Chapter 606: Last Chance
Pender let me walk ahead of him, didn't try to touch or escort me. Must have known any attempt would be rejected. It was a short walk, but felt like forever, my feet making dull taps against the old tile floors. University Hall stretched most of the length of Harvard Yard, and the magic floor reserved for the Council ran with long, empty corridors, large windows looking out over the green space. I glanced outside as I walked, gaze traveling over the trees and grass, the sight of late term students going about their lives below stirring my sadness at last.
We'll be fine, my vampire sent, my demon hugging me, Shaylee singing softly as she stroked my mind. The family magic coiled around me, embracing all of us as we passed around the corner and headed for the Council doors.
I know, I sent back, letting them feel how much I loved them. We're sure, then? They were all very aware of the choices I'd made, the decisions I'd come to. They'd helped me reach them.
We are, they said in unison while the family power sighed a soft agreement. We will fight to the last and, if necessary, we will leave our family to protect them. Even though the family magic inside me tied to my coven hiccupped unhappily, it agreed.
Okay then.
In confident and complete unity of ego, maybe for the first time ever, I strode through the large doors with my head high and my soul at peace. I came to a halt in the middle of the sun-filled room, no longer worried about the future, mine or the coven's. My eyes went to the place I'd sat for so long, noticing they'd removed my chair and left me to stand.
To face their judgment on my feet. No objections.
It was about time.
Huan stared at me over her steepled fingers while the rest of the Council watched me with pinched faces and nervous energy, perhaps more agitated by my calm and confident state than had I shown weakness or fear. "Any last words, Coven Leader Hayle?"
No way was I going to bow and scrape and beg them for mercy just to make them feel better. And while it was ominous, such a choice of phrase, now that she mentioned it, I had a whole hell of a lot to say, thanks.
"I would do it all over again to save you." Flinching, guilt, one weak, sad smile from Erica answered my words. My voice held steady, my calm wrapped around me like a cloak. "You must know by now the Brotherhood isn't going to just go away because you want them to." Mom didn't move or speak, face a flat mask of anger. "The old ways aren't working anymore. Not while the sorcerers build world-wide conglomerates to control the normals." Frustration simmered as I stared into fearful faces, knowing they would do nothing to act. Mom was right. They would cling to their laws and their secrecy and nothing I said would ever change their minds. Only a radical shift would force them to do anything but hide behind what had been. "If you insist on burying your heads in the sand, the Brotherhood will succeed in their goal to destroy all magic but their own." More fear. Were they listening? It didn't matter. I had my say. Best I could do. "I, for one, won't stand by and allow them to take over without a fight."
Challenge heard. Ignored. One last prod to go.
"And I hope I'm not alone."
Crickets.
Shrug.
So be it.
The brick wall that was the High Council sagged back into their collective seats as I fell silent. Mom traded places with them, finally leaning forward, her angry blue eyes fixed on mine.
"Despite numerous warnings from your Council Leader, you have once again acted outside the laws of your people." Mom's voice carried, deep and full of disappointment.
She had to be kidding me.
"I could say the same of you, Council Leader," I snapped back, temper finally winning. "Not only did you keep vitally important information from this Council and all witches, information that could have meant the loss of witchcraft, you illegally ordered the invasion of a Coven Leader's mind by one of your Enforcers when that coven leader wasn't under arrest." I glared. "By your own words."
The Council didn't move, a frozen tableau of witches staring at Mom, waiting for her response.
As she said they would. Unmoving, unmovable. Frozen in indecision while she took charge.
I just wished she was on the winning side instead of becoming the very heart of what needed changing.
"This Council," she snapped, "has reached a decision on the matter. While we are grateful for your actions on our behalf," yeah, she sounded-and they looked-really grateful, "and are well aware of the consequences of the Brotherhood's activities," I highly doubted that was true, "there have been so many repeated incidents of you and your coven breaking and bending law, we can no longer tolerate your behavior as we once did."
Tolerate my-
Bite me.
"This is your final warning, Leader Hayle." Mom's voice vibrated with her barely contained anger. "This kind of vigilante activity has no place in our society and, from this moment forward, if you step over that line you will be punished to the full extent of our laws." Her knuckles rapped against the table, the sound ringing through the room. "Any and all charges we bring against you shall be retroactive from this point on. We're giving you a pass, but should you push your boundaries again, if you choose to stand on the wrong side of the law, we will bring the full force of that law to bear for every single infraction you've incurred."
Like it mattered. Any one of them, if prosecuted the right way, would mean burning me at the stake. How many times could they crispy critter one prisoner?
Then again, my near-invincibility raised some uncomfortable possibilities.
The idea they could burn me, wait for me to heal and regenerate, only to do it all over again made my blood slow to a cold crawl.
Mom slammed her chair back and stood so abruptly, Huan meeped in fear. "Dismissed."
I stood there and shook as they filed out once more, Mom storming away, explosive anger held in check by the thin thread of a vampire's power as she begged me to keep my temper.
We won, she sent.
For now, I shot back. But what happens next time? This isn't going to go away. And I have a job to do.
Not one of my other egos could counter that truth.
And damn me, no matter the consequences, next time I wouldn't hesitate, either.
Still shaking, suffocating in the now dank and oppressive air of the room, I spun and left, head up, the momentary victor in a war I couldn't win.
***
