by K. F. Breene
Who I didn’t see, however, was Dominicous and Toa.
“Welcome, Mata.”
It took me a second to find the guy with wispy white hair and paper-thin voice sitting at the far back of the table. The green-eyed bastard sat at his left, focused intently on me. To his right sat Mage June.
So this was the head honcho, huh? First impressions: he wouldn’t live much longer.
“Cato, hello.” Tim stood at the front of the room like an army man awaiting orders. His shifters stood back, equally straight-backed.
“Thank you for coming,” Cato continued to Tim. “It has been some time since I have seen one of your kind within these walls. This, of course, is for no other reason than mutual suspicion between our two races, am I right?”
“Something like that, yes.” Tim met the older man’s gaze.
“And you have brought some of your members with you. How splendid.” Faded blue eyes scanned the faces to the left and right of Tim, pausing on each before moving on. When they got to me, he squinted marginally. “And a human, is that right? I do not see the typical green flare around you. You are not a shifter. But… high in power.”
Mage June leaned toward him and quietly said, “She is the black power level that has surfaced.”
“Ah yes, of course. Quite a rarity. I would so like to speak with you. I had known a male of black power level once. This was many years ago. He died—what was it?” Cato looked toward the ceiling, blinking in thought.
“Ah yes!” He ticked the sky with his forefinger. “Witch burnings, I believe. He got caught up in that. Nasty affair. Half my foot is still blackened. I escaped, though, of course. Had a great many violent followers in that time. I did go back for him. Jacob was his name. Or was it Michael? I cannot recollect. But he had perished. Went out in style—took a few with him. The irony of the whole affair was that he was a follower of the church. How funny humans are. So fickle. So prone to fear. But beware the mob. Yes, yes. A mob of humans can do terrible things. Terrible, destructive things.”
Most heads nodded around the table in agreement.
Humans are violent? And you’re… what? Docile and even tempered?
Did they live in an alternate universe?
“Forgive me, but isn’t that the pot calling the kettle black?”
Oh, crap! Did I just say that out loud?
“What was that, human?” Rudy asked with a warning in his voice. His penetrating gaze hadn’t left my face since I’d come in. I could feel a rush of anger infuse the link. Stefan did not like that stare.
I didn’t, either. But I was in; I might as well go all in. Plus, when they found out what I did in the hall, I’d be in a world of trouble anyway.
I lifted my chin slightly, determined not to be terrified of a room full of gazes, many hostile, and said, “Yes, exactly. What was that human. You think only humans do terrible things? You nearly killed my almost-mate out in the hall because he is new on campus. Because he is with me. You pass humans around as a blood source. You basically try to enslave them. You beat on each other constantly. You conjure horrible demons and try to sic them on innocents—you guys aren’t roses and chocolates, either. So humans get freaked out and go mental. Well, aren’t your kind trying to take them over? Why wouldn’t they react? Someone tries to come after me and mine, and I am going to take that person down. And guess what, that is a philosophy taken directly from your people. Also: hey, did you know that technically, you are human? Scientifically speaking, yes, you are. You’re just a different branch. So suck on that—”
I flinched and felt my face turn red. I hadn’t meant to put so much sauce into my answer. Or say that last bit. Anger and fear were scattering my brain.
Silence rang through the room as my words disintegrated. My fingers tingled as my temper slowly drained out of my body. I risked a glance to those around me. Charles was minutely shaking his head. Everyone else stood frozen.
So… yes, then. Overboard on that one. Jonas was going to kick my ass.
“It’s just,” I started, trying to throw a little dirt in the grave I’d just dug. “Humans think back to those times in fear, too. Power corrupts all, not just humans. A great many independent-thinking women died in those witch burnings. Wars are terrible, and most of us hate them, but I think you people, out of everyone, can understand how out-of-whack things can get. I mean, your whole system is built on violence. Yet, we’re the bad guys? I mean, I’m a woman, and we are always viewed as lesser, even when we’re supposed to be equal—you don’t see me bitching about it…”
I stopped myself again and let my words trail away. That wasn’t much better. I needed to just stop talking.
