Betrayed (25 page)

Fear rushed through me.
No. I’m not ready.

I will slow the knives down.

He wasn’t listening to me. I marched to the box and yanked the door open. “I’m not ready. I can’t do it.”

“You can.” His tone was firm and emphatic.

He stood and pinned me down with narrowed eyes.

“The word ‘can’t’ should not be part of your vocabulary. You
can
do anything, Lil. You have the power in you. Seize it. Own it.” His voice rose with passion and conviction.

Too bad I didn’t have his confidence. “Can I, uh, at least start out using the Kris?”

“No,” he snapped, obviously losing patience.

“If you depend on the dagger for al your defenses, you become useless without it. The dagger depends on you, not the other way round. If you snivel at every chal enge, you weaken it.”

“But—”

“Worse, you insult our exulted Goddess Xenia for gifting you the ability to wield it. You are a warrior, young lady. Start acting like one,” he finished coldly.

I stared at him with rounded eyes and fought tears. I hated him. Real y, real y hated him with every fiber in my body and every breath I took. It wasn’t fair that he pushed me when I had so much to deal with

—Valafar, a medium, little demon kids that need a home, Bran’s problems. When Haziel smirked, showing yel owed teeth, his lined face crinkling, rage slammed through me.

If he wanted a warrior, he’d get one. I turned and marched to the middle of the arena.

“Close your eyes and use your powers,” he commanded. “You’re a powerful Psi Cardinal Guardian. Lock on their energies and deflect them.”
I’m a trainee not a full Cardinal,
I wanted to snap back. Instead, I shut my eyes, stood stil , and weeded through energies until I isolated the ones belonging to the weapons. They floated in the air, dul white masses with little sparkle, typical of inanimate objects.

Ready,
I telepathed him.

One blade started for me. I locked on it.

Suddenly, a ribbon of bright light appeared and speared toward the dul white mass of the knife. The two col ided in a burst of explosion like fireworks then faded. More knives picked up speed, and so did the ribbons. A shot of adrenaline and intense excitement washed over me. Let’s see how he liked this. Another bright light and I destroyed several at once. Pul ed that move two more times and finished them al .

Opening my eyes, I gave Haziel a slow, satisfied smile. His face was pressed against the glass, his eyes owlish. A giggle escaped me.

Feeling invincible, I exhaled and looked around.

Ashes were al over the floor. I hadn’t just deflected the knives and the stars, I’d incinerated them.

Oh no. Did I just use a power I inherited from Valafar? The ability to create bolts of light was a nature-bender’s ability. The euphoria waned as panic roiled deep inside of me. I didn’t want this power.

“Good work,” Haziel said. He left the booth and hurried toward me, bringing with him waves of and hurried toward me, bringing with him waves of excitement.

I cringed. He should be repulsed or warn me against using such ability. Instead, he paced from one end of the floor to the other, studying the ashes, his hands behind his back, head bobbing with approval.

“I heard the lightning bolt was how your powers manifested themselves the first time, but I didn’t believe it.” He walked toward me, his gaze intense. “They appeared out of thin air and destroyed each weapon without missing. Each weapon, Lil. That means you can control the bolts.” He grabbed the satchel from the floor and opened it.

More knives and ninja weapons drifted out of the bag and into the air. “Do it again.”

“I don’t know if I can repeat it. Both times I used that power, I was pissed.”

He paused. “Pissed? What is that?”

“Mad…angry.”

“Then stay angry. Remember what I said.

Seize the power. Own it. Imagine what you’ve unlocked.” His eyes narrowed on my face like he was daring me to say no. “Last time was the beginning of your psi abilities. This is the beginning of something else. Do it,” he ordered.

A knot wound my insides tight. Memories of how my fel ow trainees reacted to my growing powers washed over me. I didn’t want to go back to being treated like an outsider. “Master Haziel—”

“There is no time for conversation.” He hurried back to the box and closed the door. He stood by the door and gestured impatiently with his hand, his attention locked on me.

I so didn’t want to do this.

Come on, Lil.

Sighing, I closed my eyes and locked on their energies. When they moved toward me, I shot back.

The dul floating lights flipped and sped away from me. Again and again, I tried, but they didn’t disappear. I couldn’t repeat it. Haziel yel ed something and hurled three knives at the same time.

