The Secret Aftermath – Chapter 02

“Guardian, why are you here?” asked an Asian woman, the halo of black hair around her head adorned with golden ornaments. She wore a colorful, long-sleeved, wrapped top tied at the chest with a one-looped bow. At a guess, I’d say she was Korean.

I blinked several times when I realized I could hear her and understand her clearly, though I could also tell she was not speaking in English. I could only assume it was an effect brought about by the circle in which we were standing, not some new power I’d acquired.

Anghelescu bowed, then answered. “Councilor Kim, as I informed the heralds, Miss Xero is my employee and my responsibility. I am here as her advocate and witness.”

A man with a pinched face, long aquiline nose, and wearing a scarlet cassock leaned forward. “You overstep, Guardian.”

He spoke in Spanish, but with his S’s made to sound more like ‘th’s,’ which marked him a Spaniard. His impatient and entitled tone instantly tagged him as a bully. While I was grateful Anghelescu had come with me, I had no desire to get her into trouble, but I doubted these people would give much weight to anything I said on the matter.

“I must respectfully disagree, sir. Miss Xero was vetted thoroughly before I extended her an offer of employment. I’ve watched her deal with the revealed knowledge of our existence and her work on our behalf, which has exceeded standard expectations. No one is better qualified to help answer any questions you might have.”

And also to ensure we had our stories straight and didn’t say more than we needed to about the events that had led up to today. I felt a drop of sweat make its slow way down my spine. One of these seven people, or someone close to them, was responsible for the human population fertility-curbing project we needed to stop.

The problem was that we couldn’t talk about it. The council certainly would have rejected the original proposition outright if it had been brought forward. However, now that it was so close to fruition, they might consider it a viable solution and let it happen—thus decreasing the fertility rate of millions, if not billions, of humans without their consent in an effort to curb human overpopulation of the planet.

The Spaniard sat back, part of his upper lip raised in dissatisfaction.

“You may not be aware, Guardian, but we received some rather disturbing intelligence from the Eye. Visions regarding this woman.” Though the middle-aged man spoke in English, his hooked nose, symmetrical jaw, and tanned coloring marked him as Egyptian. He wore a white linen suit rather than a historical outfit, though the color was reminiscent of the kilts and robes worn by the ancients. It was hard to tell from where I stood, but his eyes seemed to have a thin line of kohl around them. “Revelations seen not only by the Dallas branch, but by branches worldwide.”

I swallowed hard. A ton of them had seen me? That was crazy! I could believe I was part of a vision, but surely not the center of one. I would think Jake being executed by one of his own kind would trump the discovery of a human who could tap into their energy base.

“Pardon me, sir,” Anghelescu said, in the humblest of tones, “but were the visions only about Miss Xero, or did they also include the cold-blooded murder of one of our own by an unknown assailant?”

The silence that settled around us at Anghelescu’s question felt like that of a tomb. Several of the councilors stared at her with such heat in their eyes it was a wonder we didn’t catch fire.

“That is a separate issue, Guardian, and not one to be discussed at this time.” The Spaniard then stared at me and smiled as if looking at a bug he was about to squash. “Besides, the perpetrator of that atrocity is likely standing right beside you.”

“Santiago, that was uncalled for.” The soft admonishment came from an ephemeral beauty of Indian descent. She wore a gorgeously patterned pink and gold sari and sat in the chair to his left. A topaz glimmered brightly from a piercing in her left nostril, and intricate hoops adorned her ears.

“Apologies, Badami, but that is one of the possibilities we should consider.”

How unoriginal—trying to make the orphan the scapegoat. “I didn’t kill anyone! And I don’t appreciate being accused of it just because it would make your life more convenient.” I would have said more, but Anghelescu touched my arm and minutely shook her head.

“You will not speak unless spoken to,” said a dour-faced man with a Hungarian mustache at the end on the left. He wore a red turban and a blue, yellow, and orange jacket. I’d never heard the language he spoke before. “The Guardian has rights here and may speak, but you do not. If you cannot control yourself, we can do it for you.”

How utterly shocking—not!

If these beings had ever been genuinely enlightened and filled with the wisdom to guide humanity, I hadn’t seen much evidence of it. Despite the awe-inspiring setting, I wasn’t impressed by the council so far. I typically had no problem keeping my mouth shut, but I was getting so very tired of being stepped on.

“Forgive her. She is very new and is not acquainted with the council’s rules, and it’s not been long since she was put through a great ordeal. The summons did not allow time for her to be properly prepared.” How Anghelescu could plead for me yet at the same time make it sound as if she were scolding the council itself was something I’d never be able to pull off.

“Please enlighten us about her, Guardian,” said a small man with brown, reddish skin, a shaved head, and an orange Buddhist robe. With two of them dressed in religious clothing, did that mean some of the SH had spiritual beliefs, or did they merely use religion as another tool with which to manipulate humans?

“Miss Xero is a foundling. She was discovered at a DART rail stop just before the morning commute. There was no note. Notices were placed in the local newspaper and other media, but since child abandonment is a felony in the state of Texas, it was not surprising when no one came forward.”

