“What about Esther?” I asked. “Mac can’t be allowed to hunt her down.”
“It’s not just Mac who’s looking for her,” Callista said. “She’s a danger to all of us.”
“How can you, of all people, say that?” I asked. “Your own sister trusted Esther with her life. Esther’s not
dangerous
. She’s injured.”
“An injured animal can be the most dangerous,” Daimhín said. “Tell her to join a pack, for her own sake.”
“If she returns to the pack, Mac will make her take Aiden’s punishment,” I said, horrified.
The vampire queen shrugged. “We all have sacrifices to make.” She left the table, but as she passed us, she gave Breslin a long, hard look. “If you’re ever in need of employment, I’m always interested in a mind like yours.”
Breslin gave her a polite smile. “I’m afraid I only have room for one client.”
Daimhín shot a glare my way. “And that’s her, I suppose.”
“She’s stuck with me,” Breslin said.
The vampire queen moved on, followed by Layla and James. Callista and Willow hesitated near us after the others left.
“I truly had no idea that Mac’s actions had escalated so,” Callista said.
I avoided looking into her eyes or getting too close to her. I nudged Peter when his jaw dropped open. He tried to shake off the siren’s unintended lure, but I expected him to be afflicted for hours. Breslin was looking very interested in his shoes, but Callista seemed not to notice how uncomfortable the rest of us were. The siren’s personal space was way too inviting for the average person.
“You must be careful,” Willow said. “Mac has proven himself to be quite hotheaded, but other factors are at play.”
“You mean the paragon,” I said.
“Regis? You know why he’s here?” Callista asked.
“I didn’t know his name, but I was warned about him a year ago,” I said. “I thought he had left.”
“So did we,” Willow said. “Yet he kept returning, for no obvious reason, and now he sees us when we’re at our worst. That makes me worry.”
I didn’t have to think too hard to realise she was worried about me. “I haven’t done anything to risk his attention on me.” I winced. “Except this meeting.”
“It’s enough that he’s aware of you,” Callista said. “I must leave. I have a meet-and-greet tonight.” She air-kissed me before leaving.
Willow sighed. “It’s exhausting being around her. But that was a good move you made tonight.” She looked at Breslin with interest. “And quite a bluff.”
He smiled. “I have no idea what you’re referring to.”
“Where’s Mac?” Peter asked, after recovering a little once Callista had left the room.
“I don’t know,” Willow said. “That’s troubling in itself, although it likely points out his guilt some. I do hope he doesn’t get his hands on that poor girl.”
“Any idea what exactly will happen to Esther?” I asked.
She shook her head. “The shifters are intensely private about their traditions. All I know is that Mac has been claiming ancient rites and customs in a bid to get what he wants.” She held up her hands. “I know the country expects us to make a new world here, but we can’t completely ignore the history and culture of an entire species, either. We’re in a difficult position, and Mac has been slowly taking advantage of that since Phoenix left.”
“I’ve been hearing rumours,” I said. “Free shifters have been disappearing. Once Mac sets his gaze on someone, nobody hears from them ever again.”
“You think he’s murdering his opposition?” Willow asked, aghast.
I shrugged. “Or holding them close, taking their freedom. What if I found evidence of that? Would that make a difference?”
“We need to step away from things like slavery,” Willow said coldly. “If the media gets hold of this, it would cause riots in the streets.” She cocked her head to the side. “Again.”
“Say we kept it quiet, and instead we brought it to the Senate… could you do something then?”
“We could put Mac on trial,” she said excitedly. “He might lose his place on the Senate. But what of the shifters? Without Mac to control them, they might run wild.”
“The vampire queen tipped me off about a new shifter who might be challenging Mac’s position. Apparently, this could be causing his frantic searches.” I smiled. “It would be an easy solution, all the same.”
“Unless they’re worse than he is about ancient rites.” She tapped her chin with her pen. “If you find anything, bring it to me personally. I’ll organise a proper investigation through the appropriate channels.” She winked at me through her glasses. “We’ll make an excellent team, Ava Delaney. Just give me a little time.”
“Well,” I said. “If anyone needs an advocate, it’s shifters who are being forced to stay in a pack by a Senate member, right?”
By the time we left, I’d started to believe we actually had a workable plan.
Chapter Five
I sat across from Anka at her kitchen table and tried to ignore the rank smell coming from the pot on the stove. Anka’s tastes were a little beyond mine sometimes, and I couldn’t tell if she was stewing dinner or a potion for the shop. Val, Margie, Peter, and Carl completed the circle. The children were all at school, and Carl, who worked at the school part-time, had taken the afternoon off so we could all talk unhindered. Peter and I caught everyone up on what had happened at the meeting.
