“I am Aidan, Alpha of the Missouri Pack,” the man front and center said.
He had deep chestnut hair, short but wild, and pale blue eyes like arctic ice. He was muscular but not overly so, and his skin was a warm, honey-brown. Hands flexing into fists at his sides, he stared at me like he wanted to tear my limbs off my torso and beat me with them.
“We don't want a war, Aidan,” I said calmly.
“You have a surprising way of asking for peace,” he huffed and looked over the happy-faced men in front of me. “These are flighters, what did you do to them?”
“I enchanted them,” I said simply. “It's a fairy thing. Basically, I'm in control of them. Just like with your Beckoning witches and their zombies, except I don't have to kill my victims.”
“Release them, and then we'll speak of peace,” he smiled at me but it was a vicious smile.
“That's not going to happen,” Tiernan stated simply.
“Then we're at a impasse,” Aidan folded his arms across his chest. “Because I came to see Flight freed and I won't leave until I do.”
“Fairies have a truce with humans,” I ignored his bluster. “As I'm sure you know. As humans, you are bound by the laws of that truce and under those laws, we have the right to execute any who break the truce.”
“You can't hold us accountable to laws we never agreed to,” Aidan growled.
“Why not?” I lifted my brows. “Aren't you born into a society which holds you accountable to certain laws that you've never agreed to? The truce has laws very similar to that of this Nation. They are basic laws of morality and Flight has broken the biggest of them; Do not commit murder.”
“Flight does only what it was born to do,” Aidan narrowed his eyes on me. “They can't help it if you fairies made them hungry for human hearts.”
“Oh, they can't help it?” Tiernan lifted his brows. “I'm sure that would be a great defense for them in a human court.”
“That's not how it was explained to us,” I waved Tiernan down. “Our understanding is that the magic allows witches to prolong their lives through the consumption of a human heart but it doesn't force them into the act. Murder is a choice for them, as it is for all of us.”
“Sometimes instincts are difficult to deny,” Aidan growled. “So much so, that there doesn't seem to be a choice.”
“I understand instincts quite well,” Raza stepped forward, his metallic eyes gleaming in the floodlights streaming off the Council House. All three witches tensed, their nostrils widening as they scented a bigger predator. “I have some of the most violent instincts of them all. Right now, they're telling me that you're food.” He gave a quick, deep sniff, “Prey with tender meat that would taste sweet in my mouth.”
All three witches started to growl.
“But I don't have to give into my instincts because I am stronger than they are,” Raza shrugged. “It's easy enough for me to deny the call of flesh and blood or bones and marrow. Easy because I am not only an animal, I am a man. I choose to let you live, just as thesemockingbirds,” he waved his hand to the enchanted witches before us, “had a choice to be men instead of murderers.”
“Let's not argue about what's been done in the past,” I put a hand on Raza's shoulder and he eased back. “We don't have to fight. We can find a middle ground, write a new truce which you canchooseto live by.”
“Why would we want to find a middle ground with you?” One of the men behind Aidan sneered. “All you've done is attack our people without cause.”
“Without cause?” I chuckled. “I don't think so. If someone came into your house at night and took out your dying grandfather's heart so they could eat it and steal his remaining time, you'd probably kill them, right?”
The man shut up but gave me a nasty glare.
“I don't think we're asking for a lot here,” I went on. “Just a chance to discuss things rationally and perhaps find a peaceful way to coexist.”
“Give me these three to return with,” Aidan waved a hand at my witchy shield. “As a show of good faith. And I will speak to the witch elders on your behalf.”
“The Coven Elders?” I cocked my head at him. “Will you give me your word that you will speak to them as a whole and convey our desire to reach a peaceful agreement?”
“I vow it,” he nodded solemnly.
“Fine,” I agreed and pulled my magic away from the Flight witches.
They went stumbling to their knees, vomiting and shivering through the return of their free will. One of them turned swiftly and rushed at me. Before either Tiernan or Raza could react, I lifted a hand in automatic response. I had no intentions, I simply wanted to ward off the blow. But my magic knew better.
It rushed out, forming thick vines around the witch and sending him crashing to the ground in his own puke. He screamed as the thorns pierced his flesh and the vines continued to grow, shifting and cutting into him. I pulled back the magic enough to stop the growth and the witch whimpered as the vines settled into place.
When I looked up, I found Aidan's eyes focused on me intently. There was an odd look in them. A little shock but mostly delighted approval and maybe just a touch of fear. His icy eyes narrowed but not in anger, more like how an art critic might view a Picasso. He was impressed.
