Witchlock

by Dianna Love

  Tzader spoke up loud and clear. “Our warrior queen is recovering from the ill affects of a Noirre attack. Macha appreciates the Tribunal’s understanding.”

  Evalle mentally clapped at how smoothly Tzader pointed to Brina’s absence being the fault of the Medb.

  Loki ignored Tzader’s subtle accusation and spoke to the man standing closer to the raised stage. “Cathbad the Druid, step to the side so that we may all face one another.” Loki pointed to his right.

  When Cathbad turned to place himself in full view of everyone, Evalle got her first look at the man who had supposedly been reincarnated along with Queen Maeve. Tall as Storm and with thick, dark, wavy hair, he was definitely not the Cathbad that Evalle had dealt with when she’d been taken to TÅμr Medb before the attack on Treoir. As deadly as that druid had been, this one had a look in his eyes that said he had indeed been around for more than one lifetime and he would not be outmaneuvered.

  Orpheus strummed a lovely melody on his lyre, playing gentle background music and smiling like an idiot. Would someone serve hors d'oeuvres next?

  Loki announced, “Let it be known that all the Tribunal groups are at the end of their collective patience with this constant conflict. We want it to cease. We agreed to do our part when the need arose, but this borders on frivolous use of our time.”

  Frivolous? Clearly a bloody war that had raged for eons was not worth their time. If a Tribunal hadn’t accepted the Medb into the VIPER coalition, none of this would be happening, but good luck telling three powerful beings that they were the ones at fault.

  Loki turned to Cathbad. “State your grievances and we will resolve them one at a time.” Loki turned to Tzader and said, “Agreed?”

  “Agreed.”

  Cathbad launched into his first issue. “Before we deal with the evidence of a Belador murdering a Medb—”

  Evalle couldn’t look at Tzader, who had to be seething.

  “—I wish to revisit the fact that the Medb have delivered a reasonable offer on the gryphons and Macha has failed to accept it or make a counter offer. Why should she be keepin’ them when ’tis common knowledge that these gryphons possess as much Medb blood as they do Belador blood?”

  Evalle fought the urge to shout at him for all the wrongs the Medb had committed, but she would not speak until directed to do so by Tzader.

  Loki sounded bored beyond tears. “What say you, Beladors?”

  Tzader uncrossed his arms. “Macha submitted a petition that the Alterants, which evolve into gryphons, be recognized as a race and no Tribunal has acted upon that yet. She’s provided sanctuary for the current gryphons until all Alterants and gryphons are granted the right to make their own choices. Macha has offered all Alterants and gryphons a chance to join her pantheon. Once a judgment on their petition is rendered, they’ll be able to choose between remaining on Treoir or returning to this world where they’ll be on their own.”

  Cathbad argued in a fierce voice, “The Medb are due half of the gryphons. Half that number of stock should be delivered immediately and the Medb will give them sanctuary until the petition is acted upon.”

  Evalle whispered, “Let me talk.”

  Tzader nodded and addressed the Tribunal. “I ask that Evalle Kincaid be allowed to speak.”

  Loki nodded and rolled his hand, telling her to get moving and say what she had to say.

  She faced Cathbad who had a too-confident look in his eyes. The wrong people were happy right now. “Gryphons are not stock to be shared like cattle. We don’t want to be in the middle of a tug-of-war any more than this Tribunal wants to hear about it. We are people, who should be granted the same rights as everyone else.”

  She felt Storm’s admiration touch her and had to force herself not to smile.

  Cathbad asked, “Ya aren’t sayin’ these beasts are people with families in the human world, are ya?”

  His sarcastic tone grated on Evalle’s frayed nerves. All the Alterants who had traveled to TÅμr Medb and been forced to fight for the Medb came to mind. Tristan and his sister. Bernie, who had a girlfriend in the human world. The list went on and on, including Evalle, who wanted a life with Storm.

  She replied, “Yes, many of the gryphons have friends and family. We should be allowed to choose where we want to live and with whom we wish to associate.” She hoped Macha had been treating the gryphons well on Treoir, in preparation for when the day to choose arrived.

