United (The Guardians Book 2) (7 page)

Gable jumped when Terelle suddenly clutched her wrist with a shaking hand. She glanced over, surprised to see her friend's usually golden skin pale.

“Faiz is here,” Terelle breathed, fear in her eyes for possibly the first time since they'd met.

“Who's Faiz?” She looked down and studied her shorts and cami. “And I wish someone woulda warned me about the random weather sitch. My nips are gonna freeze right off.”

“You want help keeping them warm?” Nicky asked with a smirk. She chose to ignore him.

With rosy cheeks, Charles wordlessly shrugged off his suit jacket and placed it over her shoulders like the gentleman he was. “Faiz is king of the Winter Mountains,” he explained when he'd finally found his voice. His eyes darted towards Terelle and away again quickly. “In Zawavia.”

Just like that, Gable understood Terelle's fear. Faeries, no matter their realm, did not like fallen faeries. Coming face to face with a royal would be terrifying for Terelle. “Why is he here?”

“He's one of the Elders.” Charles reached out to pat Terelle's arm. “Do not worry, he cannot harm you in our realm, not without severe consequence.”

That didn't seem to ease Terelle's fears.

Together, the five of them climbed the marble steps leading up to the doors, the place so fancy there were two of them.

“What pretentious ass owns this island anyway?” Nicky questioned.

“Just a businessman,” Charles told him. “He rents it out to whomever needs it for a tidy sum. A team of caretakers and cleaners visit once a week but nobody lives here, so there'll be no one to see our little snowstorm.”

Stationed at various points amongst the trees, so well hidden that even Gable and her sharp eye had almost missed them, Guardians with guns stood stoic and watching, there to protect the Elders inside the house.

They reached the doors where two burly looking guys waited. Charles, Nicky and Zay immediately held up their Guardian badges – kind of like police badges but the symbol had two swords crossed over the letter G, surrounded by flames. Totally not douchey at all.

One of the doormen nodded. He was wide and bald and though he had a large, potato shaped head, his facial features were strangely small. “You're expected. Them too.” He looked down his nose at Gable and Terelle, like the idea of anyone not being a Guardian was simply abhorrent. “An Official will greet you in a minute.”

Inside the beach house was even colder than outside, if possible. When Gable breathed out, her breath misted before her, something she'd loved to do as a child – though the fun had soon worn off when she'd been an orphaned teen living on the streets.

They stepped into a large entrance, with doors leading off on either side and a wide, polished staircase in front of them. Expensive paintings decorated the walls, fancy, pointless statues stood in corners, and Gable stood on a rug so thick her feet sunk in. She decided that whoever had decorated the place was obviously an idiot with way to much cash to flash.

“So who are these Elders?” she asked while they waited for the Official.

Charles blinked at her once, twice. “The details were all in those papers I gave you on the plane. Didn't you read them?”

“No,” she replied, like that should have been obvious.

He glanced between her and Nicky. “I mean. . . The two of you are just. . . How do you even. . . Hopeless, the pair of you. Utterly hopeless.” With a long suffering sigh, he began. “The Elders are made up of seven of the most senior, most skilled Guardians, and each of them heads one continent. You already know there are teams of Keepers stationed in certain areas, like us in New York City. I'm Head Keeper for the NYCGD, and directly above me is the head of the state of New York. He deals with
all
of the Guardians in the state, including the other teams of Keepers, and then directly above him is the head of our continent – North America. The Trackers usually answer to the head of whichever state or country they were born in, though if they travel all over they deal with the head of whichever place they are in at the time.”

“Right. . . So if you were in Europe you'd have the Keepers in towns or cities or whatever, and they'd answer to. . .”

“The head Guardian of whichever country they were in. France, for example. Or Germany, England, Spain. . .

“And those guys answer to the Elder of Europe?”

“Correct.”

Gable thought about it for a moment. “Man, that is some complicated bizz.”

He shrugged. “It's quite easy to remember. If you study it,” he added pointedly.

A woman with wild, curly dark hair bounced down the staircase, looking very out of place in such posh surroundings. She wore a fuzzy pink sweater and a matching bow in her hair. “Hi, guys!” she chirped, way too happy for Gable's liking. She reminded her of an elementary school teacher. “I'm Kacey Taggart, Official extraordinaire.” She grinned wide and laughed at her own lameness. “The Elders are ready for you upstairs in the conference room. Follow me.”

