by Lauren Dane
The others agreed and the room emptied, leaving her the space to let out a breath and the tension in her shoulders.
Gage was up, moving to her before he realized it. He saw the strain on her features. Even as he heard the resolve in her voice, he knew she paid a price for it. Knew this speech would be a final step out of her old life and into the world of magick.
He grabbed a sandwich from the stack near the doors and brought it to her. “Eat.”
She looked up at him, smiling. “I thought you were mad at me.”
She knew him so well. He’d hated that she hadn’t come to him to bounce ideas off. Hated that she hadn’t asked for his perspective when she so often did. Oh, he knew there’d been a time crunch and that things were hurtling forward at a scary-fast pace. But when he’d tried to comfort her back at Owen she’d walked around him and had sought out Dominic’s counsel instead.
“Do I have a reason to be mad at you?”
“Give me the food and stop with that wily stuff. I’m too tired for it.”
He handed her the box and she unwrapped the sandwich, eating slowly.
No one talked to him the way she did. On one hand it felt right to be so understood and also to know she wouldn’t take any of his shit. On the other hand, it was raw. Exposed. She knew his flaws and thought she loved him anyway.
“No more coffee for you today. You’re strung out.”
She rolled her eyes. “I’ve got coffee in my veins now. Used to have blood until I moved to Seattle. That’s what coffee shops on every corner will do to a gal. Anyway, your mom says I’m all right.”
“She said your blood pressure was amazing for someone who is under as much pressure at you are.” She’d also told Gage he was a damned fool if he didn’t make a public claim on her. She’d scoffed when he’d told her, the same as he did Molly and everyone else, that he didn’t have time for a serious relationship. It was like these people didn’t know there was a damned war brewing.
Helena sent him a raised brow from where she sat with Lark.
“Do you want me to get you another?”
Molly put her hand over his and he shifted, turning his wrist to entangle their fingers.
“No, this is good. Thank you.” She lowered her voice. “I read your report of the bombing. I hate that you blame yourself. It wasn’t your fault.”
“You’re sitting here broken and bruised and you say that?”
“I’m sitting here, yes. So of course I say that. Why on earth do you think you can protect me from everything and that if you don’t you’re a failure? That makes me so mad.”
“That makes two of us. Look, it’s my job to protect. We’ve gone over that a million times.”
“Yes, and every one of those million times I tell you it’s outside of your abilities to prevent me from getting hurt if someone really wants to hurt me. I have a bodyguard because people want to hurt me. You do all you can, but even you can’t possibly believe anyone is capable of preventing every single crazy person with an agenda from trying to kill me if they want to. You’re awesome and all but you’re not Superman. Hell, even Lois Lane got killed. Remember that movie? Superman had to fly backward around the earth to go back in time. Which was sort of dubious, but whatever. My point is, unless you have been hiding your awesome skill of flying and being able to control time, you’re stuck with the reality that you can’t be everywhere at all times. You can’t stop it in every case, so what you need is to realize that and prevent it when you can and accept it when you can’t.”
He chewed on that a while. It burned in his belly that she could have been killed. For a number of reasons, he could admit. It tasted like failure and he didn’t like failure in any guise.
She took her hand back and wrote some notes as people began to stream back into the room. She didn’t like failure either. He saw it on her face when she spoke. This speech she was going to deliver would be a good one, he knew that much. But it would kill part of her to do it. That part that connected her to her old life. He knew it and wished he could spare her the pain.
He got up and left the room. He needed to walk off the anxiety that’d been riding his nerves for months now. That’s when he literally bumped into Rose.
She smiled at him, clearly happy to see him. “I was just looking for you. I asked and they said you were in a meeting.”
Rose hugged him and he hugged her back. That, of course, was when Molly came out of the conference room. She narrowed her gaze to where Rose’s hand remained on his waist.
He hadn’t done anything wrong, damn it. He waved at Molly, who rolled her eyes and made her careful way back toward the restrooms.
“What brings you back? I mean, I didn’t know you’d even come back.”
“I couldn’t find a job, not a good one with benefits and stuff like I have here. And I missed things in Seattle. People.”
“I’m sorry about the job thing. It’s rough out there right now, for humans too. I’m guessing you didn’t tell anyone you were a witch.” He didn’t go near the tentative step she tried to take back into a relationship with him.
“Yeah. Well, I’m not really a human now, am I? I . . . are you free? Do you want to go grab a bite or something? Catch up?”
“I’m not free, no.” Not in either way she meant. He might not want to move in with Molly and start having babies, but he was with her. He didn’t cheat and he had no desire to. Just looking at Rose then underlined the difference in how he felt about Molly versus anyone else he’d ever dated. “I’m in an important meeting. And I’m seeing someone.”
Her smile fell. “Ah. Okay. Wow, that was fast.”
Was it really? He met Molly in January. Early January and he’d been with her pretty much daily for three months. He knew her in ways he didn’t know another soul. Even Nell, who he’d been close with since childhood didn’t know him the way Molly did.
