Page 41 of Last Gift: Supernatural Battle

Maybe I shouldn’t worry about being leader for too long.

I may not be leading this coven tomorrow.

12

My stomach churned, but I forced myself through the motions of eating lunch. Bite. Chew. Swallow. Drink. I was about to release the Kraken on the coven, so to speak. The mood in the coven was cheerful, but I expected that may end in about—oh, ten minutes.

Huxley was grinning. “You’re screwed.”

Corentin smiled at me, or through me to something only he could see… I wasn’t sure.

Wild joined us, shrugging out of a thick set of robes.

“Good shift?” I asked.

“If good means no sign of activity at the demon gates, then yes.” He snagged a piece of toast off my plate. “We’ll need you to come out to the gates when you have time today. We’re tracking the speed the gates move at in the hopes of setting up defenses in advance so we’re always covered.”

Smart. Sexy too. “If I’m still leader in an hour, you got it.”

“If not?”

“I’ll be outrunning the pitchforks.”

Huxley grumbled, “I hate when you speak human.”

“Why?” I asked.

“Because I don’t like not knowing stuff, and I don’t know much human,” he snapped.

I looked closer. “You and Spyne are fighting again.”

“He’s being unreasonable!”

Mother save me from this bespectacled pain in the ass.

Sven sat, saving me from the need to reply. He leaned close. “We have a problem. The coven knows about the announcement.”

What? I peered around again. They’d been happy enough before, but now heads were bowed together in hushed conversation. Wide eyes. Shaking heads. “Fuck.”

My gaze swept to Opal, who sat eating her breakfast not far away. She was oblivious to the spread of gossip around her. If she didn’t spill the beans, then who did? I checked Winona, and then Ruby. Ruby sat with some friends from Vero, and she was shaking her head, lips pressed tight together. They were asking her for the truth, and she wasn’t giving it. Good.

I looked at Frond’s table. His numbers had diminished further overnight, but one person hadn’t shifted her butt from a chair. Josie. Bedwyr was back there, too, and looking pissed.

I had my culprit. “Josie was nearby when Barrow delivered the letter to me. She must’ve overheard parts of our conversation.” I pursed my lips. And Bedwyr had been waiting outside the advisory chamber when I’d exited the other day. He’d glanced at the letter in my hand. I was pretty sure he didn’t see anything, but I was beginning to suspect Frond had set spies on me.

Sven was sweating. “I’m barely holding this together, Tempest. You need to address the matter now.”

I rested a hand on his arm. “Done.”

I stood, opting not to use the stage still set up at one end of the eating chamber. I needed to appear as one of the coven. To be with them. Because I was. I didn’t want to be set apart and making these choices. I also didn’t want people to die because I wasn’t brave enough to venture beyond what had always been.

We needed help.

“Your attention,” I called.

Conversation was slower to cease today, and I tried not to let that bother me. Eventually, quiet reigned.

“A quick announcement this morning,” I said, sending battle to my voice so it reached everyone. “But one that may come as a shock to some. My advisory team has been hard at work this week, and one of the many things we’ve had to consider is the constant threat of demon attack. As you know, we share a contractual alliance with the original coven. The original coven responded to our call this week by sending a box of novice-level charms to use against the demons.”

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