The headquarters of all things Otherworldly more or less resembled a cathedral from the middle ages. It, and the foyer outside the main doors, was the center of the building. Surrounding the foyer were the four towers making up the structure of the castle. The Guardians’ House and Witches’ House were to the left, and the Vampires’ House and Werewolves’ House were to the right of the Council’s Hall.
All very awe worthy, Nexi still believed.
Even the three male Masters of the Otherworld and one female Mistress were an equally impressive sight, sitting in their throne chairs like royalty. Perhaps, however, they only appeared more powerful tonight, since the most influential supernaturals in all of existence were staring her down.
Nexi heaved a sigh and turned to her birth father, Drake, who stood off to the side of the chairs, rambling incoherent nonsense. While the Council intimated her, the guardian with his eyeballs bulging out of his head simply infuriated her.
At her continuing silence, Drake demanded, “Do you plan on answering me?”
She rubbed her nose, erasing the tickle from the dust in the room he stirred from pacing. “Sorry, what did you ask? You lost me about a second after you opened your mouth.”
His eyes bulged further. “What were you thinking?”
“I—”
He raised a hand. “What would have happened if it wasn’t Briggs—a friend to the Council, I might add—whom you threatened with a weapon?”
She shifted her weight onto her other foot and folded her arms, as he once again paced in front of the Council in long, heavy strides. Only a second passed before Drake continued with a growl to his voice, “I’m starting to believe you’re suffering some mental problems that need tending to.” He stopped mid-step and regarded her. “Are you unwell?”
“Oh, yes, I’m dandy,” she retorted, as if this even needed to be spoken aloud. “The only two people I loved deeply have been murdered. Now not only am I living in some bizarre supernatural realm, but I’m, in fact, a freaky supernatural myself.”
Drake studied her with a long look before he grunted and turned to the Council. “Maybe her grief is blinding her judgment.”
Before he said something she’d make him regret, Nexi interjected, “Rewind there, Daddy. You said I have magical powers, so what’s the big deal? I’ll voodoo some shit up, bring out my spidey-senses, and bam.”
Drake openly gawked at her. “You have guardian powers and those are innate abilities. You may have increased strength, but skill is learned not gifted.” Each Council member nodded agreement, and he added, “Might I also remind you that, yes, Zia released the block on your supernatural powers to allow those gifts to return, but your witch abilities haven’t shown themselves yet. You, at the moment, have no magic at all.”
Good point, but… “Even if the witch side of things hasn’t shown itself yet, you said it yourself: I’m physically stronger now.” As the vein in the center of his forehead nearly burst, she hurried the heck up. “And I’ve told you repeatedly, I’m done sitting around. If you’re so concerned about my safety in the world now, then train me so I can fight.”
He shook his head. “You’re not ready.”
“Yes,” she said through clenched teeth. “I am.”
Talon, Master of Guardians, hummed low in his throat as he rubbed his jaw, studying her with his emerald eyes. The warrior, decked out in the whole sword and leather kilt getup, exuded power. “You’ve only had a month to mourn your family’s passing and to adjust to your new life. I worry about pushing you into this too quickly.”
Beside him, Holten, Master of Weres, agreed with a nod. “It’s too soon.”
Nexi would consider the werewolf a softy, with his gentle, chocolate brown eyes and long, dark hair. That was, if the two hundred and fifty pounds of muscle on his body didn’t put him into the category of Scary as Hell.
Even if she might fear him, and even if he had seemed kind enough toward her, her hands tightened into fists.
Zia, Mistress of Witches, raised her eyebrows over her blue beauties, apparently aware of the rage flowing through Nexi’s veins. Even the pale Master of Vampires, Zade, regarded her with black, twinkling eyes, his fangs poking out from his lip.
They were right: she was about to blow her lid.
These males were deciding her life as if she didn’t have an opinion on the matter, or as if her life wasn’t hers to control. From what she’d seen so far, males in the Otherworld clearly hadn’t gotten with the times and they treated women as if they were fragile.
