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‘That’s me,’ I confirmed, cheerfully conforming to patriarchal attitudes. I’m a girl who knows when to pickher battles, and I was pretty sure I had a more important one on my hands – if I could get into the room to fight it.
‘Then I’m going to try and stop you from going in, but you’re going to beat me woefully.’ He delivered his comment deadpan so I waited a beat for him to try and stop me, but he didn’t so much as step towards me. He met my gaze and winked.
‘I like you,’ I said, flashing him a grin.
I pushed open the heavy doors with too much force and they slammed against the walls on either side – oops, damned werewolf strength – then I stalked in like I’d fully intended my dramatic entrance.
I took a moment to look around. The gathering hall was heaving with people but even so it was eerily silent. There were brethren, dark seraph, dragons, mermaids and even dryads; a lot of people had a vested interest in Emory Elite’s future.
Someone had turned the hall into a mockery of a courtroom. Five self-important twats were sitting on a raised dais: they were the Elders who would act as the judges. Of them, I knew only Geneve – and only because Jess had bitched about her when she’d got really drunk the previous night. Geneve was an ex of Emory’s who had apparently hoped to resume their relationship. He’d shot her down and she hadn’t taken it well; she might have beenan ancient dragon but she was a sore loser. Maybe she’d learn to lose gracefully in the next thousand years or so. Then again, maybe not.
There was a pedestal next to the Elders and on top of it was a huge-ass jewel resting on a fancy pillow. The reverence it was being shown suggested it was some sort of holy dragon relic. If the worst came to the worst, I could steal that, cause a furore and they’d be so mad at me that they’d forget their idiotic persecution of Emory. I’d keep that as Plan B, though; I wasn’t sure Emory would appreciate the tactic.
It would be fun though,Esme murmured wickedly. Some days she was the good angel on my shoulder but today she seemed to have a forked tail and a trident.
On a lower dais to the right of the Elders was Emory’s inner circle including Greg’s mum, Elizabeth. I would have known her anywhere because she had his skin tone, eyes and nose. She was dressed in a freaking ball gown and her lips were pinched; she looked like she’d sucked on a lemon and been surprised to discover it was bitter. It was hard not to dislike her on sight just because she was here working against Emory and propagating this farce.
Emory, the man of the hour, was standing in the dock and I caught my breath when I saw that he was wearingcuffs.He was the fucking King of the dragons and here he was, virtually in a pillory like a common thief.
It was chilling: I was the Queen of the Werewolves and I suddenly had a feeling in my gut that this was a horrific foreshadowing of my own future. In theory I believed that all of us – the leaders of the various factions – weren’t above the law but Emory had done nothing wrong. He had saved hundreds of lives and it was all kinds of insult that he was being punished for it. This was politics, nothing more, nothing less, and it wouldn’t have surprised me if the Anti-Crea had some hand in it. Maybe they were pulling strings from the shadows like the disgusting cowards they were.
All eyes had swung to me so I spoke forcefully into the silence. ‘I am the reason Emory is in this mess,’ I declared loudly. ‘I am Lucy Barrett, Queen of the Werewolves. I am here to bear witness for Emory Elite.’
The bitch on the dais glared at me, her nostrils flaring. ‘You are not welcome in this court.’
I smiled. ‘Tough shit. Try and throw me out.’ I let my smile widen as I dared her.Go on, try it.My lips curled back in a sneer. ‘Start a war with the werewolves. Or –’ I paused deliberately, keeping my tone sweet, ‘let me say my piece and then I’ll leave.’ I’d always found that the best threatswere delivered calmly; for some reason, people found them even more frightening than a snarl.
Geneve turned to the other Elder dragons and they murmured among themselves. ‘You may approach the court,’ one of the men confirmed grudgingly. The dragons had the Anti-Crea breathing down their necks so they really couldn’t afford a war on two fronts.
I smirked at Geneve. I’d been bluffing: I would never attack Emory’s people –Greg’s people – but they didn’t know that, or me.
‘I was in a pickle.’ I raised my voice so that everyone in the hall could hear my story. ‘I was being attacked by another werewolf pack, but it wasn’t just werewolf politics at play. A black witch was pulling the strings and trying to destroy the werewolves forever. You are very old,’ I said guilelessly to Geneve. ‘Ancient, really. You must remember the Great Pack?’
Her glare intensified but she gave an unwilling nod.
‘The Great Pack was ripped from us by a curse that the witches had laid centuries ago. Any werewolves that spent too long in wolf form became feral and golden-eyed. With time, they became twisted and grey and turned into gargoyles. The black witch thought the original curse didn’t go far enough because she wanted the Great Pack eradicated. Instead, another witch helped us break thecurse and, by doing that, we changed the course of the gargoyles’ fate. As you all know, Emory is king of the gargoyles. They knelt to him as their Elite and in exchange he swore that he would protect them. If he had failed to act that day, not only would the gargoyles all be dead but Emory Elite would be foresworn. He would be an oath-breaker.’
I drew out the last word and let it sit heavily in the silence. ‘Oath-breaker’ was one of the worst insults you could throw in the Other realm and to have a Prime who was an oath-breaker would have huge ramifications for dragon society. I hoped my words would be enough to sway them to Emory’s side of the fence, though Geneve’s supercilious expression told me to expect otherwise.
Fools: they were playing right into the Anti-Crea’s hands. I hoped it wouldn’t be the death of them all.
Chapter 2
The Elders chuntered amongst themselves for a ridiculously long time. I stopped myself from pacing by sheer force of will; if I’d had a chair I would have lounged on it indolently, but I didn’t have one so I couldn’t. I remained standing, waiting impatiently for their verdict.
‘We thank you for your attendance,’ one of the male Elders finally said to me, as if they’d had any choice in the matter. ‘You may now leave.’
I gritted my teeth. They’d made me wait for more than twenty minutes and now they were chucking me out without letting me know the results of their deliberations? Motherfuckers.
A small smile curled Geneve’s lips and she looked triumphant. Even without the announcement, I was suddenly sure that this verdict wouldn’t go Emory’s way. Fools, I thought again.
I felt sick to my stomach but I couldn’t do anything about it for now. I would support him through this, which was all a good friend could do: stand by their friends in their darkest hour. Geneve’s smirk made me feel sure that this would be Emory’s darkest hour; the jealous, vindictive bitch would see to it.
Well, I refused to be chucked out like a customer who hadn’t paid his whore so I took my time leaving the hall. First I walked over to Emory and met his dazzling green eyes with a smile. ‘Thank you,’ he murmured softly. ‘I appreciate your efforts.’
His tone was low, for my ears only. I reached out and squeezed his wrist then took my own sweet time walking back through the crowd. Finally I left the hall ... before the temptation to pipe the Elders became too strong to ignore.
I could end this in seconds if I reached out with my magic and forced them to let Emory resume his position as Prime Elite. But that would be wrong; it wasn’t my place to control their actions, even if they were about to make a huge mistake. Giving people free will meant letting them choose their own fate, no matter how unwisely. But God damn it, it was hard to walk away.
