Chapter 1

New Orleans

Everyone in the council chambers stared in shock as the 24/7 news station continued its broadcast about the people known as "terrorists". It was their worst nightmare. This was something they had wanted to bring to the public in their own time and by their own standards. But this was just insane.

And it didn't help that the one who had been caught on camera using their powers was one of their own.

Someone flipped the television on mute and the entire room sat in silence. The people gathered looked at each other before seventeen sets of eyes landed on the one woman who could bring them out of this.

Aiden Jenks-Miller was twenty-four years old. She was married to Clint Miller and had three children; Dylan, Kielan and Stormy. She seemed as if she were a normal woman with a college degree. In actuality she was the reigning Queen of the Silver Court.

Cool and collected, she reigned with a strong sense of justice and a strong hand. No one dared to defy her because she had alliances in every aspect of the American government. Her alliances were strong and they came to her aid when she called.

The Council and Court that surrounded her were comprised of friends and family, people she truly trusted. They functioned like a well-oiled machine because no one was stronger than the other in terms of loyalty and law.

Aiden sat at the head of the table with her head in her hands and stared blankly at the table. This could not be happening. They had worked so hard to figure out a way to bring this to the public rationally and calmly. Now all their hard work had just been tossed out the window.

And to top it all off one of their own was missing.

She glanced at the fourth seat on her right side. It was empty because the person who should have been sitting there was somewhere in the woods of Mississippi. He shouldn't have been because he knew Court was starting soon but he had gone to rescue one of theirs in his Sector. That was when it all had gone to hell and he had been filmed using his powers.

Aiden shoved to her feet and began pacing the length of the room.

"What should we do?" Austin asked.

Austin Somme was the Leader of Sector 1. In the last two years he had gotten married and was now expecting his first child in August. That was four months away and by the look in his eyes, he was praying that this thing was settled by then.

"There's only one thing to do," Clint said. He was the Silver King since he had married Aiden and he had almost as much say as his wife. "We have to discuss all of this with Senator Giles."

Keldin Somme, Sector 6 Leader and Austin's twin, stiffened. Senator Giles was his significant other's father. When Keldin's team had rescued his son, he had been so grateful he had told them if they needed anything to call. Keldin was obviously skeptical about discussing this with the senator because he only knew that Keldin was special. What would he say if he knew there were millions of them in the US alone?

The Sector Leader's eyes immediately went to his best friend's face. Aiden was leaned against the window biting her lower lip. She was in deep thought but that wasn't what concerned him. She was twisting wedding band around her finger. She only did that when she was conflicted about something.

Finally she moved.

"Jess, do we know where Klark will go if he's in danger?" she asked as she moved back to her seat at the head of the table.

Jesse Jenks, Sector 3 Leader and Aiden's brother, started ticking things off on his fingers. "There's a possibility he'll go to the safe house in Biloxi but then there's the one in Hattiesburg. It all depends on how injured he is and if he's exhausted himself too much to shadow- walk. He's been trained to get to safety as soon as possible."

Tyler James sighed from the left side of the table. With an interesting hairstyle and masculine build, he was the Sector 7 Leader and one of the main four in power. He had been friends with Aiden, Austin and Keldin since they were fourteen. It was only obvious that he be given a leadership role.

Clint's eyes flicked to him immediately. "What is it, Tyler?"

"This would be so much easier if we could find his bio signs," the black haired man replied.

Kathryn frowned. She was the mother of Jesse, Aiden, and Klark, the man who was missing, as well as Aiden's twin Mikey. "You haven't found his bio sign yet? What about the specially designed hip chip you made for all of us?"

Tyler rubbed his head in agitation. "I tried that. I even tried the override system I created just in case one of us disappeared. The readings say he's dead."

Jesse snorted. "I'm not surprised. Besides Aiden, Klark is the only other person I know who can kill his bio signs at the first sign of trouble. He's probably masking them just in case someone can hack into your systems. We really don't want a repeat of Austin's mission."

"Hey!" the auburn haired man protested. "That was over two years ago."

"And we're still making adjustments to it."

"Aiden?" Jordan asked. He was her father and had learned to read his daughter very well. At the moment she was staring into space. "What is it, sweetheart?"

After a few moments, she came back to the meeting. "Klark's safe but he's being hunted. Tyler, take Rowan and go to him."

"What about Channing?" Jesse asked. "Shouldn't he go since he knows the area better?"

"It has nothing to do with knowing the area. Rowan is stronger than Channing and Tyler can mask his presence anywhere. It's best if the two of them go together."

Jesse sighed. "You don't trust Channing."

"I don't know Channing, Jess. I respect his ability but I don't know your Healer. I know Rowan. He helped me deliver Kielan and Stormy. I know his ability."

"Yeah, but…"

"Jesse Aaron, that's enough," Kathryn scolded.

Every person under the age of thirty cringed at the usage of the first and middle name. Even Wyatt, Aiden's biological brother, cringed and he was thirty-one. Nothing was worse than a child being called by his or her first and middle names. As long as the last name wasn't included, Jesse wasn't in too much trouble.

After a few moments of quiet speculation, Tyler stood and left the room. Aiden turned to Keldin.

