“We have another area where we keep our food and supplies. We can move over there, though it’s not much more comfortable than this,” my father answered. “We had to take some trees down to gain the space. But you’re right, let’s head over there first and get situated. I want James to hear this too. There are twelve of us in this camp, and fifteen in both the others. James usually stays at one of the others, but we knew you were coming, so he’s here now.”
I chuckled as I stood, following my father’s lead. “He might be a bit busy at the moment. Marcy came with us. But she needs to be in on whatever we’re doing. She’s the only one of us who knows anything about the kind of magic we’re dealing with.”
Relaying the entire story of our Underworld escapades took two full hours. I told my father every detail, ending with the power of five, killing Lili, the fact that I’d made a mistake by ending her life one hundred years too soon, my possible place on the Coalition, the Hags’ anger, Juanita, and finally the plane crash. Then I filled him in on what the airboat guides had told us of this place and how we’d just escaped the priestess’s alternate reality. My brother told his part, including the length of time that had passed for him in the Underworld, his torture at the hands of the demons, and added details I didn’t have about the rescue of the Prince of Hell.
My father sat back, his face set as he absorbed it all. Finally he said, “That was quite a story. I’m not sure where to begin.” James sat next to him at another makeshift table, this one a little bigger. We were surrounded by crates of supplies and hammocks strung through cypress trees. “How about we talk about Jessica’s new power acquisition first. What can you do now that you have the power of five? I’ve never heard of a supernatural absorbing magic before you. It’s truly amazing. I’m at a loss for words.”
I stared at him and blinked. “That’s a good question.” I nibbled my lower lip. “I’m not sure. I barely figured out how to harness the demon magic while I was in the Underworld, as I told you. My wolf sort of stored it away as fast as we gathered it.” My wolf growled, showing us glowing with multicolored magic. “My wolf is indicating that we can pull it apart as needed, but I don’t know how to do that… yet.”
“Well, it makes sense it would take some time to figure it out, but it means you’re extremely powerful,” my father said with finality. “It took me fifty years to figure out all my strengths and weaknesses. I don’t want you to feel any pressure. I just wanted to try and get a gauge on what we’re dealing with here.”
“Jessica,” James interjected. “Your new power gives you one thing for sure. It ensures that you can defend yourself, and that will be your biggest asset.”
My father nodded. “James is right. That’s the most important piece in all of this, and it’s what will keep you alive.”
“There’s one more thing,” I said. “It concerns Tally and the witches. I told you the witches disappeared, that the circle was dead in the Underworld. But I’m going to let Marcy share what she found out from a witch in Europe. Things might be brewing in Italy.”
My father turned to Marcy. She was perched on the edge of James’s leg. She straightened under his intense gaze. “Jessica’s right. According to the witch I spoke with, there’s been a convergence of supernatural activity in Italy. Florence, to be precise. She told me supes were flocking there by the hundreds. I feel, because of that, it’s a good indication of where my aunt may have gone—either by choice or against her will—but her leaving without sending word, whatever the circumstances, is highly unusual. We are the only true family we have. My feeling is she was taken, kidnapped or worse, and her witches went after her.”
I nodded along. “Tally wouldn’t have broken her word and left us stranded in the Underworld unless something extreme had happened. She’s proven herself loyal.” I glanced around the table. “And I also believe the event of her leaving or being taken coincided with me killing Ardat Lili.”
“You can’t know that for sure,” my father said. “It could be an internal power struggle, witches fighting witches. But, I agree, there is some merit to it. From my understanding, if there’s an open seat on the Coalition to be filled by a particular Sect, the power shift is felt by all in that Sect. I haven’t felt anything yet, but that doesn’t mean we won’t. I suspect, across the board, there will be skirmishes to gain power before the final five supernaturals take their permanent positions. It could be all-out civil war inside each Sect until that final day comes.”
“What do you mean? I thought we were fated to our seat on the Coalition?” I asked, my wolf echoing my sentiments in my mind.
“Fate has something to do with it, and in your case particularly—as there are no other female wolves to fight you. But that doesn’t mean there won’t be powerful female supes vying for a place on the Coalition. No supernatural will step aside willingly if they think it’s their right. Fate can shift, as you’ve now seen firsthand.” He raised his eyebrows. “It’s not infallible. Choices are made, paths shift, and supernaturals will die. Sitting on the Coalition is the ultimate station in our world. Now we know all five will share power, making the entity of the Coalition the strongest supernatural group on earth. We believed they were in stasis all this time—at least I did—but they were clever. A rebirth means all five seats will be filled at once.”