I could well believe anything negative of Erossi, but I wasn’t sure he had the smarts to pull off such a scheme. His ego was too big to keep his antics hidden, I reckoned. Also, he was a runner-in on the Council in the grand scheme of things. He had replaced Eddie, who lost his seat when he disgraced himself somehow. The market had probably been going on for a very long time. And that could implicate Koda, Fionnuala, or even Eddie Brogan.
I turned my gaze to the Consultants: Eddie, the Keeper of Knowledge and Watcher of Sleeping Gods, aka he who steals souls; Aiden, Head Guardian and Shifter Alpha; Reuben, vampire ancient and virgin-blood drinker; Elathan, a dark-eyed demon I hadn’t actually met; and the witch, who looked very different from the first time I had seen her. The witch brimmed with power and dealt in black magic. The witch had also been spending a lot of private time with Eddie.
I took a seat behind Daimhín’s crowd and watched Esther move toward her brother. Sitting next to him, she spoke clearly, and everyone listened. She was young and pretty, and people underestimated her, but her bear form was ferocious, and her older alpha brother made sure people gave her attention and respect.
“I went to England a couple of days before the others. As planned, I headed to Liverpool to join them. I never saw them there, and I believe they were murdered. I made contact with two vampire slaves who filled me in on what’s been happening. The BVA were outraged that nominations took place without them. They returned early, and from what I heard, murdered the recent members of the Committee in front of an audience to make a point.”
A lot of murmuring followed.
Esther held up her hand. “There is no longer a Committee in the UK. I tried to check out the situation, but I was attacked by vampires. I barely made it away, and I was protected by the slaves I already mentioned. They risked their lives to care for me, and I name them friends of the pack and under our protection.”
Aiden didn’t seem surprised, and I wondered whose idea that had been. Once spoken, it couldn’t be undone; that was the pack’s way, apparently.
“There’s open fighting in the streets. Humans are being dragged from their homes and drained publicly. Alliances are being made, and it sounds as though the tides are turning against any fae over there in particular. I haven’t discovered who the UK vampires have allied with, but as soon as they take full control there, I am certain they will move here next.”
Koda glanced at Daimhín. “Can we depend on you?”
“I haven’t allied myself with anyone. Not even you, Koda. Winston hasn’t contacted me directly, but it’s been made clear that I ally with him or die.”
“Ally with him, and you will die,” Erossi snapped.
“I have a few secret weapons,” she said with a lazy smile. “I will do what’s best for my coven first and foremost. The rest of the vampire clans will follow; I’ve seen to that. Of course, if you wish to use my seer, I’m sure we can work out some kind of mutually beneficial deal.”
Erossi’s nostrils flared with anger. Daimhín had them by the balls because they needed the seer to get them ahead.
“Instead of waiting around,” the witch said suddenly, distracting everyone, “we should attack. I belong to a strong coven of witches who would be willing to take drastic measures to protect our country.”
“Marina, what do you propose?” Koda asked.
“Destroy the island itself,” she said with a queer smile. A shiver ran down my spine.
“You mean kill everyone, including millions of innocent people,” I said, unable to keep my mouth shut any longer.
She gave me a hateful look. “I mean protect our people, by any means possible.”
“Bullshit,” I said. “If they come, we fight, but we have enough trouble here without asking for more. Murdering innocents… what the hell is wrong with you?”
“Normally, I would be inclined to agree with you, but they outnumber us,” Koda said.
“So? You think they’re going to send every single body over here to fight us? No. Despite their numbers, they can’t afford to divide the protection so drastically. They think we’re useless, and in fairness, right now they’re correct about that. Point is, they think so little of us that they’ll likely send a few people over, threaten us a couple of times, yada yada yada. They aren’t going to launch a full-scale attack when they still have to control their own country. The people they killed have others behind them. They aren’t going to lie down without putting up a fight. No, they aren’t going to come for us in huge numbers.”
I stood up. “But if they did decide to attack, they would do something like, oh, I don’t know, create an entire army of beasts and send them over here. But of course, you’ve all been dealing with the formula situation, right? Couldn’t be possible if you’ve actually done what you were supposed to do.”
I sat back down, breathless, and the room erupted into arguments, accusations, and more. Everyone turned on each other within seconds. Fionnuala had to send a blast of wind around the room to get them to settle down again. Daimhín’s hidden smile barely concealed her pleasure.
“Instigator,” Fionnuala hissed at me.
“Because I’m honest?” I asked. “There’s more than one seer out there, and I’ve been told what the vampires are up to. I’m warning you all, like I’ve warned you before, but as always, you aren’t going to listen.”
“What seer?” Gabe asked, his voice less harsh than usual, and everyone else quietened to listen to us.
“One under protection,” I said. “One who might be persuaded to help, as long as a few promises are made first.”
“She’s as bad as Daimhín,” Erossi said.
The vampire queen snarled, but I knew her displeasure was focused on me.
“I can get to the slave market,” I said. “But I need more people to get the children out of there safely. I need help arresting everyone involved, so we can find out who exactly is in charge of it.”
“Why would we involve ourselves in that?” Marina asked scornfully. “Give up our fighters for a lost cause? Idiotic.”
