Chapter 2: The Revelation

The ride to the Council house was quick, the SUV stopped in front of a portal already conjured. I’ve never seen the council house or what it looks like, but I know we’d have to go through the portal. 

I barely had time to blink before they were shoving me forward straight through the portal, and in seconds, my feet were touching down in the center of a small, circular chamber, facing a desk and a bored looking woman standing behind it.

“Interrogation room seven,” she said in monotone, and a chill ran through me. Interrogation?

They were just supposed to be asking me some questions, that was all. I opened my mouth to protest but the enforcers were marching me forward again, this time through the door to the woman’s left, and into a brightly lit corridor.

They paused at the seventh door and the scarred enforcer touched his palm to the brickwork set next to the entrance. 

There was a flash of light under his hand, and then the door swung inwards. A rough hand around my arm moved me inside, and led me to a chair on the far side while I tried to take it in. 

It was a small room with almost no furniture, just a table that seemed to be carved of the same stone that made up the rest of the building, as though someone had chiseled out this whole room and left the table in place, and then someone had added a plastic chair on this side of it and two on the other. 

A metal ring was fixed into the stone tabletop, presumably for restraining the more difficult suspects.

“Sit,” an impatient voice ordered me, and I reluctantly sank into the chair, hands still bound behind my back.

Without another word, the three of them turned and marched from the room, shutting the door behind them and sealing me in here alone.

Great. Just great.

There was no way to mark the passage of time, but it felt like a lot passed while I was sitting there alone. I’d memorized every inch of the featureless walls and floor and ceiling, and I was starting to lose the feeling in my hands when the door finally swung open.

A heavy-set man stepped through, with a craggy, weathered face that had clearly seen its share of conflict. 

He carried himself like a soldier, back straight, shoulders squared, suspicious eyes. 

His uniform was crisp and tidy, but had a lived-in look that suggested he’d been doing this a while.

Close behind him was a woman with a slight build but a commanding presence that left no mistake she was the one in charge here. 

Her face was smooth and ageless, with high cheekbones and penetrating green eyes that took in every detail. Her hair was long and straight, falling gracefully down her back like a curtain of black silk. 

A broad shouldered, uniformed guy stepped in behind them and shut the door, then stood guard in front of it.

“Enforcer Brandon,” the guy said curtly. “This is Councilor Renah. And you are…”

“Sick of sitting here waiting for you,” I snapped. “And not interested in playing games. You know who I am or I wouldn’t be here.”

The woman, Renah, ran an appraising look over me, then nodded to Brandon.

“Unbind her hands.”

“Do you think that’s wise, Councilor? She doesn’t seem…compliant.”

“I doubt she’s foolish enough to attempt something reckless,” the woman said, eyeing me meaningfully. I was pretty sure she was deluding herself about the extent both of my foolishness and my recklessness, but if it meant I was going to get some feeling back in my hands before they dropped off, I was willing to roll with it.

“I’m not looking to cause any trouble,” I said, and Brandon snorted. 

I snapped my gaze to him. “Hey, I’m not the one who’s done anything wrong. And I’m also not the one who dragged anyone away in chains.”

“They wouldn’t have been necessary if you didn’t resist,” he said.

“Resist?” I gave a short laugh. “What part of coming without a fight did your men deem ‘resisting’, exactly?”

“I’m not here to answer to you,” he snarled.

“No, you’re not,” the councilor said before I could reply and land myself any deeper in the shit. “But you are here to follow my instructions, and I would appreciate you doing so. Kindly unbind her hands.”

He jerked his head at the guard by the door, glowering the whole time, and the man hurried forward. 

I twisted round to offer him my bound hands, whilst resisting the urge to stick my tongue out at him…..

“You stand accused of attempting to conceal your true nature from the council,” Renah said bluntly.

“I’ve never even met the council,” I protested. “Before today, I mean, I’m human! I don’t know how I did the partial shift. And it’s not like I’ve done it since. You have to believe me.” I looked from one to the other and found, unsurprisingly, no support. 

This was bad. And I needed to do better than this. I drew in a steadying breath and narrowed my eyes.

“You have a shifter’s fiery spirit,” she said.

“Also not a crime,” I ground out.

“Defying the council is a crime,” the enforcer snarled, and I snapped my gaze to him coolly.

“And if I’d defied them, I’d gladly answer for that. But I haven’t.”

“Yes,” he said, his lips twisting into a smile. “Plenty of crimes you have committed for us to focus on.”

“And I’m still waiting to hear proof of them.” 

I leaned back in my chair and folded my arms across my chest. If they thought I was going to lose my temper and give them something to fit me up with…well, they were probably right, but I was at least going to make them work for it.

I swallowed hard. Yeah, there was that. And I would very much like not to find myself locked up any time in my future. I clamped my mouth shut.

“I don’t believe you’ve committed a crime,” the councilor said, but before I could breathe a sigh of relief, added, “Intentionally.”

“That’s important, right? That I didn’t do anything wrong on purpose? Because I couldn’t conceal something I didn’t know about.”

“Indeed,” the councilor said. “And I am satisfied that your true nature is unknown to you.” 

“It’s still pretty damn unknown to me now,” I muttered under my breath.

“That is the reason the council will not be charging you at this time.”

“You’re not?”

“No.”

“Oh, thank God.” My eyes slid closed in relief for a brief second, then I lurched to my feet. “Then I can get back to Davorin?”

“Sit down, Neemah,” the enforcer snapped, his hands braced on the table, and I flicked a glance at the councilor, who nodded. Reluctantly, I slid back down into the chair.

“You’re done when we say you’re done,” the enforcer said, menace radiating from him in a way that reminded me how fragile I was compared to whatever the hell he was, and that it was probably a smart idea to stop provoking him.

“Knew you’d warm up to me eventually.”

On the other hand, I’d never been all that smart.

“Tell me what you know of your father,” the councilor said, and my attention snapped back to her…and the file in her hand.

“Nothing.”

She arched a brow at me.

“I mean it. Nothing. My mom would never tell me anything about him. He got her pregnant and then ran off and left her. He’s a deadbeat.”

“Some of the elders top researchers have been studying your energy signature over the last few months,” she said. “Attempting to discover how you—an alleged human—was able to achieve a partial shift.”

“And?” My mouth abruptly went dry, and my gaze drifted back to the file, drawn as irrevocably as a moth to the flame.

“And their research continues.”

I slumped back in my seat, feeling defeated, but at the same time, frustration started to uncoil in my gut. I stared at her through flat eyes.

“So you dragged me all the way in here to tell me I didn’t commit a crime, and that I’m fully human.”

“No.”

“But……”

“They have determined that your father was not a shifter.”

“Right. I’m human.”

“No, Neemah. He wasn’t a shifter. Your father was a vampire!”