Glancing at his mate, Sawyer started to laugh. “Yeah, you keep telling him that, but if I know our mate, good luck with it.”
~/~/~/~/~
Dylon paced in the Council meeting room, his concern growing as minutes ticked by. After receiving the reports from all the teams except one, he was ready to move forward but couldn’t until Glenn and Sawyer returned. He was sure the only magic users remaining in the Council’s headquarters, other than the sleeping guards, were the four who were his targets. And that meant it was time to deal with them. Unwilling to wait, he swiveled his mic to his mouth, but before he could speak, the door opened. His missing team members had arrived.
“Our area’s secured,” Sawyer announced after closing the door behind them.
“Any problems?” asked Dylon.
“Uhm…not really, other than the bomb Glenn found. It appears we were right about Zohar’s plans.”
Dylon’s eyebrows shot up until they were almost hidden by his hair. Unrolling a map of the building, he passed it to Glenn. “Show me where it is.”
Glenn scrutinized the map before pointing to the location. “Here…there’s only one and it’s a huge motherfucker…powerful enough to take down the whole building.”
Nodding slowly, Dylon stared at the map, weighing different options. Making the decision to keep to his plan, he turned to Remy. “Ready?”
“Yes.” Shutting his eyes, Remy searched for the tiny spark within his mind, willing the sphere into his hands. Rolling it between them, he watched it grow larger and larger, until it reached the size of a bowling ball, before releasing it. He watched as it began to spin slowly in midair and then created four more. Gesturing at the five light spheres, he turned to Carson, “Are you ready?”
“I am…go ahead.”
“Wait a minute…should I uncloak everyone first?” asked Sawyer.
Shaking his head, Remy murmured, “No…just me, Carson, and Brady.”
“If I do that, you won’t be able to hear Dylon…or the rest of us,” Sawyer said.
“Uncloak Cody too,” Dylon said. “He can become invisible and I’ll communicate with him through our mind link. He’ll then be able to relay conversations.”
Sawyer nodded. Whispering the words Oracle gave him, he uncloaked Remy, Carson, Brady and Cody.
Seizing the first light spere, Remy waited until it stopped spinning before plunging his face into it. Ignoring the sparks of light against his skin, he concentrated on Kadin Fadington, searching for his life force. Once found, he followed it until it reached the warlock. Removing his face from the sphere, Remy flicked his fingers, and the light sphere enveloped Kadin, immobilizing him. Ignoring the warlock’s howls of protest, Remy continued on, imprisoning Thayer White, Niam Graves, and Zohar in quick succession. But when he found Gerard Vonner’s life force and realized who he truly was, he informed Carson through their mind link about what he’d discovered.
“Oh shit!” Carson muttered as the final piece of the puzzle fell into place.
Remy continued to follow Gerard’s life force to the end, then withdrew his face before flicking his fingers. Within seconds, Gerard too was captured by the light sphere. Remy circled the five light spheres until he was standing in front of Zohar’s. His eyes flicked over to the other four who’d stopped struggling, instead, adopting defiant attitudes. “By now, you must have figured out who I am.”
“You have no right!” exclaimed Zohar. “Release me immediately!”
“I haveeveryright!” Remy’s voice thundered around the room. “I am the Keeper of All Magic and Ruler of the Mystic Realm. You and your friends have betrayed every magic user, all under the guise of making our world a better place. But those were never your intentions, were they, Zohar?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Zohar pouted. “My record…”
Brady stepped out from behind Carson. “Your record is one of persecution of low-level magic users—beginning with Statute 1901:47 which made them a separate class within our world and ending with the most recent one which, I might add, was passed two days after receiving the Ruler’s order forbidding the passing and enactment of any new laws…especially those pertaining to low-level magic users. That one, Statute 5029:23, was especially grievous because it ordered the destruction of all records pertaining to the identity of every low-level magic user. That was another action you took, ignoring the orders of the Ruler. But your disobedience did not stop there.
“Instead of freeing the low-level magic users as ordered by the Ruler, you made plans to hide them from him by removing them from the Witches Council building to a secret location in a deliberate attempt to continue your scheme. In fact, the truth is, none of the Ruler’s orders have been followed…not by you or the Council.
“As you well know, orders given to the Witches’ Council by the Ruler of the Mystic Realm must be obeyed as stated in the Rules governing the council. They were promulgated by His Majesty Enofaris, the very first Ruler of the Mystic Realm. Since then, every council member must swear to uphold and obey them or face death upon their failure to do so. Don’t waste time denying it; the proof is there for the Ruler of the Mystic Realm to see.”
“The facts are clear,” Remy said. “The laws you enacted had only one purpose…to create slaves you could sell. I wonder if the other council members know how much money you’ve pocketed over the years from the fees you charged for the purchase of each low-level magic user? Do they know it was enough to make you the wealthiest warlock in our world?”
When Zohar remained silent, Remy turned to Kadin. “And you…always so quick to carry out Zohar’s wishes, regardless of who they hurt. Your quest for power ended up with Zohar signing your death warrant.” Seeing the man’s lips part in shock, Remy smiled grimly. “Yes…believe it. Once you had completed your task in moving the low-level magic users, Niam was ordered to kill you.”
“You’re lying!” Kaden shouted, pounding on the wall of the light sphere.
Flicking his fingers, a recording device appeared in Remy’s hand. “Listen for yourself.” Remy hit play and Zohar's voice began to play through the speaker.
“Kadin’s hoping you’ll fuck up this time so he can take your place.”
