Whirl (Ondine Quartet Book 1) (23 page)

"Kendra?"

Startled, I looked up and realized they'd
been trying to get my attention.

"Um…sorry. What?"

Concern gleamed in Chloe's eyes. "Did you
find the prophecy?"

Ryder choked on his coffee. He hadn't known
about my plan of going after it at the ball.

I shrugged. "Yeah."

"Wait," he spluttered. "You broke into the
Governing House library, accessed a forbidden prophecy without
getting caught,
and
survived a massive attack by
Aquidae?"

I nodded.

"Damn," he said with an awestruck expression.
"That's some night."

Aubrey tilted her head. "So?"

I hesitated. The less they knew, the safer
they'd be. "Nothing much there. Just what Nexa told me in the first
place."

"Do you believe it now?" Aubrey's emerald
eyes were unrelenting. The girl was way too smart.

"It doesn't matter if I believe it or not."
My voice was so bitter I could taste it. "I don't really have a
choice. I have to accept it."

I stood abruptly before anyone could respond.
"We should get going if we want to get a seat."

Earlier, Miriam had called Chloe, informing
her that there was going to be a special session of the Governing
Council. The focus of the emergency meeting was to discuss last
night's attack. When all of us expressed interest in attending,
Miriam said she'd talk to Pelletier and arrange for us to go.

I needed to hear the truth. I wanted to know
whose deaths I was responsible for and what I could do to start
fighting back.

Gather information. Plan. Act.

Ryder approached as I tossed my breakfast in
the trash.

"Are you sure you're feeling okay?"

I forced a smile. "Of course I am. Not a
scratch on me," I said, deliberately misunderstanding his
meaning.

Ryder hesitated, then grinned. "That's true.
I don't see a single flaw on that body or face of yours."

I laughed. It was exactly the kind of light,
flirtatious banter I could deal with.

Two school gardinels drove us over. As we
neared the Governing House, the packed crowds assembled in the
courtyard came into view. All Governing Council sessions were
technically open to the Haverleau public, but people rarely made
the effort to attend.

Today was different. It looked like all of
Haverleau's residents had shown up for the details on what had
happened and what the Council planned to do about it.

The Council Chamber was in a three story
building that bordered the courtyard. The gardinel carefully
navigated our SUV through the assembled throngs of people and let
us out in front of the entrance.

As I exited the car, I caught a glimpse of
the impressive facade of the Governing House out of the corner of
my eye. Images from last night attempted to crowd into my head.

I gave myself a mental shake. Now wasn't the
time.

We headed through the giant, carved double
doors and a Royal Gardinel directed us to a massive staircase. On
the second floor, Chloe took us through one of the many doors that
led off the main hallway. Each door was manned by a Royal
Gardinel.

The Council Chamber was a grand amphitheater,
styled like a stadium so that the hundreds of seats on the second
and third levels could clearly see the action below. The seating
circled around an open center on the first floor, where the Council
assembled.

The room was filling up fast and we quickly
found seats on the first row of our level. I peered through the
railing and looked down. Gardinels and chevaliers ringed the entire
lower level, standing at attention against the wall. Two enormous
white marble tables dominated the center and were arranged to form
the letter T.

Eight couples sat around the lower table,
each representing one of the Redavi families. Oliver and Miriam
Moreaux sat on the left with their backs to us. I couldn't see
Oliver's face, but Miriam spotted us and gave Chloe a small smile.
Impeccably dressed in a sophisticated black turtleneck under an
eggshell white linen suit, she appeared thin and fragile. I admired
her for showing up, despite her ill health.

Marcella and Gabe were on the opposite side
of the table. Marcella represented the Irisavies and as Head
Chevalier, Gabe had the dual role of being both the Irisavie
member's mate and the leading representative of the demillirs. The
two had their heads together and appeared to be deep in
conversation.

Jeeves stood behind them, conversing with an
older, silver-haired ondine. She had the same periwinkle eyes as
him. The Genevieves were Redavi, and I wondered if she was related
to Jeeves.

