Council of Magic

by J. L. Hendricks

  He nodded and called for a couple more guys to help us. We were loaded up quickly and back home unloading into our garage before too long.

  “Let’s get upstairs with ice cream, and I’ll give you the message.” Jenna led us up to the apartment.

  Only Rico and Damien had joined us. Joseph had said he would call Indie the next day. Frankly, I was surprised he wasn’t jumping at the chance to spend time with us or Indie.

  Jenna took the half-gallon of chocolate and mint-chip carton out of the freezer. No one was really talking. I was thinking about what the vamp said. Was he a spy? Or did he change his mind about what his group wanted? It seemed really weird he would tell us this bit of intel.

  “Alright, we’re all sitting here with ice cream. What’s up?” Rico got straight to the point. Damien must have said something to him.

  “The vamp who was right in front of me, he had a message for you. Said you would know what to do.” I told them all, Indie and Sam included, what the informant said.

  “Do you think he was being honest?” Jenna asked.

  “Probably. We messed up their plans with Brad. They had to know he told us the timetable they had set up. It would make sense to move things up, if they had enough numbers to do it. The next full moon would really surprise everyone.” Rico rubbed the stubble on his chin and looked thoughtfully out the window.

  “So what do we do?” Jenna wondered.

  “I’ll visit the vampire queen on my way home. Those guys we saw were rogues, I think. I don’t recognize them so best bet is they are not part of the queen’s army.”

  “Over the past week, everyone from the pack have noticed more and more rogues coming to town lately. Or, possible just new vamps. There are a large number of new vampire faces. I’m not sure who they serve. It’s one of the questions I have for the queen.” Rico rubbed his chin and looked like he was thinking about something.

  “If they are recruiting, it would explain all of the new vamps. We will need to be on guard for the rest of the month” Rico set his bowl down on the table without even taking a bite of the chocolate ice cream.

  “I’ll reach out to the neighboring pack, see if they can send some warriors to help patrol. We should take out as many rogues as possible, even if they haven’t done anything yet. It’s better to be on the offensive than the defensive.” I hadn’t heard Damien talk so harsh before.

  He was usually the voice of reason. Not to say he didn’t love killing vamps, but to go on the offensive before they screwed up wasn’t something I had seen him do before.

  “There’s nothing more to be done tonight. Let’s eat our ice cream before it melts.” Not that I had much of an appetite now, I just didn’t want them to leave just yet.

  When we thought we had a few months left before the vampire version of Armageddon, I thought there would be time to get closer to Damien and see where this all led. With only a couple of weeks left, it seemed more real somehow. A shudder went up and down my spine, and not from the cold dessert on my tongue.

  20

  Damien

  “Rico, what did the vampire queen have to say last night?” When we left Kat’s place I went home and straight to bed. Needless to say, I didn’t get a good night’s sleep. It was just after seven in the morning, and I’d be lucky if I got three hours of sleep.

  “She thanked me for the intel and said her soldiers would take care of it. Like she can defeat the rogues without any assistance from us. Pfft. If the fighting didn’t affect the humans I would let her deal with it on her own.”

  “However, we all know the rogues, and most likely her own soldiers, will take humans to feed themselves or to replenish their troops as they need. Without any thought to the Accords and what it means to break them.” Rico looked as though he hadn’t slept at all.

  Which he probably hadn’t. I wouldn’t be surprised if he was up all night thinking about ways to protect the people of our hometown.

  “After lunch, I’ll call Timothy and see if he can send us more wolves. If the rogues win, vamps all over the world will start to break The Accords, and humans won’t stand a chance. Shoot, we may not stand a chance if they turn too many humans. I wish the witches would get their heads out of their a…” Joseph walked in before I could finish what I was saying.

  “Boss, Damien. I heard about last night. Indie just told me. What’s the plan?” Joseph took the seat next to mine.

