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The call to the town hall wasn’t a welcome one, not so soon after Dante and Lou were changed. I thought hard on the reports that Eli delivered to me daily, sometimes twice a day. While we waited for Lou’s magic to even out, Eli supervised Dante, made sure that he didn’t go too close to town, made sure that he didn’t lose control the way Lou was doing in his sleep.
Eli reassured me, a few times, that we were the only ones to see him.
Perhaps it wouldn’t be so obvious to a human, but to the rest of us, it was clear that Dante was something else that wasn’t human. He didn’t smell like a particular pack so it was hard to pin him down.
In fact, he smelled like Lou and Lou carried his scent as well.
Maricel theorized this was because they were so close but I had to wonder if they were already a pack of two before Dante was bitten.
It wasn’t unheard of but it wasn’t common either. Humans were pack animals as much as wolves were.
I parked in the town hall parking lot. It was already jam-packed with cars and I recognized more than a few of them.
I groaned and got out of my car.
“The heads of the families called to a meeting. Not good news, it seems,” a voice said behind me.
I twitched, tamping down on the urge to snap at the man behind me.
Man was a word I used loosely.
Azolata was old, much older than he looked. I could smell it on him like papyrus and dirt from temples that humans didn’t remember anymore.
But if you spotted him on the street, it would be easy to mistake him for another person, as long as you didn’t watch for too long or got too close. His skin was flawless and his stubble remained the same length, always. His dark hair never changed style; it was always the same dark, loose waves pushed away from his face. He was as tall as me, a bit over six foot. He was also the only person, or person-adjacent-being, that could sneak up on me.
“What are you?” I demanded.
“You have asked me that a thousand times, Alpha Ortega. And I will tell you the same thing I have told you every other time-” he said.
“You are exactly what I think you are, our thoughts shape our reality, I will know when I need to,” I recited. Same answer since I was three years old.
Azolata brushed past me and stepped in front of my car. He leaned against it and lit a cigarette. That combined with his black leather jacket and my muscle car made him look like James Dean in those old movies my parents loved.
“Those things will kill you, you know,” I said.
“They’re here,” Azolata said, ignoring my remark.
I grimaced. “Did you know?”
"I've been around for a while now, Alpha Ortega, I know a lot of things," Azolata said and stared up at the spire of the town hall building.
I stared at him and his shoulders slumped. He seemed tired, a look that I wasn’t used to seeing on him.
“How many times do I have to tell you to call me Celia?” I grumbled and leaned against the car next to him. I wasn’t eager to go inside.
“I like the old laws. Formality gives me comfort.”
“I guess we could all use a bit of that.”
We watched the people stream inside for a minute. Azolata offered me his cigarette. I took it and after a long inhale, handed it back.
He waved it off. “Finish it. You’ll need it.”
I stared at him but he kept his eyes on the town hall entrance. “The Ascendancy isn’t the first organization like it. Throughout our history, humanity has sought to police us, force us back and keep us in the shadows.”
I nodded.
“I know what happened. I saw it the same time Maricel Correa did. I saw a lot more than she did.”
I finished the cigarette and ground it out underneath my heel. I felt different, calmer and a little lighter.
“Will you go in with me?” I asked.
“I can’t. I’ve got an appointment that I can’t miss. Everything will be as it should be. You’ll be fine,” Azolata said and pushed himself off the car.
He walked away, towards the woods behind the town hall.
“That’s what everyone keeps telling me,” I muttered.
Azolata paused in his tracks and glanced over his shoulder. He held my gaze for a long moment, bowed his head, and then he was gone.
I headed towards the entrance, with the last few stragglers.
Inside, we were all gathered in the rec room. There were at least a hundred people gathered, maybe a few dozen more.
I didn’t appreciate being crammed in with so many people and I could feel my wolf pace nervously. There was a large table in the center of the room, divided into six equal parts. Four of those spots were filled and I stepped into the one designated as my own.