As if he’d conjured her, she came back toward them and he smiled, waving her over. “Molly, there’s someone I’d like you to meet.” He may as well, because she’d be wondering who he’d been talking with and he didn’t want her to worry.
She was pretty fast on her crutches. He’d joked with her that she’d overcome her crutches like anything else that might have gotten in her way.
She was at his side in moments, smiling at Rose, but clearly wondering who the other woman was.
“Molly, this is Rose.”
She got it then. There was a slight shift in her body language, but her smile didn’t falter, he gave her that.
“I’ve heard a lot about you, Rose. I hope you’re back home for a good reason. That sounds odd. I mean, so much has been happening to so many that I hope you’re here for something positive and not because you or someone you know was harmed.”
Rose smiled and Gage realized Molly could charm most anyone. She could have acted like a bitch; some women would have. Goddess knew he did sometimes around Tosh Sato and he’d never even dated Molly. But Molly had been her normal gracious self and Rose got that.
“I was just telling Gage the job market is crazy and my job here paid more and had great benefits. And I missed being around other witches. So I figured moving back here was the best option. I saw you on television. More than once actually. You do a good job. I’m sorry you were hurt.”
“I was just telling Gage that part seems to come with the territory, unfortunately.” Molly looked back over her shoulder. “I need to get back in. Our break is over. It was nice to meet you, Rose. I hope to see you around.”
She turned deftly and headed back into the room.
“That’s her, right? The one you’re seeing?”
“Yeah. I have to get back in there too. It was good to see you, Rose. I mean that.”
“She’s nice. I’m glad you ended up with someone nice. I need to run. But I’ll see you around. The clan gave me my old job back. I’m starting again Monday.”
She hugged him quickly, but there was a distance there now entirely appropriate for a friend. Gage
found himself relieved that she was still as nice a person as she was before she’d gone.
But by the time he’d reached the doors to the conference room, his mind was fully back on Molly again.
She looked up, locking gazes with him and smiled before she went back to her conversation with Meriel. He liked that. Liked that she sought him out the way she did.
They needed to talk. Once this speech had been given and things calmed down, they’d go away. Maybe head to the coast to watch storms. He thought again. After the Magister, he didn’t think he’d be up for storm watching for the next fifteen years at least. But maybe they could go to Hawaii or someplace sunny. Then they could talk.
Yes, that would be the ticket. He relaxed a little. Probably for the first time since that night she’d been attacked and then told him she loved him. He probably loved her too. Maybe. That was something else he could put off until after the speech.
Nina didn’t waste any more time. “I spoke with Lex and then we spoke with Cade. We’d like to sign on to your speech tomorrow and Cascadia, along with National, will be issuing remarks of our own within half an hour of yours.”
“The vampires also stand behind this speech and will likewise issue our own remarks if, after yours, we feel the need to.”
“Likewise the cats.”
Simon stepped forward. “Last week I went to Lycia and spoke with my father and oldest brother. We stand with Owen. Always.”
Molly swallowed hard, licking her lips. Gage knew she was overwhelmed with emotion. She took a steadying breath and nodded. “I’ll have a copy of my speech to each of you by midnight tonight. If any of you want to be present at the speech, I’ll be giving it at the state capitol building. We do have friends in state houses across this country. I want to remind you all of that. We have those like Sato and Carroll at the national level too. Cops, mayors, governors. They’re not all bad. The rest just need to understand who we are. It’s my plan to make that happen. Thank you for your trust.”
Chapter 29
HE looked over her place before he let her inside.
“I’m just going to get some work done.” She went to her place at the small dining room table where she’d set up a home office of sorts.
He went to the couch and did his own work.
Molly needed to talk to Toshio. She’d known exactly what she was going to say in her speech for several weeks now. Each day she woke up and sent out a silent prayer that she wouldn’t have to give it. And each night she went to sleep, thankful she got through another day.
But it was time and it couldn’t be avoided any longer.
It was early evening in Seattle, so she knew he’d be settled in his home office. He picked up on the second ring.
“Hey, Molly. How are you feeling?”
“Physically I’m getting better. Can you talk?”
“Yeah, yeah. I’m alone. What’s up? I heard about the situation in Alaska and I’ve been wondering when you’d call.”
“I’m giving a speech tomorrow. I wanted to give you a heads-up so you can prepare for the blowback.”
“Uh-oh. That doesn’t sound promising.”
“We can no longer go down the road we’ve been on, Tosh. My people can’t sit by while they’re being picked off one by one. You wouldn’t, why should we?”
“I’m working on it. Every day. Carroll too. Our whole committee has been. Hayes isn’t the majority. You know that.”
“I do. And you know that’s not what matters now. Because the majority are being silent. Which means people like Marlon Hayes are getting their way. And that’s not going to happen any longer. We’re not fairy-tale witches and Others. We are strong and we’ve been incredibly patient with all this nonsense so far.”
“Are you declaring war?”
“We would still prefer a path through all this that is peaceful. We still have an open heart. We have, after all, lived side by side with humans for thousands of years. But we are not victims. Some are mistaking our tolerance for weakness and my speech is made to disabuse anyone of that notion.
