Original Souls (A World Apart #1) (41 page)

"Of course, you may ask, my dear. They all do speak so much of my generosity," he clapped his hands together giggling awkwardly. "You have a crack in your bedrock of trust, honey! The foundation is crumbling and you don't have enough spackle-cement left to fill the holes. Someone must have let us in, right? Otherwise, how would we bypass the age-old force field, created by Aurora of the Great Eight herself. So I assume that means someone amongst you is a rat!"

"Are you blatantly admitting to your wrong doings? You know you can be impeached for that," she said leaning forward pointing a finger at him from across the table.

He threw his hands in the air, "Oh, no! I have admitted no such thing. I am just making assumptions based on the facts of the situation. Lucky me though, that there are no cameras about this room."

"You're a disgrace!" She turned away in disgust, folding her arms.

"No, my dear," Sebastian said, folding his folding at the edge of the table. "I'm sure if your ex-husband could see you now, he'd look upon you with absolute pity."

"How dare you bring up that man!" she angrily barked.

"He was a dear friend. I think of him often," Sebastian said, looking more relaxed than usual. His hands folded, even more neatly now on the table, and all his attentions focused on Hendrix. "I always wondered why you changed your name back after the divorce. After all, your son and that adopted mess still bear Conrad's name. Perhaps the Gambit family tree wasn't good enough for you anymore, Silvia."

"What are you doing?" Nathaniel jumped into the conversation with a defiant tone. He grabbed a fistful of the lapel to Sebastian's dark suit, looking him square in the eye.
-“
These personal matters have no place in this office. Please,refrain from speaking on them any further. Both of you
!
” His eyes shot toward Hendrix, but with a lot more kindness than the disdainful looks he shot at Draconia's Chancellor.

Even though he attempted to take a stand, Sen. Wilcox didn't know the meaning of compromise. He looked Nathaniel in the eye when he spoke. "Take your hand off of my collar, you zero-sum abomination!" His hand quickly detached itself from the ancient looking relic of a man sitting next to him. He wasn't even aware that it was there still. Until Sebastian, of course, so politely reminded him.

Nathaniel let his head hang low. "I'm sorry. I was simply trying to steer the conversation in a more appropriate direction."

Sena. Hendrix looked on at the sandy tan skin man that she used to call friend. His dark hair slumped over his forehead with his plumped body slumping in kind. He hunched over in his chair at the large steel desk, as if he had a stomachache. His yellow eyes didn't have their former-pride. Something had put him deep into Sebastia
n’
s debt. The respectful pride that most Hyperborean's possess did not shine through in Nathaniel's demeanor. He seemed trapped and guilty to Hendrix's watchful eyes.

The Arcan guard standing behind Sena. Hendrix cleared his throat loudly as he was subjected to this vile, nonsensical conversation between three of the most powerful people in all the Worlds. They all simultaneously turned to him, as if they thought he had the audacity to speak out.

He was beyond nervous to see those three powerful faces staring up at him. "Excuse me, please.
I’
ve got a little cold is all." They quickly released him from the gripping gripe of their tenacity, as he tried to slow his heart rate from the fear they just inspired in him.

"So let us get on with this then," Sebastian said abruptly. "We have some recounting of the story board that may convince you to simply put this awa
y
… where it belongs." He motioned to the guard to open the door. When the door opened, there were nothing but hallways to behold. "Lilith, please do join us!" he called out in a surprisingly gleeful tone.

Sena. Hendrix felt a little nervous jolt drift through her bones. She knew a Lilith, but couldn't imagine that she'd be here at Sebastian's will. She was facing the door when her heart stopped. The woman who threw the last of the three Squadron helicopters out of the falling sky was standing in the doorway. Dressed in a pink pencil skirt and black pumps. She had a plain white t-shirt on that exposed her belly ring as well. She looked like an uptown girl with a bit of a trashy side. Her plastic black frame glasses steered the look in the direction of naughty librarian territory.

"Hello, S
eñ
ora Hendrix, and of course everyone else," she spoke delicately. Her olive tone skin was nearly identical to Corinth's. Sena. Hendrix had been thinking that anyway.

"Excuse me, dear, but why are you here?" Hendrix questioned directly. "You have classes to teach, don't you?" Her face visible said;
get out, you little tramp.
But instead, Lilith took a seat. Much to Sebastian's pleasure.

"She is here to..."

"I didn't ask you. The lady will speak to her boss for herself!" Hendrix's face was so stern that it shut Sebastian right up.

"Yes, Sena. Hendrix, you're right. I didn't tell you about my coming, because I didn't want to compromise the integrity of the meeting." She sat down to Hendrix's left, across the table from the Chancellors, looking like a little girl watching her parents bicker over how to raise her.

Her green eyes were the sign of a La Envidian. Sena. Hendrix looked at her with the same judgmental eye she had always given Julia. She thought that maybe that's why she saw Corinth in her skin tone. Perhaps it was because she saw Julia in her eyes. She had the same brown hair color as Julia too. This made it even more difficult to talk to her without thinking of the girl who stole her so
n’
s heart away.

"Well, spit it out then! Why are you here, Lilith?" Sena. Hendrix asked impatiently. Her eyes focused on the petite woman.

She looked around, as if she were asking for permission to speak. Sebastian lightly nodding his head in affirmation. She was now permitted to answer the question. Sena. Hendrix could barely wait to hear her explanation.