“Where’s the kid?” Dominic Armstrong asked from my right. Head of the clerics in town, he was familiar with Artie and I could smell the envy wafting off of him. Artie was gifted with more than just magic; a spiritual understand and serenity and innocence surrounded him, made people love him after only a few minutes of knowing him. Armstrong wished for a fraction of that and I knew it.
Artie was representative of the forest and also stood at the table.
“He’s sixteen. He isn’t bound to come here,” I said and clenched my teeth. Our parents died when Artie was young and since then, he was training to take over our father’s spot. Until he became of age he was excused from these meetings.
“Seems like an important one he shouldn’t be missing out,” Sidney Collier said from my left side. Head of the fairy that occupied the forest, I tried not to look at her. She was too beautiful to look at directly in the face and I didn’t feel like making a fool out of myself in front of everyone here.
“When either one of you raises a child like Artie, then I will seek out your advice. Until then, I’d appreciate if you kept your thoughts to yourself,” I said and let out a sigh. Whatever was in that cigarette that Azolata gave me was working wonders. I would have already snapped my teeth at both of them.
I looked to Maricel, across the table. Head of the witches, she was one of the few that I genuinely like, even before her sons got involved in my pack.
Involved.
I wanted to snort at my own word choice. The way that Lou looked up at Eli and the careful way that Eli carried Lou that first night invaded my thoughts. I knew that might come back to haunt me.
Santiago Torres, head of the vampires and probably the oldest being at the table watched us with cold eyes. He didn't say anything but his long fingers twitched like he wanted to point something out. He remained silent.
The soft chatter of the others gathered fell and I knew that they were here.
The Ascendancy Solution for Salvation was the organization of highly trained humans that acted as the supposed impartial police for our world. They were the population control, judge, jury, and executioner.
When the conflicts within our society looked like it could elevate to human casualties, they stepped in and settled it. When packs became too large and therefore too powerful, they were called in. When magic shifted in such large avalanches, they came in. It was rumored that they had a catalog of ways to kill every single non-human entity on our planet.
The young woman that stepped up to the table was unfamiliar to me. She looked to be in her early twenties but I knew that didn’t mean she couldn’t be a formidable opponent. Her skin was olive and her dark hair fell past her shoulders and to the middle of her back in a no-nonsense braid. Her dark eyes studied each of us in turn before she began to speak.
“Father Timothy has moved on to greener pastures and your lands fall within my family’s district. I will be your point of contact from now on. I hope that we can maintain the peace that Father Timothy created here,” she began.
I rolled my eyes. Father Timothy kept the peace by keeping his nose out of our business and running his church. He often handed judgment over to me, as a guardian of the Lock.
The young woman saw the look on my face and she straightened her back and tried to stare me down. It was hard to be intimidated though, I had seen so much worse than a twenty-something with too much power.
“My name is Savannah Plata. I have served all over the country under my grandparents and sister’s tutelage. I may be young but I am not without experience, I can assure you.”
No one replied. I folded my arms across my chest.
“There was a large shift in magic a few days ago. I have sent my people out to the forest and those that came back with their sanity intact could not report anything of use to me. Now I come to you and ask you for any information that might be of use.”
“First of all, do not send your men out into the forest without proper escort. You signed their execution order and those that survived will not ever be the same,” Maricel said quietly.
Savannah turned from me to Maricel.
"I do not have to ask for an escort for my men to go anywhere in this town," Savannah retorted.
"Humans do not survive out there. It's magic beyond even our most powerful and that is the truth. We can only offer safety. Send as many as you would like out there and they will all return to you in the same manner," Santiago murmured and his voice was like cold silk across my shoulder blades.
“What information do you have from that night?” Savannah asked.
“I felt the shift, nothing more,” Santiago replied. His blue eyes studied her for a moment and then he looked away. He tugged on the back of his ponytail and I thought that he was going to add something, but he stayed silent.
“You didn’t think to go out there and investigate?” Savannah asked.
“No. Why would I? That magic is not mine to claim, control, or direct. I am not a guardian of the Lock.”
“You. Cleric,” Savannah said.
“Forest magic is hard to pin down here. It could be anything; fae, shifter, earth, water, fire. Wildfires can even shift magic like that. You are asking for a single snowflake from an avalanche. It is impossible,” Dominic said.
