Page 49 of Dante's Circle Reborn

Caly’s eyes widened. “Oh, my goddess. How did I forget?”

She ran her hands through her curls and shook out her hair, knowing it was futile to want it to dry since she was going to have to head back into the water now. “How late am I?”

“Well, probably about ten minutes by now. They likely haven’t even started yet if the elders are just bumbling on about the good old days of the Conclave where they didn’t have to worry about the lower species.”

He wasn’t wrong about that. “Crap crap crap. Okay, I’m going to have to use a portal to get there. I don’t have time to swim to a main one on land that’ll use less magic.”

“I’m on it. You know you’re going to have to be in mermaid form when you’re there.”

Caly rolled her eyes. “I know. Everything has to be tradition. Even though Dante doesn’t have to show up as a dragon. And none of the shifters are in animal form.”

“No, but the first mermaids showed up in mer-form during the original Conclave. Therefore, you have to at least start the meeting in your nice little pool on your pedestal.

“I hate it. I literally feel like a fish in an aquarium.”

“Well, you are, Calypso.”

She stuck out her tongue and then pulled a ruffled shirt on over her swimsuit top. She didn’t like the way some of the older Conclave members stared at her boobs when she was in her mermaid form. Just because she liked her curves and the way she looked, didn’t mean she needed to be oversexualized by old dudes who would never touch her.

“Amara says we will have dinner for you when you get back with Tristan.”

“She’s doing the cooking, right?” she asked and went up on her toes to kiss her brother.

“You know it. You’re bringing a bag with all your work?”

She nodded. “Yep, and it’s waterproof. And I also have a pair of pants so I don’t have to stay in my mermaid form the whole time.

“You just hate the way they stare.”

“True. I love both forms, I don’t like others.”

“The family motto,” Seth said, rolling his eyes.

She punched him in the arm and kissed where she’d hit him, and then went to the portal that Seth had opened for her. She hadn’t changed out of her towel yet, so she sat down at the edge of the portal that she would dive into, changed back into her mer-form, and then undid the towel.

“Good luck,” Seth said.

“I guess I’ll need it.”

And then she dove. Magic swirled all around her, and she shimmered, her body shaking. She hated traveling by portal. She would’ve preferred to go to one of the other sanctioned areas where she didn’t have to touch so much magic and have to travel in her mer-form, but she was late because she had forgotten the darn meeting. All for a Conclave she’d once loved being a part of.

The Conclave was older than most of the realms themselves. Each of the realms had their own governing body, their own knights and kings and queens or Pack leaders and Alphas. It depended on the realm and the type of shifter or magical being they were and how they lived. After centuries and millennia of wars and strife and loss, a Conclave had been created.

It was her job to fine-tune the history and the lineage of those within the Conclave, and those of importance to the governing body. So, she knew more history about it than most. However, she wasn’t allowed to speak about the majority of it.

Two members of each of the realms met for the Conclave so they could discuss any important business. Namely if there was a war going on or like, at one point, if the seven lightning-struck women—one of which her brother had married—needed to be wiped from the face of the Earth or not.

She had been against that, and had, in fact, wanted to ensure that they stayed safe. Not just because of Seth, because at first, she hadn’t even known her brother would be mated to one. No, because it hadn’t been their fault that the gods had decided that they needed to change the way the face of the Earth lay.

Since her tenure as a Conclave member, she had dealt with countless wars, ridiculous infighting, and even the sanctions of a new realm. It was a realm of shaded magic that wasn’t actually as dark and evil as their name might suggest. She didn’t know much about them, but she was learning. Just like she was learning about all the realms. Including the brownies, dragons, bears, and all the others.

It was an exhausting job, but she loved it. Most days.

She found herself in her glass bowl on her pedestal after she slid through the end of the portal. She sucked in some air, trying to be as discreet as possible, but a low chuckle sounded from beside her.

She narrowed her eyes at Reynard, her second, who just shook his head. “Knew you’d forget,” he muttered.

She flipped him off. She wasn’t a huge fan. She used to have another merman next to her, but he had retired a few years ago. Now, she was stuck with Reynard. The merman who liked her boobs, and that was about it.

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