The Guardians (MORE Trilogy) by T.M. Franklin Page A

he stared Tiernan down. “Give me something, here, so I don’t go into this blind.”
    Ava could feel the tension radiating off both of them in waves. “Caleb, what’s going on?” she asked.  
    “Where have you been, Caleb?” Tiernan asked. “Why have you been hiding from the Council? Why did you run from me?”
    “I wasn’t aware I had to answer to you!”
    “You knew I was there. You deliberately tried to lose me.”
    Caleb snorted. “I succeeded.”
    “What?” Ava pushed between them. “Why were you following him?”
    Tiernan ignored her. “Does the name Elias Borré mean anything to you?” he asked Caleb.
    Caleb shrugged. “No. Should it?”  
    He’d taken another step back into the room, and Ava watched as Tiernan matched his movements. She reached down for her gift, felt it twist through her, waiting . . . 
    “He’s a Rogue who was, up until yesterday, in Council custody,” Tiernan said through gritted teeth. “You saying you don’t know anything about that?”
    “What are you insinuating?” Caleb asked, taking another step backward.  
    Ava took a deep breath, her power sparking along her nerve endings. She wasn’t sure what was going on, but she didn’t like it. Not one bit.
    Tiernan stepped forward, casting a wary glance in Ava’s direction before focusing on Caleb again. “The Council thinks you helped him escape.”
    Ava let out a choked sound. “That’s ridiculous!”
    “They saw you on the security cams. Your imprint was left in his cell.”  
    “This has to be a mistake!” Ava put herself between Tiernan and Caleb, heart pounding as her gift flared, aching to protect him. “You know this is wrong, Tiernan. Caleb’s no traitor.”
    “They’ve got evidence that says he is.” He stepped around Ava and zeroed in on Caleb, muscles rippling as he stretched his arms in a way that he probably intended to be nonthreatening, but really wasn’t. “Don’t make this harder than it needs to be.”
    Ava could feel it a split second before it happened. Before Caleb lunged for his bag, yanked it against his chest, and started to shift. Before Tiernan wrapped his hands around Caleb’s throat, bringing him back before he could completely vanish. Before her gift shot out of her and slammed Tiernan into the far wall, toppling furniture along the way and cracking the plaster. She held him there, incapacitated against the wall, and turned frightened eyes to Caleb.
    But if she hoped for answers—for promises—she got none, only a whispered, “I’m sorry,” before Caleb shifted away into the night.
    “Caleb?” Ava stared at the spot where he’d been standing, unable to believe what had just happened. He couldn’t have left her there alone with Tiernan, with no explanation.
    “You have to let me go after him.” Tiernan choked, barely able to get the words out.  
    Ava realized her gift had tightened its hold on him so she loosened it a little—but only a little.  
    He took a deep breath, but he still couldn’t move beyond that. “He’s running from the Council. If I don’t bring him back, they’re going to send others after him. They’re going to send everyone after him.”
    “He didn’t do it,” she said, although her voice lacked the conviction she’d felt only a few minutes earlier. “He couldn’t have. He wouldn’t.”
    “I tracked him to New Elysia myself,” Tiernan said. “I let my guard down, thinking he was there on Council business, but—” Tiernan’s muscles tensed, and Ava knew he was fighting against her binding. “They have him on camera taking Borré out of the city. He hurt a lot of people, Ava.”
    “No. That can’t be right.” Her mind raced, and she felt tears prick at her eyes. “You can’t be right.”
    “Ava, listen to me,” Tiernan snapped. “The Council has suspected Caleb for a while now. They pretty much knew about the Guardians. But with his background, they gave him some leeway on that. He’s hardly the first—” He