Shadow Revealed (The Enlightened Species Book Two) (32 page)

Picking up one, she skipped to where Brae held the other out to her. It didn’t matter that Jorie had never been properly introduced to Brae yet—the girl took the shoe and then hugged Brae fiercely. Brae’s startled gaze met Enlil’s as she returned the girl’s embrace. “You’re super pretty,” Jorie told her when the hug ended. “No wonder G-G-pa’s wearing a goofy smile.” Jorie held a hand out for him to join them.

He took her hand, taking Brae’s in the other. “Brae, this is my great- granddaughter Jorie. The cutest Lil shit you’ll ever meet.”

Brae paled at his comment, not understanding that calling Jorjor Lil shit was a term of endearment. Her worry turned to bafflement when Jorie leaned her head to his arm. “You know you love me the mostest.” Enlil rubbed her mop of curls with his chin, making Jorie giggle.

Enlil chuckled. “I know you need to quit messing with my cell phone. Every time I open it the screen says ‘Jorie is my favorite kid.’”

“I was going to wallpaper your room with Post-it notes to remind you of that. I thought the phone was a better choice,” Jorie justified. She noticed the line of males standing behind Brae. “Um, who are you guys?” Not a shy bone in the girl’s body.

“Oh, I’m sorry, that was rude of me. Jorie, these are my brothers. Well, five of them, anyways.” Jorie’s eyes widened as she looked from Brae to the bulking boys and back. “Jacob went to help Innanna. This is Daniel, Othos, Victor, Baden and Brock.”

“Brock,” the one she had introduced as Baden said.

“Baden,” the other said. Jorie looked closely at the males. Brae blushed slightly at having mixed them up.

“Twinisms.” Jorie sighed. The males opened their mouths to dispute being twins, but Jorie barreled on. “When they weren’t pretending to be one person, my mom and her twin wore different colored earrings. Maybe you guys should get tattoos like those other twins I saw.”

Enlil’s pulse rate shot up at her comment. “Jorie, what other twins?”

Jorie looked at him, confused. “The ones that turn into giant fireflies.” Enlil looked over her head to see the same concerned expression on every face.

“Tell me exactly what you saw, Jorjor.” Enlil watched her confusion shift with the realization of how serious those around her became.

Jorie swallowed hard, glancing from face to face before starting. “I was watching the dancing with some of the children on the balcony. There were two males walking toward the party. Maybe they weren’t twins, but they looked the same—height, shape, hair color. They even walked the same way. They had tattoos on their faces. At first I thought they had the same tattoo, and then I noticed that one of them curled left around the guy’s throat, and the other went straight down to his collar. When they got closer to the party, they faded into a lime-green glow. I heard Jess telling Shane that shadowers did that, so I didn’t think much of it. I just figured they were related to you.” She turned apologetically to Brae. “I’ve seen the glowing figures a couple of times, but that was the first time I saw two of them together or their faces.”

Brae shadowed, and Jorie’s eyes widened. Brae walked around the circle of Enlil and her brothers, watching Jorie’s eyes unerringly track her movements. Jorie wasn’t a siphon, yet she could see Brae in ghost form. Brae dropped her shadow, and all eyes on her. Her brothers couldn’t see her, but they sure as hell could follow Jorie’s line of sight to know where she was.

Jorie just stared at her. “You’re a reddish-pink color.” She stated simply. Fates, did the ones Jorie had seen realize she could see them? Enlil hoped not. Enough danger was aimed at the females he cared about already.

“Victor wants to know if there is a safe area we can talk?”
Brae spoke to him through their bloodmate bond.

“
Gil’s suite. That is where your dad already is. I’ll have my family meet us there,”
Enlil answered Brae. He tucked Jorie under his arm and laughed like she’d said something funny. She looked at him, confused, but wisely kept quiet; her fingertips tapped a rhythm only she could hear against her chin. “Let’s go find your parents, Jorjor,” he told her casually, guiding her into the main house. He glanced around, smiling nonchalantly, hoping their departure didn’t raise any flags with anyone watching.

Meeting up with Jorie’s parents in the hall, he quietly explained to them what had happened and left Jorie in the care of Napoleon and Moira; Napoleon would get his family to safety and join them. At the top of the stairs, two Aquatie females leaned at either side of the landing, looking bored. When they approached, the females shifted to face them side-by-side, blocking their passage.

