Chapter 10

For nine years, those eight people were closer to me than my own family. They became part of me, my brothers and sisters. They were there whenever I needed them, just as I was there when they needed me. Each one of them had been gifted by Nature with one or more exceptional abilities even among our own, and in the years of training each one worked hard to perfect themselves, to be on par with the others.

The only one who didn’t seem to have many skills was me, ironically, but I tried hard.

I still wasn’t entirely clear what I was facing or if that unbalanced panther was behind me, if his supposed accomplice really existed, or if we were really safe. There was no one else I wanted to put my trust in. I needed protection, strength, and a good plan. I needed them.

The truth is that many things had changed, inside and out.

But I had to gather my Circle once again.

***

The most seductive escape route was the ferry.

I knew someone else who, with a