AMANI: Reveal Read Free

wondering what she meant by that. She closed her laptop. “A bee will sting not because it wishes to harm you, but because its sting is its only defense mechanism. It’s the only way it can survive. Well, except for honey bees, but you see my point. Xander needs to feed in order to survive. I know he has fed on my daughter and Amya several times, yet he’s never harmed them in any way. He isn’t a monster.”
              “Tell that to John,” I replied.
              Danny, John’s brother, was a Protector who’d been badly injured during the fight against the Rascals in England. When he was brought to Dr. Goldbridge at HQ, they realized that he had been bleeding internally for too long and that his brain was badly damaged. Danny hadn’t been able to talk much since the incident and he had to be carried in a wheelchair at all times. Let’s just say that John had sworn he would avenge his brother at all costs. He was the one who, two weeks ago, had created a group amongst the Protectors that pressed Michelle to include the death penalty in Xander’s possible consequences for being a Rascal.
              Michelle’s eyes saddened. “Danny’s fate is regrettable, but Xander had no doing in the matter.”
              “We went to England in order to find Xander, ma’am. With all due respect, were it not for Xander turning into a Rascal, no one would have been hurt.”
              “And do you believe that he chose to become a Rascal?” Her features sharpened. “Xander is as much a victim as everybody else in this case.”
              “Well, Stephano and François don’t think so. They demand a public execution, broadcasted in the Protectors’ Headquarters in every country. They want to make the knowledge public that we are not afraid of Rascals and that we won’t be intimidated by this new threat. After what happened in Italy, France, and several other countries, they want every Protector to know that we are still in control and that there is nothing to be afraid of.”
              “But we are not in control . Even if Xander was to be sentenced to death—and I will make sure he isn’t—how would we accomplish that? You were there with my husband when the bullets merely slowed the Rascals down. There is no way to kill them. None that we know of, anyway.”
              “That’s what I told Stephano, but he wants to have custody of Xander in order to go through a series of tests. He wants to be the one who kills him.”
              “This is out of the question!” Michelle proclaimed. I knew she wouldn’t be in favor of this, but I’d also heard rumors that Stephano had been bribing the jury in charge of Xander’s fate. Bribing and scaring them, telling everyone stories of how awful it had been—and still was—in Italy after the Rascals had killed people’s Blue and Yellow selves, and how dreadful those monsters were. Michelle might not have the last word after all.
              “I won’t allow it,” she continued. “Xander is not a lab rat and he hasn’t received his sentence yet. We will see what happens tomorrow.” She paused, lost in her thoughts. “In the meantime, try to reason with François and Stephano. Their anger is not a good example to give our people. We must seek the truth, not revenge.”
              I acquiesced and was about to leave when the door burst open and Amya Priam came in, looking upset.
              “How could you allow this?” she asked, staring at Michelle in disbelief. “Xander has never done anything to you or to anybody else. How can you allow his assassination?”
              “I will leave you two alone,” I said, rising from my chair.
              “No, Ian,” Michelle countered. “I want you to stay. You know more than anyone