Six
Seph
I blew out a breath as I stepped toward the downed warriors. When I saw four of my brothers, I winced and pointed to them.
“My kin.”
“They wished us ill, Seph,” Riel pointed out softly.
“That I give a damn at all surprises me, Riel,” I replied uneasily. “We’re not close. We’re not like family at all. Just related by blood.”
“I won’t harm them.”
My thoughts returned to the spider. “I believe you.”
“Then why the concern?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe it’s different on something so much bigger.”
She blew out a breath. “I can see why you might think that, and I wish there was a way for me to explain how I know I’m right, but there isn’t. You’ll just have to trust me.”
“I do,” I stated instantly, and I meant it. The bond might not have been sealed between us, but it pulsed with life.
“Then let’s do this, yeah?” she whispered, her hand reaching for mine so she could squeeze it.
Sucking down some air, I nodded and began to move down the line. As far as I knew, this shit worked on intentions, so I figured I had better focus on wanting to turn my kin into this preserved state, otherwise it wouldn’t work.
The grass was crunchy beneath my feet as I headed over to one end of the line of soldiers and she walked down the other side.
Troupe warriors wore no real armor save for the novices and, ironically enough, the generals. There was no need for protection, but there was a need for a means of demarcating rank. There were ten generals, and each one answered to an Assemblyman. My father’s general, for example, was my brother, Sebastian, but he wasn’t in this line. Of course, my father was supposed to be semi-retired, but everyone knew that was bullshit.
The general in the row was a man I didn’t know, which told me he was new to the position since I knew most of the officers thanks to my father’s role in the government.
Whatever she’d done to them in the funnels she’d sent their way, it had knocked them out. I wasn’t sure if that was because they’d been spun around at such a speed, or if it was simply down to the fact that her magic had done something to them, but they were out for the count.
I kicked the first man’s boot with mine to make sure, and when his body just flopped left and right, I knew he was definitely unconscious.
Gulping and hoping this worked because Riel appeared to have a plan that she hadn’t involved us in—one I intended on finding out swiftly—I ducked down, pressed my hand to the male’s hand, and watched, stomach churning all the while, as he turned into that strangely odd metal that I sensed was neither silver, gold or platinum, just colored that way. For all I knew, it could have been mercury! It was silvery and shiny, that was the extent of my knowledge.
Riel and I moved quickly as it took barely any time at all to stun the warriors. We met in the middle where, irony of ironies, the general lay.
She dipped down and gave him the special treatment before smiling up at me and getting to her feet.
As she went to move back to where her grandparents and the others were standing, I asked, “What next? What do you intend to do with them?”
She blinked at me, then murmured, “We can discuss that as a unit.”
The truth was, my train of thought had been running down the same path as Linford’s. It felt disloyal, but Sol, witches with too much power went crazy. All Fae knew that. And I highly doubted her being witch born Fae would help keep her sane, not with the amount of power she was packing.
That she intended to share her game plan filled me with a small measure of relief as I had to believe that meant she wasn’t turning loopy.
As we strode back to the others, hand in hand, I squeezed her fingers when she murmured, “It’s time we talked.”
Gabriella nodded. “There is much to discuss.”
Riel smiled then, still holding my hand, we walked over to her grandfather. She reached up with her free hand and stroked Linford’s brow. “Can’t have you looking so old while Abuela looks sexy.”
Linford’s arm snapped out to grab her wrist. “You shouldn’t waste—”
“It’s done,” she chided. “You’ve already wasted a lifetime without each other. I can’t allow that.”
Linford licked his lips but there was hope etched there when he glanced at his mate. “You’ve no idea how much power you have. It might not be infinite.”
“I hope it isn’t,” Riel instantly countered, her face set in somber, serious lines. “I hope it does have some limitations, but I hope they last until I’ve done what needs to be done.”
Linford’s still-wrinkled features tensed. “And what is that?”
Riel patted his cheek in a gesture that was odd, considering she was so young and Linford was so old, but at that moment, Riel didn’t feel young. Something about her felt timeless, and that something put me on edge.
“We’ll discuss that inside.”
She dragged me forward, her hand refusing to let go of mine as she took me into the kitchen. As everyone crowded around the small table, the chairs scraping against the scratched tile floor, she finally released me and headed for the stove where she began making coffee, shoveling the ground beans from a bag she found in the old-fashioned refrigerator.
As she worked, she hummed, and the sound was like a lullaby. It was sweet and pure and made my ears tingle with its beauty. Gabriella hovered for a second before she moved over to Riel, placed her hands on either side of her arms, and murmured, “Mija, let me make it while you talk, sí?”
Riel blinked in surprise but nodded. Then, after sucking down a sharp breath, declared, “While I was sleeping, I was thinking.”
“You were thinking?” Daniel repeated bluntly, his eyes wide with disbelief.
“Yes. I know it sounds weird, but I was. It wasn’t like a normal sleep. It was different. Unusual. I was thinking while resting. I didn’t know what was happening out here, but I was just processing.
“That’s what led me to my conclusions.”
“Which are?” Linford prompted, his tone wary.
