Unchained

Chapter Twenty-three

Everything seemed to stop, even Michael’s heart. He stared at her, dumbfounded. “What did you say?”

“Your mom didn’t kill herself,” she repeated. “She had defensive wounds on her hands that indicate she put up a good fight.”

He couldn’t think. All his life he denied what everyone told him: that his mother had killed herself. He could never reconcile the memories of her with the body he had found on the bathroom floor. That hadn’t been his mom.

It wasn’t until he became a police officer and saw one suicide victim after another that he swallowed his pride. People did crazy things, and no one knew why. There weren’t always answers, and sometimes people’s problems ran so deep no one could ever see them. Now Lily stood there and told him she hadn’t done it. She had been murdered.

He still couldn’t think.

Blindly moving, he grabbed her arm. He ignored the warning that flashed in her eyes. “Who killed my mother?”

She glared at him. “I don’t know.”

“I don’t believe you.” His grip tightened. The knowledge of his mother’s true fate ignited a war of emotions: happiness, despair, sorrow, and fury. “You know everything else but not who killed her? Bullshit.”

Lily jerked her arm, but he held on. “Why would I lie to you about that? I don’t know. No one does. And I’ve looked into it, trust me.”

He knew he was hurting her but couldn’t get his hand to release her. His chest was squeezing. “Tell me who killed my mother, Lily.”

Rafe and Remy entered just then. The two Nephilim slowed as they sensed the tension in the room. “Hey, what the hell is going on?” Rafe called out, his pace picking up.

Lily forced a smile. “Nothing,” she said tightly. “I was just showing him a move.” In a much lower voice, “Let go of me now, or I will break your face.”

Michael’s lips thinned, but he dropped her arm. If all those terrible emotions weren’t rolling through him, he would have been ashamed at the angry red marks he had left on her arm. “This isn’t over,” he whispered.

She threw down the knife; the blade sank through the mat. She started toward the door and spotted Luke hovering there. “Thank you for sticking up for me earlier,” she said as she breezed past.

“Hey, man, what was that about?” Remy asked as he plucked the knife out of the mat.

Michael stared at the door. Lily was gone. “What she said.”

Remy arched a brow, but he didn’t push it. Rafe launched into another round of training, but this time Michael went at it with a fierceness he had never displayed before. His anger and frustration gave him an edge he didn’t have earlier. It was the first time he knocked Rafe down, and Lily wasn’t even there to see it. Nor would she ever know she was the cause of it.

…

“What is going on?” Luke demanded the moment he reached Lily’s side.

She rubbed her arm absently. That was going to bruise. Why had she told Michael the truth like that? “What are you referencing?” she asked tiredly. “There are so many things.”

“Don’t be a smart-ass,” he said as he cast a dark look at one of the Nephilim. “You know exactly what I am talking about. What the hell is going on?”

She sighed as she walked beside him. “You know what happened. You were there—for part of it at least.”

“Is that where you were all day yesterday?”

She didn’t answer. Instead, she walked past him.

“You were with him, weren’t you?” His question exploded through the hallway like gunfire. Several Nephilim en route to the training room stopped. Some were openmouthed, while other’s watched with morbid fascination. This wouldn’t be the first argument they witnessed between Lily and Luke. Their spats were legendary.

“Jesus,” she muttered, picking up her pace.

“What the fuck you looking at?” he yelled at a group of enthralled Nephilim. “Lily, what are you thinking?” he asked, and this time his voice was, thankfully, much lower. “Damn it, Lily, slow down.”

She came to a complete stop. “Is this better?”

He towered over her. “I’m supposed to bring you to Adrian, you little idiot. I would like to know exactly what happened before then.”

“Yeah, he said he wanted to talk earlier,” she responded blandly. She pushed the button for the elevator. “Are you going to tell me where we need to go?”

“The rooftop,” he answered. “Lily, I don’t think you understand how serious this is.”

She was starting to get the hint. Really, she was. She was just so freaking annoyed that she couldn’t muster up the concern. She waited with a sullen expression on her face.

“On top of everything else, Gabe returned this morning with his brother,” he explained, darkness settling over his face as he pushed the button to close the elevator. “Two more Nephilim children were taken.”

She rubbed her hands across her thighs. “Shit.”

“Exactly. So you can understand why the circle is a bit pissed right now.” He pushed the emergency stop button.

“Luke?” She turned to him, exasperated.

