Nodding, Zane gestured to Brady. “Lead the way.”
Brady’s nerves were starting to get the better of him as he headed to the place where he’d fought and lost so many battles. The few he’d won were why he kept on trying, even though the odds were stacked against him. Mystia once called him an optimist and, in a way, he could see her point but he didn’t view himself as such. No, any belief that his efforts would succeed quickly dissipated after losing his first case. The young, low-level magic user he represented had taken his own life and even now, the gut-wrenching sobs from the young warlock’s mother were still fresh in his mind. From then on, he viewed each case as a life-or-death battle; he promised himself no other parents would ever suffer the pain of losing a child due to the hideous laws enacted by the Witches’ Governing Council.
Stopping at a door, Brady stared at the carvings on it before finally running a finger over the figures. Shivers seized his body. With only a light touch, he could feel immense power pulsing through him. It was greater than he remembered and he wondered if Zohar had amped it up or if he’d just forgotten how strong it was.
“Ready?” Zane asked.
Lost in his thoughts, Brady jerked slightly at hearing Zane’s voice, returning him to the present. Dropping his hand, he muttered, “I am…you?”
“Yup.” Zane’s hand grasped Brady’s then said, “One…two…three…ghost walker.”
And just as before, Brady closed his eyes and stepped forward, stopping only when Zane let his hand go.
“Holy shit!” Zane murmured.
Alarm flitted through Brady. Quickly opening his eyes, he searched for the cause of Zane’s comment but found nothing out of order. Puzzled, he asked, “Are you okay?”
“Me…yeah. But look at this room…it’s a good thing Fionn and Alex aren’t here cuz their dragons would go crazy with all this gold. Was it like this the last time you were here?”
Snorting, Brady said, “Zohar wanted a golden meeting room so the council approved it.”
“What the fuck for?”
“My guess…ego. Usually only the council members are in here unless someone wants to address the council about an issue.”
“Like you.”
“Like me,” Brady said. Then, pointing to a group of men talking, he said, “Zohar isn’t here yet.”
“Who else is missing other than Gerard?” asked Zane.
“Uhmm…” Moving towards the group, Brady circled them, noting each council member who was there. Returning to Zane, he said, “The only other person not here is Thayer White.”
“He’s first level, right?”
“Yes…he never misses a meeting, at least as far as I knew when I was here,” Brady murmured. “There are five council members who will vote the way White tells them to.”
“Really?”
“Yes…Zohar is very clever that way…it’s the reason he was elected head of the Witches’ Governing Council to begin with. He will manipulate any situation to his advantage.”
“Dirtbag.”
“A good description, unfortunately,” agreed Brady.
“Yeah, well…time for him to go. Let’s move closer and see if we can find out what they’re gossiping about.”
Snorting, Brady said, “You make them sound like a bunch of old hens clucking around the water dish.”
Shrugging, Zane smirked. “If the shoe fits…”
“I like how you think,” Brady muttered, heading over to a warlock who prided himself on his importance to Zohar and never missed an opportunity to let everyone else know. Little did Kadin Fadington know what his idol had planned for him.
Chapter 15
Josiah stared at the cluster of buildings down in the valley, watching as a lone figure exited one of them and headed into the woods behind it. Keeping himself well hidden, his eyes warily tracked the shifter’s movements, suspicious that the Alpha of the Rolling Hills Pack might have set a trap for him. Trust in anyone had ceased the moment his contact at the High Council told him about the eyewitness’s sworn testimony. And it was that piece of information that had sent him east.
A fucking eyewitness!Shocked at the news, it took a moment before Josiah understood he was good and truly fucked. Now the only avenue he saw to extricate himself from the situation was to find the witness and eliminate her. So he’d headed to the Rolling Hills Pack to finally meet the Alpha and see what information he possessed that might be able to get him out of this mess.
