Page 38 of Seduced
I locate Mrs. Hobb at the very center of the crowd.
“Yes, she’s doing better. Still not at full strength, but she’s out of immediate danger for now.”
“Oh, thank the gods,” the old lady exclaims. “I was so worried—and after she helped me!”
“She’ll be all right,” I say, even though I’m not entirely convinced myself. “It’s about her that I want to talk to you today.”
I find a spot in the middle of the group and focus on it so I don’t have to see anyone’s reaction to my words. As succinctly as possible, I outline my reasons for the decision to bring a witch into our community, starting with how I found Skye on the internet. The people listen silently, and I’m grateful to them. I explain how Skye discovered our secret—I want to leave out the part where Jack shifted in front of her to spare him the attention and disapproval of our neighbors.
But he stands up right next to me. “I told Skye about us. I needed her to know,” he says. “And she was pretty damn good about the fact that I sometimes have a tail.”
Several people chuckle at that, and the mood lightens. Casting Jack a grateful glance, I move on to how Skye’s identity was compromised by one of our own, and how she helped Maya recover after that unfortunate confrontation. At last, I tell my clan about the worst part of all: the witch coven that’s set against her.
“This is why I would like to ask you to remain as your human selves until this threat is dealt with,” I conclude. “Even if the vote decides that you don’t want me as your leader anymore, I want to make sure our secret is protected. We have no reason to believe that the witches are aware of our true nature, and we want to keep it that way. As long as they believe us to be human, we’re in far less danger from them. It’s Skye they’re after.”
A ringing silence falls on the clearing in front of the Lodge. This is the moment of truth. Every adult will have to decide whether or not they still trust me enough to keep me on as the representative of their clan.
I turn to Jack. “Will you lead the vote?”
He gives me a grim nod, then steps forward onto the porch steps. “Is there anyone who would like to run against Aiden Andrews as clan leader?” he asks.
There’s no answer. Jack waits for several seconds, but no one steps forward. This is a formality: when I first called the meeting several days ago, I included a call to anyone who wished to step up. We’d received no applications, and we get none now.
“Thank you,” Jack says. “Now: Aiden needs a majority of votes to remain in his function. Raise hands as I call out the options. All in favor of Aiden Andrews?”
Hands shoot up left and right. Some villagers raise them immediately, while others are slower, but the overwhelming majority of the clan votes to let me stay on. I thought this would bring me relief—and it does, in some measure—but there’s also the sense of grief and responsibility that tighten in my chest.
“Put your hand down, Ryan, you’re not old enough to vote,” Jack calls grinning.
A sixteen-year-old dragonling with long red hair shrugs and shoves his hands in his pockets. I’m grateful for the vote, his and everyone else’s, as well as for the bit of levity it brings to the situation.
Jack grows serious again. “Would anyone like to vote against Aiden?”
A hand goes up at the back of the crowd: it’s Dean Rowe. The man never liked me much, so this isn’t a surprise. He was also in the crowd standing behind Devlin Ward on the night Maya got injured. An instant later, his wife Mary, who always seemed so timid, grabs his arm and roughly shoves it down. She hisses something to him in an undertone, but I’m too far to hear their whispered argument.
“All those who would like to abstain from voting?” Jack asks the last question of the vote.
Now, several hands go up, which is what I expected. Well, actually, I expected to be booted right out of the Lodge, so this is amazing. The people who are abstaining from voting will need more proof that I’m the right man to lead the village.
I don’t know that I am—I’ve made far too many mistakes—but I’ll do my best to change that.
Jack claps me on the shoulder. “Good job, man.”
Blowing out a long breath, I stand up straight and face my people. “Thank you. You don’t know what this means to me.” I grip the cold porch railing and add, “We’ll keep you updated on the situation with the witches. A new fishing boat is being prepared for us in Anchorage, so we’ll have to meet and discuss the captain position sometime soon. I want you all to know that we’re doing everything we can to keep the village safe and prosperous. That’s all for today.”
Someone claps, and a few people join in. The rest of the crowd disperses slowly, talking amongst themselves. It’s not a resounding win, but it’s the best outcome that we could have hoped for. While I know that most of the villagers voted for me because I was the only viable candidate, I’m also determined to show them that we—Ty, Jack, Skye, and I—are a good team.
I just need to figure out how.
Sixteen
Skye
I wakeup in the middle of the night, groggy and overheated. For a disoriented moment, I think the fever has returned, but I realize quickly that it’s just Aiden and Jack, wrapped around me on both sides. The men have watched over me without a break over the past couple of days, and they’re probably all exhausted.
Jack woke me up for long enough earlier to tell me that Aiden was voted in as the clan leader again. This means he doesn’t have to leave the Lodge, and neither do we. It’s a huge relief, and I want nothing more than to celebrate with them, but it’ll have to wait.
I creep off to the bathroom, then return to find the guys still asleep. Ty is nowhere to be found, but I don’t want to disturb any of them right now. As quietly as I can, I put on my clothes, even though I really need a shower, and grab my laptop. Then I head to the main room of the Lodge, where I sit on the couch with Princess Penny at my feet and my computer balanced in my lap. Taking off my bracelets, I sink into that perfect meditative state where my tech magic comes out to play.
