I waved at Nora and Mani as I closed the door. “Oh good,” Nora said. “You’re both here. The Human League has finally agreed to meet with the Council.”
I sat down hard on my bed. Sophie groaned. “Is there any word on whether the Council will bend on this issue of exposing the supernatural world to the humans?” she asked.
“They don’t really have much of a choice if that’s the way the Human League want to go,” Nora said.
“Unless they decide to do what they’ve always done and silence the humans,” I said.
Nora pursed her lips together. “The human world is a different place now. I don’t think the Council paid humans enough attention. Now they have the internet and instant social media. If anyone in the League goes missing, there will be trouble.”
All in all, their jobs sucked balls. It wasn’t something that I ever wanted to get myself entangled in. A voice kept piping up that if I bonded with Kai, I would be tied to the Council for the rest of my life. A week later, Jacqueline handed us invitations.
Neither of us was very excited to be cordially invited to the Council get-together with the Human League. It was another story for the Evil Three.
“I thought you guys were meant to despise this stuff!” I said while we walked to Magical Artifacts.
“Why would we despise a big, fancy party?” Harlow asked.
“I don’t mean the party,” I said. “I mean the whole Council thing.”
“We’re coming around to it,” Winnie said as she unashamedly eyed Trey. “Besides, doesn’t this mean we get to go to Rivia to buy a dress? Sophie’s been telling us about this Madame Familiar and I’m dying to see what it’s like.”
Trust fashion to be the thing that bridged the barrier between species. I only agreed to go with them because I had a birthday party to plan and I needed to go to Rivia for that anyway.
“You ready?” Sasha said as we approached the front door of Pantheon.
I nodded.
But I hadn’t been ready.
When he pushed open the door, I came face to face with a mural. It ran along the entire wall opposite the entrance. It depicted the prophetic scene from Magic Resistance class. Smack bang in the middle of it was the spitting image of me holding Morning Star in one hand and Max’s severed lion’s head in the other.
25
As much as it irritated me to have Kai hovering around, the effect of his presence was immediately noticed. I knew the other kids were still talking behind my back. At least they kept their distance so there was the illusion of peace. He’d backed off when the snide remarks died down. There was no way he could go MIA on his duties forever. But the lingering threat was always there. That threat seemed to be enough to dissuade most people.
There were only two people I knew who wouldn’t be scared to pull something like this. I didn’t think it was Andrei. He liked to dig at me, but he did it quietly because I had a feeling he despised the rest of the supernaturals as much as they despised me. So that just left Chanelle. The counter was still there beside the mural. Chanelle’s margin of approval was growing even more pronounced.
Sophie had turned her head away from the image of Max’s lifeless body. “Let’s go,” I said.
I sat through Magical Artifacts like a lead balloon. I’d read through the entire section on Lucifer. I’d also borrowed a bunch of other books related to the same topic. Most of it was speculation. Today we had moved on to something called Gabriel’s Key. I had zero interest in it until Professor Avery made us open the page in our textbook. The picture that jumped out was a ring, not an actual key.
“Why is it called a key if it’s a ring?” Alison asked.
“You would know if you did your homework,” Professor Avery admonished. Like the boys, the Evil Three seemed to have chosen this subject purely because I was going. Judging by Alison’s shrug, she wasn’t concerned about how well she did.
“The ring is referred to as a key because it allows the user to magically open or close any portals they wish,” Professor Avery said. “Even if they’re not magic users.”
Diana sat up in her chair at the same time I did. My hand shot up in the air.
“Where is the key now?” I asked without waiting for the professor to call on me.
This produced a smile from her. “Funny you should ask,” she said. “The key was given over to the Nephilim Council to govern. It is currently in Tiberius’s possession.”
Of course it was. Why would the universe make me aware of something of this magnitude without kicking me in the teeth at the same time?
I was on my way to Exorcism class later on in the week when Kai caught up with me. He’d been mysteriously evasive since the mural went up. “I’ll make her take it down,” he told me.
“Don’t,” I said. “I’ll handle it.”
“Blue.”
“Stop. You’re probably the reason it went up in the first place.” He stood there brooding. The scar on his brow stood out as he frowned. I kept thinking about Evan’s conviction that she wasn’t always like this. It made me think she’d spent so much time trying to get Kai’s attention that it didn’t matter whether it was good or bad attention at this point.
“I have to get to class.”
He reached out for me. I sidestepped. “You can’t protect me from everything,” I said. I blinked back the vile image of me holding the severed head of a friend. I couldn’t think of any reason on Earth or Hell that would ever push me to kill Max. But I couldn’t deny that in the heat of the battle, I hadn’t felt anything besides the urge to do Lucifer’s bidding.
