Page 72 of Magic Claimed
The lights were on in the event space downstairs, but the floor was empty. The furniture and the stage were gone, the wall fountain was silent and still, and in their absence, the voices of the visiting shapeshifters echoed eerily around us as we entered, hand in hand.
I don’t know whether they heard him first or felt him first, but I saw the moment they realized Callum was in the room.
Like prey animals scenting a predator, they froze, even if only for an instant. Nostrils flared. Shoulders hunched. Nervous glances darted from one to another. And then they turned, and saw us standing together.
I didn’t recognize any of the four, but then, I didn’t expect to. I had no experience with the court, but within the next handful of seconds, I’d memorized each of their faces.
A middle-aged black man, about my height but twice my width at the shoulder, with dark brown skin, hair clipped close to his scalp, and a quiet, watchful air.
A woman who appeared barely into her twenties, with flawless russet brown skin and black hair that fell to her waist.
A white man in his sixties, with a bit of a comb-over and a neatly trimmed beard. He was the only one wearing a suit, and his leather shoes looked expensive, as did the gold watch on his wrist.
The fourth was a woman who walked with the aid of a cane. Her skin was wrinkled and so pale it was nearly transparent, and her white hair was gathered in a precise bun at the top of her head. Her golden eyes, however, showed no sign of her age. They screamed raptor, and I felt a shudder as they passed over me and lingered on our joined hands.
Was it one of these four who had betrayed Callum? Or could it even be all of them? And was there a chance they had come to finish the job?
“I would be delighted to know to what I owe the pleasure of this unexpected visit.”
If they were smart, the four shifters would take note of Callum’s tone and run for their lives. But if they were smart, they wouldn’t be here in the first place, so it was no use hoping for miracles.
The old woman pinned us with her gaze, raking Callum with those raptor eyes as if looking for some sort of trick. “Don’t play games with us, ro-Deverin. We received word that you were attacked at the Fae Court, but then you disappeared, and the gryphon refused to update us on your condition.” Her glare shifted to Angelica. “We are well within the bounds of our responsibility to the court as a whole to demand the truth of whether our king is alive or dead.”
“You wish to not play games?” Callum said softly. “Very well. Let’s not. Let’s talk instead about malice and sabotage. About underhanded plots and cowardly schemes. About why, while I was away serving the interests of our people, endeavoring to protect them from a potentially hostile situation at the Fae Court, the Shapeshifter Council saw fit to attack and endanger my mate.”
“That is an utterly baseless accusation,” the old woman snapped. “The council has not been officially informed of a mate bond. How can we scheme against a person who—so far as we are aware—does not exist?”
Callum never flinched. “Gloria, the only reason I have never called you out on your web of plots and machinations is that you are a respected elder in your tribe and have led them with courage since before the fall of Idria.” His tone was almost terrifyingly matter of fact. “But this time you have gone too far. You disliked my choice of mate and tried to takematters into your own hands, andthatI will neither overlook nor forgive.”
The suit-clad older man attempted to intervene on Gloria’s behalf. “What proof do you…”
“I. Don’t. Need. Proof.”
The temperature in the room seemed to drop by at least ten degrees. I had never heard that tone from Callum before. Never felt the chill that ran down my spine in answer to that deep, guttural growl. It was the assertion of an apex predator to a lesser being—that he was no longer holding back.
“I am yourking. You chose me. You asked me to lead and protect, and I have done so. Risked everything for the sake of our people. And the minute my back was turned? You stabbed me in it.”
He paused for a moment, but not a single one of them had the nerve to respond.
“So here we are. And, whether you choose to acknowledge it or not, the facts and the law are in agreement.” His voice grew even quieter and more deadly until the very air seemed to shiver with terror. “And the fact is, I couldeatevery one of you, and no one could say a word against me.”
He looked at each of them in turn, a creature of terrifying power with zero doubt in his ability to make this room a scene of unimaginable carnage.
“But do you know why I have not yet done that?”
None of them moved. I wasn’t even sure they were breathing.
“Because I happen to believe that the shapeshifters need a better way. That our laws should change. Grow. Adapt to thisnew world we’ve found ourselves in. And one of the things that most needs to adapt is the brutality of our leadership—the nature of our very concept of justice. So, while I do not, in fact, need to provideproof”—here he pinned the gray-haired man with his gaze—“I can. And I will. Along with evidence that would convict at least three out of the four of you beyond all question of doubt.”
Somehow, they managed not to look at each other. Not to ask, even with their eyes, who the single innocent party might be.
Callum’s hand squeezed mine, as if reminding me to relax. Not to give away the reality that all of this was a bluff. Well, maybe notall. I had no idea whether he actually had any evidence on these four or not.
“So if you still wish to question my condition or my decisions, by all means keep coming. Bring me your complaints and your concerns. Bring me your assertions that I am unfit and your insistence that you are merelyhelpingme recognize the truth. But”—his voice dropped again to a deadly near-whisper—“I suggest you also bring me the name of whoever hired Hector Ademar to deliver your summons. And…” He paused. Weighing the risk. Testing the room. And then he went for it. “…the names of whomever among our people conspired with the fae to ensure that I never returned home alive.”
They’d been watchfully still before, but now the four shifters turned coiled and poised—every muscle tensed, every sense on alert. It was a reminder that these four were predators at heart. Their eyes went hot, molten amber, and for an instant, I was certain they were about to shift and attack us both.
And Callum? I’d been awed before by his overwhelming aura of authority, but never so much as today. He commanded that room almost effortlessly, and to anyone watching, there would have been no doubt who the strongest was.
