Fractured Truth (4 page)

“But that’s impossible! The tunnel door is sealed, which means someone would have to open it from the inside or come through the school, passing countless Auras. Besides, Arik and Aaron are downstairs.”

“I agree. I’m not convinced that Cyrus is coming for him, but Jackson is sure of it.”

“So what does he want?” Liam asked.

“He wants money and his freedom in exchange for telling us everything, including where Cyrus is holding the girls.”

“But how can we trust him?”

I paused for a moment, thinking back to our conversation, “He said he knows where the witches are, that he hid them for leverage over Cyrus and to get a lot of money.”

“Witches? As in the three witches who originally created the Shadow?”

“He wouldn’t say anything else, but, yeah, I assume so. We need to contact the Council right away and tell them to give Jackson whatever he wants.”

Liam was pacing the room, seemingly deep in thought.

“Liam?”

He turned around. “You can tell the Council this morning. They’re here.”

“Here? Why?”

“Remember? The meeting about Lucent’s security and who should take Cyrus’s place as president?”

I groaned, frustrated that I had slept so much. I had wanted to prepare some sort of speech, something motivational that would make them change their minds about
Auras learning to fight, but so much for that. It was a small hope I had anyway.

“Don’t worry about it,” Liam said. “You can figure out what to say during breakfast. And I’ll find Dr. Han and tell him about Jackson. I think it should be him that requests the Council’s help in giving Jackson whatever he wants.”

I nodded in agreement and followed him from the room. A request like that would have to come from someone inside their circle. The Auran Council consisted of nine members, three from each Auran school. In addition to Lucent, there was Ellie Academy in Ireland and Ruddy Academy in Australia. I was still upset at them for waiting so long to have this meeting. They should’ve met the day after Cyrus attacked Lucent. We were lucky we hadn’t been attacked again.

The moment I walked into the dining room with Liam at my side, all eyes turned on me. It reminded me of my first day. Except this time I was a different person. Stronger and more focused, I was not the angry, confused girl who didn’t know what was happening to her.

And this time was also different because this time I had friends. They surrounded me now. Liam left me alone and joined the twins at a nearby table.

Tessa hugged me first. “It’s so good to see you!”

I squeezed her back. She looked different. Her hair was cut into a bob, and she was wearing normal clothes, fashionable even. But more than that, she looked happy.

Tessa and I had grown close over the last several months, which was rare because she was a Lizen. They were supposed to serve Auras and nothing more, but, like many things at Lucent, I thought that rule old fashioned and, honestly, stupid.

I glanced around at the other Lizen women as they began to serve dinner to the Auran girls. They too looked better, less depressed. As soon as Cyrus was gone, Dr. Han had announced that Lizens would be paid for their work if they chose to stay
at Lucent. Most did. Tessa, however, only worked three days a week. The other days she attended a local college even though she was only seventeen. I couldn’t be more proud of her.

“My turn, hog,” Kiera said, pushing Tessa out of the way. Kiera hugged me hard. She’d grown stronger. Good. She pulled away from me.

“Sleeping the day away didn’t do you any justice,” she said, narrowing her eyes. “What happened to your hair?”

“As if I could change it.” I attempted to smooth my long blonde hair, wishing again that I could cut or dye it, but, as Abigail, the school nurse, once told me, “Having Light in our blood sometimes changes our outward appearance. Consider it a birth mark.”

We moved to Liam’s table. Everyone avoided the seat next to him. It was just a given that it was meant for me. May sat on my left, and next to her was Aaron. He was leaning toward her while she giggled about something he was saying. They seemed a lot closer than when I left. Something I’d have to ask her about later.

“Are you ready for today?” Arik, who was sitting on the other side of Aaron, asked me through a huge bite of pancakes.

“Not really, but I’ll think of something to say.”

“Don’t tell me you’re going to wing it,” May said.

I sort of smiled and shrugged.

May shook her head. “That’s not good.”

“I know! I’ll probably say something I’ll totally regret and end up offending everyone on the Council.”

“That was bound to happen either way,” Liam said, and then he leaned in closer and added, “Dr. Han’s right over there. I’ll be right back.”

