A Council of Betrayal (11 page)

It was
Garrick’s and my turn to meet with the European Supernatural
Councils.

“I have no use for these fuckers,” I told him
as we rode the elevators to the meeting.

He adjusted his jacket sleeves, dashingly
dressed as always. “You must get better at playing politics, my
dear succubus.”

He was one of the few people who named my
species without disdain.

“Make me,” I taunted.

He turned his coffee colored eyes, raking
over my black dress pants and gray top. “If only the elevator ride
was longer.”

I laughed when the ding announced our
arrival. “The rest of your group meeting you here?” I asked
him.

“Yes, since I was traveling with the highly
esteemed executioner, I had no fear for my safety.”

I laughed again. “Right, as if I’m any match
for the strength of you. Tell the truth, Garrick, it’s because I
was late.” We strolled down the long hallway, scanning diligently
ahead of us. I couldn’t say a fight wouldn’t do me good. I had
spent most of the night dreaming of Logan. I was tired and
horny.

He smiled as we reached the small conference
room. “Do not doubt your abilities, Olivia.”

He pushed open the door leading to the
meeting room and I smiled at Ali and Grant with Grams. Yes, I was
putting on appearances, but a unified front was all anyone was
going to be seeing out of us. Well, hopefully. Hash wasn’t in the
room so my odds were looking up.

“I can’t wait to hear this,” Garrick
muttered, heading toward his own ensemble, knowing full well
everyone heard him.

Garrick and I had met one gloriously bloody
night. A shifter gone pure beast had clawed a pathway of
destruction across two states and three counties, ending up in my
territory. Garrick didn’t believe I was up for the task.

I don’t think I’ll ever forget what he looked
like, each of us sporting bloody clothing, his wounds far advanced
in healing. He smiled at me. “Fancy a drink?”

“From a bottle or my neck?”

I brushed the memory away, focusing back on
the present.

We settled in our seats, awaiting the
European Council and their antiquated ways. Garrick and I agreed on
that wholeheartedly; we had to change with the times in order to
survive. It was a lesson they had yet to learn.

True to their roots, the council arrived
dressed in matching robes. I could feel Garrick’s eyes on me,
waiting for me to acknowledge the ridiculousness of that alone, but
I kept my eyes trained ahead, allowing the edge of my mouth to curl
up slightly.

The European Council had been around forever.
They certainly hadn’t always gone by the same name, and they gave
the underhanded, dirty vampires a run for their money in political
mind-bending tricks. I had no use for them. Garrick, who started
out in the European circuit, also had no use for them.

“Thank you for attending our meeting. I won’t
dally, but shall instead dive right into the heart of the matter,”
Celino stated regally, fluffing his robe before sitting.

I stopped listening, turning to watch Garrick
fight a smile as he refused to look at me. Eventually, they got to
the good stuff. I was eagerly awaiting another chance to poke fun
at their antiquated ways.

“With that said, we have come to an agreement
with the Fae…” I couldn’t hear anything else, the blood draining
from my face as I stared open-mouthed at the idiots in front of me.
The Fae? Seriously? The fucking Fae I had just narrowly escaped
from in that shit with Destiny?

This was not fucking happening.

Slowly, I turned to Garrick, seeing my own
horror mirrored on his face. Good to see we were on the same
page.

Shoving myself up, I bellowed at Ali and
Grant, “Get out of here NOW!”

“Lock the doors!” called Celino. “They will
hear this proposal!” Their guards moved to obey the command,
blocking the doors against our fleeing party. Garrick tackled one.
They bounced off the thick wood door and onto the ground. I reached
to free my dagger, but released the handle. I couldn’t kill the
European Council’s guards without declaring an open war.

At least the guard seemed to think the same,
leaving his weapons in favor of hand-to-hand combat.

“I’m going to beat that smile off your face,”
I hissed, hitting him in the middle. He wrapped his arms around me,
lifting me vertically.

“Bring it, little girl,” he grunted.

I kicked my feet, seeking to unbalance his
hold. He stepped forward. “Go!” I screamed upside down at Grant. He
pushed the guard, giving himself room to pull the door open wide
enough for Ali, Grams and him to flee. The guard and I fell and I
braced my hands in front of my face for his mammoth weight. I felt
my nose crack anyway, the air smashed from my lungs.