“Because it’s the right thing to do,” I said. “There are children down there. Innocent people. And the goodwill bonus would be worth it,” I added hastily, still hoping to persuade Fionnuala and Koda.
“I’ll go with you,” Esther said, winking at me.
“How can we even be sure she can find her way to the market?” Fionnuala said. “What if she’s leading our people into danger?”
“It is dangerous,” I said. “The market’s in hell.”
Again, control was lost in the room. All kinds of accusations and protests mingled with the greater good comments. What if I was leading them to their deaths purposely? What if I opened the gates to let something out? What if the children themselves were more dangerous than the beings who had taken them in the first place?
While everyone argued, Gabe confronted me privately. “Do you know what you’re doing?”
“No. But it’s worth a shot. The whole point of being a leader is protecting your people. That means everyone, even the weakest. Nobody gets left behind. That’s what your Guardians say, right? Well, that’s how it should be. We’re all a part of this country, and if the shit really does hit the fan, we’ll need everyone we can get to join the fight.”
He nodded, and I could see he was taking my words under consideration for a change.
“And I told you to take the formula situation seriously,” I scolded as we watched people argue vehemently.
“I know.” He sighed. “Old rules make bad decisions in a modern world.”
“So change it. Do something good.”
“When I do, I’ll be gone. I’ll leave them all to their own devices. And then where would you be?”
I stared at him, but I couldn’t get any idea of what he was really thinking.
Once Fionnuala got everyone settled again, opinions remained divided.
“We can’t go to Hell,” Fionnuala said. “It’s too dangerous. How do you even know
you can find the way?”
“She found me,” Esther said. “She can do it. I still volunteer, and I encourage Guardians and shifters alike to join me.”
“But the beings down there are just half-breeds,” Erossi said. “Either they’re not useful, or they have power that could harm us all. Better to let them rot.”
“Hold on,” I said, fury burning through my veins. “They’re children. And you really think it’s better to let a child with power be bought by something evil? To be trained to do bad things? Because that’s what they’re learning down there. To hate and hurt. They’re taken away from their families, they lose their names, and they lose their sense of worth. The only thing keeping most of us on the right track is what we have to do for the greater good. They have no sense of that. They have nobody to do it for. There’s power in a stolen child. And it’s about time we were seen to make a stand.”
Gabe stood. “I’m on her side. She’s right. She’s always been right.” He sounded so weary that I almost felt sorry for him.
Koda agreed with Gabe. “I’d like to see this happen before I pass on.”
Erossi refused. Marina refused. Aiden stood next to his sister, but he didn’t look happy about it. Coyle stood with him, to my surprise. Or maybe he needed to be there to make sure we didn’t figure out who was really in charge. It wouldn’t have surprised me if I found out he was heavily involved in the slave market.
Esther’s Guardian circle volunteered to accompany me. Random people spoke out in favour, and before long, the room was buzzing with excitement.
“I still have a few rules,” I said. “I have someone who will guide the way, but I need assurances that she will not be harmed afterward. She needs protection, too.”
“Protection from who?” Koda asked.
“Uh, the Council,” I admitted. “She’s pretty much outlawed right now. But it’s through no fault of her own. Or, at least, not all of her own fault, so I’ll need any possible charges against her dropped.”
Fionnuala swore under her breath, and a strange heat rose from the ground.
I carried on hurriedly. “Also, I decide who stands with me in the leading attack. We’ll need others to tend to the children afterward. The children cannot be taken into the cells, especially not if that’s where their captors will be. Some of the bodyguards are innocent. I don’t want any deaths to come out of this.”
“You ask too much.” Fionnuala’s agitation was obvious.
“No, I don’t. I don’t ask enough. The people down there were most likely raised in the market. They don’t have a say in what they’re doing. We need them to talk so we can get to the top of the chain. It’s the only way.”
“We’ll discuss it amongst ourselves,” Fionnuala replied. “But it must happen as efficiently as possible. There will be a plan of attack, and you will not be in charge of my people. I don’t trust you, and I fear you’re leading us into a battle we cannot win.”
“And what of the war in the UK?” Esther asked, distracting everyone before people could start backing out because of Fionnuala’s words.
“We’ll meet again. I tire of this.” Fionnuala left the room abruptly, and the numbers dwindled until there were just a few of us left.
“I need to get back,” I told Esther as Eddie approached me. He had been conspicuously silent throughout the proceedings.
“I’m proud of you,” Eddie said before I could leave. “You’re making the first step toward change. I’m excited to see how you will disrupt the Council in future. Perhaps when the vampires come, you can repay me one of those many favours you owe me.”
I gulped as he walked away, feeling as though he had just physically marked me. Maybe the vampires would never come. Maybe I would wriggle out of his grasp.
Esther went home to heal herself fully, and I slipped away before Gabe or Aiden or anyone else could pull me into an argument. I headed back to Folsom’s place, knowing full well I was being watched. I couldn’t stop my hands from shaking, from exhilaration, fear, and doubt. I had given away a lot of secrets in an effort to make my first real deal with the Council. And if they succeeded in fulfilling their part, what would come next? Could I even persuade Lucia to help the Council? There was only one way to find out.
