Page 21 of In the Line of Fire
“Thanks,” I grunted before leading Soleil down the hallway. I felt a tremble run through her body as we neared the door. Pausing, I turned to my sister and her mate. “Go on ahead of us. We’ll be right behind you.”
Denica’s green eyes filled with understanding. She patted Soleil’s shoulder as they passed us, murmuring, “It’ll be okay, sis. We’ve got your back.”
Soleil nodded jerkily, pressing her lips together. Once we were alone, I pulled her against my chest and brushed a kiss against the top of her head. “We’re in the home stretch now, beautiful. Pretty soon, this whole mess will be over, and we can barricade ourselves at home for as long as you want. Just the two of us.”
I felt her lips curve into a small smile before she tilted her head back to look up at me. “That sounds amazing. I’d love some time for us to get to know each other without the threat of the dark practitioners hanging over my head.”
“Consider it done.” I cradled her cheeks in my palms and lowered my head to capture her mouth in a quick kiss. “That’ll be the first order of business once we’ve wiped out the entire coven.”
She giggled, wrinkling her nose. “Is it weird that I think you’re extra-super hot when you’re being bloodthirsty?”
“Nope, it just goes to show that you’re perfect for me because I’m out for blood more often than I’d like to admit.” I flung my arm over her shoulder and guided her into the conference room, being sure to pull the door closed behind us.
Five witches and six shifters sat on opposite sides of the long table. My mom, dad, sister, and Trey were leaning against the wall to the left of the door. Carrick and Audra McMahon sat in the middle of the table on the side opposite the door. A few witches and warlocks I recognized, including Rowenna’s son, Warren, stood behind the members of the witch’s council. Five shifters of varying breeds had taken position behind their alphas on the shifter side of the room. The only one of them who seemed completely relaxed was a wolf shifter named Jared. I wasn’t surprised that he wasn’t stressed about the meeting since he was Seth’s beta. His alpha, who was the head of the shifter council, had his unwavering trust no matter how dangerous the situation.
Soleil and I claimed two empty chairs across from Audra and Carrick. After I introduced her to everyone, Seth was the first to speak. “I assume you’ve given each of us a similar explanation when you requested this meeting, but maybe you should start with a quick rundown to make sure we’re all in possession of the same facts.”
“Sure,” I agreed before launching into a description of the events that sent Soleil running for her life over the past three years.
Once I was done, Blake requested, “Describe some of the dark practitioners to us.”
Soleil rattled off the descriptions of the witches and warlocks she’d killed, most likely because their faces were etched in her memory. When she was done, the fire warlock and air witch had a spark of recognition in their eyes. Turning to Rowenna, Blake hissed, “It has to be them.”
Rowenna nodded and agreed, “It can’t be a coincidence. No other coven has so many members matching her descriptions.”
I slammed my fist against the table. “Who does it have to be?”
“That many witches and warlocks with red hair and green or blue eyes sound like the Mac Catháin coven to me,” Blake explained.
“The Keane witches take their Irish roots very seriously, which is why they insist on using the Gaelic equivalent of their surname when talking about their coven,” Rowenna added.
“A bunch of uppity witches who look down their long noses at anyone in the magic community who can’t trace their lineage back to one of the original magic families,” the water witch who served on the council huffed.
“As if that matters.” Blake shook his head and grumbled, “They’re in no position to feel superior to any of our covens. Not when they’ve had more than their fair share of duds in the magic department over the past couple of generations.”
Rowenna’s nose wrinkled in distaste. “All that inbreeding has wreaked havoc on their powers.”
“I’ve heard rumors about missing members of their coven.” Blake stroked his beard. “That lines up with Soleil killing some of them during their confrontations. It’s not as though they can explain away so many deaths in such a short time. Better to say some of the young witches ran off because they didn’t like living under the high priestess’s thumb.”
“We need more confirmation than gossip and innuendo,” the water witch argued.
She made a fair point, but I was impatient to put this all behind us. “Soleil’s life is at stake. If we waste too much time, they may find her again.”
The earth magic warlock’s eyes narrowed. “You never explained why the dark practitioners have been so relentless in their pursuit of your mate.”
This was the tricky part. I needed to keep the witches on the council on our side for the upcoming battle, but I couldn’t risk telling them knowing enough to guess Soleil’s secret. “They believe that she has something which will strengthen their magic.”
“And does she?” the water witch asked.
“Soleil doesn’t own any magical objects.” Sincerity rang from my tone because my answer was technically true. She didn’t own her feathers; they were an intrinsic part of her body.
Audra threw her support our way by pointing out, “It would be just like the Keane high priestess to jump to a wrong conclusion and refuse to back down regardless of proof of her mistake. Especially if she believes she’s found a way to make herself more powerful. She still resents that she wasn’t offered the water magic seat on the Council of Four.”
“And I’m sure that from her perspective, we added insult to injury when we added a seat for dragon magic and invited Damien to join us,” Blake added.
“How difficult will it be to find the Mac Catháin coven?” I asked, hell-bent on learning their location before we left this room.
Rowenna rolled her eyes. “Easier than it should be since the Mac Catháin high priestess insists that everyone live within the walls of their family compound.”
I was filled with a predatory anticipation, sensing it wouldn’t be long before I was hunting my prey. “Where is it located?”
Blake gestured toward the wall opposite where I was sitting, and a fiery map of the United States appeared. Instead of an X marking the spot, a circle of flames pinpointed the location.
Carrick turned in his seat and growled, “Only two fucking towns over from Bear Creek.”
Audra patted his shoulder, her lips curved into a sinister smile. “At least we’ll have a secure base of operations to launch our attack from.”
