Devotion (20 page)

I picked up my bra and pulled it on.

"Seriously?" Tristan asked, barely making a sound, but I could still hear the defeat.

"Sorry," I mouthed. Weres and vamps had super-human senses and could hear the tiniest sound a mile away, so I explained telepathically.
I think she's coming closer. Let me listen.

He nodded reluctantly, disappointment filling his eyes.

"
But is she powerful enough? Is she as intelligent as they say?
" I could almost hear what felt like a snort.
"
Nah, she is nothing. We have our leverage over her. Over Katerina and Sophia, too. We'll take care of them easily and the plan will go perfectly. We just need to keep the girl hidden long enough.
"

My hand flew to my mouth, and my eyes practically popped out of their sockets. I stood frozen until the thought was long gone. Then nothing. The signature traveled out of range again. I plopped to the ground, dumbstruck.

Tristan sank to his knees in front of me and placed his hands on the sides of my face, tilting mine up to his. He whispered only loud enough for my keen ears to hear. "What is it?"

I told him what I heard. "And it was the same council member. The same voice."

"But she still didn't say a daughter, just a girl."

"What other girl would anyone want to hide? And both times she's mentioned it, she paired it with my name."

Tristan shrugged. "At least we know for sure this is the traitor and there's some kind of plan."

"I need to figure out who it is so I can learn as much as possible. And I need to let go of this freakin' shield so I can give Rina proof."

"We can try again … return to what we were doing ..." No enthusiasm filled his words, though, as he gave me a half-hearted smile.

I frowned, and he nodded with understanding. Our moment ruined, he took my hand, and we flashed back to the suite.

***

I couldn't sleep. Visions of Sheree and how I'd almost killed her while trying to save her soul flashed in my mind, mixed with images of an auburn-haired, brown-eyed young girl trapped in a jail cell. With Julia's suspicious behavior and the voice I'd heard tonight, I couldn't help but think that's whom they kept in the Council Hall cellar. My daughter. Taken from me at birth and hidden away.

Tired of tossing and turning, I slid out of bed and tiptoed into the bathroom, closing the door behind me before lighting the candle by the sink. Tristan surely couldn't have slept through my restlessness, but I didn't want to wake him in case he had. I stood in front of the mirror, pushed my fingers through my hair and pressed my palms against my temples while staring into my own eyes.

"What if …?" I whispered to myself. And the answer came right back.
I have to know
.

I grabbed my spandex workout pants from the hamper and quickly pulled them on, along with the T-shirt Tristan had taken off before our trip to the gym. It hung to my knees, but I didn't care. No one would see me.
No one but …

Without anymore thought, I flashed to the Council Hall cellar. Darkness filled the corridor, now that the door upstairs and the one at the end of the hall were both closed. My eyes adjusted quickly and skimmed the five doors lining each side of the hall. I was only interested in one. The last door on the left, the one imprisoning the only nearby mind signature.

Before I could talk myself out of it, I crept down the corridor. No handle, no indication of a lock or anything interrupted the stone face of the door, except a small opening toward the top with bars and a metal screen covering it. Magic probably kept the door closed and locked the prisoner inside–magic I wouldn't be able to break through. I stood on my toes and peeked through the barred window.

A girl with stringy, matted blond hair and eyes such a pale gray, they were almost no color at all, huddled in the corner. She must have been about twelve years old–not my daughter–but looked younger, so pathetic and harmless.

"
You can open it
," a girl's voice sounded in my mind
.
"
You're Royalty. And you can help me get out of here. If that vampire comes back … I can't take it again. What she does to me …
"

I blanched. She couldn't have known I could read her mind, so she simply thought words she couldn't bring herself to voice, but her fear of what Julia did to her alarmed me. She flipped her arm out and red indentions marked her skin in the crook of her elbow. I sucked in a breath. Bite marks. That was enough for me. I flicked my hand and, as she'd expected, the door slid open.

The girl sat motionless for a long moment, as if she wasn't sure what to do. I stood perfectly still, not wanting to frighten her. When she still didn't move, I took a step and crossed the threshold.

A high screech rented the air.

A blur of motion flew at me.

Her ears suddenly pointed up beyond the top of her head. Her eyes glowed pink. Her lips disappeared, exposing rows of pointed teeth filling her mouth. Hairy claws stretched out in front of her, aimed for my face. I noticed all this in a fraction of a second as she sailed toward me.

My hand flew up and an electric jolt shot at her, throwing her to the corner she came from. She flew at me again. But a force jerked me out of the cell, and the door slammed shut, her body crashing against the other side. She let out a feral wail, muffled by the stone. Strong arms engulfed me, trapping me against a hard body.

"Damn it, Alexis. Don't you listen?" Tristan growled. His voice was full of anger, but his hand gently stroked my hair.

"What was that?" I whispered. My heart still pounded against his abs.

He flashed us to the suite before answering. "Remember the potion Jordan and the witch created, the one that mixed the qualities of all the Daemoni creatures?"

I nodded.

"And you remember no one knew the exact recipe for it after his witch-lover died, but the Daemoni kept trying to recreate it?"

I nodded again.

