Marshall ignored her and turned to Emily. “I want a full turnout of your family outside immediately.”
Emily went so pale he thought she might faint.
Stella was silent and calculating for a moment, then nodded her acquiescence to Marshall, and said to Emily, “Do it.”
:She was prepared for that,: Adelle said. :What do you bet she isn’t the only one wiped clean?:
Stella turned her attention to Marshall and said, “You won’t have our full family, Guardian. Most of us are with my sister on holiday or out hunting for my nephew.”
“Convenient,” hissed Adelle, no longer keeping her thoughts to herself.
“How many are here?” Marshall asked.
“Right now, our compound only has twenty-two people in it.”
“You had that number very fast, Stella,” said Adelle.
“When I was put in charge, I made sure to ask how many people were under my care.”
“I find it interesting that your sister went on vacation and left her newly injured sister in charge.”
“Elanor has been ill for some time now and couldn’t put the trip off any longer,” Stella said stiffly. “She knows that, even injured, I am more than capable of protecting my family.” Her polished words were laced with a threat.
Before Adelle could rise to the challenge Stella presented, Marshall said, “Stella, your family isn’t under threat unless they have been doing something illegal. Your aura was scrubbed bare moments before we got here. That alone is enough to have your entire family scanned.”
“That?” Stella laughed, a brittle bark that grated on his ears. “Of course I was scrubbed bare. I was nearly killed by my psychotic nephew using twisted magic no one understands! The gods only know what it did to me. If you look at Sterling and Helen, you’ll see the same thing.” She pointed at the far end of the room toward two curtain-covered beds. “Only don’t expect Helen to talk to you, she’s very single-minded right now. All she wants is another crack at her cousin, and if you aren’t interested in helping her, well… teenagers, right?”
Adelle drew his eyebrows together and looked at the beds thoughtfully. “Marshall?”
“Check them and the nurse. If they are clean, meet me and Jack outside.” He began to walk away and stopped, telling Stella, “You can come too, if you’re up to it.”
“Thank you so much for allowing me to go somewhere in my own home,” Stella snapped and began to struggle out of bed.
Marshall offered his arm, but she shook it off.
“I meant what I said. If you don’t have our help, anything could happen. That boy is a disaster.” Stella tried to get ahead of Marshall as he left the room, but she cradled her arm as she walked and moved slower than a woman twice her age.
Marshall easily made it out into the hallway first and allowed himself to give Stella a sardonic smile.
Behind him, Adelle shouted after Stella from the doorway, “Didn’t you hear? We’re Fire, we thrive on disaster.” Her voice was lighter and more playful now that she knew Marshall wasn’t going to leave the boy to the Blaikes.
:When did you get so attached to the boy, Addy?: Marshall’s mental voice was reproving. Guardians didn’t get attached during a mission.
:Somewhere between the Blaikes dropping that building on him and him destroying the cemetery with untested magic just to save his friend,: came her haughty reply.
:You never let on.:
:I didn’t want to influence you. Your job is to be the evenhanded one. Mine is to be the angry thing you set after people.:
:And what’s mine?: Jack asked.
:To be a pain in the ass,: Marshall and Adelle said at the same time.
:You two spend too much time together.:
“Just to be clear, this is a giant waste of everyone’s time.” Stella’s breath was ragged as she attempted to keep up with Marshall’s long strides. “You could slow down, you know.”
Marshall narrowed his eyes. “Last I heard, your compound hosted nearly a hundred people, and you claim to only have a fraction of that number available for a turnout.”
“I’ve already explained where they are—”
“Not to mention you personally are suspected of being in a battle tainted with demon energy, and your aura is cleaner than the day you were born.”
“I’ve explained that too! I’m going to have a word with the Guard council about this…” Stella gasped for breath. “Just see if I don’t!” she yelled at his back, panting heavily as she tried to keep up.
As they reached the massive doors leading outside, Marshall opened one and waited for Stella, allowing her to precede him. “Acting Praetor Constance could be here with the entire council, and I would still do a turnout for just one of your excuses. Your family is known for being ruthless in the war against the Demon Realm. Stella, you should be the first person insisting this be done. So why aren’t you?”
Stella’s large, round eyes shimmered with injured innocence. “I don’t like being threatened in my own home. I know there aren’t any nightmares or demons camping inside my people—I’m not a complete novice. But what do you care about my word? It means nothing to you. I mean nothing to you.”
“Well, with a looker like me around, you wouldn’t expect him to notice anyone else, would you?” Jack came from out of nowhere and bounded to the top of the steps, slinging an arm around Marshall’s neck when he reached him.
Marshall smiled up at his teammate.
Jack never cared much about what others thought of him—he always said exactly what he was thinking, and he knew how uncomfortable Stella had made Marshall during their last meeting. There was little chance of him passing up a chance for payback. Not with how protective Jack was of him.
“Stella, I believe you’ve already met Jack.”
She stared at Jack’s arm on Marshall and sneered. “I’ve always thought it was a pity our future praetor was saddled with someone so beneath him. Tell me, Jack, was the plan to ride his coattails to a better life, or were you just planning on dragging him down into the dirt with you and the rest of your kind?”
