Chapter 32
Ezra
Carrying a dead body through the center of town would have been a hell of a lot harder without a djinn on our side. And that was something I thought I’d never say. Soloman’s heavy-ass leg was dead weight—ha!—on my shoulder, with his other limbs spread between Cova, Frederick, and Kai.
Under a heavy illusion, we made it to the tribunal meeting chamber without interruption and set Soloman’s body on the long table in the middle.
I’d never been in here before. It was set up like an amphitheater; a flat center with raised seating around the edges.
I knew the extra room was for open meetings in the community, but I wasn’t allowed in those either.
Something public? That risked putting a spotlight on Aunt Mira’s dirty secret of a half-human nephew? Blasphemy .
My fingers dug into the mahogany table, the tips bleached white as I gripped the wood hard enough to splinter. Rani stepped up to me and wrapped her good arm around my waist.
It’s just their parents, she assured me. With Soloman gone, I’m not in any danger.
I let go of the table and maneuvered us back, allowing the heirs to stay near the evidence of our crime. After years of experience, I’d learned to trust my gut, and this wasn’t going to go over as easily as the others thought. Definitely not for me.
Even if that bastard burned to a crisp right here, I’d never trust that you’re completely safe. Sorry, babe. You’re stuck with my overprotective ass.
You promise?
I heard the smirk in her tone without even looking.
Reaching down, I clasped her hand on my side and squeezed.
A loud bang pierced the stiff silence of the room, and we collectively glanced up at the open double doors above the rows of seats.
They led to the oracle’s office as well as private passages deeper into the reserved faction, if rumors were to be believed.
As it was, the oracle herself easily made her way down the steps to where we stood; a feat considering her eyes were milky white and entirely blind.
A young woman walked dutifully behind her, head downcast but gaze tilted to catch everything.
From what I could see, her eyes were cloudy, but not yet completely white. An acolyte. Rare.
The last time I saw one, I was at my own seeing ceremony to find my bond; which, of course, was an utter failure. I guess the gods didn’t scan humans as potential partners, or they would have found Rani years ago.
Is that the heir to the oracles? Rani asked, awed.
The two women stood at the head of the table but didn’t address the group. I guess we were going to wait for everyone to arrive, then. Goody.
It’s possible, I replied, and watched the young woman blanch at the dead body before her. But I’m not sure. They’re more secretive than the sirens.
Another door slammed open, with far more noise and a wave of displeasure. Aunt Mira led the charge. The other faction heads stormed in behind her, but none of them held a candle to her rage.
“Tell me you didn’t!” she shouted, finger pointed at Kai.
She marched right up to him, barely giving Soloman’s body a passing glance, like not acknowledging it would allow her to claim inculpability for her son.
Kai didn’t give in to her show of outrage.
I couldn’t see his face, but his back was set and shoulders tight.
The stare down lasted all of thirty seconds before my aunt turned her head and glowered at me. Like this was my fault somehow.
When her calculating eyes narrowed on Rani, I took a less-than-subtle step forward.
“ She’s not allowed to be in here,” my aunt bellowed, her voice echoing through the rounded chamber. “And neither are you!”
Her finger pointed like an accusing arrow, right at my face, as she marched over. I was taller than her, but I never felt like it. She had a way of making me feel like I permanently lived under her heel. Kai moved too and planted a hand on his mother’s shoulder when she pressed too close.
Let me at her, Ezra! I can take the bitch! Rani snarled, fighting to stand at my side.
But I didn’t want her to bear the brunt of it, and setting Rani loose would not end well for any of us.
“Why do all my problems center around the unwanted welp of the family?” Aunt Mira’s voice was deadly soft, and more hostile than I’d ever heard it.
She curled her fingers, probably imagining them around my neck.
“My son’s trial for the death of the vampire heir, the mental breakdown of the djinn heir, and now this.
You were present at all of those events, and I swear to the gods, I will make sure this pins on your unwanted, pathetic, insignificant —”
“Mother!” Kai snarled. “Sit the fuck down.”
