A dozen or so faces stared at me from a long, raised bench. Our group stood in front of a double set of pews. The floor was dark grey cement with traces of brimstone clinging to it.
Brimstone was the supernatural equivalent to sulphur. It was used both as a base and a cleanser. I tried not to imagine the kind of magic that would be required inside the Council chambers.
At the centre of the raised bench was a wizened vampire woman with steel-grey hair. They were all there. The representatives from the Fae, shifters, each of the seraphim bloodlines, the para-humans and the mages. There was an empty chair at the edge of the bench. I’d learned all the names of the Council members from my first year at the Academy. Right now, I was struggling to remember any of them.
“Sophie Mwansa,” the vampire said. I nodded. “Do you know why you’ve been summoned?” I nodded again. “She can talk, can’t she?”
“Yes,” Mama hissed. “But she’s been through a lot so I’ll thank you to tone it back, Victoria.”
There was a collective rumble of dissent. My mama crossed her arms over her chest. Yeah, she liked to think she and Grammy were complete opposites, but at times like this, I couldn’t tell them apart. I wrapped my arm around her waist. She hugged me back.
To her credit, Victoria’s pruned lips puckered but she didn’t give me more grief. Instead, she produced great-grandfather’s diary from below the bench. She lifted it high enough so that everyone in the room could see it.
“This should have been brought to our attention immediately,” Victoria said.
I was about to say I hadn’t learned about it until a year ago, but Dad got in before me. “Why is that?” he said. “It’s a diary like any other. You’ve seen yourself that it doesn’t contain instructions about how to perform any spells.”
“This belonged to a criminal,” one of the Nephilim said. I looked hard at his solid build. I thought he was Artemis Gilbert.
Professor Mortimer fidgeted with his glasses. “To be fair, the Academy has many artefacts that belonged to dangerous individuals.”
“Speaking of dangerous,” the Fae representative said, “what about her powers?”
I was in the middle of opening my mouth to speak when a deep green light flashed. My eyes closed involuntarily. When they opened again, a figure stalked up to the empty chair. Most of the Nephilim had an ethereal quality about them. Malachi Pendragon had the advantage of being genetically blessed on top of that.
He was at least six foot two inches tall with dark blond, almost brown hair. Deep green eyes that matched the glow of his essence looked out at me over the bench. I couldn’t breathe. It wasn’t normal for someone to be that impossibly stunning. I thought of Max and found my lips tilting up. Okay, so Nephilim didn’t have the monopoly on being gorgeous. But still, I was supposed to be concentrating on getting myself out of this mess.
The Fae representative jumped like he’d been startled. On my left, Jacqueline’s shoulder quivered for a second like she was trying to hold back laughter. “We didn’t think you’d be back in time, Kai,” Victoria said.
“I definitely wouldn’t be, considering I wasn’t told about it,” Kai snapped. He didn’t bother to sit but braced his hand on the back of the empty seat. I’d seen him many times as he flew by overhead while he guarded the Academy. He was in Max’s class but what happened to his family turned him from a normal kid into someone much older almost overnight.
“We didn’t think it appropriate since you’re classmates,” the Fae man said.
“Why not? I’m the one who has to go to school with her. Why wouldn’t I get a say in whether I want her there or not?”
I squeezed Mama’s hand. Until now I hadn’t realised the fate of my status at Bloodline was in question.
“Be that as it may –” Victoria started to say. Malachi cut her off.
“Bottom line,” he said. “Is she getting kicked out or not?”
“We still have to decide what to do with the diary.”
Kai marched over, snatched it from Victoria’s hands and tore the diary in half. “Problem solved. It’s a bloody book. You’re acting like it has control over her.”
Victoria’s pruny mouth pulled back into a grimace. The shifter representative, Durin, was actually smiling.
“She has powers that she hasn’t disclosed!” Artemis reminded everyone.
“She’s a kitchen witch,” Durin spoke. “So what?”
“Her alchemy isn’t like anything we’ve seen before.”
“How many kitchen witches have you known?” Durin’s black eyes narrowed at the Nephilim. The other man didn’t answer. “For all we know, they could all have these powers.”
“Between you and me,” Kai said, “I would rather a kitchen witch who can perform alchemy than a vampire who just whines all day about rules. Are we done here?”
He had already started walking away before he finished speaking. Green light gathered at the edges of his body as he prepared to teleport. “Oh Sophie,” he said. I dared to look up into his angelic face. “Thanks.”
He disappeared. And now I was a little bit in love with Malachi Pendragon.
21
“I believe I have the rest of this under control,” Jacqueline said. “Professor Mortimer and I will see to it that Sophie is appropriately instructed about her powers.”
She waved and the Nephilim guard took us out of there before the Council had time to react. “Umm…are they going to be annoyed?” I asked when we landed back in her office.
“They’ll spend more time fighting between themselves,” Jacqueline said. “It’ll be weeks before they even remember you’re alive.”
“As long as she stays alive,” Mama said. She flopped down on an armchair. Dad rubbed her back. Her eyes were almost as bloodshot as some of the students’ while they’d been under the influence of the demon.
“You guys don’t have to stay.” I reached out to squeeze Mama’s hand. “I’m feeling a lot better.”
“We’re not leaving you,” Mama said.
“You can’t stay here indefinitely.” I had