I knew all this, but it felt odd hearing it said out loud. I felt like a germ under a microscope.

Anghelescu went on. “She was entered into the foster care system and moved from home to home. No serious applications for adoption were ever filed, though one of her social workers took Miss Xero under her wing and watched over her even after she was released from the system.”

I still missed Laurel terribly—her loss a yawning pit inside me.

“We found nothing to indicate she was being monitored, followed, or would in any way be a threat to us. She also had all the qualities of the type of employee I’d hoped to find. Her work to date has been highly satisfactory.”

The last council member finally spoke. “What year and month was she found?” He had a pleasing but androgynous appearance, and had the lightest colored skin of the set.

“The year was 2001,” Anghelescu answered. “She was believed to be several weeks old when discovered. Her approximate birth date was officially marked as the fourth of July.”

Pointed looks were shared amongst the councilors. The time frame seemed to mean something to them. But what? Jake had always insisted I had secrets. It had bothered me when he’d said so—if he was right, it meant there were things about me I didn’t know. Now, it appeared as if my newfound powers might not be the only “secret” I had no clue about, that it might be tied somehow to the Secret Humankind.

Dread shot through me like a rocket. I didn’t need my spidey sense to know things were taking a turn for the worse.

“I think we’ve heard enough, don’t you?” Santiago sent me a scathing glance and then pointed directly at me. “These abominations were supposed to have been destroyed!”

“Calm down,” Councilor Badami said. “We don’t want to jump to conclusions. It could just be a coincidence.”

Santiago pulled his arm away when she reached over to touch him.

“Are we jumping to conclusions?” the councilor with the red turban asked. “She tapped into the energy and healed herself. She was found as a baby around the same time as that odious project was destroyed. The Eye saw her. How much more evidence do we need before doing something about it?”

Do something about it—about me—like what, exactly? Why did these people think they had a right to do anything to me? My nails jammed into my palms, but I barely felt them.

“Councilors, what precisely are you referring to?” Anghelescu asked. I wouldn’t have put it so nicely. It was taking all I had to keep quiet. Since when had all my hard-earned self-control gone out the window?

“That is not your concern, Guardian,” Santiago spat.

“I hate to disagree with you, sir. Miss Xero is my responsibility.”

The Egyptian in the white suit flicked his hand in our direction. “You might as well tell them. It will lead to greater understanding.”

Something about the way he said it bothered me, but I couldn’t put my finger on why. I half hoped the others would disagree. I wasn’t sure I wanted to know about my ancestry. My life was weird enough already. The last thing I needed was an origin story, like some comic book superhero.

“Twenty-plus years ago, we were alerted by the Eye of a possible… situation.” This came from the androgynous councilor at the end. “An unsanctioned project was being carried out in secret. A misguided attempt to make an SH-human hybrid of sorts.”

“Don’t sugarcoat it, Suwan. Filthy abominations are what they were making!” Santiago was almost frothing.

Suwan gave a tiny nod, acknowledging Santiago’s opinion before going on. “Many of the infant subjects had died during years of experimentation, but the visions implied they were very close to succeeding. We voted to shut them down and punish those responsible. And so we did. But it would seem our efforts were not entirely successful.”

Bile rose in my throat. I was the product of an experiment? It felt like someone had punched me in the stomach. Was I human at all?

“Now do you understand our concerns, Guardian?” Santiago asked. “It is your duty to rid us of what should never have been allowed to exist in the first place.”

I couldn’t read all of their expressions, but it was easy enough to tell that few disagreed with his statement. Had I decided what I wanted for myself, only to never get a chance to have it?

I didn’t dare look at Anghelescu. Seeing the same ugly disgust on her face would be more than I could bear. It also horrified me that Santiago had just ordered her to kill me. These people were supposed to be wise and enlightened, but I’d yet to see a single sign of that.

“I disagree, sir.” The conviction behind Anghelescu’s words shocked me. “Miss Xero is an innocent. If she was indeed a part of that project, she did not choose to participate. She was completely unaware of her possible origins until today.”

The turbaned councilor shot to his feet. “What if she decides to breed? What would you have us do then?”

Anghelescu turned ice-cold eyes in his direction. “There is no proof that whatever was done can be passed onto progeny. Dr. Morgan can examine her in detail and find out.”

Santiago also jumped to his feet. “And hand over the secret of how to make more? To a human?” I didn’t know if it was a trick of the light or part of whatever he’d been transformed into at the time of the Change, but his eyes had turned red.

“Biological reverse engineering isn’t that simple,” Councilor Kim said, sending an arched-browed look in Santiago’s direction. “Even I know that.”

“But do we dare take that chance?” Santiago insisted.

“Life in all its forms is sacred.” This came from the councilor dressed like a Buddhist monk.

“Yet our responsibilities to our people sometimes call for lives to end!” With focused deliberation, Santiago pressed a button on his laptop.

Sure to my core of what he had just done, I shut my eyes, waiting for the corresponding burst of pain as the bomb in my neck exploded.