“Now you are going to tell me what you did to piss off Nate, and I mean besides the fact you attacked Micah over that Fallen.”

“His name is Julian. He has a name. He doesn’t answer to ‘that Fallen’ or whatever. It’s Julian.”

Luke stared at her. “Do you even hear yourself?” He didn’t wait for an answer, which was good because it was going to be a whopper of a smart-ass response. “He has a name? Well fucking la-di-da! That doesn’t change that he’s the enemy last time I checked.”

Her irritation grew. “Luke, I know. I know you’re concerned, but don’t ask me anything about him. You won’t like the answers…and it’s really none of your business.”

“Shit! Are you kidding me, Lily?” He placed his hands on her shoulders. “You are talking to me—Luke. I’m not the enemy here.”

Pressing her lips together, she shifted from one foot to the other. A flash of guilt went through her. She didn’t need to be such a jerk to Luke. He hadn’t done anything. “I’m sorry. I know.” She ran a hand over her head, smoothing down the fine strands of hair that escaped the bun. “Don’t ask me about him. Okay? I understand you won’t see him like I do, and I’m not ready to try to convince you any different.”

Luke moistened his lips. “Okay. Forget…Julian, for now.” His pale eyes flashed. “What happened between you and Nate? I’ve never seen him so angry. He about took off my head this morning when I stopped by the office.”

“Sorry about that,” she murmured. “He’s a little pissed off at me.”

“A little?” he asked with a harsh laugh. “After chewing me a new asshole for letting you run off, he then launched into a tirade about how we need to lock you up.”

“Lock me up?” She bit down on the string of curses that weren’t going to make anything better. “Nate needs to lock up Micah! He was admittedly following me. I caught him snooping around Nate’s office. No one seems to care about that.”

“Oh, Lily,” he groaned. “He was following you to keep you safe and because he thinks you’re the traitor.”

“Likely excuse,” she grumbled. “What about the office?”

“Who knows? Come on. Adrian is waiting on us.” He pressed the emergency button but didn’t say anything more. Not as the elevator started or as it went up a couple of floors. His silence didn’t soothe her like she thought it would. It made her more worried.

“Luke?” she asked finally.

He studied her, his eyes dark and troubled as he folded his arms across his black shirt. He looked like someone who was leading a condemned man on his last walk.

She swallowed. “What’s going on?”

“What do you think, Lily?”

She didn’t know what to say to that, and there wasn’t any time left to respond. The elevator came to a stop. Luke stepped forward, adjusting the fallen strap of her tank. Then he smoothed back her hair. His brotherly preparations really made her feel like she was taking her last walk.

As the elevator door opened, she tried to convince herself she would be able to clear things up. Hopefully she could come up with a couple of good reasons that explained her recent behavior, because right now she had none that she knew any of them would care about. At least none any of them would appreciate.

The bright summer sun beat down on her, and she shielded her eyes from the glare. Why had they picked the rooftop in the hot August sun? Did they plan on tossing her off the roof?

Her stomach fluttered nervously as she spotted Adrian. When he turned to face her, she couldn’t gauge what he was thinking by his expression. He was as impassive as ever. Being almost as old as Nathaniel, Adrian was a mystery to her. All she really knew of him was that he was someone you didn’t want to mess with. Then again, every Nephilim knew that.

Tall, with hair reaching his shoulders, Adrian reminded Lily of a warlord, one of those on the front of a trashy romance novel about to raid a village and whisk away the virgin princess. He was decked out in leather pants and a black, long-sleeved shirt. You’d think he’d be sweating bullets like Lily already was, but Adrian never seemed warm enough. Whatever cold and bleak country he had originated from had left him with piss in his blood forever.

Luke placed his hand on the small of her back, inching her forward. She hadn’t realized she’d stopped walking. Adrian wasn’t going to be like Luke or even Nate. There were no personal bonds between them that would save her ass or let her get away with snide, offhand comments. If he asked her a question, she was going to have to answer it.

Whether she liked it or not.

When she stepped closer, she realized Adrian wasn’t alone, and Luke hadn’t been entirely forthcoming with her. Across the rooftop and hidden in the shadows of the fearsome gargoyles stood Danyal and Nathaniel. As she neared Adrian, they converged on her all at once.

At that moment, she totally recognized the seriousness of the situation. And she wanted to run, and run very fast, but she wasn’t a coward. Besides, a girl streaking across the midday sky would raise a lot of questions.

Damn it.

