Donovan sighed. “I can’t promise anything. What I can say is that Luciana’s up to something.”
I clasped a hand against my chest. “No! You don’t say?”
The side of his mouth tilted up. “All right. I get it. But I want you to be prepared for what may come. Don’t be afraid of fighting for what you want.”
I met his gaze and couldn’t look away. “Even if it puts other people in danger?”
“Yes.”
I shook my head. No way. “That’s too selfish. I don’t know that I could do that.”
The only sign that Donovan was pissed was the sudden glow in his blue eyes. “Fine. Don’t completely ignore the good of others, but don’t be a martyr either. I’ve seen that look in Luciana’s eyes before. Seen it in others, too. I know this is going to come down to a fight. It’s just a matter of how big.”
I broke his gaze. Not because it was too intense, but because I was confused. How was I supposed to know what move to make when he was contradicting himself? What was right? “You really think it’s going to be a fight no matter what?”
He settled back in his chair. “There’s a delicate balance between us supernaturals. Any one gets too big for their britches and it’s bad for the lot of us. Last time it was us who were in the wrong. We wanted too much control. Too much power. An evil wolf came to rule all the packs, and it went downhill from there.”
“What about the Seven? Didn’t they do anything about it?”
“That’s exactly why the Seven were formed. One person can’t know everything. One person shouldn’t be able to make a choice for a whole. It’s the individual that can be corrupted, but by conducting open discussions between equals, we can decide what’s best for all packs.” He blew out a breath. “It works better this way. Trust me.”
That sparked something. “Mr. Hoel wanted to do away with the Seven.”
“That’s right. And I’ll not be surprised if he’s working with this local coven.”
More fantastic news. “So worst case, we fight with my coven and whoever is still backing the Ass-Hoel. Some stand against us. Some don’t. That’s that.”
“Not quite. You see, we did some bad things to the witches before. We attack one group, they’ll all come calling. And they won’t be thinking rationally. We’re sending messages. Some will believe us. Some won’t.” He paused. “One fight, one little misstep, and the balance will be thrown off.”
This sounded way more tenuous than I’d thought. “You say not to give up and be selfish, but how am I supposed to do that and keep it from being a fight?”
“I’m not sure there’s a way.”
Great. Let me work up a miracle. “I thought you were supposed to be in the all great and powerful Seven. Don’t you have a plan? Shouldn’t you…I don’t know…figure something out?”
“Ehm. Well. We’re trying, but a lot now rides on the results of the Tribunal. We’re talking to our contacts and gathering some witches to our side to counter whatever Luciana has planned, so don’t worry too much. More importantly, have you written your speech for the Tribunal? Thought about what you want to say?”
I wish I had it done, but that just wasn’t the case. “I’ve got a few points, but I’m having writer’s block.” Dastien squeezed my hand, and I appreciated the support, but I needed to stop procrastinating. Not doing it wasn’t going to make the Tribunal go away. It was only going to make me unprepared. “You know, you supernaturals are really making it hard for a girl to enjoy her life. All these fights and battles and coups.”
“It usually isn’t like this,” Meredith said.
“Yeah. That’s why you have the Cazadores. Because everything is usually sunshine and rainbows.” The ‘hunters’ took out all the bad supes that preyed on humans—they wouldn’t exist if they weren’t needed.
“Eat,” Dastien said. “I can help you prep. We’ll come up with something to make sure we’re together.”
I hoped so. Going back to the coven’s compound was not something I ever wanted to do, but Donovan didn’t have a clue how I was going to avoid that without a fight. And fighting wasn’t an option. At least not yet, it wasn’t.
I dug into my omelet, wishing that Meredith had it right and food could fix things.
If only it were that easy.
Chapter Six
The day of the Tribunal started like any other day. I went through the motions, but I felt like a zombie. Like it wasn’t really happening to me. I wasn’t sure how I expected to feel, but being resigned and numb wasn’t exactly helping. I needed to be ready with my arguments. So, I did what any other nerd might do. I studied.
