Chapter 208: Enforcer Interference
Black robed figures circled us in the sky, some hovering in place, others swooping in a pattern above. Three landed, their power gently parting the top of the dome. Odette panted her way to her feet, rage out of control even as one of the figures swept back his hood.
"You are ordered," he said, deep voice full of power as his light brown eyes swept over us, "to cease and desist all hostilities by order of the North American High Council of Witches."
Enforcers. Had to be. Fed by the universal power of the entire Council, only they could be so strong to shut down the battle. I could feel the tingle of defensive magic coming from him, how it sparked in his honey brown hair.
About time they showed up.
Mom bowed her head to the Enforcer. "I was challenged," she said.
"Irrelevant." He glared at all of us. "Such challenges are illegal. You know better, Hayle coven leader."
Gram growled something under her breath, but held her peace while Odette drew herself up, trembling, face wreathed in false indignation.
"I was only defending myself," she said, voice vibrating with denial, "and my coven."
"I don't care who started it." He actually sighed. "I'm here to finish it."
One of the other Enforcers stepped forward, pulling back his own hood. I stared in wide-mouthed shock, brain freezing as I realized who I was looking at while Dominic Moromond spoke.
"We are." He brushed past the first Enforcer who frowned at him, but bowed his head and backed up a pace.
Dominic an Enforcer? What the hell was going on? My eyes flickered to the right, caught sight of Quaid. I'd never seen such focused attention as though he poured every ounce of himself into staring at his former adoptive father.
There was murder in those chocolate brown eyes.
"Now then," Dominic said with an oily smile for Mom, looking her up and down as if my dad wasn't standing right there, or the rest of us for that matter. "You have your orders, as Enforcer Tremere told you. By command of the High Council you are to stand down immediately and cease this confrontation."
Why did I get the impression he would have loved to see Mom and Odette fight it out?
The old woman glared at Mom. "I demand satisfaction," she said. "This woman plans to murder one of my coven members."
Dominic turned to Odette with a shark's smile. "After the same girl falsely accused and almost killed her brother." He shook his head, balding scalp shining in the glow of the shield. "Enough, Odette Dumont."
Weird for Dominic to take our side on anything. My surprise was gone the moment he turned to Mom. "That being said, the girl will be released into our custody."
"No!" Uncle Frank surged forward only to be knocked back by a flicker of power from Enforcer Tremere. Uncle Frank staggered, but didn't back down. His scars were so vivid in the blue light, madness in his one good eye. "I demand she pay for what she's done."
Dominic paused as if thinking it over. Odette's eyes flickered to Ameline. It was the first time I saw doubt on the girl's face, real doubt.
"Perhaps you're right," Dominic said with great cheer, so inappropriate for the circumstances I wondered about the state of his mental health. "This is after all outside coven law and passes into vampire/witch treaty territory."
Enforcer Tremere looked troubled, but remained silent. Odette's face contorted as she realized she was about to lose.
"No!" Whether the pressure had gotten to her at last, or she somehow temporarily lost her mind, she reacted with magic, lashing out, not at the Vegas as she'd done before, not to free Ameline, but directly at my mother.
I knew Mom wasn't prepared, not anymore. Not with three High Council Enforcers standing right there, another dozen or so circling us. And how the woman managed to tap into her magic when I knew the rest of us were blocked was beyond me. But I felt it, like a muffled cry, the surge of her magic as it broke through and went for Mom.
Before the Enforcers could act, Gram did. A whip of blue flame cut off Odette's attack, slicing through the ball of lavender-tinted fire, cutting it in half and sending it scattering to the ground in a hail of sparks. Mom stood her ground, but she paled.
Odette turned to Gram with a howl of rage. Gram struck again before the old woman could act, driving her to her knees with the whip of fire, taking her feet out from under her.
"Enough!" Dominic's magic struck Gram, but couldn't budge her. She stared at him with a flat expression, recoiling her lash of fire, letting it die out as it retreated. "You've attacked another coven member in full view of Enforcers after being ordered to desist." He was smiling again, almost vibrating with happiness. "You've disobeyed the law, Ethpeal Hayle, and for that you will be punished."
So unfair! Gram didn't react the way I expected, the way I was screaming in fury inside. Instead, she gestured into the air with one hand, a symbol forming before her.
Enforcer Tremere stepped forward, eyes wide, and made the same symbol.
"Sister," he said, "forgive me. I had no idea you were one of us."
Um... huh?
Gram bowed her head, but only in acknowledgment. There wasn't a scrap of apology in her. "Forgiven," she said. "Though I'm no longer an active member of the Enforcers, I retain my power."
"Once an Enforcer, for always," Tremere said.
Dominic was clearly taken aback. His anger rippled out. "None of that matters," he snapped.
"Oh, but it does." Tremere's voice was cold as the third Enforcer approached, her angry face just visible under the black velvet of her hood as she stood at his side. "Not only was she defending a family member from an attack, she is one of us and thus has the power to enforce coven law."
"And had this scum's sister," Gram glared at Odette who dragged herself to her feet yet again, "not murdered my sister Zira, I would be an Enforcer yet."
Holy crap. Gram was an Enforcer?
"There you have it." Dominic looked around as if he'd uncovered a great truth instead of a way to twist it. "She gave up her status to take over as leader of the Hayle coven."
"But she is no longer leader of that coven," Tremere said with the same chill in his tone. "Once she gave up that power she returned to Enforcer status as is our law."
The crowd of black-cloaked watchers above us circled closer. I could feel the weight of their agreement. Gram lifted her head and waved once, acknowledging their welcome before meeting Dominic's angry eyes.
"I follow the law," she said. "And I am proud of my brothers and sisters in arms. Though I wonder at the quality of witch being invited to join our ranks these days."
Dominic scowled a moment before turning to Mom.
"The Dumont family will be escorted from your territory," he said, all false amusement gone from his tone. It made me happy we'd ruined his night. "Any contact between your two families will be seen as an attempt to circumvent the orders of the High Council and will be met with severe penalties."
"Understood," Mom said.
He turned his back, eyes meeting mine, his anger clear. But when he saw me, his humor returned. Dominic cast a glance over his shoulder at Mom as he rose into the air.
"How silly of me," he said, "in all the excitement I failed to tell you Batsheva sends her love."
He was gone in a rush of power, taking most of the Enforcers with him, but I didn't notice really.
I was too busy fighting my demon's need to go after him and rip his ugly heart out.
***
