They sat staring at each other in the silent stillness of Elizabeth’s usually vibrant, welcoming house.
How could James possibly expect her to simply hand over two men to whatever fate he had planned for them?
A rough knock at the door jarred them, and they all stood, pushing their chairs back as their Shadows swirled around them. Was there any chance James could have changed his mind? Would he have come back? Brought Elizabeth?
Kay was halfway to the front entrance, Ethan close behind her, when more thumping knocks rattled the house. She flung open the door, her Shadow daggers already forming in her fists, and then stood, staring wide-eyed at the two men standing on the front step.
“Zach… David… you’re… why are you here?” she asked, opening her hands to release her blades.
Zach’s face was lined with sorrow, lack of sleep, and hours of driving. He was even wearing jeans. It was the first time she’d seen him in anything other than a business suit outside the dojo for longer than she could remember. But it was David who looked truly terrible. His trousers were rumpled and his shirt misbuttoned, as if he’d dragged yesterday’s clothes on while still asleep, or already running. His handsome face was lined with fatigue and grief. Never, in all the years she’d known him, had he looked old. But now he did.
“Where’s Elizabeth?” David asked slowly. “I have this feeling, and I need—” His voice cracked. “—I need to speak to her.”
Kay reached over and took his hand in hers, wishing there was anything, literally anything in the world, that would change what she had to say. “I’m sorry, she’s not here. James took her.”
David rocked back as if he’d been stunned. “Tell me everything.”
Kay led them into the kitchen and they settled around the old table as Bryn turned on the kettle for tea. David watched her, his eyes bleak. She started with Elizabeth’s dreams and had started to explain her grandmother’s concerns about the Council when David interrupted her to look meaningfully at Ethan. “And this young man is the paramedic from Oxford Street?”
Ethan held out his hand. “Hi, I’m Ethan.”
David shook his hand briefly, eyes narrowed. “With all due respect, Ethan, this is not a… public… conversation. Could you give us some privacy?”
Kay glared at David. “Ethan stays.”
David folded his arms over his chest, jaw clenched. “Kay, as the leader of your Circle—”
“David,” Bryn interrupted as he set mugs of hot tea onto the table. “Take a breath and look past all the fear and anger that you’re holding onto so tightly.”
David shook his head, eyebrows drawn together in a fierce scowl, but he turned to face Ethan. A second later, his brows lifted. “You’re a Healer. But how is that even possible?”
Ethan shrugged. “I’m adopted. Kay found me and showed me what I can do.”
Bryn leaned forward. “And no one else knows what he can do. He’s our one advantage, so stop trying to get rid of him and listen.”
David grunted, leaning back in his chair as Kay continued. Her voice broke as she described how they’d realized that Gordon had brought blood Shadows back into the world.
“Fuck.” David bowed his head over his steepled fingers. It was the first time she had ever heard him curse.
“When I took this to the Council they told me it was impossible,” David admitted. “They decided that you had misread the situation, particularly since none of the Seers had predicted anything. Gordon himself reassured me. And they reminded me of the penalty of revealing blood Shadows.”
“They could have helped, but they refused,” Kay muttered. “Elizabeth was right.”
David flinched, but he didn’t disagree. “I found some references to blood Shadows in the Knowledge, but it’s a Shadow stripping offense to share them with anyone outside the Council. That’s what I’ve been doing these last few weeks. I’ve been trying to learn anything I could—which is almost nothing—and arguing to the Council that we need to trust our Circles enough to warn them of this danger.”
“And who was your meeting with? The one that was supposed to take place on the night of the school attack?” Kay asked, half knowing the answer already.
“Gordon,” David said bleakly. “He never made it.”
David closed his eyes for a moment. When he opened them again, they were tortured. “By taking this to the Council, I gave Gordon a warning. And now James has taken Elizabeth.” He rubbed his chest slowly. “Why couldn’t she have just told me what she’d Seen? Why wouldn’t she come to me?”
“I’m sorry David, she….” Kay let the sentence fade. What could she say? That Elizabeth grew tense and closed whenever his name was mentioned? That she had been deeply offended when he took a place on the Council that she blamed for the death of her husband and was constantly in disagreement with? Should she remind David that Elizabeth had tried to speak to him several times, but he’d been unavailable every time. And that he had adamantly insisted that they follow the Council’s wishes, despite Elizabeth’s misgivings.
David dropped his gaze to the table. “This is all my fault.”
“Bloody Guardians, exactly the same as each other,” Bryn muttered, waiting until David lifted his head. “Stop trying to take responsibility for things you didn’t do. This is entirely Gordon. We all knew he wanted power, we just never imagined… this.”
Kay bit her lip, suddenly remembering Elizabeth’s words.He was a Guardian…. Unforgiving, too, especially of himself…. You remind me of him….
