Traitor (16 page)

Gabe called me that evening.

“We’ve having a meeting in an hour,” he said, “to discuss candidates for the empty seat. I thought you might want to know.”

“So everyone will be distracted. Does that give us enough time to break Aiden out of the cells?”

There was a pause, but I imagined he was swearing in his head. “Are you serious?”

“Yeah. We’ll run in and out, quick as we can. It might work,” I said. “Try to have as many important people at that meeting as possible and keep them occupied if we set off any alarms.”

“You’re not really going through with this, are you?”

“I have to. Esther needs this. She needs… I just have to, okay?”

“I won’t be able to help you.”

“Just make sure you tell me everything that happens at that meeting. I have to go.” I hung up and updated the others.

“If we meet up with Esther, she can lead us in,” Lorcan said excitedly. “The Council won’t be running around, but even if they are, Elathan can find out for us. It’s the perfect time for this.”

“We don’t have much time to plan,” I said, trying to envision it happening in my head. I couldn’t.

“There might not be another chance like this,” Ry said, and the others agreed.

“It’s a huge risk,” I said, uncertain once I started really thinking it through.

“It’s for Esther,” Lorcan said.

I exhaled loudly. “I’ll need the rest of you to protect Leah and the others until Val and Carl come back. Can you do that?”

“We’ll call Carl,” Ry said. “And in the meantime, we’ll stand guard. We’ve been training hard. We’re stronger than we were. Tougher. We can protect ourselves now, Ava. We don’t need you here all of the time.”

I glanced at Lorcan, who nodded. If he was prepared to leave his sister with them, then he trusted them, and I had to, also.

“Get Val back as soon as possible,” I said. “Lorcan, let’s go.”

On the way, I called Esther, who agreed to meet us close to the Headquarters. We took a taxi out of the city and got out and ran as soon as we could. We were able to cut quickly across fields to find Esther. She was standing next to Elathan and the remaining six members of her circle, including the shifters. They all had hardened expressions, and I knew they were preparing for battle.

“We need to hurry,” Elathan said. “They’ll expect me to be late to the meeting, but they may send someone looking for me.”

“Why’s Lorcan here?” Esther asked, and all of her Circle seemed to really see him for the first time.

“He’s—” one of them said in a shocked voice.

“Yeah, we know,” I said. “He’s going to be
Phoenix
for a while and pretend he’s escorting us to the cells if we bump into anyone. And we
will
bump into someone. It’s inevitable. They won’t leave Aiden unguarded now. They might even expect an escape attempt.”

“Everyone thinks Esther’s lost to the dark side,” a shifter said. “They won’t expect her here.”

“Are you all in?” I asked.

“We’ll get you in and Aiden out, but after that, you’re on your own,” Quinn said. “I know Aiden didn’t kill Koda, and I won’t stand by to watch him die for nothing.”

The tallest shifter nodded, her braids swinging. “He’s our alpha, and that comes before the Council. We won’t allow him to be a scapegoat.”

“What about the other shifters?” Lorcan asked. “Why aren’t they here for him?”

“They don’t know what to believe,” Alanii explained. “It’s a complicated story. But we’re with Esther on this. She’s a sister to us. That’s the difference.”

“Okay,” I said, “we don’t have time to make much of a plan, but here’s what I’m thinking. Elathan, you and one of Esther’s Circle should get to that meeting and figure out how many are there. Whoever goes with Elathan can sneak out at the right time and let us know when to move. We all head in together, with me and Esther as prisoners, if anyone sees us. Everyone’s scared shitless of
Phoenix
, so if we’re lucky, they won’t look too closely at Lorcan while he escorts us, accompanied by Guardians. The problem is what we do when we get to Aiden. I think getting in will be the easiest part, but we still have to get him out of the cell, take off that tag thing, and get him out past whoever is guarding the cells.”

“We’ll fight the guards before they can sound an alarm,” Quinn said. “They’ll have the keys to the cells and likely something that will open the tag safely. If not, we can leave it on him until Elathan meets up with us.”

“Don’t let him go outside with that thing on,” Elathan warned. “That could get messy.”

“So we might need you to slip out of that meeting,” I said. “That’s one of those things we’ll need to figure out once we’re in there. As long as nobody sets off an alarm, this could go well.”

“We need to hurry,” Esther said, dancing from one foot to the other. “In case this meeting is really about bringing up Aiden’s execution.”

“It’s not,” Elathan said. “That empty seat is a far more pressing issue. To them,” he added hurriedly.

“Okay. We all know what we need to do. Fake it until we make it. No matter what happens though, if we get caught or whatever, get Lorcan out of here. We need him safe. Lucia and his gifts are way too important to lose now.” I glanced at his raised eyebrows. “And I kind of like the kid.”

