Storm by Danielle Ellison Page A

dad’s office, unscheduled and uninvited. Both things that he hates. “We need to talk.”
    Believe you are the most determined presence in the room and others will accept it. You are a Prescott, after all.
    Kenneth Slade and Sacra Lenore, two members of the council, both look in my direction. Their expressions say it all: how dare I burst in and demand time with the Triad leader? Kenneth raises an eyebrow at me. I don’t give a damn about procedure. Not right now. Not while Pen is in trouble.
    “Now,” I add. I use my best Prescott tone. See Dad? I have been paying attention for almost eighteen years.
    Victor Prescott crosses his arms, but doesn’t even blink. His suit crinkles around his shoulders as he waves a hand in the air toward Kenneth and Sacra. Only that movement and they’re already on their feet. Dad presses his lips into a tight line. “We’ll resume this later.”
    As soon as the door closes behind them, I look at my dad and cross my arms to mimic his stance. “Stop this.”
    He leans back in his chair with a sigh. I hate when he is condescending. “Sit down, son.”
    I shake my head. “I’m not sitting down. Whatever’s happening to Penelope—stop.” I’m past the point of saying please. We’re both aware of what I’m doing here. “She hasn’t done anything to deserve any of this.”
    Dad raises an eyebrow, leaning back in his seat. The chair squeaks. “She cheated on her exams.”
    “You reported us?”
    He holds his hands up. “I did not, but I should thank whoever did.”
    I slam my hands on his desk, and give him the finger in my head. He doesn’t even flinch. “She didn’t cheat.”
    “You gave her magic, William, and that’s cheating. Even indirectly. She’s told lie after lie. As have you.”
    “This isn’t fair.”
    Victor Prescott straightens in his chair. I said the wrong word, and I can tell from the look on his face. ‘Fair’ isn’t a word in our language. “You’ve spent most of your life ignoring my advice and instructions, but expecting fairness? That is not what I raised you to be.”
    I won’t be anything he raised me to be. Always on alert, ready for action, stern but open, better. I won’t pretend my way through life, or smile and agree. I want to live my own way and to be as far away from him as possible.
    “Aren’t you going to sit?” he asks.
    I ignore him. “Let her go, Dad. She’s not a threat to anything.”
    “Normally, I would agree—but now I have a mess. How do we explain today? What she did, that doesn’t happen with normal witches.” Witches pull the magic from the elements, we exist and use magic from nature. “That light? It’s only seen when a witch is undergoing a transformation into a demon. When they’ve killed another witch and given up this side for evil. It’s a sign of betrayal.” Dad says. I bite my tongue, press down until I taste the iron. Dad notices, even if he doesn’t acknowledge it. “There’s only so much I can do,” he adds.
    I have to keep my cool, even though I feel it slipping away each moment I’m here and she’s there. They can’t think Penelope betrayed our kind. She’d never kill another witch or choose evil. That’s not Penelope. “You can ignore it. You’re the leader of the Triad.”
    “Ellore and the rest of the Triad saw the test, son. You said she had access to the void, but that?”
    I lower myself into the seat. I shouldn’t have told my dad anything about who Pen was. But I had to after De’Intero. If he hadn’t been on our side, no one on the Triad would’ve had more questions about why we missed testing and what happed in De’Intero. Questions that we wouldn’t have been able to answer. We would’ve been found out immediately and never become Enforcers. I had to protect her, protect myself, and telling my dad was the only way to do that.
    I sigh and look at my dad. Fine. “Containment? She hasn’t done anything.”
    “She came between us.”
    I lean up toward my dad’s