The Council, A Witch's Memory (19 page)

My father nodded and picked up his phone. While he was busy, I went over to a cabinet housing weaponry and pulled out a pair of silver plated handcuffs, pocketing them. Silver was the one thing that rendered us powerless.

“Hey, you look pissed,” Quinn sauntered into the room.

“You have no idea.” I growled, watching the doorway.

“Your Majesties called?” Fulk slipped in, his step light. He stopped in front of my father’s desk, waiting patiently.

“Henry wanted to speak with you.” My father motioned to me absentmindedly, going back to papers on his desk. He was used to having me around his office, and speaking to the officers. He was about to get a big surprise.

On the off chance the bastard tried to run, I shut the door, keeping my back to Fulk. “I’m going to ask you once Captain, and if you dare lie, I will kill you.”

The room went silent, and as I turned, Fulk shrank back.

“To whom do your loyalties lie?”

Fulk blinked. “I’m sorry?”

“I will not repeat myself,” I said.

“To the Council, Sire. Of course.”

My face flushed with anger and with a glare I sent him sailing into the wall. “The truth!”

Behind me Quinn growled, and I felt Vladislav hovering over my left shoulder.

“I am innocent,” Fulk cried. “This is madness!”

“Liar,” I gripped the front of his coat and slammed him back into the wall.

“You have no proof!” Fulk snapped, crossing his hands over his face to protect himself. “N-nothing incriminating against me.”

I smiled, setting him on his feet, and stepped back. “Yes, you’re right, no physical evidence.”

My father’s anger reverberated in the room, eyes flashing vivid green. “Henry, I am most concerned with this accusation. Fulk has been a dedicated man in my service for two hundred years.”

“You’re right, I’m terribly sorry father.” Removing the handcuffs from my pocket, tossed them onto the floor between Fulk and I. He eyed them hungrily. I smiled. “Tempting, aren’t they?”

“No.” Fulk adjusted his coat and bristled, “I take my leave, Sire.”

“Hang on, just one second.” I stuck my hands in my pockets and rocked back on my heels. Relaxed. Not a care in the world. “This could be a coincidence, but how, exactly, did Cal escape your men? With such severe injuries, it would be impossible for him to overcome our best guards. Getting a little lazy, Fulk? Slipping up?”

“No, I have preformed my duties flawlessly.” He eyed the handcuffs again. In order for the silver to harm me, he’d have to draw blood. But I would kill him before he found a way to attack.

I sighed, feigning boredom. “Right, of course. Nothing gets past you, Fulk. You see and hear everything. I have to tell you it baffled me that Cal actually found Venna. Especially when the only people who know of her location are Council members.”

Fulk shifted closer to the handcuffs. “I was just as shocked.”

I smiled. “Not many witches have blue eyes and red hair. Very unique.”

“I’ve only met one other.”

“So I guess it wasn’t all that hard to figure out Venna’s identity. Someone must have stumbled across her. Hell, it could have happened at the grocery store.”

“Precisely, Sire.” He murmured, now glancing at a gold pocket watch. I knew he was still thinking of a way out. “As much as I would love to continue our conversation, I must return to my post.”

I crossed my arms, blocking him. “Harold Fulk I strip you of all responsibilities regarding my family. You are relieved of your duties to the Council under suspicion of treason, and I hereby place you under arrest.”

Fulk’s face went white. “What, how?”

My father stood beside me. “You’ve confessed to your crime, insolent snake.”

“You said you’ve only met one person who held any resemblance to Venna.” Davy added, slipping behind Fulk. “Charlotte, her mother.”

“But there is more than that. Venna told me her mother died just before she was able to expose you as a traitor.” I felt my eyes blaze with the glow of energy. “You deceived my family and the Council. For that your punishment will be severe.”

“The Resistance will rise! When Craven assumes his place as the sole ruler and opens the demon portal, I will take pleasure in watching every one of you perish!” Face red, vein throbbing in his temple, Fulk finally cracked. “Especially that spoiled little bitch, Venna. Charlotte was just as haughty, and she deserved what she got.”

Davy grabbed Fulk by the scruff of his neck. “Shut up.”

Fulk jerked forward, trying to find enough space to phase. I dove, knocking him to the ground. His fist met my face, snapping my head back. I rolled, leapt to my feet, and sent him flying into the eager hands of Davy and Quinn. They restrained him. My father took the liberty to cuff him personally.

Vladislav folded his hands, a hissing sound escaping from between his fangs. “Harold Fulk, your trial for treason to the Council will be immediate. May God show you mercy, for we will not.”

Davy dragged Fulk from the room, aided by two guards stationed outside the door. I sat in a chair, clenching my fists to keep them from shaking. “We’ve been compromised.”

“This is a grave situation.” Vladislav said, taking the chair next to me. “To have a traitor in the heart of the Council…I am forced to consider who else is working with him.”

“We will not be defeated from the inside.” My father headed for the door, his black robes billowing behind him. He disappeared in a flash of green light after he said, “I think it is time I gave Samuel an ultimatum.”

Vladislav smiled, Quinn nodded.

I followed my father, phasing into the Council prison. We walked down a darkened stone corridor. We were a good forty feet below ground. In Aveyron, France. It wasn’t a well-known place in the magical community. We kept the most dangerous of criminals in a prison, built into a mountain.

At the end of the corridor, we phased through a steel door.

“Your Majesties!” The warlock standing guard bowed.

I nodded. “Hello Mr. Jacobs.”

“We are here to see Samuel.” My father motioned for him to leave.

Jacobs nodded, phasing out in a red light. We crossed the small room to a silver plated cell. It was impossible for Samuel to phase out of it. The silver kept him contained, as did the chains keeping his arms and legs anchored to the wall.