Same results. Close to tears, I kept trying and trying.

Push…do it…do not give up.
Haziel’s words final y penetrated my psyche.
Giving up is for losers.

Are you a loser, Lil?

He was trying to piss me off. It wasn’t working. Frustrated, I opened my eyes.
Freeze.

The blades slowed down, but they didn’t stop.

That was new. My gaze connected with Haziel’s. His narrowed eyes stayed locked on me, but I knew he control ed the knives. I might be a powerful psi, but he had a gazil ion years of experience.

Fury churned my insides. I reached for my dagger to enhance my powers and three things happened simultaneously. Pain shot up my side as something sharp pierced my skin. The lightning bolts crackled into existence and shot out toward the knives. Green light from my dagger cut through the air and blasted the glass protecting Haziel.

Cries of pain fil ed the room. Something was wrong. Very, very wrong. Darkness pul ed me under, and I welcomed it.

13. Secrets and Lies

Light shone on my eyelids. Wincing, I turned my head and burrowed my face into something soft. I wasn’t ready to get up. The alarm hadn’t gone off, and I wanted to go back to the nice dream I was having.

“Lil,” a familiar, harsh voice intruded.

A foreboding feeling washed over me. I opened my eyes and squinted against the glare as I tried to find Haziel. I’d recognize his mean voice anywhere. Why was he in my bedroom? My gaze moved past a wet bar. Burgundy leather chairs and…a sofa, on which I was lying. My right hand clutched the Kris Dagger in a death grip.

Memories rushed back—the lightning bolts, the pain. Panic roiled inside me. I jerked up, dropped the dagger on the sofa, and careful y reached over to my side, heart pounding. There was a tear on my T-shirt, though I felt no torn flesh or pain.

Weird. My fingers came away bloody. Nausea and wooziness swept over me. I’d always hated the sight of blood.

“How are you feeling?”

I looked over my shoulder, my chest tightening and fear threatening to induce another fainting spel . Haziel stood behind the sofa, his ancient face creased in concern.

“What happened to my wound?” I whispered.

“The dagger healed you.” He walked around to sit on the arm of the sofa, his black eyes wary.

A memory teased my mind. Earlier, he had worn his usual egg-shel linen pants and matching tunic. Now he wore a light blue shirt.

“The light from the dagger hit you, didn’t it?” Stil trying to remember and understand the sequence of events, my words came out hesitant.

He shook his head. “No, it didn’t.”

I wanted to believe him. There was not a single scratch on the glass screen, and yet I recal ed the light from the dagger melting a hole through it.

Maybe I imagined everything. Even as the thought flashed through my mind, I knew it wasn’t true. My bloodied T-shirt was no hal ucination.

“Master Haziel, the dagger created a giant hole on the screen, and you cried out after it hit you there.” I pointed to his right shoulder, and he stood and moved away. Swal owing, I dropped my arm and looked down. A hol ow feeling settled in my stomach.

“It’s my fault. I pul ed out the dagger to stop the knives and hurt you instead.”

“Look at me.” When I didn’t, he gripped my chin, turned my head, and pinned me down with wise eyes. “I’m fine. Remember, the dagger doesn’t hurt Guardians.”

“But I heard you cry out,” I blurted out, my voice rising.

“No,
you
cried out when the star dug into your skin,” he stressed in an uncompromising voice.

I winced at the reminder. Wanting to believe him even though I suspected he lied to spare my feelings, I nodded.

My gaze looked around the box and stopped on the glass screen. “Who fixed that?”

“It doesn’t matter.” He walked to the bar, poured some bottled water into a glass and offered it to me. “Drink it. You lost quite a bit of blood.”
Don’t remind me.
Dizziness washed over me again. I thanked him and guzzled the drink. My throat was tight, which made swal owing difficult.

Life as I knew it was going down the toilet. I hurt a Guardian, and my energy powers were back. I hurt a Guardian, and my energy powers were back. I imagined the look on my friends’ faces when they would hear about tonight’s fiasco. The first time I caused a dry storm, they questioned the source of my ability and not in a good away. Only nature-bender demons had the power to create lightning.

