moved to the vote.
"There are three options," Louis said, voice low and vibrating with energy. "One: we allow this deal and hope that he doesn't ask for anything else. We can rotate the fifty soldiers that will be under his command so no supernatural does more than five years. This will just be an ongoing agreement until we reach another. Two: we agree, but we will be actively working to get rid of him as president, and reinstate someone from the Guilds in the White House—" he waved a hand to where the humans sat, listening intently "—and finally control one of the most powerful governments in the world."
There was some grumbling and talk at that point, because everyone liked to think their dick was the biggest, and we had leaders from dozens of countries here.
"And third," Louis continued, voice shutting down the others in the room, "we vote no and fight. If that's the end result, we will need to discuss in more detail our plan for handling the fallout. My advice is that we release the information to the public in the manner that we feel is best to minimize the consequences."
Three options. None of them fantastic. But that was often the way it went with this type of vote. I already knew what I was voting, and it wasn't guilt that pushed me, it was the knowledge that the greater good should always come first.
"All votes need to be entered through magic," Louis added. "If you are not from a magic race, please ask one nearby to enter your vote."
We all turned to Tyson. "Option two," Braxton said, crossing his arms and looking annoyed.
"Option two for me as well," Maximus said. "I won't beholden us to a human permanently, but I also think war is a bad way to start. We might end up there eventually, but let's give it another shot first."
I nodded. "Yeah, option two for me as well. For the same reasons."
Tyson grinned. "Four option twos with the works, coming up."
He sent a burst of magic toward the front of the room, his energy slamming into the sphere that Louis had created to gather the votes.
Louis shot him a dirty look, shaking his head.
"You did that deliberately, didn't you?" I said, a flicker of humor pushing through the dark swirl of energy in my center.
Tyson shrugged. "Never hurts to remind him who was the youngest sorcerer. You know, just in case he forgot."
I laughed. My brothers stared, because apparently I didn't do that shit any more.
Fuck, I needed to sort myself out and fast. I couldn't be the morose fucker of this group. I refused.
And that meant I needed to get my ass to Faerie and track Justice down. We had a lot to discuss.
There was just one thing I had to do first.
One thing I owed to my mate to deal with before I took the next step in claiming what was mine.
16
Justice Winter
The next month passed in a blur of information and new experiences. I never realized how little I'd learned in my fleeting visits before, but my parents certainly made up for lost time, having my full attention now.
There were days of learning about our culture and history. Speaking to fey who were hundreds of years old and had actually lived through our wars and triumphs was definitely eye opening.
I was introduced to important members of our parliament, learned our most significant laws—there weren't a ton, but enough to give me a headache on top of everything else. And I also met multiple members of my family. This was a huge plus for being in the ruby lands.
Who would have thought poor little orphan Justice would actually come from a loud, friendly, hugging family.
Sure as hell not me.
“It’s time to connect to the stones,” Deloria said to me over breakfast on my thirty-third morning here. “You’ve aced your classes, started using your power regularly, and you’re fitting in just beautifully. There’s only one thing left.”
I swallowed roughly, managing to get the porridge type mixture they preferred here down without choking. “You think I’m ready? What if they reject me?”
She didn’t look remotely worried. “Time won’t change whether you are accepted or not, so it’s best to get the test over with. I’m satisfied that you shine with enough ruby energy to convince anyone that you’re fit to rule this land.”
Reaching out, she grabbed my hand. I returned her squeeze without flinching. Huge progress.
"You're ready," Deloria repeated. “Tomorrow morning. I’ll inform the