Page 59 of Speak No Evil

“Gentlemen!” Jade snaps. “Can we please dial down the over-the-top pissing contest?”

Julian and I lock eyes, daring each other to be the first to end this.

“Lucifer’s antihero,” she mutters. With a thought, Jade opens a portal and siphons the now suffocating power from the room.

“Why not just unzip and flop it out on the table, huh?”

Eden laughs. The witch—Emilia, I believe her name is—scoffs, but the men in the room stay silent.

“As I was saying, there’s a sect of witches determined to keep the old ways of forcing women to procreate with as many mages as possible to keep the witch lines ‘pure and undiluted’.”

“Seems incredibly shortsighted,” Eden says.

“It is,” Emilia agrees. “The last Supreme Coven Leader was more concerned with collecting and keeping our knowledge base for future generations. She let a lot of things slide that shouldn’t have because her attention was so singular.”

“Sounds like you don’t agree with your predecessor’s leadership choices,” Julian says.

I see the test for what it is. If the witch speaks poorly of the former leader, she’ll appear weak and disloyal. If, however, she makes excuses or minimizes, she’ll seem half-invested in making changes. Both are reasons for Julian to remove her as leader of the covens residing in his city.

“Claudia did a lot of good for my community, but she wasn’t perfect. Nor am I, but my mission is to move the covens forward. To find better, sustainable ways of maintaining our population.”

Julian’s gaze darts to me, and we share a subtle nod.

She passed.

“Before we get too ahead of ourselves with talks of the future, the faction within the covens pulled Blackwood out of its protective wards in order to lure me into a trap and torture me.”

Movement catches my attention as Ryker rests his palm on Jade’s shoulder. And Jade takes a deep breath, relaxing instead of reliving the memory.

“Who’s the leader of this faction?” Julian asks.

“Dealt with,” Jade says flatly.

“The faction watches my every move. They’ve spelled the Supreme Coven Leader’s house, so everything I see and do gets reported.” Emilia’s small shoulders hunch forward.

“You should have brought this to me sooner,” Julian says.

Thorne speaks up for the first time. “Let’s not waste time on ‘should haves’. We’re here now and need to keep the focus on moving forward.”

Julian stares at Thorne, black power rimming his irises. But when Eden takes her mate’s hand, the power recedes, as if it never were.

After a moment, Julian asks, “Do you know the members of this faction?”

With a wave of her fingers, Emilia conjures a piece of parchment and slides it to Julian. “That’s all of them.”

The king reviews the names. “You’re certain?”

“I am.”

Eden calls in her security officer. “B, would you come in here, please?”

The massive man enters and stands at attention behind his king and queen.

“Please have your teams collect these witches.” She gives him the parchment. “Put them in the dungeon until we can properly interrogate them.”

Jade stiffens beside me.

Mate?