Adrian inclined his head at Luke before turning his frosty gaze upon Lily. “It has been a long time since we’ve talked. How have you been?”

She squinted up at him. “I doubt you are really interested in how I’ve been.”

Somewhere behind her, she heard Nathaniel sigh, but her response brought a genuine smile to Adrian’s well-formed lips. “I see you haven’t changed a bit. Still the incorrigible little girl attached to Luke’s hip with Nate wrapped around her little finger.”

Nathaniel stiffened behind her. Danyal shifted uncomfortably. Adrian was painfully blunt, and he always seemed to need to be reminded Nathaniel was actually his boss and not the other way around.

Folding her arms over her chest, she refused to be intimated by him—by any of them, for that matter. “I see you’re still an ass.”

“Lily.” Nathaniel sighed exasperatedly.

Adrian waved a dismissive hand. “Let’s get to the point, shall we? We have a traitor among us. Someone has been working with the Fallen to expose the names and locations of the vulnerable Nephilim. That person has to have access to the Book and a strong enough connection to a Fallen to be able to move among them and not be harmed.”

She didn’t think the traitor—who she truly believed was Micah—needed to trust the Fallen at all. As long as he was giving them something they were interested in, then he would be safe. That is what she told them, and she was met with four cynical pairs of pale blue eyes. Whatever…

“The Fallen operate by no code,” Danyal interjected. “It doesn’t matter what is being done for them. They’re as likely to kill you as they are to say hello. There has to be some level of a relationship there.”

She glanced at Danyal. He must have been working when he was summoned to the Sanctuary since he was dressed in a suit minus the jacket. “I don’t think all the Fallen operate the same.”

Luke let out a long-suffering breath. “What she means is she doesn’t think a relationship with the Fallen is necessary since the information being shared is literally priceless.”

Danyal’s gaze flickered over to Luke. “That’s not what I’m getting at.”

Unconsciously, she shifted closer to Luke. Damn, she was stuck. No one was in her corner except Luke, and they were outnumbered. She turned back to Nathaniel and Adrian. “You all suspect me because of Julian.” There; she’d said it. Now they could get on with their tribune and decide if they were going to kick her off the island or not.

Adrian’s brows lifted, but he didn’t show any other reaction. “You attacked a fellow Nephilim to protect a Fallen.”

She figured at this point she needed to answer as quickly as possible, without much detail, or ask for a lawyer. Sadly, the Nephilim didn’t get lawyers in their Contracts. That was something someone needed to suggest and pronto. “Yes.”

“Why would you do something like that?” Adrian asked.

She had already explained it to Nathaniel, but it didn’t appear he was going to speak up for her. His lack of communication, and the fact he wouldn’t look at her, stung. She knew she had upset him, but she hadn’t betrayed any of them.

And Nate knew her, right? She wanted to believe he did, but the conversation with Julian days before about no one really knowing who she was seemed painfully true. “Julian had walked away from him, and he tried to stab him in the back.”

“So?”

“So?” she repeated dumbly, as if they should see what was wrong with that without having to spell it out. “Micah intentionally provoked him. Julian left it alone, but Micah went after him. He was unarmed and not attacking Micah.”

“The Fallen are never unarmed,” Nathaniel said, staring off into the sky with narrowed eyes. “Whether it is their strength, their intellect, or their manipulation. They are always armed.”

“How far has your relationship with him progressed?” Adrian asked.

Her entire body went rigid. She did not blink, nor did she hesitate. “We are friends.”

“Friends?” he repeated. “Lily, you know that’s impossible.”

“Obviously, it’s not. I consider him a friend, like any normal person would.”

Danyal stepped forward. The look on his face said he was trying to understand her, trying to figure out how she went from super-Nephilim Lily to the Lily who stood in front of him. “How can you get past what he is?”

“He’s saved my life, multiple times, and he’s never done anything to put me in jeopardy—or any of you, either. I trust him,” she explained earnestly.

Danyal shook his head slowly. “And it’s no more than that? Like with Anna? She had been manipulated into a serious relationship.”

She didn’t know if Anna had been manipulated or not. Luke knew more about those circumstances than anyone else did, and he wasn’t talking about that. Ever. “I don’t see how this has anything to do with Anna.”

“And if we demanded you stop seeing him as a friend today, would you be able to do so?” Danyal asked.

She gaped. Hell, at this point she didn’t care if their concern was even valid. It was pure principal. How could any of them tell her who she could be friends with, who she could care about, or who she…?

