28. Finley
Finley
“Could everyone please find their seats? The awards and speeches are about to start,” A woman announced from the podium on the stage they’d set up at the front of the room.
There was a flurry of movement as people grabbed their fill of finger foods and drinks before they took their seats.
Not feeling the need to indulge in either of those, I wandered my way back to the table with Mason on my arm.
I watched as Zander and his mother had their heads close, whispering angrily at each other.
I’d tried to give them space once we freed her from her husband’s clutches, but that didn’t seem to be going over so well.
“What do you think she’s chewing his ass out about?” Mason asked as he slowed our progress. “She looks pissed.”
“I imagine it has something to do with us pulling a stunt like this so publicly. She has no idea what our plan is and I doubt Zander is filling her in.” I commented. “Everything ready?”
Mason and Noah were the two in charge of making sure people were in their place at the gala.
We’d managed to place elves throughout the staff since many of them had the ability to apply a glamour that could make them resemble other people.
The catering staff had been through many checks, so we decided to replace them the day of, so we didn’t have to battle with those details.
“Yup, everything is as it should be. You sure fifty of them is enough with how many staff they have running about this building?” Mason questioned.
I glanced at him and patted his hand. “We just need them to deal with the humans. That tactic won’t work with the supers. It will cut down the amount of people we have to manage at once. Speaking of humans, have you seen the esteemed Judge?”
“Yes, he arrived about ten minutes ago with James right behind him. Those two are attached at the hip,” Noah answered as I took my seat between Colt and Lane.
“How long until it takes effect?” Lane asked as he placed his hand over mine.
Turning to him, I kissed his cheek. “Once you see it happening, you won’t have any doubts as to if the plan is working or not.”
“Why does that worry me even more?” he commented.
“Thank you all for coming tonight and celebrating the hard work that the United Senate has put into making our world a better place allowing all the supernaturals of the world to coexist together,” the MC for the night said from the podium. “I’m Tatiana Burges and I will be leading events tonight.”
The room filled with polite clapping as was expected from that announcement, but I didn’t know who she was, so that meant it was no one important.
“Now, to start things off, let’s hear a few words from Senator Sebastian Ragar,” Tatiana announced, clapping her hands.
The senator for the vampires stood from his table and stepped up on the stage.
“Welcome all of you. It is good to spend time with the people of our world that are determined to make the changes that are needed. Before the United Senate was created, the world was in chaos after the loss of the Light Elves. There was a void in leadership and many of you stepped up and decided to make the best of a terrible loss.” He paused for a moment to look down at the note cards he had in his hands, then set them aside.
“Tonight, not only are we here to celebrate the work we have done together, but we have something else unprecedented happening here.”
A spotlight then landed on me at our table.
“The queen of the Light Elves has come out of hiding and is taking ownership of her role, bringing the light elves back out into the world they’ve been hiding from,” Senator Ragar cheered, clapping. “Please come join me, Queen Finley. We’d love to have a few words from you.”
I had expected something like this might happen, knowing they wouldn’t invite me and not do something to call me out.
I’d caused too much of a stir with my press announcement for them not to punish me in some way.
It would appear the way they wanted to do it was public humiliation.
Too bad for them, this wasn’t going to work the way they wanted.
Gracefully I rose from my seat and Colt escorted me to the stage but let me walk up alone. He didn’t move from that spot, ready in case something should happen, but I wasn’t a helpless damsel.
Senator Ragar took my hand, bowed over it, and kissed the back of it lightly. “It is an honor to meet you. Please, we would all love to hear what it is that you have planned for your people and if you have aspirations of joining us as a member of the United Senate.”
I gave him a warm smile before I turned to face the worst of the worst our world had to offer the world.
“Thank you, Senator Ragar, for the chance to allow me to have a voice here tonight. I know I might not have come across as being supportive of the Senate in my press conference earlier.” I paused as the room tittered with laughter and other whispered conversation.
“I would like to formally apologize for the way that I handled that and prepared a little something for the night. Would you please pass out the champagne?” I called, signaling the staff.
Soon the room was flooded with servers passing out flutes of the simmering gold liquid.
“This isn’t just any champagne. This is elven champagne, something only we know how to make and produce. Even the supernaturals here will get a slight buzz off the stuff,” I added with a wink.
Waiting for everyone to have a glass, I lifted mine high into the air. “To the United Senate and all those we work together for the good of supernaturals all over the world. May we all learn from you today, tomorrow, and in the future,” I toasted.
Everyone cheered and clinked their glasses before they guzzled them down. I waited a few beats before continuing to talk as everyone made delighted noises about the beverage, draining the last of it from their glasses.
“I might be queen of the elves, but I am so incredibly young to many of you, and I hope that there will be much that I will glean from your vast experience. The Light Elves are no longer taking a backseat and watching the world go by. We are here to stay and hope to make an impact on the world once more,” I declared, raising my voice so that it could be clearly heard even without the microphone.
That seemed to get people’s attention and the clapping was far more hesitant, as if unsure what I was meaning. Then in the back of the room, someone screamed and fell out of their chair, trying to get away from someone. “Help, please, we need a doctor,” they yelled.
Another person stood from their table, grabbed their stomach, then puked blood everywhere. Hysteria ensued throughout the room, with people screaming and crying, trying to get away from those who were vomiting blood everywhere as it also leaked out of their eyes, nose, and ears.
A hand grabbed my arm and yanked me to face him. His blood-red eyes, typical for a vampire, glowed with rage. “What have you done?” Senator Ragar demanded, baring his fangs at me.
“I said we were going to make an impact on the world and the first step in doing that is bringing down the United Senate and the Dark Ring in one fell swoop,” I explained, flashing him a predatory smile. “Or weren’t you listening to my speech?”
He roared at me and lunged, but Colt was there yanking him away from me, his hand turning into claws as he ripped the vampire’s heart out of his chest, dropped it to the ground, then removed his head. “Hurry, Finley,” Colt demanded.
I grasped the hooks that were holding my skirt to my corset top and yanked it away, letting the tulle fall to the floor.
Once it was gone, I was able to get to my weapons, but I didn’t draw my knives yet.
Scanning the room, I looked for Gareth, knowing I needed to deal with him quickly.
I couldn’t let him get away. Then I found him making his way toward Morwyn with murderous rage written on his face.
Zander’s first job was to get his mother out of the gala with Tabitha, who would get her to a safehouse Eli had provided for us.
Running from the stage, I leaped off, using my magic to freeze the werewolf.
He was strong and I could tell that he had some kind of magic on him that was making it hard for me to hold him still.
He wasn’t looking for me to be the one to attack him, so when I bowled into him, bringing us both crashing to the floor, surprise flooded his face.
“You,” he snarled. “You’ve been the one working with the bitch this whole time.”
“Guilty as charged,” I admitted. “Now it’s time for me to hold up my end of the deal and end your disgusting life. I won’t let you ruin more lives just to ensure you get to stay at the top of the pack. Your days of ruling are over.”
Gareth got his legs between us and kicked me off him.
I let him do it, putting space between us as I crouched low, pulling a knife from my lower back sheath.
Zander warned me he fought dirty and would do whatever it took to win.
Knowing that, I watched him and everything around him he could possibly use against me.
Even if the poison in the champagne wasn’t enough to kill a super, it should have at least slowed him down a little.