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Damon shot him a dark look. “Says the guy whohasn’tbeen here most of the last two weeks?”
“Hey!” I said before Gabriel had to defend himself. “We know why Gabriel left. He was looking out for us even if he wasn’t nearby, even if we didn’t know it at the time. I get that you didn’t like it, butwehave bigger problems now too. We have to stand by each other—be a united front.”
“I’m ready to take them on: Assembly, demons, whatever,” Ky said with a grin and a mock salute.
Damon let out a ragged breath, but he slumped back in the seat at the same time. “I am too,” he said in a resigned voice.
Gabriel ducked his head close to mine and brushed his lips over my cheek. My pulse skipped a beat at the tender gesture. It had been a rough time without him—thinking he’d left because I’d horrified him in my attempts to push back against the Frankfords and their allies. But maybe I’d needed that pain to remind me of the witch I wanted to be.
My newest consort had only just come back to us today. I believed him that he wouldn’t leave again, but it might take a little while before my heart completely recovered.
My head felt too muggy to process much more information or emotion right now. It’d been a long day, and we’d already made the trip between my estate and the Cliff twice. Earlier today I’d had to fight for my life and the lives of my consorts. I’d been looking forward to curling up in bed for a nice long sleep.
Instead, I snuggled closer to Gabriel, setting my head on his shoulder. “I think we should all get as much rest as we can. We’re going to want to go into this situation clear-headed.”
“I can’t argue with that,” Seth said, propping his arm against the window as a sort of pillow. Ky yawned and stretched his legs out as well as he could in the space between us, his foot coming to rest against mine. I let my eyes drift closed.
Impeding demon battles and all, I was so worn out it couldn’t have been more than a few minutes before I was out like a light.
The jerk of the limo coming to a stop woke me up. My head had slid down to Gabriel’s chest—he had his arm around my back, his own head tipped next to mine until the second he snapped awake too. Damon shoved himself upright, his fingers still twined in my grasp. The guys across from us rubbed bleary eyes and yawned. I didn’t think any of us had gotten close to a decent night’s rest.
The privacy screen rolled down. “The Assembly building,” the driver said. “They’re waiting for you.”
It was still night outside, the dark sky hazed with the city’s lights and the downtown street outside the Assembly building quiet. Only one other car rumbled past as we made our way to the broad glass door in the modern gray structure. A damp pressure weighed on the air, as if a storm might be brewing. Hopefully only out here and not in there.
A couple of witches in the trim sweats the Assembly enforcers liked to wear had come to the entrance to meet us. One woman’s eyes widened as she took in my consorts, and the other’s lips curled in what looked like disdain. My jaw tightened, but I managed not to bristle.
“I understand you have a spell binding you that you need taken off?” the first woman said to Thalia.
Thalia opened her mouth and hesitated. The binding prevented her from even acknowledging there was a binding.
“She does,” I said quickly, and the older witch shot me a grateful glance.
The first enforcer motioned for Thalia to follow her, and they disappeared down the hall. The second beckoned us with a flick of her hand.
I’d been in the Assembly building before—to discuss a couple of projects I’d worked on that involved their archives, to apply for my original consorting—but the pale gray halls had never felt quite this imposing then. Maybe it was the darkness beyond the windows, or the drone of the air conditioning system… or maybe it was just the reason I was here, hanging over us.
The enforcer came to a stop at a door around a bend in the hall and eased it open. “Lady Hallowell and her consorts,” she said in introduction, and I was almost completely sure I caught a hint of a sneer at the last word. But there wasn’t time to worry about that, because with a couple more steps, we were faced with some of the most powerful figures in my witching society’s government.
My gaze shot first to the officials I’d seen most recently. Gwen Remington, the head of the International Affairs Division, stood near the head of the long narrow meeting table, her frosted silver-blond hair pulled back in a gold clip and her broad shoulders tensed even as she gave us a small smile as a welcome. Next to her, Justin Brimsey, the head of Unsparked Relations, ran a hand over his gray-and-chestnut buzz-cut, his expression wary. Miriam Travers, a petite witch with an auburn bob from the Finances division who’d accompanied the two higher officials out to the Frankfords’ property yesterday, stood farther down the table. They were the only members of the Assembly who’d witnessed the demons and their portal directly.
The other officials I recognized either vaguely or not at all, other than the couple at the head of the table, who’d turned as we arrived. Eleanor and Joseph Northcott had presided over the entire Assembly for the past eight years. They made a matching set, both of them tall and lean, her braided hair an only slightly lighter shade of gray than his slicked-back waves. Eleanor’s mouth pursed as she took us in; Joseph looked as if he’d just barely managed to catch his eyebrows before they rose. I guessed that reaction was better than horror.
I got to be relieved for the approximately two seconds before one of the less familiar officials down the table, a stern woman with angular features, said, “What aretheydoing here?”
My back had already stiffened before Remington confirmed who the other woman had been referring to.
“Lady Hallowell requested the presence of her consorts,” she said. “It appears they have been as involved in this matter as she has been, so they may have additional insights.”
“They’re unsparked,” the other witch protested. “We can’t—”
Lady Northcott raised her hand. “The decision has already been made.”
“Not by us,” a younger man across the table said. “I don’t think having unsparked individuals privy to our internal discussions is a wise idea either. If we allow—”
The guys were stirring uneasily behind me. My hands balled at my sides. “If youdon’tallow them to stay, then I leave too,” I said. “Is that a clear enough decision for you? My consorts knowmorethan I do about the demons in some ways. Are we going to stop this monster, or did you want to spend your time playing out old prejudices?”
The man shut up. Mr. Northcott gave us a grim smile. “The demon is our first priority, of course. I apologize. We don’t know how quickly we might need to act. Are you ready to get down to business right away?”
