The longer the representative from the Council was here, the more Catia's skin crawled. The spot on the back of her neck that held her tracker still made her nauseous when she tried to touch it, which unfortunately happened a lot.

Sometimes she woke in the mornings, unable to remember why her neck ached. Then, as soon as her fingers brushed the bump, and the nausea rose in her throat, she remembered, and the anger built in her again. Reduced to only a piece of property owned by the Council of Guardians.

They had chipped Skye soon after her and then Connor after him. Their mentor had gone strangely silent while the representative was here. He spent most of his time in his office with Steven.

Nehera continued to train with Skye and Catia, though there was something off about the girl. In the days that she'd been training, Catia noticed she was slower, more unbalanced than Skye or herself. It was strange, since she'd never seen a Guardian without graceful movements. It was an effect of the godly magic and DNA running through their veins. And yet, Nehera was about as graceful as an elephant in a tutu.

And one Mr. Steven Smith had yet to follow the Council's orders for his own daughter. Nehera still lacked a microchip in the back of her neck, which was grating on Catia's nerves.

They still weren't hunting monsters, which was making everyone testy these days. Yesterday, Skye had snapped at her for chewing her cereal too loudly. The entire ordeal had ended in a fistfight in the kitchen, which Connor had promptly broken up.

Skye hadn't said a word as he'd retreated to his room, and Catia hadn't seen him since.

Breakfast this morning was silent, and Skye was apparently still hiding out in his room. Catia grabbed a muffin from the counter, then sat down at the table. Nehera sat on the other side, reading from a book as she ate her oatmeal.

Nehera's father and Connor were absent, which just left the two of them alone.

Catia watched the girl as she ate, a glob of oatmeal falling off her spoon and staining her Hello Kitty pajama top. Nehera set aside her book as she dabbed at the spot on her shirt.

"Why are you so different?"

Nehera stopped what she was doing and looked up at Catia. "What do you mean?"

"Nothing, I suppose," Catia said as she nibbled at her muffin. "It's just you're not like any Guardian I've ever met."

Blush crept across Nehera's cheeks. "I don't know what you mean." She quickly stood up, slamming her knee into the table as she did. The dishes rattled and a string of curse words left Nehera's mouth. "I have to change for training."

Then she disappeared towards the guest bedrooms. Catia stared after her for a minute. She left the book she was reading on the table and Catia grabbed it. It was a book on ways to build endurance and speed. Why would a demigod need more endurance and speed?

Catia slid the book back across the table and finished her muffin, lost in thought. What if Nehera wasn't a demigod? The thought was nearly ridiculous. Surely someone with such close ties to the Council wouldn't break their most sacred rule and mate with a human?

Guardians, if they ever married, were required to marry other Guardians. The godly blood became obsolete if a Guardian mated with a human. Demigods, pure ones at least, popped up all the time since the gods loved nothing more than mating with humans.

But even then, the ranks of Guardians were still small, especially compared to the number of monsters in the world.

So, had Mr. Rule Enforcer been kissing up to the Council this whole time to hide his own indiscretions? Nehera would be exiled, and he would severely punished.

It would be a secret he would kill to protect.

Catia finished her breakfast and put her plate into the sink, still thoughtful. She needed to prove that Nehera wasn't a demigod. If she had proof, then she would have leverage to use against Steven, should the need ever arise. It surely couldn't hurt to have a Council rep in her back pocket.

Nehera had headed down to the training room, where she would work her way through her morning routine. She always started with stretching before doing some basic cardio before moving on to work on her punches and kicks with the dummies.

Nehera's blood would be the easiest to get during a training accident, though Catia would have to play her cards carefully to not get caught. If Steven caught of whiff of her intentions, he'd have her arrested before she could blink.

She'd need a plan in place. There was nothing to gain by acting rashly.

Nehera was stretching off to one side of the training room, her face scrunched up in concentration. Catia gave her a small smile but said nothing.

Catia began her own set of stretches across the room, keeping her silver eyes trained on Nehera. Watching her, it was easy to see that she most likely wasn't a demigod. Her movements weren't as fluid or graceful as typical Guardians.

A few minutes after Catia started her stretching, the door at the top of the stairs opened and slammed shut. Skye stomped down the stairs, anger written on his face. It turned down the corners of his lips, which were pressed into a hard line.

"What's wrong?" Catia asked him as she continued to stretch.

"Connor has an announcement," Skye replied bitterly.

