“Why are our birthdays so important?” Spencer eyed me as if he already knew the answer.
“Ms. Reed, please recite the prophecy.”
I so didn’t want to recite the prophecy, but did anyway to get this over with. “Come the Ides of March, the elemental world as we know it will be no longer. Good and evil will be matched. Supremacy is certain.”
“You left out the last line,” Spencer stated and locked his focus on me. “Only one stands in the way.”
The way he looked at me, like I was the one standing in his way, raised the hairs on my neck as uncertainty pricked my skin. I didn’t trust that look. I didn’t trust the guy delivering that look. I refused to pull my gaze away as I said, “I guess it’s a good thing you’re here to remind me.”
“Indeed.”
We continued to hold each other’s hard glares, and not in a good way. When it came to staring contests, I sucked and was usually the first to give in. Not this time. I wouldn’t back down and let this guy think he had a shot at destroying the world I protected with my life.
“Dean Carter, please have Stacey Layden join us.” Stephens’s request shocked me into losing the staring contest as I whipped my attention to him.
“Why wasn’t she here in the first place?” I asked before I could engage the filter between my brain and my mouth. When no one answered, I went on. “She’s a member of the Council, isn’t she?”
“Faculty aren’t required.”
“She’s my faculty advisor.”
“As I’ve already stated—”
“And a member of the Council,” I repeated, cutting him off. If this was some sort of stance against women in a position of power, he and I were about to disagree quite physically when I beat the crap out of the old guy. “Right?”
“Yes,” he hissed, clearly not pleased with that fact. It was the verbal equivalent of stepping in chewing gum on a hot summer’s day.
“Then I’ll wait.” I folded my arms in front of me and, for once in my life, fell silent. It was uncomfortable, more for the men in black than for me. Good.
“You called for me.” Stacey Layden walked into the room in her uniform of black professor robes, her hair in a perfect bun, her stoic expression not giving away any emotion. She flicked her wrist and slammed the door behind her. I would have done the same thing and loved her for doing it. She faced Stephens and broke the resting bitch face as she smiled warmly. Oh, but the door slam told an entirely different story.
“Ms. Layden.” Stephens nodded at her and strained under an unfriendly smile. He adjusted his tie, fidgeting like crazy. Something about her presence had him nervous. Or maybe it was the fact there were now two very powerful females in the room, both due to our calls and our dispositions. “You know the students of Clearwater better than anyone. You know their primary before they do.”
I bit the inside of my lip to stop myself from saying anything and lowered my head to hide the doubt in my expression.
“Please place your hands on Mr. Dalton.”
Spencer stepped out of her reach. “That’s quite unnecessary.”
Interesting. He didn’t want to be touched by someone who’d feel whatever darkness lived inside him.
“That proves my point,” Stephens fired back before regarding me. “Ms. Reed, the Council heard about the attack. Thankfully, you weren’t hurt. You mustn’t go outside the grounds again without an escort.”
“Excuse me?” What the…what? I needed an escort about as much as I needed permission to leave the grounds. Besides, I did have an escort. Clay and I didn’t stand a chance. How did you fight a fog?
“The prophecy is once again invoked. We can’t have the most important being in our world exposed and unprotected.”
“By the prophecy, you mean what, exactly?” I already knew the answer. I just wanted him to say it in front of Spencer and give me another reason to gloat. It didn’t make me a good person, but damn, did it feel good.
“Katy Reed, the Council hereby decrees you remain the prophecy.” He didn’t even look at Spencer as he delivered the blow.
Spencer, however, nailed the head of the Council with an icy glare. “You can’t do that.”
“You can’t do that!” Stace protested at the same time. “The Council didn’t decree it. You did. That’s not how it works.”
Stephens gave her a look before turning it on me. “Do you accept?”
“I totally do.” Hell, yeah. I couldn’t wait to tell the guys. I didn’t lose my title after all.
He gave Stace a superior told-you-so look. “It appears I can.”
She swept her glance to the other men in the room. When most of them avoided her gaze, she curled her lip in disgust. “Not one of you is willing to stand up to this? Stephens is creating a dictatorship.”
“Mind your tongue, Ms. Layden. Council members are forbidden to speak out against the governing body.”
She took a breath—no doubt to tell Stephens where to stick his arrogant, assholey comment—but I jumped in. I needed her to remain on the Council and fill me in on the status of the patrols to round up the dark elemental clans. “She’s just upset.”
“You’re damn right I’m upset.” Her temper took over as her cheeks grew red. “Katy has a target on her back again, thanks to this Council.” She faced off against Stephens, appearing so much larger than her petite frame. “Do you hate the Reeds so much that you’d punish an innocent girl for the sins of her mother?”
“That’s quite enough.”
“It most certainly is.” She teleported out of the room with a loud pop. The tension in the room made it hard to breathe.
“Dean Carter,” Stephens said. “You may proceed.” He paused as he took a