“Lily?”

She raised her chin. “No one has the right to tell any of us who we can befriend.”

“He’s a Fallen, Lily!” Danyal snapped, losing his customary cool facade. “There shouldn’t be any question. There shouldn’t be anything you have to think about.”

Adrian tilted his head to the side, his gaze finding Nathaniel’s. “Nate and I believe there is much more to this than a mere friendship. It would explain many things. Has the relationship become one of a sexual nature? Answer the question, Lily.”

She looked at Nathaniel, feeling horribly exposed. He had asked her that question just yesterday, and she had told him exactly how she felt about answering. To hear that he had discussed her sexual activities with Adrian mortified her. Not as much as knowing she was going to have to answer them. She shuffled uncomfortably, near panicked. She was a grown woman, but this was her personal, intimate business, and these were her coworkers. Her friends. And Nathaniel was like her father. It was just…gross.

“Adrian, I don’t think this is necessary.” Luke stepped forward. His gaze found Nathaniel’s. “Don’t,” he asked, pleading. He seemed to be the only one who understood how this was affecting her, and the only one who cared.

Nathaniel’s lips formed a tight, hard line. “Lily, answer the question.”

This was horrifying. She felt sick to her stomach, and it wasn’t from the sun. She felt her face flush, and she was near tears. So angry she thought her skin would boil off her bones.

“Lily!” Nathaniel ordered, his patience snapping.

“Yes! Yes! Okay? Does that make you all happy?” she nearly shrieked.

Nathaniel’s jaw clenched, but there wasn’t a flicker of emotion on Adrian’s face. He had already assumed their relationship had progressed to a sexual one. For whatever reason, he only waited to hear Lily admit to it.

She wanted to vomit, right there, on his leather boots. God, she would have happily done so if she had actually had more than a bite of her lunch. Instead, she swallowed down the taste of bile. “So while you guys bother yourselves over whether I’m having sex and with whom, the person out there who is actually betraying us is doing so without an ounce of attention on him!”

Danyal raised his head. “And who would that be?”

“Micah,” she responded. “He was snooping around Nate’s office, and he is a complete arrogant jerk!” The last part wasn’t really a valid reason for suspicion, but she couldn’t help but throw it out there.

“And what were you doing in Nathaniel’s office?” Adrian asked casually. “I’m quite curious.”

Her heart skipped a beat. Everything was surreal. She was outside, but it felt like the walls were closing in on her. Both Luke and Nate had told her she was beginning to be suspected. Micah had confirmed it, but she hadn’t really believed they truly thought it was her. Even during this meeting she thought they were upset with her about Julian, and not that they really thought she was helping the Fallen gain access to the Nephilim.

“I was looking for Nate to see if we could give Michael a break for the weekend, but he wasn’t in his office. Micah was.” She left out the part that she’d copied a couple of the personnel files. That would definitely not work in her favor.

“We don’t suspect Micah,” Adrian responded, and that was the end of that.

She turned back to Luke. The wild turmoil she was feeling must have been written all over her face, because Luke shook his head at her. Her hands curled into fists as a bead of sweat trickled between her breasts. She turned to Nathaniel, believing he was the one person besides Luke who would always have her back. “What’s going on?” she whispered.

“There will be an investigation into your attack against Micah and whether you have had anything to do with the information that has been handed over to the Fallen,” he answered. He at least had the cojones to maintain eye contact with her.

“An investigation?” she stammered. “What does that mean?”

Adrian stepped back, handing over control to Nathaniel completely. This part, the one that was coming, was Nathaniel’s duty. He handled the personnel issues: the write-ups, the punishments, the suspensions, and the all-feared breach of Contract.

However, none of this was making sense to her. Her head swung wildly from Nate to Luke. Then she saw it coming like a freight train that couldn’t be stopped.

And it was about to run right over her.

“Your hunting duties have been suspended until further notice.”

“What?” she exploded. People on the streets below had to have heard her it was that loud.

“Your access to the Sanctuary has been restricted to the aboveground levels and to level four only. You will have no other access. You will only be allowed to continue your training with Michael, but once your training is complete for the day, you will be required to leave the premises.”

“Has the entire circle agreed on this?” Luke demanded, coming to life beside her. “This is the first I’ve heard of this.”

Nathaniel’s eyes turned cold. “I don’t need the circle’s agreement.”

