Guardians Of The Zodiac

Chapter 24

Seraphina, Finn, Miles, Addie, Nova, Julian and I all made our way down the corridor and got in line one behind the other as we stood against the banister of the grand staircase and the other six Guardians stood directly across from us, mirroring our formation. I peered over the railing to see everyone down below preparing for our Descent. There were people from all Districts, all Houses, and all Guilds and all I wanted to see was that my friends were still together and in one piece, but I wasn't given much time to search for them.

The ceremony had started. Evelyn's hologram stood in the center of the staircase with a microphone in her hand and one by one she began to call the name and Title of each Guardian as well as the Handlers who waited at the bottom of the staircase. With every step I took closer to it being my turn the more anxious I felt.

When I peeked over at the others Avani's was the first face I saw, ready to follow Nova's lead once she had been called. But when I expected to see Anya standing right behind him I saw Raina standing there instead, Guardian of Nurture from House Cancer. Standing behind her was Lyon, Guardian of Radiance from House Leo, then Warren, Guardian of Knowledge from House Aquarius. Then, after Warren was Nixie, Guardian of Change from House Pisces and finally it was Anya and last time I checked, Gemini was supposed to come before Pisces in the Zodiac.

In fact, now that I got a good look at everyone, the whole order was messed up completely and I cursed myself for not realizing it sooner. There had never been an instance where Finn or Miles were ever put in our group instead of Raina and Nixie. So I leaned forward to whisper to Miles as we inched forward with every name that Evelyn announced.

"Miles, why were Houses Capricorn and Libra switched with Cancer and Pisces? Now the order of the Zodiac is out of order and unbalanced."

"I know, but this was how we were told to line up by the Council. We didn't question it, just did as we were told."

"Someone from the Council told you this themselves?"

"No, Anya told us at breakfast this morning."

"So none of you thought to verify with your Handlers?"

"They were all given the day off to make preparations for the Ball. This is the first time all day that we're even seeing our Handlers. You know that's how it works, Tara."

"Guess I forgot..."

Something didn't feel right. Why would Anya change the order of the line up that had always been the same for centuries? When I looked over the banister I saw confusion written on a lot of the Handlers faces as they scrambled to match our line up. Even Evelyn looked a bit unsettled by the order of names she called out, but once she started she couldn't stop the ceremony and disturb the flow so she continued anyway.

I had finally come face to face with Anya. We were the last two to be called and when we turned toward each other I saw a darkness in her eyes that my brain couldn't process.

"I didn't think you'd show up," she commented as we turned to walk down the first set of steps together.

"What, scared I might just steal your spotlight?"

"Ya know what, Tara? I'm tired of playing nice and of you stealing what should be mine. That ends tonight."

"What are you even talking about? I've never stolen anything from you, Anya. And I'm pretty sure I'm the one who should be mad right now. Why did you send me and my friends to that island when you knew the Dodeca was taking care of it? Did you know who was there waiting for us?" I narrowed my eyes at her.

"Who was there, Tara?" she sang, choosing to play innocent.

In that moment my essence hardened like a diamond, ready to cut down anyone who threatened the people I cared about.