Chapter 21: The Interrogation

Fidelia crossed her arms across her chest and kept her gaze even. Cody did not flinch but returned an even look toward the Guru.

“Elaine said that she has given you an outline of the history, as well as the current organization, of The Onyx.”

Elaine started to speak. Fidelia whipped her head to face Elaine and the fury that boiled beneath the youthful innocence was briefly on display. Elaine’s posture dipped and she took a step backward in deference.

“Yes, Elaine gave me an overview. The Onyx is the top dog, then there are two Gurus. Each Guru has three Guides, and one of each group of Guides can have an Apprentice. That’s me.”

Cody’s mind raced as he considered how to describe the history. He could not remember how much Elaine told he and how much he learned from Heidrick. He decided to offer a little bit of history and hoped it was close enough to what Elaine said that he would not give away the identity of the others in the room.

“The history is that some dude either found or made a talisman that became The Onyx. When he died he nominated his kid to be the new chief and put into place the organization that exists today.”

Fidelia waited a moment then nodded. “That is essentially correct, yes.”

She took a few steps and scanned the room. Her gaze rested on each of the frozen people in the room for only a brief moment. She then turned and walked toward Cody, stopping only a few feet in front of his chair.

“She is your fiancee, and those two are Orion, no?”

Cody could not suppress his surprise at what Fidelia knew. His reaction already answered her question so there was no denying it verbally.

“Yes,” he said simply.

Fidelia again took a few paces back and forth in the room. Cody assumed she knew exactly what she wanted to say and was only doing this act for his benefit. He did not know if it was intended to scare him, leave him in suspense, or even cause him to offer information in a nervous outbreak of commentary. She turned and scanned the kitchen when she began to speak.

“You were supposed to be in a coma by now. You would be my Guide Three and Elaine would have moved up to Guide Two. Guide One wanted to accompany me and get the job done right now. He so desperately wants to move on.”

Fidelia had turned again and was now less than two feet from Cody. He could see that her nostrils were flared and she was holding in an intense desire to take action immediately.

“But you have spoiled the best laid plans. You are the only person in The Onyx to have met Orion and not been killed instantly. You have been very clever. Very naughty but very clever.”

Cody was not sure where this was leading so he kept his mouth shut and kept his eyes focused on Fidelia as she spoke.

“Now I have to make a decision. Your betrayal should be death. The fact that I could also take out these two would be huge bonus. But, and here’s where I think you are ignorant, but did you know that she has a twin sister?”

Cody looked to where Fidelia moved. She was hovering over Annike.

Fidelia looked back to Cody and grinned an evil smile. “You didn’t know, did you?”

“The two women rarely appear together. When they do they are an incredible force that in many ways can equal The Onyx. But they know that if we found them and defeated them their cause would be forever lost.”

Cody’s mind spun. He knew nothing about a twin sister. It made sense that they would not offer that information to anyone but he also felt a little betrayed. They wanted his help, which he offered and won the first round, but they held back information.

Fidelia returned to pacing in front of Cody.

“So my decision is going to be whether I kill you now, along with these three, or let you live and have you work as my double agent. When time restarts they will know you had a visitor. You can easily sell them a story that it was Elaine checking in on your well-being after your close call.”

There was a very long silent pause in the room. Elaine started to fidget and was quickly stilled by a glance from Fidelia.

Fidelia stopped again inches from Cody. “You will be my double-agent. You will tell them it was Elaine that came. You will gain their trust and learn about the sister. We will set a place where you will say the counsel is meeting in order to plot Orion’s demise. They will all come and we will kill all of Orion at once.”

Cody did not know how to respond. He wanted to tell Fidelia she was bat-shit crazy. He knew that anything other than agreement would probably get everyone in the room killed in an instant.

Fidelia answered his unasked question. “If you do anything other than what I just said, you will be killed. I will also kill your fiancee, and one of your parents, leaving the other to mourn the loss of a child and spouse.”

Cody nodded.

“Good. I am glad we understand each other. One last thing. You have a new option in The Onyx. You will find a new command to essentially send me a message. When started, you will have a few seconds to speak into the orb. I will get the message immediately.”

Fidelia took a moment to give Cody a final once-over.

“Do not make me regret this decision.”

She tented her fingers to restart time but time did not restart cleanly. There was a brief stutter in time-space. Cody saw in the same foggy environment that he witnessed before the car crash. This time he could see a ripple in the fog from the couch and chair. Annike and Heidrick were moving.