I nodded and swirled my fork through the syrup on my plate, thinking of what I should say to the Council. I couldn’t screw this up. If I could get them to back me up, then a lot more girls would join my class.

Before I knew it, breakfast was over.

“You’ll do great,” Liam whispered to me. I looked up, surprised to see that everyone was gone from our table. “Dr. Han’s waiting for us.”

I took a deep breath and stood up. I may not have known exactly what I was going to say, but I couldn’t wait to speak. Lucent Academy had to change if we were to survive.

It was a long walk
down the foyer of Chadni Hall and to the boardroom—a room I’d never been in before. Many of the students were crowded in the hall, probably all wishing they would be invited inside. I wiped my sweaty palms on my jeans. I wished I could’ve had more time. I would’ve dressed nicer.

“Do I look okay for something like this?” I asked Liam.

Liam looked me up and down.

“Well?”

He laughed. “How would I know? I think you look great.”

“You’re useless,” I said and was about to go inside the room that was buzzing with conversation, but before I could, Dr. Han stopped me.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” he asked.

“Of course. Why wouldn’t I?”

“The Council doesn’t see things the way you do. Not even close, so don’t expect any major changes.”

I shook my head, refusing to believe that after everything that had happened, the Council wouldn’t be willing to do more, especially now that we had Jackson, who could tell us everything about Cyrus. “Let’s just get this done. Maybe they’ll surprise you.”

Before he could say more, I turned and walked into the
room. The moment I did, all eyes turned on me, and I wondered if Dr. Han was right.

The boardroom was not at all what I expected. It looked more like some kind of theatrical stage setting with nine wooden chairs, ornately carved as if they were thrones made for kings and queens. The chairs were arranged in a wide circle with one single chair in the center. On the outside of the circle, wooden bleachers, six rows up, lined the walls. They were seated with faculty. I spotted Abigail and Mrs. Crawford sitting next to each other. Mrs. Crawford smiled at me encouragingly.

Dr. Han came up next to me while Liam took a nearby seat. I turned to him and whispered, “You call this a boardroom?”

“Technically it’s the ‘Words of Enlightenment’ room, but you’ll soon see why I call it the ‘bored’ room.” He winked at me and walked by. I stared after him, shocked and amused. There was still so much I didn’t know about the small Chinese man.

A minute later I was sitting on the first row next to Liam, who was there to represent the Deific. I glanced around, looking for any other students, but I was the only one.

Liam bumped my shoulder with his. “Keep your cool, okay?”

“I will if you will.”

Thirty minutes later I understood why Dr. Han called it the bored room. I was so bored that twice now, Liam had had to stop me from falling asleep. But my boredom quickly turned to anger the longer they went without mentioning Sophie and the other girls who were taken. Instead, the Council discussed everything from renovations to possibly eliminating sugar from the Auras’ diet.

I studied the three from Ruddy Academy in Australia. Two women and one male. The male reminded me a little of Liam. He was tall with dark hair, but with a long face and gray eyes. His disposition was relaxed, unlike the woman next to him. I wondered what special ability he had to be on the Auran Council. He didn’t look like a Fury, but neither did Dr. Han. All three were leaning forward; one of them, a woman with brown hair,
gripped the chair’s armrest tightly. The current conversation about increasing the girls’ extracurricular activities must have really bothered her.

The other three Council members from Ellie Academy were all females. Two of them were redheads and—I squinted to get a better look—had several hairs coming out from identical moles on their right cheeks. They must have been sisters. The third female had gentler features and kind eyes.

As for Lucent’s Council members, there was just Dr. Han, an empty seat on each side of him. Both Cyrus and Sophie used to be members, but all that changed when Cyrus kidnapped her.

“Our next order of business is replacing Cyrus as head of the Council,” one of the redheaded Irish women said. Above her, at the top of her chair, a plaque read, “Alice Jackman.”

I straightened in my seat. It’s about time they talked about what really mattered. What was wrong with these people?

“It seems to me,” the only other male—Bartholomew, according to his chair—said, “that our selection should not come from Lucent Academy. The school is in disarray and until some order is restored, we need a more qualified candidate.”