Nexi hadn’t grown up in the Otherworld, and if they thought for a second that they could boss her around and she’d just take it, they were dead wrong. For two weeks now, she’d taken matters into her own hands then, after enduring the charade of the Council’s reprimand, tried to persuade them.
Before she could snap, however, a low, smooth voice from far beside her said, “I think it’s time to give the girl what she wants.”
Glancing over at the other chest-beating guardian thrust into her life, she found Kyden leaning casually against the wall. He might be a looker, if she cared about a thick body chiseled to pure perfection and silky-smooth tanned skin. Or if she liked how his light brown hair softened him a little by hanging messily across his forehead.
Of course, those things didn’t impress her.
Especially considering he presently gave her his classic smart-ass grin as he strode toward her. A smile she’d come to discover she hated and liked at the same time. When he settled in next to her, he continued. “If we don’t train her, she’ll get herself killed. I can’t continue to babysit her.”
Reason enough why she hated the grin, a smart-ass comment always followed. “Yes, boy, that’s exactly what I need.”
In all actuality, she could’ve been a little girl to him. Everyone in the room appeared thirty-years-old, even her father. Immortality had been an added perk, and she’d never complain she wouldn’t have a wrinkle once she reached immortal age in six years. But she had also learned from Haven that Kyden was only twenty-eight years old and not centuries old like the Masters of the Otherworld.
“Kyden’s right,” Zia said to Drake, tangling her finger in her strawberry blonde locks. “Nexi is clearly going to be involved in this whether you like it or not. We must prepare her.”
Drake grunted.
“While you believe this is Nexi’s grief,” Talon added, “I’m more inclined to think this is her guardian roots flourishing. Withholding her drive to fight would be a waste, not only for her, but for the Otherworld.”
Silence drifted around Nexi as she watched Drake looking at the cement floor, his feet shifting side to side. After a long pause, his shoulders slumped and he raised his head. “Is this really the life you want?”
Maybe the father-daughter relationship was new, considering she’d never met him until he’d swept in to save her life, but there in the depths of his warm eyes, concern held strong. That touched her. His question, however, merely stumped her. “Isn’t this what I should be doing?”
Darkness seeped over his face. “I didn’t want this life for you.”
That she knew well enough. He’d done the unthinkable, or so Haven had told her. Drake had requested the Council to block her magical powers so she would live and die as a human. He desired to protect her from the danger of the supernatural world after he’d lost the witch—her birth mother—he loved.
The Council had asked her if she wanted to know the truth about her past, she’d said yes, and with that—regardless of Drake’s reservations—the block was removed. Now there was no going back, since the spell to block supernatural abilities could only be cast before a child was six months old. “But I am a guardian now,” she gently reminded him.
“You’re right.” His brows drew together, pain filling his features. “But that doesn’t mean you have to join the Council’s Guard. Most of our kind lives in the Earthworld, and you could still have a simple life.”
“Um…” Again, she stated the obvious problem with a wave over herself. “Now that Zia removed the block and awakened my magic, if you haven’t noticed, I’ll never die.” She pointed to her chest. “Immortal, remember? I’d imagine humans might find a woman who never ages to be a bit odd.”
He shook his head. “Magic can hide the true identity of a supernatural.” His chin lowered, eyes in line with hers. “If you join the Guard, your immortality is not so stable. This life is violent.”
She could’ve responded brashly, voicing yet again her need to avenge her parents, but this was something too important not to consider. One of those no-going-back-moments. Drake had sent her away from the Otherworld for this very reason.
After she’d pondered all viewpoints of her decision, she discovered only one thing mattered. “By choosing this life, you’ll stay off my back and let me hunt the wolf that killed my family?”
Drake hesitated, then said with a bite in his voice, “Once you’re in the Council’s Guard, my say in the matter is gone.”