  “We’re working on it. Damien’s going to ask for reinforcements from area packs. I need you to see if you can get the witch’s council to budge. They won’t help protect the humans. Maybe you can get them to see reason?” Rico ran his hand through his hair.

  This wasn’t going to turn out well, if we didn’t have some more help.

  “Can we get the vampire hunters to call in reinforcements? I don’t see why they wouldn’t want to help kill all of the rogues they can.” Joseph had a great idea.

  I’m sure I would have thought of it sooner or later.

  “Do you still have contacts within their ranks?” Rico stood up and walked to his bookshelf.

  He messed with the cross he kept on the top shelf. The vampire hunters had started out originally as a religious group, the cross has always been one of their prized symbols, even though it does nothing to a vampire.

  “Alright, we all have our assignments. Let me know as soon as you hear anything at all. Even if it’s a ‘no’, I want to hear about it.” Rico ushered us out of his office.

  I followed Joseph to the game room. “Have you spoken to Kat today? She was going to try and reach you.”

  “Yeah, she got on the phone after Indie. She told me about the seer and what she said. If anyone knows anything, it would be the council. I’ll see if Marco will speak to me. If not, we’ll have to ask Rebecca.” Joseph shook his head.

  I’m sure he was thinking the same as me: It would be a cold day in hell before Rebecca helped us.

  Joseph pulled his cell phone out of his pocket. “Here goes nothing.” He dialed Marco, and I listened in on the conversation. With my shifter hearing, I was able to hear the entire conversation.

  “Marco, it’s Joseph. How are you?”

  “I’m fine. Did you need something Aleric can’t help with?” Marco didn’t like to be bothered unless Aleric was unable to help Joseph.

  “Yes, I need to see if you know the history of Kat Deveroix? We just learned someone bound all of Kat’s shifting ability when she was just an infant. The pack wants that spell reversed.”

  “Sorry, I can’t help you.” Marco hung up.

  Joseph turned to me with wide eyes. “That was really strange. I don’t think he’s ever hung up on me before. There is definitely something weird going on with Rebecca and Kat. I’m going to have to see Rebecca in person. I can’t take the chance she’ll just hang up on me, too.”

  “I’ll go with you.”

  “Thanks, but I think I need Rico on this one. Since he’s the alpha, and Kat falls under his leadership, no offense, he is the one who can demand Rebecca remove the spell.”

  “Fine, but Kat and I will be joining you all. This is her life, and she has a right to be present when Rico is claiming her as an actual pack member. Hopefully, Rebecca will remove the spell right there. If so, we can begin Kat’s training. Maybe she can even be of help with tracking down the rogues.” I wasn’t going to let anyone keep Kat’s heritage from her.

  This was something she wanted, but more importantly, needed to know.

  I walked back to Rico’s office and knocked.

  “Come in.”

  “Rico, Joseph just spoke to Marco about Kat. We need you to go with us to speak to Rebecca. There is more going on than any of those stupid witches will admit to. Kat is under your purview, since she is a shifter. They did not have the right to block her shifting ability as a baby. We need to know why they did this and reverse it.”

  “What did Marco say?”

  “He hung up on Joseph. Wouldn’t even talk about it. His actions tell us there
is something fishy going on here. The way Rebecca acted toward Kat when they met also tells me they are keeping secrets about Kat. They know who she is.” I wondered if they could tell Kat anything about her birth parents. Kat was adopted at the age of four.

  What happened to her before she was adopted? What happened to her parents?

  “Let’s go. Did you want to bring Kat with us?” Rico must have read my mind.

  “Yes, I was going to call her once I spoke with you.”

  “Then call her and tell her to be ready. We’ll pick her up on our way over.” Rico stood up and walked to follow me out of his office.

  My boss was a great alpha. He had so many other concerns on his plate. The fact he was taking time out to do this just made me realize all over again what a good leader he really was.

  When we picked up Kat I had to ask her, “Are you sure you want to be a shifter? It will be a long journey learning how to control your anger and your shift. Children are kept out of the public until they can master their change. If you don’t want to do this, we will all understand. Last chance.”

