“You don’t believe that it’s beneficial?”
“Quite the contrary,” Elite Bellus said. “I believe it’s very beneficial—for those who can manage it. But every place I’ve seen it work has been small and overwhelmed. Everyone was forced together out of sheer necessity. It won’t work here in the Midwest—or the majority of regions—because we don’t have those outside forces at work. It’s just a pretty dream for us. But Pre-Dominant Harka made some noise about it and insisted we fly them out to speak to us when she heard about them.”
I stared at the invitation, trying to piece everything together. Why was he inviting me if he didn’t think the talk would be useful? I mentally reviewed his description of the meeting, then sighed. “You want me to come because Killian is going to be there.”
Elite Bellus gave me two thumbs up. “That’s how your House was able to fly up the ranking charts—you’re sharp!”
“What can you possibly gain by dragging me there?” I asked. “I already told you we didn’t part on good terms.”
Actually, we’d parted on terrible terms. Killian—being manipulative and untrusting—decided the best way to protect me from his Family’s war with the fae Night Court was to unceremoniously kick me out. I figured out what he was doing, but it didn’t matter. I didn’t put up with being treated like that—even if it was because he was doing it for my good. Especially because he thought he was doing it for my good.
Killian had the habit of being a manipulative jerk, and I wasn’t going to let him yank me around on a chain and make all my life decisions for me. Ever since I got House Medeis back I’d seen a vampire lingering on my street at least once every other day, and whenever possible I chased them off. I didn’t want Killian Drake finding anything out about me.
“Even if you’re mad at him, the fact is Killian Drake took you under his protection. Though it was a short amount of time, he doesn’t extend his protection to just anyone—I’ve seen him watch vampires get arrested in front of him, and he doesn’t even twitch. Somewhere in there, he cares for you. The way he paraded you around the Summer’s End Ball is proof—he wouldn’t lightly introduce you to society in such a way if he didn’t intend to keep the connection.”
I folded one leg over the other and wiggled my foot. “That’s unexpectedly romantic of you, Elite Bellus.”
“Hardly—I’m too logical to afford myself romantic nonsense where Killian Drake is concerned,” he dryly said.
“But you still haven’t said what you hope to achieve.”
“Ah, yes.” He brandished a finger in the air. “Given the topic, I suspect seeing you might throw him for a loop.”
“And you want him thrown for a loop?”
“Indeed.” Elite Bellus leaned back in his chair and picked up his coffee, taking a slow sip. “He’s been an absolute bear since you left. If he goes to that meeting, he’s going to reject everything they say for the sheer principle of it.”
“Why would that matter?” I asked. “You just said you didn’t think anything they talked about would work here.”
“You are right. We’ll never have the mixed subcommittees, but they have a few practices I’d like to consider. Big changes aren’t possible, but if we start small, we might be able to push enough to see if we could benefit.”
“If you want to change things,” I grumbled, “you could start by suggesting inheritance laws.”
Elite Bellus laughed hard enough to make his shoulders twinge. “You are right. That is something we wizards should look into. But I’m afraid I’m more concerned about our society in general, as it stands.”
“Fine.” I tapped the invitation on my leg. “You want me to come so you can hopefully throw Killian off, and then he won’t reject everything the speakers talk about. I’ll do it as long as it works into my schedule.”
“Thank you, I’ll be indebted to you,” Elite Bellus said.
I smiled. “It will be interesting to hear the discussion. But why are you looking to change things here? Are you concerned with where it looks like we’re headed?”
“Yes.” Elite Bellus took another sip of his coffee—more out of habit than real desire, it seemed to me. “If we don’t change our course things are going to get…messy. Besides, we already know what we’re currently doing isn’t working. Magic is still dying.”
I narrowed my eyes. “You think the death of magic can be stopped? Everyone’s been trying to fix it for years, and nothing has worked.”
“I think its failure can be slowed,” Elite Bellus corrected me. “I don’t know if it will ever stop leaking out of our world—not since we let the elves die out. But it’s dying at a faster rate than it was fifty years ago. If we can stabilize it, it will buy us more time.”
I slowly nodded. “I see.”
“Thank you for coming.”
