I gave a nod that I heard him, but I kept the gaze of the snake councilman. “Seven snakes went to terrorize the demons free of them. They knew they couldn’t win a fight and wouldn’t get them back, so they just went totraumatizethembecause they lost their slaves.”
“I know, Jasmine,” he whispered, kissing my hair before letting me go.
“Because they weren’tpunished,” I bit out, still keeping the snake’s gaze. “Because they think they won’t be when it comes to demons.” I pointed to the pile of his people. “That property is owned byus. Thecouncil.” I smirked when he went pale.
“As such, and as is in the bylaws of every council, their lives are forfeit,” Elijah said with a dark chuckle. “You can run your mouth all you want that we’re not a real council nor recognized by you—not that you have any right or legitimacy to state that.Butit’s a slippery slope. You break that rule for one and then it looks good to break again.”
“Which leaves you vulnerable, and we know you’re really a chicken, not a predator,” I added with a purr.
“And we will bear witness to it,” Gavin announced as he stepped up next to us. He snarled when one of the snakes started spewing shit. “Enough! You lied to me that the demons were saying they clipped our balls and owned us. She wasn’t lying when she swore to me that they hadn’t said any of that. You were lying. Iwitnessedyour snakes terrorizing their victims.”
“We did,” another councilman added. “And I want to know how they even got that address. How did the criminals get the address of theirvictimsto know where to go to harass them? If you did that to vampires, I would have already ended them and burned their coven to the ground.”
Unfortunately, I already knew the answer, having put the pieces together. I nodded when I felt the desires of the snake councilmen that the vampires didn’t find out. Bastards.
“We allowed some of their guards to be involved when we collected our people from their groups,” I explained. “They wanted witnesses that we wouldn’t retaliate.”
Elijah blew when one argued. “You can lie that it was to make sure everything went smoothly all you want, but you usedthem as spies. They learned some of the locations and—you set this up! You immediately gave out the addresses you learned because you saw this as a loss. You saw doing the right thing and not keeping our people as slaves as aloss.”
“You’re not people, you’re demons,” one sneered.
No one could stop me in time. My temper got the best of me and I was on him before even Elijah could stop me.
One hit. That was all it took.
One hit and I shattered his spine.
I let Elijah catch me after that, smirking down at the broken councilman. “Fine, if you won’t treat us as equals like you should, understand that you’re bested and fight for your self-preservation. Start worrying about doing what you should tosurvivebecause you’re not the wolves or tigers that others will get behind or fight for. Other shiftershate you too.”
“We do,” Gavin snickered. “You live up to the reputation of snakes. At every turn. Your council and most of your leaders are thereasonthere are so many myths about snakes being backstabbers and worse. And most of the groups feel that way. The magics. The elves would love to see you all dead for what you—”
“Your point has been made,” the head of the snake council bit out.
But I made a mental note to ask Gavin what he’d been talking about.Clearly, that was a button to push.
“He might not heal from that,” the snake continued as he met my gaze.
I snorted. “You think all the demons who were victimized by your people will? Some will never be able to reach their full potential after decades or more of not being able to feed as they should. Their mental and emotional health—just because it’s not physical doesn’t mean it’s not a wound. Unless you’re an idiot, you get that.”
He ground his jaw but gave a sharp nod. “We are not as rich as demons nor—”
“We’re floating an idea of how to make the system work as it should,” Gavin interjected. “The demon councilwoman brought it up today and I believe it’s one that could be effective and shared among those who want actual peace and progress. There are many ways your people could put in time, like with community service, and vampires would oversee that as our penance.”
“What did you do now?” Elijah asked, his voice tired.
I couldn’t even blame him. “I went to talk to Gavin but didn’t realize they were in session.” I hurried to tell him the idea and was glad when he liked it.
“And your people are actually afraid of your leadership unlike the snakes,” Elijah muttered, knowing the politics better than I did. “Or we are in touch with ancients who would love the excuse to just fuck with the councils. I like this. Yes, we have—the amount of properties…”
“We heard you are expanding?” one of the vampire councilmen hedged, holding up his hands in surrender when we shot him a look. “A coven approached one of my aides asking for work. They’re in construction and heard whispers about the demons forming a company. That’s all I know. The humans have been hurting them.”
“I leave this to you,” I said to Elijah glancing at my phone. “Lewis called me with a murder.” I sighed when he shot me an unfriendly look. “Yeah, I deserve it this time, but I was trying to help. I didn’t know there would be a murder or snakes being assfucks.”
His lips twitched. “Assfucks? That’s new.”
“I had a very lovely morning and handled something big, then my team misbehaved and I have to spank them laterand… It just never fucking ends.” I ignored when everyone there snorted.
Even the damn snakes.
