Authors: Annette Marie
“The Consulate system was born thousands of years ago to shelter daemons coming to Earth,” Walter said. “It was never intended to control or police them. Seventy years ago, when daemons came out to the public, the Consulates were thrust into a position of authority without the power to fulfill their responsibilities. The world continues to change but the Consulates have not—or will not—evolve to keep pace.”
Piper pressed her lips together. Her only goal for most of her life had been to become a Consul, and she had been far more concerned with that than whatever problems existed within the organization. She hadn’t been walking around with her eyes closed; she knew there were some issues, but she’d never thought of them as something serious enough to undermine the system’s effectiveness. She’d never considered the possibility that it was irredeemably flawed.
“Consulates and prefects need to be abolished,” Walter continued, “and replaced by a new system with the authority and ability to police daemons effectively.”
Piper shook her head. “If there was an easy way to police daemons, the Consulates would already be doing it.”
“Would they? The Consulates exist for the convenience of daemons, not the protection of humans. The new system would protect humans and haemons alike, and hold daemons accountable for their actions.”
“And how are you planning to do that?”
“Knowledge, technology, and magic.”
She raised her eyebrows questioningly.
“Knowledge of daemons—how and where they travel, the limits of their abilities, their weaknesses. Technology to empower us—the ability to track them, restrict their movements, and subdue them when necessary. And, of course, magic of our own to counter even the most powerful daemons.”
Piper barely held back a derisive snort.
No
haemon could compare to a reaper or a draconian. Did Walter have any idea what he was talking about?
“Piper,” he said, folding his hands on the table and leaning toward her. “Your experience, knowledge and training afford you the opportunity to be instrumental in the creation and leadership of this new system.”
His words took a moment for her to process. She looked from face to face, waiting for someone to crack a smile or yell, “Gotcha!” Silence met her stare as they waited for her to absorb Walter’s words. She gave her head a sharp shake.
“Me?”
“Your familiarity with daemons and their natures, and your unique ability to meet them on equal ground—a talent many Consuls struggle with—are exceptional. You’re a natural leader, a natural fighter, and you possess an unquestioning sense of justice. You are uniquely qualified to influence the development of the system.”
She looked from him to her mother and back again. “I
just
turned eighteen and you want me to help build your new super-Consul force?”
“You would not be working alone. This isn’t something that would happen overnight. This will be an ongoing effort of years, not months.”
She shook her head. “Well, you forgot one thing. Your three ‘keys to success’ included magic, and in case you forgot, I don’t have any.”
Walter’s teeth flashed in a smile. “Actually, you have more magic than anyone in this room.”
She gave him an icy look. “I have magic that’s sealed. That equals zero magic, not extra magic.”
“You don’t have
accessible
magic at the moment, but we have a solution.”
Her breath caught before she scowled. “My mother’s idea of unlocking half my magic and hoping it doesn’t kill me isn’t a solution.”
“Actually,” the woman beside Mona said, “we want to unlock all your magic.”
“So you definitely want to kill me.”
“Not at all,” the woman replied coolly, clearly unimpressed by Piper’s attitude.
“We have devoted an entire team to researching your unique situation,” Mona said earnestly. “We discovered three other female survivors of haemon parents: Calanthe Nikas, Natania Roth, and Raina Golovkin. They lived at least a hundred years ago but we were able to dig up some records on all of them. Calanthe in particular was the subject of an entire research paper by a Consul.”
Mona leaned toward Piper. “Calanthe had
all
her magic. She was more powerful than any haemon and rivaled daemons with her abilities. You could be that strong too.”
Piper froze in her seat, not daring to let hope take hold. To be as powerful as a daemon ...
“But how did she survive?” she asked.
The other woman replied before Mona could. “Calanthe did not have magic as a child. Hers may have been sealed off like yours, or perhaps she developed it later than usual. Either way, our theory is that the dual magic is dangerous only to children because they do not have the control needed to manage it.”
