Guardians of the Akasha by Celia Stander

direction that Victoria steered her.
    “The living quarters are this way, Keira,” Victoria explained. “Now where is that little—”
    “Hallo, hallo, so you arrived then, sorry I’m a bit late. Been out playing with the pups,” a cheerful voice interrupted her.
    A young boy had run up to their side, out of breath and grinning at Victoria’s frown. His brown eyes twinkled merrily in his freckled face and tousled black hair stood out in every direction.
    “Well, better late than never!” Victoria pretended to scowl. “Keira, this is Justin. One of our younger initiates and general nuisance to all.”
    “Aunt Vic!” he howled with a hurt expression.
    “There, there, no need to make such a racket!” she shushed him. “Take Keira’s bag to her room, then you can come back and give me a full report on Ylva’s pups,” Victoria winked at the boy.
    “Keira, why don’t you go freshen up. We’ll meet back here for dinner,” Victoria said and waved Keira and Justin off in the direction of the stairs. She made sure that they were out of earshot before she turned to Marco.
    “Have any of the Council members arrived yet?” she asked.
    “Only Mr Savelli. And the observer from Japan you invited, Mr Harigaya. The rest of the Council members will arrive tomorrow. That is, except the Moreaux representative. They’ve sent a message informing me that they withdraw from Council,” Marco replied.
    “Ha! Those cowards. They didn’t even have the decency to come and tell us themselves.” Victoria gave an unladylike snort of derision. “Have they joined forces with Daemon?”
    “Sebastian is in France and is investigating, but it would seem so,” Marco agreed. “I’ll let you know as soon as I hear anything.”
    “It wouldn’t surprise me if they did. They’ve been sitting on the fence for a while now. Well, at least we know who our friends are—and who aren’t.” Victoria was lost in thought for a moment as she took count of the allies they had left. “Are the Draaken in place?”
    “Yes, they are. Victoria—” Marco hesitated.
    “Yes?” she asked.
    “Chloe has reported an unusual lack of activity surrounding Daemon’s location in New York.”
    “Don’t let that fool you. He is planning his next move,” Victoria said. “He will know that the Council is meeting here the day after tomorrow. If his intelligence sources are any good, and I suspect they are, he would know by now that Keira is the source of the power surge in London, also that I have brought her here, which clearly broadcasts my intensions.” Victoria frowned, “That can’t be helped though, the time for secrecy is over. War is upon us.”
    “I have increased security around the perimeter,” Marco nodded.
    “Good. Although Daemon would be a fool to attack us here,” Victoria said.

Chapter 11
    Justin brought Keira to her room, all the while chattering about Ylva’s new litter and asking hundreds of questions, without waiting for the answers.
    “You will love the pups, they are so cool. They’re just beginning to play—but you have to be careful, their teeth are super sharp. But don’t worry, Ylva keeps them in line, she won’t let them hurt a human, unless of course you try to harm them.”
    The boy paused for a breath. “Did I tell you I’m an initiate here at the school? Well, I am,” and he puffed his chest with pride. “I’m training to be a healer and Marco and Rafael said I’m going to be the best one yet. I’ve been healing animals at the ranch since before I knew what I was doing—I’m a natural, they said. It’s a pity you won’t see the other students right now. Everyone is on holiday because of the Council meeting. They always send us home when the Council members are here, but my Uncle Marco said I can stay and then we’ll go back to the ranch later, but he doesn’t want me to call him Uncle, just Marco.”
    “You are Marco’s nephew?” Keira asked when she could get a word in edgewise.
    “Yes,