The kind-looking woman from Ruddy—her name was Anne—turned to Dr. Han. “What say you?”

Dr. Han entwined his fingers. “I am in agreement.”

I pursed my lips, wishing he had fought harder to at least be a candidate. As far as I was concerned, he would be the best.

It took another twenty minutes for the Council to unanimously agree that the tense-looking woman from Ireland, Nora, would be the new head. She graciously accepted with a small smile and a pat of her brown hair.

“Now that we’ve assigned a new president, we need to announce who will take Cyrus’s place on the Council,” Alice said. “Nora, I’ll let you take control of this meeting as the new president.”

“Thank you, Alice.” She cleared her throat. “A week ago, Dr. Han provided us with potential candidates from Lucent’s staff
members. We reviewed each candidate carefully and have voted. The new member of the Council is,” she looked around, but only at the members of the circle and not at the audience around her, “Mrs. Rebecca Crawford.”

The audience gasped, but I wasn’t at all surprised. I glanced over at Mrs. Crawford, who looked shocked, and smiled. I liked her. She was there when Vykens attacked Lucent Academy, fighting with the rest of us. I couldn’t ask for a more perfect person to be placed on the Council.

“Rebecca,” Nora said, “please take your rightful position with the Council.”

As Mrs. Crawford stood up, someone else also stood. Abigail, the school’s nurse. All eyes turned on her, waiting for some kind of explanation as to why she was standing, but no one received an answer. She simply walked by Mrs. Crawford and stormed out of the room without a glance at anyone.

“What’s that all about?” Liam whispered next to me.

I shrugged my shoulders.

Mrs. Crawford appeared hurt by Abigail’s actions, but when Nora urged her forward, she took her seat inside the circle, on the right side of Dr. Han.

“Now to discuss a most grievous topic. Finding Sophie,” Nora said, eyeing everyone in the circle. “Dr. Han, could you please give us an update of your progress?”

Dr. Han leaned back in his seat. “We are working closely with the Deific, specifically Liam. He and Llona, her niece, have been searching tirelessly.”

All eyes turned on me, and I quickly relaxed my face, not wanting them to see how angry I was just yet. Sophie should’ve been their first order of business, not whether or not an Aura eats a stupid donut.

“Liam and Llona had a recent success. They captured Jackson, the Guardian who betrayed the Auras. We believe he can tell us where Cyrus is holding Sophie.”

“That is good,” Nora said. “It looks like this most horrible
event will come to an end soon.” She smiled along with the others.

“No. It is not over,” Dr. Han said, startling them with his sharp tone. “As I mentioned before, the Shadow who plagued us in the thirties is back. It has been summoned, and whoever is its master will not stop until the Auras are destroyed.”

A few members scoffed. “We must not ignore this threat,” he said again.

“With all due respect,” Nora said. “There has only been one account of the Shadow. I don’t think we should sound the alarm until it’s confirmed.”

My hands tightened into fists. Were they really not going to believe me after everything that happened?
Maybe when they hear what Jackson has to say . . .

“I’d like to speak to the girl,” Bartholomew said.

Nora cleared her throat again. “Very well.”

Dr. Han motioned me over. “Llona, please have a seat.”

“Keep your cool,” Liam said loud enough for only me to hear.

I walked to the center of the circle, wondering where I should look. Their eyes? Or would that come across as too aggressive? I was afraid my limited knowledge of Auran culture would shatter any chance I had of getting through to them.

“Relax, Llona,” Dr. Han said. “We just want to ask you a few questions.”

Was I that transparent? I nodded and sat down.

“Tell us what you saw, Ms. Reese,” Nora said.

I took a deep breath. On my exhale, I said, “For a few months before Sophie’s kidnapping, I felt I was being followed. I’d see shadows move out of the corner of my eye, things like that. On the night I went to Cyrus’s office to stop Sophie from confronting him, Cyrus knocked Sophie unconscious, and while he held her, the Shadow came together from all the darkness in the room. It formed behind Cyrus, and together they disappeared through the secret tunnel.”

“Why were you allowed to live?” Nora asked.

Dr. Han turned to her. “Is that question necessary?”