Stolen Hearts: Book 1 (Grim's Labyrinth Series) by Ariana Gael, Grim's Labyrinth Publishing

but also still all distinguishable. She didn’t know how she was doing it, but somehow she was taking part in all of their conversations at once, causing a not unpleasant buzz in her brain as she focused simultaneously on what she was hearing.
    “You are the Neftali, the one who fights and is victorious,” a new voice intoned dramatically.
    “You are the Masago, the ancient, the sands of time,” explained another voice.
    “You are the Batoul, the virgin who will redeem us,” the original voice announced.
    Jessica froze, that last statement causing a pink blush to creep up her neck to her cheeks as embarrassment flooded from her core. She was ready to approach the group in the front, her face a mask of barely veiled anger. She untangled herself from Conlan’s arms and stepped forward, the shaft of spotlights following her movements. She turned in a circle and looked at the mob behind the waist-high barricade, then turned back to the front and looked directly towards the group who sat in the chairs. She couldn’t see their faces, but she knew they would hear her.
    “Actually,” Jessica interrupted, waving her arms to cut off the words she’d heard, “I am the Jessica. It’s pronounced Je-ssi-ca. It might be a strange word to you, but it’s the only word to describe me. And I’m done here. Discussing my status as a virgin pretty much sealed it for me, even if the other hokey crap hadn’t already been a huge turnoff in this conversation.”
    She walked to the edge of the light but realized she couldn’t leave its glow as it kept pace with her. She took small, darting steps and shifted direction several times, calling on her runner’s movements to dodge the light. When she finally managed to escape its beam, a stabbing pain in her neck paralyzed her before throwing her to the floor.
    Behind her, Conlan yelled her name. She couldn’t see anything but spots in front of her eyes, but at least the light was gone. Her eyes might soon adjust to the room. Conlan was suddenly face down beside her, his attempt to reach her and help her thwarted with the same torturous pain she’d felt.
    “Wow,” he gasped, lifting his head only a few inches and turning to look at her, “that was something. You up for round two?”
    Jessica only let her eyes close by way of answering, too damaged to even respond.

Chapter 10
    Under the pitch-black night sky of a sweltering evening, Rageeb held court over Faydra, announcing clearly for the small group of cronies the charges against her. The mockery of holding a trial wasn’t lost on her. If anyone deserved to be forced to the ground to kneel before the group, hands tied behind his back, it was him. Instead, she was the one who tried in vain to defend herself, looking pleadingly to the others with her one eye that hadn’t yet swollen shut.
    Fortunately, it was her very appearance that might save her. As she deliberately looked each of the other council members in the face, willing them to see her as Faydra who was one of them and not Faydra who had left years ago on classified but misunderstood work, she could see the turmoil on their faces. Taking off on a highly dubious, mysterious assignment that required leaving the council was one thing, but being brought back in this state—bound and broken, injured by what could amount to the most basic jealous rage—didn’t sit well with them. She could tell.
    She still had friends and supporters within the organization, and more than a few of the council members owed her their lives. Their guilty expressions as they looked away told her they remembered, but those same people who averted their gaze also told her that her fate was practically sealed. They would do nothing to intervene.
    “As I have plainly explained and demonstrated through clear evidence, Faydra is guilty of neglecting her duties to this council and our people. She not only abandoned her position for selfish gain, she was so incompetent in her new role that she allowed a