Cursed Demon Kissed 2 Page 0,4

or anything. They are the highest level of judges amongst us.

"The Tribunal only comes together when something is majorly screwy. Like this. Overturning a prophecy is major stuff. Al wants them to uncondemn you. Until they do, you have to worry about a Martis stabbing a silver blade in your back." She threw her head back and chugged more Coke.

"So, that's what they started? A hearing to see if I'm not evil?" I bristled.

"Nah," she said. "It's more than that. It's to see if they misunderstood the prophecy, and what their place in it was for all these years. Several very weird things happened. You being tainted in the first place and surviving a demon kiss was odd. Then, a Valefar protected you. That was unheard of. I know you and Eric hate each other right now, but you two worked together to close the portal. It looks like the Valefar and Martis are working together." She arched an eyebrow at me. "That would be super weird."

"Only if the people involved were truly Valefar. I'm not. I have a soul. And, so does Collin. That was why his actions were so erratic. Why would they think anything else?"

Some things seemed so obvious to me, but when it came to convincing the Martis of that it was difficult. I thought Eric was going to kill me when he found out that I was tainted with demon blood. Their vengeance borders on insane. Eric knew me well enough to know that I wasn't some evil, demon-aspiring wanna-be, but he couldn't see past my demon blood. That's all any of them focus on - blood. And mine's the wrong kind.

She shrugged. "They need proof. That's why they want my testimony. They'll want yours too."

What? She never said anything about having to address the Tribunal. I was supposed to tag along and research Kreturus, not waste time defending myself. I bristled and opened my mouth to speak, but she talked over me. "Ivy, you were there. You're the main person who can defend your actions. You really want someone else to do it?"

Suddenly I didn't think Shannon had been entirely truthful. Friggin Martis. They always did what they thought was best and filled you in later. I was sitting on a plane with her because she said come. If she extended the same amount of trust to me that I gave her, I would have heard of her intentions much earlier.

CHAPTER THREE

The flight took too long. I hated being stuck in a ton of tin hurling through the sky, but it was a necessary evil. Shannon didn't know I could efanotate, so I had to take the plane. We were fairly quiet the rest of the flight. When the plane finally landed in Rome, I felt a little better. Shannon and I grabbed our stuff, and walked off the aircraft with the rest of the passengers. As we left the gate and headed towards the baggage claim I noticed a few people. They didn't stick out because they failed to blend in. No, they blended with the crowds perfectly. Everything from their traveling clothes, to carry-on bags, to the travel-swept look said they were passengers from my flight. But, something was off about them. They hung back in the crowd, blending in flawlessly. I wouldn't have noticed them at all, except that I'd stopped abruptly when I fumbled my purse. It slipped out of my grasp, and toppled over my hands, landing on the floor. I ducked to grab it before a shoe kicked my bag away. Between hundreds of legs, I saw them.

"What is it?" Shannon asked.

I snatched up my purse, and stood slowly. The three had stopped moving, and they acted oddly, no longer moving with the flow of the crowd. Each one of them stopped, turned, or stooped nearly in unison. The movements were perfectly coordinated, as if I shouldn't have seen them at all. But, for some reason I did. And as soon as I noticed them, I saw others like them. Passengers who looked like they belonged, but something about them was off. It was like they knew each other but weren't acknowledging it. I tilted my head towards them and spoke softly, "We're being followed."

Shannon's gaze cut across the crowd. An unrecognizable expression crossed her eyes and vanished. She pulled my arm and leaned in next to me. "It's nothing. Keep walking."

Pulling my arm away, I said, "Shan. Are they following us or not?"

She glanced over her