The arms of the chair groaned as my fingers dug into the wood. “Everything has been lovely.”
One dark brow arched as he glided to the other side of my chair. “That pleases me to hear. Alexandria, why did your mother leave the Covenant three years ago?”
I blinked tightly. “What does that have to do with what happened in Gatlinburg?”
“You have been asked a question—no, do not look out to the audience. Why did your mother leave the Covenant three years ago?”
“I… I don’t know why.” I kept my eyes on Telly this time. “She never told me.”
Telly glanced at the audience while he rubbed his thumb and index finger together. “You do not know?”
“No.” I heard myself say, staring at his hand.
“That is not true, Alexandria. You know why your mother left the Covenant.”
Jerking my eyes away from his hand, I shook my head. “My mother never told me why. All I know is what other people have said.”
“What were those reasons?”
Where was he going with this? I followed his slow, purposeful movements. He was circling me. “She left because the oracle told her I would become the next Apollyon.”
“Why would that make her leave?”
I couldn’t help it. My gaze moved to the balcony, to where I knew Seth watched.
“Alexandria, do not look away!” he snapped.
Now I understood why Marcus had looked so worried. My entire body thrummed with the desire to plant my foot into Telly’s gut. I glared at him. “She wanted to protect me.”
A different Minister spoke next. The older pure woman’s voice rubbed like sandpaper over my skin. “From whom would she have wanted to protect you?”
Was I supposed to continue looking at Telly or the Minister? “I don’t know. Maybe she was worried about the gods getting upset over there being two of us.”
“That would be a concern,” she responded. “There should not be two of you in the same generation.”
“What other reasons would there be?” asked Telly.
Words tumbled out of my mouth. Not good or smart ones. “Maybe she was afraid of what the Council would do.”
Telly stiffened. “That is absurd, Alexandria.”
“It’s what she said.”
“Really?” His brows rose. “I thought she never told you why she pulled you from the Covenant?”
Dammit. I could imagine the look on Aiden’s and Marcus’s faces. “She never told me why before she was... before she changed.”
“But she told you after she chose to become a daimon?” asked a male Minister.
“My mother didn’t choose to become a daimon!” I gripped the arms of the chair again, drawing in several deep breaths. “She was forced to become one. And yes, she told me that I wouldn’t have lived if I’d stayed at the Covenant.”
“What else did she tell you about why she left?” asked Telly.
“That was it.”
“Why did you never report her during the three years you were missing?”
“She was my mom. I was afraid she would be punished.”
“Rightfully so,” said the elder Minister. “What she did was unforgiveable. From the moment she was told of your true nature, it was her duty to tell the Council.”
“That is true, Minister Mola.” Telly paused, placing a hand on the back of my chair. “How is that you did not know your mother had turned?”
Air couldn’t fill my lungs quick enough. “I found her and I thought she was dead. I killed the daimon that… was hurting her.”
“Then what happened?” Telly asked so softly I felt sure no one else could hear him.
My throat burned. “There was another daimon, and I… I ran.”
“You ran?” repeated Telly, loud enough for the entire Council to hear.
“I thought she was dead.” I swallowed, my gaze falling to the floor. “I was trying to get back to the Covenant.”
“So it took the perceived death of your mother for you to remember your duty to the Covenant?” Telly didn’t wait for me to answer, which was a good thing. I had no answer for that. “You were found in Atlanta? With four daimons, is that not correct?”
What did any of this have to do with what’d happened in Gatlin-burg? “They were following me. It wasn’t like I was hanging out with them.”
“Your tone is one of disrespect,” snapped the elder Minister. “It would do you well to remember your position, half-blood.”
I bit down on my lip until I tasted blood.
Telly drifted to the right of me. “Where you aware of your mother’s whereabouts after you returned to the Covenant, Alexandria?”
A fine trickle of sweat traced down my spine. “No.”
“But you left the Covenant in August to find her, did you not? After she took part in the Lake Lure massacre? And you did find her?” Telly’s full lips twisted cruelly.
Telly had tripped me up again. I closed my eyes and inhaled. “I didn’t know whereshe was. I didn’t even know she was alive until Lucian told me.”
“Ah, yes.” He glanced behind me at Lucian. “What did you do once you found out she was alive?”
Punched and kissed a pure-blood, but I doubted he wanted to know that. Actually, he’d love to know that; he’d use it to send me to the Masters within the hour. “Nothing.”
Telly clucked his tongue. “But—”
Anger pulsed through me, pounding in my temples. “What do these questions have to do with what my mother told me the daimons were planning? They want to overtake the Council. Turn halfs and send them back to the Covenants to kill. Isn’t that more important?”
Surprisingly, Telly handled my temporary loss of sanity well. “It has everything to do with it, Alexandria. What provoked you to leave the Covenant in search for your mother?”
The need to lie was almost too great. “When I realized she’d killed at Lake Lure, I left. I figured she’d find me and she did. I felt like… she was my responsibility, my problem.”
“Interesting.” Telly roamed to the edge of the dais. Looking out over the audience he spoke louder. “Is it true you did not fight Rachelle when you saw her in Bald Head?”
I glared at the back of Telly’s head. “Yes.”
He cocked his head to the side. “Why?”
“I froze. She was my mother.”
“Half-bloods see through the elemental magic. We cannot. How could you see past the monster she’d become?” He pivoted around, smiling at me. “This is what we do not understand, Alexandria. You left Florida, claiming that you believed she was dead. You came back to the Covenant, and your mother followed you, leaving behind a trail of slaughtered pure-bloods and Guards.”
“What? There was only the attack at Lake Lure. She didn’t—”
“You’ve been sadly misled.” His smile grew wider, truer. “She was responsible for over twenty attacks across the southeastern coast. We were able to track her progress right to the doorsteps of the North Carolina Covenant. She sent a daimon half-blood back to the Covenant. Was that to draw you out?”
Twenty attacks? No one had told me that. Not Aiden, Marcus, nor even Seth. They had to have known. Why wouldn’t they’ve told me that?
“Alexandria?”
I lifted my eyes. “Yes… I guess she wanted to draw me out.”
“It worked. You left the day after Kain Poros had returned and murdered several pure-bloods.” Telly strode across the dais. “Tell me Alexandria, a half-blood named Caleb Nicolo was also with you in Gatlinburg?”
My chest clenched. “Yes.”
Telly nodded. “Did he try to stop you in Bald Head?”
“Yes.”
“Is this the same half-blood who died a few weeks ago?” asked a female Minister. “In a daimon attack while he was with this one?”
“I believe so,” Telly answered.
“How convenient,” the Minister murmured, but it sounded like he had screamed those words. “While you were in Gatlinburg with Rachelle, what did she tell you the daimons planned to do?”
Somewhat sick to my stomach, I told the Council what Mom had planned. Remembering my instructions, I didn’t tell them it was actually Eric who elaborated on the whole thing. Nothing crossed Telly’s face as he watched me. Honestly, I don’t even think he cared about what I was saying.