  Cathbad acted as if he hung on her every word. “I see. So, maybe you can tell me why these people are not livin’ with their families and friends in the human world now?”

  Loki grinned at the clever maneuver by Cathbad.

  The druid had put Evalle on the spot.

  If she didn’t support bringing the gryphons back to the human world, it would look as though they were being held on Treoir against their will. If gryphons were sent to the human world before an agreement was reached on the petition, they would be vulnerable with no pantheon to support them. The Medb would come after them, regardless of what VIPER thought. If one of the Alterants shifted into a gryphon in the human realm, even for defense, he or she would face trial by a Tribunal.

  She wanted full citizenship for those like her.

  In fact, she wanted them to be free of any pantheon to make their own decisions, but until that happened, the gryphons were better off on Treoir where they played a role in the island and castle security in exchange for Macha’s protection.

  Everyone waited on Evalle to say something. “I agree that gryphons should be allowed to live with their families and friends. I am willing to ask each gryphon, and determine which ones, if any, wish to visit Táur Medb.”

  “No, it’s half or nothing,” Cathbad demanded.

  Tzader said, “Evalle has made a reasonable offer. Where’s the Medb’s counter offer?” He’d thrown Cathbad’s words back at the druid.

  She loved that, but she was so tired of hearing yet one more person determined to run her life. She said, “Just once, I’d like to make a decision about my life. I’ve lived by my oath to the Beladors first and according to the laws of VIPER second. Beladors are held to a higher accountability than any other group. That alone should allow me some autonomy.”

  Loki actually grinned at her outburst, crazy deity that he was, and looked at the druid.

  Cathbad stewed a moment then said, “We propose that Evalle put this offer to the gryphons if she accepts the role of liaison and swears to perform that duty to this Tribunal so we can trust her actions.”

  Tzader said, “No. Macha has already addressed this issue.”

  Evalle breathed out her relief.

  Thank you, Macha. The goddess had saved Evalle from being stuck between Beladors and Medb, or even worse—having to visit TÅμr Medb to settle disputes. She never wanted to go back there.

  Evalle told Cathbad, “I’ve been with the Beladors my entire adult life. I am sworn to serve Macha. That makes it difficult for me to be impartial.”

  “Your answer is no? Who’s not being reasonable now, Belador?” Cathbad snarled.

  Stars glowed brightly and lightning ripped across the black sky from side to side.

  Loki shouted, “Silence.” He sent his thunderous gaze at Evalle and said, “You admit ruling the gryphons. Ownership of these beasts is a thorn in our side. We will not rule on the petition until there is peace between Medb and the Beladors or the gryphons will continue to be a constant issue.”

  I’m not a damn beast. She remained silent, because Loki was going somewhere with this. He didn’t make them wait long.

  Eyes speared at Evalle, Loki said in the most magnanimous voice, “I will grant your wish to make a decision.”

  That sounded really similar to the last time Loki had set her up to fail.

  Loki continued addressing Evalle. ”Neither Macha nor Maeve may speak for you at this moment, yet a choice must be made. You decide if you will accept the liaison position or not, but be forewarned that refusing it means this Tribunal will dec
ide the best place for the gryphons to be held until everything is resolved, which will very likely be in protective custody beneath the VIPER headquarters mountain.”

  She felt eyes on her and looked to see a twinkle in Sen’s gaze. He’d known this was coming.

  “You wanted a choice. Make your decision, leader of the gryphons,” Loki said with a supreme look of pleasure in his face.

  He’d done it to her again.

  Chapter 26

  Tzader couldn’t believe how easily Cathbad had turned the tables on the Beladors.

  Evalle hadn’t responded to Loki’s demands yet.

  Her throat moved with a hard swallow and he wanted to kill someone, but from the look on Storm’s face Tzader would have to stand in line behind the Skinwalker. If Storm went caveman in here, the Tribunal would lower the boom on both Evalle and Storm.

  Evalle said, “I’d like a moment to speak with my Maistir as I am still a Belador and have sworn my oath to them.” She finished that statement in Cathbad’s direction.

