by K. N. Banet
Three of my family members put their heads in their hands. Jabari and Hasan were glaring. I knew everyone was on edge.
“I’m fine,” I whispered, lifting the shirt to reveal the new fun hole that would scar within the month. “It’s been a busy couple of days, and I didn’t want everyone flying out to me.”
“I give up,” Hasan declared. “I’ll set up the meeting. You can decide with Heath Everson and the BSA what you want to do about your human attackers. We’ll support the decision, no matter what you decide. When does the BSA go public with the existence of our kind?”
“I don’t know. We haven’t finalized that part. I don’t think it’ll take longer than a few weeks?”
“Fine. I’m headed off to contact Callahan and Alvina to set up your meeting.”
He disconnected, but once he was gone, none of my siblings left. In fact, they were all waiting for something else.
“Thank you,” Davor whispered. “I always knew something was wrong with how she died.” At that moment, I realized he hadn’t said anything. Cutting, mean, awful Davor had been silent for the entire conversation. He wasn’t the only one, but he was the most notable.
One by one, each of my siblings relaxed.
“We’ll get justice for her,” I promised him, then disconnected the video call.
34
Chapter Thirty-Four
It happened quickly. Heath agreed to hand over all three of my would-be assassins to an Alpha on the NAWC, picking his old friend Geoffrey Lewis, the Alpha of Seattle’s werewolves. It had been a strange shuffle through Dallas, with that pack helping, but within twelve hours, the three humans had a new home in Seattle. Eighteen hours after I hung up on my family, I was talking to Alpha Lewis before our meeting, now that he had eyes on the three humans who had tried to kill me—repeatedly.
“Can I know why I’m holding these guys?” Alpha Lewis asked over the phone. “They’re not happy, but they’re not talking, either. They’re the humans who have been trying to kill you, right?”
“Yes, and you’ll find out soon,” I promised over the speakerphone in my office at Kick Shot. “You may have received a summons to the meeting starting in…an hour. I can say it’s a lot better for them to be with werewolves and werecats than for them to go to the BSA. You’re lucky I convinced my first contact special agents of that. One of them was shot when we were getting those humans into our custody, and they really wanted custody.”
“The gymnastics you must have done,” Alpha Lewis said with a chuckle. “Fine. I look forward to the mysteries being unraveled at the meeting. I’m glad to offer my holding cells to the people who rooted out the vampire corruption that was ravaging the mountains of my home.”
“Again, thank you. Just keep them alive until we get through the meeting. Their fates will probably be decided there.”
“Not hard to do. I put my personal guard on them. No one will go near them.”
“You haven’t told anyone about them, right?”
“Only Callahan, who was expecting it. Did you pass along word to him? He didn’t seem surprised.”
“Yeah, through proper channels,” I confirmed. I told Hasan the plan for the humans guilty of attempted murder, and he had made sure everyone was up to speed.
Alpha Lewis was a good choice. He liked both Heath and me from the Seattle incident, even though it had been somewhat destabilizing for him. We’d rescued one of his wolves and killed the vampires who murdered the others. It had been a bad situation for my family as well because those vampires had killed two loved and respected werecats who’d had a peaceful arrangement with the werewolves in that region of the States.
“Should I be worried about this meeting?”
“I don’t know if I can answer that,” I admitted. “Look, I’ll see you soon, and all will be clear. Thank you again for taking them off my hands. I don’t have a mini prison at my disposal.”
“Heath used to, then he decided to run off and try this whole being a single father thing.” Geoffrey chuckled as he hung up.
I stretched and yawned. I wasn’t low on sleep, but there was a lot happening. The last eighteen hours weren’t only used to set this meeting up and deal with the humans, but also to work on the final details of the werecat and human relationship. Collins was fine, in a sling for a few months, and Miller was no worse for wear. They were going to release the information about werecats on Carey’s birthday. I had agreed to the date because it wasn’t going to interfere with the business at hand. Getting them to relinquish the humans to supernaturals had been difficult, but the BSA had agreed when they realized the PR nightmare it would be, and no matter what the BSA wanted, a supernatural was going to handle the humans because of their crimes.
