Guardian Of The Grove (19 page)

A
dam was waiting
for me in his office when I opened the door. My mom wasn’t there, so her briefing had gone pretty quickly. Adam looked bone tired, as if he had gone three rounds with Mike Tyson and then was forced to run a marathon. Something bad had happened while I was gone. I was sure of it.

His weary eyes met mine, and he motioned to the chair in front of his desk. “Have a seat.” He kept his eyes on me and then looked down at his desk, letting out a deep sigh. “Jackson, I don’t know whether to be impressed by your actions or if I should punish you.”

“I’d prefer you decided to be impressed. Punishment isn’t something I’m into.”

One of his eyebrows went up, and his eyes hardened. “This isn’t something to joke about. You were seen on TV in handcuffs. What part of we are a secret organization do you not understand?”

“I didn’t have a lot of options at the time. I could have slipped away, but they already had a picture of me. It would have just gone on and on until they found me. Not to mention that dickhead cop was just supposed to take me in for questioning, not arrest me.”

“How can you be sure this issue won’t come up again?”

“I can’t be, but I’ve come to an understanding with the detective who was working on my case, and I have a feeling she will keep it under wraps.”

“Good. We’ve spent a fair bit of time and money getting this thing under control. Sure, a few things slipped past us, but we managed to contain most of the fallout. It does put you in danger, though. People now have a face they can tie back to us. For all intents and purposes, you are the new poster child for the Ascendancy.”

“Damn it, Adam, I never wanted any of this. I’m just doing the best I can.”

“I understand there were some good things that happened on your trip as well. It seems that you stopped a wendigo from terrorizing the city, and made a strong alliance with the Fae.”

“My best friend is now the guardian of the grove. In fact, we have been invited to her coronation ceremony. You should come with us to represent the Ascendancy.”

“Thank you for the offer, but I’m not sure my presence there would be welcome.”

“Welcome or not, I think it’s important for you to go. Cementing our relationship with the Fae will only make us stronger.”

“Agreed. I’ll reach out to a few people I know and put out some feelers on how my arrival would be received.” Adam looked as if he had another question on his mind but was mulling over how to say it. Finally, whatever he was thinking about clicked, and he just spewed the question out as quickly as he could. “Jackson, how are the dreams?”

“Funny, now that you mention it. I haven’t had one since I left. I don’t know if that is because I’m more at peace with what happened to my parents or if it has something to do with the changes in my personal life.”

“It’s good to know that they have stopped. I hope that you and April are happy together.”

“Wait, how did you know?”

“There is very little under this roof that I don’t know. The one thing I would ask you to do is keep Britta close.”

“I can try, Adam, but it will take time before we can be together as friends.”

“May I speak openly?”

“I thought that is what we were already doing.”

“I’ve been in contact with Sarafina since April’s run-in with her. April came to me with a story not too long ago, and I’ve been trying to work out the details.”

“So April told you what Sarafina said about Britta.”

“She did, and I’m happy that she came to me.” He sat back, and I knew what was coming next wouldn’t be easy to hear. “I think Britta is working for Stillman to keep tabs on you for the Council.”

“What? Why would Mr. Stillman do that? He is the one who brought me to the academy in the first place.”

“Stillman isn’t who you think he is, Jackson. In fact, as of a few months ago, his seat on the Council was confirmed.”

“You’ve got to be shitting me.”

“I’m afraid not. Stillman has been playing double agent for me for some time, but now I fear that he has been working on his own agenda all along. I haven’t been able to figure it out yet, but it involves you. If Britta was truly his eyes and ears on the inside, we can use that against him.”

“Adam, I’m not sure I could even be around her right now. If she was just using me all this time . . . the thought of it makes me sick.”

“I know, and I shouldn’t ask you to do this, but it could help us. This is one of those times when you have to choose between what is easy and what is right.”

“I haven’t made my decision yet, but if I do make the choice to use her in the way that you are asking me to, my friends need to know the truth. If she can’t be trusted, they need to know that. Otherwise, it puts us all in danger.”

“Agreed. I’ll let you know when I have some information for you to pass along. You can make your decision then.”

“Is there anything else that you needed?”