I picked up my cup of coffee and took a sip—holy cow did the Elite like a dark and bitter blend. I dumped enough cream in it to turn it into a latte. “Don’t hold your breath—Killian might not react at all.”
“Maybe, but I’d rather stack the deck in my favor.”
I glanced at the invitation again. “Am I allowed to bring anyone from my House?”
“Of course! As Adept you should bring at least a few of your people. Now, why don’t you tell me what kind of inheritance law you would propose?”
I took another sip of my coffee, then set it aside as I leaned forward. “I’m so glad you asked…”
Two nights later, I tugged my scarf tighter around my neck and leaned up against the House. “Block off the driveway gate and move the front rosebushes so they butt up against the front fence.”
A swirl of magic, and the House complied, feeding off my abilities as it shut the driveway gate and reinforced it with boulders the size of laundry baskets. When it moved the rosebushes it almost looked like an animal was burrowing across the front yard. But even though the prickly bushes had lost their leaves and buds for the year, the branches would still make anyone think twice about trying to shimmy over the tall fence, or stick their arms through the gaps in the iron spokes.
“Good.” I shuffled back a tiny step so my back bumped against the House’s cold, stone covered exterior wall. “Now lock down the weapons and shift them to the basement.”
From my perch on the third-floor patio, I had the perfect view of the locked, waterproofed chests of our practice weapons getting swallowed up by the ground.
The House pushed magic through me—making heat swirl in my wizard mark. The House trundled the chests underground, burping them out in the basement.
I felt a little lightheaded—which was usually a sign I was starting to hit my limits. I sat down on a window ledge and patted the House. “Excellent. Give me a few minutes, and we’ll practice some more.”
I picked up the packet of papers I’d brought outside with me for my down time and tried to turn a page, but it was hard to do with my gloved fingers.
If Great Aunt Marraine knew I was working she’d be furious, and unfortunately I was too short to be out of ear-yanking range. But I needed to go over these papers, and it was the perfect thing to do when I needed to take a break from practicing defensive maneuvers with House Medeis.
Since I was Adept, House Medeis and I could pull and push magic between us. It really upped my abilities—while I was on our property anyway—but it also took a lot of energy. I was trying to accustom myself to it and see if I could improve my stamina. It seemed like it was working—though it also might just be that the House and I were starting to get the feel for each other and were working better together.
I squinted and held my packet up, trying to get some of the light that streamed through the window directly behind me.
House Medeis helpfully turned on a light above my head so I could see what I was reading—the monthly budget for November. (I gotta say, there was a lot more math to being an Adept than I ever thought.)
I stretched my legs out in front of me, resting my feet against one of the spokes of the tiny patio wrought-iron fence. A shadow passed over my papers as someone entered the empty room behind me.
Momoko stuck her head through the patio doorway. “Found a new spot to practice in, didya?”
Felix poked his head out just above hers. “Great Aunt Marraine is looking for you.”
I grinned. “Why do you think I went through the trouble of finding a new spot?”
Felix and Momoko joined me on the patio—which was pretty small, so we were squashed together so we could all fit. I didn’t mind the close quarters—I grew up with Felix and Momoko, and we’d been best friends since forever.
That’s why it was pretty obvious the two of them were psyching themselves up to ask me something—I knew all their tells. Felix was leaning against the door and looking innocent—a sure sign he was up to something—while Momoko was staring at her hands and chewing on her lower lip.
“What is it?” I asked.
The two exchanged looks.
I was a little irritated that they had something they’d obviously discussed separately—we used to share everything—so I might have laced my voice with more sarcasm than necessary. “What, did you two finally confess your unending love for each other?”
Momoko gagged. “What? No! Ew! Gross.”
Felix grimaced as if the idea physically pained him. “I stopped seeing either of you as females years ago.”
“Really?” Momoko asked. “That’s funny, because you seem a lot like a girl friend to me.”
“You—” Felix forcefully cut himself off. He shut his eyes and exhaled loudly, then glared at Momoko. “That’s not important. We have something we want to discuss. Don’t we, Momoko?”
Momoko pushed some of her black hair over her shoulder, then pressed her hands together as she looked thoughtful. “Yes, that’s right. Hazel…we’re concerned.”