I recognized all of them, though I didn’t remember meeting the tall, lanky vampire with the black, spiky hair before now. From Ian’s dossier, I knew he was Spade, real name Charles DeMortimer, married to a human, of all things. He might be dressed as if he was attending a fancy brunch, but he held himself with a fighter’s coiled poise. Dangerous, though not the biggest threat in the room. Mencheres was, and after him, his co-ruler, Bones.
Bones and Cat had changed their appearance. Bones’s short, curly dark hair was now ash blond and so long it concealed parts of his handsome face. Likewise, Cat’s eye-catching crimson locks were now such a drab shade of brown, the box of color it came from must’ve been labeled “Eh, Who Cares?” She’d also styled it so that one side fell all the way forward, shielding almost half her face. Glamour would’ve been an easier, more effective disguise, but to each their own.
The last time I’d seen them had been at their daughter’s supposed execution. When I met Cat’s wintry gray gaze, I immediately upgraded her dangerousness above Bones. He might be older, yet icy spikes didn’t dig into my spine when I looked into Bones’s eyes. Cat must still have access to the most dangerous magic of all—grave power. Only a few people in the world could wield it, and it was nearly unbeatable. With how Cat stared straight through me as if I were already slain on the ground, she was about to kill me with it.
No wonder Mencheres had said not to bring me! If I’d have known Cat and Bones were here, I wouldn’t have come. I’d want to slaughter me, too, if I were them. Now, I had to do something drastic unless I wanted bodies to start hitting the floor.
“I know your daughter’s still alive,” I said bluntly. “It was a shape-shifter that was decapitated, not her. You have nothing to fear. I will continue to keep her secret.”
For some reason, the person who appeared most shocked was Spade. He gaped at me as if I’d just pulled a lightning bolt out of my ass. “But you’re a Law Guardian,” he sputtered.
“Yes,” I said with all the pride I still felt in my job. “And the laws were originally made to protect people, not to oppress them. Some have been twisted over time, but none state that mixed-species children are illegal. Only fear and bigotry have made that claim, and I have no duty to uphold those.”
Cat’s gaze flicked to Ian for an instant before lasering back on me. “Is this bullshit, or is she for real?”
Ian grunted. “Reaper, you have no idea how real she is on this topic. Katie’s secret is safe with her. She gave you the sword coated in Denise’s blood to ensure that, remember?”
“Shut it, Ian!” Spade snarled.
Ah. Now Spade’s shock made sense. The human Spade had married was named Denise, but from Ian’s comment, Denise wasn’t merely human. She was also the demon-branded shape-shifter. “Your wife is safe from me, too,” I told Spade.
“I don’t believe you.”
The softly spoken words came from Mencheres. He hadn’t moved, but all at once, the air became charged with so much energy, it was painful. “I have seen firsthand how you helped imprison and kill many whose only crimes were being different. Why should I think you’ve changed?”
Ian’s brows rose as he glanced at me, seeing if I’d deny Mencheres’s claims. “It sounds worse than it is,” I began.
The air around me suddenly compressed as if it had turned into a massive fist. My bones broke and I felt a new, ominous pressure on my neck. Was he really threatening to decapitate me? If he did, as soon as I came back from the dead, I’d hit him with a spell that would make him regret it for the next hundred years!
“Stop this at once,” Ian ordered in a furious tone.
At the same time, I choked out, “Damn it, Mencheres, allow me to prove it! Or have you forgotten I gave you the benefit of the doubt when the council was screaming for your head?”
Whether it was my reminder or Ian’s directive, the punishing pressure ceased, allowing my bones to stop snapping like dry twigs. “Speak,” Mencheres said shortly.
Ian put his arm around me, his glare telling Mencheres everything I was thinking about his treatment of me. But like many new members of a family, I had to suck up some insults for the greater good. Still, as I healed, I ground out a curse in Sumerian that Ian chuckled at because of course he was able to translate it. Then, with a muttered grumble, I dropped my glamour. What was revealing one more secret? I might as well start telling everyone I passed on the street the truth about me, too.
Mencheres drew in a breath when he saw silver replace my ordinary blonde hair, with streaks of gold and blue woven through it. Then he made an incoherent sound when I grew several inches and my body filled out into curves and muscles that strained every button and seam on my elegant pantsuit. I knew the moment my face changed to its true visage. That’s when my real name slipped from his lips and he took a step backward, which seemed to shock Cat and Bones more than my new appearance.
“Ariel,” Mencheres said in a stunned whisper.
Ian looked intrigued. “You recognize her in her true form?”
“Yes.” Mencheres still sounded slightly dazed. “Ariel is the most powerful witch I ever encountered. She also helped me funnel countless practicing vampires, witches, mages, and demon-kin to safety during the Great Purge.”
“That’s what it was called when the council wrote new laws oppressing anyone who wasn’t a ‘normal’ vampire,” I clarified. “I was only an Enforcer back then, but it still gave me access to information on upcoming raids. I shared that information with Mencheres, only he believed it came from a trueborn vampire-witch named Ariel and not the new Enforcer known as Veritas.”
Mencheres shook his head as if to clear it. “But you, as Veritas, still rounded up and arrested many.”
I shrugged. “Only the ones who used their inborn power or skills to harm others. There are always bad apples, Mencheres. I gave those to the council. Then the council believed they’d succeeded in decimating the ‘dangerous’ parts of the population. If they hadn’t, the raids would have continued, plus I wouldn’t have been trusted with more high-level intelligence.”
Ian began to laugh. “That’s how Nechtan knew you! This whole time, you’ve been working for the council while using their information against them. I am so hard for you right now.”
I looked, and no, he wasn’t lying. I must not have been the only one who decided to get visual confirmation. Bones cleared his throat in a pointed way.
“Now’s not the time for that, Ian. Despite these unexpected revelations, we all came here for a reason. That reason hasn’t changed, even if my intention to murder your wife has.”
All humor—and erectness—left Ian. “You intended to do what, Crispin?”
“Kill your new wife,” Cat repeated bluntly. Then she shot me a half-apologetic, half-defiant look. I returned it with a hard one of my own. New family or no, I didn’t take death threats lightly. “We thought she was using you to try to get to Katie,” Cat went on. “I always wondered if she knew more than she’d let on at the execution. I’ll never forget the look she gave me when she handed me that sword—”
“You couldn’t translate ‘shut up and take it’?” I muttered.
“—and unless there was an extreme ulterior motive, why would a Law Guardian marry you?” Cat continued, turning her attention to Ian. “You’re allergic to monogamy, following the law, and telling the truth! I mean, I love you and all—”