“And we agree with the Ambassador,” Alex continued.
“What are you talking about?” Murdock grumbled. “We haven't told you anything yet.”
“And I haven't offered my opinion,” I added.
The twins gave us identical smirks.
“God damn telepaths,” Murdock cursed.
“Send for shaman,” Alex said exactly what I'd been thinking.
“You're right,” I said to Murdock. “People are even more annoying when they can read your mind.”
Chapter Twenty
Shaman Kevin Chepaney was frightened. He had looked desperate and anxious on theParanormal Parametersvideo but now he was flat out scared. A group of extinguishers had grabbed him up off the street and brought him to the Council House in a very men-in-blackway (the actual government men in black, not the movie, though I guess that was applicable too). Now he was sitting at a table with me, Tiernan, Cat, Councilman Teagan, and the twins.
“I hope you haven't started without me,” a man walked into the room. He had Lord Raza's voice but he looked human; tawny skin, blunt fingernails instead of talons, wingless broad shoulders, and topaz eyes. The shape of his face was softer, the harsh edges muted back into human angles, but his hair was the same and so was his physique.
“Lord Raza?” I tried to peer past his glamour but it was too strong for me... and that was pretty impressive.
“Yep, that's him,” Alexis grinned.
“In the flesh,” he bowed and then took a seat at the table with us.
“Glamoured flesh,” I muttered.
We were in the council chambers again and it seemed like a huge space without the rest of the council in it. Still, with the curtains drawn back and sunshine bombarding the room, the atmosphere was cheery. Raza's glamour was a good idea, it kept the harmless illusion going, but when you were a clairvoyant, as I'm sure Chepaney was, you could sense the unseen. So as soon as Raza sat down, Kevin Chepaney started to tremble.
“No one is going to hurt you in any way,” I promised the shaman. “We want to help you.”
“Help me how?” The shaman's eyes kept straying to Raza. Raza smiled but that only seemed to make things worse.
“First off, by giving you information,” Teagan took Chepaney's attention away from the dragon-djinn. “Then, hopefully, you'll feel inclined to reciprocate.”
“I have no information that I feel the need to keep secret,” Chepaney lifted his chin. “If you want to know something, just ask me so I can be on my way.”
“Mr. Chepaney,” I extended my hand across the table but didn't touch him. “We know about the raven mockers but I'm afraid our raven mockers and yours are different.”
“What?” Chepaney leaned forward, completely forgetting about his fear. “What do you mean by that?”
“The true raven mockers are fairies,” Councilman Teagan said gently and we all watched Chepaney for his reaction.
“Fairies?” The shaman blinked.
“They really do exist, Sir,” I glanced at Tiernan and he nodded. So I dropped the glamour I had over my eyes and let the shaman see the silver spokes of the stars laid over the sparkling emerald of my irises. “I am half fey. My name is Seren Firethorn and I'm the Ambassador between the Human Realm and the Realm of Fairy. But I'm also the Princess of the Twilight Kingdom in Fairy. The raven mockers are from Twilight. They're my people and I am responsible for them.”
“You're a fairy princess?” Chepaney asked dryly as he stared at my eyes. “Of Twilight?”
“Yeah, don't be an ass about it,” I grimaced.
“But you're so human,” he laughed. “And your skin doesn't sparkle.”
“I was raised here,” I nodded. “And please don't take the Twilight jokes any further.”
“But now you live in a fairy realm?” He asked more seriously.
“TheFairy Realm,” I nodded. “Look, Mr. Chepaney, you understand magic so this shouldn't be too hard for you. Fairies have magic but as far as we knew, humans only possessed psychic gifts. They can appear magical but they aren't, they're more of a mental advancement. They include things like telekinesis, pyrokinesis, and clairvoyance.”
