Her bright green eyes shimmer. “And it will befun!”
“Well,” the High Priestess of the Hecate coven chimes in. She sits beside Callista in a robe of rich yellow, her long rope twists tied up in a matching silk scarf. It complements her warm, hazel eyes and the golden glow of her brown skin. “We’re not releasing our prisoners forfun, Callista. We’re doing it because it’s therightthing to do…”
“I think it’sinsane,” counters the leader of the northern wolf shifter pack. He gives the High Priestess a dark look. “I admire your conviction, High Priestess Moonfall, but are you really going to release all of those evil witches and vampires into our region?”
“He might be right, Amara,” sighs one of the independent witches, her red hair the same shade as Callista’s. “Some of those vampires and witches are locked away for a good reason. We don’t even know how long some of them have been imprisoned. It could be very dangerous to try and free them now.”
“Vampires go insane after only a few years locked in a coffin,” I add darkly. “They’ll have uncontrollable bloodlust when you release them. It would be more merciful to just stake them.”
“We have an integration plan for the vampires,” Callista says, pulling out a golden file from the stack in front of her. “We consulted with a group of vampires on how to ensure they’re safely reintegrated…”
“You’re going tosafely reintegrateancient, blood-starved vampires?” Sabina scoffs. “Who do you currently have in your prison?”
The Hecate witches glance at each other. Clearly they’re not willing to release that information yet.
“We’re planning to start with the least dangerous prisoners, then work our way up to the older evil witches and the ancient vampires,” Amara explains.
“I think it’s agreatidea!” declares one of the evil witches, swinging her long legs off the oak table. “The Cave still has witches who have been held captive since the Wicked Wars, some from the War of the Final Fire. They’ve been locked up for too long, and they deserve a second chance.”
“I agree with Xia,” Murad echoes with a thoughtful nod in the witches’ direction. “A restorative justice model is a wise approach. I trust you, High Priestess Moonfall, to ensure it’s rolled out in a safe and thoughtful way.”
“Yes, I’m sure nothing could possibly go wrong,” Renata mutterssarcastically. Celine elbows her sharply in the ribs.
“Thank you for your support, Murad,” Amara replies graciously. She stands up to her full height as her hawk familiar lands on her shoulder. He surveys the other magical representatives with sharp, beady eyes. “And while we value your input, ultimately the Cave and its prisoners belong to the Hecate coven, and we are committed to moving forward with this plan. If anyone would like to participate in our reintegration strategy, please reach out to either Callista or myself. We will be contacting the covens, clans and packs of the prisoners directly in the upcoming months.”
“Do you have any dragons?” one of the wolf shifters asks.
“No,” Amara answers. “The last of the dragon shifters were killed during the War of the Final Fire.”
“Good thing, too,” another wolf shifter mutters. She runs her fingers along the raised, white scar of the dragon burn that takes up most of her left arm.
I’m growing tired of this conversation, and I’m not interested in getting into a nostalgic debate about the dragon shifters or the War of the Final Fire, so I give Amara Moonfall an impatient look.
“If we’re not voting on your proposal, then could we move on to discussing the situation with the disgraced northern vampires?” I ask.
“Yes, that’s next on the agenda,” Renata replies, running her finger over her clipboard.
“Do you require any further input on your proposal, High Priestess Moonfall?” Celine asks.
“No, but thank you, Celine,” Amara replies, giving the vampire a disarmingly soft look.
“Good,” I interject. “I’m deeply concerned about Oana Ionescu and Cedric Ducharme…”
“Do we need to stay for this?” the Alpha of the wolf shifters asks.
“It’s not shifter business, you can go,” I reply curtly. The wolf, bear and panther shifters take their leave, yawning and stretching. But I’m glad to have them out of the conversation. Our relationship with the shifters has been shaky, and I don’t want them involved in our strategy.
“Damien and I have been tracking Cedric and Oana for months,” Celine says. “But their movements have been unpredictable. Sometimes it looks like they’re targeting Crimson’s territory in theeast, and sometimes it seems like they’re planning a strike here.”
“Classic Oana move,” Damien says with a sigh. “The more chaotic she behaves, the harder it is for us to plan our next move.”
“Any word of where they are now?” I ask. “I checked in with our team earlier this evening, but they reported that they’ve lost track of them.”
Celine frowns. “Us too.”
“Could they be targeting the Night clan mansion?” Murad wonders, his brows creasing. “We left a few of our best fighters just in case…”
I catch Murad’s eye and shake my head, almost imperceptibly. I don’t want to give away too much about our defenses, even to our allies.
