The Council (Darkness #5) (11 page)

“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 started 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.”

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 you 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.”

Cato’s eyes closed slowly. And opened a short time later; the rest of the room silent, waiting. Rudy’s face closed down into barely-contained rage. He probably had a million little “projects” in progress that would now be open to scrutiny. I had a feeling a great many of those projects weren’t in the best interest of anyone but him. Shame.

“Yes, we need to set things to rights, but that will take time. For now, we must convene.” Cato stood slowly. Those at the table stood with him. Everyone already standing kind of shuffled farther away, giving him room.

“But what about the growing
faction of our kind trying to push into the human world?” an older Council member asked, nearly as old as Cato. “We have one of the leaders below level. Who knows
who
he’s tied to?”

Cato paused, gaze settling on the man. “Yes, yes. I had forgotten. We must extract that information. Organize it.”

The man nodded, crossing his arms over his chest. Rudy gave him a heated glance before he started off after his boss, muttering the whole time. Mage June rose quickly, hurrying after them—it appeared the minions warred with each other for their master’s ear. Which meant Mage June had the opposite view Rudy did.

Thank God.

Tim turned to me in barely-contained bewilderment. “Shall we?”

“Sasha,” Toa said, stepping closer with a harried expression. “Dominicous and I still have work to do. We are trying to open eyes; find out who is loyal to our way of thinking, versus… other factions. Cato as a backer doesn’t make you safe. Not yet. Not until he wakes up from his self-induced, walking coma. Stay vigilant. Keep support around you.”

I nodded as Dominicous stalked off after Kallias. Toa nodded with me, drifting toward Mage Marius a moment later.

Stefan’s hand came around my back, guiding me in front of him as the shifters came behind. In the hall the people Stefan had fought were gone. My conquests, however, had been left. A circle of people surrounded each box, laughing and cheering at the guys within.

“This place is madness,” Tim breathed.

“Let them out, Sasha. They’ve suffered enough,” Stefan said softly.

I was already on it. I agreed with Tim wholeheartedly.
This place was terrible and I just wanted to go home. But we weren’t home free yet.

***

We all laid low for the rest of the night, each staying to our rooms, no one venturing out into the halls.
The trial period of proving ourselves was now over, thank God
.
Or so the rules stated.

The next night, I awoke to a soft kiss. Stefan stood beside the bed, dressed and ready to get moving. His dark eyes stared down at me. “We’ve got a backer, of sorts, which means we’re free to leave. Toa thinks you’re still a target—which means we’re taking that pass and getting out of here. I’m going to talk to a few people, including Dominicous. I want everyone to know why we’re leaving.”

“Can’t we just write a few notes?”

A smile flickered on his full lips. “Unfortunately, no.”

He sobered. “I want you to pack everything and get ready. Stay in the room until I come back, okay? I don’t know what’s going on with the Council, but you’re still a target. And possibly hated since Cato has sided with finding humans important. Plus, there is Andris to think about.”

“Got it. Stay here. Does this mean I can get Charles to serve me breakfast in bed?”

Stefan frowned at me in warning. “Flashing the hired help? No. He might forget you’re mine and try to jump in. And then I’d have to beat him senseless.” I got a wink.

I giggled and snuggled under the sheets. “Fine. Come back in for a moment? I’ll be quick…”

“I should go. Get things ready.”

“Plllleeeaasssee?” I begged, throwing a pouty face at him. It worked half the time.

Stefan minutely shook his head, a smile warring on his lips. He half-turned to leave, and then stopped. Fast as lightning, he unbuttoned and stepped out of his jeans and boxer briefs. He had his shirt off a second later, his glorious body cut and defined, perfect right down to the last bump of muscle. His large erection bobbed as he slid into bed, covering my body with his warmth.