Now that they knew about Valafar, they’d be even more repulsed. Not that I’d blame them. I was repulsed.

Haziel patted my shoulder, drawing my attention. “I pushed you hard when it was obvious you weren’t ready. We’l work on your energy abilities at a slower pace.”

I choked on the water. He took the glass from my hand, said something I didn’t catch and slapped my back hard. For a scrawny old man, he was strong. My eyes watered though I couldn’t tel whether the tears came from coughing or frustration.

I didn’t want to go back to being a freak.

“Do

we

have

to?”

I

mumbled.

Haziel’s eyes flashed. “The ability to create lightning is a gift, Lil. Of course, you must embrace it,” he snapped. “I’l try not to push, and you must promise not to give up so easily,” he added in gentler voice. “We want to know what other surprises that mind of yours has in store for us.” The empty feeling in my stomach intensified.

If only I could turn back the time to, I don’t know, an hour ago. Too agitated to sit, I stood. My hoodie was on the couch by the dagger. Haziel must have placed it there when he carried me inside the box. I grabbed them both and turned to leave.

“Not so fast,” Haziel cal ed out, forcing me to stop. “Put the jacket on, and when you get home, get rid of the T-shirt. No one needs to know about what happened here this evening. Not your grandfather or your trainee friends.”

Relief washed over me, but it was short-lived.

I couldn’t keep a secret from Grampa or Bran. No, that wasn’t true. I could, I just didn’t want to. There was so much going on in my life without hiding things from people I loved.

Shoving the dagger in its sheath, I turned around to face Haziel. “I won’t lie to my grandfather.”

“Lying and not tel ing him anything at al are two different things.” Haziel locked his hands behind his back and rocked on his heels. “We need time to work on your control without an audience. As soon as others hear that your energy powers resurfaced, everyone wil want to come and watch our sessions.

Do you want gawking trainees and Civilians in here while you train? If you lose control of the dagger like you did tonight, they’l take it away from you.” Let them. I swore to be the champion of everything good and to protect the dagger from evil.

If I hurt others with it because of a demonic ability I inherited from my father, then I wasn’t fit to wield it. I shrugged on my hoodie, zipped it and hugged myself, not liking my thoughts one little bit. The Kris Dagger was
mine
until I handed it over to the next wielder.

“Can I work on my new powers without the dagger?” I begged.

“Of course. The dagger is only as strong as its wielder.” He leaned back and smiled. His yel ow teeth and wrinkly face made his expression a little grotesque. “You’re the most powerful child I’ve ever trained, Lil. When I’m done, your name alone wil instil fear in the hearts of your enemies.” If I wasn’t busy trying to keep down the contents of my stomach, I would have sprinted out of there. The old man had lost it.

“We’l show them what you can do later,” Haziel added firmly.

I cringed. “Show who?”

“Everyone. I heard there wil be a contest here in a few months, a jousting tournament with students showing their abilities, Civilians and Cardinals too. A waste of time, I told them, but we’l put on a show they’l never forget.”

This was bad. Only a select few knew about Valafar. Not for long. Everyone would know my secret, and I’d be treated like a pariah, the half-demon girl. Swal owing, I pivoted on my heel and rushed to the entrance of the pit, almost bumping into the students outside.

They parted to let me pass. Whispers fol owed. Eyes dril ed holes into my back. I imagined going through that ten times worse in a few months and wanted to scream. Someone grabbed my arm, and I turned.

Celeste.

Relieved to see a familiar face, I smiled.

“Hey.”

“We’re going to the pit.” She grinned, eyes

“We’re going to the pit.” She grinned, eyes twinkling.

One would think she was about to teleport to Xenith. If everyone knew the truth about Valafar, I’d never set foot on the Guardian homeland. I real y, real y wanted to see it.

My eyes smarted. “Have fun,” I whispered.

Celeste gave me thumbs up and joined the others.

“You know
her
?” one of the girls’ voices reached me as I walked away.

“Oh yes,” Celeste answered. “She’s total y cool. Do you want to meet her?”

Now Celeste wanted to pimp me to her new friends, but that would change too. For one second, I was tempted to break the Academy rule and teleport. Not wanting to get in trouble, I ran across the foyer, through the double doors and kept going.