Without waiting on them to answer, she span around hurried back up the way she'd came, chattering  over her shoulder a mile a minute. Gable zoned her out as they entered a large waiting area, decorated in yellow and white. One entire wall was made up of glass. Outside, beyond the snow, she could still see the shining sun and the calm, sparkling ocean. Weird.

Before she knocked, Kacey smiled at Gable. “You look cold under that coat. You can borrow my sweater if you like?”

Behind her, Gable heard Zay cough as he tried to keep in a laugh.

“Do I look like I want to borrow your sweater?”

Kacey just smiled wider at Gable's frown. “Okydoky.” She rapped twice on another set of double doors and stuck her head in. “They're here!”

“Let them in,” called out a commanding Australian voice.

She turned back. “Good luck!”

When they'd all entered, she pulled the doors shut behind them.

The conference room was just as large as the waiting room, but that was the only similarity. Cream walls were made magnificent by swirling golden patterns, the plush red and gold carpet was even thicker than the one downstairs, and the large candelabra hanging in the middle of the room was glistening with a hundred tiny lights. A thin layer of frost dusted it all.

In the very center of the room was a large, round table, and in a semi-circle around one half sat seven people, positively radiating power and authority in a way that even Terelle could never hope to achieve.

“Sit,” the Australian voice instructed. The owner of the voice, a blonde man in his forties, stood up and held out his arms invitingly. “I know Charles and Xavier, but I haven't yet had the pleasure of meeting the rest of you. Let's introduce ourselves, shall we?”

“I'm confused,” Gable whispered to Nicky as they sat.

“Me too,” he agreed. “I kind of thought the Elders were gonna be more. . .elderly.”

“My name is Talon Bagely,” the Australian Elder continued. He had a friendly face, though his eyes were calculating. “Australian Elder, if you haven't already guessed. On my left here is the beautiful Weejida Contee, African Elder.” Weejida stood for a brief moment and nodded, though she didn't say a word. She was a statuesque, Amazonian looking woman with smooth, coffee colored skin, maybe about the same age as Talon.

“And next to Weejida is Faiz Pasztor, Elder of Antarctica.” Talon didn't need to tell them that Faiz was the Winter King, it was obvious just by looking at him. From his silvery blonde hair pulled back from his face to his glowing white skin and pale blue lips to his eyes, so icy blue that it was like looking into the frozen waters of the Arctic Ocean. Like Terelle's, they were ringed with purple – the telltale sign of a faerie. Gable shivered, suddenly feeling extra chilled. Faiz was muscular and large with a strong jaw and a beauty that only faeries seemed to possess. Though he looked to be in his thirties, Gable knew that like Terelle, he probably aged four times slower than humans.

Faiz was glaring at Terelle with stiff shoulders and fury rolling off him, so potent that snowflakes began to drift down from the ceiling. Gable caught one on her hand and studied it – it was exquisite.

“She should not be here,” he snapped in a deep voice. It had a lilt to it, almost a musical quality, an accent Gable couldn't quite define. It only went to show how long Terelle had been living in America that her own accent had disappeared.

Next to Gable, Terelle shifted uncomfortably and stared down at her lap like a scolded child.

Gable hated to see her strong friend cower; she didn't care who this guy was, he wasn't
her
Elder or her king, he didn't get to treat Terelle like crap because of something stupid from years before most of the people in the room were even born. About to open her mouth and say something – something that would probably have gotten her ass frozen – she stopped when Charles spoke up.

“Terelle is an extremely valuable extension of our team,” he explained rationally. “In fact, if not for her, we wouldn't have even half the information we do now.”

Faiz stared at both of them for long, tense moments, but eventually he backed down with a terse nod, though he still didn't look happy. The atmosphere practically crackled.

Before anyone else could speak, Nicky, never able to keep his big mouth shut, asked, “Why do you need an Elder for the Antarctica? It's empty, right? I mean, apart from scientists and. . .penguins.”