“Good evening, Samuel.” My father did not open the door, and instead spoke through a small barred window.

“Ha, come to mock me again?” lethargy filled his every word. The silver drained his energy from such prolonged exposure. If left too long in such conditions, he would die.

And that was his punishment.

“This mockery you speak of has never existed. What I come to you for is help,” my father said.

“The greatest warlock to have ever live asks for my assistance?” Samuel laughed, rasping for air before continuing, “I am flattered or dreaming.”

“This is not a dream. I have come to ask you, who else has betrayed the Council?”

The rattling of his chains echoed in the cell as he shifted his position. “I take it you’ve found out Fulk, eh?”

I grasped the bars and peered into the cell. “Yes, and he will be joining you soon.”

“
When darkness falls and stillness reins, three great men find only pain. Loss of life, it shall be great. Faith and love bow down to hate.”
Samuel lifted his head, eyes hollow and black. “The Council will fall and Craven…Craven will see to it that you and those you love are slaughtered before your eyes.” He looked at my father, smiling. “And you shall be the last to die.”

This was the ranting of a man riddled with insanity and decay. But the words haunted me. They hit home. Before we were reasonably safe. Venna was a target outside the walls of the compound, though as long as she stayed with me she was safe.

But now my mother, sister, and father…

The Council…

The threat come from inside.

I looked up at my father. “No one is safe.”

Chapter 24

Venna

I went back to my room, headed for bathroom, and set the water in the shower to warm and peeled off my clothes. Now that I was alone numbness began to sink in.

Cal was out there somewhere.

Fulk had been in Henry’s house, and knowing that someone so evil had access to us scared me.

Who else couldn’t be trusted?

I stood under the water until the stream ran cold, wanting Henry to come back. I had no clue where he was, only that he felt betrayed. A current of fury had rushed through him at first. It was very sudden. I could feel how he coiled up inside, ready to spring and attack.

As the minutes passed I’d felt his anger ease up, his temper rein in. Now a deep current of concern ran through him, but he worked at concealing it.

Feeling what someone else felt had to be one of the most amazing things I’d ever experienced. It gave me peace of mind; I knew he was all right without having to see him.

Another detail came to me, the way Captain Fulk addressed me was the same way he addressed Henry.

I’m bound to Henry. So that must mean…I’m a princess.

I put that from my mind for now. It was too much to deal with. I’d think on it later when I had time. All I wanted was for us to be safe, and for the evil to be defeated.

I focused on the soapsuds circling the drain, and the pinkish red coming from the cuts on my feet.

I was thinking about getting out of the shower when I heard the bedroom door open and close.

I froze.

What if Captain Fulk came back?

What if Henry wasn’t able to catch him?

Standing in the shower holding my breath, I was afraid to move. I didn’t know how to fight a warlock without backup.

“Venna?” Henry’s voice floated through the closed door.

I shook my head, embarrassed at my overactive imagination and shut the water off, wrapping up in a towel and poked my head out the bathroom door.

Henry was sitting on the bed. He glanced at his watch and back up at me. “Hey.”

I was too concerned to care that I was in just a towel and went toward him, taking in his rumpled appearance. His shirtsleeve was torn, and his bottom lip was purple, swelled slightly. But a triumphant gleam flickered in his eyes. “Captain Fulk’s trial is in thirty minutes. We need to be leaving.”

“Okay, just let me get dressed.”

His eyes zeroed in on my feet as he stood. “Ugh, not again.”

“They don’t hurt.”

“Really?” he didn’t believe me.

He went into the bathroom, digging around in a drawer, while I went to the closet and pulled on jeans and a shirt. Once changed I sat on the bed. My feet dangled over the side and Henry was kind enough to bandage them up.

“What am I going to do with you?”

“Your guess is as good as mine.” I shrugged, leaning back on my elbows. “I need to say something to you.”

“Shoot.” He stepped back, admiring his handiwork.

“I don’t like how you left this morning.”

“I’m sorry.” He bent over me, sifting his fingers through my damp curls. “Once you’re stronger and Craven is gone, I’ll take you with me every time.”

“Fulk, he’s…he really is connected to Craven?” I watched the pulse throb in his neck. He was vibrating with anger above me.

“Yes.” He ground out, hands fisting in the covers on either side of me. “It didn’t take long for me to get the truth out of him.”

“H-how?”

“I tricked him. He slipped up, and was arrested. That is, after I took a few swings.”

“You fought him?”

“He lied to me, to my parents. It is unforgivable. Knowing that someone so dangerous was near you, near our family—he’s lucky I didn’t do more.”

I shuddered at the menace in his voice. “Could there be anyone else like Fulk? Someone that we don’t know about working for Craven?”

“I certainly hope not. I do know who we can trust without fear of betrayal, and they will be here soon.”

I lifted my head and pressed my lips to his gently. When I pulled back his bottom lip was healed and his mouth formed a smile. “I need a shower. Can you be ready to leave in thirty minutes?”

“Yes, where are we going?”

“Trinity Hall, for the trial. In the closet you’ll find a few dresses Flora ordered for you. Pick one you like and I’ll meet you downstairs.” He headed for the door, but he paused and looked back at me.

“What?” I asked, puzzled by his expression.

“You’re just…it’s hard to explain how it feels to know what you feel.” He crossed back to me and kissed me. “It’s making me crazy.”

“I’m okay,” I laughed. “I promise.”

“That’s not what I’m talking about.” He shook his head and slanted his mouth over mine again. “When this is over, I’m phasing us to the most remote spot on the planet for a week.”

“I can’t wait.” He felt that? He felt me wanting to kiss him? “I mean, as long as it has running water and air conditioning.”