“No one goes in there. Sorry.” The female’s eyes traveled over Brae’s brothers appreciatively. What the hell was this about? Before Enlil could ask, Innanna stepped up behind the females.

“It’s fine.” The females whipped around when Innanna spoke, fear flitting through their eyes when they looked down at the tiny Oracle. “Go on, get out of here.” The females raced past them to reach the bottom of the stairs, nearly knocking Brae off her feet in their rush. Daniel steadied his sister from behind while Enlil got a look at the destruction done to Gil’s doorway. He looked back at Innanna, noting the faded bruises on her hands. Pretty easy to figure out the chain of events from the evidence, Enlil thought, grinning. Females in love were never to be trifled with; no doubt his nephew had learned a valuable lesson this night. Jess, Shane, Ninlil, and Sargon were coming up behind them, followed by Hans, Irsu, Patrick and Ediku. With a hole in the side of Gil’s suite, it was no longer secure. Plus it would be a hell of a tight fit with this many people.

Gil exited the hole in his wall, Eros and Jacob behind him. He stepped to the opposite wall and a panel slid away to show a straight drop, like an empty elevator shaft. “Follow me y’all.” His wings extended and he jumped.

Sargon’s voice came from behind him. “Hans, climb aboard, buddy.”

Brae gave a grin over her shoulder to the pair. “I knew he would like flying with Sargon better than me.” She extended her wings, taking her turn to drop down the shaft. Enlil chuckled and followed behind her.

Landing in an alcove that opened into a football-stadium sized room many stories beneath the campus, Enlil could see similar alcoves at different points around the main room they stood in. Storage areas fully stocked with any essentials a large group needed were tucked back between the alcoves. Self-contained personal hygiene areas and simple, single-counter kitchen areas were located at each end. This secured room was large enough to hold the entire student body, and was easily defendable. Enlil was impressed; he wondered if a similar thing had been built beneath Jess and Shane’s. The lack of surprise on their faces told him it was pretty likely.

The last to enter was Napoleon, Moira, and Jorie. What were they doing here? He was supposed to get them to safety before joining them. The shocked faces of the rest of his family matched his own.

Napoleon raised a defensive hand before anyone uttered an argument. “I know what you’re thinking. I don’t like it myself, but Jorie has a point to make. All I ask is that you hear her out before dismissing her.”

Jorie’s wide, innocent eyes looked at the faces of the warriors standing around her. Enlil took a quick glance too, trying to assess what the child saw in their faces. Most in this room adored her, but they were all in battle mode. When she met his gaze, he tried to give her an encouraging smile to offset the hardened faces of the others.

Ninlil’s soothing voice brought the girl back to task. “What is it, Jorie? Don’t be afraid, we love you.”

Jorie calmed to Ninlil’s voice, the way she had since the first time she’d heard it. “Dad said that only Jess and G-G-pa could see the … errr …” She stammered over the term.

“Energies,” Jess supplied.

Jorie nodded. “I can, too. I think I can help. Now that I know what they are, I know I’ve seen two others besides the lime-colored ones. I’m too young to share memories the way you guys can, but Dad thought maybe Innanna could get it out of my head. Can you?”

Enlil knew Jorie was asking if Innanna had a talent so rare, most kept it hidden. Reading was still feared even among a lot of Volaticus; that talent, if misused, left anyone vulnerable. Only a person with long developed shields could protect their minds from a true reader. Eros probably had the ability to protect himself, maybe a few other ancients. That was it.

Innanna shook her head. “That isn’t one of my abilities, but I know of a person who can. I need the word of everyone in this room that his gift will remain within these walls.”

She received it without hesitation from everyone. Her next request was a surprise. “Shane, Irsu, Jess, I will need you to join your family bond to my mentoring bond to penetrate through the platinum and lead surrounding us.” The four of them joined in a circle, hands to shoulders. Small lines of strain formed around Innanna lips, and her forehead crinkled with effort.

She swayed, breaking the joining, and a flap sounded in the alcove. Miguel and his partner Gary stepped through.

The male walked straight to Shane, Jess, and Irsu, ignoring everyone else. There was hurt in Shane’s eyes. That was a big secret to keep from close family. Enlil had lived long enough to understand why Miguel would hide that specific gift. Shane was only five hundred, and there was a chance that he had never heard of the persecution of readers. “Why?” was the only question Shane uttered.