“All this talk about camps and chips and taking away our citizenship. No. Not going to happen and you are not strong enough to make it happen. Maybe we should have been stronger and more vicious from the start, but we’ve been grieving our old lives. Wishing for the way it was before the Magister. And it can’t ever be that way again. No matter how much I wish it could be. If this violence toward us continues, we will defend ourselves and our families. We will not tolerate losing our jobs and apartments. This will be at the heart of what I say tomorrow. As Captain Picard says when he’s talking about the Borg, the line must be drawn here. Only he says it in a British accent and it’s way scarier, but still.”
“You know this will only give ammo to people like Hayes.”
“They don’t need it. They blew up cars today, Tosh. With humans in them. Humans protected by Elder vampires. Do you know what that means? You have no idea how hard it is to hold them back. They have so much more power than you can even conceive. And they’ve been holding back because I’ve asked them to. Each time I ask them and humans attack them I lose my credibility with them. That credibility is like credit. I was an outsider. I grew up in your world and they trusted me anyway. And I’ve let them down. Over and over. We can’t afford to wait any longer. You know it. I know it.”
He sighed heavily and she knew he paced, thinking carefully. And she knew that he’d have nothing else to say. She had no other options. To continue waiting for the humans to be nice after they’d repeatedly not been nice was suicide. How many times had a group waited and waited, only to be massacred?
“I know this is what you have to do. And I’m sorry because I know you don’t want to do it.”
She pressed her fingertips to her eyes. It didn’t matter what she wanted. Things were what they were and she had to deal with it.
“Call me when you get the chance. I’ll be watching it. I know you’ll do great.”
“I’ll have my assistant send you the text when I go on. The Weres and vampires are also issuing statements after mine.”
“All right then. Thank you for the heads-up. I appreciate it.”
“You’re our strongest ally. I owe you that much. I appreciate all you do for us.”
“Look, it’s my job, Molly. I was elected to represent the people in my state and this country. My constituents aren’t just human any more than they’re just white or black or Latino or whatever. This is wrong. You’re doing your best in a messed-up situation.”
“Thanks for the pep talk.” She laughed.
“All part of the services I provide. Good luck, Molly.”
She hung up and took a deep breath. When she opened her eyes it was to find Gage glaring at her.
“What now?”
“I can’t believe you called him.”
This again? “Really? And why is that?”
“Why does he need to know what you’re up to? You lose the element of surprise that way.”
“My job isn’t like your job in that way. I can see why you might think so, and sometimes it might resemble it. But he’s our ally. He needed to know so he could prepare. He’s going to get a rasher of shit by the time I’m done. It was the right thing to do to tell him so he could prepare for it.”
“You’re telling the enemy what we’re doing. They can regroup now, blunt whatever you say tomorrow.”
“He’s not our enemy, Gage. He’s our ally. It doesn’t matter if he supports what I’m going to say tomorrow, though he does. You do what you can in a situation like this. He’d have done the same for me. In fact he has. He’s the one who sent me that legislation first. He shares all sorts of information with me. That’s what you do.”
Gage hated that she was so calm about the whole thing. Hated more that Sato had apparently comforted her and had given her a pep talk. He should have given her the pep talk, not Senator Sato.
“We have our own governance. That’s what is important.”
&n
bsp; She sent him a raised brow but didn’t lose her cool. “Don’t think you can presume to tell me what’s important, Gage. I know what’s important. It’s my job to know what’s important. I went through our governance. I went through our process. I informed our people first. Then the rest of the Others. And then him. Because he’s been such a staunch supporter of our cause, he’ll face a lot of scrutiny tomorrow. It would have been rude not to have warned him. This isn’t a secret attack. We don’t need total secrecy and he’s not going to tell anyone anyway.”
“We don’t need his approval. We don’t need you going to Sato for his permission or permission from humans to take care of our business.”
She slammed her fist down on the table, sending all her careful notes, pens and pencils flying. He flinched, knowing he’d gone too far.
“I have a job to do. I know exactly who I need to seek permission from and it’s not the humans, or Toshio Sato. Or you for that matter.” Her normally patient and somewhat annoyed tone had gone icy.
“You run to him all the time. You have plenty of your own people to talk to but they’re not good enough for you.”
Her eyes widened as that hit home.
“Not good enough for me? Really. You’re going to stand there and say that to me? Fuck you, Gage. How dare you?”
He wanted to tell her he was sorry. He wanted to admit he sounded jealous and had gone too far.
He didn’t want to admit the creeping panic that ate at his belly. The fear that she’d walk away. Didn’t want to admit that this fight was different than the others.
He wanted to be the one comforting her but she hadn’t sought him out. “I’m right here.”
“Yes, not looking me in the eye lest I be emotionally open with you. God forbid. Also, in case you haven’t noticed, you already knew I was giving a speech tomorrow. Tosh didn’t. Just admit you’re jealous! But you won’t. Because if you did, you’d have to admit you love me. I can be nice to your ex-girlfriend, but you have to throw a tantrum over someone I work with. And you don’t have the right.”
