Betrayed (4 page)

“Symptoms of demonic channeling. Most mediums channeling for other beings tend to be okay, but the ones demons use usual y end up in a psyche ward or with a brain tumor.”

The thought of something like that happening to one of my friends left me cold. “Are you sure?”
Would I lie about something this serious?
he telepathed.

We continued inside the building. Sykes was long gone, and I didn’t see Izzy and Kim anywhere.

long gone, and I didn’t see Izzy and Kim anywhere.

Just as wel they were stil at home. I wasn’t ready to tel them about Valafar and the possibility that one of my friends was a medium. Psych ward. Brain tumor.

I shuddered as Bran’s words echoed inside my head. I forced myself to focus on my surrounding.

Familiar faces leaped out from the throng.

Most were children of Civilians, Nephilim with just enough powers to join the High Council but not the Cardinal Guardianship program. A few of them were first year Cardinal Guardian trainees. They were al sixteen-year olds fresh from Xenith with new powers who attended the academy in the evenings. Here, in the regular human high school, they stood out in their expensive, new outfits and looked a little lost. I stil thought making us attend regular high school to learn how to blend with humans was ridiculous.

They waved shyly at us. I nodded and smiled back. The hero-worshipping gleam in their eyes was unnecessary. The other trainees and I did what we had to do to rescue my grandfather and destroy Coronis. Somehow we’d been elevated to legends. I doubted they’d stil think highly of me once they learned about Valafar. For now, only a select few knew he was my father.

Stares fol owed us as we headed to my locker, then my math class. The gawking didn’t bother me now as much as it did when I was new.

Then the draw had been my five-nine height, unusual, multi-colored red hair and the gypsy clothes and accessories, which I loved to wear. Bran’s startling gorgeous looks were the eye-magnet now. I hugged his arm tighter.

Outside my Pre-calc class, we stayed by the wal and ignored the students scuttling past us.

“What are you going to do about the presents?” he asked.

That was the one subject I didn’t want to discuss. “What else can you tel me about mediums?”

“That was it, but the Academy library might have books on them. Someone hid the presents from you,” Bran added.

I sighed. “Probably Grampa. But that’s okay because I don’t want them anyway.”

“You love presents. I remember you hopping around like a bunny during Christmas.”

“Bunny?” I pushed him with my shoulder. “I know Valafar said they were Mom’s things and everything about her fascinates me, but he’s only using them to get to me. If I accept them, I’l only be drawn into his web.” Valafar sent me a gypsy dress, one of my mother’s, right after the battle on Coronis Isle. I was tempted to keep it, but logic prevailed and I burned it.

Bran squinted, and I wondered if he was thinking about that first present too.

I tugged at his arm. “You’re dying to say something. Out with it.”

“Are you tel ing Sykes and the others about this?”

Despite his question, I knew he had something else on his mind. “I don’t know.”

“Then talk to your grandfather. I don’t mind being your confidant, but the more people who know what Valafar’s up to, the less chance he has of surprising us. Besides, you want to know why he’s concerned about your safety.”

“No…yes…I don’t know.” I would never forgive him for kil ing my mother, but at the same time, I understood he thought he was avenging my murder. I couldn’t trust someone so evil. “I’l think about it.”

The first bel rang, and the students in the hal way filed into their respective classrooms. I glanced inside mine. The teacher was already there.

“I’ve got to go.”

“I know. I’l see you at lunch.” He caressed my cheek then reached down and pressed a quick kiss on my lips.
Be good,
he added as he walked down the hal way.

Aren’t I always?

No. Tell Sykes to fix his car.

I shook my head.
Are you jealous of him?

No. You’re mine. He’s merely a gnat I’d
smash if I could get away with it.

I grinned and watched him walk away. I loved everything about him. His graceful walk, the midnight black hair, cut short in the back and long in front.

Those brooding emerald eyes that hinted at dark mysteries. He had the most beautiful lips in the entire world. Girls who passed him turned to check him out.

Eyes forward. He’s taken.

