Rage and Ruin | 2

0 | 6

D E L P H I N I U M

We were out in the hallway for much longer than I'd anticipated. Nothing that was said in the conference room was audible, though I wasn't sure I wanted to hear what they were deciding.

     "What do you think they're talking about?" Finn asked, eyeing the closed door.

      "I don't know if you forgot or if you're just stupid, but you know I have superhuman senses, right?" Arlo asked. "Shut up so I can hear them better."

      Everyone was quiet as Arlo stared into space, listening to the conversation. After what seemed like too long, Jaxon questioned him, "Hear anything interesting?"

      Arlo seemed to snap out of a stupor, "What? Yeah, they were talking about doing what's morally right, or something like that. Needless to say, I lost interest."

      Riley sighed, "Of course."

      Gigi said quietly from where she was standing in the corner, "They didn't believe it. They didn't believe that Imperium is back."

      I didn't say anything, though I knew their return was personal for her, as well. Her mother's death had been at their hands.

      "Delphinium, was what they said true? Has the Romanian government really taken control over the fortress?"

      I paused. "I don't know. Imperium is clearly back, but how would the council get the information that the Romanians were taking control of the operation?"

     "Someone fed them bad information," Jaxon declared. "We need to find out who it was and why they did it."

The words had just exited his mouth as the door to the conference room opened, revealing Hunt's assistant again. "They've reached a decision," he informed us and gestured for us to enter the room again.

All the heads in the room turned to watch us as we walked back in. I didn't sit down, impatient to hear what they'd decided.

"Your accounts of what happened in Romania have been heard," the woman with the sleek blonde hair said, folding her hands on the table before her. "We've come to a conclusion."

"Adiago Hundsen will be our priority," a short man in the corner told us. "He's openly attacked government officials several times, not to mention his countless other crimes. The FBI will be searching day and night for him."

"What about Imperium?" I asked, fearing that their answer was going to be what I'd expected.

The woman who'd spoken kindly to me earlier got up out of her seat and put a gentle hand on my shoulder. "Delphinium, Imperium is gone. You killed them all. The Club is after you, not your old enslavers."

In a mixture of anger and panic, I wrenched my arm from her grip. "You're wrong! They're back, I saw it with my own eyes!"

The glasses and various pens on the table rattled as I struggled with the grip on my telekinesis. The counsel members seated closest to me leaned away, unsure of what I would do.

"Delphinium, you have a track record of being paranoid after your escape from Imperium. Even after you were released to go back home, there were four counts of battery and assault filed against you that our offices had to clear up. You have a habit of being a bit too quick to assume someone is out to get you."