“Young. I said young.”
That was … wow. Kalinda knew shifters, with their rejuvenating powers, lived longer than humans. Mages could live longer too, if they weren’t killed or something. Roughly about two times the length of a human lifespan. But the Fae, it seemed, could do much more.
“Perks of royalty. Regular Fae aren’t exactly that lucky, but they have pretty good boosts too.”
“It’s like elves!” Zoey chimed in.
“As hot as I think Legolas is, um, no. The pointy ears thing was ours first. How rude.”
“Silva, I need you to focus on me,” Kalinda interjected. “Remember your lifesaver? Your Ales? I’d really like to know how you plan to save my turkey.”
“Easy. Take over. Duh.”
“Make this make sense, Silva. I’m not following you.”
Silva tittered before she flicked her wings again. Pretty, silver dusting puffed into the air for a moment. “You’re Vasilios blood, the tamer of shifters, the deciding seat on the National Council. Starting to clue you in now?”
“I’m starting to see why they didn’t like you as a royal. Of course, I’m not getting a clue now, Tinker.”
“Did you just call me Tinker? I told you I hated that.”
“It’s going to be your permanent name if you don’t answer in complete thoughts.”
Silva rolled her eyes. “As a deciding seat member, you could contact the National Council directly to take your seat. In fact, you could establish you home base within your local Council. Oh, and national members rule the local Councils, did I mention that? So tell them to bow down, bitches, there’s a new sheriff in town.”
Romano got his faculties under control first. “Are you saying Kalinda can not only accept the offer to join the Trinity, but in doing so run it and make the decisions she wants to?”
“Got it in one. Now, the National Council will want to verify you, which is simple since you are an Ales, and the Trinity can’t deny they found you. They may even get in a bit of trouble for hiding you in the first place knowing these rules. Or you can bypass them altogether and call the National Council yourself for verification and installment. Personally, I’d walk in there like a boss, but they may try to get a little dirty, so having some extra backing might really help.”
“It can’t be that easy, right?” Kalinda was too afraid to believe it. Too afraid to hope this could be the end if they got their backing right. If it turned out any other way, they wouldn’t have the chance to come up with another option.
“We can always verify. We can petition the National Council on the grounds of having an Ales within our pack and the need to know how to properly move forward,” Dominic mused. “If we go to them that way, they are bound to at least want to check it out. We just have to make sure the Trinity doesn’t get wind of things first.”
“Did I mention she’s royalty? Make sure you add that to your communication,” Silva added.
“What? You said that before, when we were in the air,” Kalinda remembered.
“Yes. Why else would a royal be your guard? Like for like. The Vasilios bloodline is mage royalty. As a member of your family, you’re like a princess. May not come with a castle, but it at least should include a black Crystal card. Those things have no limits, did you know that?”
“Yes, I knew that. Always wanted one because, well, shopping, but …wait. I’m a princess?”
“Close your mouth, dear, or you’ll catch flies.”
“I think I’ve had enough for today,” Kalinda argued. She couldn’t comprehend it all.
Zahara and Dominic. Silva as Fae royalty. Her as mage royalty. It was all too much and coming out too fast. She needed a breather, a distraction. The world closed in, fast and hard, slamming into her chest.
“Kalinda?”
“Dominic, call who you have to call. I’ve got to get her out of here,” Romano urged.
“Do what you have to do. We can take care of it from here.”
She couldn’t breathe. She was just Kalinda, owner of Kalinda’s Katering and a simple mage. She didn’t have things like royal guards and magical powers to kill men from a distance. She couldn’t fly through the air when her magic was at its highest and bring people back to life.
She was just Kalinda. Just Kalinda.
“Hold on to me, baby. I’m here.”
