Page 82

Week Four

M agpie left to meet her lawyer about an hour ago. Edgar seemed to be familiar with him, though the look he gave me said he wanted that tidbit to be left unsaid. Jackson Thorn IV didn’t grow up in the Hollow like Lucy or Boone, but his family is intertwined with the Society. Edgar’s warning meant Jolene wasn’t ready to hear about his connections just yet.

I don’t know if he gave Thorn a nudge to call her to the city or if we got lucky, but having her out of town the night of the trial is quite fortuitous. When a large-scale event like this is called, alumni, board members, and many supes are invited to attend and take part in the pomp and circumstance. An influx of people disappearing into the depths of the blacked out storefront that supposedly has a vermin issue wouldn’t exactly be subtle. Our girl would notice and add it to her giant mystery board in the garage.

That’s the last thing we need. We already have to give weekly reports on her progress towards emergence.

The mystery of who applied her suppression spell bothers me. No one in the Society seems to know—or be willing to share—and Andromeda Bane’s notes indicate they placed it before the Whitleys adopted her. Her file doesn’t have any record of where she was found or dropped off, and no information on who completed her medical evaluation. There’s not a damned crumb of information anywhere about where she came from before the adoption. It’s like she fell from the bloody sky.

Based on Lucy’s description from the open house at the school, she’s got at least one inner supe side that calls Boone's hound. Some fire loving shifter or creature lurks within, but the only thing I can say with certainty is that it's not likely to be a phoenix. My bird is interested in her, but she doesn’t evoke feelings of kinship, so whatever kind of supe she is, it’s not avian. The suppression spell is definitely weakening as she finds mates; however, I don’t believe I can simply break it yet. Whichever magic user placed this one is so powerful that I have seen nothing like it, nor have any of the other healers I’ve contacted.

Our girl is an enigma wrapped in a riddle wrapped in tight little yoga pants with a Glock tucked in the waistband.

“Prez, are you going to get dressed soon?”

I turn to smile at my adorable man, sighing. “As much as I’d enjoy staying home with you, we have to be present to make sure this trial is fair.”

“Teddy gave everyone instructions on what we need to present at a meeting like this. I’m not usually asked to attend Society functions of this caliber, nor are Seer and the other Guardians.” Lucy’s expression flickers for a moment, and I arch a brow. “I rarely go out without my glamours around here, so I’m worried it’ll be distracting.”

“My love, that is exactly what we’re all supposed to be. Edgar is having our entire group, plus a few other allies, be as intimidating as we can be in order to keep the snooty rich fucks from making this farce about our girl. Every vote we sway because of our ‘peacocking’ will help him keep the focus on punishing Amy.”

His eyes widen and he nods as I head into the closet to tug on an outfit that will surely assist me in throwing off the elite’s daughters—and maybe a few of the men. When I step out, Lucy comes over and wraps around me, kissing me deeply before he lets go. “That good, eh?”

“Oh, yes. Sugarplum would love your bad boy look.”

Giving his ass a pat, I whisper in his ear, “Get ready while I go roundup the rest of the crew, baby. I’m looking forward to their faces when you come down.” I wink at him, loving the flush that creeps over his face as I walk out into the hall and down the staircase. When I get to the bottom, I see Boone standing at the picture window, drinking bourbon and looking out into the yard quietly.

Can’t have him brooding all night—we need everyone’s best to keep this from going sideways.

“Boone, are you ready to go or are you going to stand there brood all night? If it’s the latter, let me know what lighting you’d prefer. I think we can post it on OnlyFans and make some dough.”

He snorts, tossing back his drink. “Hamilton, if I were to let you, we could build you a new aviary without touching the first month’s fees. Nice leather, by the way.”

Adjusting the collar of the black leather jacket, I do a little turn, showing off my tight jeans, white tank and combos. I can’t run around fully revealed—ever—because my kind are rare and absolutely necessary to Project Chimera . Hunters around the world sift through information all hours of the day and night to locate supes as uncommon as caladrii, and we don’t risk being seen fully shifted, even in enclaves if possible.