Through it all, I was only focused on one thing, only one thread of this complicated knot that truly worried me—Alpha Price of the Boston werewolf pack, once the Alpha of Paris.
I had asked Heath for more information, nothing to do with Liza, and he had given me everything he could. The Alpha was stiff and quiet, known to only speak the truth. In the werewolf’s six hundred years, he had never lied. It was such a big deal that Heath was confused how Price thought he was going to get away with this. I had no theories about that, either. Would he accept his punishment now that he’d lost, or would he fight back?
The only way I’ll get that answer is by going to the meeting.
I dressed in a simple outfit, nothing fancy, not a suit or a skirt, just nice jeans, a t-shirt without a band logo on it, and a leather jacket without patches or holes. Most of my clothing was suited for working behind the bar, not in the office, and I was dragging my feet updating my look. I topped it off with simple black boots with a flat heel and no scuff marks. I wanted to be stable on my feet, just in case. I fixed my hair, letting it lie on my shoulders instead of throwing it up into a ponytail.
Lastly, I texted Hasan that I was ready to go, however he intended to get me to this meeting.
I was in my kitchen when I sent the text. A moment later, I heard a creak and turned to see my laundry room door open to reveal a beautiful woman, who looked like she walked out of a Tolkien novel and put on a classy, black business suit.
I knew her face and her name, but I had never seen her so closely.
Queen Alvina was drop-dead gorgeous, and her incredibly long, pointed ears seemed pronounced this close. She was only three steps away.
“Your…your Maj—”
“The children of Hasan may call me Alvina,” she said quickly. “We’ve met before.” Her eyes practically twinkled. “That was a very exciting time.”
“Yeah.” It had been at my trial.
“I helped with your human family’s memories as well,” she said softly. “Hasan asked me to open a door for you here. Sadly, favors aren’t allowed between members of the Tribunal.” Those twinkling eyes turned a little mischievous.
I didn’t move, uncomfortable with the interaction.
“You’ve met at least one fae before,” she decided, nodding. “Hasan knows too much about us and would have taught you to be careful, even if it’s just following old human legends about us because they might turn out to be true. Very smart of you. I’m just teasing, though. I’m quite interested in seeing how this plays out today. Come inside.” She stepped out of the doorway and held the door for me to rush inside, following me with a single step, and closing the door. I was in the Tribunal’s pocket dimension, but I didn’t recognize the space. She walked down the hall, and I knew I needed to follow her. She breezed into a room where Hasan and Callahan were waiting.
“She’s well met, Hasan,” Alvina declared. “If a bit stiff.” She made a small gesture, laughing melodically.
“You can be frightening to people with little experience with fae,” Hasan countered. I walked across the room to him, forcing me to pass Callahan, who looked up at me and nodded respectfully.
“Good to see you again, Jacky Leon,” he greeted.
“Is it?” I mumbled as I made it
to Hasan.
The werewolf laughed. “No, not at all. Hasan can’t tell me the entirety of your little theory, but with Alvina here, I have a feeling I know what this is about.” He tipped back his entire drink and placed his glass roughly on the center table. “We put this to rest a hundred years ago, but of course, the most inexperienced and wild of Hasan’s children would think she’s solved some great conspiracy that we need to handle right now. Why am I not surprised?”
I didn’t say anything, knowing I should have kept my mouth shut. Hasan growled softly, but it was Alvina who cracked the verbal whip.
“You asked us to leave Corissa out of this meeting. Don’t make me ask her to stop by to keep you on your leash, dog.”
“Don’t talk to me about Corissa. You can’t keep your own brother in line. Either of them,” Callahan snapped in return. “Oisin was helping hide an entire species from us, something we let slide to keep the peace, and Brion disappeared completely. Brion, a founding member of the Tribunal. The first and only to leave. Don’t you dare come at me when the kings of the fae have been repeated problems for the Tribunal.”
Alvina inhaled sharply. “For that, I can’t wait to help Jacky expose whatever awful thing one of your werewolves did.” She smiled sharply. “Knowing her and Hasan, I have a feeling I won’t have to try to make it look bad. It just will.”
