Darkest Day (33 page)

Before us, land stretched for miles from what I could see by the moon overhead.

A pop made me jolt and turn.

“Fireworks,” Winn said.

A beautiful lightshow began in the western sky. Blues. Greens. Reds. Winn and I sat on the blanket, filling our stomachs—him with his usual salad and sandwich, me with a bar of chocolate. Winn held out his fork with his greenery and for the first time, I ate it.

I tasted to remember and take in the whole of him, the memories we’d made.

“So … fireworks are a day early, aren’t they?” I asked.

He shrugged. “Good timing for us, I guess.” His eyes sparkled in the moonlight. “I’m going to miss you, Mac.”

“No … actually, you won’t … remember?”

A blast erupted from the lightshow. I plugged my ears, the sound ringing inside. As I did, Winn kissed me. A deep, longing-filled kiss that would need to last forever.

29

Winn

I drove, taking Mac to the Council’s chambers after the end of the pre-Independence day fireworks and our last bit of time together. In the parking lot, cars filled the spaces again, along with my dad’s, Mac’s dad’s, both real and surrogate, Alina’s, Suze’s Hummer, Maddie’s Miata and dozens of others.

Once again, the sheer number of vehicles to a midnight meeting seemed enormous.

Then again, the world of the non-humans only received a new Changeling once every fifty to a hundred and fifty years. That had to be newsworthy within their own ranks.

In the hallway to the chambers, Suze stood with Gwen, back in her goddess-like form, not her quarter-this-quarter-that form of Damphyr. I hadn’t realized Damphyrs could shape-shift so much, and it made me wonder if Mac had chosen that so she could keep her ability. I might have.

Together, we reached the Chamber doors.

“Mackenzie,” a woman’s voice said in a tone I didn’t recognize.

We both turned, the woman walking toward us the picture of beauty, and of Mac. With his arm around her, Mac’s dad walked beside her.

“Mom!” Mac let go of my hand and ran to her, embracing her along with her dad.

Rather than stare at their private moment, I gave my attention to the specks in the paint on the door, counting the little bits in the frame.

“You ready for this, Winn?” Alina asked from my side.

I shook my head and sucked in air.

Her hand landed on my shoulder. “You’ve been the best thing to happen to Mackenzie since she was born, I do believe. I want to thank you for giving her so much of yourself. What can I do for you in return?”

“Not make me forget her?” I chuffed a laugh as I said it. Alina squeezed, the same kind of pressure someone gave when they knew they couldn’t fulfil the one request that had been made—like asking that a body be raised from the dead. “Thanks, Alina,” I said after a long silence. “I appreciate everything.”

Mac, her mom and dad all approached, and I stepped to the side. “Nuh-unh. You’re coming with me.” Mac said and slipped her palm against mine.

We walked together through the doors and down the aisle toward the Council, who each sat in their places around the table.

The room had been packed to the point some could only stand, the back wall filled with human-looking creatures—I expected all in their human form for the sake of simplicity. Who knew how many were actually enemies, even predators. Their human forms gave them anonymity, like Mac during the day.

Lucas stood with Felix and a woman in a bright red dress, whose fangs stuck out like buck teeth. Suze took a seat on the right as Gwen claimed a middle seat with the Council.

“Wait, she’s on the Council, now?” I asked Mac as we sat in the front-most seats opposite the table.

“I don’t know. She keeps showing up at the weirdest times, you know?” Mac asked. “I like her, though.”

Behind us sat Alina, the goddess Maya, and a very nervous-looking, very human Rory Thorne.

One seat had been left open, a red ribbon tied across the arms.

On it, a little placard note said ‘reserved’.

“Who’s that seat for?” I asked Mac as the din in the room started to mellow.

She turned and grabbed the card. Flipping it over, it said, “Zoe.”

Despite her absence, they’d given her a place of honor.

Mac

My entire first nineteen years had all come down to one moment. One, single, solitary moment with what looked like two hundred people in attendance.

Not in any of my previous monthly visits had I had an audience. I would have thought, out of care and concern for self, the Council would have made the ceremony private.

Then again, the Council didn’t do much that I thought they should, so what did I know?