“I dirty up good and you know it. Admire my ass. It looks bangin’ in these jeans,” I preen purposefully, hoping to lighten the mood a smidge.

Boone just glares at me until Saoirse comes up from the basement, her demeanor unusually quiet despite the loudness of her outfit. “What about you? Did you think you were going to a party east o’ the sun and west o’ the moon?”

“Aye, doggy,” she says, giving him a matching look of irritation. She shakes her mass of bright red waves, braids, tinkling trinkets, ribbons, and bells as she huffs. “I thought I’d find out if yer pet could give me a tour. I hear the Faerie is comparable to both of my people’s lands.”

He doesn’t respond, only moves to pour himself another bourbon and take a sip. We both know Seer’s full of it—the Faerie is like nowhere else in the known Universe and neither of ancestors has lands that compare—but it’s unnecessary to provoke her.

Wolfie’s father’s kingdom is a question mark without a solid answer, so there might be a comparison between it and the Guardian’s mother’s lands… maybe. Edgar studies the cerulean and aqua clothes she’s wearing under the shiny armor of her father’s people. She’s added the full complement of weapons from her mother’s side as well, so she looks fierce as hell.

We need her riled up—all of us need to be—because the assholes on the Council in this town are far too comfortable sucking up to another rather than following the tenets of the Society.

It will test the delicate balance between loyalty to one another and the odd little family we are building versus our commitment to the Council and the Society tonight. Elites from our town love to support one another, and Jolene’s return has them all up in arms. We need to be calm and strategic about how we intercede on her behalf. I watch as Seer’s harem comes out of the basement to stand behind her, wondering if they will stand by or join our cause.

I’ve known Julia and Tharin aren’t hybrids from the moment I met them. Their bloodlines are pure—gorgon and wyvern—and both supe types are very insular. It’s almost as unheard of as my people procreating outside of their species. They both have armor on befitting their stature in their communities, but Zasha is dressed similarly to Seer. His clothes lean towards a more regal version of the muted blues and purples, so he must be a hybrid of a water shifter… with ties to the royal family.

Royals, outside of my darling boy, are a pain in the ass and I’m not looking forward to dealing with the attitude.

“Edgar, are we ready to go?”

Speaking of Lucy, I turn to greet him after I watch Boone’s jaw drop. It was a gamble to think he’d never seen a Fae like our boy in full regalia, but it paid off. This just might be the nudge we need to make things work the way I know they will. While Judge Boone looks sharp in his bespoke Armani and silk, Lucy is a vision of otherworldly beauty when he’s not covering up his heritage. Everyone stops talking as he steps into the kitchen with a shy grin.

“We are, pup,” Boone murmurs. “You clean up good.”

Lucy flushes under the iridescent skin, letting the waterfall of silver hair cover his face. I walk over and straighten the shoulders of his sharkskin suit, flattening everything so he looks handsome, but not a bit like his mother would expect if she shows up. His ears are poking through his hair, and I smile fondly at him.

A low rumble escapes Boone and I arch a brow, but Lucy simply murmurs, “I miss her, too, T.”

The surprised look on the judge’s face almost makes me laugh, but I figure he’s having enough trouble regulating all the emotions in the air. So I take pity on him and crook my finger at Wolfie. “C’mere, Lucy. You can ride in my car and the rest of these clowns can find their own way to the sanctuary. You look hot as hell, and I don’t get to see the sparkly bits very often.”

Before Edgar can respond, Tharin cuts in, “Oi, mutt!”

“Now boys,” Zasha interjects as the two of them eye each warily. “No need to get into a scrap. We have to present a united front at the trial. Otherwise, we won’t be able to win any of the wildcards they announced this morning.”

His words stop Boone in his tracks. “Since when do wildcards show up for a small town trial over a fight in the newspaper?”

“Since the small town bitches posted their idiocy to their blogs for the paper before the fight and now it’s not about an internal struggle in town. It’s a breach of protocol. Wildcards from surrounding areas will be at the meeting to help keep the vote from being swayed by personal relationships,” Julia says as she glares back at the fiery hound.