“Technically, I’m old enough to be your father,” he said, but he grinned.

Elathan’s expression darkened, and I found it hard to look directly at him. Maybe it was because of the time he had spent in Hell, but when his mood turned anything other than light-hearted, my flight instinct kicked in. “We need to move,” he said. “We won’t go through the main door, just in case. The less Guardians we see, the better.”

My phone beeped with a text from Gabe.

“The meeting’s about to start,” I said, reading his message. “Let’s get inside.”

We moved to an older entrance with Elathan and Lorcan walking directly ahead of us, forcing haughty demeanours and discussing something under their breaths. Two of Esther’s Circle grabbed her arms and trailed behind them. Two took me along next, and another two took up the rear. They all put on their stony Guardian faces, and I tried to look pissed off.

We came to the first set of Guardians, both of them looking slightly confused.

“He’s innocent,” Esther shouted, struggling to break free.

Quinn grabbed her hair roughly. “I told you to shut up, traitor!”

The Guardians didn’t stop us, and we entered the building. As soon as we were alone, the two holding my arms relaxed their hands slightly.

“You need to hide in an empty room,” Elathan said in a low voice. “Quinn, come with me. When I nod, leave the meeting and come back to lead this lot onward. Be careful. Don’t take any risks.”

“The whole thing is a risk,” I murmured.

He opened a door and ushered us all inside. “If you’re found, I can’t help you, so don’t get caught.”

He and Quinn left, and I paced the room, my hands shaking. We were in the mouth of the beast. If we were caught, there was nobody left to rescue us. Doubt gripped me again. If Elathan or Quinn betrayed us… if the plan went wrong… if this was all a trap to entice Esther into the Council’s clutches…

“You’re making me nervous,” Alanii said.

I blew out a shaky breath and tried to calm down. “Sorry.”

I started to say something else but heard footsteps running down the corridor. We all froze, and a trickle of sweat ran down my brow as the door handle slowly turned.

Quinn popped her head around the door, and we all breathed a collective sigh of relief.

“Meeting’s started,” she said. “It’s time to move. I don’t know how long we’ll have.
Phoenix
is at the meeting, so we need to be extra careful if we’re stopped by somebody in the know.”

“Let’s go,” Lorcan said, and we went out into the corridor.

“This way,” Quinn said without hesitation.

We followed, ready to see if we could really break Aiden out of a Council cell.

We moved swiftly and quietly until Quinn held up her hand, motioning for us to stop. We obeyed without a word, and she nodded at the others, who grabbed mine and Esther’s arms. They marched us around a corner, and we came to a door guarded by two tall Guardians. Behind the door were the cells, and goose bumps rose on my arms when I realised how close we were.

Lorcan didn’t hesitate. He strode right up to the men and made as if to pass them.

“What’s going on?” one asked, staring at us in confusion.

“What does it look like?” Lorcan snapped.

Both men bowed their heads. Then one flinched, and just as he jerked up his head to take a second look at Lorcan, the half-fae’s fist smacked him right in the nose, sending a burst of blood spraying into the air. Quick as a flash, Lorcan turned on the second Guardian before the man even realised what was happening. Lorcan cracked both of their skulls together, knocking them unconscious.

He looked back at us and shrugged. “Let’s go in, shall we?”

I widened my eyes at Esther. Lorcan had taken after his father.

Lorcan opened the door and went straight in, ready to walk all over any guards within, but there were none. Quinn and Esther searched the fallen Guardians’ pockets, but I followed Lorcan, feeling the uncomfortable hum of magic against my skin. I passed cells full of sleeping people and wondered if Aiden was even still in the cell area.

I spotted a familiar face in one of the cells. “Gareth,” I said. “He’s been here all along.”

“We can’t do anything for the others,” Alanii warned. “They will be too groggy to run, and we can’t carry them all.”

“I have to come back for them,” I said.

Lorcan called out from the other end of the room. “He’s here!”

I jogged down to where he stood in front of a cell on the back wall.

Aiden glared up at me from where he lay on the floor. “Get out of here.” He sounded as if his mouth was full, and he could barely keep his eyes open.

“We’re here to help,” I said, but I couldn’t help glaring back.

“Haven’t you done enough?”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

“Koda’s dead because of you. My sister’s in danger because of you. Oh, Jesus.” His head turned to see the others. “You brought her
here
? Are you
stupid
?”

“This was my idea,” Esther said.

“Go home,” he snapped. “You’re all fools to follow this one. She’s going to get you all killed.”

“So says the one who buddied up with the people who tried to murder his own sister.” My voice came out louder than I intended, and Lorcan laid a hand on my arm in warning.