A delighted glint infused Rudy’s green eyes. As if he’d just found a cookie among bananas. He glanced to a fierce-looking guy to his right. “Remove this human.”
Tingles worked up my back. I’d given him a reason to take me away, and I didn’t think that would be so I could get bathed in champagne and roses.
As five men pushed away from the wall, Tim said, “She is a pack friend. She stays with us.”
I could feel movement. Stefan was coming closer.
“I agree with Rudy,” some sandy-haired man said seated beside Mage Marius. “The human does not belong in this meeting, regardless who she has chosen as friends.”
“If she goes, we go,” Tim stated in a barely-suppressed growl. A warm hand found my lower back. Stefan was ready if something went down.
“Then this meeting will be in vain, since we cannot hope to work with a group of animals that cannot maintain the minimal level of respect,” an older man said from a chair at the front of the table. He wore the white robe signifying a Council member.
I stabbed Cato with my gaze, imploring some order. I figured that since he sat at the head of the table, was the oldest person in the room, and had started the meeting, he was the leader. The problem was, as the turmoil mounted, his eyes stayed unfocused and distant. Sometimes his gaze moved to a speaker, but most of the time he was vaguely looking at the wall. He seemed as calm as tranquil waters while all around him a storm gathered.
“Is this a council meeting, or a public hearing?” I demanded of him, surprising myself with the force in my voice.
The light blue eyes slowly drifted to my face.
Rudy stood. “That is no way to address a superior. Remove her!”
Those five men were in action again, moving around and through people, trying to get to the front where I stood.
“Wait a minute!” Kallias stood as he spoke. “I would like to hear how she fits with the Mata. Keep her in this room!”
“She speaks the truth, Cato,” a white-robed female with salt-and-pepper hair threw in. “These are valid points she has. And moreover, if we section ourselves off from humans as we do, half the magic in the world will all dry up as we make ourselves extinct. We can breed with them while keeping magic intact. This has been proven. Why have we not sought to cross this divide? Tessa in Arizona is trying just that with her human. She’s hopeful.”
“Who leads this Council, Cato? You or him?” someone else shouted.
“Get that filthy human out of here!”
“Breeding with humans? Disgusting!” someone roared.
“What is so wrong with humans?”
“Why are we meeting with animals?”
“Disgrace!”
“Remove them all!”
Shouting blasted through the room. Arguments flew. Half the table was standing, screaming at the other half. Red faces and spittle, screams and shouts.
Stefan’s hand moved to my hip. Pressure had me stepping toward the door. We wouldn’t be going back to our room, we’d be leaving the premises. Probably with half this room on our heels.
“Get ready,” Tim said to his shifters in a low tone.
From the back of the room, I heard my name shouted out. It sounded like Dominicous but I couldn’t be sure.
The Mata drew in close to me, ready for an attack. Green magic starte
d pooling around them, tingling my skin. I opened up to the elements, feeling the sweet rush. I felt Stefan’s magic balancing and leveling, and then coaxing a bit more. Another rush of energy entered the link. Probably Charles. Then another—Jonas. Stefan was pooling the resources so I could unleash hell.
“Here they come, baby. Get ready.” Stefan’s voice was low and anxious.
Those five guys, hard-eyed and determined, pushed their way through the crowd. Vicious gazes scanned my protection unit, two focusing on Tim. The other two picked out other shifters. One only had eyes for me.
Keep the protection busy while one guy makes the grab. Sounded logical. Thank God they weren’t experienced enough to notice Stefan and Jonas huddled close. Not that I’d need them, though.
I drew in the elements and pieced together three attack spells of Toa’s devising. I stitched them together, tweaked some of the elements to make them extremely volatile, and dared anyone to try and pick them apart.