"My account of the events that took place on April 1, 1002 may be different than yours, Grand Ministrant. I call your memory to the helicopters that hovered in the skies above the Pavilion." She placed her hands on the steel table, and a loud clanking sound reverberated throughout the room. She had several metal bangles around her wrist. She started to settle into her story after the echo subsided. "You displayed masterful ability, but used reckless means. You placed many people in danger that would have not been, if you weren't so aggressive and negligent."

Wham. Bam. And thank you very much, Ma'am. Sena. Hendrix slammed her fist on the table in absolute shock of Lilith's assertions. "How dare you be so careless with your thoughts! They were spraying children with a viral drug. -The furor that erupted within moments of coming in contact with it was balefully destructive." She shot an agile glance, one that lingered, toward Sebastian with bitter rage seeping through her pours. "You think you have an out for this, but I've known you for decades, you coward! Do trus
t—
that I came more than prepared to take you down!"

"Hum, it seems as if we're getting a taste of that legendary temper of yours," he and Lilith giggled. Nathan didn't bother to join in.

"Nate," she said crisply. "Is this what you want?" He had one elbow on the table and his fingernails between his teeth. His nail biting was a nervous habit that made him look weak in front of the strong characters in the room.

"Well, answer her you fool!" Sebastian pressured him to show his allegiance.

"No, it's not what I want, Silvia," he said, with his eyes down. "Nevertheless, you can't just tell the people all the sordid details of a situation this pungent. If you'd just give us your son's whereabouts we can end this now."

"Don't forget the boy," Sebastian added.

Hendrix went on the defensive. "Why would my grandson be of any use to you? He was left in my care, and I'll hear nothing more of it." She knew why, but she didn't know how much Nate knew just yet.

Sebastian nervously gestured to Lilith to keep on. "Oh yes, I almost forgot. The press has been on to me, Sena. Hendrix," Lilith informed. "They want to hear my side of the story. I'm sure the parents will be more than displeased to know that you nearly killed some of their children. And themselves, for that matter. I'm the hero who saved many nearby me. I have their trust now. They will want your job. That's, of course, if I were to ask for it." She folded her hands and forebodingly looked to her boss.

The other two looked at Hendrix as well, like they had her cornered. She'd lose her job if she didn't concede the facts, and most likely even more in the long run.

"And what about those who were put in a coma from that dark vicious material that fell from the sky, like black rain?" She questioned with a troubled tone. "Will they just forget what occurred?"

"Shock!" he said fanatically.

"What?" she asked with a fed up tone.

"It was shock. The helicopters scared the people. There was no substance falling from the sky. Their imaginations got away from them, because of the surprise and ... Shock!" He grinned slyly. "It's not the most convincing story for those who were there, I know, but it does put doubt in a lot of minds. You'll be the one branded as the failure. You harbored your criminal son and nearly killed dozens of students. Possibly more
!
” The thought of it seemed to excite him, as his voice sparked with anticipation
.“
It all depends on how we chose to spin the story. The media will comply, as always. It's all up to you, Silvia. We are Chancellors. We run the Worlds, not schoolteachers. No matter how powerful that teaching ministrant may b
e
… you don't make the law. We do!" He pointed to himself and a nervous Nate sitting beside him. "You have a choice to make. Let it go, or be arrested by your self-righteous inability to see the larger picture."

Hendrix looked around the room, collecting her thoughts. She didn't like where this was going. But she knew it was time to put an end to the charade.

"You're not playing as fairly as I would have hoped, Nathaniel," her chipper countenance confused them all, except Baron. The Arcan man standing behind Sena. Hendrix had only known her a few hours. Yet, he knew she was over prepared for this little dance. She was
n’
t cornered, but they were.

"I'm just going on word of my advisors, Silvia. Nothing more," the Hyperborean Chancellor said while staring down at the table.

"Well, then you're a horrible leader if all you do is follow the will of others," her steely glare and tone hit him from across the table. He could feel her gaze beaming down on him. He was embarrassed beyond his wildest imagining. "I won't forget this, Nate. You'll survive, because I have no need to tell the public anymore than it already knows. Many people were there. They can make what they will of it without me directing their thoughts for them
.
” She looked to Sebastian with a new shine in her bold blue eyes. "But you, old friend. You won't make it to the end of the year with the clothes on your back once I'm finished with you."

"Ha-ha!" he laughed loudly with nerves of steel. "That's a lot of tall-talk for a woman who can't even hold down a job. Keep it up, Silvia, and I'll make damn sure you're in the poor house by the end of the week!" His glee quickly turned to craze. He nearly foamed at the mouth as he inched closer, hands spread across the table.

"Speaking of jobs
,
” Hendrix comfortably mused
,“
how's life been treating your protégé, Geary?" She twirled a strand of dark hair, from her ponytail, with her fingertip.

His expression fell flat. "He's doing well. Taking a much needed vacation." The Draconian Chancellor smiled awkwardly.

The truth was that he didn't know what had become of Geary. The events surrounding the Pavilion disaster were still hazy for most. The ministrants at the school, the rest of the staff, the students, parents, and even Squadron members were all bewildered to what ended the struggle. Local police and the media questioned many people. However, no one could paint a clear picture to how it all concluded. But someone in the room had more answers than the average onlookers at the Pavilion.