Aiden shook his head slightly. “And you somehow managed to involve my sister and Robbie in digging up things that should have stayed hidden. Did you really think nobody would notice what Robbie was doing? A
human
? It’s your fault Koda’s dead. And now look where I am because of it.”

“You’re being idiotic,” Esther said in a harsh voice.

Quinn made a sweeping shape in the air in front of the cell. It opened, and Aiden tried to stand. Actually, he lurched toward me as if he were about to attempt to strangle me, but he collapsed before he could manage it.

“Holy shit. How the hell are we supposed to carry that lump out of here?” I giggled in spite of myself. In spite of Aiden’s anger. In spite of what he had told me. Yet again, death followed me. Well, not today. We were getting Aiden out of there no matter what happened.

“Everyone, grab a limb,” Lorcan said. “We’ll carry him as far as we can. We can’t just leave him here like this. Not after knocking out the guards. They might wake up at any moment.”

“They won’t,” one of the shifters said, her cheeks flushing. “I kind of stunned them after you knocked them out. They’ll wake up tomorrow… if they’re lucky.”

“We need to get Elathan to remove the tag,” I said. “Unless you’ve already found something that does that.”

Quinn swore. “We didn’t.”

“We have to go close to the meeting room to get out of here anyway,” Esther said. “So we’ll get near it, and someone can run up to the door and try to catch Elathan’s attention. The hardest part will be carrying my brother.”

“We’ll have to take out the guards at the entrance,” Lorcan said.

“So be it,” Quinn said. “Safer to do it on our way out than in. Less chance of them being found. Let’s move on. Quickly and quietly.”

Cursing softly, we picked up Aiden and shuffled our way out of the cell room. I hesitated at the door, staring at those we had left behind.

Alanii laid a hand on my shoulder. “We’ll return. Come on.”

We hurried through white corridor after annoyingly white corridor, and we appeared to be getting nowhere. The place seemed designed to be suffocating.

We heard voices, and all of us froze. I could hear our heartbeats so plainly that I was sure we were caught.

“Put him on the floor and step back around the corner,” Lorcan whispered.

I barely heard him, but I obeyed without thinking twice. Two Guardians came around the corner. I realised they were both shifters and counted heartbeats as they approached Aiden.

“Aiden? What’s he doing here?” one said.

“Is he dead?” the other asked. Neither called for help. They leaned over Aiden, and Lorcan nodded at me, nudging my arm. We crept silently into the corridor and wrapped our arms around the men’s throats. They quietly fell into unconsciousness without much of a struggle.

“What the hell?” Quinn hissed at Lorcan.

“Less people who see your faces, the better for you,” he said in a low voice.

She nodded, reluctantly grateful.

“In fact…” Lorcan hesitated and glanced at everyone. “Should we put them in the cells with the others?”

“Good idea,” Quinn said. “Nobody will check on them until someone comes to take over the post. Shift is on for roughly four more hours.”

Esther stayed with Aiden while we carried the two Guardians back to the cells.

“They’re going to be so pissed,” Alanii said with a grin.

We left them together in one cell.

“Come on,” I said. “We really need to get Aiden out of here before that meeting ends.”

When we got back to Esther, Aiden was beginning to wake up.

He glanced around groggily. “What’s going on?” he mumbled.

“We’re saving your hole,” I said sharply. “Now shut up before you get your sister killed.”

“Sister?” His gaze found Esther, and he smiled lovingly. “Essie,” he murmured. “You’re here.”

“Hush, Aiden.” Esther cupped his cheek with her hand. “I’m getting you home, okay? But you need to be quiet. If you make a sound, we’re all dead.”

He seemed to understand a little after that, and Esther and Lorcan helped him walk. We got closer to the meeting room. Esther was busy making sure Aiden was okay, Lorcan couldn’t be seen when his doppelganger was already in the room, and the others were terrified. They had become more nervous with each knocked-out guard, so I knew it was down to me to try to get Elathan’s attention. I crept up to the entrance. Nobody was guarding the door, but I knew everyone inside had a personal guard protecting them. I glanced back at my friends then opened the door a crack.

I tried to catch Elathan’s eye. Finally, he looked right at me and nodded.

Then,
Phoenix
jumped to his feet. “You!”

I froze to the spot, seeing that same cold fury I had found on Fionnuala’s face many a time. Behind the door, I gestured for the others to run. Lorcan tried to make his way over to me, but Quinn yanked him back, covering his mouth with her palm. She shook her head aggressively. I waved at them to leave as I entered the room.

Fionnuala looked proud as
Phoenix
strode over to me. “What are you doing?” he spat. “Spying, are you?”

