Chapter 39
While Dad was held back from where I sat by spellcasters blocking his way, no one stopped Logan from joining me on the stage.
When his hand landed on my shoulder, the magic holding me in place vanished completely, as if he’d cut through their ties.
“Baby,” he rumbled, burying his hands in my hair and pulling me close. “I’m so sorry I wasn’t here when they first arrived.”
Letting myself fall against him, I breathed him in for a few seconds. “I love you,” I whispered. I’d been scared that they
would kill me before I had a chance to tell him that one more time.
“Don’t you give up, Precious,” he growled softly into my ear. “This is far from over.”
I knew that. Neither of us were going to just sit here and let them kill me, but that didn’t mean we’d win the battle. “I’ll
never give up,” I promised him.
His kiss stole the air from my lungs as the council tittered around us, annoyed that no one could stop Logan.
They knew he’d turn this hall into a battlefield, and apparently they were still hoping to murder me without a fuss.
Apparently, they’d decided to let Logan remain at my side until judgment was passed.
The hall was almost full by now, and when Headmaster Gregor hurried in, most of the other professors joined him. Dad moved
to follow his boss, finally able to get closer.
“Welcome, Council,” Headmaster Gregor said, approaching the main group of robe-covered assholes. “To what do I owe the pleasure
of you taking over my college?”
Elder Monroe, the spokes-warlock of the moment, stepped forward. “I hope you were unaware of what you housed, Gregor,” he
said with a snarl. “You didn’t keep your students safe, and if you were aware of this abomination in your school, I’ll make
sure you pay as well.”
The headmaster shot me a quick glance, and he looked very confused. He’d had no idea. “Are you referring to Ms. Hallistar?
She’s a fledgling spellcaster. Her magic has only registered with most of the professors in the last few days. I’d hardly
call that anything to worry about.”
Monroe studied him closely. “You’re about to find out how wrong you are, Gregor. Take your seat.”
The headmaster’s expression tightened, but he didn’t argue at the order, settling into a chair beside a professor I didn’t
know. Dad didn’t follow this time, moving to the other side of me, his hand gently gripping my shoulder. He didn’t say a word,
but his support said everything.
My friends and family wouldn’t leave me. They’d fight and die for me.
I couldn’t let that happen.
“Step forward, demon.” Elder Monroe had run out of patience.
“Who are you referring to?” I asked quietly. “Demons don’t exist on this plane, and I’m clearly standing right here.”
The warlock scowled at me and then waved me on. “You know the abomination you are. And it’s time for everyone else in our world to find out too.”
Knowing that it was in my best interest to show the world how unthreatening I was, I didn’t fight again, stepping forward.
Dad and Logan remained near my back as I moved closer to the edge of the stage. Most of the elders and their hired muscle
stood behind us, while Jacob and Elder Monroe stepped in on either side of me—they wanted me front and center, so no one could
miss who was on trial here.
“Quiet, students,” Elder Monroe shouted into the hall, magically amplifying his voice. “The High Council stands before you
today, bringing a live and public trial to the magical community. You all will bear witness to this historic event, as for
the first time in decades we’re faced with the threat of an affinity that was destroyed decades ago.”
I didn’t know most of the students. There were hundreds across the four years of Weatherstone College, and I’d only met a
small number. The most important of whom were in the front row, tense as they stared up at me.
I shook my head when Sara half rose to her feet; Tobias put a hand on her arm to keep her from drawing attention. He kept
his gaze over my shoulder on Logan, no doubt waiting for the signal to make a move. Not that I knew what any of them could
do, except die with me.
“Paisley Hallistar, a student here at Weatherstone—” my attention returned to Elder Monroe’s theatrics “—is not a spellcaster
as you all believed but is in fact . . . a night witch. Also known as a reaper of Purgatory.”
His voice lowered over my affinity, but he didn’t quite get the reaction he must have expected.
Most of the students—and professors—simply looked confused.
I’d have enjoyed the frustration on the elder’s face if I wasn’t in such a fucked-up position.
“Our education system needs a major overhaul,” he groused, waving his hand.
At first I thought he was performing magic, but he was indicating that he needed another of the elders.
A small ancient-looking woman stepped forward with a black square device in her hand.
Monroe turned to take it and used his energy to power the box as light filled the front of the stage.
In the light, images appeared.
The image wasn’t solid, it flickered like an old, half-forgotten memory, but there was no mistaking what it showed. A massive
field, blackened and burned, covered in what looked like multiple bodies. Two witches stood in the middle of the carnage,
and they were soaked in blood, to the point that it dripped from them to pool on the ground.
“The last two recorded reapers,” Elder Monroe said, his magically enhanced voice lowering ominously. “After their creatures
tore apart a village. You can see what remains.”
He sent more energy into the device, and the light expanded, bringing more of the scene into view. The students gasped as
the monsters appeared, dozens of them, spanning out behind the two witches. I wasn’t sure if the others could see the tethers
binding the monsters to the reapers, but I saw their glow immediately.
These two hadn’t lost control. Had they really massacred an entire village? Innocents and everything?
“Our ancestors called them demon-witches,” Monroe continued in his eerie whisper. “No matter how they start out, they always
lose control and destroy those around them. They have the power to call on demons from the Purgatory plane. They are beyond
our necromancers, and even worse, they also have the power of a spellcaster. Without any control.”
