Page 37 of Rapunzel Unchained

The long sigh that came out of Beatriz showed her age, even if her face didn’t. “I’m assuming you want me to agree to whatever it is you’re after in exchange for keeping my secret.” She flicked her hand toward her face.

“And here I thought you were going to be difficult.” My head cocked to the side. “I had prepared to have to get a bit more aggressive but, while it may seem like I want to cause others harm, it’s really not on my agenda or something I enjoy.”

“I hardly doubt that.”

The lethal look I gave Beatriz made her flinch. “As you know, I’m human, at least partly. I want to improve the lives of my fellow humans. While I’ve been told this isn’t something that can happen overnight, I think we can make my dreams come true much faster than Arch Mage Adam thinks.”

The disgusted noise that came from her made my jaw clench. “So, you’re behind the new bill suggested about humans.”

“Not exactly. Arch Mage Adam wants to do things the right way...” I trailed off, lifting my hand a flicker of fire came to life on my hand. My insides squirmed with excitement as Beatriz flinched back. “Now, I’m not too inclined to wait for a bunch of mages with an exaggerated degree of self-importance to tell me the right time to give up power and realize that humans aren’t lesser than you.”

“You don’t know how they were before. You weren’t here.” Beatriz leaned forward to argue, then jerked back, remembering the fire in my hands. “They almost destroyed this planet. If we hadn’t taken over, there wouldn’t be a planet to even live on.”

I let the flame bounce in my hand, rolling it over my fingers and letting it dance. “As I’ve been reminded ad nauseam, not all mages are bad, and neither are all humans. So, to punish all of them for the few that cannot control themselves isn’t quite fair, now is it? Or do you think differently? Maybe I should punish all the mages?”

“N–no.” She shook her head weakly. “I agree. Not all humans are bad nor all mages. We can live together in harmony. But...”

“But what?”

“We only control Neo New York. We don’t control the planet. Even if you make things better for humans here, there will still be pushback from the other regions. They might even send in someone to deal with the problem.”

The way she said it made me wonder how exactly the mages’ government was set up. If this council dealt with this region, that lead me to assume there were others.

However, was there someone above all of them? A King? A Queen? Someone who made all the rules and made the others follow them? It was something I would have to talk to Rebecca about, because I didn’t want to show all my cards to this one mage.

“Let me worry about that.” I gathered up the pictures and put them back into the envelope. “Here, for you.”

Relief bloomed in Beatriz’ eyes, and I was swift to shoot it down. “Don’t worry, we have more. I expect to have your backing when the time comes.”

“Of course, yes. I understand.”

I stroked my hand down Jewel’s back one more time before standing.

“There will be others who won’t be as easily persuaded,” Healer Beatriz cautioned. “I’m too old to fight for something I don’t even care about. But others, like Carisa and Jetta, won’t give in just because of some veiled threats and blackmail.”

The smile on my face wasn’t a pleasant one before I let my magic wrap around me. “I’m counting on it.”

Chapter 19

After checking back in with Rebecca, I wondered how I would approach the other two council members. If even Beatriz was warning me to be careful, I had to take them seriously.

That meant I needed more information.

I could visit Zane again and see if my demon had any information for me. However, Gage had caught me last time and, while he didn’t do anything, I didn’t want to take the chance. They all knew I’d visited the twins and Zane, so they’d be looking for me to come back to see them at some point.

The fact that I hadn’t visited Gage yet might have been lost on them, but the Sentinel wasn’t someone I could trust to hear me out. His suspicious and cautious nature made him a danger if I didn’t know for sure that he was on my side.

Walking over to the desk in my room, I found a scrap of paper. I lifted what I thought was a writing utensil and scribbled out a note to meet me at my tower at midnight. Then I spelled it so that only the demon side of Zane would be able to read it. I twisted my wrist and the paper disappeared.

My eyes drifted to the nearby clock, sighing with impatience. Now we waited.

The hours ticked by at an excruciating pace. Rebecca came in and out, offering me options to pass the time or to give me the latest news. For a short time, I sat with her and watched the same drama Luke and Blake loved. It made me homesick, so I excused myself to go back to my room and wait.

The majority of me knew I was doing the right thing. For the humans and for justice for my mother.

However, another part of me wished I could go back to when I’d first been rescued from my tower. I could just be withmy mages and not have all these extra complications getting between us. While I had Rebecca, I couldn’t help feeling lonely.

Finally, the time came and I could make my way to Old Central Park. I wrapped myself in a long black hooded cloak, pulling it up over my blonde locks to hide my identity.

---