United (The Guardians Book 2) (8 page)

Charles nodded in understanding. “Yes, that makes sense. I was hoping you'd agree that since it was the New York City Guardian Division who gathered the intel, we would be the ones to take the mission on? I know it would usually be Trackers but-”

“I agree,” Faiz interrupted. “Your team have proven themselves to be most useful.”

“Though you yourself must remain behind,” Esha told Charles. “As Head Keeper, it is vital at this time that you stay to keep the peace. With Pablo's demise, Dark Ones are cropping up all over the city, vying to take his place. You must make sure none succeed.”

He sighed in resignation, though didn't seem surprised. “I had a feeling you might say that. Might I suggest Walker go in my place? She's highly-”

“No,” Zay spoke up firmly, and more than one head shot up to look at him curiously. “I'll go.”

Charles paled. “Son, this is an incredibly dangerous mission, far deadlier than anything you've faced before. I don't think you're quite ready.”

“I am,” Zay insisted passionately. “I have to get out there, Dad. Out of the city. I need to do this.”

Tension arose between the two of them – there was a definite story there that Gable didn't know about. She had wondered why someone as skilled and successful as Zay had chosen to remain a Keeper with his father.

“But-”

“It's actually not a bad idea,” Ralf said easily before Charles could argue further. He sat back in his seat and studied Zay. “You're an impressive Guardian, Xavier. Certainly one of the best Keepers I have. If I remember correctly, you were on course to be a Tracker in school before your mother stepped in and switched you to Keeper.”

Ah, there was that story.

Zay glowered at the mention of his mother. Gable hadn't met her. In fact, she was pretty sure she wasn't even around. Not long ago, Charles had been pretty into that psychic chick, Heidi, before Gable had shipped her off to London to save her from Pablo.

“I want to go,” Zay said. “I want to prove my capabilities outside of Keeping.”

Ralf clapped his hands once. “Then it's settled. Xavier will go and Charles and Walker will stay behind to take care of the city.”

Charles pursed his lips and frowned but didn't object any further.

“And what about. . .” Talon rifled through a pile of papers in front of him before pulling one free. “Ah, here she is. Your scientist, Felicity Xylander. I understand she researches faeries?”

“She does?” Nicky asked, his eyebrows raised in surprise.

“It's more of a hobby,” Charles replied. “Though it's taken a bit of a backseat of late. Ever since Nicky joined the team she's been studying him and his shadow guide heritage.”

Nicky blinked. “She has?” Gable was beginning to wonder if the guy ever paid attention to his team. Or to the general world around him.

“Her research might prove valuable on a mission such as this,” Talon suggested.

Charles looked almost as horrified as he had about Zay going. He was like a father sending all of his children off to a war he couldn't fight. “Felicity is very young, only twenty two. And her experience in the field is limited indeed. She's extremely smart, but I'm not at all sure she'd be up to the challenge.”

“Then this will be a perfect learning experience for her,” Talon said, no room for argument in the tone of his voice.

He didn't say anything else, but Gable heard Charles make a faint sound of protest in the back of his throat.

With her eyes averted from Faiz as a show of courtesy, Terelle said, “I'm aware that I can't go-”

“No, you cannot,” Faiz agreed curtly. “You and I both know it is strictly forbidden for a banished faerie to return to Zawavia.”

Terelle nodded respectfully, though Gable wasn't sure why. The guy might have been a king but he was also a giant freaking douche. “I'd like to send somebody in my place,” Terelle continued. “My best psychic, Cadby La Gatutta, has more power than most Outcasts. Not only that but he has a bond with one of the Outcasts we know for certain is on the island – they were close friends for many years. I believe once he is in Zawavia he'd be the best person to find a psychic link to the Outcasts and guide the Guardians to them.”

The Elders agreed.

“That's a great plan.” Ralf was impressed. “Cadby is one of the most powerful psychics we've ever had on record. Why he doesn't do more with his power is beyond me. As long as you think he can keep up with the others physically?”

“I know he'll do his best.”

“Good. And the earth elemental, the one who helped capture the informants. Do you think he'd be willing to accompany the team?”

“He's already on board. Ward wants to help in whatever way he can.”

