changed his opinion, and knelt on the ground before Morgan’s feet.”
“No,” Seth said from beside him, “no, it’s not possible.”
“I might have agreed with you, Seth, if not for their character.”
“Who?” I said. “Which ones?”
Brendan sighed. “Caleb and Noah.”
“Oh gods.” Kara sounded sick. We all knew Caleb and Noah. Neither of them were the sort of man to commit suicide, or kneel down to Morgan.
It was true then. Morgan had figured out a way to use the sway against our own kind. He could control them.
He could control us all.
“Four more of the Council have receded, but at this point I don’t know who we can trust,” Brendan said. “I’m afraid to bring anyone else to our side if the influence is genuine.”
“He has to be stopped,” Kara said. “This isn’t right. No one should have that power.”
Emily huffed quietly beside me at Kara’s hypocrisy, but there was no humor in it. This was bad for everyone, but Brianna most of all. Without our immunity, there was no one to keep her safe.
And then a lead weight settled in my stomach. There was no one to keep any of us safe.
“But what about—” Seth started, and then suddenly remembered Brianna beside him and fell dumb.
“We should continue this in the conference room,” Brendan said. He glanced at me. “Aern?”
I subtly shook my head. No matter that I’d left Brianna under their protection, no matter that I was staying in their house, I would not join the Division simply because we shared the same enemy. I still had some choice. I wasn’t certain exactly what that was at the moment, but there had to be another option.
Kara glared at me openly, but Brendan and Seth didn’t take the time to try and convince me. The three of them were gone a moment later, and we sat alone at the small round table, the dragon, the prophecy girl, and her twin.
When Emily realized Brianna was crying, she startled us all by moving. She crossed to Brianna, who’d not made a sound but bore red-rimmed eyes and telltale tracks of a few escaped tears, and led her silently from the table.
I walked to the balcony, and stood unaccompanied for some time before Ellin found me and asked if there was anything I needed. There was. I gave her a list and she nodded before quickly disappearing.
It was Wesley who delivered the disposable phones.
“Is there anything else I can do?” he asked.
I leaned against the balcony railing; the chill wind bit at my exposed skin. Wesley didn’t appear to notice the temperature, or my critical gaze.
“Do you have any information that I should know about?”
He went a little pale.
“Because, unlike the others, I have only one goal here. I intend to save Brianna, prophecy or no.”
He shook his head in a stuttered nod. “Yes… I mean, no. No there’s nothing I haven’t reported.”
I frowned. “There is something between you and Brianna, Wesley.”
A sort of shudder ran through him, and he sputtered out denials so quickly I could only understand every third word.
“Calm down,” I said, stepping toward him. “Brianna is not the enemy. If you’ve been feeding her information—”
“No,” he spat. “No, I mean no, sir. I would never… The Division is all I have left. I couldn’t—” He was swiftly approaching the risk of hyperventilation.
“Wes, it’s okay. I only want you to tell me what it is. If there is something going on, I need to know. For Brianna.”
He nodded, gulping air as he did so. I gave him a few minutes to gather himself before trying again.
“What is it then?”
His face had recovered from the pallor, but he unexpectedly colored at the idea of answering. I stared at him, a flash of disbelief. Surely they weren’t…
“No!” Wesley cried, seeing my expression, “How could you even… No.” He groaned. “Brianna, she’s just… she’s helping me is all.”
Silence hung between us for a moment. “Helping you?”
He shifted his feet, glanced at the lawn. “You know how it is,” he muttered, “with Brendan and… before.”
I felt my shoulders relax. Whatever Brianna and Wesley were doing, it didn’t seem to be dangerous. I waited for the rest of the explanation.
He nervously wrenched a hand over the side of his neck, not wanting to delve into further embarrassment. “She saw the trouble I was having… she saw Brendan and the others, how things were going, and she offered to help. That’s all, Mr. Archer, I swear it. I would never tell her—”
I held up a hand to