I was back in the Féinics before I knew it, expectant faces all around me. I relayed what had happened as clearly as possible, hoping they wouldn’t judge me too harshly.
“So that’s the deal,” I said, looking at the twins and Val. “I didn’t mention Leah at all, but I asked for protection for the twins and Val. It’s easier that way. I don’t want Leah to end up in a cell again. Are you willing to give them info on the BVA, Lucia? Or is that too much?”
She glanced at Lorcan, gripping his hand tightly.
“She’ll do it,” he said. “If it means the market will disappear.”
“What if it springs up again?” Folsom asked. “Somewhere else?”
“Weeds grow. We have to keep pulling them out and throwing them away,” I said firmly. “No giving up. This is just the first step. If we can find out who’s in charge, it will make everything easier.”
“But what if it’s one of the Council?” he persisted. “What then? We can’t fight them.”
“We can do this one thing. The children are the most important point right now. After that, we deal with whatever else comes along. You can go live your lives if you like, but I’m in this for the long haul.”
We agreed to meet again and soon. I just wanted to go home and shower. I didn’t say a word to Peter or Carl when I got home. I refused to hug Emmett. I scrubbed myself for half an hour to get dried hell hound blood out from under my fingernails. It was vile, putrid stuff, thicker than normal blood.
I stayed under the water for longer, just thinking about what had happened. It seemed surreal once I was back home. I had Val, a part-hell hound warrior, Lucia, a seer, and Esther, a werebear. I had to depend on all three in very different ways, but depend on them all the same. We were about to fight a big fight, and even bigger ones might be coming. Still, the reluctance of the Council to defend their own rattled me most. They were willing to sacrifice their own people to ignore a problem. Worse was the fact they were willing to destroy an entire nation of people, all to ensure the deaths of a couple of their targets.
These were the people I was connected to. These were the people I worked for. What did that make me?
Chapter Twenty-One
“Apparently, they made it back right before Helena died,” I said, taking a deep breath and looking at my friends for the first time since I began relaying what had been happening. My head was a whirlwind of confusion and disaster, as everything new I had learned jumbled with the old news.
Carl shook his head. “That’s sad.”
“At least she got to see them again. I think she was trying to hold on, just in case. So now I’m going to wait and see if they’ll help me.”
“You don’t think they’ll keep to their word?” Peter asked.
“It’s not that. It’s just that this is their first taste of freedom, or at least, it will be when they actually leave Folsom’s place. They still have to get over being reunited with, and then losing, their mother, and they’re in a place a fae who was likely their father managed to create. I’m not going to get on their backs about it.”
Peter frowned. “Maybe you need to remind them what the cost is.”
“I’m letting them mourn, Peter,” I said, surprised by his coldness.
“I know. But the Council is going to form a group soon. You need to be ready to find the slave markets. You need to be ready for everything.”
“I’ll figure out a way. With or without them. I have to do it. They don’t.”
“You made a deal,” Peter began, but Emmett and Dita trooped in, defusing the tension.
“You two doing okay?” Carl asked, ruffling Emmett’s hair.
“Just getting a drink.” Emmett led Dita into the kitchen.
Carl laughed abruptly.
“What?” I asked, confused.
“They look like a miniature version of you two. Him leading the way, her trotting after him.”
I stared at Carl for a few seconds in amazement. His laughter died away, and he cleared his throat.
“I’m going for a walk,” I said. What a dick, I thought.
Yvonne arrived as I was leaving. We both kind of stood there looking at each other for an awkward moment.
“I want to see my nephew.” She tried to brush past me.
I caught her arm, and she shrugged me off indignantly.
“I have a right to see him.”
“Why are you still working for Daimhín?” The question had been burning for a while now.
“I don’t know, because I like it? Maybe the pay is good.”
“She knew he was back, and she didn’t even tell you.”
Her eyes narrowed, and I saw something in her that I had seen in Peter many a time—a thirst for revenge. She made a show of buttoning her coat and smoothing her perfectly blow-dried brown hair.
“Why would a queen even think of something like that?” she asked primly.
“Don’t do anything stupid,” I said before turning abruptly to leave.
I only intended to stretch my legs, but Yvonne’s presence at my home called for my absence, and I found myself heading toward my grandmother’s house. She wasn’t there, so it didn’t matter, but I called her at the hotel and asked her what kinds of things she needed from home. She rattled off a list as though she had expected my call.
The neighbourhood hadn’t changed much over the years. More mature families, maybe, and once again, I wondered how I had hidden in full view for so long. Leah was running around everywhere, ducking her head to escape attention, while I acted like a normal kid in many ways. The more I thought about it, the more I realised someone had helped hide me. There was no way an ordinary woman could have kept me hidden.
I should have gone to the twins. Peter was right. It was better for everyone if they remained firm in their desire to end the market. I didn’t fear them backing out, but if they did, I would respect their decision because I cared about them. But the more I cared, the harder decisions became. I felt as though I were being torn in several different directions, but if I had to pick one thing I wanted to do, it would be to join Emmett and Dita in my back garden to forget about everything else.
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