“That's excellent news. A powerful earth elemental is always an exceptional ally to have. I'd like to send one of my Trackers, too.”

Zay pulled a face. “Is that really necessary?”

Ralf grinned. “Ah, how I do enjoy the petty Keeper/Tracker rivalries. Don't worry, I'll only send the one. Hubert Eades has recovered quite nicely from his brush with the rogue fire elemental you helped bring in the other week, thanks to the salve your scientist created.” Charles smiled proudly. “Hubert can go along with you. He's one of the greats.”

“So great he couldn't even hang on to a fire elemental,” Zay muttered darkly.

Either Ralf didn't hear his comment, or he chose to ignore him.

“I'm going,” Gable declared, speaking up for the first time. It wasn't like her to be so quiet, but the amount of power in the room was kind of overwhelming.

Gustavo, the South American Elder, glared fiercely at her, like he couldn't believe her audacity. “I think not. You are neither a Guardian nor an Outcast, which means you are of absolutely no importance here. Not to mention your recent association with Pablo Nunez, the very reason we need to rescue these Outcasts in the first place. I'm not even sure what you are doing here at this meeting.”

A couple of the other Elders nodded in agreement, though none of them seemed to feel strongly enough about it to speak up.

“You guys aren't
my
bosses,” she pointed out, refusing to get riled up. “You can't stop me from going. If I don't go with the team I'll just go on my own. I got mad skills, you may as well use me.”

“Ridiculous.” Esha turned up her pretty nose in disapproval. She was outwardly stoic – the only sign that Gable's being there angered her was the rosy tint to her dark caramel skin. “You are untrustworthy. And a
civilian
,” she spat, like it was a dirty word.

Talon, though he didn't seem as opposed to the idea of Gable's general existence as some of the others, grimaced sympathetically. “Esha is right, love. We can send our Guardians, and we can even recruit willing Outcasts, but we could never allow a civilian to endanger themselves that way.”

“Now wait just a moment.” Dorian held up a slender, long fingered hand. Up until that moment he had seemed rather easy going, happy to watch his fellow Elders take the lead. “I like her. She has. . .
fire
. I think you of all people, Ralf, would appreciate that.”

“The girl?” Gustavo demanded.

“I have a name,” she muttered, and Dorian grinned.

“Yes, I like her. And I like the
idea
of her. A pretty little high school princess turned street urchin, turned villain, turned. . .hero. We should take a minute to at least think about this instead of dismissing her immediately.” Gable was suddenly grateful for every moment of attention he'd given her during the meeting. He stared at her long and hard, the corner of his lips turned up in an ever present smirk. “Tell me, Gabrielle, have you ever considered training as a Guardian?”

Her automatic reaction was to snort, but it was lost in Gustavo's outraged protests. He slammed his fist down on the table with a roar. “A ridiculous idea from an utterly ridiculous child! What Vàclav was thinking when he chose you as his successor remains a mystery to me!”

Well now Gable
wanted
to be a Guardian, if only to spite Gustavo for being a total dick.

“You spit upon the sanctity of the Guardians,” Esha hissed. “To bring in this. . .
traitor
as one of our own.”

Dorian ignored them like he hadn't heard a word they'd said. “Well? Have you?”

She still couldn't quite tell if he was being serious. Why had things suddenly taken such an odd turn? Why was all the focus on her? “God, no.”

“And rightly so.” Gustavo shook his head. “No Guardian team in all the world would take her on.”

And then, surprising them all, Charles cleared his throat and said, “Actually,
I
would.” When they turned to stare at him in shock, Zay and Nicky included, he only straightened his shoulders in resolve instead of backing down. “In our brief
acquaintance
Gable has already proven herself to be highly knowledgeable and far more skilled in combat than many a Guardian I've worked with in my time. Say what you will about her old employer, but he trained her to an exceptional standard. It might serve us well to have that to our advantage.”

Gable watched Charles in disbelief but he didn't once glance her way. The guy had certainly changed his tune about her, that was for sure.