Her chest rose and fell with each heavy breath she took. “What if I didn’t have a place to go? You’d throw me out on the street, Nathaniel?”

“If you didn’t have a place to go, you would be secluded in one of the isolation cells. That is still an option,” he warned icily.

Was she supposed to actually say “thank you” to that? “So you don’t trust me to hunt, but you trust me to train Michael? That makes no sense!”

Adrian, no longer able to remain silent, spoke up again. “Your indiscretion must not interrupt his training. He has done well under you and Rafe, and we cannot run the risk of undoing everything he has learned.”

“In other words, you don’t trust me to be out there hunting and running amok through the Sanctuary in case I take a peek at the Book, but you want to be able to keep your eyes on me at some point. Oh, and none of you want to be saddled with training someone.”

“Lily!” Nathaniel’s voice rose. “Your suspension begins immediately, and I strongly advise you cease any contact with the Fallen.”

“Wait, I will take full responsibility for her,” objected Luke. “If she hunts, then I hunt. That will also solve the problem of the Fallen. He doesn’t come around when I am with her. He never has.”

Nathaniel shook his head. “The decision is already made. The suspension stands as is.”

“Do any of you understand what this will do to her reputation?” demanded Luke. “This won’t stay secret for long. The other Nephilim will find out. There will be no stopping the damage.”

“She should have thought about that before she slept with the Fallen, placing herself in such a bad light,” Adrian shot back.

Lily started forward, coming close to swinging on him, but Nathaniel grabbed her arm. “Everyone has been sworn to silence. The knowledge that there is a traitor will not leave the circle, nor will the knowledge of why you have been suspended.”

Danyal snorted. “There’re so many reasons why you’d finally be suspended, Lily. They will assume it’s any number of things. All anyone knows now is that you and Micah got into it.”

“Shut up,” she seethed, wanting to plant her fist in his face.

Nathaniel’s grip tightened. “All of you leave now. This is over.”

With Nathaniel’s patience at an end, and her temper near explosive levels, the other Nephilim left with the exception of Luke. She turned to Nathaniel, her hurt clearly visible for him to see. “You said—”

“It doesn’t matter,” he cut her off, dropping her arm. “The moment Micah told Adrian what happened, there was nothing I could do to halt this meeting. The only reason you weren’t suspended yesterday was because I had hoped this wouldn’t blow up. Stop looking at me like I’ve kicked your puppy into oncoming traffic, Lily! For far too long, I have let my fondness for you get in the way, and your behavior has increasingly gotten out of hand.”

“My behavior?” she demanded in a low voice. She was quite curious what he was referring to that was so bad.

He raised his hand, cutting off anything else she would have said. “Your suspension is more for your benefit than it is anyone else’s.”

She looked at him like he had grown fifteen heads. “How is this for my benefit?”

Nathaniel took a step forward, causing Luke to immediately move closer to her. “They don’t trust you, Lily. What do you think will happen if you are out there hunting and get cornered or you have to call for help? Do you think they’ll come to your aid?”

“Nate, come on.” Luke’s displeasure was rolling off him in waves.

“No, she needs to hear this. She needs to know how badly she has screwed up. She will be out there on her own, and you can’t be with her every second.”

Lily stared aghast, unwilling to believe that. “The others will help me.”

Nathaniel barked harsh laughter. “The others will follow their lead. Lily, I cannot have you out there and be unprotected if something goes wrong. Not until this is cleared up.”

She stepped back. His words felt like a slap in the face. She turned before they could see how strongly affected she was. “I assume you don’t expect me to finish training Michael today?”

“No. You may leave. Get whatever you need from your room. I won’t require anyone to go with you. Report back here Monday for training.”

She nodded, not trusting herself to speak. She started to walk off, but Nathaniel stopped her.

“Lily, they wanted you locked up, but I couldn’t allow that. I don’t think it’s you,” he said, and for the first time his voice reflected the heaviness weighing on him. “At least, I don’t think you know it is. I don’t know if he has manipulated you, or you’re under some sort of compulsion, but until we find out for sure, this is the only way.”

Her eyes shut, and she drew in a deep breath. She didn’t know what hurt her more. The fact he couldn’t trust her, or that after all these years, he really didn’t know her at all.

“Lily?” Luke called out to her.

She forced a smile and faced them. “It’s okay. Be safe out there.” She glanced at Nathaniel, her heart in her throat. “You, too,” she added. And before she broke down in front of them, she turned and raced back into the building.