“Firstly, the Fae will never let me rest. Ever. I’m too useful, have too much potential to let me lead a regular life. Am I wrong?” she asked, her focus switching to Linford.
“No. You’re not.” His reply was instant, but his tone was wooden with his displeasure at his own words.
“That means we have to find a way to change the balance.”
Linford’s brow rose. “And that’s why you petrified those warriors?”
“If the Assembly had left me alone and hadn’t sent them, I wouldn’t have. Instead, they bombarded their way into my life while I was Claiming my men.” She sniffed, her metal nails further scratching the Formica on the table as she spoke. The noise was enough to have me cringing, but I just listened to what she had to say, content to do as she’d just admitted—process rather than judge.
“There’s also the matter of the AFata, who still want me apparently. Enough to try to take me by force again. That in itself is rather inconvenient, but after using their magic against them today, I could say their interest in me came in quite handy.” Her lips twitched. “Talk about killing two birds with one stone.”
“You probably hurt the witches who cast those spells,” Gabriella predicted over by the stove.
“They wouldn’t be hurt if they’d just left me alone,” Riel reasoned with a shrug.
Her grandmother’s mouth tightened, but she didn’t counter the argument.
“The AFata are another issue entirely, but, and I have to believe this is true, Abuela, do they care for witchkind?”
Gabriella frowned as she leaned back against the counter. Her hands bracketed her waist as she wavered back and forth, evidently contemplating the question.
For a few seconds, she just stared at her granddaughter, then she nodded. “They do. They hate the Fae, and that’s their driving force, but other tha
n their desire to do anything to mess with the Fae’s plans, their intentions are pure.”
Linford snorted. “And what she means by ‘desire to mess with the Fae’s plans’ is tantamount to terrorism. Don’t be fooled by her romanticizing.”
Gabriella scowled at him. “One man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter.”
“Spoken like a terrorist,” Linford instantly retorted, his brow furrowed. “Before her Virgo, your grandmother did things that most people would be ashamed to confess to a priest.”
“In the name of our cause,” Gabriella instantly dismissed. “You Fae have manhandled us for long enough and you know it, so don’t think about arguing. Not when you’re on our side now.”
“I’m trying to provide a balanced picture,” Linford rejoined, spreading his hands wide as he leaned back against the spindly kitchen chair. “How can I do that if I allow everything you say to be sugar-coated?”
He had a point.
I shot him a look and was amazed to notice the stubborn tilt to his jaw, that twist to his mouth was pure Riel. Or, I guessed, the other way around. But still. The similarities were there, and they weren’t just skin deep. Apparently, obstinacy could skip a generation.
“When it comes down to it, for all the shit they’ve pulled, who would you trust? The AFata or the Assembly?” Gabriella challenged, thrusting a spoon at her Virgo as she made the demand.
Linford didn’t cower in the face of her fiery Latina temper. If anything, I could see she amused him, especially as her pure American tones were suddenly marred by a rolling of her r’s and a thick sultriness that came from her irritation, making her accent suddenly bleed thicker than before.
He hitched a shoulder. “The AFata. Without a doubt.”
She scowled at him. “So why the arguing?”
“Because I can’t always let you get your own way.”
A snort escaped her as she twisted around to sort out the coffee. “Because that happens all the time.”
“You know it does,” he countered smoothly, but there was a small smile on his lips that told me this was a common argument.
Deciding we needed to get things back on track, especially since Linford was eying his suddenly much younger mate with an expression I really didn’t want to focus on, I cleared my throat. “You’d truly turn your back on your own kind?”
“I did a long time ago,” Linford countered. “The second I began helping Gabriella hide herself away, in fact.”
“You were hiding her from the AFata then,” Riel pointed out.
“Yes, but that involved turning my back on the Fae.” He shrugged. “Of course, it culminated with the AFata wanting to recruit a young witch born Fae to spy on my people. That spy was my kin. I wasn’t about to let that happen. Not through manipulation.”
“So what’s changed? Why would you trust the AFata over the Fae now?” Daniel grilled, his brow puckered with confusion as he leaned forward, his elbows rubbing against the Formica as he slouched over.
“She’s changed.” He gestured to Gabriella. “Look at her. Look what Riel did to her. Riel is no longer just a witch born Fae. She’s no longer just a student who’s trying to get through the Academy. She’s a powerful creature who just managed to fell a battalion of Fae troupes without even having to get her hands dirty.” Linford snorted. “If, assuming her plan is to overtake the AFata and use them to overthrow the Assembly, she wishes to, she could easily manipulate the AFata to do her bidding.”
“Is that your intention?” I rasped, staring at my mate. “You want a coup?”
My voice was hoarse because what she was suggesting was insane. Truly insane.
“I do,” she admitted. “But not the way you think. I’m not saying I wish to overthrow the Assembly, but I want to approach them with a balance of power that’s in our favor.
“You have to understand, Seph, we’re in danger now. Whatever we do, wherever we go, we’re under threat, and I have to think that all this has happened for a reason.” She bit her lip then blurted out, “Why me? Why us? Why all the hiding and the lying and the secrets if we weren’t supposed to change shit?
