"But not more than me," Zander thundered.
"Nor me," Roan said more quietly.
I glanced at Doryu to find his eyes glowing red. He was pissed, too.
Zander faced the window again and spoke in a hard voice. "You will be confined to the dungeons in the Junta headquarters until the vote passes. I will arrange for your grandson to be in the same cell. You may spend what time with him you can before his death."
Old Mr. Buckner gasped. "Death?"
When Zander looked back at the old man, his face had an anger to it I'd never seen. Not even when he'd believed I'd been out to get them. "Yes. And we will find out if you were involved. Your age or former standing on the council won't save you if you tried to murder that baby. You will die too."
Zander snapped his fingers and one of the guards came in. "Escort Mr. Buckner to the cell his grandson is in."
The guard nodded once, put a silver circlet on the old man's wrist, and let Mr. Buckner walk out in front of him. The old coot glared at me the whole way out.
"What was the bracelet?" I asked.
"Nullifies his magic," Doryu answered. "He won't be able to use it at all."
"Good," I muttered, still fuming.
"Now." He tapped his phone. A few seconds later, a woman I didn't recognize stepped through a portal on the far side of the room. "Thank you for coming, Queen Laura," Zander said. "Do you have any updates on the house?"
"I do." Ah, so this was Queen Laura. She was curvy, with a cute face and pixie nose. I'd never have pegged her for the Queen of all magic users in the world. I'd have trusted her with my life.
As she stepped closer to the table and set a stack of papers down in front of her, I saw a shrewdness in her eyes that told me there was a lot more to this woman than met the eye. "The electricity has been modified. Its only access is the basement, and there's no way he's going to be able to get through that door."
"Good." Zander leaned back in his chair. "What about the wards?"
"They're holding," she said. "We've been testing them with some seriously strong magic and they're not wavering."
We all sighed in relief as she continued. "And we have the communication area set up on the side porch. It's not ideal, as it will be outside and that brings more possible dangers or ways to escape, but it will work."
"Thank you, Queen Laura," Zander said. "You've done a lot to help us. It will not be forgotten."
She inclined her head and shrugged. "I want to help in any way I can. What they're trying to do is barbaric".
"And you have," Doryu said. "Thank you."
"You're welcome," she said, before turning back to Zander. "Is there anything else I can do? Cindy sends her regards and thanks. She's working at the house as we speak."
"Do you need any assistance with your rogue?"
Laura furrowed her brow. "Oh, no, thank you. She's dealt with."
She said her goodbyes and stepped back through the portal.
"Now what?" I asked.
"Now we call the council meeting to banish Matt Buckner the First from the council."
It took most of the day to get everything done that needed to be done and to get everyone assembled, but eventually we were all sitting in the big meeting room with the other members of the council.
I was nervous as hell.
They all thought I was strong, and I was trying to be, but this whole thing with the babies was getting to me. It felt impossible.
Zander cleared his throat, and everyone turned to him. "I called this meeting today because there is a serious matter that we need to discuss." He glanced at me, and I smiled encouragingly.