Miguel clamped his hand to his brother’s shoulder. “Because, mother asked me not to tell you, not to tell anyone, really. This ability came from her bloodline. Every member of her family that displayed any capacity to read was killed because of it. Only mother escaped. She denied it, refused to develop it. She had hoped none of us would have it. She was crushed when she realized I did. She worried for me, and she worried for my three warrior brothers who would die to protect me should the truth ever be revealed. Throughout history mother’s family members were either killed because someone was afraid of anyone finding out his or her thoughts, or enslaved for a tool. I don’t go into people’s minds when I can help it. Still, things people think will often find their way into my mind. Imagine if the SOSC knew, or the High Ones panel or even the Oracles. I would be forced to perform interrogations, check into things that are none of anyone’s business. I will die before I allow anyone control of my gift, and the best way to protect against that is to keep it secret.”

Irsu asked the first question in everyone’s mind, a precursor to the discomfort Miguel’s talent inevitably brought to those around him. “You can tell what everyone is thinking.”

Miguel’s expression saddened. “If I try, yes … Except—” he turned to look at the others waiting “—Innanna. Unless she feels strongly about something, her thoughts stay guarded. You, I get nothing from.” He pointed at Eros. No surprise in that; the male was an ancient shadow-shielder. “And—” Miguel’s gaze fell to Brae “—you either.” Miguel peered at her closer. “Please don’t think I’m rude, but can I ask how old you are?”

Brae shrugged. “I’m not sure.”

Eros answered. “She’s ninety-six.”

Miguel narrowed his eyes, taking another hard look at Brae.

“
Etana told me my shields were overdeveloping as a protection mechanism against Zakel. Am I supposed to tell Miguel that?”
Brae sent to Enlil. He watched Miguel’s eyes shift to him and nodded.

“I think you just did. He heard through me. He was right to keep his gift secret. Look at how uncomfortable Irsu is, and she’s his niece.”
Enlil answered her.

“
Why would he take the risk now?”

“
There are eighteen hundred people here, maybe more. Osiris could take down the leaders of the High Ones panel, the Oracles and the SOSC with one well-placed bomb.”
Enlil felt Brae’s shiver at the thought.

Miguel stepped up to Jorie, “Are you sure about this?” Jorie lifted her chin, reminding him of Jess and Etana, and nodded. Miguel placed his hand to her forehead. It was one thing to read what people were thinking; it was far harder to seek a memory. Miguel got a small grin. Leave it to the precious girl to charm Miguel without saying a word.

The memory began to play in everyone’s mind in the same instant. One minute Enlil was looking at Jorie and Miguel, the next he was looking over the lawns from the balcony of the nursery, feeling the happiness the music brought to his youngest descendant. Jorie looked off to the left at two nearly identical males walking down a trail. The thick tropical foliage quickly swallowed up the males before returning to view a few yards closer. Enlil noticed the tattoo deviation on the male’s necks. If Jorie hadn’t mentioned it earlier, he might have missed it. Right before the people on the lawns would have seen their presence, the two shimmered, fading to lime-green energy signatures. The two glows separated and worked their way through the crowds, steering clear of the Tellus groups. He saw Jess laughing as she and Shane exited the hall, strolling onto the lawns. The lime-green energies ducked from her, re-emerging once she had passed, and then both headed toward the beach. One of the children caught Jorie’s attention and her eyes looked down at the toddler. The memory ended.

Another began; Jorie must have been walking from one of the events the day before. Her eyes shifted toward the unmanned offices above the stables behind the main house. Gilgamesh’s office. A blue-green energy was peering out one of the windows. Jorie glanced down the building where Patrick leaned against the wall, looking miserable. The second memory ended.

Another began. This time she was greeting the plane that had brought Aymee and Jerika to the island. The girls were talking about the three men they had captured for interrogation, how they hoped Umbrae’s hottie dad would castrate them. Following behind the females was a slightly different shade of green energy. Jerika and Aymee greeted Jorie, ending their conversation about the captives. The energy stopped following, turned, and jogged to the other end of the runway, disappearing into the jungle. As the last memory ended, Gary rushed over to steady Miguel, who swayed with exhaustion.