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Vincent's white skin faded into a transparent film, revealing the moving muscles beneath. His fangs dropped from his gums and his jaws clenched through clear skin, muscles tensing and flexing as black took over his eyes. Vincent opened his mouth and a horrifying roar escaped his lips. He’d released his demon in a way I’d never witnessed before and it scared even me.
 

The elders pushed their chairs back and stood in unison. Elements filled the room, riding the air like an electric force. Power made the air thick and a tingling sensation danced along my skin. Earth, Fire, Air, and Water pulsed as the elders flexed their power.

“Enough.” Blackwell held his hands up. The elder's magic faded, responding immediately to his command. Rayna coughed as air flooded back into her lungs, and she keeled over, gasping for air.

Blackwell made a small gesture with his hands and the elders all sat down. Marcus stayed standing, anger flooding his dark cheeks like I’d never seen before.

“Marcus, let us have this discussion calmly. There’s no need for it to turn violent. I simply ask your people to respect the rules of this court.”

“You will not touch her again. Not physically, or magically. And you will give her mother, gods rest her soul, the respect she deserves, or gods help me I will end you.”

Blackwell laughed and the salt and pepper hair from his mustache wavered as the air escaped his lips. “Soul? Respect? Where do you get such ideas?” The other elders chimed in and laughter filled the room.

“We see the world in a different manner than you. You will show us that respect, or this meeting is over.” Marcus’ voice was low and fierce.

Blackwell’s smile faded and he raised his hand; the other elders’ laughter ceased. He leaned over and spoke to the elder on his left that I recognized as George Carlyle. They whispered to each other before he turned to his right and continued with Tom Bradmoore. When they finished, Blackwell looked back to Marcus and nodded.

“Your request is granted. The elders will do their best to abide.”

Marcus looked back to Rayna and nodded, as though the simple action could help.

Rayna caught her breath, but her eyes carried a silent battle. Sadness and anger flickered back and forth between them until sadness finally won. She adjusted herself in her seat, her hands rubbing the sides of her throat.

“Is there a problem, Mr. Williams?” Blackwell asked.

Vincent and Tiki had returned to their seats. Their demons had been pulled back and neutral expressions owned their faces, leaving me the only one left.

“Yes.”

“Oh?”

“We’re here to cooperate and try to help with your…investigation, or whatever you want to call it. So far, you’ve disrespected everyone in this room, and some who aren’t alive to defend themselves. If this meeting is going to continue, it won’t be an interrogation, it’ll be a meeting of equals.”

Blackwell smirked, his mustache wrinkling with the movement. “Is that not what we just agreed to? Please tell me you have further reason for delaying this meeting.”

“I want to know what you know. We’ve shared information, now it’s your turn. What happened to Riley? He’s the one who orchestrated everything. The rest of us were just caught in the crosshairs. I want to know what happened.”

“We are not here to exchange information. Your father…” Blackwell stopped and cleared his throat. “Riley Williams will be located and dealt with accordingly on terms decided by this council.” I shook my head and started to speak, but Blackwell’s voice shot out before I could begin. “That answer is final.”

Blackwell’s eyes flickered, and I laughed. “You’ve no idea.”

“I beg your pardon?”

“That’s why we’re here. You don’t have a clue what happened. You’re hoping we can answer that question for you.”

“Your foolish accusations are not welcome here, Mr. Williams. Now sit down.”

“Why are you so against working with us? Riley is stronger now than ever. If we work together, we might be able to stop him.”

Riddley Peterson stood up from his chair. Dark black hair hung loosely around his shoulders and matched his thick beard. “Come now Lawrence, this isn’t working. These are outcasts. They’re not going to cooperate. I say enough with this. We put them in the containment room and I take the answers from them.” His voice was hoarse and his dark green eyes stared at me with a hatred I didn’t understand.

“No,” Blackwell commanded, and turned his angry gaze to Riddley. “We will continue this meeting in an orderly fashion.”

Riddley shook his head and took his seat, but I could feel his anger pulsing towards me.

“Mr. Williams, please take your seat so that we may continue.”

I wanted to argue, but things were getting tenser than I wanted. I sat back in my chair, but Riddley’s eyes were fixed on me.
 

“Before we get to the others, Mr. Williams, it has been brought to our attention that you made contact with Serephina, the goddess herself. Is this true?”

The question caught me off guard. “How do you know that?”

“Answer the question.”

“Yes, it’s true.”

“Where did this happen?”

“The south woods of Stonewall.”

“And you were given something there…a scroll and a ring. Where are they now?”

“I’m wearing the ring. Vincent has the scroll.”

Blackwell’s eyes shot open. “You gave the goddess’ scroll to a vampire? Why on earth would you do that?”

“I needed to, in exchange for the safe return of Willy.”

“You gave a powerful scroll to the head of a vampire family to save a demon?”

“The magic of the scroll was gone. I was told it was of no use to him unless the portals were open. At that time, I didn’t know it was possible to open the portals, so yes, I gave it to him.”

“What do you mean the magic was gone?”

“It was gone. I already had it.”

The elders shuffled in their seats and began whispering.

“Order,” Blackwell said, tapping his gavel against the table. The elders quieted.

“Would you explain exactly how you were able to find and enter a sacred sanctuary, obtain an ancient scroll, and extract its power?”

“I hitched a ride into the sanctuary on Rayna’s earth element. After we defeated a trio of pureblood demons, the spirit gave it to me. Then–”

“Stop right there. You said a spirit gave it to you?”

“Yes. A piece of Serephina’s spirit occupies the soul piece and protects it.”