I found a seat, not on any of the luxurious couches around the room, but at a small table on the side of the room, behind Hasan. I didn’t want to be in the middle of a spat between two ancient beings. Hasan, however, looked eternally bored.
“One day, we’ll give my daughter a good impression of this Tribunal,” he muttered, looking away from both of them.
“Ah, yes. Hasan acting like he’s better than all of us.” Callahan snorted derisively.
“I am better than you,” Hasan returned, not growling, snarling, or anything other than utterly bored. He wasn’t acting the way I was used to. He was purposefully antagonistic. “Proven that time and time again for the world to see. And if you attack my daughter’s abilities or intelligence again, I’ll prove it again.”
“I’ll remind you that you were losing the war and had to accept some bad deals as punishment,” Callahan growled.
“The war was eight hundred years ago,” Alvina said with a groan. “When are both of you going to stop bringing it up?”
“Are they coming?” Hasan asked. “Your little council?”
“At least all of my closest advisors and Alphas earned their positions.” Callahan looked around Hasan at me. “They weren’t given the position for their loyalty. They had to earn that once they were powerful enough to lead their own packs.”
My face heated.
Alvina turned to me and frowned. “My apologies. You must not have a good impression of the Tribunal. When situations have nothing to do with us, we’re normally much friendlier. When we’re directly involved, tempers get heated.”
“There’s no problem,” I said carefully, knowing who I was talking to and in front of. If there was a problem, I would be offended by Alvina and Callahan.
“You can admit it,” Hasan said, looking over his shoulder at me. “Alvina isn’t allowed to play fae games here.”
“Nope, I’m fine.” I clasped my hands in my lap and waited.
It was a boring wait as everyone grew silent and stayed in their proverbial corners. It was nearly twenty minutes before the Alphas began to arrive.
I recognized only a few. Lewis, because I had met him, Harrison, from his voice and confused look at me as he greeted the Tribunal members present. Price, because Heath had given me a picture of them together at an event for Alphas over a decade before. There were eight of them in total, all exuding power. These were the eight most powerful Alpha werewolves in the United States.
Heath used to be one of them.
It was a chilling thought. Heath was more dominant and powerful than most of the men in the room. He should have been standing on the other side of the room, wearing a deep navy blue or black suit just like the werewolves near Callahan, giving me a distrustful look like many of the Alphas were. He wasn’t, though.
He was living in my territory.
And he was mine.
“Today, I’ve asked you all to be here because of the recent exposure of the werecats to the United States Government. Hasan and Jacky are taking no offense to any of you about this situation, but they bring forth other charges,” Callahan said, taking on the most professional behavior I had ever seen from him. “A group of humans made attempts on Jacky’s life. From her testimony, these humans weren’t extremists, working from a leak from the BSA, but rather using that as a cover to kill her under the orders of a werewolf in this room.”
The growls from the entire group, including Geoffrey Lewis, actually scared me. I could beat a group of low-ranking wolves, but if these eight ever decided to hunt me down, I was fucking done for.
“That’s insane,” Alpha Lewis snapped, glaring at me. “Why would any of us do that? Jacky, come on.”
“You have the humans in your custody. You can turn around and interrogate them yourself and smell there was no lie,” I said softly. “Why do you think we gave them to a wolf pack?”
The truth of my statement dawned on Alpha Lewis, who nodded slowly.
“I do have them in my custody now,” he agreed. “I see. You picked an ally you knew, who you could trust not to turn around and kill them, to help cover it up if it is true.”
“Exactly.”
He nodded respectfully, knowing he had been used, but he couldn’t do anything without smearing his own honor.
“Why is Queen Alvina here?” Alpha Price asked, his voice like gravel. I didn’t like listening to it, but I was prejudiced since this man had killed a sister I never knew, then tried to kill me.
“I’m here to remove the geas,” she said simply, smiling a little.
Alpha Price paled.