Seriously, does he not know who I am?”

Balancing on my hands, I drew my body up in a
handstand, letting my feet fall behind me. Spinning to face him, I
delivered a kick to his midsection. That smug smile flattened as my
kick drove him back.

I smiled. “Come on, pretty boy, that the best
you got?”

He shook his head, taking a step toward me.
“I don’t want to hurt you.”

I spared a glance to see Garrick having a
difficult time subduing his own guard.

“What are you?” I asked, honestly
curious.

His smile returned and I almost felt bad
about having to ruin his handsome face. “Why, pretty lady, are you
trying to distract me?”

I huffed, rolling my eyes as he lunged,
taking me down around the middle, “Asshole,” I panted out, letting
my body go limp. “You fight well, you’re humane, and you’re fucking
intimidating. I’d like to recruit you to my side.”

He pulled back, looking down at me, probably
thinking he had won this round. “We are not for sale.”

I pulled my legs up, hitting him square on
the chest. He moved minimally.

I huffed, “I didn’t say sale, I said recruit.
You know, offer you more money and benefits than what you are
currently getting.”

That caught his attention. “You pay your
slaves?”

That caught me off guard. “I don’t keep
slaves,” I answered.

A resounding crash had all of us looking back
to Celino.

“You are fools. The Fae cannot be trusted!”
Garrick yelled, untangling from his own guard to stand next to
me.

“You are the ones telling us to adapt to the
modern world. Now you do not like the route we have taken. There is
no pleasing either of you!” Celino yelled back at us, throwing his
hands up.

The floor rumbled beneath our feet. Garrick
and I shared a look before we turned to crash into the door
painfully. It didn’t move. Wouldn’t budge and it wasn’t locked.

“Magic,” Garrick hissed, stepping back.

I gave the door another tug. Slowly, we
turned back around, watching the cloud of gray smoke swirling
behind the self-proclaimed leader of the idiots.

“At least they got out,” I whispered to
Garrick.

“Right, now what about us?” he responded.

I swallowed hard. The Fae were the one race
that could enslave me again as Selena had. I had every right to be
mortally terrified of them. But terror would dull my senses, not
hone them. Exhaling a trapped breath, I pushed my mind away from
that nightmare.

The gray smoke grew to an eight-foot shade.
Ice blonde hair swirled, purple eyes snapping open.

“It's toying with us,” Garrick muttered,
shifting his fighting stance.

“Doing a fucking fantastic job, I'd say,” I
answered, finding myself inching toward the door.

Celino smiled smugly as the smoke behind him
bellowed a sound that had the guards moving away from us.

With the speed of a fan, the smoke was sucked
from the room, and all eyes were transfixed on the Fae straight out
of the movies, complete with ice blonde hair and pale skin.

“I think he’s a Tolkien fan,” I muttered to
Garrick, trying to ease the fear in my chest.

“You don't think that's its natural form?”
Garrick whispered back.

“Nope, not a chance,” I answered. I squared
my shoulders. The Fae were the original shape shifters and they
were gods at it.

“You have summoned me,” the Fae began,
flipping his long hair over a shoulder. I couldn’t help the laugh
that broke free.

That caught his attention as I shifted
awkwardly from foot to foot.

“You have trapped them here,” the Fae
observed.

“They are difficult to control, at best. They
sent their entourages out the door when we told them of our plans,”
Celino stated.

Purple eyes met my own gaze and I exhaled
forcefully, not averting my gaze, not letting the terror-fueled
scream in my chest have a voice.

“I cannot include the unwilling,” mused the
Fae. I didn’t believe him for a moment.

Celino waved a hand, dismissing our refusal,
“They don't understand, simpletons at best. You see the kind of
idiots you have asked me to work with,” he demanded,
exasperated.

“It was your job to make them understand,”
the Fae informed Celino coldly.

“We have to get out of here,” Garrick
whispered to me.

“Agreed,” I whispered, turning back to the
magically sealed doors.

Months before, I had managed to suck magic
inside of me, freeing Logan and Darren’s grandfather from the
clutches of the puppet master. Maybe it was just that easy again.
For our sake, I hoped so.

