But if I didn’t do it now, I might never have the chance to let them know one way or the other. They’d have no way to tell when to back me up or when to run for their lives.
The plan wasn’t perfect, but this was as good as it was going to get.
I let my scent slip back toward normal and slipped into a seat as close to my door as I could manage. If the others decided to step in sooner, that was their choice, but I was set to weather whatever confrontation came whenever I was discovered.
After that, if I managed to convince the summit to accept me and hear our faction’s voice, then I’d ask my companions in, keeping them under my protection as best I could.
I nodded politely as two wolves I didn’t recognize sat down on the old wooden pew in front of me, looking away before either of them could look too long. They returned to their conversation as if nothing was amiss.
I did spot Nadir and the female vampire I’d met on the beaches of salt hill not that long ago, seated close to the pulpit. He wasn’t looking towards me, but I made a point of casually facing the other direction as much as I could without looking suspicious.
I was sure I wasn’t the only one here avoiding someone else. These people had had incredibly long stretches of time to forge feuds and grudges.
It took less than an hour for the building to fill up around me, and I reminded myself to breathe all the while. But there was no great moment where my masquerade was unveiled. Frankly, nothing all that dramatic happened at all.
Everyone else in attendance was acting as though they were always involved in power plays of this magnitude. Which was probably more a show of power than an actual reflection of the mood of those around us. A steady current of tension spread from door to pulpit, undeniable but not at risk of snapping and unleashing a bloodbath that would rain down on everyone inside this sacred space.
A hush fell over the room as four people walked toward the center of the aisle. Ethan had prepared me for who would be in charge of the proceedings, a single leader chosen from each faction. From my right came a vampire and a werewolf, united in the common tie of a shared history of humanity. From the left, one fae and one witch, both born into their capabilities. On each side was one man and one woman, together creating a subtle balance of power.
Little was known about how each of the factions had chosen their representative, generally speaking. Even Ethan had hesitated when I’d asked about how the greater power structure worked within the werewolves, and I hadn’t wanted to press the issue. The four of them gathered together around a circular podium made of silver marble.
Yet I had no problem seeing the pure power emanating from each of the chosen spokespeople. Only the woman who walked forward to speak for the fae did not appear to be the most powerful of those in attendance. The green mist that danced around her seemed no more remarkable than most of the other pure blooded fae I’d seen in Ireland. It was very possible that she’d simply been chosen because the Seelie Court did not wish to send their leaders into the fray as the center of attention. But I was also left to wonder if the fae could glamour away their powers in the same way they could their appearances.
“Greetings, friends and foe. Allies and nemeses.”
The Master of Rome spoke without a microphone, but still his voice traveled throughout the enormous room, from corner to corner, as clear as though he were standing right beside every person in attendance. His presence echoed everything Ethan had told me about him: he was one of the oldest living vampires in the world, one of only a few remaining who had lived for more than a millennia.
“We gather here today not as four factions, but as one whole, one community.”
The witch began speaking where her vampire companion had left off. “The challenges we face today are unlike any of those that came before.” Her voice was not quite as strong as the one before it, and I thought I heard a hint of nerves tinting her words. “We have tried all known magicks to protect ourselves. We have defended our secrets with tooth and claw. But a time of change is coming for each of us.”
Next, the werewolf spoke. I knew little of the alpha with the thick German accent, only that Ethan respected him immensely. “While this summit exists as a channel for the European factions to find a way forward, we are not alone. The decisions made here over the following evenings will change all of our lives and alter our shared history. We welcome our guests from Asia, Africa, and the Americas. They will have no say when it comes to the final vote. But should they wish it, their voices will be heard.”
That part had come as a surprise to me. I was well acquainted with the North American factions through my mother’s memories and had known that whatever was decided would affect them as well. I hadn’t known they’d be here. I resisted the urge to search for familiar faces in the crowd. I had no reason to believe that those who had murdered my family were anyone of importance, but it was possible.
Had they heard about my existence by then? They must have.
The fae woman spoke last. “Many of us have spent decades already discussing the problem of human exposure, but no answer has been found. These proceedings will run from dusk until dawn for as many nights as necessary until a decision is made by a majority vote, with the first vote being held in three night’s time. Whoever stands at the podium shall have the attention of the room, though we will encourage discussions between speakers in order to work together to find the best solution we can. Violence will be answered with swift execution by your own faction’s moderator. Decisions will be final.” She paused as the room held its breath. “And so we begin.”
The whole system sounded far more reasonable than anything I’d imagined. I’d mostly been expecting the “lesser magicks as guinea pigs” idea to be the opening argument. But we hadn’t even been mentioned. Was that a good sign, or a disappointing one? No one was taking us into consideration.
As I pondered everything that had just been said, a heavy silence had settled over the room.
No one wanted to be the first to speak.
And I knew I’d never have a better opening. If I could say my piece before anyone else, everyone else would be discussing their own ideas in relation to mine.
