Page 68 of The Powerless Witch

“Three o’clock,” Peter whispered, and I turned my gaze in the direction he had indicated. At first, I saw nothing, just the bank of the river, but then the flutter of wings made me look up. With the clouds covering the sky, it was hard to make out the form before it descended, but by the time it reached the ground and shifted, I had counted four more.

“They are coming,” Allison gasped and the surprise in her voice stung a little, but when I glanced at her, she beamed. “They came for you.”

I didn’t bother with an answer because my attention moved to another figure that strode through the docks as if he owned them. Tall and red-haired, the man wore a long winter coat and shiny boots that made the concrete groan as if his weight was too much to bear. The wind picked on his flaming hair while he whistled on his way to us.

I released a calming breath, turning to face him first. He had been the most important among those I called, and I was sure many would have declined my invitation if he had rejected it. But he didn’t and as he neared us, all alone, he looked like he always did—as if headed to a party and not a meeting between the remaining representatives of the fractured supernatural community of this city.

“Gideon.” I nodded in greeting and he finally locked his eyes on me. His whistling ceased, and a smile blossomed on his lips. Not quite friendly, but not on the level of Roman’s smirks, either.

“Isaac, my man! It’s been a while!” He stopped and offered a hand, squeezing mine with a strength that almost made me groan. “You couldn’t pick some nice place where they offered drinks?” His eyes darted behind me and his mouth grew a little tighter. “And selective company?”

“We didn’t have that many options,” I replied before turning to see what he was staring at. The others had finally joined us—the seven from the mer shifters with a black-haired man in the lead. Their torsos and legs were entirely bare, but each of them wore a loincloth that seemed to be made of reed, algae, and some other kind of plant that was brown and held it all together. The women didn’t bother covering their breasts, so I tried not to stare.

The bird shifters stood a few steps away, bristling in the cold. Members of the smaller communities gathered closer, nodding their greetings as if they knew each other. I made sure to meet everyone’s eyes while I tried and failed to recall most of their names. The truth was, outside of the members of the old Council, I didn’t knowthat many of them. I never needed to since I didn’t care about them as long as they didn’t threaten my pack.

I pushed down the guilt, praying that my stupidity wouldn’t ruin this chance for us.

“Is this everyone?” Allison asked while she studied the large group that had surrounded us.

“I saw a group of vampires lurking in the back. Has Roman not arrived yet?” Gideon asked, looking over his shoulder in the direction he had come from.

I gritted my teeth. The damn bastard had refused to come, saying he had more important things to attend to. Like what? The witches were planning to kick all of us out of our city and he was just…too busy? I was really trying not to hate him, but he was making it so damn hard.

“He is not coming,” I replied, and Gideon raised an eyebrow.

“Malakai?”

“Unavailable.” I gritted my teeth, and when his eyes darkened, I added. “His sister’s wedding.”

“Ah.” I held back a sigh of relief as his expressions relaxed. “Well, let’s get this Council started then.” He glanced behind me, barely trying to hold in his displeasure. He never made it a secret that he hated all water creatures. Being a fire dragon and all, he claimed it was only natural, but I suspected there was a bigger reason. I didn’t care either way, as long as he didn’t eat them. “One second.” He turned toward the dark docks and shouted. “Don’t make me come drag your asses out here.”

No reply came to his words, but I kept my eyes on the shadows until I noticed a movement. A man stepped out and for a moment I thought it might be Roman, seeing how he was dressed in a suit and wearing a long overcoat like he was going to a charity function, but that’s where the similarities ended.

Gideon snorted as he turned back to me while Oscar and two others drew closer.

“Well, you got us here. Now what?” Gideon asked, glancing around the tense circle. “Do you have a speech ready?”

I bristled at his mocking tone but made sure not to show any of it when I turned around. Every set of eyes was locked on me, but it wasn’t the warm, tight feeling I got when my pack surrounded me. This was tense and dangerous and deadly. Half of these people could kill a werewolf with ease and the other half…they could be spies, ready to run to the witches with information in the hope of saving their hides. But I had no choice.

If we didn’t push back, all together, then it would be over. Spell or no spell, the witches would have us under their thumb forever, and Celeste…they would never let her live.

“No, I do not have a speech,” I said, meeting each gaze. “I do not have an offer or a special favor to give you. I’m not your leader or your superior who will tell you I will make it all better.” My eyes lingered on a cat shifter perched on top of a tower of crates, and she narrowed her eyes. “What I do have is a family. Friends. A home. Just like you. And the witches are threatening to take all of those things from me. Does that sound familiar?”

A few people murmured under their breaths, their expressions straining.

“Where will you go if they force you out of the river?” I asked the mer shifters, who straightened in response. “Where would you rebuild your nests that you spent so much time making?” I turned to the bird shifters, and they bristled, one of the women clicking with her teeth almost as if she had forgotten she no longer had a beak. “Everything I own and love is here, and I’m not ready to just give it up and run. I’m not ready to surrender. So I brought you here tonight to ask—would you bow down to the witches and run with a tail between your legs? Or would you stand your ground and fight beside me? Because I’m not going down without a fight.”

There was no answer for a few seconds—just exchanged looks, hand signs, and the tension growing. I looked at Gideon, at his easy smile and relaxed posture. They were probably waiting for him, but he could swing either way. His lair was outside of the city, but his business, his clients, his empire’s heart, was right in the center of witch territory.

He turned those piercing eyes to me, the edges of his lips curling up.

“Is Regina going to be there?” he asked in a tone I hadn’t heard before.

“She is right in the center of it all.” I nodded.

Gideon’s smile turned colder than the wind that picked up, sending shivers down my spine.

“Good. I’m so tired of smiling at her annoying face just so she wouldn’t cause problems for me. Once we take them down, her territory is mine.”

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