Before me sat the entire twelve. From left to right, in order of their ascension onto the throne. Nahir, Gerard, Josie, Saroya, Equatino, Felix, Robin, Magwa, Cleo, Nomas, Moira, Raven. All twelve. Yet, in the middle, Gwen sat—right between Felix and Robin.

A hush fell over the crowd, though no one had said anything and Nahir hadn’t rapped his gavel like he always did.

It became so quiet that the clock’s tick reached my ears again.

The quiet ‘ding’ made me realize what they’d all waited for.

Midnight.

“Maya Mackenzie Thorne, please rise,” Nahir said.

I turned to Winn, slid my hand behind his neck, kissed him as if I’d never see him again and said, “I’ll love you forever,” and stood.

The crowd around us, probably egged on by my little show, went all noisy again.

“Silence!” Nahir said, gavel to wood.

Oh, yeah, that thing has to go.

“Miss Thorne,” he said when everyone quieted, “you are here, in front of the ruling Council, as the current Changeling, are you not?”

“Yeah, I am.”

I expected the ‘Insolence!’ claim he’d made after my not-proper, ghetto answer—at least in Nahir terms—but I didn’t receive one.

“And today is your nineteenth birthday, is it not?”

I flipped an invisible watch toward myself. “That would pretty much be the only reason I’m here.”

Small laughter blew through the group behind me.

“And you are here in what form tonight?” Nahir asked.

Oh, this is so gonna piss him off.

“I come to you tonight …” I stole a glance at Winn. “… in human form.”

Whispers and talk ran rampant before Nahir beat the top of Raven’s new table with his hammer-stick. As the din quieted, Nahir said, “At this time, have you made a decision on what form to choose? On whether to take your role on the Council, and in what to do with regard to your human companion?”

“That’s three questions in one. Which one do you want me to answer first?”

If Nahir ever thought about rolling his eyes, that would have been a great time to do it. “In order to assume your rightful place, you must first complete your third task. We’ll begin there.”

And here it comes. Winn first.

My heart picked up speed. Sweat broke out on my palms.

“Maya Mackenzie Thorne, do you renounce all human ways, all human interaction in the promise to your role as a ruling member of the gods’ Council?”

My stomach lurched. Bile rose in my throat. All the humanity Caroline and Pete had shown to me. Everything I’d fallen in love with. All of it would be an unknown to everyone that mattered, but me, after I answered that one question.

“Can I answer that after we do everything else? I mean the end result’s going to be the same, right?”

Murmurs raced through crowd.

Gwen grinned at me from her center-stage spot. So did Josie and Robin, Cleo and Magwa. Moira sat stoic.

“Very well,” Nahir said.

Taking a deep breath, I forced myself to stop shaking.

“Do you accept your role as one of the twelve ruling Council members?”

Winn had told me all about the thirteenth spot, but it didn’t seem right. More like a cop-out to take that.

“Yes, I accept my role as one of the twelve ruling Council members.”

Cheers rang out.

Gavel to wood, Nahir slammed the offensive item until everyone went silent again. “In order to be a member of this Council, you must both choose a form and select a member to replace.”

I scanned the faces.

Nahir with his overblown ego and love of his hammer? Dragon and I didn’t fit. I didn’t want to rule with him, but he and I had already had our spat, and the rest of the Council had agreed to my demands. I could deal with him.

Gerard with his strength and agility as a gnome? Too short.

Josie with her sexy Siren ways? Too watery.

Saroya and his Elf magic? Cool, but would require way too much study I hadn’t already put in.

Equatino, who I called Tino, as a Sphinx held court to some awesome sights, but animals and I didn’t mix.

Felix drank blood. End of story.

Robin had a baby on the way, and for some reason, disrupting that didn’t seem like my thing.

Magwa had awesome magic.

Cleo could do the one activity I loved. Shape-shift.

Nomas, as a demon guard, had brute strength, but what else?

Moira—that would be an easy choice. I could take over her spot, and she’d be out of the picture when it came to Maddie.

Raven and I had never seen life the same way, but I understood her position, and the woman who’d been a big part of that sat behind me. Her best friend. One I wanted to offer a reconciliation to, much like my dad received.