I shoot a worried glance at Lucy and he nods his agreement. Someone is stacking the deck for this clown show, but it’s not apparent who or why. That’s a problem we would never have expected, and it will make our job at the reception that much harder.

“Then we discuss strategy in the car as we head to the entrance. Haggerty is meeting us at the door. O’ Flanagan, make sure we have enough earwigs from my drugar’s stash downstairs for everyone to be wired. We may have to split up during the cocktail hour to curry votes from all the old farts they brought in to sway the proceedings. Everyone clear?”

We all nod at Edgar despite no one putting him in charge. The weight of Zasha’s revelation is weighing on all of us as the group quietly makes their way outside to the cars.

I imagine a lot of interesting conversations are going to occur on the short drive to one of the Society Hall’s various secret entrances.

* * *

By the time we schmooze our way through the reception, I can tell Edgar is going to have a hard time holding his temper. Haggerty had to pull him away from Amy’s father and, as much as they dislike one another, the frustrated hound allowed it. His bond with Magpie is the strongest because it’s the closest to completion for one of his inner beasts. One more step and that part will be sealed—so he’s on edge like I’ve never seen him before.

Even the mighty have an Achilles heel, and our girl is ours, without a doubt.

I took one look at the wildcards who deigned to attend and knew we’d need to shore up our plans. Lucy was fabulous at working the crowd with his beauty and special fairy traits, but even Boone’s political schmoozing isn’t going to completely lock our victory. As everyone begins to file towards the elevator, I grabbed all of Jolene’s men and even a few extras like MacAuley. Steering the group to the stairs, I lower my voice as I speak.

“Look, gents. Behle is ramping up to get his daughter clemency, but I think she’s got him twisted enough that he will try to force the Council to do something about Jolene. She’s not ready to emerge yet, and shattering the world around her while that spell slips will fuck with her in a way we won’t ever be able to fix. We have to come up with a better plan.”

Doyle snorts. “Aye, birdy. Or any plan a’tall, seems to me. Having the pretty boys work the room wasn’t bad, but it’s not enough for these folks. You have to give ‘em the old razzle dazzle.”

“Razzle dazzle?” Boone grunts. “What the fuck are you talking about, leprechaun?”

Wolfie looks at him and murmurs, “He means we have to distract them while we present our case. If we can force them to look like blustering old fools while we are calm, centered youths, the mostly younger voting pool is likely to follow our lead.”

I grin at him, and ruffle his hair. “Couldn’t have put it better myself.”

“Right y’are, puppy dog. I’ve got plenty of tricks up my sleeves, but there might come a time when we need one or both of the docs to throw some feathers. I’ve always found the winged gits make the ladies lose their minds.” Doyle winks at me and I groan inwardly.

I do not like shifting—even halfway—in front of a crowd.

“Just what do you plan to do, Haggerty? It’s not like we have a fucking clue what your skill set is,” Edgar growls as we stop at the bottom of the stairs.

“Cause trouble, of course! That’s what I do best. We all need to sit in different parts of the crowd so we can see each other, and when someone turns your way, do whatever ye can to get everyone focused on you. Once it becomes obvious that there are quite a few people objecting to whatever nonsense Reggie is spewing, it will catch on.”

Sighing, I nod. “Okay.”

The rest of the crowd gives their assent as well, and we head through the archway into the large underground chamber where they hold meetings. I watch as Haggerty makes his way to the front left side of the gallery before choosing to go into the opposite direction. Boone heads for front row center and it doesn’t surprise me a bit. Lucy and the others filter into the crowd slowly amongst murmurs from the women.

After all, Magpie has the hottest men in town in her family, and her bestie’s group aren’t anything to throw out of bed, either.

Hopefully, Mayor Nelia will keep this circus in the ring and our plans won’t be necessary, but I’m ready if we need to pull the trigger.

Magpie’s future depends on us.