The room seethed. Like a beehive after a bear, action and noise reigned. The lead attacker pushed aside a yelling woman and grabbed at me. Jonas pushed forward and delivered a hard punch with magic. He followed it up with a ripping hand. The other guys didn’t even baulk at their buddy fighting the air. They swarmed around as sparks of green lighted up around the shifters.
“Let it fly!” Stefan said urgently, two hands on me. Ready to rip me away from this room.
With a deep breath I pulled fire and—
My spell disintegrated before my eyes.
“What the—”
The sound in the room went dead. Everyone around me froze. And then I realized it was because they couldn’t move. I couldn’t move!
The entire room was covered in the most intricate spider web of spells I’d ever seen. Weaves upon weaves of elements blended so perfectly they looked like a tapestry. I recognized the thickening spell, which is what kept everyone immobile, but that was it. I had no idea how the spell deadened sound. Or how my spell, made with a bunch of nasty booby traps, fell apart. Wasn’t picked apart, or unraveled, but just disintegrated.
“You see? I still have a trick or two left up my sleeve.” Cato smiled benignly. He was the only one moving. “Now, young lady-human. If you would be so kind as to stop working at my spell—I noticed you have an affinity for traps. I must confess—I do as well. We are similar, you and I. I would hate for our meeting of minds to extinguish everyone in this room.”
Chapter 8
Faded blue eyes, like a polarized sky, surveyed the room slowly. “I feel as though I have been asleep for so long. Years pass in a faded blur when one lives so long. Menial issues seem nothing more than minor annoyances, best left to the vigor of the young. But it seems my partially stepping away, my here-but-not presence, has left a hole. A confusion in leadership, perhaps. Maybe, too, power and boredom has started to eat away at our sanity; such is the case with a warrior class relegated to the chairs and conferences of a committee. I will take this blame unto myself, of course. It seems it is time for me to once again take interest—to steer the needs of these people.”
His gaze settled on me like falling ashes. “And a human with the black power level has emerged. I am sure this is foretold. But of course it would be. It was only a matter of time. And our young, ambitious Rudy would have her for himself. A great many would, I am sure. Tied to one of so much power is promising. Especially one such as her, ready for molding and shaping. But she is not what she seems, is she? Look at what she has done with the vanishing spell. Inverted to my eyes, yes, as is the case with humans, but also tweaked. Patched together, as one might a table leg shorter than the other three. She is smart and ingenious; and protected. Let us not forget protected.”
His gaze drifted next to me, to Stefan, still invisible to those in the room without the magical know-how. And judging by the gazes, only a handful had it—and not all of the Clutch, at that. “So much strength and power in this youth. He could lead the whole organization perfectly, I have no doubt. And so trusting of the human next to him. Look at the spell he allowed her to drape over him. Dangerous, but perfectly safe at the same time. She is a marvel, is she not? Show yourself, young male.”
I let the spell fall away, revealing the most handsome man in the room. Also the most worse-for-wear. He stood beside me, straight and tall, as though he hadn’t gotten beat to hell a half-hour before. Jonas, now also visible, walked behind us to lean against the back wall. Blood shimmered on his bare arms.
“This is the young, promising new leader, is that right?” Cato leaned toward Mage June.
“Yes, sir.” She clasped her hands in front of her on the table.
“He has marked her, and been marked. Blood linked, too, I take it?” Cato waited for my nod. Obviously it didn’t come since I couldn’t move. He must have realized that because the spell fell away a moment later, letting me answer with a head bob. “I see. He was chosen not to succeed, but fought against someone else’s choice. Do we not have a ban against organized challenges?”
“Yes, we do,” Kallias spoke up. “But it hasn’t been in effect for years.”
“Years, yes.” Cato’s gaze traveled over Stefan’s wounds. “I wonder what else has fallen by the wayside in years.”
Three Council members opened their mouths, eager to fill Cato in, before he waved his hand. “That is a debate for another day. Now, let us speak to a new and exciting development.”