Rhian sat at the center of the upper table,
her face more pinched than usual. Tristan sat on her left. His face
was impassive, but his dark eyes were tense and alert, sweeping
through the Chamber.

I understood what he felt. The general
atmosphere was like a tinder box ready to explode. People were
afraid and in desperate need of answers.

On Rhian's right was a tall glass tank of
water. The box was easily twelve feet in height, filled with the
blue-green water of the ocean. It looked permanently attached to
the floor, and on the bottom of the tank was a closed opening
similar to a manhole cover.

But what really freaked me out was the thing
floating inside it.

"What the hell is that?"

"
That
," Aubrey emphasized
dramatically, "is Jourdain, High Priestess of the Dessondines. She
represents them at every Council session."

"As in — "

"As in Jourdain, the source of all the
stories in elemental history, the Dessondine goddess of legend, and
the powerful magical being credited as the Mother who created the
ondine race," Chloe finished.

I stared at it, trying not to show my shock
and revulsion. Although I'd seen illustrations in our history
books, Jourdain was the first dessondine I'd ever encountered in
real life. Long black hair floated around her in thick rubbery
chunks, looking more like seaweed than anything else. A plain
chiffon dress swirled around her, covering an androgynous body.
Skin so pale it was almost translucent. Her hands and feet looked
claw-like with webbing between the fingers and toes.

But her eyes were what frightened me. There
were no whites, just a glossy black that took up the entire socket.
Alien and unblinking, they gazed out into the Chamber.

I had a hard time believing that ondines were
descended from her.

After a few more minutes, the Chamber was
full. Rhian stood and the buzz of conversations immediately
died.

"We have called this special session of the
Council to discuss the tragic events of last night." Her cold voice
rang out, vibrating with power. I realized the acoustics were
specially designed so that every seat could hear with perfect
clarity. "Prince Belicoux will explain what we know so far."

Tristan stood, his movements smooth and
fluid. Tall and commanding, his presence filled the Chamber and
royal authority emanated off him. "Last night, twenty-two Aquidae
infiltrated Haverleau. Their attack was focused on the Governor's
Ball." He paused. "The losses were significant. Four ondines, two
demillirs, three chevaliers, and two gardinels."

His voice was heavy with regret and I felt a
crushing coldness beneath my ribs. Tristan proceeded to name each
of the victims and although I didn't know any of them, the icy pain
inside me didn't ease. Eleven people had suffered an unnecessary
death.

"Isn't twenty-two an unusually high number of
Aquidae for a single attack?" asked the silver-haired Genevieve
ondine.

Tristan nodded. "Yes. The large number of
Aquidae involved suggests two things. First, the attack was
carefully planned. They knew the number of gardinels and chevaliers
that would be present at the ball and coordinated accordingly.
Second, the numbers indicate that several cells of Aquidae worked
together to execute the attack."

A frightened murmur spread through the
audience. If Aquidae cells began working together in mass attacks,
elementals would have a much more difficult time fighting them
off.

A pouchy demillir with thinning light blond
hair waved his hand around imperiously. "But how did they get into
Haverleau in the first place?"

"The Aquidae entered through the northern
Ward point." Tristan hesitated slightly. "This morning, chevaliers
on patrol in Lyondale discovered the bodies of Kevin and Cassandra
Moreaux, the North Warden Pair. There is evidence they were
tortured before they were killed."

A collective gasp echoed in the Chamber.

"That's impossible!" The exclamation came
from a Council member who was partially standing out of her seat.
Her dark brown hair was tightly pulled back, revealing a cold,
haughty beauty accentuated by familiar icy dark blue eyes. "The
wards are supposed to hold, even in the event of a Warden Pair's
death."

"That's true, Marquisa LeVeq," Tristan
replied in a quiet voice. "There is no other explanation than the
simplest one. That Cassandra must have lifted the wards before she
died."

Silence.

And then a deafening roar erupted, the sound
reminding me of the exploding rumble of a stadium. Outraged Council
members and spectators jumped out of their seats, shouting at
Tristan and at each other. The idea that an ondine, sworn to
maintain such important magical boundaries, would remove it…well,
it was hard to believe.