Blackwell wrote furiously in his notebook. When he was finished, his eyes watched me with renewed excitement. “And you extracted the power how?”

“The spirit told me to read the scroll. Once I did, the power just sort of…came into me.”

“And this is how you developed your powers? From what I understand, you’ve obtained the ability to create and control both the water and fire elements.”

I shook my head. “No, those came before.”

“Then what exactly has the scroll’s power done for you?” Blackwell sounded flustered.

“Nothing.”

“You expect me to believe that you absorbed the magic of an ancient scroll and have nothing to show for it?”

“I don’t know what else to tell you. It’s the truth.”

Blackwell watched me for a moment before looking back to Riddley. “Then you won’t mind if Riddley takes a look? Just a peek to confirm this?”

Marcus stood up from his table and walked towards me. “I don’t think that will be necessary.”

“I can assure you, it will be simple and painless. It will do nothing more than verify his story.”

Marcus looked to me, but he seemed as lost as I was.

“Mr. Starkraven, surely you don’t have anything to hide?”

Marcus sighed. “The court must agree to take an oath of honesty and intention. Chase isn’t to be harmed and Riddley does nothing more than confirm Chase’s story.”
 

My eyes opened wide. “Marcus…” I whispered, but he didn’t respond.

“Of course,” Blackwell said. “Riddley, if you please.”

Riddley walked behind the other bench and down the stairs. His black dress shoes echoed and his round belly filled out his white council robes fully. He stopped before Marcus and without so much as a smile, took the oath.

Marcus nodded and stepped to the side.

Riddley’s dark blue eyes lit up with anticipation and then the color faded.
 
Ready?” he asked, solid white eyes staring out at me.

I nodded, but before the action was finished, a strange vibration moved through my head. His air element came to life, and a cool breeze washed through my skull. I winced at first, and a bright light filled my vision. I started to lose my balance and I felt as though I was falling from my chair. I braced for impact with the floor, but it never came. Riddley’s power moved over my soul and through my mind. The discomfort faded and the sensation of power was gone.

“He speaks the truth,” Riddley said. “I can confirm his story.” He turned back to the bench, his golden sash bobbing with each step.

Blackwell scribbled something in his notebook. “Give us a moment to deliberate please.”

The elders turned in their chairs and began discussing amongst themselves. I sat in discomfort and the bright lights twinkled in my vision. I readjusted in my seat and shook them away. The pain faded, but enough remained for it to be irritating. I tried to ignore the discomfort and strained to hear the elders’ rapid whispers, but their words were muffled at best.

After an eternity, Blackwell turned in his chair with a serious expression on his face. “Mr. Williams, please remove the ring. We’ll need some time to review and examine the artifact.”

My stomach tightened as he spoke each word.

“Don’t give it to him,” Rayna whispered.

“I’m sorry Lawrence, but that isn’t going to happen,” Marcus said.

“I beg your pardon?”

“You heard him,” I said. “I’m not taking it off.”

“That ring is an essential piece of evidence for our investigation. It is an ancient artifact crafted by the goddess herself, creator of the hunters. Therefore, it is the rightful property of the Circle.”

“This ring was crafted for the Protector. For the hunter who passed the goddess’ test and proved himself worthy. Those were the words from the spirit herself,” I said.

Blackwell snorted. “This is not a request. I don’t care if the goddess herself handed you that ring, you will give it to the council.”

“You made it very clear I’m not part of the Circle, so you don’t get to demand anything from me anymore. This ring isn’t coming off my finger.”

“Must we continue down this road?” Blackwell pulled the glasses from his face again and set them down on the paper in front of him.

I knew what was coming and I tried to brace myself. The gray of Blackwell’s eyes washed over the whites and his magic came to life.

“You will deliver that ring to us or we will remove it from your finger. Whether or not your finger is still attached to your hand is completely up to you.”

“You’ll have to pry it off my cold, dead fingers.” I stood from my seat and started to pull the magic up from my soul when Blackwell’s element hit me. The air around me became heavy, and the oxygen in my lungs vanished. There was no chance for me to gain my focus; the air was gone and I felt the color drain from my face. I hit the floor, catching myself with my hands as the force of his magic shoved me down. A thin gloss filled my eyes and Marcus’ power broke into the room to strike back.

Air rushed back into my lungs and Blackwell soared through the air. His small body crashed against the far wall of the room and collapsed to the floor. The other elders sprang into action, bringing their magic with them. I climbed to my feet and called my element. I pulled the fire towards my hand and a dark blue flame ignited in my palm. I fed it more power, watching the flame flicker and grow.

“Don’t do this, Blackwell. This is not the way,” Marcus said.

Blackwell was crumpled on the floor and using a chair to help himself to his feet. Marcus’ magic hung around him, and his wrinkled features grew pale.

“Stand down,” Marcus commanded the other elders.

The elders’ magic receded, but didn’t vanish.

“You’re a powerful elemental, Blackwell. You all are, but there is no need for lives to be lost tonight.”

Blackwell finished pulling himself up and looked to Marcus, gasping for air. “You’ve grown stronger, Starkraven.”

“I have. And so has Riley. With his new powers he bested both me and Tessa Williams at once. We have a common enemy Lawrence; let us not make war amongst ourselves.”

Blackwell looked up to the council. The elders watched, unsure of what to do. Their magic roamed beneath the surface and their combined power was impressive. I prayed Marcus’ diplomatic skills could get us out of this alive.

“We need that ring, Marcus.”

“You cannot have it, and you will not get it until every one of us is dead.”

“That can be arranged if you so wish it.”

“As can the fate of you and your brothers. You won’t all make it out of this alive.”