It was Tim’s turn in the intelligent gaze. “The shifters have reorganized, is this correct?”
Tim clasped his hands behind his back again. “All we needed was leadership. I have provided that. I directly lead a faction within my home town, and indirectly manage packs across the nation. We are coming together slowly, but we are coming together.”
“Yes. And you choose to keep your traits to your kind? You have not filled the humans in on your existence?”
“I don’t want to live out my days in a lab.”
“If you weren’t killed immediately, that is.” Cato leaned back in his chair slowly, hands clasped over his chest.
“They have attached themselves to the human,” the Councilwoman Constance stated.
“And why is that?” Kallias asked Tim. “Why her?”
Tim said, “She risked her life to save a great many of ours. She would do it again. And we would return the favor.”
“Loyalty. That is an honored trait.” Cato glanced around the room. “And Dominicous—is he here?”
Movement and shifting took place until finally Dominicous was able to step through a wall of people. Most of the room was on their feet, agitated at the proceedings, but also in awe of Cato it seemed like. Toa stepped out a moment later, completely unruffled. Every hair was in place even though he was probably pushed and shoved around way back there.
How did he do it?
Both of their gazes fell on me before turning to Cato. “Yes, sir.”
“You have made an agreement on the Council’s behalf with the Mata, is this correct?”
Dominicous stepped forward. He offered a slight bow. “Yes, sir.”
“On whose authority?” Cato pushed.
“Mine.” Mage June’s impassive face met Cato’s eyes. “I’ve heard rumors of our kind wanting to step out of the shadows. To do this, they need more power. They need more likeminded followers. I wanted to prevent the growing organization of the shifters from joining that cause. I wanted them, instead, joined with us, whether for support, or so we could watch them.”
John and Ann both shifted behind Tim.
“I see. This need to claim our mantle as equals is in constant flux.” Cato glanced around at the Council members. “I have seen, and thwarted, the attempts to step into the light often in my life. Once I was a part of the desire to show myself to humans. To prove I was better. And physically, I was, of course. As soon as I was strapped to a stake, and the fires lit, I changed my outlook.”
His gaze went back to his Mage. “And who supported your decision? Who allowed yo
u to carry out this decree?”
“They push through a lot of decisions from your office!” a man yelled from the back.
Mage June raised her chin slightly. “You are often lost to contemplation. I felt action needed to be taken, and I took it.”
“And you approved this, Rudy?” Cato asked.
“He’s not even on the Council!” someone off to the side muttered. “Why does he get a say in anything?”
“I thought having them at hand was a good idea,” Rudy reflected.
“But you detest them. Hmm.” Cato glanced around the table. “And the rest of the Council? Does no one make uniform decisions anymore? Is that not the purpose of this committee? Of having more than one in charge?”
“They make plenty of decisions on their own,” Mage June commented in low tones.
“You basically disappear for years, not doing your job, not policing your assistant, and you want us to apologize for trying to keep things together?” The salt-and-pepper Councilwoman at the front glared at Cato. “Why don’t you ask what the youth in charge of the menial tasks has been doing with his time? For instance, why was he chatting with the prisoner earlier this evening? What are these secret meetings he has with only a few select members of the Council?”
“I am doing my job,” Rudy fired back. “I am trying to secure our—”
“Enough.” Cato held up a hand. “I have been absent in all but body. I see that now. Possibly soon it is time to step away and let the world rumble by. But, for now, we have other issues to deal with. Mata, welcome. We will talk in greater detail after the Council has a chance to meet and discuss. Sasha, a black. Stefan, a promising young leader. Welcome. I give you my backing and support. You have been through enough, and you are still alive. That warrants a reprieve. I also give you access to our archives, and to Mage June, who has a great knowledge of human magic. I, also, have a plethora of knowledge that may be helpful. We must nurture our connections with humans—I agree on that point. We must keep our eyes open for those that can use their magic. Truly remarkable things can happen with a link between the two opposing sides of magic.”