The room froze. Kai had never spoken to her like that, not in our entire lives.
He stood up for me on multiple occasions and redirected his mother’s ire more times than I could count, but always with respect.
Always with a political flair. This was the first time he’d done it with a finality, with the anger borne from a cousin who was tired of seeing his best friend mistreated.
Aunt Mira didn’t know what to think of it either, but when the oracle cleared her throat, she had no choice but to take her seat.
That was also a sight that would forever be burned into my memory, the faction heads sitting around the table with Soloman’s body displayed before them like a centerpiece.
There really were silver linings.
For a moment, no one said anything. It was the calm before the storm, the charged silence before destruction.
And then… it set off. Spectacularly, I might add.
The vampire leader was the one to start it.
I couldn’t even make sense of his shouting, just vague disbelief sprinkled with colorful profanity and lots of hand gestures.
A solid five out of ten.
Cova’s dad remained contemplative, his eyes flicking back and forth between his son and the dead man who, until only hours ago, was leading a targeted attack against his people. He got a respectable six out of ten.
Are you… rating them?
Oops. Did I say that last one out loud?
Rani’s shoulders shook with silent laughter while all around us the factions fell into argument and blame. Tale as old as time with these bastards. Except for the newcomers. Tucked in the back, at the farthest seats down the table, were Eryn’s parents.
Her father was only sworn in as head of their small faction a week ago, and they wanted no part in the drama unfolding before them.
Eyes slightly lit from within, they surveyed the room with shrewd intelligence.
Every member of this tribunal was their enemy until just recently.
I had no doubt they’d grab their daughter and run, leaving all our brains in mushy puddles, if they needed to.
The scent of gathering magick burned my nose, and I once again pushed Rani behind me, tucking her between my back and the wall despite her protests.
Stop it! Rani swore, before sinking her teeth into the muscle below my shoulder. I want to watch.
I blocked another of her attempts to squeeze past my arm. No can do, baby. As a wise philosopher once said, ‘This place about to blow.’
Did you just quote Ke$ha?
Well, the pop singer wasn’t wrong. Between my aunt’s shouting match with the vampire head and the methodical plotting obviously going down with the other faction leaders, we were one spark away from powers free flying to the rafters.
“Silence!” The oracle’s withered voice cut through the chaos with an efficiency that made me jealous.
“We are at a precipice,” she warned. “With two branches offered before us. One leads to the destruction of all you’ve known—not now.
Not for many generations—but our kind will scatter and succumb to the humans.
The other offers a different outcome. The humans remain a problem, but the tribunal and all her factions are not the weaker opponent.
The choices made today will decide which branch withers and which will flourish. ”
That was so helpful in a vague, you’re-still-eventually-fucked kind of way. And gods, it was strange to be having this serious of a conversation with a dead body still on the table. Was no one going to move that? Like to a storage closet?
Kai climbed the stairs, putting himself at a higher vantage so everyone in the room could see him.
His bonded stood loyally by his side, only one step below.
Anticipation and dread mixed into a volatile concoction that sent my head reeling.
This was it. The moment we’d worked toward since we were old enough to leave our faction’s land without an escort. It was time to change the tribunal.
“I, like many of you, have grown up in a world of constant squabbling and lack of unity. Where children were forced to look over their shoulders, some even hunted their entire lives, never knowing a minute of peace.” Kai looked down at Eryn, and she moved closer with a tight smile.
When he glanced up again, no one said a word.
“It’s time for that to end and for the tribunal to become what it was always meant to be.
What it used to be. A governing body that protects all its peoples. ”
He glared at Soloman’s body, the hatred he had to keep contained now out in the open for all to see.
“For too long, there has been a bid for power among us. With some leaders grabbing at more than their fair share; threatening, killing, and manipulating to get their people ahead. We nearly lost an entire faction due to fear-mongering and greed. Enough .” Kai raised his head in challenge as he swung the proverbial axe and laid the challenge that would determine our future.
“It’s time for the current leaders to step down in favor of their heirs. ”