“Witch,” Savannah said and it was easy to see her temper was getting the best of her.
The crowd shifted behind us and the silence was broken as they whispered among themselves. Savannah was not winning herself any fans at her very first meeting and if she planned on living here, she would need allies at the very least. Friends during desperate times.
Maricel was more than a witch and she was loved beyond measure by the entire town. It was like insulting a beloved aunt or grandmother when Savannah spoke to her in a tone like that. Even Santiago shot a cold look at Savannah and he was almost always removed from the community.
“Isn’t that your title? Aren’t you a witch?” Savannah demanded when she saw how the people around her reacted negatively.
I wondered what in our world made her so hard.
“I am the High Priestess of Glenwood Lock and a guardian,” Maricel responded politely and refused to look Savannah’s way.
“What information do you have?” Savannah asked and everyone noted how she did not use Miss Maricel’s designation. Even Father Timothy, for all his misgivings about Maricel’s title and how it conflicted with his own beliefs, used it when he addressed her.
Maricel lifted one shoulder. “It is as the others say. The magic was large enough to shift all of us, to call all of our attention, but to put a name to it is impossible. It felt older than any of us here, yes, including you, Santiago.”
There was a titter from the crowd. They loved her.
Santiago gave her a small smile and bowed his head.
For once, I was grateful for Maricel’s talent to answer a question without saying anything.
“Tell me what you know,” Savannah ordered.
Maricel glanced her way and I had never seen her look like that in my life. It was cold distaste and revulsion all rolled into one.
"It was a power that I could not touch, not even with my coven. It was doubled then multiplied three times over. It was a power beyond power, a power that the world has not seen in a millennium. That which controls it, which funnels it into the land we stand on and beyond will be your downfall and the downfall of everything that you hold dear. If I were you, I would not look for it. It will find you. If you pursue this line of attack, you invite a catastrophe that you cannot imagine on the worst of days."
The crowd was still and silent. Maricel rarely gave warnings or portents of the future. It was too dangerous.
Savannah, the child that she was, rolled her eyes. "Yeah, okay."
The crowd’s whispers rose in volume and even I shifted uneasily from foot to foot.
Then she turned back to me. "You, I've heard of. Celia Ortega. Pack of three, right? You and your brothers. Your brother Eli is your beta, second in command. Loyal to no end. Artemio, shouldn't he be here? His birth was foretold. He is supposed to grow up to be an incredible warlock, right? We've had our eyes on him for a while."
She was trying to get a rise out of me. It would have worked under almost any other circumstances. For once, though, Azolata had come through for me and instead of the familiar anger and rage rising deep from within me, I stared at her before smirking.
“Alpha Ortega,” I corrected.
“Funny that there was a big shift in magic and your brothers don’t show up,” Savannah said and ignored my comment. “A brother that is supposed to be more powerful than anyone has seen in the last five hundred years. Taught from a very young age by a high priestess herself.”
Marciel stood proudly when Savannah looked over at her.
“Why isn’t he here?” Savannah asked.
“He’s sixteen. He isn’t bound to the call until he is of age,” I repeated.
"Well, it's a Saturday, what else-"
“Sorry, sorry. Excuse me-” Artie said from the back of the room.
I turned to my right as Artie stepped forward and took his spot between Dominic and me. He pushed his glasses up on his nose and smiled up at me. They were bright red today. He held up a donut in one hand. “Want a bite?”
“No, thank you.”
Savannah cleared her throat.
Artie turned to her and offered the donut to her.
She looked disgusted and shook her head.
“Artemio Ortega,” she said.
“Yep,” he said easily and took a bite out of the donut.
“Where were you?” She demanded.
Artie looked up at me, silently asking for direction.
“Go ahead,” I murmured.
“I was with my brother. He was trying to teach me how to fix the leak on an intake manifold gasket. Then I heard the call and thought we had time to stop for a donut but then Mr. Holloman started talking to me and asked if I could come by and cut his grass tomorrow,” Artie said, chewing obnoxiously on his donut while speaking. He was getting powdered sugar all over his shirt.
