2

When she knocked on his door, GAGE looked up from what he was doing. This was Meriel's favourite spot in the workplace. Nell oversaw the clan's police and investigation operations from a back room that was rarely visited and was located in a remote part of the complex. They had a pinball machine at the establishment. Hello.

Gage was sitting at his desk, his boots propped up on the surface, and he held the phone up to his ear while he looked over whatever he had in his hands. She gave him a wave when he looked up and was about to leave, but he motioned for her to come back in and seat down while they waited.

"I'm afraid I can't stay. No. Nell, if I even have the slightest suspicion that you will be in town before Sunday, I will smack you upside the head. And I'll inform Meriel." He smiled up at her during the break, which indicated that he was taking in a lot of information. “Bye.” He hung up, chuckling.

"There is no way that she will be returning so soon. William must be more appealing to her than anything else she could discover in this place. William in swim trunks. Yum!”

He showed a slight smirk. "I had to give her a call regarding the situation in New Mexico. Do I correctly assume that your mum conversed with you?\s" You've got it, that's exactly why I'm here. You are aware that it might have waited until Monday to be dealt with. Nell is only going to become more preoccupied with it now.\s" I know. But, she insisted that I give her a call if anything out of the ordinary transpired. In regard to the inquiry being conducted at this club, I was able to find a way around it. That is not something new." Meriel let out a joyful laugh as she saw him shrug.

"I adore the way the two of you interact with one another. You keep her in line."

"

William informed me that marrying Nell was similar to gaining me as well. But, he later admitted that he was relieved about it since he knew it would take more than one person to keep her in line. He stated that as long as I did not have any plans for the components that he like to have in order, we would be fine.

Meriel had never stopped to consider the possibility that Gage and Nell weren't romantically involved. She thought it was one of those fantastic partnerships that had nothing to do with romance at all. Even though they teased each other, there was not the slightest bit of sexual tension between them.\s"He's a very astute individual." She held the file in her hand. "Now, tell me about New Mexico. What do you know about it?"

"I had a conversation with the individual who phoned your mother. Because they lack a clan organisation, there is virtually little law enforcement among them. There is not an investigating team. They have decided not to bring in any further staff members. Before continuing, he said, in response to her perplexed expression, "I did offer." "Witches are going missing. They are not aware of any genuine relationship. But, there is far too much that they do not know for me to be truly at ease with the current circumstances.\s" We have to make sure that we are keeping a close check on each and every one of them. Even those on the outside " This would make her mother quite irate, but the fact that those witches did not wish to become members of the clan was not sufficient reason for the clan to simply abandon them without providing any form of protection. They opted to utilise that font. They were respectful of the clan's regulations. They deserved some benefit.

"Yes, I concur. You are aware that we already have things organised. Nonetheless, I believe that it is possible to increase it. I will consult with section five to determine whether or not we are able to monitor through the typeface. You should check to see who is taking and filling the orders. Try to find the holes."

The font served as the clan's central repository for all of their accumulated power. If not on a daily basis, then at least several times a week, the magical energy of all the witches who were a part of it was brought into it so that it might benefit from it. It was possible to identify an absence; nevertheless, she was unaware of how challenging it would be to do so.

“Good. That's a smart way to look at it. They will let you know whether or not it is possible to complete the task. Please keep me up to date. I'm the go-to person for this, as you may have heard.

The furrows on Gage's brow began to deepen.

"I know, and you've had me fooled too." She had no way of proving that she was stunned by the fact that her mother had given up the power. Her mother had a knack for picking up on a lot of different nuances. Meriel would also end up with a reality check that would smack the idea of working with other witches and protecting against external threats by banding together right out of her head. It is likely that her mother thought this was all bullshit, so it was fine to give it to Meriel. Meriel would also end up with a reality check that would smack the idea of working with other witches and protecting against external threats by banding together.

Ha. Edwina had no idea. None. Which bothered Meriel to no end. For the love of God, she was Edwina's child—smart and resolute, just like her mother, and god help us all. Meriel's mother could pretend that her daughter was ignorant or that she didn't know any better, but Meriel and her mother both knew that this was not the case. The future did not contain a continuation of the practise of self-segregation.

"This is a question based entirely on speculation. Do you believe there could possibly be a connection between this and the situation in Minnesota? Which ones are the mages?"

A witch had been found in a critical condition and had related a frightening story of being abducted by a group of mages who had spent days draining her power. The mages had nearly killed her during the ordeal. She had only been able to flee once she had regained enough of her magical strength to remove the air from the chamber and the mages had become unconscious as a result of her actions, which allowed her to escape. Before someone found her and transported her to the hospital, she had to crawl for about a mile. When the cops arrived at the house, everyone had already left by the time they got there.

The authorities of human society were on the hunt for monstrous humans. Human creatures have the potential to be vanquished. Yet, mages were not human, and unlike witches, they did not follow a set of moral guidelines. They did not steal power; rather, they stole magick in order to pervert it and exploit it as a drug.

And what if they had chosen to go on a witch hunt in order to obtain that drug?

The sun had already set by the time she had finished getting ready for the day to end. She had intended to go a little bit earlier, but those plans, of course, didn't work out. As things stood, she could still make a visit at the quaint small shop that was located just across the street from where she lived in a flat building. She desired a novel experience for that particular evening. The goal was to locate an outfit that would be appropriate for wearing in clubs.

