“Oh, this is the Mage Council,” I murmured.
“Part of it, yes. There are seven members, but, as you can see, only three came to visit this time around.”
“So we weren’t expecting them?”
“Nope. Which is why I’m a little concerned.”
“Yeah, I can feel that,” I replied.
“And that’s creepy,” he shot back.
“You’d better get used to it.” I shrugged in response. “Who are these Mages, exactly?”
As Wade pointed them out to me, I couldn’t ignore Alton’s displeasure at seeing them here. They made him uncomfortable, for some reason. Putting two and two together, I figured this unannounced visit had something to do with the gargoyle getting out of the Bestiary.
“That’s Leonidas Levi, the deciding vote in most Council-related conversations, and one of the most powerful warlocks I’ve ever met,” Wade said, nodding toward the eldest of the group, a tall man with salt-and-pepper hair and dark brown, almost black eyes. My gaze wandered to his ring, a solid gold piece with a multitude of gemstones that glistened under the amber light. “The other is Nicholas Mephiles, revered alchemist and one of the very few to achieve transmutation of stone to gold,” Wade continued, pointing at the short and stocky warlock, whose waistcoat looked a size too small and whose reddish beard covered a double chin.
“So, what, a genius?”
Wade nodded slowly. “You could say that, yes. Creating gold out of stone takes very precise formulation and time, and a lot of power. He singlehandedly funds the Sacramento Coven, and I think there are at least ten gargoyles in our Bestiary that came out of his Purges.”
“Ah. The price paid for gold, right?” I concluded.
“Exactly. Everything costs with Chaos,” Wade said. “And that’s Imogene Whitehall.”
Imogene had my full attention. She reminded me of a fairytale elf, with delicate, diaphanous skin, sky-blue eyes that felt eerily familiar, and a cascade of pale blonde, almost white hair that poured over her back and shoulders. She was tall and graceful, with soft features and the warmest smile I’d ever seen, directed at me. Crap, she’s looking at me.
I’d quickly learned to dislike the attention in that assembly hall, but Imogene felt… quiet. The emotions coming off her were unclear, at best. I found that relieving and intriguing at the same time. She gave me a brief nod, then shifted her focus to Alton, who stepped forward to address the Council.
“What’s the deal with Imogene?” I asked, looking at Wade. I was surprised to see and feel him like that—he was in sheer awe of her, as if gazing upon a star. His reaction seemed perfectly understandable, given that she was by far one of the most beautiful and surreal creatures I’d ever come across. Wade had every right to crush on her. She’d chosen a simple pencil skirt and smart jacket, with a gold-threaded vest and white shirt, diamonds dangling from her delicate earlobes and matching the tear-shaped pendant resting in the dip between her neck and collarbones. And it all looked perfect on her. Sculptors and painters of the Renaissance period would’ve killed to have her as a model.
“Isn’t it obvious? She’s perfect,” he mumbled, blatantly fawning over her. It quickly got irritating for me to watch, so I saved additional questions for later. Preferably when Imogene was far away and out of his line of sight.
“Imogene, Nicholas, Leonidas,” Alton said, nodding at the Council as they took center stage. “What brings you all here today?”
“I wish we didn’t have to do this, Alton,” Imogene replied, her voice as sweet and soft as the rest of her. A few more minutes of her and I would’ve wound up swooning like Wade.
“But we must,” Leonidas added, in a sharp, dark contrast. “The gargoyle incident came to our attention, and we are here to deliver a stern warning.”
“It’s taken care of, though.” Alton shook his head, frowning. “No one was injured. The beast was recovered and is now back in the Bestiary. There was no need for the Mage Council to come all the way here for that.”
“That’s where you’re wrong,” Leonidas replied. “This is completely unprecedented, and, frankly, it’s unacceptable. No monster has ever escaped the Bestiary before, and it is cause for grave concern.”
There was a certain gravitas in Leonidas’s voice that didn’t match the honey-like sweetness of his Persian accent. He’d probably been in the States for a long time, his English almost fully set in, but his roots still crept up, particularly in the weight he placed on certain consonants. One of my earlier foster parents was Iranian by birth, and I could recognize those inflections anywhere.
“Like I said, we have it under control,” Alton insisted, and I could feel his discomfort stiffening my joints. He really didn’t like Leonidas.
“We know, and we’re pleased to see the Bestiary otherwise well managed here.” Imogene smiled, then put on a pained expression. “But that doesn’t change the fact that a monster escaped. We cannot let that slide without repercussions, I’m afraid.”
