Jack stood and gave her a sideways hug. "It wasn't your fault, sis. They used a spawn who was just coming of age, so he got under your skin before his abilities developed enough for you to detect them."
It didn't make her feel much better, but at least it explained how it had happened.
Thomas nodded. "This is your chance to redeem yourself, recruit. Now that your mind is cleared of subversion, you can learn from your mistakes."
"Was I really that far gone?" she asked, trying to imagine herself as a brainwashed spy.
"I'm afraid so." He stroked the stubble on his chin and flipped open the red folder. "You will report to another commander for this operation. The location will be revealed after you've landed. Until then, here's a redacted dossier on our targets. Their identities will be revealed during your classified briefings onsite."
She nodded, forcing back the tide of painful humiliation as it tried to erode her pride and ego. She'd never thought of herself as overly prideful or boastful, but knowing what she'd done hurt. Time to earn back her stripes and clean the tarnish off what little reputation she'd managed to build over the past few years.
"Go pack, recruit. You're shipping out in one hour."
Elyssa gave her father a nod before turning and leaving. As she left the room and entered the hallway, she stopped and planted her back against the wall, sucking in deep breaths and fighting back the tears threatening to overwhelm her. So much for passing the Cho'kai. So much for proving herself to her father. She was a failure.
"Don't give me that look, Leia," Thomas said from inside the room. "This will all work out."
"Oh really?" Leia replied, her tone laced with frost. "Or maybe you've scarred her for life."
"I did what I had to do."
"As what? A Templar, or a father?"
"Both."
"Where are you sending her?"
"Europe. That should keep her far enough away."
"First you tell her she took the White because a demon spawn subverted her and now you're exiling her in the space of a day." Leia made a disgusted noise. "You shouldn't do that to anyone, much less your own daughter."
"Please don't argue," Jack said, a desperate note in his voice. "You saw what she was like. Now she's back to being herself again." He sighed. "I'm going to find Michael. He needs to be a part of her recovery too."
Elyssa hurried away and trotted upstairs to her room before Jack came around the corner and caught her eavesdropping. When she closed the door and locked it, her hands trembled and tears trickled down her cheeks. She sniffled. Cursed herself for being so weak, and took deep breaths. Why was she so emotional all of a sudden? Failure happened to everyone. Even Jack had nearly blown an entire operation himself and that was under their father's supervision.
She paced the room, thinking hard and trying to remember where things had gone wrong. But all she found was a huge foggy gap. She glanced at the date and time on her phone and realized that she'd lost over two months of memories. Wiping away more tears, she forced herself to pack. The information in the red folder told her virtually nothing and the usual climate advisory was missing, so she had no idea what to expect for weather or what civilian clothes to pack. Templar camo adapted to various temperatures and situations, so at least she only had to pack several sets of the uniform.
It was likely she would be in uniform most of the time. Time off to enjoy the sights wasn't an option—not if she was to make up for the horrendous lapses in judgment leading her to this sad, sad state of affairs.
Besides, her father had probably left out the information on purpose. If she didn't know better, she'd suspect him of taking joy in bossing people around and sending them to mystery locations. Since there was no telling how long she'd be there, she tossed a variety of civvies into her bag. She'd buy anything else she needed onsite.
A hot shower not only made her feel cleaner on the outside, but also seemed to wash away some of the accumulated emotions toying with her relentlessly. Perhaps her overly emotional state was a side effect of taking the White because it sure as heck wasn't due to hormones. The Blessing relieved most females of certain womanly "curses".
After cleaning, she tossed on some jeans and a T-shirt, took one last look at the humble room she'd known all her life, and then carried her suitcase downstairs where Jack was waiting.
"Am I travelling by Obsidian Arch?" she asked as Jack hopped in the driver's seat of a black sedan parked outside the manor.
"Usually, yeah, but not this time. Strange anomalies have been popping up with the arches, so we decided it'd be better for you to go by jet."
"Anomalies?"
He looked both ways before pulling onto the main road and nodded. "Started a day or so ago. One of our Gloom operatives reported that reality fractures are popping up all over the place when someone tries to use an arch."
"No idea why?"
"Nah. The Arcane Council is investigating after our people had to rescue three different groups of travelers from the Gloom."