“No, but for God’s sake, Jackson, remember going forward that we work in the shadows. Next time I expect you to avoid the police and the news cameras at any cost.”

“I’m pretty sure I can do that.” I got up and walked out of Adam’s office. There was something he wasn’t telling me. You didn’t get that tired fending off a few news reports. There was something else going on here, something I needed to know about. The bombshell about Britta was a tough pill to swallow. The only thing that made it easier was that we broke up, but had that been part of some plan that she had? How was I going to be able to work with her knowing that everything we were was a lie?

I didn’t feel good about what Adam was asking me to do. If I did it, then was I really any better than Britta? I guess I wouldn’t be sleeping with her to get the information, like she had with me. So maybe I could still think of myself as the better man. That didn’t seem completely fair. Not all of our time together could have been lie, right? We had some good times together. Those feelings couldn’t have all been fake. Right? I guessed that I would probably never know the truth. That was something I was going to have to learn to live with.

* * *

T
his time
, my stomach was nervous but in a good way. It was that feeling of anticipation that something you had been waiting for a long time was near at hand. I reached out my hand to knock on the door and felt a huge smile break across my face. The first thing I saw when the door opened was a hint of red hair, and then I settled on those beautiful green eyes.

April walked back into her place and sat on the couch. My eyes followed her all the way there before I turned to close the door. Every inch of her called out to me in a way I hadn’t experienced before. She was gorgeous, had saved my life, and had been my best friend since I came to the academy.

Her eyes sparkled as I sat down next to her. “You’re earlier than I expected.”

“Surprisingly things worked themselves out when we were gone. Britta had already moved her stuff out when I got back, and Adam just wanted to impress on me the importance of being more discreet.”

“She really already moved out?”

“Yeah, we had a small fight before we left. I guess she came to the same conclusion I had.”

“What was your fight about?”

“You. I told her that I needed you in my life no matter what, and she accused me of sleeping with you.”

“But we haven’t.”

“Logic didn’t seem to be a large part of the argument.”

April looked down and away from me. “And if she wanted you back?”

“Then she would be out of luck. Everything that I want is right here in this room.”

She turned to me, her eyes filled with moisture. I could tell she hadn’t really believed that all of this would work out. My words had helped to reassure her, but that wasn’t enough. I wiped the tears off her face with my thumbs and leaned in to kiss her. She tasted salty sweet from the tears, and I knew I had made the right choice. There was a connection that hummed between us, one that couldn’t be denied.

We broke apart, and her tears had stopped. I felt it too; something had changed between us; we had grown closer. Closer than I had ever been to anyone in my life. She stood up and looked down at me, holding out her hand. “I love you, Jackson.”

The connection between us almost seemed electric, I could almost feel her thoughts. I put my hand into hers and smiled. “I love you, too.” The connection between us thrummed with desire. April turned and started leading me back to her bedroom. We stopped at the foot of the bed, our mouths coming together. This time, there weren’t any tears. Only our desire bloomed between us.

I could feel the heat of her as she pressed her body to mine. Our clothes came off in a flurry of movement, and then we were inseparable. Our passion was driven by our need for each other. Our connection transcended reality. Every time I moved, she moved with me in perfect unison. Our bodies became one, as did our hearts.

* * *

W
e lay
next to each other, April’s head lying on my chest. I trailed a finger down her neck and played with a strand of her long red hair. This moment was perfect, the kind of thing you could spend your whole life looking for and never get. I felt at peace in her arms. With her by my side, I felt as if nothing would ever go wrong.

“What are you thinking about, Jackson?”

“I have something I want to tell you, but I was too busy enjoying the moment.”

She nipped at my chest. “What is it?”

“Adam told me you went to see him about Britta.”

“Oh?” She said it casually, but I could feel her body tense. The connection I felt with her told me she had grown nervous.

“He told me tonight that he thinks she might be working as a spy for the Council. That she may have inserted herself into my life to report about my actions to them.”

The tension in April’s body faded away, and her nervousness was replaced by anger. “That bitch. I’ll kill her.”

I ran a hand down April’s back, making her shiver. I hoped that it would calm her down. This next part was going to be as hard for her as it was for me. “Adam asked me to keep her close so we could use her to feed information back to the Council.”

