Both the coven leader and the clan representative lean away from me, sensing my aggression, and I take a deep breath to calm myself. Then I glare at Luisa. “Self-defense claims don’t work against a tabby cat who was all of eight pounds and had no ability to cast magic on her own. You took advantage of a Hunt night and killed a protected beast. Your disregard for the Accords, the laws of this town, the sacred magics, and the other members of your clan is deplorable. Your actions carry heavy consequences, the least of which is death,” I tell the vampire, more than ready to rip her head from her body if that’s what the coven decides should happen.
I turn to the coven leader and wait for her to name the terms of their punishment.
“The Accords decree death or equal payment. We call for equal payment,” Erica announces, and Luisa gasps, her wide red eyes turning to the clan representative as if he’s going to stop what’s about to go down.
He isn’t.
The vampire sits stock-still in his suit and tie and avoids eye contact with her.
“Done.” I accept the terms. “Luisa Monroe, you are now the property of the Rubenna Coven. To serve as familiar to Shauna Beauchamp for the term of…” I look back to Erica.
“One hundred years,” the coven leader answers.
“For the next century,” I declare, pushing out of my chair at the same time that Louisa wails in outrage.
I press down the call button because now we’ll definitely need the dampeners out of here.
Karen walks in with a grin. My deputy’s been watching the exchange via a video feed from a camera set up in the corner of the room. She looks tickled by the outcome. As tickled as a dry-as-the-Sahara, unfailingly sarcastic witch can be. “Play stupid games, win stupid prizes,” she declares.
I meet her hazel eyes. “Make sure the coven applies all necessary binding magic to their newest familiar before they leave.”
Karen nods, and I turn to the clan representative who’s currently pinning a kicking Luisa to her chair.
“If anyone from the clan so much as breathes a word of retaliation, I will bring the full weight of the Accords down on your heads. Do you understand?” I demand.
The clan representative nods fervently. Honestly, he’s probably glad to be rid of Luisa for a century. I would be.
With that, I leave.
Thank fuck that’s over. Just a few more loose ends…
The second I hit the hallway, another deputy appears. Bucky must have been watching the video feed too. I roll my eyes at the crow shifter and his natural attraction to chaos.
“Crisis averted?” he asks, a hint of amusement in his tone as he falls into step beside me, his hair a rat’s nest of curls.
“Assign a few extra patrols to all vampire and witch properties and businesses in town. Things will be tense for a bit, but they’ll get over it. Fucking feuds,” I grumble.
I need to warn my dad that things are popping off between the clan and the coven, but I can do that on my way home.
How long have I been here already? It feels like ten hours, but that can’t possibly be right, it’s still morning. Either way, I’m beyond ready to be done, but I’m not quite there yet.
Bucky follows me into my office, leaning against a wall as I sit down to start the paperwork for this clusterfuck.
“I hear congratulations are in order,” he offers, a cheeky smile stretching across his slightly scarred face. “I can’t believe the prince is off the market. The celestial has been bagged and tagged. Ladies everywhere are weeping into their coffees right now,” he goads.
I roll my eyes and shake my mouse until my monitor comes to life. “Don’t you have something better to do?”
Bucky shrugs. “No, not really.” He walks over to one of my windows and opens the blinds so that light stripes the back wall lined with maps of the town and a landscape portrait my mother took of the mountains. Ignoring his presence and his constant need to move, I start documenting everything that just happened.
Normally, Howling Rapids is a pretty peaceful place. Maybe not quite enough to be termed paradise, but it’s a lot calmer than the other eerie strongholds I’ve been to, especially considering how we’ve got a mix of magicals as flavorful as an everything bagel.
Most days I love this job, but right now a pulse of longing is tugging me toward the front door of the station. I wish I could walk right out. But the vampires poke at rules the way human hackers prod at computer code. If I give them an inch, they will sink their fangs into it and try to take a mile.
Honestly, the covens in this town aren’t much better, but that’s the eerie way. We’re just a bunch of power-packed predators all playing nice until we don’t have to.
“So, what do you know about her?” Bucky asks. “Word on the street is…well, that you’re mated, but no one seems to know who the lucky girl is.”
I stop what I’m doing and stare at him for a moment. His black eyes flit everywhere around the office, never quite landing on mine.
“How much is riding on you getting some answers?” I press, knowing him entirely too well. Not to mention that I’ve never met a crow shifter who didn’t thrive on a little mischief or the chance to make a quick buck.
He chuckles and makes eye contact, an eager glint now in his beady eyes.
“Go bug someone else,” I order, turning back to the report I need to get done so I can get out of here and back home.
Bucky throws his hands up in defeat. “Come on, Sheriff. Give me something. Karen will owe me if I get even a few small details, and I’ve been trying to get her to go out with me for years.”
The snort that sneaks out of me is loud and incredulous. I look at him like he’s well and truly lost it.
“Karen would eat you alive,” I tell the younger man, completely serious. “If you have a death wish, I can assign you bridge patrol during troll mating season. They’d be downright gentle compared to what Karen would do to you on a good day.”
It’s clear my warning misses its mark when Bucky just sighs longingly.
“I know. It’d be worth it though,” he dreamily admits, and I bark out a laugh. “Come on, Ellery, help a guy out,” he pleads.
“For your own safety, I can’t,” I deadpan. I try to fight the smile twitching at my lips, but I lose the battle all too quickly when he gives me a petulant glare. “Besides, there’s nothing to give you because I don’t know anything. The Hunt isn’t exactly the place to cuddle and chat. It’s all primal instincts and taking. She’s not awake yet, but when she is, I promise you’ll be the last person I call.”
Bucky huffs and gives me his disappointed dad look. Given the fact that he looks like he’s a teenager, the guy just can’t pull it off. I chuckle as he starts to stomp out of the room. Like the petty ass he is, he knocks over my pen holder as he goes, which just makes me laugh even harder.
“Stay away from Karen,” I call to his back. “Oh, and make copies of Louisa’s confession and email them to the covens, clans, and various alphas. Please and thank you.”
Bucky gives me a half-assed salute and, with a pout, shuts the door behind him.
I lean back in my chair and run my hands through my hair, simultaneously tired and wired all at the same time.