Catia stopped her stretches as the door opened again and two figures emerged from the upstairs. Connor was first followed by Mr. Suit himself. His gray suit was as pristine as it was the first day Catia had met him. She never saw him in anything else. Hades, she'd never even seen him in the training room.

She knew he still trained, since the broad shoulders that tugged at the edges of his suit jacket hinted at the muscle underneath. But it was strange that he didn't keep up with his training while he was here.

Nehera came to attention in her corner of the room, then moved to stand near Skye and Catia. Once all the attention was on Connor, he spoke.

"The Council has granted me and a small team clearance for an extraction mission. The target is unaware of her status and believed to be in danger. My team will retrieve her and bring her back here for debriefing before the Council decides her permanent placement."

"Why has the Council deemed this mission important enough to supersede their ban on missions?" Catia asked.

A muscle feathered in Steven's jaw at her question, but he didn't respond.

"The Council believes this demigod to be in immediate danger," Connor replied. "Which is why my team leaves immediately."

Unease churned in Catia's stomach. The Council had been die hard about not releasing Guardians for missions, even under dire circumstance. A hellhound had ripped through the better part of a rural town in Montana nearly two days ago. Was the preservation of the Guardians the only thing the Council was going to concern themselves with?

Catia wanted to raise her concerns, but Skye was faster. "Why save a demigod, but not mortals? Why does the Council get to choose who lives and who dies?"

This time it was Steven who responded. "Check your tongue, Mandara. Your disobedience will not continue under my watch."

Skye scoffed, but Connor silence him. "In my absence, Steven will be the head of this base. You will follow his orders as if they were my own. Is that clear?"

Catia and Skye muttered their agreement, but neither was pleased.

"Continue your training. I shouldn't be longer than a few days."

Connor left the room, his footsteps up the stairs the only sound. Once the four of them were left alone, Steven smiled, though it was insincere.

"Considering the ban on missions, this branch of Guardians has grown lax in their training. That ends today. Training will resume in full. GAIA has the full, individualized training programs for each of you. Follow them, or you will not appreciate the consequences."

Catia and Skye watched with matching steely gazes as Steven headed up the stairs as well. The sound of the door locking made Catia's anger boil inside of her.

"Did he just lock us in?" She snarled.

Nehera gave a small shrug of her shoulders. "It's not a big deal. There's water, protein bars, and a bathroom down here. He'll let us out at lunchtime."

As Catia and Skye shared enraged glances, Nehera moved back to her side of the room to continue with her training plan, which was already micromanaged by her father.

"This is beyond ridiculous," Catia muttered to Skye as they headed over to GAIA's training computer to look over their new regimen.

"Tell me about it," Skye replied. "Connor gets sent on some secret mission, while the Council's lapdog takes over our base. Seems a little convenient if you ask me."

She had thought so as well. Something about this whole thing didn't sit right with her.

Her new training was hardcore. She didn't speak to Skye during her training, as most of their exercises didn't seem to line up with each other. Which had probably been planned by Steven to avoid them being able to speak with each other.

By the time lunch rolled around, bruises covered Catia's sweaty skin. Skye seemed much the same, his blue shirt soaked with his own sweat. Catia made a face of disgust at him.

The door upstairs finally unlocked, and they all headed up to grab some much-needed fuel.

Nehera picked at her food, her face pale. Catia had been watching her during her training and it had been nowhere near as intense as her own.

Catia ate her lunch in silence, under the watchful eye of Steven. He sat next to Nehera, talking quietly about her training, specifically about the things she needed to improve upon. Skye was still brooding, his face still set with anger.

After lunch, they returned to their training. It was more brutal than before, but Catia put all her effort into it since Steven had joined them in the training room. He didn't take part, but stalked around the room in his gray suit, critiquing forms.

"Your stance should be wider," he told her as he passed.

Catia rolled her eyes and widened her stance, though she knew it wasn't necessary.

The rest of the afternoon continued like that until Steven finally dismissed them.

"Eat your dinner, as described to you on your training plan," he told them. "Once you finish, you are to return to your rooms for the evening. Lights out is at ten. Do whatever you want before then."

"We have to stay in our rooms?" Catia asked.

Steven gave her a wintry smile. "I'm sure you're tired after today's training. You'll need your rest for tomorrow."

Catia set her jaw but didn't argue. There was a time and place to pick battles, and right now wasn't the right time. Not until she had proof about Nehera being more human than demigod.

So, she ate her dinner in silence, then retreated to her rooms as she was told. But though she played the part of the obedient Guardian, she was plotting. There had to be a way to get hold of Nehera's blood.

And once she did, Mr. Steven Smith would regret the day he ever came here.