None of them held an expression that suggested I should take their place or not. They’d all been preparing, and prepared for, the moment before them.

“Miss Thorne, may we have your answer?”

My fingers itched. My hands clenched. Sweat dribbled down my back. With my eyes closed, I said, “So … I have a question. Just to confirm … I can choose any form, right?”

Laughter again from the peanut gallery.

“Yes,” Gwen spoke from her spot in the middle. “Miss Thorne, you may choose any supernatural form to represent a Council member.”

She’d answered far faster than I’d hoped. I wanted another minute before I spoke.

“Miss Thorne? Your answer,” Nahir said.

Again, with my eyes closed, I said, “I choose … Changeling.”

The uproar made me cover my ears with my hands. The gavel went wild, the Council, too. All around me, people spoke over one another as if I’d committed the most heinous crime of them all by choosing.

By picking me.

When the voices began to shush again, Nahir said, “Miss Thorne, that is not—”

“But you just said. She said I can choose any supernatural form to represent a Council member.”

“But—” Nahir began but turned his head to Josie. She turned to Saroya, he to Tino and on and on to Gwen.

“Why do they all keep looking to you, Gwen?” I asked before she could speak.

She dipped her head toward me. “You have chosen well, young woman.”

For the eight-hundredth time the crowd did their ‘go-wild thing’. I tapped my foot on the floor as the time passed, waiting for them to be quiet already so I could hear what else Gwen had to say.

After at least thirty seconds of the melee, Moira said, “But Changeling has no place on the Council. This is not possible. How …”

Murmurs went through just the Council as if they had to confer.

“Didn’t you guys already defer to Gwen? I mean, you gave me a definition, and I picked me. How hard is that to understand? You want me to tell you who I will replace, right?”

They all faced me again.

“A Changeling is a unique creature as much as a Phoenix,” Cleo said. “At any given time, only one exists.”

I nodded.

“Which means,” Robin took over, “you’re effectively dooming the Council to extinction.”

Roars and catcalls went through the audience.

With a burst of light, everyone went mute. “Explain your decision!” Magwa said.

“This Council needs change. Everyone keeps telling me that. I figure if I’m going to be on it, I better make a grand statement. You want change, you’re going to get change. My way.”

Thankfully, whatever Magwa had done kept the people quiet. I could only wish he’d done it way, way sooner.

“Who will you replace?” Raven asked. “You cannot be an angel, for we are of the stars, and a Changeling is half mortal.”

“Actually, if I’m a Changeling I can be anything, which means I can pick any of you.” I pointed a finger at Nahir and traced the line of authority figures right on down to Raven.

Josie smiled. Gwen smiled. Moira gasped. Raven offered me a little bow.
Guess I surprised you, huh?
I sent her a little salute.

“Who, then, will you replace?” Nahir asked.

That question had plagued me for quite some time, and I’d still only narrowed it down to two. “May I ask a question of two Council members?”

Again, their heads went every which way. Rather than keep watching, I turned to Winn. He beamed back at me and gave me a thumbs up. My dad did the same. Mom blew me a kiss. Bernie chuckled, and despite Zoe’s absence, I’d have sworn I could hear her laughing.

“Yes, you may,” Nahir said. “But, Miss Thorne, may I remind you that while your methods are quite unconventional, our traditions—”

“Oh shut up, Nahir,” Raven said from the complete opposite end of the table. “She’s already taken our traditions and altered them. In a good way. Who do you want to ask a question of?”

“Josie and Felix.”

They both stood, their chairs scraping against wood.

With a quick cough, I said, “If you were to be given a choice, to stay or go, what would you say and why?”

Both of their eyes went wide as if my question had come completely by surprise.

Felix motioned to Josie. “Ladies first.”

She touched a hand to her neck, her gaze absolutely and completely set on Bernie. “I would choose to leave becau—”

The crowd started up again.

I whistled between two fingers. “Enough already! You guys make it sound like this is all crazy talk. I’m not as stupid as some probably made me out to be, so just shut it until I’m done. Magwa … can you do your light thing and make all their voice boxes freeze until we’re done here?”

A flash zoomed past my eyes again.