However, there was a growing movement led by the president to strip paranormals of those basic rights, stating they weren’t human.
Groups of scientists were gathering information on their biological structure to state they were indeed human and so far, the data was good.
Right. For shifters, witches, and vampires. Sure. But what about the others? Like dryads and elves?
One battle at a time.
The biggest issue they were fighting currently, however, was that the paranormals were rising as insurgents that could lead to a revolutionary war. In that instance, the president was within her rights to apply the full force of the U.S. military against the paranormal forces.
"That would be bad." Paige wasn't an idiot. She recalled the battles in the elven city and in Kansas. Paranormals fell pretty easily to bullets.
"Indeed, it would." Congressman Allen said bluntly, stepping toward them. He was a white, portly man in a well-made grey suit. "There is a very real possibility that this could ramp up to civil war. And that is a weapon we can use.”
This sounded a lot like chess. “How?”
“Let’s say for a moment that you did take us to civil war,” he said and then paused as if waiting for her to say something.
Like refute their intentions? No.
He raised a pale eyebrow and continued. “The power of the United States would not nearly be as great as the president seems to think."
“Agreed.” Paige was glad the threat didn’t go unnoticed. The threat of states leaving the Union was a big one.
According to the congressman, as soon as the states formally filed their intent to secede from the Union, they could then pull all of their resources.
Paige had done a lot of homework in her free time and knew what he was talking about. Exports. Market. Money. Taxes.
The real power of government.
According to their calculations, if most of the western states decided to secede—as they already had the votes to do—then the exports would be removed from the federal government. Without those exports, the United States would have no financial backing for their debts. Without that, the United States would go bankrupt.
"That is how you win this war," Congressman Allen said. "Not with magick. Not with your political baby-kissing campaign. With the power of money."
That wasn’t a game she had experience in, but she was willing to learn. "How do I use this?"
“You’ve already started it,” Congresswoman Jacobs said. “You got votes to secede. You’ve got a lot of states, but no one has officially filed yet.”
There wasn’t actually a method for that, which was holding them up.
“The president,” Congressman Allen said gruffly, “has been playing this game a long time. She’s going after some of the states you won and she’s trying to win them back.”
“How?” Because, if the president was offering the states money, that was something Paige couldn’t follow with. She struggled to pay her portion of the house mortgage, and it was divided by five pay checks.
This was where the conversation took a turn she was more than a little uncomfortable with.
“We’re offering you a seat in the government as the representative of your people,” Congressman Allen said.
Her people. Paige wanted to snort but refrained. “What does that mean?”
“You’d have a voice,” Congresswoman Jacobs said. “The paranormals would be acknowledged.”
“Uh-huh.” Paige was waiting.
But instead of talking about registrations and collars and everything else the president had mandated, they turned the conversation to something that made her a little more uncomfortable.
She could then go to the senators and congressmen and the media as the official spokesperson and regain the ground she’d lost.
“Lost?”
“Utah is already backing out of the secession order,” Congressman Allen said. “With Utah, there’ll be others.”
“But not Colorado,” Congresswoman Jacobs said. “If you can keep Colorado, you’ve got a powerful play to make.”
One of her assistants came up to her. “You’ll want Colorado,” he said, his voice pitched high, “California, Washington, and Montana. Also, if you could keep Alaska?” He winced and moved his head from side-to-side. “That one could be good too.”
They were talking resources like oil and food. They didn’t even know of the real resource Alaska had. “You’ll want to keep Alaska.”
Congressman Allen raised his face in the air as if scenting it, then smiled. “Of course. That’s what we’re proposing you focus on in the next several days, keeping and winning back the states you’ve lost and will lose as the president works to regain ground.”
Paige’d come a long way from being a detective.
" All you're doing,” Congressman Allen said, “is developing a credible threat that you are then going to hand over to the president and the media."
Paige could do that. “Who am I focusing on? The people? Or government people?”
A woman with shoulder-length dark hair and a maroon-colored business suit stood and walked toward them. "You need to address the world and the world leaders.”
“Congresswoman Hernandez,” Congresswoman Jacobs said, introducing the new woman.
Paige nodded and listened to what she had to say.
Congresswoman Hernandez gave her an appreciative smile. “The president needs to understand how much she could lose. We just need you to stir the other world leaders so that they also inform her of the tenuous position she's in.”
Paige wasn’t going to focus on the fact she was out of her element. "What’s the end game? What are we hoping to achieve?"
Congresswoman Hernandez perched on the edge of the table and folded her arms over her slender form. "The president has already overstepped her power. We are voting for an impeachment investigation. However, there are several in the House who aren't sure which way to vote. So, what we’re really hoping is that you clear the field to impeachment."