“The San Diego Coven is thus stripped of fifty points,” Leonidas announced, prompting the crowd to gasp and murmur in response. An overall air of discontentment filled me, by default. “Should further such incidents occur, the California Mage Council will submit an unfavorable review on the San Diego Coven, directly to the United Covens of America. You’ve already got slim chances of earning a decent score this year, Alton. Don’t make it any worse.”
“And the penalties will be much more severe if other monsters get out,” Nicholas added, his double chin high and his brow furrowed. “The Bestiary is our most prized possession, and it is our most dangerous, too. We can’t afford any more mistakes. The San Diego Coven may have been randomly selected to manage it, but, Alton, you had a chance to turn down the nomination. Instead, you assumed full responsibility. It’s not a zoo, and Tobe here is not the caretaker. Death and destruction will swallow this earth if the Bestiary is ever let loose. We need you all to pay attention.”
“That won’t be the case, I can assure you!” Alton shot back, standing on the verge of fury at that point and doing his best to hold it all back. His hands balled into fists, his knuckles turning white. “Consider your stern warning received and registered. Is that all?”
“You’ve been here for, what, three years?” Leonidas replied snidely, raising an eyebrow. I had to admit, I wasn’t fond of the guy, either.
Alton nodded. “That is correct.”
“You don’t have much to show for it, Waterhouse. Get your house in order, and don’t become another Halifax,” Leonidas said. “We’re serious. Don’t screw this up. We’ll be paying extra attention to the San Diego Coven from now on.”
I couldn’t ignore the chill running down my spine. The California Mage Council made me feel… wary. Apart from Imogene, who seemed genuinely nice. The other two had their noses so high, they were probably frosted. I could only imagine what the other four were like. Elitism seemed like a defining feature for them, and after my brief stint in a California prep school, I just didn’t want more of that.
We were all made of the same stuff. Blood ran through our veins. We ate, we breathed, and we all certainly pooped. One’s riches should never be a standard for some kind of superiority, and I sincerely loathed anyone who tried to perpetrate that idea—particularly in the 21st century, in the age of smartphones and social media, the era of fights for equality and decency. History was meant to serve as a lesson, not a guideline. Errors were meant to be recorded and later avoided, not repeated. Elitism raised the masses once, to the point where the people got angry and toppled entire monarchies. Had we really learned nothing?
Alton was boiling. The mention of Halifax seemed to make a little vein pop in his temple. I could see it throbbing from where I stood.
“Who’s Halifax?” I asked Wade, who was nervous and concerned. The Mage Council and the mention of the United Covens of America seemed to hit a nerve in him, too.
“The previous director of the San Diego Coven,” Wade muttered. “A useless slob. Always took the easy way out and hammered us all into Mediocrity. He was more focused on setting a little fortune aside to buy a farm somewhere in the Midwest than on helping magicals strive to achieve more, and better.”
“Did he get his farm, then?”
“He was penalized a fortune and fired for utter incompetence, then Alton was brought in,” Wade said. “Last time I heard, Halifax was back on the East Coast, working three jobs to cover his mortgage. No coven wanted him after the San Diego debacle. They agreed to let him live as a rogue, but he’s under constant monitoring.”
“Will that be all, then?” Alton repeated, gritting his teeth.
Leonidas narrowed his eyes at him, and they glared at each other for what felt like an eternity. But then Leonidas chuckled and walked back through the mirror without another word. The others followed, and they all disappeared beyond the silvery ripples of the mirrors, leaving a very annoyed Alton behind.
“I’m pretty sure we closed it up nice and tight, this time,” Alton said, mostly to himself.
“I promise I will be more vigilant.” Tobe sighed, his massive shoulders dropping.
“There’s only so much you can do, Tobe.” Alton shook his head. “You’re there all the time, and you do an exemplary job of keeping the monsters in their place. It’s up to us to offer assistance. We’ll just need to draw up a good plan to avoid another Council visit. Levi seems eager to see us burn.”
This Bestiary issue sounded a lot worse now. After all, the California Mage Council had felt it necessary to step in and issue a warning. It wasn’t just the danger that it posed to the outside world; judging by how concerned the San Diego Coven magicals felt, they were seriously worried about the financial and regulatory repercussions.
From what I’d learned so far, Halifax had already done a lot of damage, which Alton was trying hard to undo, while looking after the Bestiary with Tobe. They simply couldn’t afford any more mistakes. The worst part was that they had yet to figure out how the gargoyle had escaped in the first place, and I didn’t know enough about whatever magic and technologies were used in the Bestiary to form an opinion.