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"I do not often admit to having been mistaken, but I have to concede that it was naïve of me to apply my moral standards and my belief in the good that exists in all of our hearts to those who hold my beliefs in contempt and consider them a weakness to be exploited. Some Doomers might still hold on to a shred of decency, and those are the ones I want to save, but those who are proven to have none left need to be eliminated. Human lives mean nothing to them. Immortal lives mean nothing to them. Suffering means nothing to them. Therefore, they mean nothing to me."
Kian
Kian could sense the change in the room as soon as he and Syssi returned.
He pulled out a chair for his wife. "Did something happen while we were gone?"
His mother nodded. "We had an interesting conversation about the merit of granting captured Doomers a second chance, and I arrived at the conclusion that, in certain situations, that is not advisable. The Doomers responsible for this attack do not deserve a second chance at life."
That was so unexpected that for a moment, Kian was stunned speechless. The Doomers had committed plenty of atrocities before, and his mother had always been adamant about not ending them if they were captured.
Thankfully, she had decreed that the lives of Guardians always came first, so killing Doomers in the heat of battle was okay.
Since most Doomers fought to the death, it wasn't often they were captured alive. It mostly happened when they were severely injured and could not fight any longer. That toodidn't happen often, so even though Kian didn't agree with his mother's softhearted edict, he hadn't made too much effort to change her mind about it.
Still, over the centuries they had collected so many Doomers in their catacombs that they were running out of room.
He would like nothing better than to stop the inflow, but he doubted that his mother's resolve would extend beyond the Doomers responsible for the vicious attack on the villagers.
"That's a surprising and welcome change of heart, but I haven't decided what to do about the situation yet. My initial plan was to get rid of the evidence of our involvement by burning the bodies and hopefully avoiding direct confrontation with the Doomers. We are on vacation, we have a wedding to celebrate tonight, and I don't want to rush into things without giving it more thought."
"I agree," Kalugal said. "We don't know how many of them are out here. If it's only the two that Syssi saw in her vision, then we can easily get rid of them and continue on our merry way. But if there is a large group stationed here, we shouldn't go in seeking vengeance and get Guardians killed."
Given the determined expression on his mother's face, she didn't like that answer.
"I understand the need for caution, and I do not recommend rushing in without a plan, but we need to take out this cell of the Brotherhood, and we need to make it look like the locals did it."
That was an angle Kian hadn't considered. "That sounds good in theory, but how are we going to do that?"
His mother smiled. "You are the general, my son. You will find a way."
"Right." He raked his fingers through his hair. "I need to assemble my war council, and I hate that I need to do so during my damn vacation."
Next to him, Syssi shifted in her seat. "Maybe I should touch the amulet again to see how many of them are here?"
Every muscle in Kian's body tensed, and he clenched his jaw to keep himself from resisting. He'd been the one who had suggested that she try again, but now that he looked at the artifact that was still displayed on the table, he had second thoughts.
Resting on top of the fabric that Jacki had wrapped it in, it looked like a piece of costume jewelry, and if Kian hadn't seen how quickly it had thrown Syssi into a vision, he would have thought that it had nothing to do with it other than Syssi's belief in its power. But he'd seen her summon a vision before, and it had taken much more effort even when she did it in Allegra's room and somehow drew on their daughter's power.
But what if Syssi was just getting stronger and faster the more visions she summoned?
Maybe it had nothing to do with Allegra or the amulet?
He turned to her. "I want you to try something for me."
"What?"
"Try to summon a vision without touching the amulet. In fact, go over to the couch so you are not anywhere near it."
Syssi frowned. "Why?"
"I have a feeling that your powers have increased naturally and that you don't need anything to enhance them." He turned toMia. "If you don't mind, I would like you to go out to the balcony while Syssi is summoning the vision. I don't want you enhancing her powers either."
"Of course." Mia put her chair in reverse.
Syssi lifted a hand. "Hold on, Mia." She turned to Kian. "I'm all for experimenting with my ability, but now is not the time for that. We need answers, and I need all the help I can get. Mia should stay and get even closer to me while I touch the amulet."
"Syssi is right," his mother said. "We do not have time to experiment."
