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25
Bronywyn
To say the mood is somber as we pull up outside the building they pulled me out of less than a week ago is a massive understatement. None of us—at least not the three of us in Tarnley’s car—make a sound.
This is it.
Our final moments before facing the council. Or rather, the councils since I can almost guarantee all four await our arrival. Tarnley reaches over and squeezes my hand gently, so I offer him a tight-lipped smile before pulling away and opening the door.
He climbs out the driver’s side, and Willa opens the door to the back passenger, following me down the crumbling concrete sidewalk and up to the small stairs.
The brick façade of the building is old, and from the outside, it looks unkempt; the grass overgrown, windows broken. But here, on the stoop, magic pulses all around me, and I can sense the glamour keeping prying human eyes from seeing just what is inside.
I imagine they have it warded so if anyone chooses to try to take a peek, they will get the sudden urge to leave. Most will listen.
The council will kill the rest.
“You okay?” Tarnley questions.
“No,” I reply honestly. “But let’s go anyway.”
Delaney, Cole, Rainey, and Elijah join us on the front steps.
“Ready, auntie?” Rainey asks, sweetly.
I roll my eyes. “Let’s just get this shit over with.” I take a step closer then stop in place as magic hits me like a freaking fire hose. My own is repulsed by it, sensing the hundreds of supernaturals—mostly witches—on the other side.
One glance at Delaney’s hardened expression, and I know she feels it, too.
It takes every ounce of my self-restraint to remain where I am. And even more of my strength to pull open the door. And when I finally do, when I finally step inside and meet the multitudes of gazes trained on us, I really fucking wish we would have run.
Four main groups comprised of four supernaturals each stand in front of an army. As I let my gaze travel over them, I know, without a doubt, we are seeing—for probably the first time ever in one place at the same time—all four of the major supernatural councils.
And what’s worse is that I don’t recognize a single one of them.
Well, except for Chasin, who stands just behind the Immortal Council members. Narrowing my gaze, I glare at him, and he shrinks away, just slightly. It’s safe to say there are no allies amongst this clusterfuck. Not that we’d expected anything else.
“So nice of you to accept our summons,” a man wearing a long amethyst robe speaks first, his deep voice booming through the room.
“You did invite us,” Rainey replies. “Would have been rude to ignore.”
“We underestimated your intelligence, hunter,” a witch from the Witch Council says. “A mistake we won’t make again.”
“We assumed you would run like the cowards you have proven yourself to be,” a man on the shifter council speaks next.
“I’m sorry.” Cole holds up a hand. “You’re calling us cowards? None of you lifted a finger in defense of yourselves against Lucy or Heather. And why would you when you have us to carry the slack for you? A pot-kettle situation wouldn’t you say?”
“You are weak,” he spits back. “Unable to deny your basic instincts for the greater good. And that makes you a coward.”
“Unable to—”
“You’re fucking a witch. You’re a disgrace to your kind.”
Cole lunges forward, but Elijah grips his arm, stopping him in place. “It’s not worth it.”
The man who spoke for the Immortal Council clears his throat. “Now that the pleasantries are over. By showing up here today, you acknowledge what you’ve been charged with.”
“Being here is not an admission of guilt,” I snap. “We are here because we wish to explain ourselves.”