  The son of a bitch druid had a gleam of satisfaction in his eyes.

  Thunder rolled, then Loki spoke. “Granted. One minute.”

  Evalle swung to Tzader as he turned to her and Storm joined them in the huddle. Tzader started, “I’m sorry—”

  Evalle stopped him. “I know you and Macha tried to keep me out of this, but I am not going into protective custody.”

  “I’ll take you somewhere safe,” Storm interjected.

  “You can’t.”

  “You have no idea how many resources I have and I’ll tap every one of them.”

  Tzader lifted an eyebrow at that, but wanted to let Evalle say what she had in mind before time was up.

  She told Storm, “You’re right, I don’t know who you know, but it doesn’t matter. The minute I refuse to give them a solution, they’ll tell Sen to take me away. And not even Macha can stop that.” Evalle looked to Tzader. “Can she?”

  “Unfortunately, no. We need a plan for now that insures you leave here, then we’ll fix this mess later.” He shifted his attention to Storm. “We’ll all make sure she isn’t screwed on this deal.”

  Storm clearly didn’t like it, but nodded. “What’s next?”

  Evalle said, “I accept the position of liaison to keep peace for now.”

  Loki called, “Time’s up.”

  They broke the huddle and Evalle faced the dais with her shoulders squared. “I accept the position of liaison between the Beladors and the Medb.”

  “Well then,” Cathbad announced. “I say we put you to work.”

  Tzader had been waiting for Cathbad to get down to the real reason for this Tribunal.

  The goddess Justitia spoke up, lifting her ornately carved scales of justice. A gold blindfold kept her wavy brown hair off of what was an ordinary face for a goddess. Her simple gray gown wrapped around her feet and gave her the appearance of a living statue. She spoke with a rich vibrato that left no question as to her authority.

  “The Medb have brought an accusation of murder against the Beladors.”

  Tzader stiffened at her opening foray, but silence worked better with this bunch.

  Justitia stated, “During the last rotation of Earth, the Medb were ordered to deliver clear evidence of this or face sanctions. The Beladors will be given the same time to deliver their counter argument and proof of this being a false claim, if that is the case, or deliver the guilty party.”

  Tzader’s palms never sweated, but the Medb would be fools to take that risk of sanctions without clear evidence. Cathbad and Queen Maeve did not sound like fools.

  Tzader asked, “I request a chance to review the evidence.”

  “Granted,” Justitia replied. “Sen, liaison of VIPER, deliver the evidence.”

  Sen stepped forward and lifted a hand, which he then lowered and pointed at the ground, adding to the drama.

  A body took shape in the form of a man with his clothes half torn off. Gray skin covered the corpse’s face and arms that had been ravaged from an attack or while in a battle, which could mean the death had occurred during self-defense.

  There was no denying one piece of evidence.

  Evalle’s spelled blade had been buried in the man’s forhead.

  Cathbad launched into addressing the jury of deities. “Our warlocks have put their lives in danger for weeks to protect humans under the new rule of Queen Maeve. They’ve killed demons and caused no harm to others. But this poor warlock who had very little training only wanted a place to live and belong. He was no threat to someone as powerful as a Belador. His body was found in Stone Mountain Park the night she–” Cathbad pointed at Evalle and Storm’s fury surged.

  Thankfully, Evalle put a hand out, silently asking Storm to overlook a druid pointing a finger that could be considered a weapon. Immortal or not, Cathbad wouldn’t survive an attack on her in a Tribunal.

  The druid continued, “–claimed to have killed a demon on top of that mountain, but no evidence of such was found.”

  Evalle kept staring at the body. “I didn’t kill a warlock, Tzader.”

  “I believe you.”

  Cathbad shouted, “Do you deny that is your dagger?”

  Evalle lifted a stunned gaze to the gallery. “It is my dagger, but I killed a Réisc Dubh demon that night. The demon had a human glamour and was hunting humans when I first saw him. When I approached him and identified myself, he dropped his glamour and attacked me and I defended myself.”

  Cathbad asked, “What is your testimony, Sen?”