"Three incidents from different arches?" Elyssa had never heard of so many at once.
"Yeah. Crazy, huh? I think the last time anything close to so many was back when they were just figuring out how to operate the things."
They rode the rest of the short distance to the private airfield in silence as Elyssa considered Jack’s words. Gloom assignment was something she never wanted. Even the most careful operatives got lost in that screwed up place. She'd heard stories of monsters and all sorts of horrible things trapped in that in-between hell.
A shiny black jet waited on the tarmac, its engines giving off a low rumble. She hugged her brother goodbye.
"I'm proud of you, sis," he said, winking. "I know you'll do us proud."
"Thanks, Jack." She kissed him on the cheek and boarded the jet, keeping her upper lip as stiff as possible. Regret weighted every step with leaden uncertainty. She didn't even remember her mistakes, couldn't remember them now if she tried. She thought back to the friends she'd made during training. What did they think of her now? Were they whispering about her right this very moment? Shaking their heads at the failure she'd become? The thought made her sick with anger. She had nobody to blame but herself.
"Welcome on board," the pilot said with a grin. Elyssa wanted to punch the smile off his happy face. "Help yourself to whatever you need from the galley after we depart." With that, he went into the cockpit and revved the engines for takeoff. At least Templar pilots didn't have to worry about setting flight plans thanks to the jet's charmed hull, which kept it off civilian radar.
Elyssa took a seat and buckled herself in after grabbing a couple of blood ration packs from the galley fridge. The blood was chilly and tasted disgusting. She activated the heating spell on the bag with a swipe of her finger, bringing it from slushy to a touch above body temperature within seconds. She took a sip and sighed. Warm blood was so much better. Especially with a bit of Godiva chocolate syrup or Nutella.
God, what she wouldn't give for a container of chocolate chip ice cream and a mindless reality TV show right about now. Anything was better than brooding and wondering about a past she could no longer remember.
Exhaustion tugged on her eyelids even as the blood revitalized her tired body, but jumbled thoughts plagued her every time she tried to rest her eyes. Staring out the window at the darkness, she wondered where in Europe she was going and why her father had decided now was the time to send her on a remote operation. His shame over her poor performance must have been even deeper than he'd let on.
A short woman with dark hair and tanned skin peered through a sliding glass door beaded by rain and fogged by humidity. She tapped against the glass and said something, but Elyssa couldn't make it out. She wiped the surface with her sleeve, but failed to clear it enough to make out the other woman's details. Tugging on the door handle did nothing. Despite the lack of locks or bars holding the door shut, nothing she did would open it.
The woman banged against the glass and appeared to be pointing toward the rolling banks of fog behind her. Elyssa looked around the tiny room and wondered where exactly she was. A single chair bolted to the concrete floor sat in the center of the room. Behind it was a door. She walked to the door and grasped the handle. It turned easily.
A great banging on glass drew her attention back to the woman in the back. She slammed the glass with the palms of both her hands as though frantic about something. Elyssa turned to the front door and opened it. Sunlight like beaten sheets of gold danced off a huge lake. A blue sky brushed with lazy white clouds greeted her as a warm breeze filled with the fresh aroma of spring tickled her nose.
Why was the weather out back so much different than the front? And why would she want to go into fog and rain anyway? Was the other woman crazy? Elyssa took a step toward the sunlight. The glare increased, going from yellowish to a stark white. Her foot halted an inch above the sidewalk as a thought occurred to her. She turned toward the back door. Considered the frantic woman on the other side. Wasn't it her duty to save people? To help them? She couldn't abandon that poor woman. Somehow, she had to open the door.
Elyssa slammed the front door shut and strode to the back of the room. She crashed her shoulder against the sliding glass door over and over again, but it did no good. She tugged on the chair, hoping to use it as a way to smash the incredibly tough glass, but the bolts held it fast. The other woman stopped pummeling the glass and now stood with her entire body pressed against it.
Something looked different about her. Elyssa walked closer and looked. The woman's hair was still dark, but her skin looked fair now. Even stranger, she looked to have grown several inches and now rivaled even Elyssa's tall frame. Violet light shone through the glass. With a start, Elyssa realized it was the other woman's eyes. By the light she could almost make out her—
A gasp burst from her mouth as the face came to light. The face was her own.