The Council (Darkness #5)(46)

“Where’s Jameson?” I asked Maggie, a woman as big as any man, standing to the side perfectly relaxed.

“He’s in the battle room, waiting for your call.”

I nodded and stalked ahead, Jonas and Charles following, Tim and the other shifters waiting by the door or outside.

I pushed through the door and found Jameson pointing at a map with three others standing by—Stefan’s strategy council, if I remembered correctly. I stood in the doorway, waiting for their notice. I hoped they didn’t notice my trembling.

Jameson glanced up expectantly. “Yes? Do you have a location?”

Indignation sparked my anger. “Yes? Is that how you greet your mage and acting commander?”

Jameson stood up slowly and turned to me. His tattoos flashed orange. The others around the table ignored me entirely.

No, this will never do

In a stern voice and commanding eyes, Jameson said, “You have barely enough knowledge to make a spell and no knowledge about leading warriors in battle. Since the Boss is gone, I am acting commander. Now, do you have a—”

I didn’t wait for what came next. He was challenging me, and I was pretty good about dealing with that from my last week at boot camp.

I flicked the magic poised around me, wrapped it around him with a solid grip, and thrust him across the room. I flattened his body against the wall and spoke in a gentle voice. “I would hate to lose you Jameson, because you have a lot of—don’t try to fight it. Your magic can’t compete with mine—okay, well, you brought this on yourself.” I squeezed the magic around him. “You see? Breathing was a luxury I granted you just then.”

I’d picked up a few things from Cato. They were awfully helpful.

I stared at his stern, impassive face, handsome and dashing. The longer I denied him air, though, anxiety started to creep in to his expression. His eyes flicked toward the other three around the table, who were looking now! Oh yes, they stared from him, to me, back to him. Not one dared to make a move.

His gaze settled behind me, then, checking out my backup. Jonas and Charles probably stood by, waiting patiently. No help there.

Finally, his gaze resettled on me. I had his attention.

I let the magic loosen up a little, controlling my face so I didn’t show my pleasure at gaining the upper hand.

“As I was saying.” I spoke in a normal tone, completely in control—or so it sounded. “I need you. I need you to monitor the warriors so that I may focus on the magic. Andris is, right now, summoning a lesser demon. Jessie is under the impression it is a trial run. I would agree—Andris would make sure he could maintain control before going big. But Stefan is up next, and I need you leading this clan in there so I can rain down terror. Do you hear what I am saying?”

I am in charge, did that come across???

A long second ticked by. Jameson nodded.

“Good.” I released the magic and turned to the map. “Tell me what we’re dealing with.”

It turned out that Jameson was something of a strategic genius. The man spent ten short minutes linguistically sprinting around a map before explaining his positioning recommendations. Helped with his two cronies, he had a full-scale attack expertly planned.

There was only one glitch. He hadn’t thought to include the shifters. And the ‘recommendation’ that he did turned into another stare-off in which he almost kissed the wall again. But I won, we brought in Tim, and we moved on.

I could not believe I didn’t piss myself in his stare, though. It was an intense ten minutes with a guy I barely knew who didn’t have Stefan’s or Jonas’ reservations about killing me. The man was terrifying. Stefan had chosen his backup well.

“Nice work,” Charles whispered as I strode past him into the hall. “That cat didn’t hold anything back and you still bowled him over.”

“She asserted herself, nitwit, which is all she was supposed to do,” Jonas growled as he followed me.

I stopped to allow everyone to go ahead of me so I could face the whole crew, which was a battle-hardened horde of probably a hundred. They stood in the first greeting room in the mansion, tightly-packed and awaiting instructions. “As you know, Stefan is being held captive in an old sports center in a desolate area. Warriors, you will section off with Jameson as your acting commander. He has his instructions and will carry them out until such time as Stefan is able to take over. Magic workers, you will come with me. Before you link or work your craft, you will wait until I address you. I know what we are up against magically—you’ve heard or seen firsthand when I dealt with the last demon; I don’t think I need to press this issue. However, if you don’t follow my rule, I will deal with you as I see fit. Do you understand me?”

A small group of people nodded quickly.

“We will be working with the shifters. They are already positioned and in animal form. If you do not do your part, and let them do theirs, I will remove you from this battle, do I make myself clear?” The gravity in my voice filled the room, widening eyes and making Tim’s eyes sparkle.

Many nodded, some said, “Mage,” but all agreed. Good. Moving on.

“Any questions?” I glanced around, trying not to fidget or look impatient in any way. Stefan always stayed completely cool when addressing his people, as if his leadership was his right and he was simply enacting it. I hope I pulled off the same thing.