Simon and Faine arent werewolves, so what are they? Tosh asked Delilah, who accompanied him on the trip.
Its not safe for anyone to know more than they already do. Not for any of us. And this is a public place.
Her words were severe and she must have noted that because she relaxed and took his hand, squeezing it and then, as if she were surprised by her action, letting go quickly.
After this, will you have a drink with me? He blurted it before he changed his mind.
Clearly surprisedagainDelilah started, and then she smiled. A drink drink? Like you like me as a female? Or a collegial drink?
He got caught up in the shape of her mouth as she smiled. Huh?
She rolled her eyes. Are you asking because youre interested in me romantically or is this just a drink like youd have with anyone else who served in the senate?
He blushed, he knew it. I dont feel the same way about Senator Harley that I do about you. Ive been meaning to ask you to dinner for some time, but things have been . . . crazy. I realized if I didnt move now I might lose my chance.
Its about time, Toshio. I was beginning to wonder, you know, if I was imagining things between us.
Not imagining it. So yes to the drink?
You can buy me a drink and dinner when all this is finished.
Ill even spring for chocolate cake. He knew she had a fondness for it.
She leaned in and her scent wrapped around him, holding on tight. I might just let you kiss me.
He laughed, taking her hand and kissing her knuckles before turning all business again. Two slices then. So I think with the Council, you should take the lead. Your voice is important. Theyve heard mine.
Just take my cues. Molly will be there, along with Helena, so there will be friendly faces. But this isnt human communication any more. There are things shifters do . . . Ill need to show my obeisance to my Alpha. Im here to address them not only as an elected official, but as a wolf as well.
He nodded. I understand. Were on your turf. Ill defer to your expertise.
She laughed. Well, one step at a time. The Vampires were our biggest worry. But now that thereve been two bombs in less than twenty four hours, both attacking Others, one in the den of a very powerful male? Its going to be very bad. The wolves and cats are going to follow the lead of Simon, whos older than everyone else and far better trained.
She was giving him information, what she could anyway, about Simon and Faine. That trust was important to him.
If we lose the wolves and cats as well as the Vampires, Im not sure we can stop a declaration of war by the COO. Theres only so much were going to take and were going into scary territory.
I know, believe me, I know. Im hoping you can sway them.
Im not sure I should, to be totally honest with you. Weve been turning the other cheek and were bleeding. Our children are being killed. Were not safe in our homes. Talk isnt protecting us anymore. It is not our nature to allow harm to our people to go unchallenged. Cade has been holding things together but hes out of patience.
Tosh knew he had a seemingly insurmountable task ahead of him. The Others hed met and knew were good people. They deserved to be safe in their own damned country. I understand. But if we can get them to hold back until I can convince the president to issue an executive order to declare all Others to have the same citizenship they had before, things might calm down.
Maybe. But again, thats words. I dont know if words are enough.
She shrugged and he hoped they were enough to get them through before even more people got killed.
* * *
THEYD been taken to an outbuilding on Cascadia land. Theyd been sniffed and searched and one of Helenas witches was there to examine them as well.
Theyre making sure we havent been spelled on any level. Delilah had softened in some ways. Tosh wasnt sure if it was him or the fact that she now had dual loyalties. But in other ways, her humanness had muted and that Otherness she had moved to the forefront.
She moved differently and, heaven help him, Tosh thought it was the sexiest thing hed ever seen. Other wolves cast their eyes down when she walked past, and occasionally, she was the one who did the casting of her eyes away.
Dominance politics were nothing new to Toshio. This was just a different type, but he understood it and felt more relaxed for it.
I wonder where Molly and Helena are?
Delilah looked around the huge space. I dont know, but theres something up. It might just be that Simon and Larks home was attacked and things are very bad. But it could be something else.
Great. Something else. Because we didnt have enough stuff.
A woman he recognized as Nina Warden came out, all business. She clapped her hands to get everyones attention. Please take your seats. There are cards so do sit where your card is.
Hierarchy dominance, Delilah murmured, explaining.
Not so different from how we sit on the dais in committee meetings.
She gave him a lopsided smile. True.
Luckily he was seated next to Delilah so hed be nearby someone who could save him from making a horrible etiquette faux pas.
Helena and Lark came out with several other witches. Helena gave a loud, piercing whistle to shut people up. If everyone could be quiet for a bit, were going to cloak this space and dampen the sound so we cant be listened in on.
There was an uproar as people shouted out the question on Toshs mind.
Finally, Nina frowned them all into total silence. We will explain once the process is finished. Now kindly do be quiet as youve been asked.
Tosh kept his questions to himself as he watched the sisters work. Hands moving in concert, speaking under their breath as they traced the outline of the room.
Finally, they stepped back and it was like when a plane reached cruising altitude. His ears felt the pressure and then it eased.
Helena nodded to Nina and the sisters moved to their places at the table.
Meriel Owen is going to address the committee about some new developments.
Meriel stood. Just half an hour ago I received some information that changes everything. What Im going to say is not known by many people. But its necessary now. When we defeated the Magister, several weeks later we received visitors from the other side of the Veil. They had new information for us about how the Magister works.
We didnt destroy the Magister. From what we understand, its nearly indestructible. It may as well be as no one seems to know how to destroy it. Each time the Magister manifests and is overcome, it is shoved into another world. But the people whose world it attacks dont know that. We wouldnt have known it either if those people hadnt come to tell us. Theyre jumping from world to world to find it and stop it once and for all.
The table erupted into three dozen shouted questions and multiple conversations.