“How do you know that’s what happened there?” Haley shouted, sounding fiercer than I’d ever heard. “You have one flickering image from the olden days with no context. Anything could have occurred that day.”
Elder Monroe sneered at the audience, seemingly blinded by the light of his projection and unable to see Haley directly. “There’s
a reason our ancestors chose to destroy their kind and outlaw this affinity. We must protect ourselves.” He swung around and
pointed at me. “Paisley is a risk to everyone here.”
“And yet you have her contained by a dozen council members and a few spellcasters,” Logan drawled, seemingly more relaxed
than his energy felt through our bond. “Her magic can’t be much of a risk, and you can’t just condemn and murder an innocent
witch because of a past prejudice. We are better than that now. We know better.”
“Innocent,” Monroe snorted. “She called monsters to this school last year, and a student died. Where is the innocence in that?”
More gasps from the audience, and I let my head hang as guilt smashed into me. This was the judgment I’d expected every time
I’d had to tell my story. My friends had remained loyal—most of them—but the other witches and warlocks in this room didn’t
feel the same way.
They had no idea I wasn’t an evil person. As far as they were concerned, my magic had called a monster that killed a student,
and it could happen again.
This was a trial of my peers, and I wasn’t sure I could win.
“She had no idea of her affinity,” my father said, speaking up for the first time.
He stared into the eyes of the elder and then out into the hall.
“There are many cases of spellcasters accidentally hurting or destroying innocents when their power bloomed. They were all given a second chance on the premise that there was no intent or malice in their actions, and that they were barely out of childhood, with much to learn. It is the responsibility of fully qualified witches and warlocks to guide our young and give them the tools necessary to keep themselves and others safe. In this, we failed Paisley. Our entire community failed her.”
I took a shaking step forward until my shoes almost hung off the edge of the stage. The council reacted, lurching toward me,
but strangely, Jacob didn’t move. “I just wanted to say a few words,” I said, but my voice was too soft to be heard over the
hall.
Logan shared his magic with me, and my next words were louder. “I’m so sorry about what happened last year.” A tear slipped
free even as I fought to keep my voice steady. “I promise, I had no idea that I was the one calling the monsters. I’d never
even heard of my affinity, and I’ve been locking my power down ever since I truly found out what magic I hold. But I’m not
a bad person.”
“A lot of you would remember that Paisley threw herself at the monster in the hallway,” Logan added. “Her first instinct was
to try to protect students, and she almost died in her attempt. Would an evil witch, as the council here would have you believe
she is, risk her life for students she doesn’t even know? Her affinity is no eviler than any other, especially spellcasters.
The power we handle is immense, and when one of us turns to the darker magic, it’s absolutely devastating to the magical community.
My father is an example of that. But we don’t just destroy an entire affinity because of a few bad eggs.” Logan waved his
hand toward the flickering projection Elder Monroe had left up for dramatic effect. “We don’t know what happened here, but
even if two reapers used their powers to hurt others, that shouldn’t mean every other reaper is sentenced to death. We have
a chance to change now. To stand for more and be better.”
The students were quiet, and I couldn’t see most of their expressions to know how they were reacting. “It’s the council’s decision,” an elder said. I couldn’t see her as she stood in the back of the crowd around me. “We need to test her affinity first and then rule on her fate.”
Elder Monroe couldn’t have looked happier if he tried. “You’ll all see,” he said as he turned his broad smile toward the crowd
and the live broadcast stream. “You’ll learn to fear her as you should.”
Five spellcasters joined Jacob, and despite the small flicker of what appeared to be sympathy in his expression, he lifted
his hands and released a burst of his power, joining in with the others. It was a stronger-than-expected attack, shuffling
Dad and Logan away from me. Before they could recover, a group of elders cast a spelled circle around them, which would hold
the two warlocks for only a few minutes. Which was apparently all the time the spellcasters needed.
“Brace yourself, little witch,” a female spellcaster said. She was tiny, no more than five feet tall, but her power was like
a blowtorch as she gave it everything she had. “You’re about to be tested.”
If our magic didn’t bloom in the year after our twenty-second birthday, there was a way to force it from within. It was rarely
used due to the barbaric and dangerous results, which apparently no one cared about today. Logan’s rage reached me through
the bond, and I felt his power smashing into the elders’ spell, almost cracking it in one blow.
“Don’t do this,” I begged. “If you release my magic through force, I might lose control of the monsters.”
Elder Monroe laughed, sounding unhinged. “Like you ever had control of them. Your kind knows nothing but death and destruction.”
“No,” I screamed, fighting the spellcasters’ magic. “You’re wrong, and you’re risking everyone here. I can call the creatures
without all of this. I can show you how I control them.”
None of the witches and warlocks holding me cared to listen; they’d already made up their minds. I was the enemy, and all
they had to do was prove it.
As I reached for the icy tendrils inside, I closed my eyes and sent one last prayer to Selene that I could stop them from
reblooming my magic. An act that would normally be illegal, but clearly the council didn’t give a single fuck in their bid
to prove I was a demon-witch.
I couldn’t let them win. I had to take control and call tethered monsters before it was too late and everything I’d fought
for was lost.