her desk. Mom and I took the seats in front of her. “Only the three of us, Solomon, Tristan, and Owen possess this knowledge, and I want it to remain so for as long as we can keep it secret.”
I nodded. She had told me this before, at the beach house in the Florida Keys, implying it had to do with the video I’d received showing the Daemoni beheading Tristan. The video was, obviously, a fake.
“I do not even want the council to be made aware at this time,” Rina said.
“Okay . . . but why? I thought you figured out the Daemoni had hacked your email and sent the video to me—”
“That was a theory,” Mom said. “It makes the most sense they would send it, but we’re still investigating. Rina has reason to believe—”
“I would like you to listen to the council members’ minds during the meeting,” Rina cut in, her eyes flashing anger at Mom.
My eyebrows shot up. “Um, I could be missing something here, but isn’t that a big invasion of privacy?”
“You are missing something,” Mom said, leaning back in her chair and crossing her arms as she glared at Rina.
“What?”
“I—” Rina broke Mom’s gaze and began shuffling and stacking papers on her desk. “I just need you to listen.”
“But why me? Can’t you do it?” I didn’t intend to sound so rude and demanding, but her request made me uncomfortable. As did the tension between the two of them.
Rina abandoned her papers and clasped her hands together. Her chest rose and fell with a deep breath, and she shook her head slowly. I’d noticed yesterday, while she provided some of the answers I’d been waiting to hear for so long, a new shadow over her I’d never seen before. Something different—less confidence, I supposed, as if something had seriously shaken her. I thought my mention of Noah, her son and Mom’s twin, had caused it, but today the gloom was more pronounced. Her face appeared tighter than normal, and she held her shoulders at a more defined angle, as if stress locked her muscles in place.
“Someone might be blocking her power,” Mom said when Rina didn’t answer me.
“But not mi—? Wait—they can block your power?”
Rina sighed, the sound pregnant with profound sadness. What’s making her so unhappy? What can I do to help?
“There is a possibility a mage might be able to shield me from entering his or her mind,” she finally said. “A slight possibility, but a possibility nonetheless. I would have thought only a sorcerer would be powerful enough, but the witch, wizards, and warlocks on the council are among the most powerful in the world, nearly rivaling any sorcerer.”
“Then they could easily block mine,” I pointed out.
“Not if they don’t realize they need to,” Mom said. “Our reason for keeping it secret.”
“Well, there aren’t any guarantees it’ll stay secret. I don’t exactly have the best control.” I anxiously pawed at the base of my throat, once again coming up empty, no pendant hanging there.
“I only need you to keep your wall up and listen, just listen,” Rina said. She implored me with wide, pleading eyes, and I wanted to make that look go away. But could I do what she asked?
I stood up and walked over to the fireplace, gnawing on my lip and staring at intricately designed glass eggs lining the mantle.
“Alexis, I would not ask you if I did not think you could handle it,” Rina continued. “You have excellent control of protecting your own thoughts. I cannot hear them without your allowing me to.”
I glanced over my shoulder at her and lifted an eyebrow, hoping it was enough to remind her of last night.
“Yes, well, that is a different matter,” she said dismissively.
“You and Tristan won’t be having sex at the council meeting,” Mom said more bluntly.
“No, but what if something else happens?” I asked, throwing an emphatic hand in the air and nearly knocking over one of the eggs. I hurried to steady it before it fell, turned, and began pacing. “So many people and all those thoughts . . . I nearly had a mental breakdown on the flights over here. I’m not ready yet. Can it wait until I’m better at this?”
“No,” Mom and Rina said in unison.
Rina stepped in front of me, forcing me to stop pacing. She took my hands into hers. “I need you to do it now, darling, or I would not ask you. It is quite urgent.”