“So,” I said. “We’ll all be reimbursed eventually, but Breslin is ready to throw his smarts at them if they try to slow things down.”
“It doesn’t make up for the loss of time,” Margie said.
“No, it doesn’t,” Peter said, “but it’s a hell of a lot better than nothing.”
“So we wait,” Anka said. “And if we restock our shelves, are our products safe?”
“Breslin’s organising surveillance over all of our properties, including the cul-de-sac. I know it’s a little too Big Brother, but maybe we should have gone down this route a long time ago.”
“That sounds pricey,” Carl said.
“It’s worth it for our safety.” But inwardly, the cost was making me queasy. Being a landlady had turned out to be expensive. “And that’s another thing. They destroyed property, but I think we’re safe from bodily harm in here. I’ve been chatting to Breslin, and he’s promised to go through everything with me later, but he’s confident we’re still protected from physical violence.”
“Why do I feel like there’s a ‘but’ in there somewhere?” Carl asked.
“Because there’s always one,” I said with a smile. “As the protection has been transferred to me, it might take a while to stick.”
“What? It has to get used to you?” he joked.
“I’ll find out. That’s all Breslin said. The other issue is this paragon person.”
“What is the purpose of a paragon?” Val asked.
“The paragons are sort of like a higher power. When the Senate fails, the issue goes higher, and the paragons seem to be the next rank up. They watch over the world, basically. I don’t know much about them, to be honest. I’ll find out if Breslin has information on them. This Regis person gave me a bad vibe.”
“In what way?” Carl asked.
“Something about him stops me from really…
seeing
him. And when Jess was here last year, Phoenix made it sound like she could have been in danger from Regis. Jess is considered as tainted as I am, which means I’m in danger, too. The normal, natural species are okay, but anything a bit… conflicted is fair game. I think it’s the paragon who’s pushing this untethered nonsense, and I’m starting to think it’s just an excuse to set a precedent here.”
“To do what?” Val asked.
“To take care of us oddballs, I suppose,” I said. “So keep your head down, Val. Just in case. It could be nothing at all, but it doesn’t hurt to be careful. Phoenix mentioned something to me about the paragons having the right to judge the werewolves. If that goes badly, they could try to force him to make them extinct for real this time. We don’t need you getting in the crosshairs, either.”
“Phoenix would never do that,” Val said with confidence.
“Exactly,” I said. “Which is a problem in itself. Anyone who wants to get rid of Phoenix can just target the werewolves and give him enough rope to hang himself with.”
“Almost feels like the old days,” Peter said, “what with all of this intrigue.”
“Yeah, well, let’s hope we don’t need a good old war or two to sort matters this time,” I said.
“What do we do now?” Anka asked, lighting a cigarette. That spelled danger; she had given up a while back.
“We act as normal as possible,” I said. “Go back to work. Peter and Val will check up on the missing free shifters to see if there’s any dirt we can dig up on Mac. And I’m almost certain there will be. We’ll keep Esther out of this as much as possible. I’ll find out more from Breslin, see if there’s anything we’re missing when it comes to protection. It might be time to find ourselves a good witch, for that matter.”
“Not a witch,” Carl said with a groan. “Not again.”
“I said
might
.”
“And if Mac shows up again?” Margie asked.
“Then call Shay first. I hate to drag him into this, but we might as well keep things as official as possible, as much as we all want to tear Mac limb from limb.”
“I hear you,” Peter said. He nodded at Val. “You up for heading back to work?”
“I’m eager to get this started,” Val said in a distinctly growly voice.
“I should head back to the school, too,” Carl said. “We have a meeting later this afternoon, and it’s not going to be fun.”
“Problems?” I asked.
“Nah, somebody just underestimated the power of the natural witch from the children’s home. Maybe we could use her, slip her a little contraband in exchange.” He grinned. “I hear sugar has been banned for an indeterminate amount of time after one of the kids broke into the stockroom, overdosed on a year’s supply of sweets, and accidentally fried everything with wires.”
“Wires?” Peter asked.
“Apparently, he has some kind of latent techno ability. They’re still trying to figure it out.”
“Poor kid.” I made a face of disgust. “I hope they aren’t punishing him for it.”
“More like they’re freaking in case something even weirder happens.” Carl rose to his feet. “Anka, if you need help with stirring, I’ll be around this evening.”
“And I’ll be sending Leah over. She can help,” Val added.
“Thank you,” Anka said. “It’ll take some time, but we’ll get back on our feet. I’m just sorry to have lost so many rare ingredients.”
“Need a lift?” Peter asked me. “We can drop you in to Breslin.”
