Page 121 of The Omega's Bloodline: Part One

Well, at least I knew Yelena was pissed. I would do it again in a heartbeat.

“We should have a ceremony to induct her,” said Velda. “The nest will need to know about her new position.”

“This is absurd.” Shakti hurled a muffin at Logan and I whacked it out of the air. “You can’t just vote in another Protector. This should be unanimous.”

“We’re never unanimous on anything because you and Kendrick get your rocks off being contrarian,” Yelena sniped.

“Well, excuuuse me for offering a different perspective.” Shakti crossed her arms with a huff. “Someone has to with you three up one another’s asses.”

“Having similar opinions doesn’t mean anyone is up anyone else’s ass.”

Velda growled. “It’s temporary anyway. What’s the big deal?”

“The big deal is that we can’t set the fucking precedent of pets becoming Protectors.” Kendrick looked like he was about to have a stroke. “How do we know she didn’t bring the monster here on purpose to leverage herself into this position.”

Logan let out a squeak. “I wouldn’t!”

Haru’s howl rippled through the room, cutting the fight off.Have some dignity. Act like you deserve the positions you have.

If wehaddone anything on purpose to gain control, the Protectors had certainly exposed their fractures that would make it easy to do so. The lines seemed to be drawn pretty deeply in the sand with Shakti and Kendrick on one side, Yelena and Velda on the other, with Calliope set up as the tie breaker. If they allowed Logan to be a Protector, even a temporary one, that power dynamic would shift fully to Yelena and Velda. At best Kendrick and Shakti could hope for a gridlock in the votes. No wonder they were reluctant.

“I don’t even know what all a Protector does,” Logan said tentatively, “but I do want the nest to be safe, and that’s the biggest part of the job, isn’t it?”

“There’s no need to show off your ignorance, witch,” Shakti replied.

“This is exactly why it’s a terrible idea,” Kendrick added. “We put our fortunes and our power into this nest together. Ashifternest, might I fucking add. A witch shouldn’t even be here. If the monster is here because of her, maybe we should toss her out and get rid of the problem.”

I stood up so fast the chair clattered to the floor behind me. “If you even try, I will hunt you down and eat you for breakfast.”

“Yelena, control your pets!”

“For fuck’s sake.”

Calliope banged her mug down on the table like a gavel until everyone fell silent. “Everyone shut up! Stress is bad for the babies and you’re all wigging me out.” She took a deep breath when the room was fully quiet and everyone was still. “Good, now, we’re all going to listen to me, because I’m the one who would be temporarily replaced, and I think I should get final say in that. I’m willing to give the witch a chance and see how thispans out. We all know I could use the help right now. No one can go anywhere with that monster out there and we arenotgoing to sacrifice anyone who came here for a safe haven. Otherwise what’s the fucking point of the nest to begin with? If Yelena will part with Logan, then I’m casting my vote for her to be a temporary Protector until I can resume full duties again, or until they can solve the monster problem and want to leave.”

“Where is she supposed to live?” Kendrick asked. “We only have suites for the five of us.”

“She can continue staying with me,” said Yelena. “Besides, she’ll need to be trained, and Calliope needs to rest. I can handle the training, and Logan will still have time to work on her task of learning her magic and trying to get rid of the monster for us.”

“Logan—” Velda drew everyone’s focus. “—you’ve been pretty quiet through this whole exchange. What are your thoughts?”

“It feels like there’s too many to voice.”

“Let’s work through them one at a time, precious.”

Logan took a deep breath and squeezed her fingers in mine. “Okay, well, for starters, I don’t have any fortune to put behind a nest. I’m taking a leave of absence from work right now for what they think is a family emergency, and if I want to continue getting paid I’ll have to start doing that again sometime soon.”

“Fair point,” said Yelena. “What else?”

“I don’t really have any leadership experience, but I’m definitely willing to learn. Whatever power I know how to use is pretty much at the disposal of the nest, but I’m probably going to need help with research and figuring out the full extent of my magic. I will also need help getting into contact with other witches. I know that they can’t come here, but if I could do a call or a video chat and try to get some more answers… I don’t really know any personally, except for Melinda Kyle, who helped us on the way in, but she’s in Europe now, so I have no idea who toreach out to. Oh, and we need to find Anya, but we don’t know anything about her. I think she’s some sort of witch archivist…”

“So we’re all supposed to drop everything and help you with this?” Kendrick asked.

“What else were you planning to do while we’re on lockdown?” Velda asked.

“I’m really not here to step on anyone’s toes,” said Logan. “We came here because we were desperate to save Seth and didn’t know where else to go. We’re all alive right now because of this nest, and I want to keep everyone here safe. I don’t even need the full authority, just some autonomy. The sooner we can figure all this out, the better for everyone, right?”

“I’ll entertain it if I can train her,” said Kendrick.

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