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My eyes couldn’t have been wider as I looked at my mate. You’ve got to be kidding.
Unfortunately, no. We’ll have to be careful with her. She might retaliate.
Great. Because all I’d wanted to do was save the world, and she was going to get on me because I’d been bitten? That just stank.
Sebastian gave me a little wave. He might be scary as hell with his powers, but I’d found him to be perfectly nice. It was he and Donovan who’d come to see what was going on when Dastien bit me. For a second I’d been afraid that they’d punish me for it, but turns out both of them had become pretty solid allies. I was glad he was here. I needed every ally I could get.
Claudia and Lucas had already filed in after me, all taking empty seats around the table. But when Chris and Cosette finally finished their talk and stepped through the door, it was like everyone took a breath at the same time. The room was dead silent.
She did a little finger wave. “Hello.”
Meredith leaned forward so close to the camera that only her eye and part of her cheek filled the screen. “You can come out for a werwolf meeting but you can’t come see me?”
Cosette shrugged. “This was urgent, so I was given a pittance from my mother.”
“Shopping is urgent, too,” Meredith muttered. “Not to mention my Full Moon Ceremony.”
Donovan tugged Meredith back. “I think we’re all accounted for. Shall we start?”
Mr. Dawson had been standing by the door waiting for Chris and Cosette to come in. He closed the door as they found seats. “We’ve got a big problem,” he said as he walked to me. “Tessa? Want to fill them in?”
Great. He was just throwing me to the wolves. “Sure. Why not.” I stood up from my chair, because it seemed like the thing to do. I started with Muraco’s death and the pain I felt during it. Then told them as briefly as I could about my vision, what I knew about Astaroth, and what happened during our trip to LA. I finished with what happened on the compound.
I took a breath, and was about to dive into my plan, but all of a sudden, everyone was talking all at once. The noise was deafening. I fought the urge to c
over my ears with my hands.
Dastien leaned back in his chair. This is going well.
I nearly laughed. It’s about what I expected. What are they even saying?
Eh, just some finger pointing really. Nothing that’s helpful.
I sighed. They’re going to hate what I say next.
Dastien grabbed my hand. Stay strong. Your plan is the best one.
It’s also the only one I have.
That, too. He gave me a wink.
I didn’t want to use power to shut them up—Lucas had been polite about it, but I was pretty sure no one else in this room would be—so I did the first thing that came to mind.
I hopped up on the table with one swift jump and walked to the center of it. “If you’re all going to keep yelling at once, then I’m leaving. We’ve got Satan’s second in command coming after us, and I’ve got better things to do than sit here and listen to you bicker.” I could feel the chatter about to rise up again, but I didn’t stop. “The Seven is broken. Done.” There was some pointing of fingers and yelling, but I stomped my foot on the table. “Blaming each other is a waste of time. The Seven was ruined the day Ferdinand was killed. We can’t fix the bond that used to be there because to do that, we’d need an eclipse and the backing of the fey. Both of them. We don’t have either.” That had them all shutting up. “So, we’re doing something new. I know that I’ve only been a werewolf for a little while, but from my perspective, it seems like everything is incredibly divided. And it’s not just the werewolves that are broken and fighting amongst themselves.” I sent a pointed look to the Canadian Alpha and Lisette. “The fey are gone. Each court hiding in their little holes.”
“I wouldn’t call them holes or little,” Cosette said, and there were a few laughs.
“Whatever. But you’re hiding. That can’t last, you’ve said it yourself.”
She nodded.
I took a breath and dove back in. “The covens are all a mess. The ripples of what Luciana did have hit everyone. And the more I dig, the more I think we’ve all been played. Astaroth found a way to get to us. How long ago did he get to Luciana? When did Ferdinand go rogue? This has been a long time coming, and no one saw it. None of you prevented it. And the fey seem to have divested themselves of everything.”
I paused to catch my breath. Everyone was listening to me quietly, and I figured that was as good as it was going to get with this bunch.
“The truth is that the seal that separated our plane from the next is broken. That means that in a matter of days, we could have demons taking over world. Everyone will die and we won’t be able to stop it. Unless we fix the seal. Even if we somehow managed to defeat Astaroth another way, there’s always going to be another bad guy. There’s blood in the water, and the sharks? They’re coming for us. For all of us. It’s time to make a change. So, I’m doing something new and permanent. I have no doubt that a few in this room are going to be mad. This is going to change everything. I—”
“Excuse me.” Lisette’s voice had my teeth grinding in frustration. “You’re being very bold in the way you’re saying this, but everything that you’re saying leads me to believe even more firmly that we must reinstate the Seven.”