Piper looked between them. “But you’re just guessing.”
“Raina, Natania, and Calanthe all survived,” Mona pointed out. “You’re past the danger point. You’re old enough—”
“Hold on,” Piper cut in, desperation making her voice go high. “You’re just leaping to conclusions based on some sketchy old documents. You have no idea what—”
“Don’t you think it’s worth finding out?” Mona asked, her stare intense. “Do you want to spend the rest of your life powerless, or do you want to take a chance and find out if you can be the most powerful one of us all?”
“A chance that could kill me.”
“You risk your life on a daily basis. You take chances all the time that could get you killed. How is this any different?”
“I take calculated risks to defend myself when my life is
already
in danger. I’m not deliberately taking life-threatening risks for nothing more than—than ambition.”
Mona made a sharp gesture with one hand. “Your life is in danger every day as an Apprentice Consul. Claiming your magic would be proactive self-defense, giving you the power to go head to head with daemons instead of being at a constant disadvantage.”
“We understand it’s a risk,” Walter said. “But consider your options. Your goal is to become a Consul, but I think you already doubt the effectiveness of the system. The title of Consul would not always protect you and you’re defenseless against all but the weakest daemons. That’s assuming you can become a Consul without magic.”
“If you don’t become a Consul,” Mona said, “what will you do? What future do you have? Will you move out of the city and join a rural community? Marry a farmer and raise his children?”
“With us,” Walter said, “you have a future where you can shape change. With your magic, you can help us create an effective system to control daemons. This is your chance to make a difference, to change the world for the better.”
Piper’s head swiveled between Mona and Walter. She shrunk in her chair. Having a larger purpose in life was one of the big attractors of the Consul job, but she’d already lost her apprenticeship. Was this her chance to start over? Instead of being the weakest member of a flawed system, she could spearhead something new, something effective. Something with real power.
But removing the seal on her magic? Yes, she’d daydreamed about it since the day she found out she had magic locked inside her. How could she not? Being a magic-less haemon had made her a second-class citizen in the Consul world. But the chances were high, very high, that removing the seal would kill her. She hadn’t forgotten the debilitating headaches from her childhood, the pain so terrible she would vomit or have a seizure. Maybe those other women had found a way to live with their magic, but Piper had no idea what trick they’d used or if she had the ability to duplicate it.
Walter folded his hands on the table. “With your magic unsealed, you would have the respect of daemons, not grudging tolerance for the baseless authority they allow Consuls.”
She pressed a hand to her face. “I need to think about this.”
“Yes, of course,” Walter said. “There is a meeting the day after tomorrow. We would like your answer before then.”
Her mouth went dry. She swallowed. “I need to think about it,” she repeated.
Mona rose to her feet. “Come, Piper. Let’s go back to your room. I’m sure you need some time alone with your thoughts.”
Piper rose to her feet, her mind numb. So much to think about, so many long-held convictions cracking under the weight of new information. She had two days to decide the course of her future, assuming she could trust a word Walter had said.
CHAPTER
5
S
PRAWLED
on a sofa in the communal living area, Piper tried hard to tune out the chatter of a dozen voices. Haemons ranging in age from twelve to thirty sat nearby, talking about this and that. A lot of speculation about the big meeting the following day. They all seemed determined to make her feel welcome and kept asking her questions. She didn’t want to be rude, but she really wasn’t interested in conversation. She had too much on her mind.
Kylee sat beside her, reading a battered paperback. The girl had been a little awkward with Piper after her fight with Travis, but Piper had managed to brush it off as nothing more than bad history between them. Her worries appeased, Kylee was quietly delighted to just sit beside the cool new girl.
Piper rubbed two fingers across her forehead. She’d tossed and turned all night, reliving her conversation with the Council over and over until the words kept spinning in her head. She definitely wasn’t onboard with the Gaians’ methods, but she wasn’t entirely opposed to their goals.