“Impeachment.” Well, if the president were removed from her post, that could drop the threat entirely. Unless someone else picked it back up again.
"We need you," Congresswoman Jacob said evenly, "to show them how far she's willing to go and how willing she is to break her oath of office. But to do that, you need a voice that can’t be silenced quite so easily."
"So, you want me to bait a trap."
"Yes." Congressman Allen stood. "We have already called the media. There will be several options for interviews. We highly recommend that you take them."
Paige reminded herself that they were running out of time. "I need to know how legal her terms are."
Congresswoman Jacobs straightened in her seat. "What terms?"
Paige spelled out for them what the president had offered them. How they were being forced to register and how they would be forced to live on risk reservations and incarceration camps. She informed them that paranormals were already being gathered and thrown into prison against their will.
"So, that's what that was about." Congresswoman Hernandez shook her head, her expression filled with astonishment. "We’d heard there was an insurgent movement in one of the private prisons. But no one had any information. Now we know why. It was a cover-up."
A cover-up? That had to be good. "We can share that information."
Congresswoman Jacobs shook her head. "You need to be very careful about providing and sharing information. It not only shows that the president went too far, but it also shows that you did. You basically declared war as soon as you invaded that prison."
Paige pulled her phone from her pocket. It looked like it was going to be a long few days. “As far as traps go, this one is the furthest away from what I expected. I need to let my people know I’m okay and that I’ll be busy for a while.”
Congresswoman Jacobs nodded. “You should, yes. You’re not out of the woods yet, though. There’s more to it than a speech.”
And then, for the next three hours, Paige and her entourage were shuffled from one location to the next while video cameras were put in her face as she talked delicately around explosive points.
She was officially sworn in as the Secretary of Paranormal Relations, which, as the news stories were blowing up, was a big deal. The president still had to officially appoint her, and her appointment had to be approved by the Senate, so the swearing in was a dog and pony show intended to force the hand of the president.
However, the question was whether or not she’d be invited to sit on the National Security Council, which…probably not. However, it would be a relatively good idea.
If she were awarded the appointment by the president and the Senate, she’d be on the Cabinet, would advise the president, and would be eighteenth in line of presidential succession.
Yeah. Paige…that. Fuck. It probably wouldn’t happen.
Her acceptance speech was pretty simple. She’d had thirty minutes to alter what her speech writer, Aaron Rogers, had given her. She was given talking points for interviews that took up the next two days as just about every news program wanted to talk to her.
The reporters who had been with her during her first trip to D.C. were doing their utmost best to try to reconnect with her, to get her to divulge more information. She didn’t burn any bridges, but she did let them know that, if they really wanted to build relationships, they’d help her not crash and burn in her first week on the job.
The president’s reporters wanted verification of just how dangerous the paranormals were. The president had “proof,” and Paige needed to provide some of her own that they were harmless. However, she had to be careful of what she shared because she hadn’t been entirely in the right.
The elven city was off the list of conversation topics because the world didn’t need to know about an alternate dimension. Imagine what some of the other countries would do if they found out they could invade elven lands? That sort of thing.
Kansas couldn’t be talked about because while her access to the internet had been cut off, someone had captured the final moments of that battle, and they didn’t want it to be publicly aired. They’d deal with the fallout if it happened, but it would be best if she didn’t talk about it.
And she absolutely couldn’t mention how she’d illegal broken into a prison and rescued illegally incarcerated paranormals. The question would be raised as to who the bigger criminal really was.
Her talking points were pretty limited.
By the end of two days, Paige was exhausted. She was more than grateful for her trial run with the twins. She’d have been lost otherwise, but she still wished she could punch a few of the reporters in the throat. However, she stayed to the script and kept things on an even keel.
Until one of the interviews was interrupted.
The producers and the reporter were quite upset and let the people watching know that this was unconstitutional.
However, it was the Secret Service, so they couldn’t do much more than that. Paige was gathered, her entourage left to fend for themselves. She tried to take Bonnie with her, but that request had been firmly denied.
She wasn’t going to let them know she also had the ability to open doors. Sometimes. Not regularly.
Paige followed them to the black SUV. "Where are we going?"
The lead security person just looked at her and said nothing.
Outside, Naomi was there to greet them in one of the black SUVs. She plastered on a smile, but it was a little thin.
"I hope you're okay." Paige wasn't certain what else to say to Naomi. The last time they had been together, Naomi had almost become a friend. But would she still be a friend? Would she still be friendly?
“Congratulations on your assignment.”
“Thanks.” Though Paige would like to know what the woman really thought of it.
Naomi focused her attention on Paige. "The president would like to have a word with you. I recommend going in there with an open mind."
