Thomas from Britain hadn’t exactly interrupted me, but it still irritated me that he was already trying to undermine my message. “There could very well be a war before there is peace,” Braxton grumbled from nearby, and as always, despite his youth, everyone paid attention when he spoke. “A war that could costs many supernatural lives.”
“We’ve had wars before,” someone else argued, Yuko, a female fey who controlled a large part of Japan. “A small war and then peace and power. I mean, this is what we’ve been waiting for. We don’t want to hide in our supernatural communities any longer. We’re prisoners. And we’re too strong to be thought of as prisoners.”
Tee made a small sound, and I realized that I was holding her tighter than ever. With a low, “Sorry,” I released my grip on her.
She patted my chest. “It’s okay, I can sense your need of me through the bond.”
I couldn’t let my darkness get out of hand here.
More of the leaders on stage started to speak. “Quiet!” I shouted, power spilling from me with force.
An almost eerie level of silence descended over the entire place. “I think you actually froze their ability to speak,” Tee said, looking around.
It hadn’t been my intention, but it worked for now.
“We can argue all day,” I continued, releasing my mate so I could pace across the stage. “Some are for this, and some are against it, that has been clear from the start. And despite the fact that it was my spell, I was not in my right mind when I cast it, and I will now cast my vote—which is the only thing that matters in this situation. I vote no to integration with the humans. It’s not time. We’re not ready for another major war. Most of us still remember the wars between shifters and vampires. And the war with the demons. No more.”
In the sky, way above our heads, lights flickered and the scoreboard lit up. YES and NO were highlighted, and underneath was a number count. A large 1 appeared under NO, registering my official vote.
“It’s time now for all the leaders of our world to cast their vote,” I added, sucking back the power I’d used to silence the crowds. “Remember that you have your people’s lives in your hands. Think about the long-term ramifications. Think about everything that is at stake, and vote like we all might be dead tomorrow if you make the wrong choice.”
No pressure, you selfish assholes.
One by one, the leaders spoke a yes or no, and the magic of the official vote I’d started registered it. Every leader had a chance, and even though I heard supernaturals in the crowd murmur their own votes, none of them would count in the official total.
Tee and I stared up in the sky as the numbers rose, and it was close for a long time. Then the YES side started to pull ahead. By only a few votes at first, but soon it was twenty more than the NO.
“Idiots,” I muttered, but there wasn’t much I could really say. I’d given them the truth, and it was mostly my fault it was all happening, so I would just have to accept this was out of my hands and deal with the fallout.
Then, to my surprise, Tee pulled away from me, and before I could ask what she was doing, she started to speak, her voice magically amplified. “Before you cast your final votes,” she said, no inflection in her tone, “I want you all to see something. Because if a sorcerer with the power of Louis is afraid for our future, should we really continue down this path?” She took a deep breath. “I know a lot of you talk about war casually and don’t seem to be scared for what that might mean. I also know a lot of you haven’t lived through a war, or if you have, you’ve forgotten it.” Her jaw worked for a moment, and then her voice was shaky. “If you have children with you, cover their eyes now.”
She lifted both of her hands to the sky, mist pouring from her fingertips. I realized what she was doing, and already I was both angry and sad for her. That she had to do this just to get them to pay attention was really fucking annoying.
She had to relive her pain all over again.
The mist swirled and formed an image very quickly, and then in the sky was a scene, depicted as clearly as it would be on a cinema screen. I recognized the field, even though that was not a battle I’d fought in. It was chaos, bloody and brutal as supernaturals fought against the demon touched. This was clearly taken straight from her memories, and she was running, screaming, trying to find her parents, all the while using her magic in an attempt to save those around her.
I’d been in enough battles to almost taste the bitterness of that day on my tongue, to smell the copper of blood, which would have coated the ground and turned the dirt into red mud—felt the fear as those I cared about were slaughtered around me.
“This is the future you’re all signing up for,” she whispered. Everyone still heard her though. “Losing people you love. Both of my parents died that day. My mother was raped, and then she was torn into twenty pieces. I know this because I gathered them all up, one by one, and put her back together.” She continued on, and I fought my urge to blast this world into as many little pieces as she’d found her mother in. “My father, he was gutted by his best friend. His friend who decided that the power of a demon was more important than eighty years of friendship.”
Her voice caught, and I had to step forward. I had to touch her. She welcomed me into her arms, and I closed my eyes while my darker energy pulsed between us. “I’m so sorry, Tee,” I murmured through my clenched teeth. “I should have been there.”
She pulled me even tighter to her. “I’m glad you weren’t. I might have lost you that day as well.”
We were in our own world then, and it took me a moment to register the screams and cries from the crowd. The supes on stage were not much better, all of their eyes locked on the scene above, faces turning pale and confused.
Tee noticed as well. “I figured that for a lot of them, they might not have truly lived through a war. Or it has been so long…. The old ones, they forget. They need to understand before the final votes are cast.”
She waved a hand above her then, and the scene disappeared in a flash, melting away to leave the sanctuary sky clear again. But I was sure those images would linger in the minds of all. The tally above started to move again, as supes cast their final votes. It was clear straight away that Tee had gotten through to some of them because the NO was now speeding ahead. I wondered, though, if it might be too late. Most of the votes had been cast by the time she spoke up. I still couldn’t quite comprehend her bravery, sharing something so personal, and painful, with tens of thousands of supes.
“It’s tied again,” she whispered.
“Who is left to vote?” someone shouted, and I waited for confirmation of those still required to cast their vote.
“Me,” a female said nearby. Her energy felt like vampire. “And I vote … no.”
Uproar and pandemonium ensued, and I hauled Tee closer so she wasn’t trampled as everyone moved from the stage. “So what now?” she asked me. “You said it was going to be difficult to bring the spell back. How difficult are we talking?”
