Chapter 2
drecken
. . .
I had plenty of other things I could’ve been doing.
Instead, I was forced into sitting through yet another meeting with the Human Council. I sat in my chair at the table in the Supernatural Council’s meeting room, listening to the humans’ excuse for what had transpired.
Sabine sat at my right, her green hair styled into a sleek bob, while her dull green eyes glowered at the humans.
Smoke trailed lazily from Rowan’s nostrils across from us where he sat upright in his chair.
Dante, our vampire representative and Ambassador of the Night, sat beside him, and Kaelith, our cultural liaison for interspecies relations, tapped her nails softly on the table.
Ted flickered in and out of corporeal form at the far end.
Hunter, the vengeance demon representative and co-owner of a vengeance business, was also here.
All other members were busy overseeing political issues.
Above the table, the holographic feed to the Human Territory had shimmered to life, forming the image of the Human Council.
Their council’s leader, Evelyn Smith, had her brown hair twisted into a tight knot at the back of her head. A few strands frizzed loose around her face, and her brown eyes were sunken with dark circles carved beneath them.
Humans wore their stress like attire, unable to physically handle the complications life brought, despite how short their lives were.
For a second, she just stared at us like she had to process that the meeting had started.
She inhaled sharply, hands folded in front of her.
“I apologize on behalf of all the humans. We have no control over what the Human Resistance Network is doing, but we apologize for their actions. We do not agree with their stance and the crimes they’ve committed.
We want to make things right with the supernaturals.
I do not want the peace treaty to be lost due to a rogue faction. ”
“Perhaps you should focus on your people, then,” Rowan snapped, “instead of pleading with us for lenience.” Smoke streamed in two small plumes from his nostrils as he spoke. His fiery eyes burned through the projection.
Evelyn’s mouth snapped shut. Shock flashed across her face, as if she’d actually expected us to offer to help with their little civil war.
Humans were nothing if not entitled.
“We do not expect you to clean up after us,” Clara Blackwood, the human diplomatic relations officer, interjected smoothly. “We only wish to make sure that our peace treaty stands, and that we do not break it. It was the Human Resistance Network—”
“The Human Resistance Network are humans, aren’t they?” Kaelith, the dragon representative and cultural liaison, cut in, her brown eyes glued to Clara’s image.
Clara inclined her head. “Yes. That is unfortunately true, but—”
“But nothing,” Ted spoke up, his voice airy and disinterested.
His gray hair was slicked back as always, and his pale eyes were half-lidded.
His phantom power coiled around him like mist, and his form flickered faintly.
“You do not even have control over your own media.” He lifted his gaze to Evelyn.
“They hacked the Kalista News Sector right after Apex Elite Academy’s House Gauntlet.
Let us not forget that during that broadcast, the humans threatened the lives of supernaturals. ”
A third human council member shifted uncomfortably in her seat, but she didn’t speak.
“They did threaten you, and we apologize for that,” Evelyn attempted to placate us quickly. “That was not us. That reporter has been fired, and so has that entire branch.”
“They might be fired,” Sabine hissed, “but they’re ssstill alive. Breathing after inciting murder on live broadcast. Ridiculous.”
Fiona Carmichael, the humans’ cultural liaison, flinched before she forced herself to straighten.
“We can’t apologize for that.” She smoothed a hand over a stack of papers in front of her.
“Our cultures are very different. Between humans and supernaturals, I mean. We don’t just murder those who do wrong. We try to rehabilitate them.”
“Right,” Rowan said, unimpressed. “And that is why you have so many problems.”
“There is a time for rehabilitation,” Dante muttered, his voice a low purr, “and a time for putting someone down.”
“Correct, Dante.” Sabine lifted her chin slightly.
“I am the executioner and agent coordinator on thisss council. We do not kill every criminal. Sometimes we do rehabilitate them, if they dessserve it. Mossst of the time, they get locked up.” She shrugged, “Or offed. It’s just the way supernaturalsss work. ”
“Yes, well, humans are not like that,” Fiona replied softly. “And we do not plan to become like that.”
Sabine rolled her eyes. “How about we talk about the fact that your humansss kidnapped my daughter, took her DNA, and are now giving her power to humansss who are threatening to kill usss. Humansss are such a weak vessel considering just how potent her venom is. I wonder how they sssomehow rigged it to work, but I doubt it’ll last long. ”
I propped my elbows on the table’s surface and leaned forward. “I would also like to know how that works. Human bodies don’t do well with supernatural power. So, how exactly are your people using Rune’s venom, which is arguably one of the most lethal abilities I’ve ever seen?”
A breath of uneasy silence crossed the feed.
“I don’t know how they did it,” Evelyn murmured.
“Not to mention,” I added casually, “Rune is my mate. So yes, I very much want to obliterate all humans on principle, just because they took her.”
Every human face on the projection went a shade paler.
Evelyn swallowed, throat bobbing. “We do not wish to fight the supernaturals. We do not—”
“If I wanted to wipe your kind out,” I said, smiling pleasantly. “I wouldn’t need a war to do it.”
