“There have to be ways of telling the spaces apart,” Ry said.
“No time to learn,” Lorcan said, “especially if we need to run.”
“Which we will as soon as we get Aiden out of there,” I added.
“If you get him out of there,” Ry said.
“If,” I echoed. “Picking the right moment will be the biggest problem.”
There wasn’t much more we could do until we learned how many would join us on the quest to free Aiden, so I went back and hung out at Anka’s house for most of the day.
“You’re pretty good at that,” I said, watching Dita embroider next to me.
“You should see my mam’s stitches,” she said. “Have you heard from Emmett?”
“A little. He seems okay. Do you miss him?”
She shrugged. “We’re too busy to miss anyone.” She grinned. “Maybe a little, but I have Leah now.”
“I’m glad. Stay close to Leah if anything ever goes wrong, okay? Val will watch out for you both if the rest of us can’t.”
She leaned her head against my shoulder. “I’m going to learn to fight. I don’t want to have to wait to be saved.”
Leah edged into the room, avoiding my eyes. After a couple of minutes of leaning against the doorway, she took a seat on the other side of me. “Sorry I ratted you out,” she said.
“Big mouth,” I teased. “You did the right thing. Can I ask you something?”
She nodded.
“When you were in the cells, how come you didn’t sleep like the rest of us?”
“You didn’t sleep as much as everyone else either,” she said. “I don’t know. Stuff doesn’t have an effect on me sometimes. Maybe I’m missing a piece. A soul or something.”
“Everyone has a soul,” Dita said.
“Then where’s yours?” Leah retorted. “Seriously, Ava. I think that the stuff I can do is because I’m missing something, rather than because I have something extra.”
“How did you get out of that cell?” I asked.
She smiled. “Val made a mess to distract everyone, and Cam made a Guardian open the cell. The tags and stuff didn’t work on me. That’s kind of cool, right? So he was able to just run out of there with me. Val caught up to us later. Kate was waiting in a car. We got out of there as quick as we could.”
“How did Kate end up with you?”
She rubbed her temples. “She was with Cam first. Her grandmother was a big deal. She used some kind of magic, but her real gift was dream-seeing. She came to Ireland as a refugee and set up as a kind of fortune-teller, except she did the big production and made herself seem like a sham.”
“But why?” I asked.
“To protect herself. People like her get dragged into all kinds of things. Anyway, she was hunted down and killed to stop her from seeing… well, me.” Leah’s cheeks flushed. “But her gift had passed on to her granddaughter, and when the grandmother died, Kate kind of… woke up. They came for her, too, but Cam had already found her.”
“Why did he care?”
“He needed her to find me.” She smiled wryly. “That was his mission, I think. His way to atone. He shouldn’t have left us, but he’s a coward. I could feel his fear sometimes. That’s not my gift, but it was so strong. There’s fear in that children’s home, too.”
“What do you feel around me?” I asked in a low voice, dreading the answer. “People seem to think my kind will end the world.”
She stared at me. “Some of your kind might. But not you. I feel… safe around you.”
“Me, too,” Dita said.
I wrapped my arm around Dita and held her close.
“But not everyone feels safe around you,” Leah said, and at first it sounded like a warning. “The wrong people feel the defences you throw up. I sense it when you’re angry or scared. It makes them want to get away from you, but I still feel safe.”
I wondered how a teenage girl could understand so much more than the rest of us.
***
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 Esthe
r 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.
Chapter Fifteen
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.”