Chapter 8.
Poppy knew she shouldn't be eavesdropping. She knew it as surely as she knew that her soulmate was James Rasmussen, if she got caught Thierry and Hannah would only be disappointed with her, and annoyed. What could she possibly gain from eavesdropping? Thierry told them everything important anyway. So why should she eavesdrop while he made an important phone call to the other leaders of Circle Daybreak.
One, because it was so easy, it was like they were having a real Daybreak Council meeting in there, Thierry had something – as did the other leaders – which was like a speaker phone, but could be used over many different people, instead of having a conversation just to one person, he was talking to a dozen, at least, it was easy for Poppy to figure out what they were talking about instead of only listening to one side of the conversation.
Two, because she had seen something on Thierry's face when he talked to the soulmate couples. He wasn't just worried the enemy would get Blaise, there was something else underlying his fear.
Poppy wanted to know what it was.
Three, she had nothing better to do now that she had been waken up. She and James weren't talking anyway, because of his complete reluctance to even consider adoption – not even just at the ages that they were at, but for all forever, and Poppy wasn't having that. Even if Blaise was causing all this trouble, it wasn't her fault – and she was still the cutest thing Poppy had ever seen.
"this is a breakthrough," she didn't know who this particular leader was, but he sounded sly, not that Poppy formed opinions on people because of how they spoke. She had been too busy thinking of all this that she had taken her attention from the conversation and now she broke out of her trance-like thinking, "we could win the war with no need to even go to battle. Just one child to be the cost."
Okay, Poppy thought, I don't form opinions on how people speak; I do by what they speak. This guy was a monster, the dregs of society, why was he even with Daybreak if he thought like that? Or was he one of the one's who just wanted to be on the side of whatever side won?
"Are you serious?" this voice she could recognized: it belonged to Galen, and she was glad he'd said it or she would have charged in and said it herself, too bad he and Keller had had to be interrupted on their honeymoon, but that was good if he was going to be the only voice of reason, "we can't kill Thea and Eric's kid just because she happened to have the bad look to be born The Destroyer!"
"Have got to agree with Galen here," Keller's voice sailed through the line, and it was rare, because Galen and Keller rarely agreed on anything.
"Us too," Thierry said, probably speaking for himself and Hannah. The same fear that Poppy had sensed before in his speech, he was afraid that Daybreak too would turn against Thea, Eric and Blaise. Poppy was too.
"Well, of course you all agree," this time the person was a woman, but she sounded just as sly, "you can imagine yourselves in the same predicament. You're too close to the other soulmate couples, you don't want to hurt your friends, but this way we could win the war with only one child's blood spilled. Think about the thousands of lives we could save, just with the death of one child."
Now, Mother Cybelle said, "if we take an innocent child's life purposefully, then what separates us from the enemy?"
"The fact that we're fighting for peace," someone challenged.
"to achieve peace, you must prepare for war, not kill a baby," Aradia murmured in lifting tones.
"Is that what they teach you witches?" someone Poppy didn't recognize ask.
"Yeah, it's what they teach the witches, and us shape shifters, and the vampires and humans too obviously, maybe you just haven't had any teaching," Keller's angry tone came down the phone, "to justify killing a child is sick."
Now, Poppy sidled away from the door. She'd heard enough, enough to know how this was going to turn out.
Thierry and Hannah, Keller and Galen, Aradia, Mother Cybelle and maybe a few others were fighting for the kids life, but an equal number were wanting her dead. something told her that even if those who wanted her alive won the argument, the others would do what they pleased – trying to end this war.
I've got to warn Eric and Thea, she thought, sprinting down the corridor – not bothered now about not making any noise.