Phoenix lowered his eyes, and Goody set his glass down on the side table. “Twenty-seven years ago, I sat at this very table when your grandfather spilled the importance of continuing each bloodline. I was sixteen, Phoenix. You’re almost twenty-eight. Julian and Zephyr, you two are not far behind him. Before you know it, I will retire, but I cannot rest easy knowing this coven is without a high priestess and no solid plans for continuance. This is theworstwe’ve been in almost two hundred years. What are you waiting for? Why hasn’t either one of you had a son yet?”
Zeph sat up. “Being forced—”
“Relax. I’m not forcing you, Zephyr. Not right now,” Clarence interrupted, then returned his attention to Phoenix. “And don’t tell me you’re waiting to break the curse, because every Heathen before you tried, and every Heathen failed. The only certainty we have is making sure you pass along your magical element.” He slid his eyes to Drunk Earl when he added, “And preferably not with a flatlander. You four are what binds the coven. You have many people depending on your magic.”
“We have until we’re thirty,” I announced.
“My daughter understands what it’s like to be a Heathen,” Clarence offered.
Phoenix winced at the insinuation. “Winnifred? You must be joking.”
“Careful,” Zeph warned.
Phoenix’s gaze flicked from Zeph back to Clarence, and he inhaled deeply. “Listen, Mr. Goody, beauty has never been the issue when it comes to Winnifred. Anyone can see the good genes your wife passed along to your daughter. But I have two years. If I can’t break this curse in two years, I’ll pass along my fire sperm. But until then, and with all due respect, I don’t want to hear another word about it.”
“They see us as weak,” Clarence replied dryly. “Change needs to be made now.”
Phoenix cocked his head to me with disbelief in his eyes, and his brown hair fell from its hold, the ends hitting his jawline. He returned his wide eyes to Clarence. “I have until I’m thirty. I’m taking the time I’m owed.”
“Then you give me your word?” Clarence countered. “Two years, and you’ll choose my daughter, Winnifred?”
Phoenix’s muscles tensed. His fiery eyes narrowed. My eyes dragged across the room. Everyone was waiting the same as me, yet no one knew what he’d say.
Phoenix Wildes was the wild card, unpredictable and expressive.Think about what you’re about to say before you say it, I thought.
“Yes,” he agreed, but his words were etched with insecurity and doubt. I closed my eyes. Phoenix always kept his word once stated. “For the sake of the coven, I give you my word.”
“See, now we’re getting somewhere. Now, Julian,” he called upon me, and I steered my gaze away from Phoenix.Please do not ask me about Fallon. I couldn’t lie if he did, not here. “Your shadow-blood has taken six lives, Blackwell. Six!”
“It wasn’t six.” The truth was, I couldn’t remember for certain. “Five, tops.”
I hadn’t realized until Jonah found River how out of my mind I’d become. Then what happened with Fallon had pushed me over the line. Their blood was on my hands, each death devouring my conscience. It was a vicious circle, and only Fallon could pull me back out of it, but I couldn’t become dependent on her alone.
Clarence Goody raised a brow. “Beth Clayton?”
“Beth Clayton’s lips were stitched with a needle and thread. Have you ever seen me blackout, walking around with a sewing kit?” I leaned back in my chair, gripped the arms at each side. “It couldn’t have been me,” I said angrily. And then, a long, silent moment later, “Could it?”
“The coven has received confirmation it was you,” he stated. “Regardless of proof, they’ll blame the rapidly decreasing numbers of these residents on you because of your shadow-blood and what happened with Javino. If this continues, the Order will have no choice but to burn you in The Wicker Man, and you have yet to have a son.” Panic enveloped me whole. “Your shadow-blood has gotten out of hand, and that’s why I’ve come to the conclusion that by the Full Cold Moon, if things haven’t changed, I’m attempting an expulsion.”
It felt as if all the oxygen had been sucked from the room.
I’d become paralyzed as Beck and Phoenix jumped to their feet at my defense.
Their words flew around the room as Drunk Earl fell into a laughing fit from the safety of his seat.
“You can’t do that,” Phoenix’s voice fired off at my side. “He would become catatonic! He’ll be nothing.”
“That’s if he doesn’t die,” Zeph muttered, then drank from his glass.
“He won’tdie,” Clarence tore his eyes from mine, breaking our stare-off. “He may become catatonic, but he’ll still embody magic of spirit. We’ll put him into comatose lucidity. It will be the only way to control him during the expulsion as well as contain his sperm.”
“You sick son-of-a-bitch!” I shouted, slamming my fist over the sacred table. “For twenty-six years, I’ve bowed down to this coven. I’ve given up my life, relationships, my morality, my freedom, my manhood. And now you’re taking my soul? Are you fucking kidding me, Clarence?” I blew out an incredulous breath, unable to believe the absurdity of this. “You have lost your damn mind. It’s not supposed to be this way!”
“I am your high priest, remember where you are and who you are speaking to! You are nothing but a tool for the sake of the coven, or have you forgotten that?” Clarence’s voice shook. “You murdered six people! I should have taken you to the Norse chambers myself after Jury Smith. The natural world has been looking out for you, but not for long. I’m giving you advanced notice, Blackwell! You take one more life, and the coven will take action.”
“I won’t let this happen,” Phoenix assured, then turned to Clarence. “The coven will never agree to this. Agatha will never agree. We should be helping him, not imprisoning him! Think about how many lives he’s saved!”
“This meeting is over,” Zephyr stated, and a gust of his wind rushed through the room. The candles flickered.
