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Before I can continue, Helena cocks her head and asks, “Do you have any proof of this supposed ability? Because no witch has performed astral projection in a century, at the very least.”
“I’m so glad you asked, Helena,” I reply, my voice dripping with false gratitude. “A few days before the first council meeting I attended, I was trying to conjure a vision when I found myself in the middle of a coven meeting. Imagine my surprise when not only was I among witches I didn’t know, but they were talking about me. About eliminating me over some prophecy I’d never heard of.”
You could hear a pin drop, the room is so silent. Helena’s face has gone sheet-white, her mouth falling open before she snaps it shut and narrows her eyes.
“You entered a private coven meeting uninvited?” she accuses, a lame attempt to throw blame and anger my way and distract me from calling her out in front of everyone here.
“You sensed my presence. Remember? You said someone was there who didn’t belong,” I say, letting everyone in the room know it was Desertwillow who was plotting my demise.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she grits out, and I let my gaze move around the table.
The other witches are all watching her, and I can see the indecision in each of their expressions. They aren’t stupid. It’s obvious Helena is lying.
But if they stand by me on this, they’ll be betraying one of their own.
A title I haven’t earned yet, despite my ancestry.
“Yes, you do,” I say with confidence. “That’s why we’re here today. To discuss the prophecy, its misinterpretations, and my role in ending the witch-vampire war.”
“Is there anyone here who isn’t familiar with the prophecy?” Steph asks before anyone can respond to my words.
No one indicates their ignorance, which means they all know details of the prophesized words.
“The bearer of Grundelier blood and power shall be born in the darkest moment when the sun hides beyond the shadow of the moon,” I recite, then pause. “I was, indeed, born during a solar eclipse.”
Gasps ring out in the room, and I realize that though everyone knew of the prophecy, they never assumed I was the witch in question. Well, none of them did except Helena. As I turn my gaze back on her, I see a sliver of surprise in her expression.
“So, you were only guessing it might be me when you and your coven planned to kill me?” I ask, but of course, she doesn’t respond. Shaking my head, I go on, reciting the words I memorized after my parents filled me in. “Blessed by the magic of the Moon Goddess and the Sun King, she will be all-powerful, her abilities second to none. Her life will be marked by split-loyalties and errant devotion. Her death shall herald the end of what we know, the beginning of all we don’t, and crack the very foundation of our beliefs. The war shall be ended as the vampire demons roam the earth freely and without a shroud of secrecy and silence, a threat to us all.”
No one moves as I finish, their eyes locked on me as their minds obviously spin. The fear in the air grows thick against my skin as a witch pushes up from her chair violently. She murmurs something under her breath––mumbled words even I can’t hear––and stalks for the door. Her body slams into the glass as the door refuses to budge. She tries the other one, and it, too, remains firmly closed. She recites the words of a spell to open locked doors, then spins with wide eyes locked on me when the spell doesn’t work.
“No one is leaving until we get this all sorted out,” I say calmly.
“But…you haven’t performed any magic here. We would know if you had,” she says as she walks slowly back toward her chair.
“It doesn’t matter,” I say, keeping my parents’ presence hidden for now.
The last thing I need is more outrage over the fact that non-council witches have infiltrated the meeting.
“What matters,” I go on once she’s seated, “is that the prophecy was obviously misinterpreted all those years ago. The vampires started roaming the earth freely before I knew they, or witches, for that matter, existed. My powers were bound at birth and I was adopted, so I knew nothing of my ancestry until very recently. And that means my existence had nothing to do with the vampires revealing themselves.”
“But you don’t deny you have split loyalties and errant devotion,” Helena calls out, and a few witches back her up with grunts of approval.
“I wouldn’t call my devotion to my soulmate ‘errant,’” I say. “And yes, my loyalties are split. I feel devoted to both races, but once this war ends, that won’t be an issue.”
“And how do you propose we end it?” a male witch two seats down from me asks.
Giving him a nod of acknowledgement, I sit back down in my chair and scoot it forward. Propping my elbows on the table, I lace my fingers and meet each pair of eyes at the table before speaking again.
“The prophecy states my death will be the end of what you know and the beginning of something new. And while I don’t know why, exactly, Desertwillow thought killing me would prevent the prophecy from coming to be when it specifically says my death is key to it, I can tell you all it’s too late. I died when I became a vampire. That change set the prophecy into motion.”
A frenzy of heated outbursts rockets through the room, and once again, I wait until it dies down. Steph remains quiet, as well, allowing me to run this meeting the way I see fit even though she’s the leader and has the power to force them to be quiet and listen to reason.
“I know you’ve all been taught to fear the prophecy by those who came before you,” I say when the room falls silent once more, “but I’m here to tell you there is nothing to fear. Vampires outed themselves to the humans. We haven’t revealed the witches’ existence, and we won’t. We haven’t started feeding on unwilling people, and we haven’t pieced together some plan to destroy any covens. Vampires just want to exist in peace without having to hide in the shadows. It has nothing to do with you all.”
No one speaks, and most of the council members look like they’re actually digesting and accepting my reasoning. A few, including Helena, still look skeptical, though.
“Don’t you see?” I ask, leaning forward and pressing my palms to the table. “My very existence has brought peace to us all. I am queen of the vampires. I am a Grundelier witch with a seat on the council. My connection to and status in the two worlds has made me the catalyst to end the war. Peacefully. Without bloodshed or strife.”