“All the other witch born Fae have blended into the background. Linford says they’ve become Instructors and that’s it. I, we, weren’t meant for that.”
“You were meant to be in Hawaii on that date,” Gabriella said firmly. “Your tatarabuela saw you touching it.”
“Not catching it,” Linford clarified dryly, “but the devil’s in the details as the humans say.”
I shot him a look, and even though I’d been expecting it, the sudden ironing out of the heavy wrinkles on his forehead was pronounced.
He was starting to rejuvenate.
The sight was both creepy as hell and fantastic. Like watching a miracle… also, kind of like watching one of those creepy time shot videos that showed a corpse decaying and morphing into a skeleton, but in reverse.
Because I knew I was staring, I forced myself to look at the pot of mud Gabriella placed in front of me. Hooking the sugar jar my way, I poured nearly half of it into the mug and stirred the thick brew.
“If that’s the case,” Riel began slowly, her frown telling me she was pondering the situation carefully, “then I have to believe I was always supposed to get one of these powers. Perhaps not all of them, but at least one. And for a reason. My Virgo too, otherwise they wouldn’t be a part of this entire farce, would they?”
“Everything happens for a reason,” Gabriella intoned. “You know you’re not supposed to leave the Academy until you’ve graduated.”
“Or been tossed out,” Riel muttered, her wistful tone a reminder that she’d longed to be thrown out not long ago.
“Exactly. Which means you would never have been in Hawaii in the first place if the AFata hadn’t tried to bring you to them.” Gabriella sank down into her seat with a sigh. “It’s bizarre how things turn full circle and suddenly, everything makes sense.”
“Nothing makes sense,” I countered.
“It does,” she reasoned. “Every instance brought us to this moment, and this moment will lead us to a resolution.
“Riel is right. I’m not saying she’s the second coming or anything like that, but she was supposed to be there for a reason. Just as the battalion was there for a reason. We have to assume that change is on the horizon, and it’s easy to believe that she might be the instigator of that. The catalyst.”
Riel reached up and rubbed her bottom lip. “Does the AFata have a manifesto?” she asked quietly, seemingly ignoring her grandmother’s statement as her gaze was drawn inward, her attitude pensive.
I felt like she was leaving Linford and Gabriella to argue around her while she contemplated our next move.
Not having been raised to be so passive, to take the backseat, I didn’t appreciate the way Matt, Dan, and I were being pushed out of the decision-making process, but I also had to admit that I knew that was my ego talking. We knew jack shit about the AFata, knew nothing about this situation, and it sucked.
Hard.
“Of course, they have a manifesto,” Gabriella retorted. “What political group doesn’t have a manifesto?”
Daniel snorted out a laugh. “She has a point.”
Riel rolled her eyes. “Okay, so what is it?”
“To redistribute the balance of power back to the witches. We’re the most powerful of the three species and yet, somehow, we’re in the middle with the Fae in charge.”
“That’s it? That’s their goal?” Riel argued, her words beyond disappointed.
“No,” Linford replied, “it’s what they want to happen, but their goal is to make the Fae pay for their magic.”
My eyes widened at that. “Impossible!”
“Never gonna happen,” Matt agreed.
But Riel’s smile was slow. “Then that’s exactly what we need to change.”
I sputtered, “What? Didn’t you just hear me? The Assembly will never go for that!”
She grinned. “Trust me
. I have a plan.”
❖
Riel
The portal dropped us right in the center of the AFata’s Havana HQ.
The sight of us had screams of surprise stirring from different points of the large quarters, but I ignored them, intent on looking around.
My grandmother was at the head of our group, and from what she’d said, her ex was still the leader of this bunch of ragtag witches and we were hoping he was going to be our in.
The room was about the size of a small café, and there was barely anything to it. Thirty by twenty feet max. On the front door, there were political slogans that were anti-communist—American agenda, which from what my grandparents had said told me that the Fae were pro-communist—and other posters and graffiti illustrations that made this place look like a grassroots political party.
The walls were painted white, but there were water stains on the ceiling, and all the corners were moldy from dampness. There were about twenty desks, ten to a row, filing down the front of the building, and then there was a kitchen area and a door, which I assumed led to a back office.
In the kitchen area, there were four witches who were knocked out.
“Your work, I guess,” Matt whispered, the words dropping into my ear and making me shiver as his breath trailed along the sensitive flesh there.
“I think so,” I agreed, eying the way they were slumped over, their faces pale, and their bodies twitching every now and then as though an electrical current was being passed through their limbs.
I felt no guilt, not when they’d been trying to sabotage me. But here I was, offering a truce. On my terms, of course.
There were many things I didn’t understand about what was happening, but what I did know was that we’d never have any peace, and that was all I wanted. I didn’t want to be at war, didn’t want to be a fugitive, and in all honesty, I could only see this situation panning out into an all-out battle if I didn’t take charge now and stop the bleeding from the source.
I was no Seer, but I knew I could call an army to me. How couldn’t I? I just had to offer youth and good health to dying men to have soldiers who would lay down their lives for me—because I could make them live again. Why wouldn’t they join my fight?
The Ascended: The Eight Wings Collection Page 47
