Chapter 536: Venner
It didn't take me long to go from stunned silence to fury. Okay, so Mom was right to worry. So. Right. The last time I'd seen the back end of Venner he'd been trying to kill me. Had almost killed Liam's grandfather, Fergus, forcing us to send the old Gatekeeper through the Gate so the seal could be rebuilt after we failed to answer the knock.
All so whiny fairy boy here could run home to his Sidhe momma or something equally pathetic.
Before I could gather myself enough to ask what the bloody hell was going on, a small, slender witch of advanced age stood from the leather chair she'd claimed in front of Mom's desk and smiled at me. Well, kind of smiled. More like barracuda'd. I'd never seen that many teeth in someone's mouth before.
"Welcome, Coven Leader," she said in a voice so graveled I was amazed she could speak. "It's a delight to finally meet you."
"Sydlynn," Mom rushed into the conversation with a forced smile of her own and tension in every line of her body, "may I introduce Gertrude Santos, the head of our school's board of governors."
So that was the way things were, huh? The other two women, equally as ancient, turned to face me though neither bothered to get up. Tall and lanky hunched into her seat on one side, almost Gertrude's height even sitting, while portly and round, with tiny glasses she couldn't possibly see a thing out of, perched on the other, sausage fingers picking at her lower lip over and over.
"This is Elegance Faster," Mom gestured to giant witch. Elegance? Holy. Her mom had a terrible sense of humor. "And Periwinkle Rhodes." Seriously. What was wrong with witches and naming their kids? Every witch mother needed to be taken out and shaken vigorously.
My own included.
I bobbed my head, eyes returning to Venner and his smirk. I hated smirkers. There was just something about the expression that drove me so close to the edge I could barely stand it. And while Quaid was an expert and Ram, my demon friend, could pull off a rather impressive show, Venner had centuries to polish his, elevating his smirk to sparkly shine.
Oh how I would have loved to rub it in the dirt and see how much stuck.
"Mom," I said, not even trying to play nice. "You do know who this is, don't you?"
Venner actually winked. While smirking.
He was a dead fairy.
Before Mom could answer, Gertrude spoke up, thin hands flapping, tiny nose wrinkled as though she smelled something bad. I knew I did. "Lord Venemeth has been completely up front with us about his reasons for being on our plane," she said, my ears aching from the harshness of her voice.
"No," I said, "I'm pretty sure he hasn't. Because if he told you everything, he wouldn't be standing here right now. Not without chains, anyway." Chains would be a nice touch. I could probably find a way to make some out of the metal in Mom's office.
Gertrude's little face crumpled in anger, beady eyes flickering to Mom and back again. "We are aware of his attempt to overtake the Gate in your territory." Why did it sound like she blamed me for the mess he'd almost made? Oh no she did not. "But seeing as his infraction," oh, just a minor mistake almost setting the whole of the Sidhe free in the streets of Wilding Springs, right, gotcha, "had nothing to do with witches," she said what? "there is no cause for retribution."
"What do you think I am?" I had a temper. I was well aware of the fact. And there were times I let it carry me off when perhaps I shouldn't. But standing there with this pompous, arrogant, hideous old witch telling me all was forgiven for no good reason fired up all of my magic parts until my demon roared her rage. Shaylee shuddered in her fury, her fear of Venner long gone. Even my vampire hissed and squirmed inside me, and she hadn't had contact with him at all. I drew a breath to hold back what I wanted to say before going on. "He attacked me, Governor. I'm a witch, remember?"
Elegance cleared her throat, a surprisingly squeaky girl voice emerging from her lips. "You were acting as Princess Shaylee," she said. "And so the attack itself was against the Sidhe, and not other magical beings." She glanced over her shoulder at Venner, smiling at him. "Which we wouldn't be willing to tolerate."
Oh. My. Swearword.
"It's true, Your Highness," Venner said in his smooth voice, stabbing Shaylee with each and every velvet word. "I had no idea who you were when we first met. It was you who revealed your additional powers to me in the Gate room." The bastard. THE BASTARD. "Had I known, I certainly never would have acted the way I did." My mind scrambled over my memories, hating he was right. "And indeed, when I discovered who you were, I left. Did I not?" One crystal green eye winked again, slowly.