  “I want to shift. This will give me even more ability to protect my family. I only hope we can find out who did this to me and why.” Kat jumped in the SUV with us.

  We took off toward the witch’s council chambers.

  21

  Damien

  Jeeves answered the door before we even knocked. “Good day Master Rico, Damien, and Mistress Kat. It is good to see you all again. Mistress Rebecca has been expecting you. Please do come in.”

  We arrived at the witch’s council chambers about an hour after Joseph tried speaking with Marco. I wasn’t sure if Rebecca would be in chambers or not. I was positive Marco told her about the call. So when we arrived, to say I was shocked we were welcomed in was an understatement.

  He led us to the council chambers. “Would you care for refreshments?”

  “Yes, please. Iced tea for me.” Rico responded.

  “I’ll take tea, too.” I said.

  I looked to Kat. “Iced tea please.”

  Joseph was the only one who didn’t care as much for iced tea. “Lemonade, please.”

  He always requested lemonade when it was an option. Not sure where he learned to love the stuff. Anyone who grew up in the south preferred iced tea. His preference always made him stand out from the rest.

  “I shall return shortly. Please, have a seat at the table.” Jeeves motioned to the large table before leaving to make our drinks.

  Before he walked out the door, he stopped and looked back over his shoulder. His eyes focused on Kat for a moment too long. If I didn’t know any better, he was trying to flirt with her. His smile for her seemed genuine and not frisky.

  He knew her history...

  At the last second, he looked at me and smirked, before walking out the door.

  He was the one who told Kat to find out why she couldn’t shift. Jeeves reminded her the shifter DNA was always dominant. For some reason, he wants her to know the truth about her past. What did he know? If Rebecca wouldn’t give us answers, I would have to find a way to get Jeeves to spill the beans.

  “What do you think? Will she be honest or just treat me like garbage again?” Kat was rubbing the back of her neck. I’d never seen her do so before. She must have been very nervous.

  I knew her last meeting with Rebecca was a rotten experience. Finding out the truth about her background is probably more important than how Rebecca will treat her, but somehow, I doubt she’s forgotten the cold shoulder she received not too long ago.

  A door across the room from the one Jeeves exited opened. In walked Rebecca and Marco. So he did know what was going on, he just chose to ignore Joseph’s request.

  “I’m not surprised you showed up so soon after speaking with Marco. Joseph, it’s always good to see you. The rest, well…I suppose it was inevitable.” Rebecca sashayed in with Marco right on her tail.

  Rico, as the alpha, took control of the situation. “Rebecca, Kat is part of my pack, and she is a shifter who has been blocked. As I understand it, you already know this.”

  He continued, “I demand, as her leader, you remove the block on her abilities. She’s a shifter and therefore under the protection of The Accords. No witch should have done this. Only the pack alpha could have approved this. There is no mention in my father’s journal about a situation even close to this.”

  “I won’t apologize for blocking Kat’s abilities. It was the only way she could have survived.” Rebecca sat at the head of the table, and Marco took the seat to her left.

  So, it was Rebecca who had done this to Kat. I was surprised she admitted it so easily.

  “Why did you block my ability to shift? How do you even know me?” Kat’s furrowed brow displayed her frustration.

  I felt for her. This had to be tough.

  “Your mother was my sister.”

  The silence in the room was deafening. Not in a million years would I have suspected this. Kat’s mouth kept opening and closing. I think we all felt just as flabbergasted.

  “Wait, I thought I was a wolf shifter. How can you be my aunt? Was my mom a wolf shifter?” Kat was in for a shock.

  She hadn’t figured it out yet. I wondered if I should tell her what it meant or let her mind catch up to the conversation.

  “You’re a hybrid. One of the worst abominations this planet has ever seen. You should have been killed along with your parents.” The evil look in Rebecca’s eyes told me she never wanted Kat to live.

