Forty-Eight

 

Alasdair had managed to find me a suit to wear to the council meeting. He’d been very proud of himself, and that only got worse when he squeezed me in for a tailor’s fitting appointment so I could have some bespoke suits made. I looked longingly at my well-worn leather jacket as I pulled on my very shiny new black boots. I’d insisted on getting boots instead of shoes; I wanted something vaguely practical. I wasn’t going to deny that I looked really good in the suit. The midnight blue tie brought out my eyes and the suit itself fit just so, not bad for something straight off the rack.

Gray and Alasdair looked at me with big smug grins when I walked out into the living room. They were both suited and booted, too, which didn’t make it any better.

“Are you going to let me take my time undressing you later?” Alasdair whispered huskily in my ear.

A delightful shiver ran down my spine.

“If you’re a very good boy,” I teased back.

He laughed, his silver eyes sparking with joy. I’d been worried about him after the fight and the issues with the goddess. Seeing the shine back in his eyes made me feel much better.

Gray’s phone buzzed.

“That was Quin reminding me that our presence is required. There’s no getting out of it,” Gray said.

I curled my lip and walked to the front door.

“Let’s get this over and done with, then,” I said.

 

 

 

The council meeting was in one of the grander buildings in Prague, a place I’d walked past many times when I lived there as a little boy. The architecture was ornate and delicate with clear Roman influences. The obligatory angels were present on the corners of the building, watching over and guarding those within. Alasdair wrapped his arm around my waist, and I tried to steady my racing heart. I had good people who would keep my secrets.

Gray led the way down the wide hallway with dark wood floors and intense-looking portraits on the walls. I ran my fingers over Alasdair’s and embraced the soothing calm that came with the contact. He wouldn’t let any harm come to me. I had to remind myself of that. My silver dagger was on my hip, and I made no attempt to hide it. Prague allowed open carrying of blades, and I wasn’t going to allow the council to think I was a pushover without preparations for the impending disaster.

Gray didn’t bother to knock on the broad black door at the end of the hallway, he turned the copper handle and strode in like he owned the place. Alasdair’s hand tightened on my hip as I found myself faltering. I’d spoken to the council once. That was more than enough for one lifetime.

We walked into the room, the designer of which had clearly been a little too fond of dark woods. What could have been mahogany or perhaps black walnut panelled the walls, and even the large oval table the council members sat at was made of some form of dark wood. The chandeliers hanging from the double-height ceilings were copper and crystal, though, so that was a nice change.

Lysander stood to greet us. A dark-haired woman stood at his side with a stern expression on her face. Unlike everyone else in the room, she wore a pair of tight jeans with daggers on her hips and a leather jacket on. I envied her. I assumed that she was Gray’s mom, the hunter with an allergy to diplomacy.

“You are here today to tell us everything you know about what happened with the drug Tempo and the magic-removal powder,” Lysander said.

Alasdair explained everything, from the split in the Romanian council and the extremism present there to the fact it was an elf that had created both the Tempo and the magic-removal powder. I continued on before any of the council members could jump in and added in the part about the covens screwing around trying to make a new form of made.

The council remained still and silent, their eyes gradually getting harder and colder with every word. I put my hands in my pockets and waited to be dismissed. We’d fulfilled our job.

“Are you saying there is no more magic-removal powder in the world?” a sidhe man said.

Alasdair gave him a charming smile and said, “No. We said that we destroyed the alchemist and the lab that was making the supply in Bucharest. As far as we’re aware, that supply was the only one coming into Ireland.”

“And what are you going to do about the fae who were harmed by the powder?” he demanded.

I shrugged and gave him a sweet smile. That wasn’t our problem. We’d discovered where the missing witchlings and such had gone, stopped the supply of Tempo that was responsible for them going missing, and that was where our job ended.

“That is not the purview of the Guardians, and you know it,” Gray’s mom snapped.

“Ms. Hawke, kindly sit down and allow the council to do their job,” an older witch said.

“Mrs. Hawke,” she growled back.

Reducing a woman from a Missus to a Ms. was an insult in Prague culture.

“Evelyn, let’s not get off track,” Lysander said.

Evelyn visibly relaxed and turned her attention back to Gray.

“Did you look any further into the witches’ activities with the fae made?” Evelyn asked.

“No, we haven’t had a chance, and the goddess hasn’t asked us to,” Alasdair said.

“Perhaps that would be a good assignment for Grayson,” a wolf shifter said.

Gray gave a small dip of his chin in acknowledgement, whereas the witch tensed and curled her hands into fists.

“What the Blood Moon coven does in the privacy of their own property is their business,” the witch said.

“Tania, you are well aware that is not true. Despite what you and the other highborn covens seem to think, you and they do fall under the council’s jurisdiction. We passed a law strictly forbidding any rituals linked to Making, or otherwise altering a being’s soul,” the shifter said.

“That is an outdated law. It is about time that the council modernised. The humans are ready for the next step in their evolution,” what I assume was an alchemist said.

Her platinum blonde hair was pulled back tightly from her head. Her dark brown eyes seemed to drink in every detail about me.

“The humans are no such thing,” a broad-shouldered man scoffed.

“I agree. The humans would hunt down anything they felt was even slightly different or threatening to them,” Lysander said.

“There is no reason the fae and witches couldn’t smooth things out,” the blonde woman said.

I shifted my weight from foot to foot, finding myself very uncomfortable with everything. We weren’t involved in this discussion, and I agreed with the broad-shouldered guy. If we tried to reveal magic and ourselves to humans, it would be a bloodbath. Redcaps and other similar predators would view it as open season on the humans, and the humans would kill as many of us as they could. That wasn’t fair - they’d also experiment on a few of us to see if they could enhance themselves to better kill each other and us.

“That is not the point here. The point is that a number of covens in Ireland broke the law, we have reliable witnesses,” Evelyn gestured at us, “and we need to know how many more covens are breaking the law.”

The witch stood, and another witch that I hadn’t noticed before stood with her.

“This is persecution. We are being targeted because of the Prague event. It is you who should be answering for that night, Evelyn Hawke,” the witch snarled.

Evelyn rolled her eyes.

“Are we done here?” Alasdair asked.

All attention turned to us. I fought to stay still and stand proud and confident.

“Yes, you’ve fulfilled your duty, Guardian Kerrigan,” Lysander said.

Alasdair dipped his chin, and I followed his suit not wanting to upset Lysander. We turned and were finally free from the political bullshit.