A Council of Betrayal by Kim Schubert

vampires a run for their money in political
mind-bending tricks. I had no use for them. Garrick, who started
out in the European circuit, also had no use for them.
    “Thank you for attending our meeting. I won’t
dally, but shall instead dive right into the heart of the matter,”
Celino stated regally, fluffing his robe before sitting.
    I stopped listening, turning to watch Garrick
fight a smile as he refused to look at me. Eventually, they got to
the good stuff. I was eagerly awaiting another chance to poke fun
at their antiquated ways.
    “With that said, we have come to an agreement
with the Fae…” I couldn’t hear anything else, the blood draining
from my face as I stared open-mouthed at the idiots in front of me.
The Fae? Seriously? The fucking Fae I had just narrowly escaped
from in that shit with Destiny?
    This was not fucking happening.
    Slowly, I turned to Garrick, seeing my own
horror mirrored on his face. Good to see we were on the same
page.
    Shoving myself up, I bellowed at Ali and
Grant, “Get out of here NOW!”
    “Lock the doors!” called Celino. “They will
hear this proposal!” Their guards moved to obey the command,
blocking the doors against our fleeing party. Garrick tackled one.
They bounced off the thick wood door and onto the ground. I reached
to free my dagger, but released the handle. I couldn’t kill the
European Council’s guards without declaring an open war.
    At least the guard seemed to think the same,
leaving his weapons in favor of hand-to-hand combat.
    “I’m going to beat that smile off your face,”
I hissed, hitting him in the middle. He wrapped his arms around me,
lifting me vertically.
    “Bring it, little girl,” he grunted.
    I kicked my feet, seeking to unbalance his
hold. He stepped forward. “Go!” I screamed upside down at Grant. He
pushed the guard, giving himself room to pull the door open wide
enough for Ali, Grams and him to flee. The guard and I fell and I
braced my hands in front of my face for his mammoth weight. I felt
my nose crack anyway, the air smashed from my lungs.
    Seriously, does he not know who I am?”
    Balancing on my hands, I drew my body up in a
handstand, letting my feet fall behind me. Spinning to face him, I
delivered a kick to his midsection. That smug smile flattened as my
kick drove him back.
    I smiled. “Come on, pretty boy, that the best
you got?”
    He shook his head, taking a step toward me.
“I don’t want to hurt you.”
    I spared a glance to see Garrick having a
difficult time subduing his own guard.
    “What are you?” I asked, honestly
curious.
    His smile returned and I almost felt bad
about having to ruin his handsome face. “Why, pretty lady, are you
trying to distract me?”
    I huffed, rolling my eyes as he lunged,
taking me down around the middle, “Asshole,” I panted out, letting
my body go limp. “You fight well, you’re humane, and you’re fucking
intimidating. I’d like to recruit you to my side.”
    He pulled back, looking down at me, probably
thinking he had won this round. “We are not for sale.”
    I pulled my legs up, hitting him square on
the chest. He moved minimally.
    I huffed, “I didn’t say sale, I said recruit.
You know, offer you more money and benefits than what you are
currently getting.”
    That caught his attention. “You pay your
slaves?”
    That caught me off guard. “I don’t keep
slaves,” I answered.
    A resounding crash had all of us looking back
to Celino.
    “You are fools. The Fae cannot be trusted!”
Garrick yelled, untangling from his own guard to stand next to
me.
    “You are the ones telling us to adapt to the
modern world. Now you do not like the route we have taken. There is
no pleasing either of you!” Celino yelled back at us, throwing his
hands up.
    The floor rumbled beneath our feet. Garrick
and I shared a look before we turned to crash into the door
painfully. It didn’t move. Wouldn’t budge and it wasn’t locked.
    “Magic,” Garrick hissed, stepping back.
    I