I stood, and one by one, every eye in the room turned toward me.
Only slightly awkwardly, I maneuvered out of my pew and took a step toward the center of the room. For the first painful thirty seconds, no one spoke, and I could feel the pressure building around me. I let myself pretend that Ethan’s eyes were the only ones on me. And it helped to know that at least one gaze was friendly. Then the first whispers began to gather, and the pressure worsened.
I caught a few snippets, like “Sinclair” and “faction” and “lesser magick.” The people who spoke first had worked out my identity. In the time it took for me to the center of that massive hall, the announcement of my attendance would be a surprise to no one.
When I reached the podium, I watched each of the moderators to see if they would object to my approach or stop me by force. But each one stood statue still, waiting.
Searching the area around me, I tried to find anything that might help me to project my voice in the same way the other’s had. But there was only the podium, and no how-to guide.
“My name...” My voice came out too softly, even to my own ears. I looked up, but no one looked as though they’d heard me. Feeling as though the young woman who was speaking for the witches was the moderator most like me, I looked to her first, hoping for some sort of help. She offered nothing, though she made no show of not seeing me. I was even pretty damn sure she knew what I needed. And that she was enjoying watching me squirm.
But she and her fellow moderators had already given me something far more powerful than a microphone. They’d let me step up here, they’d let me speak. Unless... what if that was why I couldn’t get my voice heard? They’d keep me silent through magick, letting me embarrass myself in front of everyone here before slinking off in defeat.
Well that wasn’t a fucking op
tion.
Not ready to call it quits, I looked to the other side of me. I’d scream at the top of my lungs to be heard if I had to. Long before modern technology, priests had been speaking to entire congregations from the far end of this hall. If they could do it, so could I.
Still standing in position beside me, I avoided looking at the vampire all together and instead let my gaze settle on Otto Mayer, the man Ethan so admired.
He watched me watch him but didn’t move. At least not at first. After a moment, I caught the slightest flex of his fingers, moving forward as though reaching out to touch something.
It wasn’t as explicit of a suggestion as I’d been aiming for, but I’d take it.
I reached out and touched the podium in front of me, taking a deep breath before making another attempt.
“My name is Melanie Sinclair.” I’d half prepared a speech, but as soon as I heard my voice resound throughout the cathedral, everything I’d wanted to say sounded far too small inside my own head. “I represent the faction who has been overlooked for far too long by this community.” I’d planned to list out a half-dozen grievances, but I realized now that airing them would get me nowhere. If we were all going to move forward on the same page, I couldn’t afford to put anyone on the defensive.
Anyone other than Nadir, who I was sure was already trying to kill me with his mind from his spot in the audience.
“Today, we come to you, renewed and united... And with something to offer. We must all prepare for a time when we can keep magick a secret no longer, and together we search for the best way forward. What we propose to discuss, is that rather than beginning to reveal our secret to the public as a whole, we start with those closest to us. We can ease up on the laws that keep so many of us from revealing our powers to the humans in our lives, believing in our own abilities to know who can be trusted. It is not a perfect system, but it’s a place to start. We can step away from hard restrictions and make decisions based on what makes sense at any given moment. We’re not in immediate risk of exposure. We have the time to do this right. To start with the people who know us best, see how that goes, and continue from there.”
I paused, letting my words settle over the room. No one was shouting obscenities at me yet though I could see a few expressions that ranged from fear to anger. But they respected the rules of the summit which meant it was still my turn to speak, and I wasn’t about to waste that opportunity.
“You have called us lesser, and for too long, we’ve let you. You have ruled over us, and we’ve let you do that too, not knowing a better way. But that too changes with this summit. Our magick is not lesser; our magick is simply undefinable when compared to that of your beloved factions. We are not your property or your tools. Whatever is decided within these walls, we will respect, so long as we are respected. The Undefined Magicks will answer to ourselves, but we will also remain a part of this— “I was still speaking, but my words were cut off abruptly. I heard the explosion in the distance but didn’t register what the first near deafening noise meant until I heard the second that followed it.
My eyes caught the moment when the roof began to fall in above me. And then the world shifted into chaos.
Chapter 8
What came next happened as much at the speed of light as it did in slow motion. I’d looked toward the sound of the first explosion and seen the moment when the second blast sounded and the floor near the front door of the church collapsed in on itself.
The floor buckled in on itself as the walls groaned. It didn’t take long before the walls could no longer stand on their own and the front of the building began to cave in.
People moved all around me, some leaving their seats at superhuman speeds. Another explosion went off near the back of the church, and a heartbeat later, someone slammed into me and sent my body toward the ground. At first I thought I’d been hit by falling debris, but there was no time to even consider if I was facing my dying moment before the floor beneath me gave way.
The first thing I felt was myself falling back toward the cellar, an empty room filling up as the cathedral itself fell down inside of it.
