“Of fucking course, they do. No surprise there.”
“We knew we’d have to operate outside of the law,” Delany adds.
“Which makes anyone who steps up to help us outlaws. Any supernaturals willing to break The Accords likely want nothing to do with us.”
“We can’t lose hope.” Tarnley tugs me closer and begins to knead my shoulders. “We have to believe there are others out there who are hiding from the council for reasons similar to ours, and we have to hope that they’ll step up.”
“When the hell did you become so optimistic?” Elijah questions, wearing an amused grin on his face.
“When I found something new to live for.”
My cheeks flush as all eyes turn to me. Delaney smiles softly, while Rainey winks knowingly.
“So our plan is to wait until Ridley gets back?” Drexel questions.
“I think that’s the safest route,” Rainey offers. “He can get us out of any hot water we may find ourselves in, and if he does manage to scrounge up any other fae, we’ll be even better off.”
“I have my team looking for help every night that the club is open.”
“Thank you,” I tell the siren.
Eira nods.
“We have to believe that we will win this fight,” I say, careful to meet the gaze of everyone in the room. “It’s been a long time coming, and it’s well past time we put these assholes in their places.”
“This is it, you guys.”
We all turn to Magnolia. “What’s it?” Drexel asks.
The young witch smiles, though there’s little humor in it. “We’re making history right now. This is the moment everything changes.”
* * *
“I will nevertire of fried food.”
Tarnley smiles at me as he dries a glass behind the bar top of his pub. After finishing the spell work that would tie this place to the house, he offered to make me onion rings, and who the hell am I to turn that down?
“I’ll make you as many onion rings as you want, love.”
“Yeah? And not give me shit when I eat more than one helping?”
He leans across the bar and presses his lips to mine. “Never.”
“Never again, you mean.”
“At this point, going a decade without hearing your voice would kill me.”
“You’d still hear my voice; it just wouldn’t be saying very nice things.” I wink at him and shove another golden onion into my mouth.
“Not worth it.”
“Glad you’ve come to your senses.”
He chuckles. “I would say that—” He stops speaking, his grin vanishing.
“What is it?”
“Someone’s here.” He blurs around the bar and heads straight for the front door, though he doesn’t open it just yet.