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The council spent another two hours finalizing rules and expectations for future meetings, and each minute spent in that room—surrounded by the scent of fresh death and too much light—felt like an eternity.

Kellos, the tasty Lion, had grown irritated by the end, growling and snapping at the others, before one of the remaining Witches, the soft faced youth in Blue, had declared them finished for the day, and organized the date for their next meeting.

On Kallista and Cassiel’s insistence, they agreed to change the meetings to after sundown.

The entire building reeked of death, Kallista noticed as she left. They wouldn’t be able to sense it—the Shifters or the Witches. Cassiel Salvatore, maybe. But to her? It was strong enough to burn her nostrils. Omnipresent and overpowering.

Taking great care to breathe through her nose as little as possible, Kallista navigated her way through the palace and to the exit.

The scent of death was strong here, too, but at least it was bearable in the open air of the outdoors. The afternoon sun burned bright and hot in the sky, and though she lacked Cassiel’s vulnerability to it, she certainly didn’t find it pleasant. Calling the shadows toward her, Kallista spun them together, forming a parasol of deep, impenetrable black. She rested it on her shoulder, letting it block the sunlight, and began to descend the palace steps.

Kallista sensed the Witch immediately but waited until she descended the steps behind her before she stopped and spoke.

“It’s rude to sneak up on someone,” Kallista said, tilting her parasol just far enough to regard Fey. The Witch stopped, frozen under her stare.

Now this one? Even with just a sliver of shadow available for her to taste, the sun stealing all but a fraction of it, this one tasted like raw power. Kallista breathed it in, savoring the taste like a fine wine.

“How did you know?” the Witch asked, and Kallista couldn’t help but smile at her. She was strong, this one. Very, very strong. And brave enough to look her in the eyes, even with all that strength warning her away.

“How did I know about your powers?” Kallista asked and laughed. She turned away, continuing her descent down the steps. “The real question should be how they didn’t, with all that power coming off you in there. A blind man could have seen it.”

“No,” Fey insisted, hurrying down the steps after her. “How did you know I wasn’t the one who killed the Queen?”

Ah. That.

Kallista stopped, letting the Witch catch up to her again.

“I saw it in your eyes,” Fey continued. “You knew I didn’t kill Queen Edelin, the moment I claimed it. How?”

“Your guilt gave you away.”

Fey’s eyes flashed. “I don’t have any guilt over what happened,” she hissed.

“I know,” Kallista said. “But your friend did. Two Witches, each claiming to have killed their monarch, but only one felt any sort of guilt. That’s what gave you away—you didn’t feel anything at all over it.”

The Witch finally looked away from her, glancing down at the steps instead.

“Why didn’t you say anything, then?” she asked, finally. “Why did you let me protect her?”

Kallista shrugged. “Why should I say anything? What loyalty do I owe to the old regime? To the old Queen? I saw that you were willing to die to save your friend, and I decided to reward that. Don’t expect me to make a habit of it.”

The Witch still looked unsure.

“You can thank me, you know,” Kallista smirked and was rewarded by a furious glare from her.

“I don’t like to be in anyone’s debt,” Fey explained. “Especially someone I don’t know. And I don’t have any idea who, or what, you are.”

“Consider it payment to someone else, then,” Kallista told her. “I owe a debt to a Witch I knew a long, long time ago. I never rewarded her loyalty, so instead I’ll reward yours, in her honor. You owe me nothing for it, and there is no debt between us.”

Still, the Witch didn’t leave, and Kallista sighed.

“What else did you want, Fey? I have things I need to do today, and I want to get far away from the smell of this place.”

“It’s just… you seem so unfazed by all of this,” Fey stated. “Everyone is either panicked or rejoicing over all of this and you seem… so calm.”

“I’ve lived through regime changes before, many, many times, this is nothing new to me. I survived the rise and fall of humans, after all.”

“What’s a human?” the Witch asked, confused.