Changed by Fire (Phoenix Rising #6) - Harper Wylde Page 0,37
imbeciles. I am as immortal as they come.” He paused, scowling at them briefly before continuing, “You have been found guilty of colluding against the Council.” Stepanov paced in front of the three men, no worse for wear. “An offense punishable by death. This will stand as your public hearing. Is there anything you wish to say in your defense?”
My father’s eyes flashed as the guy Maldonado held spit at Stepanov in response. “Long live the rebellion, may they send your asses to the grave.”
“Eloquent.” Stepanov narrowed his eyes as he pulled out a handkerchief to wipe the spit from his scarlet robe before dropping the scrap of fabric on the floor at his feet. “And yet also a plea of guilt.” His tone was deadly as he concluded, “You are hereby sentenced to death by public execution.”
Brushing his hands off as though he’d been the one to do the dirty work, Stepanov strolled past the shifters on his way out the door, following the trail of blood left in the snow as he went to meet Rahal at the center of town.
The other’s filed outside with their prisoners, my father leading the way. Bringing up the rear, I nudged my guy forward and led him down the church aisle, the stained glass windows and the cross at my back bearing witness to my part in the corruption and the black that tarnished my soul. I wanted to scrub it off, cleanse myself until I couldn’t feel the repercussions of the Council crawling like ants over my skin as the shadows crept in.
“You never should have been meeting here,” I scolded quietly, keeping my tone low so the conversation stayed between us while also making sure my voice was harsh in case anyone overheard.
My prisoner side-eyed me. “You don’t understand,” he whispered. “They’ve been tearing our villages apart piece by piece. What were we supposed to do? The rebellion won’t defend us, saying it’s too early to make a move against the Council.”
“So you were... what? Plotting your own coup?” I asked incredulously.
“We had to do something.” His jaw ticked as I pushed him through the door more roughly than I wanted to, keeping up my facade of escorting a prisoner.
“What were you planning to do?” The question was brash and came out more condescending than I’d intended, except I couldn’t help but see the stupidity of such a move. What were four animal shifters going to do against the most powerful mythologicals on the planet? As much as I was loath to flaunt it, there was a power difference between the two. Not that I thought that meant the shifter world should be ruled by mythologicals alone. I didn’t. The imbalance of power was part of what had caused all the issues in our society. However, the facts remained the same. Removing the Council from power most likely meant killing the remaining members. I couldn’t see any of them stepping down willingly, and leaving them alive was just asking for trouble. Yet how did one kill a Manannangal, one of the fiercest creatures alive, a celestial Kitsune who could manipulate the heavens, or a Kroschei, an immortal who controlled death itself? Hell, even Rahal would be nearly impossible to beat in his alter form, his tough exoskeleton nearly impenetrable. It didn’t take rocket science to understand why the rebellion was biding their time. If we stood any chance at all, it needed to be a well thought out attack with plans upon backup plans on how to eliminate each remaining Councilmen.
After seeing Nix take out Khan, I knew it could be done, but she couldn’t be the one to shoulder all the responsibility, nor could she take on the entire Council at once. Nix was powerful, one of the most impressive shifters I’d ever seen, but everyone had their limits, and her Phoenix wasn’t invincible—dying and rising from the ashes took time.
No. The Council would never have been defeated by a few kids planning their revenge in some basement.
The guy I held looked around, judging who was close enough to hear. “We were getting everyone we could off the island. The Council has the boats and planes on lock down, and they’re tightly monitoring their activity. We’re basically prisoners here. We thought if we could stage a distraction...” He gazed ahead, swallowing tightly.
“You decided to sacrifice yourselves,” I concluded, as it all became too painfully clear. The village was empty, only a few bystanders left.