  I bet she even tried to kill Kat herself.

  “If she is part shifter and part witch, how is it she went into the foster system? She should have been taken care of by you or by my pack. Who was her father?” Rico’s nostrils were flaring, and I could see the vein in his neck pulsing.

  This situation had just escalated beyond a simple removing of a binding spell. Rebecca was right; Kat should have never been allowed to live. She is the first of her kind, or at least, the first of her kind anyone has ever heard of. No alpha would have let the offspring live either.

  “I don’t remember the dog’s name. It might have been Magnus, or Mavis, I really don’t care. He took advantage of my sister. They never would have been a couple if he didn’t do everything in his power to charm her and get her into his bed. He would have made a rotten father.” Rebecca was still angry after almost twenty-five years.

  I took Kat’s hand in mine. She was not going to like what came next. Now I wish we would have brought Jenna too. Kat was going to need her sisters when everything came out.

  This made we wonder if I shouldn’t text Jenna and warn her. Maybe before we left I could send her a text to gather her sisters and close up the shop.

  Rico stood up looking at Kat and pursed his lips. “How is this even possible? Why?” Rico paced behind us running his hand through his hair.

  Technically, it was his responsibility to end Kat now. Although, since she had no powers it might not be an issue. He was probably going over this scenario in his mind right now. No matter what, I wasn’t going to let anyone hurt Kat. Even if it meant I would be ostracized as well.

  “When my sister was pregnant, a seer came to our council. At that time, I was not on it. Although, my mother was. I was being groomed for leadership. My sister, while older, had always been a handful and never wanted to lead the council. She would run off for weeks or months at a time, and when she returned, she never said what she had been up to.”

  Jeeves interrupted Rebecca and brought in our drinks. He started with Kat and offered her a warm smile. He was probably servant to the council back when Kat was born. He knew who she was all along. He must have wanted her to find out who she was for a reason. Had we not come here demanding the spell be lifted, we never would have known.

  Part of me wished we would have left it alone. Nothing good could come of this knowledge. I think I understood why Rebecca was so rude to Kat. If the council had gone according to the rules, we wouldn’t be sitting here now.


  As soon as Jeeves left, Rebecca continued, “The seer told us this unborn baby would do wondrous miracles one day. She would be the savior of our people. Of course, she needed to grow up first. History taught us a hybrid never made it past puberty, most died as infants. The seer suggested we bind her powers, all of them, and have her raised as a human. One day she would come upon her history.”

  Rebecca stopped to sip her iced tea. “The seer told my mother to do with her daughter as she saw fit, but she was not to harm a hair on the baby’s head. The entire council was so angry, they wanted to kill my whole family. The only way to keep the peace was to kill my sister and banish the baby after taking her powers.”

  Rebecca narrowed her eyes at Kat. “If you hadn’t been born, my sister would still be here. Maybe even my own mother. She died early from the stress and heartache of everything you caused. It’s your fault I had to be the one to kill my own sister!” She pointed her finger at Kat as spittle came out of her mouth.

  Rico ghosted to Rebecca’s side and slammed his hand on the table. “Stop it! You will not speak to Kat this way. She is your niece by blood, however much you want her dead. Just remember, she is part of my pack now. You tossed her out of your coven. She is under my protection, and you will not harm her or treat her with such disrespect again. Do you understand?”

  “Hmph. You have no power here in my council, little alpha.” Rebecca’s evil gaze roamed over all of us and landed on Rico.

  Rico stood tall and thrust out his chest. His aura was full of power. Anyone could sense the danger and authority he commanded.

  “I am Pack Alpha, as well as a member of the International Paranormal Council. I DO have power here, little witch. You may run this council, but you do not run the world, no matter what you believe.”

  Rebecca stirred in her seat. She pursed her lips and kept quiet.

  “Did my father know about the baby? Did he approve the death of Kat’s father?” Rico’s dad was alpha when Kat was born, so he had to have been in on all of this.