He nips at the lobe of my ear and then chuckles deeply in my ear when my body betrays me and gets all shivery and goose bumpy in front of him. I had a firm plan to keep his ego in check and not get too melty with all this new contact, but apparently my inner fiend has declared mutiny and is currently making my good sense walk the plank.
“I hear what you’re saying, Lennox, we all do, but thisisthe right move. We will be ready for them when they come for us, and this will buy us the time we need to get there,” Rogan reassures mefor the hundredth time.
I huff a resigned sigh and try to keep my mouth shut.
“Just remind me one more time how does this buy us more time?” I ask, and Prek and Marx both groan.
I flip them both the bird, and Marx pretends to excitedly catch it and put it in his pocket. I laugh at his antics, and the tension in the room drops a notch.
“It buys us time because it forces them to focus on something else other than us for a moment. They’ll know we’re behind this—our parents will most definitely want to retaliate—but first they’ll have to do damage control,” Elon explains...again.
“We know we’re the underdogs in this situation. We know that we’re up against a titan of power when it comes to the High Council as a collective.Thiswill help us create a divide and help to possibly level the playing field,” Rogan adds, and I nod and try to relax in his arms again.
“I’m just checking that the videos are looped and the bots are ready, and then we can go,” Elon announces, and that must mean something to the others in the room, because a sense of relief fills the atmosphere.
“So how many videos do you have?” Tad asks, and I glare at everyone when no one gets annoyed with his question.
“I fed fifty into the program, so it will filter through those, but it will also create new content, based on what gets the most views and if other witches start posting their own claims in addition to ours,” Elon answers nonchalantly. “The marriage between the tech and the magic isn’t exact, but it will adjust as we go and should get the job done nicely,” he adds enthusiastically, pride shining in his voice.
I can’t really blame him. If I’d created a program solely designed to rapid-fire all the evidence I’d collected over several years, documenting the corruption, lies, and downright evil behavior of the High Council, I’d be pretty damn proud too.
They’ve put together their own smear campaign, only this one is nothing but truth and filled with bombs I still don’t know how to process. Rogan and Elon are both counting on the fact that the High Council likes to keep secrets even from the other members of the High Council. So, when some of those secrets are revealed, the goal is to help them start to implode from the inside out. They’re also hoping that the public outcry these videos will hopefully stoke, will help the crumbling of things by putting a lot of pressure from the outside for justice and reforms.
As nervous as I am to pick this fight after what happened with the demon earlier, I can see their point. I can even enjoy the fact that their parents taught them all about how brutal it can be to be judged in the court of public opinion. This fight is personal, but I also am starting to understand that it also needs to be political and most importantly public. Well, not the part about us and the real reason Rogan and Elon were renounced. But with the shit I learned in the handful of videos I watched, they don’t need to spill their own secrets to get a reaction; the mancer population will be frothing for blood and retribution in no time.
Elon taps away for another minute, and then all at once, he closes the laptop and slowly gets up. I watch as he blows out a deep tension-filled breath and looks over to Rogan with a look I can’t decipher.
“It’s done. Cohen’s going to track the program for a bit, make sure everything is filtering to every possible channel and page it can. By this time tomorrow, every mancer who has access to the internet or a TV will know the same things we do about the leaders of our race,” he declares, and I offer him a warm supportive smile.
I know this can’t be easy on them. They’ve been preparing for this eventuality for a long time, but planning for something and actually doing it areverydifferent things. I can feel that Rogan is relieved but also anxious. He’s resigned to win at all costs, but all of this is taking a toll. He and Elon have worked so hard to get where they are now, and in a way, they’re destroying all of that in order to take this stand against their parents. It’s hard to say what will be left of the life they’ve fought to build when the rubble of this war is cleared away and the dust finally settles.
Rogan unwraps his hands from around me, squeezing my shoulders once. “I’ll go grab my shoes then,” he announces, and I step to the side to let him past me. He and Elon head upstairs, clearly wanting to talk about something, and I lean back against the counter and try not to care about what it might be.
“Hey, Lemon Drop,” Tad greets as he sidles up next to me.
I snort out a laugh and try not to smile. I worry about his safety, but I have to admit I’m glad he’s here.
“Heading out to talk to Prek’s demon guy?” he confirms, and I nod, not sure what to expect from today’s excursion. “What’s the deal with him anyway? I thought he was an Order soldier through and through. I’m surprised you’re trusting him after the whole car accident thing and then getting demon-napped right under his nose. None of that seems worrisome to you?” he presses, dropping his voice so no one else can hear us.
“Do you have a weird vibe about him or something?” I ask, curious.
I know what I think, but I don’t want to dismiss anyone else’s instincts around me, mostly because I have no idea what I’m doing.Winging itdoesn’t even begin to cover how I’m rolling these days.
“No, he seems fine. I just want to make sure you’ve got your eyes open just in case.”
I give Tad a side hug and sneak a glance at Prek and Marx.
“I thought Prek was the same way too. It was little things I saw when I was with him and his team in Chicago that started to make me wonder,” I explain, and Tad leans down to better hear my whisper. “His boss gave him orders to not let me have a phone unless I was being supervised. He didn’t follow them, choosing to trust me instead. It was clear he did not like Rogan, but I heard him lecturing his team once about being respectful and keeping any thoughts they had about his presence to themselves. I discreetly asked around about him, and what I got back was that he was good at his job but would never advance the way he deserved because he wasn’t enough of acompany man, if you catch my drift.”
Tad nods thoughtfully, his eyes fixed on mine.
“The High Council fed him and his family some bullshit story about what happened to his aunt, but Prek wasn’t buying it. He wouldn’t stop looking into it, no matter how many dead ends he hit. Rogan told me that, and then when I was digging around the Order because I didn’t have anything else to do, I heard the same thing. He didn’t trust the High Council. He didn’t believe what he was told. It made me think he actually might have a good head on his shoulders.”
“I mean, he definitely has that going for him among other things,” Tad teases, waggling his eyebrows.
I chuckle and shake my head at him. Leave it to Tad to take the conversation there. I look over at Prek again and shrug.
“He’s good-looking,” I agree, my tone casual and unaffected.