Dorian nodded at Charles in appreciation. “It is her past with Pablo and her insight to the darker aspects of the Outcast world that I think we will find highly valuable. She certainly has a unique perspective. Already we've learned more from her about vampires than we ever knew. She knows things that we simply do not. Yes, she has many assets.” He cocked his head as he watched her, the smolder back in full force. “Many, many assets.”

Talon rolled his eyes. “If you want to sleep with her, do it on your own time, kiddo. This ain't a dating service.”

“I think we should vote on the matter,” Dorian declared cheerfully.

Gable gaped, taken aback. The whole discussion had just kind of. . .snowballed. They wanted her to be a Guardian?
Her
? Seriously? Were they on crack? And did she
want
to be a Guardian? She hadn't even thought of a life beyond getting Sacha back. In fact, it had been a long,
long
time since she'd thought of a life beyond getting Sacha back. But maybe. . .maybe becoming a Guardian would be a good thing, kind of an awesome thing. It would give her a purpose, a true path in life like she'd never had before. Oh, that was weird.

“We take a vote on whether Gabrielle joins the team for the mission,” Dorian continued, with such authority in his voice that if Gable had had doubts about his ability as an Elder before, she lost them all immediately. “And if she does, this can be a test of sorts. If she is successful on the mission, we agree to train her as a Guardian. What say you? Weejida, you first.”

“I like a strong woman,” Weejida replied contemplatively. “I think we need more of them. I see a lot of potential in you, Gabrielle, a lot of potential indeed. In a way, you almost remind me of myself at a younger age – so ready and willing to do whatever it took to get what you want. I vote yes.”

What?
Gable opened her mouth to say something but then closed it again, speechless. She'd spent so long being hated for being one of the bad guys that having people suddenly believing in her and rooting for her was seriously hard to comprehend.
 

Under the table, probably feeling her friend's anxiety, Terelle took her hand and squeezed.

“I also vote yes,” Faiz said, though he looked rather bored by the whole conversation. “Because I think humans have a warped value of what's right and wrong. In Zawavia, Gabrielle would be seen as a strong warrior, and that is what's most important.”

“I vote no.” Esha went next. “But that is no surprise, I have already made my reasons perfectly clear.”

“I like you, Gable,” said Talon. “But I've got to vote no. Try as I might, I just don't see a place for you.”

“Well luckily I have much better vision than you, old man,” Dorian teased. “We all know I vote yes.”

Next up, Gustavo folded his arms across his chest. “No,” he barked, and that was all.

And last, as the deciding vote, was Ralf. He scrunched up his mouth as he studied Gable for a tortuously long time. “My problem, you see, is that if you were a Guardian, you'd be working in my sector and every one of your actions would reflect back on me,” he pondered out loud. Another drawn out silence, this one lasting almost a whole minute. “I guess it's a good thing I like taking risks. You're in, Gabrielle Xanders. Don't let me down. I vote yes.”

Gable didn't know what to say. She couldn't quite believe it was really happening and that she'd done nothing to stop it. She needed her head examining. They all needed their heads examining.

“Then it's done,” Dorian called out happily. All of the Elders clapped, even Esha, Talon and Gustavo. It seemed that when a decision was made final, they all chose to respect it, though Esha and Talon accepted it with slightly more grace than Gustavo.

“Welcome to the Guardians, Gabrielle.” Weejida smiled. “If you impress me with this mission, perhaps I'll consider training you myself. It has been a long time since I took on a student.”

Gable didn't know a whole lot about the inner workings of the Guardian world, but even she could tell that being trained by Weejida would be a huge honor, so she smiled with as much respect as she could muster.

The problem was, she still. . .wasn't sure. Being a Guardian wasn't something she could have dreamed for herself, not in a million years. She didn't even
like
them. Hell, she'd been mocking them not hours before. She couldn't ever imagine a world in which she introduced herself as a Guardian without rolling her eyes.

But on the other hand, it would get her to the island and for the moment, that was all that mattered. Sacha was all that mattered. She would just take it one step at a time and worry about the rest later. . .if they even survived.

Sneaking a looking at the other Guardians, she wasn't surprised to find Zay frowning. She wasn't sure whether it was the idea of working with her or because his dad hadn't run the whole deal by him first, but he definitely wasn't impressed. Nicky, however, was grinning his head off like all his Christmases had come at once.