“I would,” Adam said as he sifted in to stand beside us. “In a heartbeat, Alden,” he continued with his eyes on me. “Besides, I need a place to stay at while I search out the Light Heir. I’d stay with Vlad and Adrian, but I think it would be counterproductive. It’s a party every night with them.”
“Okay, we can discuss the new Guild later. Right now we need to account for the charges the Guild is accusing us of. I think you should do the talking, and we’ll back you up if anything happens. Vlad has a friend who will also be there with a few of his people. It will add to the army we’ll be walking in with. I’d suggest we go without them, but I don’t trust the Guild not to attack us unless we show them force. So we go in with the backing to make them stop and think. Plus, we don’t know how many Mages have infiltrated or weaseled their way into the Seattle Guild,” I said with my business face on.
“And Olivia? What do we do if they ask for her?” Alden asked.
“We hope to God that they don’t ask. Ristan will either get the truth out of her, or not. I don’t know if she’s guilty of being a Mage or just trying to be a good little soldier, but we all know that you and she have been here too long for the Guild not to suspect that you’ve both been compromised. If we hand her over to them, she’ll most likely be retired. I can’t in good conscience do that to her. There’s a chance she could be innocent, or that she’d been drinking the Kool-Aid that we all were. The point is that we don’t know what happened. You were passed out and we weren’t there. Zahruk could possibly pull it from her mind, but he and Ryder have decided to honor Ristan’s request to get the information from her in his own way. I can, however, tell you this: If someone asks us for her directly, then that is who we should suspect of being a Mage. I believe her on that part; that she was told you were a traitor. We know that you were under suspicion by the Seattle Guild for a time, which is why they sent the other Elders to the Spokane Guild. I think she was used and fed lies by the Mages. It may not be true, but she wouldn’t have been able to say no if it had been an upper level command. We all know that. Her fate is out of our hands now, and Ristan isn’t quick to judge people or make hasty decisions. I trust him to do what he believes is right. I have to.”
“That’s what I think as well, and should she prove to be a traitor, Ristan will deliver what he sees as justice to her,” Ryder said, backing me.
“I’d like to believe she wasn’t guilty,” Alden said softly with his eyes on the children again. “Some of these kids don’t have parents to protect them,” he said offhandedly.
“Then keep those ones here, and they can be taught your ways at the new Guild. No child should be alone and I can think of no one else who will protect them better than you,” I said softly as I smiled. “Or kick their asses into shape and make fierce warriors of them.”
“Agreed,” Adam said as he smiled, remembering the crap we’d gone through together in training with Alden.
“Back to the task at hand,” I said, pulling us back to the here and now. “Are we ready?” I asked and watched as he started moving the children into groups. He was dedicated, and those children were terrified of us. Of me. It was weird to know that once upon a time, I’d been one of those scared kids.
“These ones have no parents,” he said, pulling seven from the group. “They were found on the steps of the Guild. Like Adam was,” he said calmly, in a tone that would soothe the fears of the scared little things. “I’ve raised them for the most part. From what you all told me, a lot more of these kids lost their parents when the Guild fell.” He nodded grimly at the other larger group of children. “We’re going to have to find out which ones still have parents that can take them back.”
I nodded, acknowledging the sad truth to Alden’s words and knelt down to eye level with one of the small girls. “What’s your name?” I asked, and watched as she recoiled from me. “You don’t have to be scared of me. I am a lot like you. I was raised by Alden after I lost my parents. I lived at the Guild, too.”
She glared at me.
“My name is Synthia, and you have nothing to fear from us. We plan on helping you.”
I watched as she turned what I had said over in her mind and processed it. Her eyes studied me, and sized me up. I smiled softly and shook my head. “We’re a lot alike. You’re wondering if you can run from me, or if you can escape. You don’t have to, because I’m not your enemy. I am your friend and I will never lie to you, no matter how ugly the truth is.”
~~*
We met at Vlad’s club, and I was shocked that we all fit, including a small group of men who walked in after we’d arrived with over one hundred and fifty of the Elite Guard and Shadow Warriors. I watched them as they worked their way through the crowd easily. I was sitting with Ryder at the bar when one of the newcomers leaned over and spoke quietly to Vlad. They looked cold and lethal.
“Lucian,” Vlad said as he watched the newcomer.