Fractured Truth (11 page)

“You can use our phones when we’re finished. I won’t mind at all,” the man said.

I jerked my head in Liam’s direction. “What? Did I say something out loud?” I was completely taken back. What just happened?

The man laughed. “Sorry. Sometimes a person’s thoughts are so loud, it’s like they’ve spoken them.” He held out his hand. “Nice to meet you, Llona. I’m Charlie.”

I hesitantly accepted his outstretched hand. He shook it, but froze suddenly, his eyes tightening as if he was in pain.

“Is something wrong?” I asked.

His frown was instantly replaced with a smile. “Nothing at all.” He let go of my hand and moved back behind his desk where he sat down. “Have a seat.”

I stared after him for a second wondering what he had just seen. My death? I decided right then that psychics freaked me out.

Glancing over at Liam, I sat down. He was looking at Charlie, his expression both serious and worried. He must’ve noticed Charlie’s strange reaction to touching me as well.

“What brings you here?” Charlie asked.

“Don’t you already know?” I wondered out loud. “You know, being a psychic and all?”

His smile remained. “I don’t pick up on everything, unless I know what I’m looking for.”

“That’s what we want you to do,” Liam said and shifted his weight in the chair. “As you know, Jackson recently escaped from our custody. Before he left, he told Llona that he had hid the original three witches from Cyrus to ensure his safety. We want you to try to locate them.”

Charlie leaned forward, resting his elbows on the desk. “Give me some time, and I’ll see what I can do.” He looked at Liam. “Why don’t you show Llona around? Something tells me she isn’t impressed with our operation.”

“What? No, I didn’t say—” I stuttered.

Charlie laughed. “It’s okay. This floor is pretty boring looking, but we really are an accounting firm.”

“You are?”

“Among other things,” Liam said and stood up.

I followed him to the door.

“I should know something by tomorrow,” Charlie said, coming back around his desk to see us out.

“Thanks, Charlie,” Liam said and opened the door.

I was about to go with him when Charlie said, “Hold up, Llona. I want to talk to you for a second.”

I glanced back to the open door. Liam was already gone. I turned around and cleared my throat. “Yes?”

“Liam’s told me about your abilities, and I must say I’m impressed. It’s rare for an Aura to have such a fighting spirit.”

“Don’t I know it.”

“You knew your great-grandmother worked with the Deific, right?”

“That’s what Dr. Han told me,” I said, wondering where he was going with all this.

“You’re eighteen now—”

“Uh-huh.”

“And, well, when this is all over, I’d like you to consider joining us.”

“As an accountant?”

He laughed again. “Not even close. An Aura with your abilities would be very instrumental to our team.”

This took me by surprise. “I don’t know what to say.” Liam had talked about different missions he’d gone on for the Deific. They sounded scary, fighting creatures of the night, yet exhilarating at the same time.

“How about you just think about it? I know you have a lot on your mind right now and rightly so. There’s no rush.” He held out his hand.

I shook it. “Thanks. I’ll consider it.”

When I turned to leave, he stopped me again.

“Oh, and one more thing,” he said. “Life’s not going to get easier for you any time soon, and a close betrayal may nearly cost you your life. Just remember who you are and who’s been there for you. If you don’t, a lot of people are going to die.”

I pretended to listen to Liam talking about the Deific’s history while he drove home. Normally, I would’ve eaten that stuff up, but I couldn’t get Charlie’s warning out of my head. A close betrayal? May? Liam? Christian? What about Dr. Han? I considered him a close friend. I sighed and dropped my head onto the headrest of the car.

“You okay?” Liam asked.

“I guess.”

“What’s on your mind?”

“Nothing really. Just something Charlie said.”

“Ah, one of Charlie’s predictions.”

I sat up straight and looked at him. “Is he ever wrong?”

“Not that I’ve ever seen.”

I dropped my head back and moaned again.

“Do you want to tell me what he said?”

“Basically that someone close to me is going to betray me, and if I can’t figure out who, a lot of people are going to die. Awesome. I love vague, yet deadly, premonitions.”

“Just remember his words, follow his advice, and everything will be fine.”