Images from my nightmare two days ago
suddenly flooded my mind. The perverted blending of red and black
blood, the ondine begging me to stop the torture, and that
terrifying laugh devoid of anything but evil…

I grabbed Chloe's arm. She was in a state of
shock, tear streaks marking her face.

"Chloe. Listen to me," I tried to keep my
voice calm even as a dark, slithering fear writhed inside me. "Did
you know them?"

"Cassandra was a distant cousin of my mom.
They were close," she whispered. "I didn't know they were a Warden
Pair. I can't believe she would willingly lift the magic — "

"Can you describe what they looked like?" I
asked, unable to keep the desperation out of my voice. Chloe's
hands covered her face.

"Chloe, please."

She looked up at me, confused.

"Why? What's — "

"Please."

"Cassandra," her voice hitched, "was really
pretty. Long, straight black hair and pale blue eyes. And Kevin had
blond hair that was cut short. He was really strong, very
muscular."

Oh God, it was them.

It hadn't been a nightmare after all. Just
like the Axis vision. I'd seen the last moments of Cassandra and
Kevin Moreaux. Kevin's torture must have been too much for her.
Cassandra's profound love and her desire to stop his pain had led
her to lift the ward.

As Nexa had pointed out, an Aquidae's very
existence went against the light of life. What had happened to
Cassandra and Kevin was an example. To twist and manipulate the
love she had for her mate was an act so repugnant, it made me
nauseous.

The Chamber was still in an uproar. Gardinels
streamed in, breaking up quarrels, and trying to prevent arguments
from escalating into physical brawls. Redavi Council members
heatedly debated with raised voices, adding to the general
confusion.

Rhian finally stood and lifted a hand. It
took several minutes, but Council members and spectators gradually
began to settle down. Her expression looked like it was carved out
of stone. She waited until the Chamber became silent.

"We have already assigned a new Warden Pair
to take over the northern Ward." Her voice was unwavering, its
tightly controlled tone a startling contrast to the din that had
encompassed the Chamber moments earlier. "And the Selkie Kingdom
has assigned extra gardinels here as a precaution. We ask everyone
to remain vigilant and to exercise extra care when venturing
outside of Haverleau's boundaries. At this point, there is nothing
further we can do."

Rhian spoke the last sentence with finality
and a dissatisfied murmur swept the crowd. No one found the
solution acceptable. She sat back in her chair, exhaustion and
worry lining her eyes.

"There
is
something we can do."

Marcella suddenly stood, placing both hands
on the table. Her eyes slowly moved over each Council member,
determined resolve glinting from their hazel depths. In that
moment, she bore a striking resemblance to Rhian.

"I put forward a motion to change the
Demillir Law of the Chevalier Charter. The law should be revised so
that ondines may also have the same opportunity to become
chevaliers."

"I second the motion," another voice added.
It came from an ondine seated near the far end of the table. Long,
mahogany hair, streaked with silver, was twisted back into a
chignon. She nodded at Marcella in confirmation.

This is it
.

Ryder and Chloe gripped my arms, and Aubrey's
mouth hung slightly open.

"Very well, Marquisa Irisavie and Marquisa
Desmarais," Rhian acknowledged, showing no reaction in her voice or
expression. "The motion is now on the table."

"That's absolutely ludicrous," the Genevieve
woman sputtered. "Ondines are not meant to train — "

"I think it's an excellent idea. About time,
too," Miriam Moreaux interrupted. Oliver nodded. "We are in a dire
situation. And in a war, we need every resource." She looked around
at the other Council members, her voice becoming impassioned. "Last
night was a clear demonstration of our helplessness. If ondines
learn to physically defend themselves, it might provide an
advantage. Perhaps Cassandra would still be here if she'd been
better prepared."

Chloe beamed with pride.

"Head Chevalier Renard," Rhian said. "What do
you think of this proposal?"

Gabriel stood, keeping one hand on the back
of Marcella's chair.