Quirking a thick eyebrow, Faiz glanced at his fellow Elders, bemused. “Do you not teach your human Guardians anything these days?” He turned back to Nicky patiently. “True, there are not so many Outcasts as in the other continents. If there were, I would not have time to be Elder
and
Winter King. But though it may be too cold to be habitable for humans, the Antarctica is the perfect environment for certain Outcasts to live and it is my job to make sure they remain undetected. Snowmen, for example.”

Nicky spluttered so hard he almost fell off his chair. “WHAT? I mean. . . WHAT? Snowmen?”

Gable had to purse her lips to keep from laughing. He was such a goof – an incredibly hot goof, but a goof nonetheless.

“Hush!” an embarrassed Charles hissed, flapping his hand at Nicky. “They aren't the snowmen you're thinking of, you imbecile. I'll explain to you later – though if you studied once in a while I really wouldn't need to.”

“What else is there?” Nicky wanted to know, like Charles hadn't even spoken.

“Later,” Charles repeated sternly. He turned back to the Elders, who were watching them in amusement.

While his father's back was turned, Zay, with a totally straight face, motioned for Nicky's attention and mimicked wobbling a big, round belly.

Nicky's eyes widened. “Santa?!” he expressed. Loudly.

Everyone gaped at him like they couldn't believe his idiocy and Zay fell about in silent laughter. Gable smirked when he winked at her.

“You see what I have to put up with?” Charles huffed. “Utter bloody children.”

“Try dealing with a whole continent of them,” Talon sympathized. Then to Nicky, “May I get on? We haven't even finished with these introductions. We'll be here all ruddy night at this rate.”

Scowling, Nicky waved his hand as a go ahead. Somewhere under the table there was a thump and Zay winced.

“Thank you. Now, our Asian Elder is Esha Kulkarni.” A stunningly beautiful woman with a mountain of inky black hair piled up on top of her head smiled at them all graciously with wide, red lips. She couldn't have been any older than fifty, and she had a timeless grace about her. “And on my right here we have Dorian Poirier, the European Elder.”

“Welcome, new friends,” Dorian greeted in a thick French accent, quirking a playful eyebrow at Gable. He was by far the youngest of the Elders – mid thirties at the most. His black hair fell across his head in a thick wave and then curled around the collar of his shirt. Dark eyes twinkled with amusement. This was a man who knew exactly how breathtakingly gorgeous he was and wasn't afraid to use it.

“Dorian is our newest Elder,” Talon explained. “He was chosen just last year when his predecessor stepped down. Don't let his age fool you, he's competent enough. . .I suppose.”

Dorian rolled his eyes at his colleague’s teasing. “Ignore him. The old man likes me well enough.”

“Next to the child is Ralf Vance, your very own big guy – the North American Elder.”

Ralf was red haired and rosy skinned, with an almost visible energy bubbling just underneath his surface. Gable would have been able to tell, even without seeing the ring of red around his pupils, that Ralf was a fire elemental – and a damned powerful one at that. Interesting – she'd never have guessed the council was made up not just of humans, but Outcasts and faeries too.

“And last,” Talon continued. “My good man, Gustavo Ibbara, Elder of South America.”

Once Talon had finally finished, Charles made his own introductions and then the meeting began. Charles, the official spokesperson for their odd mix of a team, explained everything they'd learned from Zebb and outlined a rescue attempt plan. Throughout the entire exchange, Gable was distracted by Dorian and his smoldering eyes. His attention as he watched her with interest was flattering, yet just
odd
.

When Charles had finished his speech they were escorted out by a still very chipper Kacey while the Elders debated over the best course of action. Kacey took them to a large dining room and served them tea in delicate blue and white tea cups. Nicky broke one within the first ten minutes.

It was a long, two hour wait before they were called back into the conference room.

This time Weejida was the first to speak. “We of course approve the mission. All Outcasts, no matter their origin or power, are of great importance to us, and it is imperative that we bring those captured home. But under Faiz's advisement, as he clearly has more knowledge of Zawavia than any of us, we will only be sending in a small team.”

“To do otherwise would only draw unnecessary attention where it is certainly unneeded,” Faiz added. “I am aware your informant said that this particular island was devoid of dark faeries, but if you go in there with an army, the scheming devils are sure to involve themselves. That is not something you need.”