I puffed air from my mouth and stared out the passenger side window. I think I would’ve preferred not knowing the future.

“So what did you think about the Deific?” Liam asked. “Was it cooler than you thought it would be?”

At this, I brightened. The upper floors of the building turned out to be more of the secret-spy rooms I’d been expecting. Behind one of the doors, they had what looked like super computers with thin, translucent screens. Liam said they were used to track the whereabouts of supernatural creatures. And in another room, they had these people with electrodes attached to their heads who were supposedly communicating with those out in the field.

“So cool,” I answered. “I loved the training room best. Do you think I can practice there sometime?” It was this huge room
with mats covering half the floor for practicing all sorts of martial arts, and the other side held all kinds of weapons. Because I only knew how to use Light as a weapon, I was excited to try something new to add to my arsenal.

“Of course. We can go back anytime.”

We continued to talk about different parts of the Deific, and for a short time I forgot about Charlie’s foreboding premonition. When Lucent Academy came into view, I glanced at the clock on the dashboard. I had one hour until dinner.

“You’re going to be at dinner tonight, right?”

He grinned. “I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

After we parked and entered Chadni Hall, I parted ways with Liam and headed straight to May’s room, wanting to see if we were cool from our earlier “talk.” I also wanted to finally tell her about seeing Christian. Maybe it would deter her from wanting to see her father if she knew there was already someone on the inside. I knocked on her door, but no one answered.

“Have you guys seen May?” I asked to a couple of younger girls as they passed by me.

“Not since lunch,” one said.

I tightened my lips. Maybe she was with Kiera or Tessa. I went to Kiera’s room first because it was just down an adjacent hall.

“How’s it going?” Kiera asked when she opened her door. A stack of books was piled high on the desk behind her.

I walked into the room. “Good. You studying for a test or something?”

She groaned. “Yes. In my Auran history class. You’re so lucky you don’t have to take tests anymore.”

“You don’t have much longer,” I said. “Don’t you turn eighteen in like six months?”

“Five and a half.”

I laughed. “You’re still on for my lesson at dinner, right?”

“So ready.”

“Good. Hey, have you seen May around?”

Kiera went to her desk and sat down. “I talked to her a couple of hours ago, but only briefly. She seemed to be in a hurry.”

“For what?”

She shrugged. “She didn’t say, but she looked worked up over something. I’ve never seen her like that. Usually she’s so calm.”

This worried me. What if she tried to go see her dad without anyone knowing? She could be kidnapped just like the others. I returned to the door. “Sorry I can’t stay, but I have to find her.”

“Everything okay?”

“I hope so.”

On my way to the elevators I called Tessa, but no one answered. However, a second later I received a text from her: “Talking with Mom. I’ll see you at dinner.”

I quickly texted her back: “Is May with you?”

“Nope.”

I slipped inside the elevator and pushed the button to the fourth floor where I could sneak into Cyrus’s old office and down to the basement where I hoped I’d find Aaron. Even though May had never said they were boyfriend and girlfriend, they did care for each other and possibly felt more. Especially Aaron. I saw the way he looked at her and watched out for her. Maybe he’d know something.

I found Aaron in one of the rooms, sitting on a chair alone, basically staring at a blank wall.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

He turned to me, expressionless. “She’s gone.”

Air caught in my lungs. “Who?” I already knew the answer, but a small part of me hoped he’d say some other name, some random girl I didn’t know.

“May.”

I dropped onto his bed. “Where did she go?” I hoped he wouldn’t say to see her father.

“She wouldn’t say. It’s not that I care that she leaves, but she was so secretive about where she was going that I’m afraid she
went to see her father. I tried to stop her, but she was so insistent. And then she got angry at me for trying to stop her.” He took a deep breath. “I just wanted her to wait for you to return. I thought if she could talk to you about what’s bothering her, maybe she’d feel better. She’s been so distant lately.”

“Did she say when she’d come back?”

“She said soon.”

Relief washed over me. “There you go. This could be nothing, Aaron. Maybe she just needed a few hours to sort life out, you know? Just give her some time.”

It felt a little better saying this out loud. She needed time, that’s all.

