The thing with him?
I had no idea.
“Let’s go,” Mac said. “It’s time.”
The six of us strode into the church. Though Grey wasn’t a member of our little guild, he was there as backup. I had no complaints.
In the main meeting room, the entire Council was waiting. When they caught sight of our group, they frowned. Only Cartimandua smiled. The leader of the Witches’ Guild looked more intrigued than confused, and it reaffirmed my decision that she was my favorite.
“Carrow Burton, I thought you were here to reapply for a guild?” asked Mateo, the leader of the vampires. Leader of all except Grey, of course. He didn't join anything—not even my guild. “Why do you have these people with you?”
Something flickered in Ubhan’s eyes. We hadn’t spoken to him since we’d broken into his office, but he knew things had changed. The entire Council knew about the tower on the far side of town—it was hard to miss, now that it had appeared—but Grey’s contacts said they were still uncertain about it.
I was here to enlighten them.
“As it happens, I have a guild.” I gestured to my friends. “The Shadow Guild. The tower that has reappeared after a long absence is ours.”
Murmurs rose, and several guild members stood. Ubhan stayed seated, his jaw set.
Cartimandua leaned forward. “You’ll have to start from the beginning.”
So I did, omitting the part about Orion’s Heart. We still weren’t entirely sure what role that power played, and it didn’t matter right now. I even confessed to breaking into Ubhan’s office, since I didn't want that hanging over my head.
I finished, and Nyla, the leader of the Mages’ Guild, turned to Ubhan. “Is this true?”
He nodded. “What they found in my office, yes. Their interpretation? I have no idea.”
“It’s sounds true to me,” Cartimandua said. “It makes sense that there would be a guild for those with unique powers. After all, we have members of our guilds who don’t quite fit.”
“This Rasla…” Nyla said. “He was a zealot?”
“As far as I could tell, yes,” I said.
“He was,” Grey said. “I knew him then, and I can confirm it. He’d likely have destroyed the tower altogether if it wouldn’t have weakened the city’s defenses to have an enormous hole in the wall.”
“Yet, you defeated him,” Cartimandua said. “And defended Guild City once again.” She turned to look at her colleagues. “I vote to accept Carrow as a member of the Council and to fully reinstate the Shadow Guild.”
There were some grumbles, primarily from Ubhan, but the vote went in our favor. When it was over, Cartimandua looked at me. “Congratulations. Now you get to come to meetings.”
Damn.
Meetings were better than being evicted, though
.
“Thank you,” I said.
We turned to leave, and I caught Ubhan’s eye. He glowered at me.
That was going to be a sticky relationship.
But as we walked out into the sun, it was impossible not to believe in fate. After all, it’d landed me here, amongst this crew of amazing, lovely supernaturals who were as strange and different as I was.
And now, we had a guild.
My friends were chattering away about plans for a party, but I only had eyes for Grey. He stood off to the side, his gaze on me.
He was thinking of our curse. It was written all over his face. And though the idea of it scared the hell out of me, the insanity of the last few days had proved that anything was possible.