“Jacky’s conspiracy theory is you sent these humans to kill her, and that it ties into the unfortunate death of Liza, daughter of Hasan,” Callahan explained, standing in front of Price, using himself as a shield to keep the werewolf from coming at me.
35
Chapter Thirty-Five
Everyone was silent as some of the North American werewolves I didn’t know threw glances at each other.
“She shouldn’t know it was me,” Alpha Price said, his gravel voice dropping a few notes as he spoke in a whisper to Alpha Callahan. “Because I was innocent in the matter. Both you and Hasan verified I told no lie about the situation, yet it comes back to haunt me, this mistake of young werewolves.”
“I’m not lying when I say three humans were asked by you to kill me,” I said softly as I stood. “And that they needed to pretend to be human extremists, so the responsibility of the attack would fall on the BSA and the United States.”
Callahan lifted his hand to me as he stared at Price. I closed my mouth, stopping anything else from spilling out in this room. While I disliked Callahan, he was a sitting member of the Tribunal, not just a werewolf Alpha I could get smart with.
“How dare you—”
Callahan moved the hand in front of Price, who also shut up before he could continue.
“Do you smell a lie?” Callahan asked. Alpha Price shook his head. “I couldn’t either, and let me tell you, I wish there was one. We were already on high alert, knowing a species was currently negotiating with a human government about the exposure of their species. It doesn’t matter if it’s werecats, fae, or the fucking cambions and their nephilim, nagas, kitsune, nymphs, and trolls. When you add an assassination attempt to the issue, it is dealt with to the fullest extent of our power. Now, it’s time to figure out what really happened, and since it’s you, we have to remove the geas about Liza.” Callahan sighed, looking back at Hasan and me for a moment, then turned to Alvina. “Remove it. I don’t know how—”
Alvina’s eyes glowed as power rushed into the room. I couldn’t feel anything
, but Price, Callahan, two other werewolf Alphas, and Hasan all winced. One went so far as to clutch his forehead. Then all of them sagged in relief, and Alvina’s eyes stopped glowing.
“It’s gone,” she said, crossing her legs and relaxing, sinking into the couch. “Sorry for the discomfort. The geas was old, so it had rooted itself deep into your minds instead of staying on your tongues. That’s what makes the magic so powerful. The longer a geas is on a topic or a person, the more embedded it becomes. Some of you may notice the topic is still difficult. You’ve been conditioned to speak of it in other ways. You’ll have to work through those issues on your own.”
“Thank you,” Hasan said, putting a hand on his chest and bowing from his seat. I clenched my jaw. He’d told me never to thank a fae.
Alvina’s eyes twinkled. “Now that the geas is down, I won’t be putting it back up. You can deal with the consequences of the events that led to this day for as long as you all shall live.”
Callahan nodded, but Price didn’t look happy.
“Let’s get to the full accusation,” Hasan declared, standing. I walked around the couch to his side. We stared down the wolves, side by side. “Jacqueline, present your formal accusation.”
“I accuse Alpha Price of attempted assassination and interfering with the affairs of a supernatural species, not his own.” I looked around, and no one interrupted, waiting for me to explain the charges. “While I understand the last charge is normally most impactful against werecats, I believe it applies in the case of any species willfully trying to ruin negotiations of another species with humans.”
“It was a malicious act, so the charge stands,” Alvina confirmed. “Explain the other charge in full, please.”
“Alpha Price convinced three humans that I was a threat to his pack, to all werewolves, and set them on the path to kill me. If they had succeeded, their reward was to be Changed and brought into the pack. They were instructed to make it seem as if they were fanatic humans who wanted to kill supernaturals. That would have removed blame from the pack and pinned the blame on humans and the BSA, who would have been believed to have leaked my identity to extremists in the middle of negotiations. It would have been disastrous.” I rubbed my hands together. “When the humans were caught, they revealed it was Alpha Price who had sent them and exposed the deal. At the time, I didn’t know the identity of the werewolf Alpha involved with my sister’s death. The geas had prevented my family from telling me in so many words, but when I told them the identity of the werewolf who tried to kill me, they found a way to make it abundantly clear who it was.”