I shrugged with a sheepish smile. “What can I say? I thought my invite got lost in the post.”

Phoenix
took his whip from his belt. My smile faltered. What was he going to do? Elathan slipped out of the room, unnoticed by everyone but me. I hoped he was going to help Aiden.

Phoenix
cracked the whip with a sadistic smile. I had seen that smile before—Maximus and Gideon had both smiled at me like that back when they had tortured me.

“I personally invite you to stay, tainted one,”
Phoenix
said in a cold, cruel voice. He snapped the whip in my direction. Stunned, I froze as the leather wrapped around my torso. For a second, I was too shocked to react.

Then, I found why the werewolves hated the whip so much. It was alive with electricity, shooting continuous bolts into my body. I let out an endless scream and my body seized as the unrelenting pain kept slamming through me.

Nobody moved to help me, and I couldn’t do a thing to help myself. I was trapped in a world of pain and agony. The wound in my side burned as if flaming stakes had been thrust into my skin. I saw Gabe and Eddie sitting there watching as my body jerked of its own accord. I collapsed to the floor, defenceless and unable to stop convulsing, yet the movement only increased the torture.

The last thing I saw was the interested gaze of
Marina
raking over my body. The last thing I heard was a pleased little laugh from Fionnuala.

The last thing I felt was the endless pain from
Phoenix
’s betrayal. He was exactly like Fionnuala, after all.

***

Someone was carrying me—two someones, actually. The awful shooting electric seizures were over, but my body was still racked with pain, and the bandage on my side felt wet. I had probably busted my stitches.

One of my carriers laughed gruffly. “Looks like it’s waking up.”

I opened my eyes to see a white floor speeding past me. I was face down and moving fast—to the cells, if I was lucky. I prayed the others had gotten away.

As the echoes from the pain diminished, I realised there were more than two people walking with me. I managed to lift my aching head to see two figures a couple of metres behind us: Fionnuala and
Phoenix
. Her arm was hooked through his, and she was speaking quickly into his ear. He gazed at me, and I hoped he saw and felt every fibre of hatred I threw at him with my eyes.

I wanted to kill him. Such pain was unimaginable for most people. Not for me. And yet I could hardly bear the memory of it. Every time I closed my eyes, I felt the lick of the whip against my skin, the constant convulsions of my body as the magic manipulated me. I wanted to pass out again, just to forget, but I felt sure I would see that whip in my dreams and feel every seizing limb being electrocuted. Luckily, I didn’t have long to live.

We came to the door that hid the cells, and one of the Guardians swore.

“Where the hell are they?” he muttered.

“Something wrong?”
Phoenix
called.

“Unlikely,” the other Guardian whispered.

They dropped me to the floor. I barely had a chance to protect my face from smacking against the hard surface, but my limbs didn’t seem to work anymore, so I ended up smacking my cheek against the stone anyway. I tried to sit up, to stand, to do anything, but my body felt like jelly, and it was terrifying. Little tics twitched throughout my body, and I couldn’t imagine feeling normal again. I couldn’t remember what it felt like. I had no control, and that was my worst nightmare.

A door was opened and then closed.

“Aiden’s gone!” one said. “There are four Guardians locked in the cells.”

“What?” Fionnuala asked in a tone that made me want to curl up and die. She stepped over me to get into the cell area. “Well,” she said, her voice turning ugly, “it seems she wasn’t our only visitor today.” She kicked me in the side. “Where is he?”

I bit down on my lip, drawing blood in an attempt to hold in my scream. “Who?” I spat blood all over their lovely clean floor.

She kicked me again. “The shifter. Where is he?”

I grunted. “Oh, you mean your little bitch? I dunno. Maybe he went on holiday. He deserved one after taking down Koda’s murderer.”

“Lies,” she spat. “He’s the murderer.”

“We both know that’s not true,” I said.

She bent and grabbed me by the throat. Whatever was in that whip came through her hands, and I screamed long and loud as my body bucked under her touch. My head felt as though it were about to explode, and I almost cried with happiness when the blackness crept into the edges of my sight.

“I’ll find out,”
Phoenix
said. He searched me and took my dagger away. “Give me time with her, and I’ll find out everything she knows.”

Fionnuala removed her hand, and although the surges of electricity stopped, my body seized up until I could barely catch a breath.

“Fine,” she said. “I have more pressing concerns in any case. I need to go back and convince them. Deal with this creature after you’ve let her rot for a few days. The hunger and thirst will make her far more pliable. Until then, keep her asleep. And you two, make sure those guards stay in the cells for a fortnight as punishment. If my mood improves, I may even let them live to be stupid another day.”