She wanted to be part of something bigger and the Council offered that. She couldn’t believe she was giving their proposition serious thought, but their plans weren’t totally crazy. In fact, they had some serious logic on their side. If Piper was willing to admit the Consulate system was seriously flawed, then she couldn’t deny that a new system had the potential to do so much better. And to have the opportunity to help build it ...
Her eyes travelled across the smiling and laughing faces around her. When had there ever been this much carefree laughter in a Consulate? The reason her mother had left was starting to make sense to Piper.
The Consulate wasn’t a carefree place to live in. It wasn’t a happy place. It was challenging, demanding constant vigilance and frequent exposure to danger. Piper had thrived in its atmosphere but it was the only way of life she’d ever known. It had probably been very different for Mona. With her husband absorbed in his work and her home filled with dangerous strangers, maybe she had just burnt out. When she’d found the Gaians and they’d welcomed her into a group that stood against everything she hated—the constant presence of daemons and the threat they represented—she hadn’t been able to say no.
The Gaians didn’t have the same strict, disciplinarian atmosphere of the Consulates. Aside from a contained number of individuals possessing a cruel disregard for others’ lives, Piper’s overall impression was one of almost laughable incompetence. They had bungled everything they’d attempted. The ones who’d attacked the Consulate had failed to get the Sahar Stone, and then they had kidnapped the wrong man in a desperate attempt not to leave empty-handed. The group that had tried to capture Piper when she’d gone back to the Consulate a few days later had barely slowed her down. And when Miysis’s guards, prefects, and then a choronzon had attacked their hideout at the abandoned Consulate, they’d been woefully outclassed.
Either way, the average Gaian wasn’t a soldier in a war against daemon-kind. They were simple outcasts looking for a place to belong, and that was something she could support wholeheartedly.
She was no closer to making a decision now than in the meeting yesterday. There was no way she could decide by tomorrow. She needed more information. She needed to know more about their plans, how she would be involved, and what other plots they had up their sleeves. Would she be expected to participate in the destruction of the remaining Consulates? Could she really help them bring down the organization she’d dedicated her life to? That was assuming it was possible to shift their methods away from the careless violence they’d so far exhibited. She wasn’t even sure she wanted to do that. A large part of her just wanted to get the hell out and never see another Gaian again.
She closed her eyes, a headache building in her forehead. Whether she was even remotely interested in joining them was very much a secondary question to the one that had taken root in her brain and grown into a voracious monster overnight.
Magic.
Her magic.
Dared she risk her life to regain her magic? Not just any magic, but magic more powerful than any other haemon’s. Magic to rival daemons. It could kill her, or it could make all her dreams possible. If only she had more information. If she knew for certain that controlling her magic was a matter of willpower, she would go for it. But what if there was no way to control the outcome? What if it was predetermined? That her magic would kill her, no matter what. No way to fight. No way to survive.
She hated being helpless. Could she make herself helpless to her own magic?
She’d experienced powerful magic before; the Sahar had given her more magic than she could control. She’d seen what it could do. Mainly, it killed. Easily. And in large numbers. It terrified her.
Unlike the Sahar, her magic wouldn’t be tainted with hatred, and she would be using it to defend, not attack. Assuming it didn’t kill her. The questions and options spun, pulling all her thoughts into a whirlwind that made her head ache. She pressed a hand to her forehead as the feeling of being trapped closed in around her.
She needed air. She needed to breathe.
She needed to escape.
Eyes opening, she casually scanned the room. It was time to find out how tight the security around here was. She could make decisions later. Right now, she wanted her freedom above all else.
She stretched and yawned. “Hey Kylee, where’s your room? I don’t think I’ve seen that level yet.”
Kylee looked up, smiling. “It’s on the eighth floor. Want a tour?”
“Sure.”
They rose off the sofa and climbed over the legs of the other lounging haemons. She and Kylee strolled across the room and into the hallway. Out of the corner of her eye, she watched two older haemons nonchalantly follow—her ever-present shadows. One was that creepy, pale-haired guy again.