“How close?”

“Nothing like that, April. He just wants her to remain in our circle of friends. I told him I would have to think about it.”

“If Adam wants it done, I guess I can find a way to fake it.”

“It’s not that. I’m sure I could do the same thing. It’s just that if we do this, we’re really no better than she is. We would bring her in as a friend and use her to accomplish a goal and then toss her to the wolves. Something about that doesn’t feel right.”

“Jackson, we are at war on two fronts. The Council has cut us off from the rest of our world, and most of the Pretenders see us as an enemy. If what happened in Tucson is any indication of things to come, we also have to be more concerned about the demons and their plans. A little bit of deception seems like the least of our problems.”

“I know. Still, it feels wrong somehow.”

“Whatever you decide to do, I’ll stand by you.”

I turned and lowered my mouth to hers and kissed her. She felt good in my arms, like everything was right. I had a lot to think about, but only one thing was on my mind right now. I turned my kiss from a little taste of her lips into a deep and passionate one. April responded to it by sliding on top of me. We fell into each other for the second time, and I knew that I had made the right choice. This connection between us was too deep to ignore. When your feelings were this strong, there was really no choice to be made at all.

S
he threw
the cup of steaming coffee across the room; the glass shattered when it hit the wall, sending ceramic shards everywhere. The brown liquid slowly dripped down the wall to the floor. One of her assistants ran forward and bent to the ground, cleaning up the mess. Another rushed off to get a towel to clean the rest.

Why had the Ascendancy been there in the first place? The Fae and the Gifted shared no love for each other. The grove had been the perfect place to strike. Over the last year, they had been able to release enough minions of chaos to make the entire plan worth it, but the death of one of her own still made her simmer with rage.

The Fae had been the perfect target. Once the guardian had been replaced, they all fell in line. None of them had been willing to challenge the mighty Shalana, no matter how different she acted. Releasing the Fae’s beasts into the world would have kept the Ascendancy off balance so they couldn’t further their own agenda. With the shapeshifter dead, they only had two courses of action left to them.

They could bide their time and weaken the Ascendancy slowly. This course of action would be risky. The Ascendancy had already proven to be more problematic than they had anticipated. Not only had they killed the shapeshifter but they had forged new alliances. The last thing we needed was for them to grow stronger. The more Pretenders who rallied to their cause only made it harder for us to succeed.

The other way forward was to start the attack. Our position hadn’t grown strong enough yet for an all-out assault to be successful, but launching smaller incursions could bring just the right amount of chaos to keep them too busy to grow stronger. Weakening the Ascendancy before they had the chance to find any more allies seemed like the optimal plan.

This was something that she needed to discuss with Adramelech before continuing. She sat at her desk, forcing herself to remain calm. Any weakness shown to these fools would only bring another challenger forward. She had to destroy three demons this week already. It was only normal that a few would try to rise and take her place, but they had forgotten just whom she was. She had put each challenger down faster than the last, and fed their shells to the Baphomet. Those demons would be in store for a different kind of punishment when Adramelech learned of their treachery.

She smoothed the lapel of the suit coat and forced herself to relax. That little outburst might have cost her some face, but she doubted it would be enough to do any permanent harm. Demons gossiped like a group of wives at a church picnic. An ironic description, but one that hit the mark. Word of her outburst was probably already spreading through their citadel. If the flock didn’t have enough to do that they had time to engage in idle chatter, then she would find more work for them. There was always something else that needed to be done.

“Damara, prepare the summoning chamber for me. I will be there shortly.”

“As you wish, my queen.”

She fled the room to get things underway. It wouldn’t be long now before her master stood before her, the corridor between this plane and hell breached by the summoning. Adramelech would direct her on how to proceed. She turned away from the twinkling lights of Las Vegas and walked out of her office. Her personal chambers felt safe and allowed her to take a breath away from the prying eyes of her staff. What she really wanted was to head into the bathroom and climb into the pool of steaming water. Her servants could satisfy her needs and rub the tension from her shoulders. The human body she was in felt so frail; she longed to shed it and spread her wings for a bit.