I kept my smile plastered on my lips.
That fact was undeniably true. I had never used my full power at maximum strength in a lethal way…not that I could remember, anyway.
Rowan gave me a sharp look before he interjected smoothly. “Drecken is acting on behalf of his mate, who was taken by your kind. We have no intention of starting a war with you.”
I rolled my eyes, but I let it go.
“Yeah,” I agreed against my better judgment, leaning back in my chair. “The Human Resistance Network is about to be obliterated as soon as we find them, but not all humans.”
Evelyn nodded, tension carved into every line of her face. “That is exactly what we want to do. We are having the worst time locating the Whettlocks and the Human Resistance Network. We cannot find where they are operating out of. They’re off-grid.”
“Then, I suggest you try harder,” Rowan said. “Because we do not plan on getting involved in your war. If it becomes more of a problem for us and we have to step in, then we will. But until then, I would like you to handle your own people.”
Evelyn let out a frustrated sigh, then nodded. “Understood. We were hoping for aid, but I see that will not happen.”
Clara hesitated before clearing her throat. “What about the peace treaty?”
Rowan exhaled, another thin plume of smoke curling from his nose. “The peace treaty stands only with the current Council. If the Human Resistance Network takes over your Council, the treaty will no longer stand, and we will declare war on humans.”
Evelyn sucked in a short breath, then nodded slowly. “I understand. That will not happen. Please know we are open to collaboration against the Human Resistance Network at all times. If you change your mind, please do not hesitate to reach out.”
Kaelith offered her most diplomatic smile. “Thank you.”
The holographic feed flickered once, then dissolved. The humans’ faces vanished, leaving only the reflection of our own in the shine of the table.
Ted rolled his eyes. “Humans,” he muttered as he turned his gaze to me. “Drecken, I need to speak with you about my granddaughter soon.”
I perked up, interest immediately overriding my irritation. “Is it what I think it’s about?”
Ted had mentioned her before. She was a hybrid, which was rare. Beyond rare, even, to the point that they'd never been known to actually exist outside of theories.
It would be a groundbreaking discovery in magical research and in history.
He nodded. “Yes.”
I grinned. “Just tell me when. I’m fascinated by the sheer improbability.”
Sabine snorted softly.
“And speaking of fascination,” I said, snapping my fingers.
Summoning magic rippled in the air above my palm, condensing and hardening into the sea-stained tome Hunter had given me to translate for the siren. It hovered for a moment, dripping with residual saltwater, then drifted across the table toward Hunter.
His white eyes with grey circles around the irises widened as he plucked the tome from the air with a nod of thanks.
“Were you able to translate it?” he asked, turning the ruined cover over in his hands.
I snapped my fingers again, floating a leather-bound journal into his other hand. The pages filled with my handwriting in neat, compressed script. “I was. The tome alludes to structured magic for sirens. Like witches and warlocks use.”
Hunter’s brows rose. “Sirens could manipulate worldly magic with their magical essence the same way witches and warlocks could?”
“It’s fascinating, isn’t it?” I grinned.
“I’ve never seen anything like it in all my years.
Sirens have always been considered instinctual.
Their magic comes from their songs, emotion, compulsion, and water.
Not formal spellcraft. My mother always suspected there was more to their magic than they were tapping into.
” I gestured to the tome. “That proves she was right.”
Hunter looked at the tome and the journal with more interest.
“Either way,” I said, “I want to be in the loop on this. If Melody digs up more, I want to know.”
“I’ll give her your contact information,” he said. “She reached out to me after everything that happened with her family. There was no way I’d deny her help, but having your direct contact would be easier for her since you know more about this than I do.”
“I do,” I agreed. “Go ahead.”
I’d read the files on Melody Stormsong. Surviving multiple forced matings was lucky. It was unlucky that her father and sister arranged it, but it was once again lucky that the Fates intervened personally to stop it from happening again.
That woman would do great things in the future. I just knew it.
“This information is truly unprecedented,” I added, letting my excitement bleed through again. “If sirens can access structured magic, entire branches of spell theory would have to be rewritten. I want to be part of that.”
Hunter nodded firmly. “I’ll make sure she knows you’re available. Melody will appreciate speaking with someone who understands these topics.”
I grinned. “Fantastic.”
Chairs shifted as everyone began to stand, the meeting clearly over.
I sighed, pushing to my feet. “On that note, I’m going to go see my mate before she has class.”
Sabine rolled her eyes, but the corner of her mouth twitched. “I will never get used to you and my daughter being mates.”
I winked at her. “I’ll never get used to you being my mother-by-mating. Considering I’m older than you.”
She snorted. “Technicalities.”
Dante chuckled under his breath.
Rowan shook his head, amused, smoke curling lazily from his lips.
I stepped back from the table and snapped my fingers. A teleportation circle opened under my feet. The sigils flared in bright blue and green, the air warping before swallowing me whole.
The council chamber vanished in a rush of air and warped light. The roar of magic in my veins took over as I teleported to my fated mate.
The matebond hummed with longing in my chest, and it didn’t stop until Rune was wrapped in my arms.