“I want to know why we can’t be told the reasons why thepeople we protect are Primori.”
“And if you knew?”
“If we knew there was a good reason to protect evil people,then maybe it would be a little less soul-withering to watch them slaughter andtorture and cause pain.”
Clasping her delicate hands in front of her, she studied himwith something he might have thought was affection if he didn’t know anybetter.
“Thousands of years ago, the very first Memitim were giventhat information.”She sighed.“But we discovered that when they knew thefuture, they sometimes tried to change it.They always believed they could makebad things better.They didn’t understand that real change comes from tragedy.It’s how humans grow.”
Okay, Hawkyn didn’t like the rule, but he at leastunderstood it.They could, however, make it more palatable and less “do itbecause I saidso.”
“Couldn’t the same be said about angels?”he countered.“Youpeople are stuck in the human dark ages, your rules and laws barely changing,while Memitim are moving forward because of human advancements in technologyand science and social norms.”He shook his head in frustration.“Can’t you seewhat you’re doing to us?We don’t want to follow your rules anymore.”
She tucked her hands behind her back and started to pace.Reminded him ofhimself, actually.
“We’re starting to see that.”She looked over at him.“Whatwould Memitim like to see changed?”
He stared.Was she serious?And was this why he’d beensummoned?To brainstorm options to raise Memitim morale?
“Well?”she prompted.
Right.He ticked shit off his fingers.“First off, we’d loveto have sex.Like, we’d really love it.Second, we need access to Primorirecords.Even if we can’t know why our charges are special, it would be helpfulto know their histories, especially if we’re their first guardians or if theirprevious guardian didn’t keep detailednotes.”He’dbeen lucky with Drayger that Atticus had been so obsessive aboutrecord-keeping, much like himself.Some Memitim, like Journey, half-assed theirnotes while others tooknone at all.“It would beespecially helpful if we can see, in real time, if our Primori have gone offtrack.Third, why the hell can’t we have an occasional margarita?That’s someserious bullshit right there.Fourth—”
“Okay.”She held up her hand to cut him off.“I think that’senough.”
Now that he was on a roll, he didn’t want to stop.“It’s notnearly enough,” he said, more harshly than he intended.“But hey, I can submitthe rest to you in writing.”He snorted.“Except you guys never acknowledgeanything we send you.That’s another thing; maybe you couldactuallyrespondto our summons?Reza waited at the Summoning Stone for threefull days after sending a request, and she never did hear from you.That’sunacceptable.If this were a human business, you’d go under within a year.”
Suddenly, his tongue froze and his lips stopped moving.Ulnara smiled.“That’s better.When I tell you enough, it means enough.”Sheflicked her fingers, and his oral bits started functioning again.“Perhapsyou’d like to know why you’re here?”
No shit.“That’d be great.”
She ruffled her wings, the sound whispering through thegreat empty space.“You impregnated a Wytch.”
Here we go.Now they were getting down to it.“Yeah, and I don’t know how it even happened.I mean, aside from the obvious.Ishouldn’t be fertile.”
“I have no idea why you are fertile,” she said.“My jobdoesn’t usually focus on how things happen.I’m more concerned with theresults.”She studied him with hawklike eyes.“But itiscurious.Didyou eat or drink anything that could have altered your physiology?Has anyonecast a spell—or a curse—on you?”
“Of course not.I—” Oh, shit.The day with Darien.He’dspilled a drop of his mystery potion into Hawkyn’s wound.That had to have beenit.Darien had said the elixir had unpredictable results, but holy shitmonkeys,fertility was one hell of a side effect.“Yeah, I think I figured it out.”
“It doesn’t matter,” she said with a dismissive wave of herhand.“It was meant to be.All of it.That’s why your Primori’s Fate Linedidn’t change when you tried to interfere with Aurora’s abduction or when yourescued her.It was supposed to happen.”Shockwaves pummeled him in almostphysical blows.Hehad been part of the historical grandplan?“That said, we have to punish you even thougheverything you did was according to plan.”
What kind of bullshit was that?“I don’t understand,” heground out.
“Well, how could you?You’re a mere earthbound Memitim.”Sheadjusted her robes.Why, he didn’t know.They looked the same as they hadbefore she adjusted the folds.Still fold-y.“You’re not going to Ascend.Butyou’re not remaining as you were.We’ve created a position just for you.”
“A...position?”He swallowed thelump of disbelief in his throat.They weren’t going to expel him from theMemitim Order?He wasgettingpromoted?
“In part, you can thank your father for that.He’s been asupreme pain in the ass, and it’s become clear that we need a closerrelationship.Soyou are going to be the liaisonbetween the Council and Sheoul-gra.You’ll make the Council more accessible toAzagoth and your siblings, and you’ll help advise us to make policy based onMemitim needs.”
Holy shit.Holy shit!All his life, all he’d wantedwas to be on the Council so he could be a leader for his un-Ascended brethren,making life easier for them, supporting them, making sure they were happy andfunctional.A job as a liaison would be even better, allowing him to still bewith his earthbound siblings while advising the Council.
“We’ve heard you, Hawkyn.”She smiled wryly.“How could wenot?You send missives on a weekly basis.”
“Soyou really do get those?”heasked, incredulous.“I assumed they get tossed out with the Heavenly trash.”
“We got every one of them.Including the ones in which youcall us doddering fools who are out of touch with reality.”She sniffedhaughtily.“We’re not doddering or fools, but we are, perhaps, a little out oftouch with reality.”
“A little?”
