They were like a circus act, starting and completing each other’s sentences, and while it was all very fascinating, it didn’t explain much to Kalinda. Obviously, none of those names were hers, and it sounded like they were a pretty big deal.
“Okay?” She wasn’t seeing the link.
Amalia smiled. “It’s a lot, so we won’t explain it all. We were raised on this knowledge and have understanding of each of the family lines. It’s the reason we have the FBMC, to group those with some semblance of the blood into Enchanted Zones.”
Ah, so she had some connection so far off she couldn’t even call it family. Got it. And?
“So where does that leave me and you wanting me on the Council?”
“The Old Ones are long gone, of course, but those who are closer to the bloodline have more strength in their magic, the levels. And those at the highest levels are closer to the Old Ones. And then there are others …”
Amalia’s voice trailed off. She looked to Lennox, and he opened his hand. Fire, brilliant orange, yellow, and blue, danced in his palm and formed into a perfect circle with flames flickering upward. He let the ball dance over his fingers and grow before tossing it lightly. It hovered over the table between them. The heat pulsed and warmed Kalinda, close enough to almost burning but not quite.
“I am a Level 9, as are the rest of the Trinity, one step below all members of the National Council. We are born within this level, but there are times when some may change their power level when it is called for.”
“They are called Ales, which means Chosen. Chosen are meant to be part of the Council and a counterpart to the Trinity,” Yon explained.
The stared at her expectantly.
Yeah, no. Not even a little bit. She wasn’t some Ales, Chosen, or whatever else they wanted to call her. Kalinda had a feeling that admitting it, or showing some interest in it, would just make them more interested in keeping her. She was just Kalinda, owner and operator of Kalinda’s Katering, who was trying to go international with her baking skills and enjoyed occasionally helping others through her magic. That was her place in the world, and she liked it just fine.
What they were insinuating was more than she ever wanted to deal with. She remembered Zahara telling her she was powerful, but that didn’t mean she had to do what they wanted her to do. She was just as well managing what she had. Most of the time, that seemed nearly too much, but she enjoyed it, loved it even.
No, she was not going to feed into this. “What happened to Giuliana and Silva?”
“They were successfully retrieved shortly after we left, and the wolves showed up in force. With her Alpha there, Giuliana was able to immediately come out of the spellwork you put her under. The Fae, well, we’ll get to her another time. She shouldn’t be here. You were more important,” Yon answered.
And that right there was just another reason Kalinda would be giving a resounding no. Their lack of compassion meant she wanted nothing to do with them. They knew all of that and could have told her, and Silva was not someone who didn’t belong here. None of them did, truly, and all of their lives had been ripped open under the sweeps by the FBMC.
It had ruined her life, her chance at marriage, and having a family. Finding she had magic also shook her foundation in believing anyone could really love her and stick by her. Her fiancé left the minute he knew she was one of those people and never looked back. Everything in her life, but her food, was a clusterfuck with this.
Magic wasn’t always something of great pride for many of the people of Encantado, and too many of them hadn’t received any help when they’d been torn away from the only family they knew just because they had a little magic.
Wrong answer.
“I’d like to leave, thank you. I enjoyed the story time, and it’s wonderful knowing more about where magic came from, but none of this has anything to do with me.”
“You’re wrong, and there is too much to understand in just one day. We haven’t explained everything to you. We understand this is a lot to take in. We’ve given you much to ponder and will talk about more later. Take your time before you make a decision,” Amalia argued.
“I can take my time back home. I have a business to run and matters to attend to.”
Lennox shook his head. “The business isn’t necessary any longer, and a Mage Council member doing such work would be a conflict of interest in other business. Many would come to your establishment simply because of who you are and the chance to get closer to you.”
They talked about completely changing her life, again, without a thought of what it meant to her.
“I said no.”
Watercolor-face Man shifted. Kalinda thought she hated Yon the worst. The face shifting was creepy when he spoke. “And the privilege of being one of us is an honor and, while a choice, not one that can be said no to. We will let you rest on it and speak more on the morrow about who you are and what that means.”
They stood as if she hadn’t denied them multiple times. Kalinda leapt to her feet as well.
Not going to happen, dude. Not even a little bit.
Anger burned in her chest as her lungs filled with hot air and expanded, her skin tingling. She would not let anyone contain her. Not ever. Chills raced down her back and her fingers sweltered with power wrapping around them.
“I said no.”
Her voice was wrong, and the world ribboned with shades of black winking in and out. Gray fireballs, like in the Chaos Realm, pushed from her chest and hovered in front of her, spinning in a circle.
