Page 40 of Bitter Discord

Mason frowned at her, his mouth working, but no answer came out.

Zuri walked across the room, leaving me standing at the front.

“Would you have bravely faced five enemies of your family alone when you were young and inexperienced? Would you have gone to a different land to save your human family from the largest werewolf pack in the world, then bring the pack down from within? Would you have investigated the brutal murders of two werecats while your brother was missing in the same area? Would you have danced the political lines with humanity with no backup and still preserved the secrecy of others?” Zuri waved Hannah away, who stepped back cautiously. Zuri grabbed Mason, manhandling him like a toddler. She swung around to stand behind him and forced him to look at me.

“Would you be strong enough for a fae king to use in his attempt to regain his throne? Brave enough? Stalwart. Loyal, reliable, and unstoppable?” Zuri growled in his ear. “She is. She has done all of those things, and that’s why the family backs her.”

She flung him to the side, letting him crash into a couch.

“If you have an argument, consider what you would bring to the table instead,” Zuri told the room.

Mason got up quickly and charged her. The scent of magic filled the air, and he met an invisible force that sent him back into a wall. I winced at the impact but was glad to see Heath was right when he told me about the construction of the basement.

Nothing was getting through the concrete walls.

The room was eerily silent.

“Does your family have three witches over the age of four thousand?” Zuri asked softly. “Mikkel’s little band of traitors didn’t.”

No one answered.

Zuri walked back toward me.

“This meeting is over. We’ll reconvene in two hours,” she snapped. She passed me, heading for the door to the staircase.

I followed her out, not wanting to be left in the fallout.

15

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

“Zuri…” I followed her all the way out the back door of the mansion. She kept walking, rubbing her face as we passed the patio furniture and fire pit. “Zuri!”

“I’m sorry,” she said eventually, stopping to turn around and look at me. “His behavior makes me lose my temper. Willfully ignoring the good you’ve done because you’ve done something he doesn’t like. I can’t stand it.”

“It’s fine—”

“It’s notfine! Our father can talk like that, and there is nothing I can do about it, but I willneverallow it from a stranger,” Zuri snarled, pointing at the mansion behind me.

I was left unsure of what to say as she kept walking. I couldn’t dive into the conversation about our father… I wouldn’t. We had so many guests, and I would not reveal any more about the fractures in the family to people I didn’t know. I changed my tactic, deciding to address another problem.

“Zuri, you just outed yourself as a witch by attacking another werecat,” I said, forcing my feet to move to keep following her. “Then you stormed out. Jabari too.”

“I was planning on keeping it for a moment when it proved useful,” she said, waving a dismissive hand over her shoulder. “They gave me one sooner than I thought they would. It was a warning and a lesson. Not only was I telling them I’m a witch, but I was also proving I’m powerful, just like Mother. I might not be nearly as practiced as she is, but I can use sheer force when I need it.” Zuri growled in annoyance.

“I didn’t need to prove my physical strength over him, and it would have left us open to more risk if I decided to fight him traditionally. The magic was useful. There will be some bad attitudes, but they won’t be nearly as quick to jump up and test us again.”

“Are you rationalizing what you did. because it seemed pretty heat of the moment?” I pointed out. “Zuri, please stop walking away from me.”

“I can’t,” she hissed. “I can’t look at you right now, Jacky. Go back inside. Try to smooth out what I just did if you can… No, never mind. I don’t want you alone with them right now. They might attack.” She stopped walking, but she didn’t look at me.

“Zuri, let’s talk for a minute.” I heard a door open, looking back to see if I could find out which. It had to be a door to the backyard, but I didn’t see anyone. We were behind the tennis courts now, and it was out of my sight.

“About?” She finally looked at me. “Not this. Not my magic or our father. I’m not in the mood for those.”

“That’s fine. There are people coming outside. Let’s get me up to speed on something. What does daughter of No One mean?” I asked. “Marnar said it, and it felt important, but I’ve never heard of someone using it.” I had never spoken to Marnar before. She sent an email once, around the same time Coyotl had called me, but she had just said she was glad I didn’t die.

“For good reason,” she said, sighing. “Father might be worried you would try it one day.”

---