I checked my watch. “Yeah, okay. He’ll be around. If he’s busy, I’m sure I can find something to read in there.” Breslin’s office held many ancient papers, treaties, and books, as well as a secret room where I could meet with the rest of the Eleven. I still didn’t consider myself one of them, but I was pretty sure I needed to figure out where we stood with the paragon.
On the drive to my solicitor’s office, Val and Peter discussed where to start on the search for the missing shifters.
“The human who Mac’s ex left him for would be a good place to start.” Val cracked her knuckles. “Let’s see if he’s heard from her, or if any of the neighbours remember when they last saw her. We can get in touch with Moses to find out if Esther knows about names or addresses of the free shifters she’s heard of. Don’t call her directly in case the Senate goes through with the phone-records threat that Mac likes to bring up on occasion.”
“Might be better if we drop in or meet Moses somewhere then. Keep the phone contact to a minimum,” Peter said.
She nodded. “I’m not opposed to bumping into some shifters, either.”
I thought about it a little more. “You know, Daimhín has a pair of shifter bodyguards right now. Maybe if you visit the coven during the day, you could persuade one of them to talk to you.”
“Why would they tell us anything?” Peter asked.
“They won’t tell
you
a thing,” I said, “but Val is technically a shifter, too. If she reached out to them, enquiring about joining their pack, they might let a few things slip. It could be nothing, but you never know.”
“That might be smart,” Peter said. “You up to doing that alone?” he asked Val.
She nodded. “I doubt they’ll give me anything important, but they might give something away, however small.”
“Don’t fight any shifters,” I said hurriedly. “We can’t afford to give anyone else ammo against us right now.”
“I’m not entirely foolish,” Val said in a dry tone. “However, this might go the way so many things have before. It’s a power play, and they often come to blows. I want to be ready if that day comes again.”
“Fine.” I breathed deeply. “But try to be attacked first before you destroy the alpha.” I grinned. “Unless you want to be alpha yourself, of course.”
“Not funny,” she said.
But I couldn’t help thinking that she would make a far better alpha than Mac did. “Try not to dominate Daimhín’s bodyguards too much then.”
When we reached the office building, we said our goodbyes. I headed inside to see Breslin.
His secretary was sitting in front of a fan, looking as though she might pass out from heat I couldn’t feel.
“Sorry,” she said, moving slowly as she made to get up.
“Stay where you are,” I said. “Are you due soon?”
“Not soon enough.” She blew her hair away from her face. “I feel like I’m being punished for something terrible.”
“I’m sure it’ll be worth it.” I tried to ignore the blister of envy that bubbled in my chest. “Is Martin around?”
“He’s on a call,” she said apologetically. “He’ll be a while.”
“That’s all right,” I said. “I’ll head downstairs.”
She looked frightened at that prospect, and I wondered how much she knew.
I travelled down the steps to the basement room. I still felt weird going inside, but if I had to go up against a paragon, then I really needed to know where I stood in terms of power.
The room was dark, apart from the milky glow of a crystal ball. As soon as I touched it, I would find answers, but I was reluctant. For the past year, I had been so engrossed in figuring out the normal side of my life that I had almost forgotten about the Eleven. I was surprised to find myself nervous at the thought of facing them again.
Before I could chicken out, I slammed my hand on the crystal and kept my eyes shut as I spun into another place. It was like a void between time and space, and only my soul entered at any given time.
“Here again,” Judge said impatiently.
“It has been a year.” I opened my eyes. The figures around me were misty, but I could almost make out the shapes of some of the forms. Judge was tall and slender in her high-backed chair while Slave was unexpectedly petite. I looked around for Shepherd. Strangely, his form was still indistinguishable, yet the mist around him had lessened significantly.
What the hell does that mean?
“And is there a reason we’re here?” Judge asked in a sharper voice.
“I’m not sure if I have a problem yet or not,” I said. “The thing is, there’s a paragon hanging around.”
“That’s not new,” Knowledge said.
“The shifters have been moving against me,” I said, “and I’m afraid it has something to do with the paragon. From what I’ve gathered, there’s a chance he’ll come after me if he succeeds in what he’s doing right now. Where do I stand against a paragon?”
A murmur spread around the room. “We’re beyond the reach of a paragon,” Slave said. “A paragon is not our keeper.”
“She’s been one of us for a brief instant of time,” Silence warned. “That might not be long enough to protect her and, in turn, this circle.”
“They wouldn’t dare,” Warden scoffed.
“If the paragon reaches for her, it’s for a reason,” Death said. “How do we know it’s not an attack on us? If we lose her, we lose strength. There isn’t another alive who can take her place. Not yet.”
“More likely, this paragon fears the tainted,” Wisdom said. “There’s no reason for us to panic.”
“He wouldn’t be the first to reach for us,” Shepherd said.
“What does that mean?” I asked.