"They've been experimenting all this time. For centuries. They finally came close with Lucas, but he was a grown man when he drank it. They thought giving the potion to a man and a woman before conception would allow them to create the strongest, most powerful warrior ever. And they did."

"You," I whispered.

 "Yes, me. But Lucas and I were the two exceptions. Every other experiment has gone wrong, producing
things
of your worst nightmares."

"And that was one of them?" My voice came out hoarse, filled with horror.

"Over the years, the Amadis have found a few experiments, abandoned by their creators. They keep trying to see if they can ever get through to them, overcome the evil and find any humanity, possibly convert them. They haven't succeeded yet."

I dropped to the bed, my hand over my mouth.

"But why would Julia feed off of her?" I asked.

"Julia would never–"

"I saw the marks."

"You also saw what you thought was a harmless, young girl," he said softly.

I nodded with understanding. "Illusions. Deceit. She's still just Daemoni."

Was this the girl being hidden? Did the traitor have some kind of plan to use her against us?

Tristan sat next to me and folded me into his arms. "Do you remember, in the beginning, how I had to fight to keep control so I wouldn't kill you? That's why they created me, why they keep trying to create warriors–to hunt down and kill the Amadis. I had nearly twenty years of being Amadis before I met you, twenty years to learn control, and I still hadn't mastered it." He tightened his arms around me. "She would have killed you without a thought."

The day I'd been dreading for three months–the day of the coronation ceremony–dawned bright and beautiful, mocking my dark mood. Every time the ceremony had been brought up, my insides squirmed uncomfortably, but I tried not to think too much about all the attention it would bring. As if the curtsies and the head-bows weren't bad enough, the whole island would be paying tribute at once. I wanted to run away and hide. When Mom brought me the dress I was supposed to wear, I silently and profusely cussed at the fact that I couldn't flash off the island.

The dress looked very much like my traditional Amadis wedding dress, only it was lavender instead of white. The straps on the leather bodice were slightly different and amethysts, rather than diamonds, lined the band encircling my neck. The silk, A-line skirt was surely shorter, though, several inches above my knees. I loved the color and the stones–my favorites–but nothing else. And this time I'd be seen in it by more than family and a handful of strangers.

"So why do I have to wear
this
–" I flipped my hands at myself, particularly my boobs, which were about to fall out of the bodice "–and you get to wear
that
?" I asked Tristan when I saw him dressed and ready to go.

His outfit was comparatively simple–black dress pants and a black, silk, button-down shirt–though he looked especially stunning in it.

He eyed me appreciatively and grinned, the gold flecks in his eyes shining brightly. "Because I pulled some strings so I'd get to see you in something like that again."

I narrowed my eyes, but he was teasing. He shrugged unabashedly.

"So I had nothing to do with it," he admitted. "It
is
traditional. But if I did have any say, I'd definitely choose this for you."

I stuck my bottom lip out. "I thought you loved me."

"I do." He brushed his lips across my forehead. "And I love showing you off."

"This is so unfair," I muttered, tugging at the top of the bodice. As with every other part of me, the
Ang'dora
enhanced my boobs, and whoever made this dress must not have taken that into account.

We flashed to the little holding room in the Council Hall, where Solomon, Rina and Mom waited. The fact that Mom's and Rina's dresses were similar to mine–Mom's was a darker purple with both amethysts and diamonds around her neck and Rina's was a deep violet with large diamonds–didn't make me feel much better. They surely felt just as uncomfortable as I did, even if they didn't show it. Rina favored floor-length gowns and Mom was more casual, like me, though Mom preferred dressy jeans and blouses, while I believed life should be lived in shorts, T-shirts and flip-flops. They both looked exquisite, of course, making me wonder how I could ever think I was now as beautiful as them. It simply wasn't possible.

Before we could go to the arena for the ceremony, we had to wait for all of the council to arrive. Many had been delayed because they'd been helping Martin with a situation in Italy. As I wondered–and wished–if they might cancel the ceremony, I noticed Rina's head cock slightly, and a second later I, too, picked up on the new mind signatures in the building.

"I will be back in a moment," Rina said. "Julia requires me."

With the mention of Julia's name, I identified the vampire's mind signature. She waited in the large, archaic meeting room with the round, wood table. Another mind signature hovered nearby as well, though Rina didn't mention anyone accompanying Julia. It was the same signature, with the same strange, almost-mage-like texture, as I'd heard the other night in the woods. Rina was gone before all of this registered.
Should I warn her the traitor was there, too?
I hadn't told her about the incident in the woods, and there was no time to explain now. So, I listened to see what I could learn.

Rina and Julia didn't speak aloud. Too many people had way-too-good of hearing, and I was sure neither of them wanted eavesdroppers. My impenetrable shield wouldn't allow me to listen to both of their thoughts at once, but since they "spoke" to each other, I didn't have to. I listened through Julia's mind–Rina would sense my presence in her head.

"
What is so important it cannot wait until after the ceremony?
" Rina asked.

"
Many people are restless with Tristan here
," Julia said. "
Some of the council members, and others, demand that he leaves the island soon. Alexis and the boy, too. They want to know today when they'll be leaving.
"

"
I am well aware of some feelings against Tristan. Do you share these feelings, too, darling?
" Rina's tone, though warm, held the edge of a challenge to it.