Were chronicling all this information in our archives, sharing it as we can with other places on the other side of the Veil. The more we know, maybe it can help in the future. But from what we can tell, the Magister is a being of chaos. The way it comes and goes is part of it. Its beyond our ability to understand the full scope. Old magicks like that defy explanation, so were being clumsy but its not on purpose.
Tosh reeled. Other worlds? Veil?
Delilah leaned close. Ill explain later if she doesnt now.
Why didnt you tell us? one of the Vampires asked.
Because right after that visit the attacks began and weve been dealing with this brink-of-war stuff. Weve been trying to keep the existence of other worlds out of human knowledge. If theyre this rabid knowing about us, what would happen if they knew there were countless worlds on the other side of the Veil?
Meriel looked to Tosh. If the military knew, what would they do?
I dont know. He shook his head, caught in the middle. This is conjecture, understand, but some might see it as a threat. Whats out there? Can we control it before it controls us? Are they more powerful? If so can we get their technology? Some would want diplomacy.
Yeah, not the ones who have been trying to kill us since they found out we existed though. What would they do if they knew Simon and Faine came from a world of beasts who could take two forms? Where those beasts ruled their world in warrior castes? Hm? What if they knew about the existence of Fae? We could not take the risk. Meriel said this all in a calm, measured voice. Tosh understood it and he agreed. There was no telling just what might happen if and when this information got out.
Weve been investigating some leaks within Clan Owen, and the de La Vega Jamboree also had a leak. And this afternoon, Helena got a phone call. Meriel paused for a brief moment. It has come to our attention that Carlo Powers, along with Marlon Hayes and the people at Humans First, has been working with the same mages who were helping the Magister. Theyre trying to bring it back, thinking that they can either control it or wipe the rest of us out.
Total silence engulfed the room and nausea rose in a wave through Tosh. If what she was saying was true, Senator Hayes was taking part in a plot that could end in genocide.
Worse, he had no reason to think Helena would lie about it.
Owen found a leak toward the time we defeated the Magister. This is how we uncovered a network of Others giving PURITY and the mages intelligence on how we operate, who our leadership is. And some of what went down with the Magister. She paused and took a deep breath. Our people are working with the rest of the COO enforcement ranks to investigate the leaks in their groups as well. The information seems to have come from several places and we havent uncovered anything we believe could actually bring the Magister back. But it boils down to this. Weve got traitors in our midst and theyre helping our enemies to attempt to bring the Magister back.
Then chaos erupted once again.
Cade stood and all the wolves instantly got quiet. Max de La Vega stood and all the cats shut up. Another man Tosh had never seen stood and the rest quieted. Then the three sat again.
Helena spoke again. Here is what we know. The mages have been working with the anti-Other groups for some time. An outclan witch, turned witch, and her human husband were working with one of the de La Vega jamboree members. The cats took care of this issue, though the turned witch is still at large, whereabouts unknown. The mages have been working with the turned witches. Turned witches are junkies. Theyve used stolen magic to boost their own. Each time they do, they eat away at their connection to their natural magick. Until theres nothing left of that. Their ability to pull magick and use it in any type of spellcraft is destroyed. They have no ability to use the Font of their home clan because it wont recognize them as witches. They sort of lose who they were before. It changes them into something else. Most of the time a turned witch dies within six months or so of that complete termination with their magick. Some seem to have found a way to live sometimes three or five years after that.
But theyve been working with these mages. Just recall, mages are humans who have enough natural ability to steal magick from Others to use to work spells. They dont die like turned witches do, but theyre crazy and violent . . . and addicted, just the same. So the turned witches and the mages worked together to kidnap witches and Others to steal their magick. Its how they first got the attention of the Helper, the being who procured for the Magister.
How is it they didnt get used by the Magister then? How many of them are there that they could lose numbers like we did and still be enough to be a threat? Gibson de La Vega, one of the cats, asked.
Because neither the mages nor the turned witches have their own magick. We have magick, you know, with a k. Stolen? Its not natural, its magic, no k. Its cheap and used up fast. Its not renewable. You wont recharge when you run out. The Magister only fed on Others who possess magick. It was like it didnt notice them and they were spared. I guess it didnt like or couldnt use what they had.
None of this was anything Tosh knew.
When we overcame the Magister, we also eradicated all those who were on the scene helping. We were able to kill the Helper. But their operation was worldwide. They had a network who stalked, kidnapped and transported Others to be drained. We figured theyd fallen apart after the Magister. The disappearances had stopped and in the face of the rising attacks by humans, we had to put our efforts on keeping our members alive.
One of the people at the table shouted at Helena. How could you let this threat go unchallenged? It was a mistake to let the witches head this up!
Faine growled. Helena gave him a look.
Cade stood, gaze narrowed as he addressed the wolves. We knew about this issue. The leadership of every Pack knew about this. And we all made the same decision based on the information we had. The disappearances had stopped. We had bigger threats to deal with. If you have problems with those decisions, look to me and the heads of your clans. It was the witches who saved us by getting rid of the Magister to start with. Dont forget that.
The wolf whod been so angry was just afraid. Tosh could see it. Hell, he understood it because if these people were afraid, things were far worse than hed ever understood.
Whats our next step then? What do we do?
Helena took a deep breath. Our informant tells us the mages have let Carlo Powers know about some arcane magickal texts that might help bring the Magister back. Well let him continue to think that, but Ive seen those books and they didnt have anything like that in them. However, those books contain other things we dont need PURITY or Hayes and their ilk knowing. Weve worked with the leadership of the rest of the Others here and theyre already investigating their own leaks. We need to plug up that information immediately.