Page 62 of Magic Forsaken

Marilee nodded confirmation. “Whether you trust him or not, he’s managed to gain enough support among the varying factions. Everyone feels he has the best chance of ensuring that our disparate needs are not forgotten.”

The wildkin court, I’d learned, was made up of eight separate races, all of them smaller in number and therefore less influential than the fae, elementals, or shapeshifters. For political purposes, they’d banded together under the leadershipof Leith, a siren who many said had come by his position through unsavory uses of his power.

Callum made a dismissive sound. “That’s true enough. But if he tries anything at the Symposium, I’ll have him thrown out.”

Marilee raised an eyebrow at him. “Bold words. You know Faris won’t tolerate any anti-siren prejudice.”

“I’m not anti-siren,” Callum corrected her with a frown. “I’m anti anyone who uses their power to deliberately manipulate or control others.”

I’d only learned about sirens in the past few days, and only thanks to some clandestine searches after Leith had come up during conversation. What I’d learned had provided more questions than answers, along with a healthy dose of trepidation.

Apparently, they were able to manipulate others with their voices. Convince people to do things. Get answers to questions without the other person realizing they’d revealed secrets, that sort of thing. It was believed—by online sources at least—that most sirens would never use their power in that way. They were said to have strict principles that only permitted them to use their magic in self defense. But despite this, many older Idrians maintained a deep-seated prejudice against them.

Personally, for numerous reasons of my own, I was anxious to meet this Leith.

“Who’s your new friend?” One of the two ladies flanking Marilee—a curvy, middle-aged woman with dark hair and suspicious dark eyes—had been looking me up and down since the moment she entered the lounge. “Don’t tell me you’ve gone and hired a human?”

“This is Raine,” Callum said flatly. “She is a part of my staff, and will be serving as one of my assistants during the Symposium.”

The woman seemed considerably taken aback by that chilly reception, but none of the three newcomers were as smooth as Rath at hiding their reactions.

They weredyingof curiosity.

“A new assistant?” Marilee glanced at me, then back at Callum. “But she’s not a shapeshifter. Why would you hire someone outside your own court?”

“Raine has specific abilities that I require,” Callum returned evenly. “Her affiliation and why I hired her are not anyone else’s concern.”

And with that, every particle of their attention honed in on me like sharks scenting blood in the water.

“You’re expecting something to happen,” Marilee said softly. “So you’ve pulled in extra security.” There was no judgment in her tone, only speculation.

“I did not say that.” Callum’s expression was as bland as his choice of words. “And I’ve already made it clear that there will be no violence permitted at this gathering.”

I saw the naiad’s eyes narrow, then caught the edge of a smirk from Rath.

Speaking of delegates and violence… That was the moment Talia chose to stride into the lounge like nearly seven feet of thundercloud in human form. Seriously, was every single attendee staying at this one hotel?

Talia, at least, pointedly ignored us, choosing to seat herself by the window and gesture to the bartender like the queen she was. A pair of dark-suited flunkies followed her, and from the looks they gave me as they passed, their queen had not been entirely reticent on the matter of our last meeting.

I had no doubt that if they managed to corner me in a dark alley someday, vengeance for their queen’s humiliation would be at the forefront of their minds.

Unfortunately, their pointed stares drew attention from both Rath and Marilee.

“Had a run-in with Talia, have you?” the fae prince murmured conversationally to Callum. “Please tell me you’re willing to gossip about it. I’ll be so much less bored if there is tea to be shared.”

“That matter is between Raine and Talia,” Callum informed him, appearing sublimely unconcerned. “I don’t believe there will be any need to revisit it during the Symposium, but if the matter does arise, you can be sure it will be dealt with in the same manner as before.”

On the outside, I somehow maintained a bland facade, but on the inside, I was growing increasingly annoyed by his behavior. I’d thought the point was for me to fly under the radar, but he couldn’t be making me sound more sinister if he tried.

It was another half hour before Callum finished making nice and greeting the various persons to enter the lounge. It appeared the Skirvin was indeed the hotel of choice for the majority of delegates, and all of them seemed aware that we were in attendance. Leith never did make an appearance, but he was one of only a small handful of delegates to miss the unofficial meet and greet.

We were back in the SUV, pulling away from the curb before I finally turned to Callum and unleashed the past hour’s worth of frustration and dismay. Thankfully, the privacy screen was closed, so the driver was unlikely to overhear my blatant insubordination.

“Exactly what did you think you were doing back there?” I demanded. “Are you trying to get me dead?”

Callum’s expression didn’t so much as twitch. “I don’t know what you mean.”

“You pretend to be blunt and bad at politics. You’ve got them all believing that you’re nothing but roar first and ask questionslater. But you spent the entire past hour ensuring that every single delegation will be focused more on me than on you. First by not responding to the allegation that I’m human, and second by refusing to identify me or the reasons for my hiring. Now they all think I’m mysterious and dangerous and are wondering what a dragon needs with an unidentified assassin!”

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