  “I was called to the top of Stone Mountain two nights ago, specifically to the cable landing platform.” Sen spoke as if he had been nothing more than a bystander to a terrible crime. The son of a bitch continued, “Evalle claimed she killed a demon. Her shirt was torn and bloody, but there was no sign of a demon inside the cable car she said contained a body.” He shrugged.

  That set off Cathbad. “Torn clothes and blood can be manufactured.”

  Tzader’s trepidation rose at the scene unfolding. This was too fucking perfect. Sen played the role of the innocent VIPER liaison sent to clean up a mess and was now feeding Cathbad lines with the skill of a straight man in a dark comedy act.

  Justitia called out, “How plead you, Evalle Kincaid?”

  “I did not kill a warlock, goddess.”

  The goddess cocked her chin in the druid’s direction. “What do you offer as conclusive evidence, Cathbad?”

  “The dagger, goddess. No one has been able to remove the blade. I request the Skinwalker try to withdraw the dagger.”

  Oh. Shit. Tzader looked at Storm who was clearly torn over what to do. Evalle gave Storm a watery smile. “Go ahead. Do what they ask.”

  Storm sent the promise of death in the look that he swept around the room.

  Loki, of course, found that amusing.

  Storm dropped onto one knee and put his other knee on the corpse’s chest to hold it down. He gripped the dagger handle with both hands and lifted. Muscles strained and bulged in his arms. Veins stood out on his neck.

  The head moved up with each new yank.

  After pulling for a full minute, Storm released the grip and dropped his head.

  Cathbad was on a roll and said, “This Skinwalker was brought into VIPER because he is an exceptional majik tracker. I request that he give testimony of the energetic residue left on the body and reveal if it belongs to anyone in this meeting.”

  Storm’s head snapped up and he jerked around, looking at Evalle.

  She kept her hands at her sides, but Tzader could see the tremble in her fingers. She told Storm, “Do as they say.”

  Storm’s gaze landed on Tzader with accusation burning. Storm had come here at Tzader’s request and now he was forced to give testimony against Evalle, because Tzader and everyone else in here knew that dagger wasn’t coming out unless she released the spell and removed the blade.

  Loki asked, “Is there a problem?”

  Tzader told Storm, “We’ll handl
e whatever comes of all this.” Then to appease Loki, Tzader explained, “This is Storm’s first Tribunal appearance and I failed to inform him of how things work.”

  Storm sent one more gut-wrenching look at Evalle then turned and lowered his head, sniffing.

  When he paused, hesitating to state what he’d discovered, Loki shouted, “You will immediately reveal what you have found or be banished from this world. No one defies a Tribunal.”

  Evalle whispered, “Please, Storm.”

  Storm stood and said, “There is a residue and it belongs to Evalle Kincaid.”

  Fuck. Tzader might be the one banished if he killed that druid.

  “There you go, goddess,” Cathbad called out, sounding as if he’d just rested his case.

  Storm asked, “Where was the body found?”

  Cathbad frowned at the question. “At the base of Stone Mountain. This warlock made a call for help and when one of our elite Scáth Force warlocks arrived, this one was dead and that dagger had been embedded so that it could not be removed.”

  “That is all,” Loki said in Storm’s direction.

  Storm walked back to Tzader and Evalle with fury spilling from his pores.

  She whispered, “It’s okay,” before Storm turned to stand as close to her as he could.

  He whispered, “No it’s not and I won’t let them take you.”

  Tzader’s sensitive hearing picked up Storm’s soft words. He had to get those two out of here without upsetting the Tribunal. He’d risk pissing off deities if it was his own neck on the line, but not when Evalle’s future was at risk and Storm stood ready to take on the universe to protect her.

  Cathbad said, “Evalle is known to carry a dagger that holds a spell she controls. I request that Evalle now try to remove the blade.”

  Justitia called out, “Granted. If the dagger is being held in place by a spell, you will release the spell and remove your dagger, Evalle. Understood?”

  “Yes, goddess.”

  Evalle wiped her hands on her pants as she stepped up to the corpse. She bent over the body, placing one hand on the grip, then whispered something and the blade pulled free without any resistance.