He must have heard me because he chuckled.
Go to class, Sunshine.
His psi energy brushed against mine, lingered, then he teleported. I brushed against mine, lingered, then he teleported. I shook my head. Glamour or not, he took too many chances. One day someone would notice.

I entered the class just as the second bel rang. Only then did I realize I hadn’t asked Bran where he’d been over the weekend.

***

The morning dragged. I kept thinking about Valafar and what he wanted from me. I didn’t buy his claim that he was concerned about my safety. He wasn’t aware I existed until seven months ago. Nor did I know he was alive and a powerful nature-bender. Yet within a week of learning of my existence, Valafar lured my grandfather into a trap and kidnapped him to get to me. The battle that fol owed once we caught up with him and the way I almost lost Bran and Grampa stil gave me nightmares. At least we freed Bran, his sister Celeste, and his brother Gavyn from Coronis’

influence. How Valafar escaped the destruction of the island was stil a mystery.

Obviously, he forgot my grandfather’s warning to stay away from me. Not that I expected a demon of Valafar’s caliber to take an aging Cardinal Guardian seriously. My grandfather was two-hundred-and-seventy-something years old, middle age by Nephilim standards, but compared to Valafar, Grampa was old.

Then there was the question of which one of my friends was a medium. I needed to find a way to ask them if they’ve had the symptoms Bran mentioned without appearing nosy and before they went crazy. I shuddered at the thought. Valafar must be stopped.

“Earth to Lil Falcon...earth to Lil Falcon….” I cringed and peered at Mr. Sorenson. He was stil in front of the class, but it wouldn’t be long before he was in my face. The entire class turned to look at me.

“Do you think you can pul your attention from your doodling and answer the question?”

“What question?”

The class snickered.

Today was a real y bad day to mock me. I didn’t want to do this, but….
Shut up!

Everyone stopped laughing.

Face forward.

They turned away from me and faced the board. Power of persuasion to the rescue again.

Hopeful y, the amount of energy I used was too low to be detected by our security, the Civilian Psi team, or Leather Face. I was already in trouble for the rescue I pul ed outside the school.

“The one we’ve been discussing at length for the last fifteen minutes,” Mr. Sorenson continued.

“Would you like to answer it or would you prefer to share the masterpiece you’re working on with the class?”

He started walking toward me and I cringed. I couldn’t deal with another humiliating moment at the hand of this teacher. The page in front of me had drawings of demons with bat-wings and horns, raven heads, and black eyes. At the top, the name Valafar was underlined several times. I crunched it on the sly and slipped it in my pocket.

“Can you repeat the question?” I asked.

“Why would a car traveling at a constant speed have different velocities?”

I hadn’t the faintest idea. Trying not to panic, I located Christian, the class genius, and read his thoughts. “If it’s moving in a circle?”

“And why is direction important when it comes to velocity and not speed?”

I had no idea. Once again, I stole from Christian’s head. “Because velocity depends on direction while speed doesn’t? I mean, velocity is a vector quantity while speed is a scalar.” I held my breath then smiled in relief when he turned and headed back to the board. That was close. Seriously, the teacher needed to stop picking on me. One of these days, I’d zap him.

My mind drifted to Valafar and the medium mystery. An idea about how I’d find answers started to form in my head. The problem was, once I found out which one of my friends was his channel, I had no clue what to do next. I couldn’t imagine opening up to humans about what I was, let alone my demonic father.

Identifying the medium could prove harder than I’d thought.

***

I put my folder away, grabbed my coat, and raced to the front of the school. Students fil ed the hal way, some heading to lunch, others to their next class. The ones who went home for lunch or grabbed something at nearby fast-food joints stood in the something at nearby fast-food joints stood in the foyer and stared glumly at the snow. Already a fresh blanket covered the ground. But the snow wouldn’t bother Bran. If he couldn’t drive, he’d teleport and come get me.

Keeping vigil by the wal , I watched the street.

Five minutes passed. Wind picked up, sending snow from trees and raised flowerbeds into the air.

We were in for a nasty storm and Bran was stil a no-show. A psi scan of the val ey was fruitless.

Wherever he was, he was physical y okay. I’d know if he were hurt.

Five minutes passed.