Anyone else and I would have told him to finish eating before replying.
“What do you know about the night in question?” Savannah asked.
Artie looked at me again.
“When the magic shifted,” I explained.
“Her interrogation skills suck. At least Father Timothy was articulate,” Artie said and took another bite from his donut.
An Ascendancy guard pointed a gun at Artie.
The crowd behind us split and there were gasps.
Those at the table did not move.
Artie took another bite from his donut and stared at the man behind the gun. It was the same look he gave his calculus book; confusion and distaste. “So, like, they know about me, right?” He asked, directing the question at me.
I shrugged.
“I heard her going on about how I was foretold and all that stuff. So. They know some stuff about me. I think,” Artie said and finished his donut.
“Here, don’t wipe on your shirt,” Santiago said and pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket.
“Thank you, sir. I will return this to you as soon as I wash it,” Artie said. He wiped his hands and folded it before tucking it away in his own pocket. Then he turned to Savannah and raised a finger. “When negotiating with humans and nonhumans, it is vital that you keep your temper in check and remember that manners are important. You want something from us and there is nothing like throwing a fit and demanding answers that will get you stonewalled. My sister taught me that.”
He was pissing her off. He was trying to piss her off, I realized. I stared at him, trying to guess what he was playing at.
I felt someone’s hand on my shoulder. I glanced over at Sidney and she squeezed my arm. “Breathe.”
She glanced down and I followed her gaze and realized that I was gripping the table so hard that my claws were embedded in the table top.
“Pointing guns at us and demanding answers and sending your goons into my forest won’t get you anywhere. It would be to your benefit to not resort to violence and intimidation tactics right away,” Artie went on.
“Tell me what you know,” Savannah said.
“I know that newborn elephants suck their own trunks for comfort. I know that Ada Lovelace wrote the first algorithm for a machine, thus making her the mother of our computer age. I know that multilingual people are more likely to swear in their native tongue than any other language they might have learned. I know-”
“About the night in question!” Savannah shouted.
The guard cocked his gun.
I put my hands on the table and leaned forward. Without that cigarette, I would have already gone for her throat.
“Oh. Not much,” Artie said with a shrug and grinned.
“Shoot him,” Savannah snarled.
The shot reverberated throughout the room. There were a few screams and gasps.
Artie looked like a parent who caught their child with their hand in the cookie jar. Disappointed but not surprised.
"You need to look up the information that you have on me. I'm not just any witch or warlock that you can take down with a gun," he said and plucked the bullet from the air in front of him with surprising ease. He handed it to me. I put it in my pocket. "I am Artemio Ortega, last warlock of my line, first of the next generation."
Savannah stared at him, shocked.
“A thousand years of magic is concentrated in me. Do not insult my line and my family with guns. Do better than that. Be better than that.”
Artie stared at her and sighed.
“You are bound-”
“I’m not. I’m not bound to answer anyone but my alpha. She answers for me, including this call. I did this as a courtesy. The High Priestess, the Alpha, and the Sentinel are all guardians of the Lock. It would be advantageous for you to treat us with respect. You will need us.”
Savannah shook her head. “No. I won’t need you.”
“The men you sent into my forest, the ones that survived but their minds didn’t? I could fix that. Easily.”
Savannah and Artie stared at each other for a long time.
“But I won’t. And because I am not bound to answer the call, I am not bound to answer your questions. I hope that you have learned something,” Artie said.
“I can force you-” Savannah said and made to go around the table with her guards in tow. She reached for something in her back pocket.
I slammed a hand on the table.
“If you touch him, I will tear you apart without shifting. You will drown in your own blood and he will bring you back so that my brother can do the same,” I swore.
That stopped her in her tracks. She turned to me and looked me up and down.
“You will regret that,” she said and looked around the room. “You have five days to figure out where that magic came from and where it went to. Who it went into. If you have no answers after that, I will have to start my own investigation.”
Then, they were gone.
When I turned, the table was broken in half.
“Well. That’s new,” Sidney whispered as we all stared at the table.