“But she is a vampire?” Asks Theo, just as confused as me. I can see Josiah thinking, his hand rubbing his chin like he is deep in thought.
“Of course she is, but the magic will taint her, turn her dark. Spirit isn’t an element, more of a life force of every living thing. Imogen technically died, the DNA and her magic brought her back. Because she is unnatural, it taints her magic. To use spirit, it pulls at your life essence, because she is part vampire it pulls on the energy she draws around herself, whatever emotion she feels her magic draws on it, amplifying it to create enough energy. Everything has a balance. Spirit is living while you are dead, there isn’t meant to be an inbetween, you can’t be both. You need to choose, choose which parts of yourself to give to it or whether to give it up completely.” She explains.
“I still don’t understand?” I tell her.
“You will dear, but the longer you leave your magic, the closer you get to becoming human, and the fact that you’re still partly a vampire, I’m assuming you already died. Humans don’t come back to life once they are dead. When you sent your magic into the bracelet, you sent your vampirism with it.” She tells me.
“So, I am human?” I ask, becoming more confused.
The woman shakes her head. “Not yet, but the longer you leave it, it will take its toll on you and you will revert to who you once were.”
“How do you know all this?”
“I’m an Oracle dear, I saw it when I grabbed your hand. I knew as soon as I saw you that you were a spirit user. Your aura is white, but I can see the darkness that surrounds you, the darkness you trapped in your bracelet.”
Tarina walks down the steps toward us, “Time to go, I’m sure I’ll see you again Imogen, but for now you must stand up for what is right, for now you have a bigger purpose, and it isn’t talking to me.” She says, walking away.
Josiah waves his hand to Tarina to let her know we are coming. I try to think of what she means about me coming closer to death. The thought is horrifying, but how do I fix that? I got little time to ponder before we are escorted into what reminds me of a courtroom, except instead of one judge, there are nine seats lined up along the counter.
Only one is empty. Two women and six men sit along the counter as we approach. As we take our seats, they glance at us before resuming their conversation. I can tell they must be elders as they all hold a certain air of authority.
“Let’s start, shall we?” A man, around Josiah’s age, says, standing up.
He is wearing black robes and has a cruel smile on his face. When his eyes land on Josiah, he smirks, and Josiah growls. I know then, he is Christopher. The two women sitting on either side of him look bored, like they couldn’t really care less about what is going on and want to be anywhere other than where they are sitting. The elderly white-haired man on the end looks like he is about to take a nap, as he keeps leaning back in his chair.
The four men all sit staring us down while listening to the man speaking. Theo places his hand on my shoulder as the door at the side opens up and Bianca walks out, taking a seat at the bench next to the man with red hair and freckles.
“As everyone is aware after we lost Alaric, a seat at the council opened up. And since no one stood up for the position, I have appointed Bianca to take her rightful position at the table.”
One of the women scoffs at his words, and I can tell she doesn’t agree about Bianca’s right to the position as she sends her a glare. Bianca rolls her eyes at the dark-haired woman and makes me wonder what Bianca has done that makes an elder all but laugh at Bianca’s title?
“Josiah, I know you are here to appeal my decision, so say your piece, and we can get this over with so Bianca can take her rightful place on the council.” I can tell by what he says, he won’t be changing his mind about giving the spot to her.
Josiah stands up, explaining why she shouldn’t be elected, and that she should be held accountable for her crimes and not rewarded. But nothing he says seems to get through to any of the men, yet both women are nodding and agreeing with Josiah.
When he is finished, they call a vote and no surprise all the men on the council vote in favor of Bianca. Everything Josiah explained, I can tell, was a waste of time and in no way did anyone care about her crimes.
When Christopher says his decision remains, the dark-haired woman stands up and glares at him. She is very intimidating when angry, and she looks on the verge of jumping across the counter and attacking the other council members.
Josiah is standing now too, also angry as he shakes his head before saying it is unjust and they should strip her of her new title.
The man next to the woman stands up. His red hair and smattering of freckles make him look younger, around Tobias’ age, but age doesn’t really matter in this world; chances are he is probably centuries old. He has an Irish accent.
“Nothing can be done, Mara, she has every right to the position. Alaric only held the position because she handed it to him. It is her birthright to take back the position now that Alaric is dead.” He tries to tell her.
“She has broken our laws. Laws you helped to write, and you’re going to let her take a seat back at the council just because of who her father is?” She screams in anger.
Suddenly, all hell breaks loose, and they are all standing, arguing with each other. I can’t help but think if they act like this, how the hell does anything get done? They are all acting like children, screaming at each other and not letting anyone speak. One thing irks me though, and it doesn’t click when she says it, but having a few moments to process her words, I realize what she said.
That it is Bianca’s birthright because of her father, yet he is also mine. So, doesn’t that give me the right to the position as well?