Another psi scan and disappointment trickled through me. Grampa was gone, which meant Bran was probably out with the Cardinals, but that was no excuse. It took a fraction of a second to teleport in and out. He should have come to tel me he wouldn’t make it.

I removed my coat and left the hal , occasional y glancing back, hoping Bran would appear. Nothing. First, he didn’t show up last weekend, now this. He’d better have an explanation.

Dragging my feet, I continued on toward the cafeteria though my appetite was gone.

Christian, my source for everything physics, and two of his geek friends stood near the cafeteria entrance when I walked up. They squeezed against the wal to let me pass. I smiled at Christian and waved.

Inside the cafeteria, my friends were already eating. Kylie, looking more Gothic than usual in black, and her rocker boyfriend Cade were doing their usual lunchtime routine—cuddling and feeding each other. She went to L.A. to visit her aunt during Spring Break and had a nice tan.

Could she be the medium? Kylie befriended me when I was new in the val ey. We parked our trailer next to theirs at an RV park when we arrived in Cache Val ey, before we moved to our house on the eastern bench. Later, she helped me when I couldn’t find my class on the first day of school. She was blunt and funny, but had a morbid interest in the supernatural. As did her boyfriend. I never gave Cade my phone number, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t have learned it from Kylie.

Hmm, maybe I should put on my Sherlock Holmes hat and start investigating this medium mess. Feeling a little better about Bran not showing up, I studied the rest of my friends.

Seated across from Kylie and Cade were McKenzie, Nikki, and Amelia. Nikki, a Korean-American,

and Amelia—Kylie’s

cousin—were

geniuses and loved everything science, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t be mediums.

McKenzie

had

undergone

another

transformation as the semester progressed. Instead of baggy sweatshirts and loose jeans she’d favored after the near-rape by boys under demonic influence, she now preferred skinny jeans and flirty tops. I hoped self-defense lessons had boosted her confidence and not some newfound psychic ability.

My gaze connected with Zack’s as I waited in line for my food. He and Nikki broke up months back, and he no longer sat with us even though he stil played in Cade’s rock band. He now ate with his skating buddies. He and Amelia liked each other a lot, but because Nikki was Amelia’s friend, they chose to do nothing about it. I broke my vow not to read my friends’ thoughts after I watched them play eye-tag during lunch. The jury was stil out on whether I should use my abilities and play Cupid. I might have to catch him alone before I exclude him as a suspect. He’d cal ed me a few times looking for Kylie and Cade.

Squeals of “I missed you… How was Spring Break…?” fil ed our table when I joined the others.

Everyone talked at once, and I lost track of who did what during the break. I sat beside Kylie and waited for my chance. The promise to never use my powers on them became harder and harder to keep.

I was close to tel ing them to shut up when Kylie bumped me with her shoulder.

“So, what did you do during break?” she asked.

Trained and trained until I dropped, but her question gave me the opening I needed. “Nothing exciting, I was s—”

“Nothing exciting? With Bran around?” McKenzie wiggled her brow. “We saw you two making out outside.”

My cheeks heated. She was always asking about Bran. Her crush on him was so obvious and becoming a bit irritating. If she knew what he was, she’d run in the opposite direction. Heck, if anyone knew what I was, they’d run too.

knew what I was, they’d run too.

I realized the others were staring at me, probably waiting for a response. I shrugged. “We hung out.”

“I’ve been meaning to ask,” McKenzie added, leaning closer. “What kind of a kisser is he? He has the most gorgeous lips ever.”

My jaw dropped at her boldness. “Shut up.”

“He does,” Nikki added, giggling.

“How does it feel to date him, you know, an older guy?” Amelia asked, pushing her glasses in place.

“Seriously guys? Now?” Kylie nodded slyly toward her boyfriend.

I sighed with relief when they stopped. Bran was my first boyfriend, so this crazy need of my friends to know everything about us was foreign to me.

“Actual y, I was sick during the break,” I lied, seizing the moment. “It was horrible, especial y the headache.”

“Sounds like flu.” Kylie said. “Remember when I missed school a few weeks before the break and I told you not to visit or you’d catch it?” I nodded.