Flying over the city might just be the thing she needed to calm her frayed nerves. The hopelessness and loss that emanated from the casinos always made her feel better. Sure, there was hope at the beginning of the night, but it slowly curdled into despair and hate. She fed off of those negative emotions, relishing in the evil thoughts of the mortals below. There really was no better place for a demon to feed than Sin City.

* * *

T
he chamber door opened
, and she walked into the summoning room only to find that they had strapped a female to the sacrificial altar. Her assistant knew that she preferred to have male sacrifices, but that was a demon for you. They were always pushing and prodding, looking for any weakness they could exploit. While having a male sacrifice was her preference, the female’s blood would still get the job done. Leaving the chamber to request that a male be brought in was not an option. It would be just another thing that made her appear weak to the demons that surrounded her. Maybe when she was done, she would spend a little alone time with her assistant to remind her of why she was in charge.

The woman’s eyes stared up at her, frightened and red from crying. The gag in her mouth was wet from her screaming. The sacrifice’s eyes searched for any feeling in hers. The demon looked down on her with pity. Pleading only heightened her sense of arousal. As she undressed, the woman’s attempts to escape grew more frantic. Something about a woman undressing in front of her while she was tied to an altar sent feelings of panic coursing through her. The demon turned to the sacrifice and smiled, picking the knife up from the altar. It was good that she was afraid. Her fear would only make the offering stronger.

The knife in her hands was a beautiful thing. The bone handle had been carved from the shinbone of a holy man. The power it held had been corrupted and turned dark over time by the sacrifices it had been used for. Each unwilling death gave the blade another sliver of power. As she held it, the darkness wrapped around her like a shield, feeding the power from the knife into her essence.

The woman before her struggled against the restraints. The demon held the knife up in the light and turned it so that the blade reflected it. The screams against the gag started again, coming out muffled. That wouldn’t do at all. She reached down and cut the gag away, relishing in the sounds of the sacrifice’s agonized pleas. She ran a hand through the woman’s hair, and she bucked and fought below her. She waited until their eyes met, and slipped the blade under her throat. Her sacrifice’s eyes widened the moment the steel touched her. The realization that her death was at hand finally dawned on her. The demon savored that look of surprise for a moment and then slid the blade roughly across her throat.

The blood filled the basin and started to slowly flow through the channels carved in the stone. The demon moved to one side of the chamber and started to chant, calling on the energy she needed to make the connection to Adramelech. The blood filled the pentagram before her and started to glow. Each beat of her heart seemed to pulse with the red light pouring into the room. There was a slight hiss as the pressure around her broke, and then he was standing before her.

He had come to her in his human guise, something that he didn’t often do. It was a not too subtle message that he was ready to walk this land again. “Adramelech, I have need of your counsel.”

“Tell me what you require, and it shall be yours.”

“I believe the time for us to attack is now. Waiting any longer might let the Ascendancy continue to forge alliances and weaken our overall position.”

“Our strongest demons have not yet been able to make the crossing. Will you be able to defeat the Ascended without them?”

“Defeat them, probably not, but we would be able to force them to pay more attention to us. Adam and his group have been cut off from the rest of the Ascended. They do not have the manpower to keep to their calling and to fight against us. If we could sweep a few of their allies out from under them, it would be even better.”

“I see no reason not to act on your plan. Remember, if you fail me, what awaits you.”

“I have not forgotten, Adramelech. Soon you will rise to walk this world again. I will not fail you.”

“Is there anything else that you need from me?”

She began to whisper, and the demon in front of her smiled at her words. He rose before her in his true form, and she felt the room swell with his power. The shield separating them broke for a moment, and his power rushed into her. The power of the pentagram forced the opening in the shield closed, and Adramelech returned to his human form. “It is done.”

With a single thought, he was gone from their plane of existence, but the power he had infused her with remained. She smiled as she left the chamber. There was enough time left for her to spend a little quality time with her assistant before the party. She would pay for deliberately crossing her and bringing in a female sacrifice. As she walked down the hallway in search of her, a smile spread across her lips at the thought of the screams and pleas that would come. Tonight they would remember why she had been sent here to lead them. Tonight any who opposed her would suffer.