Not exactly. But damn it. Close enough.
Damn damn damn damn.
"I've since reformed," Venner said, smile widening as he adjusted his perfectly tailored suit, long, silver hair falling over one shoulder. The three governors nodded with him as he stepped around their chairs toward me while I clenched my hands into fists and tried to keep myself from punching him in the guts. "I know now I will never be able to return to the Unseelie court or my home." So sad. Boo freaking hoo. "And because of that understanding, I've decided to stop fighting my fate and embrace it." He turned to take Gertrude's hand, bending in a fluid bow over her fingers, pressing his wide, full lips to the wrinkled skin while she simpered.
Actually simpered. Shaylee's internal gagging noises almost made me laugh.
Almost.
"Sidhe teachers are so hard to come by," Periwinkle finally spoke up, round cheeks pinking as she focused on Venner. "And Lord Venemeth is so knowledgeable." Yeah. I could just imagine. Gross, ew, thanks for the mental image.
"You're actually going to give a felon," I glared at him, not caring what the ladies thought, frankly, "who has been kicked out of his own realm and committed acts of violence against humans tied to the Sidhe access to young witches? As a teacher?"
They had to be out of their little biddy minds.
Gertrude's face darkened as Periwinkle gasped and Elegance's large, bulging eyes widened further. Mom's hand on my shoulder was the only thing holding me back.
"While I understand your concerns," Mom said, "this meeting is a courtesy." Please, just trust me, Syd. "I requested you be told in private," there's more to this than you know. "Because of your history with Lord Venemeth." She nodded to Venner. "The decision has already been made. My lord, thank you for joining us. Governors." Mom bowed her head again as the other two witches stood, Elegance towering over her two compatriots while Periwinkle's hips almost knocked over her chair on the way by. "I look forward to attending Lord Venemeth's lectures myself."
They knew a dismissal when they heard it. Gertrude led the way with a harrumph and a glare at me, waving one hand at Mom over her shoulder while Elegance bent carefully, shoulders almost brushing the top of the doorway, Periwinkle linking her arm though Venner's on the way out with an outrageous blown kiss he accepted graciously.
He caught my eye just as he pulled the door closed behind him.
His sparkled.
I spun on Mom the moment we were alone, a million swear words on my lips. "You know this is a really bad idea, right? He has something planned."
Mom sighed and took her chair, gesturing for me to sit. I couldn't, choosing to pace instead, wondering how I was going to tell Liam the Sidhe who most likely murdered his father, almost killed his grandfather and blackmailed his mother was here on campus.
"I know," Mom said.
"That's helpful," I shot back. But at least she agreed with me.
"Syd." Mom fixed me with her blue eyes, power reaching for me. She felt stronger than ever, the full weight of the Council's magic behind her, but she didn't use it to force me to stop. She just let me feel her and know she stood behind me completely.
That pulled me up short to stare at her.
"If you know," I said. "If you're aware he's no good, why are you letting him into the school at all? Why haven't you had the Enforcers arrest his skinny Sidhe ass?"
"Because he has the support of the Council majority," Mom said, so calm and level I actually sank into the first chair, wrapped instantly in the sickening scent of roses Periwinkle wore, sitting forward to avoid it. "And the board of governors. Which makes me wonder how he managed it."
My mom was one smart cookie. My temper cooled a little as I rested my elbows on her desk and my chin in my hands. "So now what? Mom, this is nuts." The thought of him teaching made me want to stand up and pace again.
"Now," she said, "you and I attend his lectures." Sparks of blue magic fell from her fingertips as she gestured to the door, her own anger finally showing. "Between the two of us, we will uncover what he has planned and put an end to it."
I found myself grinning. "How did you get so clever?"
Mom laughed, a deep, rich sound, eyes shining. "I had a good teacher." Her power hugged me. "Now, will you trust me and help me handle this?"
Wow. Her offer was a total first. Which meant there was no way I could turn her down.
"I'm in," I said.
***