As soon as she emerged from the lavatory, she heard a buzzing coming from her phone, so she hurried to get it. It was Gage's mother, Shelley, who had called from their home, where he was at the time enduring the throes of food poisoning. Gage's condition was currently critical. She had reassured Meriel that Gage would be okay by the morning, but there was no way that he would be going out with her that evening. There was just no way.

After he had tried to order her to wait until the next night, but she had refused, vowing to be safe and checking in the following day before urging him to get better and hanging up, Meriel had almost felt sorry for him as he had attempted to compel her to wait until the following night.

When she was putting her earrings back in her ears, she reflected on the fact that she had already decided to go. It wasn't only a case of their font being taken without their permission. It had been bigger.

That evening, you should not wear sandals with spiked heels. It was essential that she be nimble and able to cover ground rapidly. Hence, she chose to wear her cowboy boots. Happily, they were a good match for the clothing that she had purchased.

The length of the skirt was just a tad bit shorter than what she would often choose, but it wasn't so short that any of her private parts would be exposed. In addition, the shirt fit well and had a little bit of elasticity to it; the sequins that were accenting it in various places caught the light. Feminine. Sexy. And all of that brought out the best in her while hiding the worst in her.

In the garage, she took a look at the things that she had acquired two days earlier. Nell's automobile. The stunning cherry-red vintage Camaro that belonged to Nell in 1967. All glistening and potent in its might.

But this, well, this was part of the whole night. Her own automobile was fine and all, but this was part of the night. Unanticipated, just like the short skirt and the task that she had to complete. It was ridiculous, yet I couldn't help but become excited about it.

She made her way across the lake into Seattle, and the entire while, she had the impression that there was a reason why she was almost compelled to do it. Although though Meriel was an extremely analytical and logical person, she was a firm believer in going with her gut instincts. Her stomach was the home of her magick, and tonight, it demanded that she be at that club.

There was no basis for anticipating a violent reaction from Bright at any point. When he'd arrived in Owen territory, he'd maintained a peaceful demeanour despite his status as a thief. Naturally, he was forced to give up doing that. And the possibility of doing something so unexpected, like acting on behalf of her clan with this witch to make him stop, well, that was something that intrigued her.

It is possible to put it off until the following evening, or even the following week, if that is more convenient. During the course of the previous year, restlessness had worked its way into her bones. Prior to that, she had pretty much devoted all of her attention to her studies as well as her job.

Ambition came to her instinctively. Her foremothers had formed Clan Owen from nothing and turned it into one of the most powerful organisations in the world. Meriel accepted that the blood of these women ran in her veins for a reason and that she was supposed to use every gift she’d been given to protect and serve her people.

From infancy there had been one path and she greeted that with joy and a sense of duty. But things were changing. The older and more experienced she got, the more the witches in Clan Owen expected her to lead and many had begun to look to her first, before Edwina, and that had created a rift. Most though weren’t sure she could be as brutal and ruthless as Edwina. So she’d have to show them. But in her own way.

For the first time in her life it was hard to wait for what was next. She wanted to go out and greet it. Wanted to make things happen. Wanted to see what this heady sense of expectancy was all about.

She supposed at this point in a full-council witch’s life, it was about finding her bond-mate to finally ascend to her full power. She was in limbo until that happened. Until a full-council witch performed the ascension spell with her bond-mate, she wouldn’t achieve her full power and take her seat on the ruling council of the clan.

It wasn’t so much that Meriel was aching to find her bond-mate. It was more than the magickal ascension, though she did want that very much, it was a lack of soul-connection. It had only gotten worse once she’d seen Nell with her new husband, had seen love in her best friend’s eyes.

Things were about to change. She could feel it.

DOMINIC tucked his shirt into his jeans and gave himself one last look in the mirror on the back of his office door. He had a to-do list as long as his arm and the sense of impending something lay heavily in his gut.

He hated that. He didn’t want this special-sense thing. He liked his gifts well enough, but it was just fine with him to be an ordinary guy with a little bit of magick. He didn’t want foresight. Tom, the closest thing Dominic had to a father and the man who deserved the credit as one, got on his case for being a slacker and not living up to his full potential. That’s what fathers did, Dominic knew. But he had a successful bar, didn’t he? Was he not giving a place to go to both others and humans alike? It wasn’t like he was still living on the edge the way he had those years before. No probation officer. He was a businessman now. No more running from bill collectors. Hell, he even had employees. As far as Dominic was concerned, he was a useful member of society and Tom should be satisfied with that.

It wasn’t so much that he never used his magick. Just that he used it the way he wanted to. This whole clan business, having to be a member and obey rules, none of that was his scene. He didn’t need to be told what to do. Not by anyone.

After finally growing tired of the violence and hand-to-mouth nature of the lifestyle he’d lived for the early part of his twenties, he’d landed in New York City where he’d learned how to run a business. When he’d saved for a few years, he’d come back home to the Northwest.

He’d made something of all that energy and ambition. He took an empty space and with some magick, okay some borrowed energy too, had created Heart of Darkness. At first glance it was an industrial nightclub but through an arch, hidden to non-magickal eyes, was the spot for Others in Seattle. Part cafe, part bar.

The place was packed every night and as Simon pointed out just that day over lunch, they were bound to get a visit from some clan witches very soon. There was no way word of the place hadn’t reached them and there’d be a bill come due from using their precious font. Even an outclan witch like him knew he was breaking their laws by using their magick without being keyed in. Until then though, he’d continue to do so because he needed to and they couldn’t possibly have a use for all that spare power.

And because he still liked to play on the edge.