Devotion (4 page)

Rina sighed and I thought I could see tears building in her eyes. "I have received a message from the Angels. I can only interpret it to mean …" She cleared her throat, blinked away any moisture gathered in her eyes and lifted her chin. "… to mean there is a traitor in our midst."

"A
traitor
?" I asked. "On the
council
?"

"We're not positive," Mom said. "It could be anyone in the Amadis, but it's most likely someone on the council. We're praying it's not true, but if it is …"

"I am hoping you may be able to find out, Alexis," Rina said. "Since your power will not be blocked, you may be able to learn something I cannot. My hope is you will find nothing, that I have interpreted the message inaccurately, but I must ask you as a precaution."

"And you think this traitor sent the video?" I asked. "It was Amadis, after all?"

"We have no conclusive evidence. If there really is a traitor, however, it might be the person who sent the video. They might be planning something worse. It could mean the destruction of the entire Amadis if not addressed."

I took a deep breath and let it out slowly.
Wow. No pressure there.
I didn't know anything about the council, but as the matriarch's advisors, I assumed they'd be the best and most loyal of all the Amadis. So who would want to betray us? Why? What did they have planned?

"Alexis?" Mom said. She and Rina stared at me expectantly.

"I … it's just …" I stammered. I wanted to help, to relieve Rina of this pain that seemed to be stabbing her right in the soul. I wanted answers, too. But could I handle the pressure?

"You will be fine, Alexis," Rina said. "You are very powerful. I trust you with this task."

"Honey, you're one of us now," Mom said. "Sometimes that means doing things we don't always want to do, things that push us beyond our comfort zone. We're only asking you to
try
. We need you." She placed her hands on my shoulders and gave them a squeeze. "If it becomes too much, you can leave. We'll alert Owen to keep an eye on you, in case you need help."

The mention of Owen's name made my stomach take a dip. How could I rely on him when I felt so awkward just hearing his name?

"Tristan is aware, too," Rina added. "I shared all of this with him at breakfast and he immediately saw the best solution–your involvement. Either can help, if you need it."

Tristan and Owen both were familiar with my breakdowns when the "voices" in my head became too much. They both knew how to distract me, how to give my mind something to "tune into" while blocking out everyone else–they'd helped me survive the long airplane flights, where there was no escape if the thoughts bombarded me. Surely Tristan could get me through this meeting. And Owen, too, if I could bring myself to let him.

"Okay," I finally said, throwing my hands in the air with defeat. "I'll do my best. But I make no promises."

Rina inclined her head in appreciation and Mom gave my shoulder another squeeze, then Rina asked me to tell the men we were ready. Either more practice or another test–one I wasn't sure I could pass. I had never reached out to multiple people at once or someone so far away before. Not on purpose, anyway. In fact, the other person had always been only a few feet away. I concentrated on the image of a black cloud in my head and pushed it outward. I extended it beyond the confines of my skull, while keeping it from enshrouding Mom or Rina–I would hear the thoughts of whoever came "within" the cloud. I continued pushing it out, beyond the room to search for Tristan, but the force was too much. My wall fell and I heard a jumble of everyone's thoughts. I sucked the cloud right back into my head and raised the wall.

"Sorry," I mumbled, shaking my head.

Rina's brows furrowed for an instant, reminding me of the look she'd given me at breakfast, then calm returned to her face.

"Do not worry, dear," she said, "you will learn. Right now, however, we do not have time."

She fell silent while she "called" for Tristan, Solomon and Owen.

"How far out can you go?" I asked her while we waited for them.

"If it is to pick up any random thoughts from anyone, a few kilometers, though without proper control, it can be quite painful if it is a crowded area. If it is to communicate directly with someone in particular, much farther, especially if I am very familiar with them. You can identify your mother, Dorian or Tristan across a large, crowded room simply from a laugh or a single spoken word, yes? It is easier because you are attuned to their voices."

I nodded with understanding. Then I thought I must have been using my gift all wrong, with the visual of the cloud–it wasn't a good enough analogy. I sighed with frustration. This was the worst time to be confounded.

"Rina, I don't think I can do this yet. I have too much to learn."

"You
can
do this, Alexis," she said. "You were able to save Tristan, even with all the Daemoni and Amadis soldiers there. You blocked them out and focused only on him, no?"

Only a few days ago, I'd protected Tristan from a Daemoni attack on his soul, partially by talking him through it telepathically. I had no clue how I pulled it off so well, though, how I was able to keep out everyone else and only talk to him, without anyone but Rina, Mom and Owen aware of what I was doing.

"That is all you need to do during the meeting," Rina said. "Hold your wall and focus on one mind at a time. Just listen. That is all."

There was no more time to argue. Mom opened the door right as the men reached it. Tristan took my hand and "led" me for the flash–all I had to concentrate on was going where he was, since I'd never been to the destination before. There were other ways to flash somewhere new, but I hadn't learned them yet.

I was starting to feel like an alien, learning the ways of a whole new world.

We appeared next to Rina and Solomon in a small area that must have been a holding chamber and had been empty until we arrived. The room reminded me a little of the green rooms when I did television interviews, though the stone walls indicated the building pre-dated television by millennia. The chilly air–no fire in these grates–might have caused a mage or a Norman to shiver, but no one here noticed. Mom sent Owen out to see if all the council members had arrived.