The second thing was Ethan’s body shielding me from above.
I had one precious second to appreciate the familiar warmth of his arms around me before something sharp pierced my body as I hit the floor. Ethan landed a second later, his body rigid in an attempt to keep from crushing me.
Or to protect himself from the rubble that had started to fall on him.
I couldn’t see his face. I couldn’t see anything at all. I only had control over my ears—which heard a horrible mixture of screaming and destruction—and the feeling of my body pouring blood out onto the floor beneath me.
It felt like it lasted forever, but it couldn’t have been more than a minute before silence fell. I could still hear people yelling, but the voices came sporadically as shock settled.
I wanted to shut my eyes, to rest for a while.
“Melanie?” Ethan’s voice caressed me back to consciousness, my vision coming back into focus.
I could only groan a response. Whatever had happened, I knew I was hurt. Darkness surrounded us, but as I turned my head and tried to take in the scene around me, the stars watched from above, no longer shielded by a roof.
My body struggled to focus on anything other than how much I hurt. I attempted to wiggle my toes, but couldn’t tell if it worked or not.
“Melanie?” Ethan’s voice came a second time, more insistent now.
“I’m...” Good? Okay? “Melanie.” At least most of her.
Pain was creeping through my body, which felt unfair somehow.
By the time Ethan managed to shift away enough debris to sit beside me, I was resisting the urge to cry. Watching Ethan’s face as he studied my wounds certainly wasn’t helping things. It was one thing to feel how hurt I was; seeing it in his eyes was another thing altogether.
In the distance, someone cried softly.
There was no way I’d been the only person injured. The supernatural community was strong, but we could only take so much.
“Go,” I said. “Help them.”
“We need to get you out of here.” Ethan began to shift his weight, moving into a position that would let him lift me.
I shook my head and focused on raising my arm. God, that felt terrible. “I’ll be okay. Please. I don’t want you to see this.” My arm felt like it weighed more than the rest of my body combined, but I’d managed to get my hand to my face. “I swear, I’ll be fine. I can heal myself,” I reminded him.
My mind jumped with fear as a stray thought crept past my pain. Healing. Where was Nina? Was she hurt? How many people had I gotten killed by bringing them here with me?
“Then do it,” Ethan growled. “There’s nothing you can do that will...” His voice trailed off, but his gaze never broke. “Is there anything you need?”
My plan had been to bite my own hand, but my body was already recoiling at the idea of doing more damage to itself. I glanced over at Ethan again, searching for any sign of repulsion, but there was nothing but concern. And he seemed to have no intention of going anywhere at all.
If this was what it would take to get him moving, to get him safe. Fine.
“I need blood. Mine,” I clarified. “Can you cut into the back of my hand somehow? Get me something easy to reach.”
Ethan started fishing around in his pockets before I finished speaking. He pulled out a pocket knife and opened up the blade, showing it to me. I nodded and closed my eyes.
There was only so much I could take in one day.
The shock of the knife cutting into my skin should have felt like a light tickle compared to whatever I’d just been through, and still I had to bite back a scream. The pain was gone as quickly as it had come before I felt Ethan’s rough hand under mine, pulling my arm up toward my face.
With open eyes, I guided my mouth toward the pool of blood that was quickly forming on the back of my hand. It might have been more t
han I needed, but it felt safer to play it safe.
The wave of revulsion I felt as blood trickled past my lips came from my own heart. I couldn’t even bring myself to look at Ethan again as I sucked down several mouth fulls, gagging at the flavour. Most days, I was forever grateful that I hadn’t inherited a taste for blood from the vampires, but on that night it would have been welcome.
Would my body still heal if I threw everything back up again?
I finished drinking and struggled to sit. Ethan helped guide me upwards and braced with me against the pain that ripped through me all over again.
“You’d been impaled on a piece of rebar,” Ethan explained, looking behind me. “Is that going to be too much for your ability to work?”
I shook my head, hoping I was right. “Go,” I said again, more insistent now. “This is going to take a few minutes, and there are other people who need you.” Ethan didn’t move, so I tried another tactic. “Where’s John?”
“He’s not hurt,” Ethan said right away, leaving me to wonder exactly how his pack magick worked. “The section we were sitting in didn’t collapse.” As the fog of pain slowly lifted me from mind and body, I watched as his expression took on a hint of guilt. “He’s looking for me.”
It had been stupid of me to assume that Ethan’s first priority could have been me while there was any chance one of his pack was in real danger, but at least this gave me another opening.
“Find him. Put him to work getting other people out of here. Who knows how many people are hurt? And how likely is it that the witch magick would have been strong enough to keep humans away after an explosion like that? They’ll be able to see what happened, and we’re going to have god knows how many injured vampires on our hands.” As the words tumbled out of my mouth, a thousand other problems raced through my mind. What the hell had happened?
Magic In My Blood Page 5