Page 42 of Bound By Prophecy (Descendants)

I walked to the balcony, and stood unaccompanied for some time before Ellin found me and asked if there was anything I needed. There was. I gave her a list and she nodded before quickly disappearing.

It was Wesley who delivered the disposable phones.

“Is there anything else I can do?” he asked.

I leaned against the balcony railing; the chill wind bit at my exposed skin. Wesley didn’t appear to notice the temperature, or my critical gaze.

“Do you have any information that I should know about?”

He went a little pale.

“Because, unlike the others, I have only one goal here. I intend to save Brianna, prophecy or no.”

He shook his head in a stuttered nod. “Yes… I mean, no. No there’s nothing I haven’t reported.”

I frowned. “There is something between you and Brianna, Wesley.”

A sort of shudder ran through him, and he sputtered out denials so quickly I could only understand every third word.

“Calm down,” I said, stepping toward him. “Brianna is not the enemy. If you’ve been feeding her information—”

“No,” he spat. “No, I mean no, sir. I would never… The Division is all I have left. I couldn’t—” He was swiftly approaching the risk of hyperventilation.

“Wes, it’s okay. I only want you to tell me what it is. If there is something going on, I need to know. For Brianna.”

He nodded, gulping air as he did so. I gave him a few minutes to gather himself before trying again.

“What is it then?”

His face had recovered from the pallor, but he unexpectedly colored at the idea of answering. I stared at him, a flash of disbelief. Surely they weren’t…

“No!” Wesley cried, seeing my expression, “How could you even… No.” He groaned. “Brianna, she’s just… she’s helping me is all.”

Silence hung between us for a moment. “Helping you?”

He shifted his feet, glanced at the lawn. “You know how it is,” he muttered, “with Brendan and… before.”

I felt my shoulders relax. Whatever Brianna and Wesley were doing, it didn’t seem to be dangerous. I waited for the rest of the explanation.

He nervously wrenched a hand over the side of his neck, not wanting to delve into further embarrassment. “She saw the trouble I was having… she saw Brendan and the others, how things were going, and she offered to help. That’s all, Mr. Archer, I swear it. I would never tell her—”

I held up a hand to stop him, glancing pointedly at the balcony doors to his back, before carrying on a feigned conversation. “That will work perfectly, Wesley. And thank you for the prompt delivery of these phones. Oh, Ellin.” I glanced at her before a cursory nod at Wesley to dismiss him, and though he managed to school his features, his eyes betrayed an eternal gratefulness for the escape.

Ellin handed me a folder. “Mr. Archer,” she said in greeting, exhibiting the flawless business manner Brendan expected of all his staff. “If there is anything else I can do for you, please let me know.”

“This is sufficient for now, Ellin. Thank you.” I slipped the folder under my arm. “But could you have something sent up for Brianna?” She waited. “Hot tea, I think.”

Ellin nodded, barely able to maintain her impassive façade at the reference. I winked, certain the whole house was whispering about the state the prophecy girl had their stalwart leader in, and Ellin quickly spun to go. It felt odd to be anything but serious in a moment like this, but it seemed to happen of its own accord these days. I guessed my training was kicking in. If there was anything my father had taught me, it was to be calm in the face of disaster. Excitement spread like fire, and in the end someone always got burned.

Ellin had closed the balcony doors behind her, but both of us knew I didn’t have any real privacy. Not that it mattered; if my suspicions were correct, there would be no need of it. I pocketed one of the phones, flipped the other open.

When I dialed Avery, I had some hope. But there was nothing, not so much as a “this line has been disconnected” message on the other end. By the time I tried Nathan, I knew I wouldn’t be able to reach any of them. Morgan had managed to cut me off from all of those loyal to Council traditions, all those who might have been a help. I snapped the card from the back of the disposable phone and tossed it.

I leaned against the rail to page through the reports Ellin had given me. As I read the final page, I sighed. From the looks of things, the flicker of unrest was the least of our problems. We were about to walk into the flames of hell.

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