"I need you and Skander to talk to his father. Explain what's going on. If he needs to discuss this with us, Clint and I will make arrangements to meet with him. Right now my priority is my missing man and brother and to curb the ramblings of this news network. Let's get to work, everyone."

* * *

Klark groaned as he pulled himself into the shower. It would be his rotten luck to get injured while on a mission.

Actually it hadn't been his fault. Logan had been the one in the line of fire.

Literally. Klark had unleashed his fire the exact moment Logan had jumped in the way. It didn't help that Logan was the one he was supposed to be protecting. So instead of pulling the fire back to him, Klark had shoved it away from him. The flames had hit a nearby building and, thanks to the drought, jumped to the trees in front and behind the structure.

That's when everything went to hell and a hand basket. They had known there was a camera crew close to them but didn't realize how close it was until the fire started raging. Then the bullets rang out. Their extraction had been botched. Logan had to be removed.

Klark had ordered Ange, the teleporter, to get Logan out while he literally laid cover fire. He had been shot in the process. His femoral artery had been nicked but luckily the bullet had blocked it from leaking. The only place for him to go to heal was one of the safe houses. He only had enough energy to get to the closest one which was in Biloxi.

So he had shadow-walked to the safe house on the portside of the city and collapsed in the living room.

There was no way for him to contact his family so he had resigned himself to the fact that he was on his own until he could get help. He had turned on the TV to find out that his extraction had made the news. They were calling his people abominations and terrors to the American population. Some even speculated they were spies sent by the Chinese. That one made him laugh considering the Chinese had their own version of Silver Court. They just had no idea the Court was situated in America.

But what the other nations did that America did not was utilize their special group of people. There were many in other national armies that were allowed to use their powers during battle. They weren't treated as if they were enemies. They were treated as equals.

As he continued to watch the news feed, he wondered what the Silver and Golden Courts were going to do. There was no doubt in his mind that his brother and sister were going to team up and go public. It was the only thing they could do now. It really helped that they had a contact in Congress to help them ease this entire thing over.

With the television still on, he forced himself to get in the shower to clean his wounds. He hissed as the hot water hit his thigh. He had to get the bullet out or suffer from sepsis. If he pulled it out, he would probably slowly bleed to death. He had to pick the lesser of the two evils. Either one could kill him so that wasn't very comforting but he had to decide.

"You know, disappearing on your own isn't a very smart thing. Ask your sister what happens."

Klark jumped at the voice that came from the other side of the shower curtain. Luckily for the intruder he knew who it was. If it were anyone else, he would have lashed out with his fire but considering he was standing in the shower, it probably would have turned to smoke in an instant.

Pushing the curtain back, he looked at Tyler. Leave it to his sister to send their techno geek after him. He frowned. If Aiden had sent Tyler, that meant she had known where he was the second he had shadow-walked even though he had tried to mask his power.

"Your sister didn't know where you were until about half an hour ago. You're safe. We didn't have anyone follow us," Tyler said as he put one hand under his arm to help him out of the shower. He was completely oblivious to the fact that Klark was naked.

"We?" he asked as he grabbed a towel on the way out the door. Tyler may not give a rip about modesty but Klark did. There was no way he was going out into the main room without a towel around his waist.

"Rowan came with me under Aiden's orders."

Rowan was waiting for them in the living room. He watched the news until Klark was situated on the couch with his left thigh exposed. As he turned around, he shook his head.

"What the hell is the Queen going to do about this?" he asked.

"She's planning to talk to Peter Giles. I think she and Clint are teaming up with Mikey and Katy," Tyler replied. "It's probably the best course of action considering this thing is just going to get worse before it gets better."

"You do know we'll have to appoint an ambassador."

"Yeah, I know and so does Aiden. My best guess is that Cole, Andy and Wyatt will be the three chosen to take this head on."

Rowan stopped pressing on Klark's leg long enough to look up. "Why those three?"

"Andy was in the navy and is a JAG officer. Cole was an army Ranger and Wyatt is a marine doctor," Klark replied. "I would have chosen them as well." He yelled loudly as Rowan continued his work. "A little warning next time."

"If you hadn't done something stupid, I wouldn't be trying to heal your nicked artery. Now sit still."

Rowan was a little rough as he shoved Klark onto his back and sat on his waist. Any normal person would wonder what the hell was going on but Klark was in so much pain he couldn't sit still and that messed with Rowan's ability to heal him. Tyler finally grabbed his arms and held them to his side while he pressed a knee to his neck.

Klark watched as Tyler's face clouded over briefly before he tuned back in to what was going on.

"Keldin says the government has hired a bounty hunter to come after Klark. She knows where he is. We have to get this done and fast," he said.

"Don't rush me, James. I don't want to mess up. Plus he'll have to remain off his feet for two days to make sure it's healed."

"We don't have two days. We have a day at the most. Then we have to abandon this safe house. How much longer will it take you?"

Rowan sighed and placed his bloody hands on his thighs. "Without Aiden's power to help heighten the healing process, it'll take two hours to dislodge the bullet and stop the bleeding. So unless you want me to cause him further pain, shut the hell up and let me concentrate."

Klark sucked in a deep breath as Rowan continued working. He stared up at Tyler in hopes the man could help with the pain. Tyler shook his head and held on. Finally after what seemed like hours, Klark passed out from the exhaustion and pain.