Page 114 of Rose and Shadows
“When war comes knocking.”
“Yeah.”
He held out his hand.
And then, with a flare of his green magic, he was teleporting us away.
We rematerialized in…a living room?
I turned to my left seeing a dark leather tufted couch with brass stud detailing adorned with sapphire and black throw pillows. A midnight-black and emerald-green woven rug with a runic pattern was positioned in front of it with a charred wood coffee table taking up half its surface area. The whole setup faced a stone fireplace. Upon the mantle were several trophies from won competitions at both Maven and Lotus Coven—the covens I knew Ryker had once belonged to. Back in the days when there hadn’t also been academies to choose from, and only educational institutions just for magic-wielders had existed.
There was an oversized cream armchair with gold accents in the far corner just to the right of an open door that I could see a small kitchen through. Adjacent to said chair was a heavy mahogany bookshelf full of magical volumes and very heavy reading and research material.
To the far right of the front door behind me was a staircase leading to the upper level.
“My cottage,” Ryker said, off my look. “Nestled deep in a forest in the middle of nowhere.”
“You… what?” None of that… computed.
His lips quirked. “I got this place during a time when I’d become far too much of a celebrity in the supernatural world and I had people knocking at my door in droves wanting assistance and favors—back before the Guardian Movement could serve the way it does now, when it was an elitist fuck-fest basically.” He grinned, then lifted a shoulder. “I needed some peace and quiet.Didn’t last long with the rise of Draco, but I adapted and now, here I am, head of the same organization I once detested.”
I folded my arms across my chest as I regarded him. “You’re drawing a comparison, thinking I detest the Guardian Movement also?”
“You believe it to be ineffective, reactive rather than proactive, and restrained when it should be the opposite.”
“Well, there is that, yeah. There are issues.”
He nodded. “Here’s the thing, though. When I took control, the Guardian Movement’s reputation was in shambles. There was little trust left in it as an institution. Cornelius had made some mistakes, sure, but it ran deeper than that, and Draco’s rise exposed all those cracks. The organization had also become seen as more elitist than for the people. This was at a time when the people really needed to feel seen and supported. Things were at a tipping point. Cornelius needed me to take command, because the supernatural populace respected me, they liked me, and I’d been very obviously showing my distaste for the elitist snobbery of the place for years. They didn’t trust the Guardian Movement, but they trustedme.”
He leaned against the back of the couch as he went on, “To maintain that trust, I had to be very careful. Walk a very fine line. I couldn’t overstep—at least not publicly.”
“Not publicly… you’re referring to you being aware of Cornelius’ underground activities and his alliance with The Shadowed.”
“Yes.”
“Huh.”
“The Guardian Movement must always remain for the people. As such, I can never, under any circumstances, stray from that. Just like with me ensuring people get to choose whether they want to be incorporated into the world-sweeping antidote spell that will protect everyone from Dark Fae mind-meddling. You see it as ineffective, as taking undue time to do what needs to be done.Butthe moment you take away choice at that level, you are endorsing autocratic rule. And there, I’ve become the very thing I fought against and made a vow to never be.”
“I get where you’re coming from, Ry.”
“Only partially. For what we’re about to do, you need to understand fully.”
He held out his hand, raising it near the side of my head. “Let me show you.”
I gave a nod, then his palm glowed with his green power. “Twenty-odd years ago, this is what had transpired, before the Guardian Movement became what you know it as today.”
In the next second, his power flared, and I was pulled into a past situation.
Ryker materializedin an explosion of green energy in a low crouch to the left of Jaxon Silver, one palm slapped to the ground and sending leapfrogging lightning ripping across the ground. As it hit, it took out every single magic-wielder’s power in an instant, leaving them fumbling and staggering back. An army of them that appeared to be surrounding Jaxon. Not only them—vampires and wolves were in the mix also.
As the vampires and wolves moved to step in with the magic-wielders now powerless to assist, a sharp whistling sound had them stilling, just a moment before a glowing bronze missile shot from the sky and slammed into the ground just inches from them.
Ryker rose to his feet, his lightning still radiating out, while his right hand flamed with his green offensive power, just as his father, Gabriel Morgan, materialized on his left side.
Somebody who I recognized as Hugh Clayborne, who was these days the leader of the Unity Council, yet clearly not at this time many years ago, signaled the army that I was registering as being his, to stay their hand.
“Ryker and Gabriel Morgan. I never thought I’d see the day.” He smiled at Gabriel. “Long time, old friend. Your son has certainly followed in your stead. He challenges the rule of the oligarchy like you used to. Like you still do from what our intel confirms. He challenged them during the reign of the Beast, he bends archaic and bureaucratic rules in favor of what’s best for us lesser supernatural beings.”
