Page 44 of Possess Me at Midnight

“How?” he barks. “How do we do that without alerting the Anarki or their sympathizers that we’re here? We can’t teleport without leaving the diary behind, and we still don’t know if using the book itself would make us traceable. I’ve seen no phone…”

“When any Councilman ascends, they’re given a special transcast mirror for communication. It connects only with other such mirrors. This isn’t something many know, and they’re always hidden.”

“I wondered why Mathias decimated the manor house, but if there’s a communication device… You think he sought that when he tore apart the house?”

“Likely.”

“We could search for MacKinnett’s.” Ice pauses, then sighs. “How badly do we need it? Think about it, princess. Maybe we say nothing about MacKinnett’s fate or warn the others yet. Would it truly serve Mathias’s interest to kill other Council members just now?”

“They stand in his way. Why wouldn’t he want them all dead so he could take over?”

“That’s likely his ultimate goal. But if the Council suddenly ceased to exist, Mathias could have an uprising on his hands, with the Doomsday Brethren still standing in his way. He’s evil, not daft. The more cunning approach is to start small, work his way up to power, then take action and fill the Council with like-minded puppets until he rules magickind with his iron fist.”

“Impossible. You know if a Council member passes to his nextlife and has no heir to claim his seat, the Council itself selects and elects its own members. I cannot imagine the current body voting Mathias to occupy MacKinnett’s vacant seat.”

“Unless Mathias has a Councilman in his back pocket.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, Mathias must have a plan. I don’t think it likely that he would plot and murder to occupy a Council seat without a member willing to champion him and sway the rest to vote for him.”

I frown. “Who would possibly do that?”

“You know better than me. Let’s talk about the Councilmen.”

“Well, clearly not Bram. Sterling MacTavish is Lucan and Caden’s uncle, and I’ve known that man my whole life. He would never aid Mathias. He lost friends during Mathias’s first terror. He’s also elderly and knows he no longer possesses the strength to fight.”

“So he continues to deny the bastard is back?” Ice asks, his tone razor sharp.

“Exactly. Clifden O’Shea, Tynan’s grandfather, is of the same ilk. Helmsley Camden has no issue, having never mated. Given that his father once waged a fierce political campaign against Mathias and was killed for it, I’m hard-pressed to believe Camden would assist Mathias now.”

“The others?”

Now matters get murky. “I scarcely know Kelmscott Spencer and Carlisle Blackbourne, the Council Chancellor. It’s likely Bram desired alliances with one of them, through my mating to either of their sons, to solidify his position and hold them in check. Both Rye Spencer and Sebastian Blackbourne will someday assume their father’s seats.”

My mind churns through possibilities as I pace to the window. Outside, the rain continues its steady drumbeat against the glass. How many of these men would I trust with my life? With my brother’s life?

With a sigh, I turn back to Ice. “I’m sure Bram wanted to be assured of at least one of their votes.”

“Blackbourne’s family once supported Mathias during his last uprising,” Ice points out.

“As did Spencer’s. Though both have long since rescinded their positions.”

“Yes, but for show?”

That, I can’t say for certain.

What a terrible political tangle. I’ve been assisting Bram with Council matters, but I’m hardly the expert. My brother knows how to finesse and manipulate them. He’s learned which battles can be won and which are hopeless. I feel as if I’ve dived off a cliff blindfolded. I know Council politics fairly well—Bram made sure of that—but knowing and leading are entirely different beasts.

“Perhaps you’re right,” I concede. “If Blackbourne and Spencer are on Mathias’s side, perhaps they seek to persuade someone like Camden that it’s in his best interest to approve Mathias. And if he refuses…”

His head could well be on the chopping block next.

“Still,” I go on, “Mathias would have only three votes. The other three would be against him.”

“How do they settle a tie?”

“According to Bram, the Council’s eldest member decides the issue with a challenge.”