He nodded. “Yes. He’s trying his best at damage control, but now that the president is aware, it’s basically out of his hands.”
I figured as much, but it was still an avenue we had to explore. “We need a council meeting, one with all of the leaders from around the world. There’s still time to reverse it, if I can get enough votes.”
This was a mess I started, and I was ready to fix it.
“We can put the call out, but it’s going to have to be a quick meeting,” Braxton said, already moving toward my front door. “We can’t leave our communities unprotected, especially not right now.”
“Just tell them it’ll take a day, and we’ll have our final vote.”
Supe leaders were scattered across the world in multiple time zones, so it would take a little maneuvering to get them all together at the same time. But the Compasses would make it happen. They commanded more respect than they realized.
And I needed this issue sorted out as soon as possible, because I wanted to focus on Tee. For the first time in a very long time, a spark was flaring inside my chest at the thought of tracking her down. Of spending time with her again.
I wanted to know if she still loved flowers, the brightest, most colorful ones she could find. If she still drank Faerie wine on the full moon and ran naked through fields. If she ate more food than someone her size should be able to do without bursting, and laughed the entire time because she found so much joy in it.
I wanted to know her again.
We had been friends for most of our lives, and I was determined that we get back to that place. And maybe, just maybe, we could embrace the bond fully. Because I agreed with Jessa—I was kidding myself thinking I could keep her at arm’s length.
She was already ingrained into my soul, into my heart. She had been for most of my life.
13
Elizabeth Teresa Montgomery II
Sometimes it was easy to forget that the few hours I spent in Faerie were days on Earth. I crossed with Josephina, and she then opened a step-through for me to take back to Alaska. My cabin there was small but comfortable. Unlike in my youth, I had plenty of money now. All supes were paid a stipend based on the wealth of American supernaturals.
And apparently they were doing really well.
I didn’t use money a lot anymore—magic got me most things. Money was for the human world. You couldn’t magic things out of nothing, they had to be pulled from somewhere. So when I built my house, wood had to be available somewhere for me to magic it into my possession. So in some ways it was easier for me just to purchase lumber and have someone build it.
It was the same with food.
Which was why right now I was in town, at the local grocery store, stocking up on supplies.
Condor, Alaska, was a small town. Population 1,200—most of the time, depending on the seasonal trades. I knew everyone by name and face, having lived nearby for decades. For some reason, none of them really questioned why I never aged, and if anyone ever did comment on it, I just used a little bit of magic to confuse them into thinking this was normal. As far as the humans knew, I was Elizabeth Tanner, who lived out of town and kept to herself—which they appreciated.
“Elizabeth!” Karen was in her sixties and had been working at the local grocery store for at least fifty of those years. “I almost sent someone out to your cabin to check on you. Long time, sweetheart.”
I gave her a genuine smile because she was always so kind and caring, but never pushy. She accepted that I had my secrets and would not share, and still treated me the same way.
“Yes, I’m sorry. I should have let you all know I was going to visit family. It was a sudden trip though. I pretty much just packed up and left as soon as I got the call.”
Literally one second after I got the call, I’d opened a step-through. Louis had always had that effect on me.
“Well, I’m glad nothing bad happened to you,” Karen said as she started to ring up my groceries. “Your boys were here looking for you too,” she added as she bagged everything up. “They seemed worried.”
My stomach twisted a little. I’d forgotten to call Paulie, James, and Connor. The shifters were pack animals, and I was part of their pack when they roamed Alaska. It was terrible of me not to let them know that I was okay.
“Are they here at the moment?”
She shook her head. “Haven’t seen them for a few days, so they might have headed back home. Hard to tell with those three.”
It was hard to tell. They ate a very carnivorous diet, which mostly consisted of animals they hunted—not with guns—so they came to town even less than me.
“There you go, dear.” Karen handed me the three large bags. “Hopefully I’ll see you at Mary Lou’s later in the week.”
I smiled and winked at her. “You know it.”
