“Where did this book come from?” I ask, noticing that the cover is old leather and cracking in places. The pages are even starting to yellow a bit.
“The Head Councilor brought them in. He said they’re the old spell tomes. They’re hardly ever used, but mostly kept for historical purposes. Figured it could be useful to us,” she explained with a shrug.
“I think the binding rune could work, but how do we get it on him? Even if we did, couldn’t he just remove it or burn it off?” I ask, pointing out everything that Councilman Brent probably already tried to tell her.
“I thought of that. There has to be a way to burn, cut, or ink it into his skin that he can’t remove, right? We have fucking reapers in this world, don’t we have witches?” she asks.
“Uh, I have no idea. Hey, Councilman Brent!” I yell out, knowing his office is next door. He walks back in with a look of pure annoyance on his face. We’ve worked the man to his last nerve.
“Hey, are witches real? Like witches with abilities?” I clarify, knowing that there are Wiccans, which is a bit different than I need.
“Yes, but they are a dying race; very rare and their locations are mostly unknown. That would be a better question for the Head Councilor,” he says with a hint of appreciation in his tone. I guess he likes that we’re working around the problem.
“Let’s go, Thea,” I say, taking the book with me and hurrying down the hall to the council chambers. I knock three times then swing open the door. We aren’t waiting around for one of them to finally answer, plus having the Master Reapers with us might keep commentary at bay. The council should respect us enough to not care about intrusions… we’re more important for this war than most of the council.
I walk in with a confidence that tells them I refuse to be denied or dismissed. Half of the council is still opposed to me but I glare at them, practically begging for a fight, and they all look away.
Cowards.
“Head Councilor, we either need to speak to you in private or with the council. Thea may have found something,” I announce, handing the book off to her. I’m not about to take her glory after she put in the work. All I did was get us into the room.
She looks pointedly at the Head Councilor, waiting for his response. Looking around the room thoughtfully, he considers the options for a moment before asking the council to excuse us. He pulls Thea and I into a side room that appears to be his office and personal chambers, leaving my guys behind.
His office is set up like you would expect a high end lawyer’s office to be; huge, dark wooden furniture and tall bookshelves filled with tomes. Many of them match the same leather-bound style as the one in Thea’s hands.
“All right, please explain. I figure you should be given respect for once instead of having to debate every detail,” he says, slightly annoyed at the implied mention of his fellow councilmen. I definitely share that sentiment.
“I found this rune,” Thea explains as she sets the book on his desk. He takes a seat and pulls it toward him, scanning the page quietly.
“Our main reason for seeking your advice is to find a real witch or some alternative to make the runepermanentlystay on the demon king. We need a method he can’t just burn off or something, and Councilman Brent directed us to speak with you” I explain. He looks deep in though for a moment as he processes our request.
“Real witches are incredibly hard to find. I do know of one, but I promised to keep her a secret. This I believe, would count as the perfect emergency to seek her out. Her name is Catarina Louis. She lives in Texas. Here is her information,” he says as he pulls out a large journal from behind his desk and thumbs through it for a minute. He writes down the information and passes it to me.
“Thea, you should come. Let’s go grab a bag and tell the guys,” I suggest.
“I would prefer if only one accompanied you. With the demon business, I need the other two here. Our numbers are smaller than ever,” the Head Councilor calls after us and I turn around and nod.
“Let’s take Liam, he was a hot mess earlier,” Thea suggests and I nod. “Oh. This means we get to wear real clothes!” she shouts and takes off running toward the elevator.
“What was that about?” Sam demands the moment we meet back up with them. He’s clearly angry we didn’t include him in the meeting. It wasn’t exactly our choice, though.
“Sorry I didn’t realize he’d keep you guys out too. We have to go find someone on the human side of the veil. Thea wants Liam to go with us and the Head Councilor wants the other two to stay,” I explain apologetically, getting it all out at once.
“That’s fine, it makes sense that we should have part of the team here for back up. It might be safer for you and Thea to be away from here, just in case,” Mason agrees, pulling me in for a long kiss. We finally pull away as Sam grumbles behind us.
“I will accept it. Only because I already got you to myself for a bit today. Make sure to check in. Often,” Sam demands. I give him an equally attentive kiss before I let Liam lead me to the elevator.
When we make it back to the apartment, Thea is waiting for us, changed and ready. I can’t help but laugh at her enthusiasm. She loves any chance she can get to visit the human layer of the veil. Honestly, Thea stands out more against the reapers than I do, in fact, she looks like an average seventeen year old in her trendy clothes and I feel a brief moment of sadness that her life was taken from her so soon. With her long chestnut hair down and several bracelets lining her arm, she looks ready for the mall, not a reaper quest.
“Give me five minutes, kid,” I joke, turning toward my room to get changed, and she huffs. She hates when we call her kid, but unfortunately it’s a name she’ll be stuck with for a while yet.
“I’ll be eighteen tomorrow you know,” she mumbles. My eyes snap back to her and I can see the sadness in her eyes. I give Liam a pointed look and I can practically see him planning something already, which earns him an appreciative smile before I head into my room.
“Then I’ll work on not calling you kid… starting tomorrow,” I tease back and she gives me the evil eye. I hurry and get ready, not wanting to keep her waiting too long.
ChapterEighteen
Luz