Axel froze at Talia's words. Did she say that the Austin-looking person in the chair was a Guardian? He never met a Guardian in person, but he heard stories about them. They were supposed to be neutral and powerful and... why was one of them impersonating an Omega?
Axel wanted to step in front of Talia, but her presence radiated caution and danger, and Axel was unable to move.
Vincent didn't hide his surprise that Talia recognized him. "You can see my true appearance?"
"Why are you here?", Talia asked.
"What else can you do?", Vincent asked with an excited expression, like he was not a prisoner chained to a chair.
"Who sent you?"
Ignoring Talia's questions, Vincent asked, "Is this because you are the Alpha? Who is the female that can see through my disguise?"
"How did you get here?"
"I've seen your members' eyes light up, but that trick with the light shooting out of your finger was new. Is that your ability? How can you use your ability in this room? Was that light supposed to do something, or was it a prerequisite for you to see my true appearance?"
Talia couldn't believe this. "Will you answer my questions?"
"Why would I answer yours if you won't answer mine?", he retorted.
Talia gestured toward the chains. "It should be obvious who between the two of us is in the position to ask questions."
Vincent cocked an eyebrow and smirked in an obvious challenge of her words.
Talia was unsettled that Vincent was relaxed, and she also noticed that he didn't look at Axel at all, which made her realize that Vincent didn't think of Axel as important.
It was the same at the Council of the Alpha. After her performance with the sphere of power, the Guardians barely looked at any other Alpha.
"Axel", Talia called. "Leave us."
"No!", Axel protested. Seeing Talia's stern gaze, Axel continued through their mind-link, 'Do you think that your mate will let me live if I exit this room?'
'Let me worry about Damon, Axel.' Didn't he know how dangerous Guardians were? Besides… 'He won't hurt me, but I can't guarantee that he won't use you to blackmail me.'
Axel couldn't believe that he was the weak link among the three. He had Alpha bloodline, he trained most of his life and he even had abilities, damn it! But his abilities didn't work unless he touched something, and even if the grabbed the man who smiled at him mockingly, Axel was too upset to focus.
However, no matter how useless he was, Axel was unwilling to leave Talia on her own. "I will stay here and watch your back."
"Ha-ha-ha", Vincent laughed exaggeratedly. "Your Alpha is telling you to leave because she is protecting you. I suggest you listen."
"I will be fine.", Talia assured Axel and continued through the mind-link, 'Stay on the other side of the door. There is a camera so you will be able to see and hear what's going on here.'
With this, Axel nodded stiffly and left the cell.
'Damon', Talia called through their mind-link.
'I know. You've got this', Damon said before she did. 'Don't get too close, kitten. Those chains might be nothing for him. If he tries anything funny, I will rip his head off.'
Talia smiled as she could feel that Damon's concern for her was genuine, just like his threat to Vincent.
"You look confident", Vincent said while eyeing Talia from top to bottom.
"So do you", Talia responded to Vincent.
Was she confident? Not really. But Damon's encouragement made her brave and she knew that if she can't face this Guardian, no one else can. Was there a point in being afraid?
Vincent was obviously underestimating her, and Talia wondered how can she use that to her advantage.
"The way you disguised yourself, is that your ability?" Talia started with a question.
Vincent smirked. "Why ask if you know the answer?"
"Maybe I'm trying to see how open to cooperation you are."
He looked at her like she said something silly. "Strong ones take what they want. For cooperation, two sides need to be equal. Do you consider yourself my equal, Alpha Talia?"
Talia was irritated by his condescending tone. If he was so high and mighty, why did he come here like a thief? "Isn't that why you sneaked in here? To get me to accept your invitation to meet with the Guardians?"
Vincent didn't show any visible reaction as he stared at her which made Talia wonder if he was here with a different motive. After all, if that was his reason for coming here, what was the point of not confirming it? She thought of poking there a bit more.
"I got Julian's messages, but as the new Alpha, I was busy. I didn't want to respond without giving him a timeline of when we can meet. If I knew you were this impatient, I would tell you that I need more time. I didn't think that he will send you here, which brings me to the point: how did you get in here?"
Talia thought about another possibility. What if the Guardians had people from the Midnight Guardians pack to help them? She regretted not talking to Austin first. If she knew how Vincent approached him, she might get clues into who else was involved. What if Austin was the mole and he took the sleeping drugs to cover up his involvement?
"Vin", Talia called sternly. "I am giving you the benefit of doubt that you didn't come here with hostile intentions, but I am losing my patience. You will talk or I will make you."
"I would like to see that happen.", Vincent challenged her.
'He won't talk willingly', Liseli's voice sounded in Talia's mind.
'Can you force him?'
'He has no wolf, and your Alpha aura won't have an effect on him.'
'But you can get into his mind. Right?', Talia asked, and she could sense Liseli's excitement at this idea.
No matter how eager Liseli was to crack open Vincent's mind and uncover his secrets, she thought of giving a warning to Talia, 'Remember that I can damage his mind.'
Talia's mind was replaying numerous conversations she had with Damon in the last few weeks.
Damon told her that mercy to an enemy is just giving him another opportunity to attack, and what did she do so far?
Since she met Damon, Talia's position in the society of werewolves was rising from an unknown she-wolf who was hiding in the attic to Damon's mate, Luna of the Dark Howlers pack, and the Alpha of the Midnight Guardians pack. During this time, she either ignored dangers or forgave perpetrators, while her troubles were increasing.
Just as Talia's troubles were escalating, her enemies were following that trend, with Vincent coming up at the top of that bunch. He intruded into this realm and was not apologetic about it. Actually, Vincent was acting like he belonged here, and how can Talia assure her pack that she will protect them if sketchy characters were strolling in their own backyard?
Talia steeled her resolve and said to Liseli, 'His presence here is suspicious and he is acting like we can't touch him. Without his cooperation or desire to explain, we can assume that he has no good intentions. I don't want to harm anyone, but sometimes we must do what needs to be done to protect our loved ones. Let's do this.'
'OK!', Liseli responded enthusiastically.