“Uh-huh.” He turned away from me, back toward the wall.

“You coming up for dinner? There’s going to be entertainment.” I stood up and waited for an answer. When he didn’t say anything, I walked to him and squeezed his shoulder. “I’ll let you know when I hear from her.”

As soon as I was down the hall and out of Aaron’s sight, I leaned against the wall and pressed my hands to my mouth. Truth was I was really worried about May. It wasn’t like her to just run off like this. Maybe it wouldn’t have been that big of a deal if she hadn’t acted the way she had earlier that morning. May was never angry. Was this the Fury darkness Dr. Han had spoken about? Was May’s father going to turn her against us?

The thought of not having May in my life was almost too much to bear, even with having Christian back. But was he really back? I breathed into my hands. I wished I could speak with him. He knew how close I was to May.

I lowered my hands as I heard the sounds of many footsteps headed to dinner. I couldn’t think about this right now. Leaving all my fears and doubts, I headed upstairs. It was time to teach the girls a real life lesson.

I entered the dining room
a little late, my palms sweating. I was so nervous for what I was about to do. Either my real life lesson would do what I hoped it would, or I was about to get kicked out of Lucent Academy for good.

Girls were chatting softly, some of them giggling, while plates of food were brought out from the kitchen. Pasta primavera, by the smell of it. On the far side of the room, the teachers at their table seemed to be in some kind of argument. Dr. Han looked especially upset as he leaned away from the others, his arms folded.

I frowned at this. I was hoping he’d be in a good mood for what was about to happen. Too late now.

I easily spotted Petros in the corner. He was hard to miss. I crossed the room to him, nodding an acknowledgement to Liam and Kiera at a table nearby. May should’ve been sitting with them.

“Your package will be here in less than a minute,” Petros said, looking down at me. “Are you sure you still want to go through with this?”

I nodded. “Wait for my go-ahead. I’m going to say a few words first.”

I walked over to Dr. Han. The teachers quieted at my arrival, and some of them scowled. “Would you mind if I said a few words to the girls?” I asked Dr. Han.

“Like what?”

I gave him a big smile. “Trust me?”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Ms. Hady, my old gym teacher, said. She still hadn’t forgiven me for making the girls race each other months ago.

“That’s not for you to decide,” Mrs. Crawford said. The two stared at each other.

“Enough,” Dr. Han said. “Make it brief, Llona.”

“Thank you,” I said and turned away before anyone could stop me. I kept moving until I was in front of the podium where Sophie used to address us. Dr. Han rarely did this. He preferred paper memos.

I placed my hand on the rich maple wood while I gathered my strength. I wasn’t Sophie. People at Lucent didn’t look up to me, but I still cared about them. I thought of my great-grandmother, of the strength she must’ve possessed to do what she did despite being rejected by her own. She stood up for what was right, but in the end her convictions had killed her.

I looked up. Everyone was quiet and staring at me. I flipped the microphone on and began to speak. “Not long ago our school was attacked. We were betrayed by our very own Cyrus, who, for decades, had been drugging us.”

“We already know this,” an older Auran girl called out. Several of her friends snickered.

“Shut up and listen,” Ashlyn snapped from a few tables over.

“Of course you already know this,” I continued, “but have any of you asked yourself why?” I looked around the room, pausing a few seconds on Liam, who was watching me intently.

“Cyrus wanted us to feel safe. He wanted us to rely on others for everything that we have and believe that we can’t do anything for ourselves, all because we’re too
special
.”

“Why?” Kiera shouted.

“He wanted us weak. He wanted us dependent on others so we will never learn to truly be independent. And it worked.” I took a breath. “Our beliefs and traditions have enslaved us.
Over time Cyrus shifted the balance of power to him, leaving us vulnerable and weak.” I looked around at each of them. “I want to give this power back to you. I thought Cyrus kidnapping Sophie and a few of your classmates would anger you enough to want to learn about your true potential, but it hasn’t. You’re still afraid and content to live in ignorance. But let me tell you. Lycans aren’t here for your protection.”

The audience stirred at this, specifically looking toward Dr. Han. Ms. Hady was leaning over, whispering something to a teacher beside her.