Paige didn't have to ask for more information than that. She was about to receive new terms, and it probably would not be in her favor.
Time to see if she’d learned enough to negotiate better this time.
33
Paige didn't know what to expect this time, but she mentally prepared herself for the worst. She wasn’t going to play nice or give the president the upper hand. They were already declaring war, so there was no reason to play to the president’s tenderer side.
This time, when Paige walked into the Oval Office, the president was already waiting for her and in a full temper. “Secretary of Paranormal Relations? Really?”
As if it had been her idea. “We have a voice now. It’ll be harder to snuff us out.”
“I haven’t appointed you.”
“I’m aware.”
“You don’t get a voice unless I give it to you.”
Paige pointed to the TV, where she was shown giving an interview. “I think you’ll find it’s harder to shut me up than you hoped.”
The president rolled her eyes. "I thought when I offered the peace deal, you would at least think about it before taking it this far."
Paige understood this tactic, trying to put her on the defensive. She wasn’t taking the bait. She inhaled for a two count. "If it had really been a peace deal, we probably would have considered it. But I told you what we would and would not accept and you blatantly ignored me."
"You didn't even give me an opportunity to take your demands to Congress."
"You’ve had days and you’ve done nothing. This was nothing more than a false olive branch to say you tried. Everything you’ve done so far has been through executive orders. You aren’t working with your government. You’re acting for them, which could be seen as an abuse of power."
The president's eyes flared as she came around her desk. “Are you really threatening what I think you are?”
If the president thought Paige was flaunting impeachment, there was very little Paige could do to make that happen, but, “Yes,” she’d be doing everything in her power to support that action.
The president was quiet for a jaw-clenching moment. "Do you have any idea the magnitude of responsibility of this office?"
Paige was now the governmental representative to the paranormal society, and while she hadn’t been assigned an office yet or a full team to help her navigate the political waters, and while she hadn’t been handed a laundry list of paranormal issues through governmental channels, she felt the weight of it. "You’re abusing the powers you gave an oath to use to protect the citizens of your country. That's what I understand. And I also understand that you believe you’re doing this to protect them because of what happened to you."
The president stopped several arms lengths away and gestured to Paige in irritation. "Why wouldn't you want to do what is right?"
"I am doing what's right. I think you need to figure out your definition of right a bit better."
The president pulled back as though she had been slapped. "You're trying to tell me I'm wrong. That trying to go after a rapist is wrong."
"You’re killing children to go after one man who’s been dealt with because it wasn’t ‘handled’ the way you wanted." Paige stared at this woman hard, wondering how she’d be able to advise her if she was given the real appointment in the Cabinet. “No. You don’t get to use that as a justification for this.”
"You go too far."
"I don't think so.” What would too far look like, though? “Do you really think that you're right?”
"Yes." There was no room in her tone that said she had any doubt.
Paige wanted to leave right then and there. However, she knew that this was a fight she had to win. No magick. No bullets. Just her intellect and the power of words. "Why? Because we have teeth and claws?"
The president curled her upper lip slightly. "Yes."
"Why? Because we have magick?"
"Yes." The president was getting more defensive. She crosse
d her arms over her chest and blinked.
"How do you think we have survived this long without being discovered?"
The president shook her head and looked around. "You kill those who get too close to the truth or you turn them."
"Do you have proof of this?"
"You have magick. You can make people forget."
If only it worked that way. "You think you know a lot when you have no idea. It doesn't work that way."
"Except that's exactly what your grandmother did to you.”
Alma had made Paige forget she’d had a daughter after Rachel had taken her because Paige had reacted emotionally and had summoned a demon to handle the situation.
The president smirked. “We have it on record that this type of magick does exist and that it is used. How many times has it been used to bury situations? Or to make things disappear? Or to make people forget they even had kids? We won’t ever know. Not until we eradicate the world of your kind.”
Paige wasn't certain who was feeding her this nonsense, but it was just rational enough to have basis.
It was time to shift the negotiation. She had to remember that was what this was. Negotiation. "You bring actual cases to me, and we’ll investigate. We’ll gather evidence. We’ll put together trials. But you cannot incarcerate an entire population based on the suspicion that a handful of people have committed crimes."
"If we can't get to the truth any other way, then that is exactly what needs to happen."
"By that reason, we should incarcerate all humans because you personally have proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that humans are capable of incredible evil. You should be eradicated."
The president's eyes twitched.
That hit. "Who's to say that being bitten or turned or finding out you have magick doesn't save them from the evilness of being a mundane? After all, look at what you’ve done. You have killed, Madame President. You've killed children. All in the name of protecting yourself. Did those toddlers do something to you?"
Doubt entered the president's colored eyes. "I didn’t authorize kids to be killed."
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