Garrick pulled uselessly on the doors as I
tuned out the yelling behind me, placing my palms against the
polished wood.

It burned fucking badly. Sealing my eyes
closed, I examined the magic, it roved unlike anything I had yet
encountered. A deep purple intertwined with golden sparks danced in
my vision. Focusing on the gold, I drew it to me.

If I thought my hands hurt, it was nothing
compared to the pain slicing through my veins, but it was
enough.

I sagged to the ground against the door,
weakened from my pull. The strength of the magic blazed within,
draining me of energy. I reached up a flopping arm, latching onto
the handle, pulling the latch with everything I had. A powerful
tide of purple tried to still my hand. I hung on, panting heavily
as I turned the handle, forcing my legs to stand.

I pulled, knowing my hands might be forever
ruined by the pain, the fire slicing deep welts as I pulled
backward.

Garrick picked this moment to start helping,
pushing open the door, wrapping an arm around my waist and hauling
me out.

Just as the shield Steven created at the
docks had exploded, so did this one, launching us forward. We
crashed into the opposite wall, our heads knocking hard against it.
Garrick was quicker to respond. My mind felt muddy, murky, unable
to focus as he dragged me away from the open door.

“Jerry, get me to Jerry,” I whispered as we
escaped at vamp speed.

Blackness stole my vision and it felt like
ages before I awoke, my eyes crusted shut and mouth parched.

…

“You would do something as stupid as reveal
you can work magic in front of the Fae at a fucking Council
meeting?!” Garrick yelled at me, pacing.

“Oh I'm sorry, did you want to end up the pet
of the Fae? I'm sure they would be glad to accept you,” I tried to
yell back, but it came out croaked. I rolled over to my side,
looking around with a haze over my eyes.

Garrick continued to storm, pacing my
room.

“You’re fucking welcome, asshole,” I told him
as he threw up his hands and left.

Turning, I watched Jerry quietly crushing
herbs into a paste.

I could hear his agreement and lecture
coming. “Don't start, Jerry,” I warned.

He shook his head sadly, memories of a past
before me playing before his eyes. “I understand, Olie.”

With a huff I passed back out.

…

Logan was at my bedside.

I groaned, sitting up and rubbing my head.
“Did you move me?” I asked.

“I did.”

“Thanks,” I offered, squinting at him as I
pulled myself into a seated position.

I could feel his annoyance at our earlier
parting. I sighed, rubbing the back of my head, swinging my legs
off the bed.

He was silent, watching me closely.

“Why did you run?”

Alright, I could appreciate meeting this head
on.

I opened my mouth to brush it off as raging
hormones, but something in the intensity of his gaze stopped me. I
dropped my own to the floor, trying to organize my thoughts.

“I need time, Logan,” I stated, forcing
myself to look at him with a shrug. “It’s your choice if you want
to give me that. As much as I am shocked to say it, I like you too,
but I’m not good at relationships. I’m not good at letting my
guards down. I’m really bad at trusting.”

He nodded. “I’m relieved, I thought it had to
do with the baby.”

I shook my head. “No, I love kids.”

“But Lorraine—“

“Will always be a pain in my ass and yours. I
can accept that easily enough.”

He smiled at that. “I can wait, Olie.”

I nodded with a tentative smile. When did we
get so mushy? Didn’t we dislike each other? Somewhere between The
Oracle and her prediction of our emotional attachment and him
having my back dealing with getting Blake’s niece back, our
relationship had changed. I was glad we weren’t sending hidden
decoder messages about it. There was a certain maturity in being
honest and open that I didn’t think I was capable of.

Knocking at the door broke up our tender
moment. I scowled, turning to Jerry’s voice calling out, “Hey,
don’t forget you have that brothel thing tonight!”

“I was out that long?” I groaned.

Logan nodded. “The European Council has
disappeared and I rescheduled with Gretchen when we missed last
night.”

I threw up my hands. “Will no one believe me
about the fucking Fae? Serves them right.”

Logan stood, making his way to the door. I
adjusted my top, grabbing a hair tie and securing my hair into a
high pony tail.