Page 68 of Descendant

The guard tried again. “She needs to be in the center.”

Mikel turned to him, his chin jutting in a sneer Violet didn’t recognize. She snatched him back by the shirt, hoping he and Dani had come up with a better plan than this new bad attitude. Not that it wasn’t sexy, her brain added unhelpfully.

“It’ll be all right,” she told him with confidence it was oddly easy to be certain of now he was close. “Love you.”

He kissed her cheek and said, “I love you, Violet. Get yourself and Lila safe as soon as you can.” Mikel stepped back into a row of seating to let them through.

Violet was still trying not to panic at the ominous nature of his words when she was being guided forward again, locking gazes with her sister who was wide eyed and pink cheeked. Lila was quick into her arms as soon as they were close enough, and despite Lila being taller, Violet squeezed her tight with one eye still on the guards who just fanned out around them now that they were in place.

“That’s your husband?” Lila asked, still clinging to her, voice pitchy with embarrassment.

Elopement, Violet reminded herself. “Yeah, that’s Mikel. You’ll meet him when we get all this over with.”

Finally, they stepped back, not enough to part, but enough so they could look at each other. “Violet,” Lila started, quieter now, glancing around at their watchers. “What is this place? I—” She looked around again. “Magnus and that Kane guy you asked me to look into, they killed Mom. And all those people in City Hall. That explosion from way back, it was on purpose.”

“I know, kid.” Violet glanced from her sister to where Kane was occupied, entertaining a long table of elderly figures who she could only assume were the council. “What else do you know? We’ve gotta be quick.”

The guards around them neither seemed interested, nor seemed to mind that they were talking.

“I got the file; it had papers and a USB drive full of audio conversations that Dad—Magnus—had kept.”

The correction didn’t go unnoticed, and the discomfort on Lila’s face didn’t either. Violet guessed then she knew they didn’t share a father.

“I—” Lila looked suddenly desolate. “I think Mom had an affair. Part of the deal was that someone named John had to be in City Hall the night of the explosion, as well as Mayor Charles.”

Violet nodded, encouraging her on.

“I don’t think…” Tears shone in Lila’s eyes. “We’re not really sisters.”

“Of course, we’re sisters,” Violet promised, aware of the delicateness of the moment, but crushed by the invisible clock that ticked down the limited time she had to get any information Lila had to try to save them all. “Doesn’t matter if we don’t share a dad or any parents at all. You’re my sister, always will be.”

The relief on Lila’s face was like a sunrise to her, but there was no time to enjoy it.

“We don’t have long,” she reminded her apologetically. “If I can figure out what’s going on here, we have a better chance of fixing everything. What did Kane, the other guy, ask for from Magnus?”

“He set up the explosion,” Lila recounted. “That’s him, isn’t it?” She gestured at the man talking to the table, who still had his back to them. “Said his guys would make sure it went off. He wanted Da—Magnus to make sure the leader of the Bluff was invited to that meeting. It sounded like he wanted him killed too. Guess that’s why he’s in charge now?”

Violet nodded, quickly sifting through the information. It added color to what they already knew but none of it was proof beyond a doubt.

“Violet, what is this place?” Lila asked. “Their eyes—your eyes, is it magic? I don’t understand.”

It was a discussion they didn’t have time for. Violet could see Kane wrapping up, starting to look around at the amassed crowd, then over to the two of them. He smiled at her. It was a predator’s smile, and Violet’s stomach turned.

She turned back to her sister. “Listen to me. We don’t have a lot of time. Try not to tell them more than you need to.” She dropped her voice to a whisper. “That letter I wrote you, it was in a sealed envelope, okay, and you can’t remember the lady who dropped it off, couldn’t pick her out.”

“Members of the pack,” Kane addressed the square over an honest-to-god PA system, and their time was done.

Lila nodded, holding tightly still to Violet’s hand.

“We’ve come together this evening to hear the results of the investigation into the exposure of our community and way of life to outsiders. The elder council is present to deliver a final verdict, and as always, this is an open forum, where we will decide as a pack the best course of action for the Bluff as a whole.”

The words dripped with falsity. Violet held Mikel’s eyes where she’d found him in the crowd. He was still too dark, simmering and focused. Her stomach turned with worry for him, for whatever he was planning to do—what any of them were. They were supposed to have time, she lamented silently.

“If this is an open forum, then allow me to start,” Daniella said. Violet’s head snapped to Dani, who was emerging from the seating, cool confidence clinging to her. She was impressive in six-inch heels, and she towered over Kane as she came to stand beside him at the microphone.

“Of course,” he agreed, eyes narrow, smile tight. He introduced her, voice thin. “Daniella Hawthorne, daughter of elder councilman, Arthur Hawthorne.”

“Thank you.” Daniella held his eyes, her smile warm, before she turned to address the square. “I put it to the council and to the community as a whole that no wrong has been done here. The young lady in question, the outsider who was allegedly granted knowledge of the Bluff, isn’t in fact an outsider at all but a full-blooded descendant herself.”

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