she had to admit that the combination of the late hour and empty corridors made for a perfect opportunity to search for more memories.
And yet she hesitated. A small voice in the back of her mind, one that she heard less and less these days, warned her that she was torturing herself with these memories of Alex. He belonged in the past and was lost to her—it was time to let him go.
Yet the very idea of never seeing him again made her chest cave in on itself, and without giving herself time to think further, Allyra stepped forward to the Council Chamber door and offered her hand to the Sentinels who awaited her. She whispered her name, and the door slipped open. Allyra walked in and stepped straight into a memory.
The Council members were seated with Alex at the center of them, and if he saw her, he made no sign of it. She slipped into a seat and took the opportunity to finally study the people who made up the Council in Alex’s time.
First was the dark-haired Terra High Master that she knew to be Alex’s older brother Thomas. The family resemblance was clear for all to see—Thomas Cairns was the template from which Alex had been drawn. He was a little broader than his younger brother and lacked the fine, elegant lines that made Alex so remarkable. It was as if Thomas Cairns had been sculpted by an artist still learning his trade, who had later perfected his art with Alex. Allyra wondered briefly if this trend of increasing artistry had continued with the youngest of the Cairns brothers. Next to Thomas Cairns sat High Master Laurent of the Atmospheric College.
Alex occupied the raised, center seat. His expression was serious, and it appeared that the weight of responsibility that came with being the Elemental High Master had swept away the easy carelessness that she’d seen in previous echoes. He had stepped onto the path that would eventually lead him to being the man she’d met in the Between.
The Inferno High Master sat to Alex’s left. Allyra studied her with some interest—this was the woman who had saved the Gifted from the full impact of the Betrayal. According to history, she was who Matthew Cairns had turned to when he had discovered his brothers’ treachery.
Allyra knew from her conversation with Master Marais that the Inferno High Master hadn’t been an Elemental. Like Matthew Cairns, she was an Inferno—a powerful one to have been chosen to serve on the Council. She was middle-aged, but her beauty was undeniable. Even seated, it was obvious that she was tall, carrying herself with stately confidence. She had long hair, the color of autumn leaves, held up by a pair of combs made of bone. Her eyes were a startling shade, indistinguishable between blue and green. But within them, there was a hardness that gave Allyra pause.
The final member of the Council was a small man with a round, boyish face, made insignificant by his proximity to the Inferno High Master.
The door sliding open interrupted Allyra’s study of the Council, and she stiffened as two Cleaners walked through, their silver masks hiding their identities. Another two Cleaners followed, dragging between them a boy, whose thin body seemed to be too exhausted to take a single step. When he lifted his head, Allyra saw through his long, filthy hair that his face was covered in bruises with one eye swollen completely shut.
Just thinking about the beating the boy must’ve taken made Allyra queasy. She tightened her fingers into fists, wishing she could step into the past and beat the Cleaners as they had surely beaten the boy. Her disgust for Cleaners grew.
The last person through the door was yet another Cleaner, but this one was a little different. Instead of a plain silver mask, this Cleaner wore one that was half gold and half silver.
The boy was dragged before the Council, and he stood before them with his wrists bound in iron and his head bowed—the very picture of defeat.
“What is your name?”
Alex’s voice was kind and she could hear a hint of pity in it. Perhaps the boy heard it too, because suddenly, he looked up, and Allyra nearly recoiled at the hate burning within his eyes. He struggled against his restraints but refused to answer Alex’s question.
Instead, the Cleaner with the bicolored mask stepped forward and spoke. “High Master, we believe his name to be William Reilly though he has refused to speak since we recovered him.”
Alex nodded his understanding and turned his attention back to the boy. “You don’t need to speak, Mr. Reilly. However, it would be to your advantage to try to explain the actions that led you to stand before us.”
Defiance seeped through every pore of the boy, and if it were possible, the hate within his eyes seemed to burn even more brightly, focused entirely on Alex.
When it became apparent that William wasn’t going to speak, Alex continued. “The Gifted live by a Charter that defines the rules that we live by. Any