I stepped over to the single window and was surprised to see a whole village outside below us. We were at the top of a hill, at one end of a main road that ended with a pier jutting out over the sea. Between here and the beach, people bustled in and out of an eclectic collection of shops and other buildings lining each side of the road, many with brightly colored awnings, others blank and austere. The rooftops of houses–some steep and pointed, some flat and others rounded, all in various shades from white to blue to fuchsia–spread out beyond them.

"Where are we?" I wondered aloud. We had to still be on the Amadis Island since it was shielded–we could only flash within shields, but not through them.

"The Council Hall in the island village," Tristan said from right behind me. "All those people out there are Amadis."

"You mean … witches and wizards and vampires and everything?" I asked with awe.

"Yes, your very characters."

Of course, they weren't the
exact
characters in the books I'd written about witches, werewolves, vampires and various other supernaturals. I thought I'd been writing all fiction, not knowing these creatures actually existed, but
my
fiction came somewhat close to reality, which I'd learned just last week. Seeing the people out there–
my
people, the Amadis–was like seeing my characters come to life.

"I want to go meet them!" I said, momentarily forgetting the whole reason we stood at this particular window in the first place.

Tristan chuckled. "You'll meet some today, don't worry."

Oh! The council members themselves aren't exactly human.
The cold-water effect of this realization doused my elation.
How can I possibly concentrate on my task now?
I'd be too distracted, overcome with excitement of meeting real-life creatures I'd been so fascinated with since I was a kid. My stomach fluttered with anxiety–I was doomed for failure.

"Tristan," Rina said from the other side of the room and we both turned toward her. "I have just learned some of our members have been delayed with … a situation. You may take Alexis into the village to orient her."

"
Alexis!
" Why did she seem to be yelling my name all morning? I tilted my head, acknowledging her. "
Please practice listening while in the village. It will give you the confidence you need before going into the meeting.
"

I nodded as Tristan took my hand. He led me out of the large, stone building and down a path to the main road through town. As we meandered through the business district, I gaped with amazement at everything, keeping Tristan quite amused. The many shops sold a wide variety of goods. In one window, dried herbs hung from the ceiling and shelves contained jars of other reagents, some unidentifiable and others I wished I hadn't been able to identify (lizard eyeballs!), for the mages. Others displayed bottles of thick, red liquid with pretty labels similar to wine bottles, but instead of "pinot noir," "cabernet" or "merlot," they advertised "O+" and "B-"–donated blood for the vamps. Live animals roamed one window display, imitating a pet shop, but these weren't pets. Rather, chickens, rats and hogs waited to be selected for were-creatures' meals. One shop sold wands and another enchanted armor for the warriors. People, dressed in a variety of fashions, present-day and not, frequently appeared and disappeared, flashing around the village.

I couldn't help but wonder what my fellow fantasy authors would think if they ever saw this place. Many had described similar villages in their works, but what would they do if they actually saw it in person? Probably be like me … ambling about with their mouths hanging open.

"Are they scared of you?" I whispered to Tristan at one point, as we walked down a residential street by ourselves. "Everybody bows their heads and no one looks us in the eye."

"Maybe," he said with a chuckle, "but that's not why they do it. You're royalty, my love. We both are. They do it out of respect."

"Oh, right. I wish they wouldn't. It makes me feel … weird. I thought this would be the last place I'd feel unusual, surrounded by all these mythical creatures that aren't really mythical."

He slid his arm around my waist and pulled me close to him. "Stop worrying about what everyone else thinks."

"Easy for you to say. You've been beautiful and
you
forever. You're used to it."

"And
you've
been beautiful and you forever, too. Your forever is shorter than mine, but you should be used to it by now."

"I've only been beautiful and royalty for a few days and I don't think I'll ever get used to it." In fact, every time I caught my reflection in the mirror since the
Ang'dora
, I had to stop for a moment, making sure it was really me. So I stayed away from mirrors as much as possible. It was too much to accept.

Tristan kissed the top of my head. "You've become self-conscious on me again. You remind me of when I first met you."

I remembered how uncomfortable I'd been with him, torn between wanting him to know the real me and trying to be "normal" because I thought
he
was. It felt like several lifetimes ago.

"Sorry. I just feel so out of place here," I said as I contemplated the odd assortment of houses lining the street.

Some were painted in vibrant colors or with wild patterns, and others appeared to be from the ancient Greek era, perfectly preserved. The mish-mash looked as though houses from Whoville were picked up by a tornado and randomly dropped into a neighborhood of Parthenon-like buildings. Various odors carried on the air, some pleasant, some not so much, making me wonder what kinds of concoctions were being created in some of the more eccentric homes. A few people were outside–one cutting herbs from a garden, another walking a pet tarantula the size of my head on a leash, making me shudder–and they all inclined their heads as we passed by.

"I'm the alien but they all treat me like …"

"Royalty?" Tristan finished for me.

I sighed. "Yeah. At this rate, I'll be ready to get back to normal life sooner than I thought. At least in the normal world, I know how to behave, what to do."

He gave me a squeeze. "We'll be leaving soon enough, I'm sure. But first you have a lot to learn. You need to train. Have you been practicing at all, or just gawking?"