Finding Destiny

The Council

It was a beautiful afternoon in the gardens. The weather wasn’t too hot and a cool breezy rushed through my hair, wafting the scent of roses around me. I sat in my usual spot within the middle of the garden, along the round bench with my feet kicked up, head resting in my arms behind my head. These relaxing moments were far and few between lately - running Waverly coven wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows. We had serious threats from other covens consistently. While we had our treaties and our sister covens, there were covens that constantly tried breaching our walls to take our power. Heck, I couldn’t even blame them. We were one of the strongest covens in the entire country and I was one of the strongest witches in the country. That kind of power came with an automatic target on your back and not being able to trust anyone.

“Fancy seeing you hear, Grand Master,” that shrilly voice said from somewhere behind me. Ugh, Ashtyn. This was not a coincidence in no way, shape or form.

“Ashtyn, what can I do for you?”

Ashtyn had been throwing herself at me for the past three years - and while I’m sure other men would love to jump in the sack with her, I wasn’t one of those men. For one, she got around. Half of my friends had had some sort of s****l encounter with her. Secondly, she was not witch mother material. She was so full of herself and completely in love with herself, I wasn’t sure how she even found room to try and have a relationship with anyone at all. Sure, she was easy on the eyes with long blonde hair and crystal blue eyes, her full lips and delicate features could draw anyone in, but that awful personality of hers was enough for me to keep my distance.

“Well actually, Kai. I was wondering if you could stop by my place and help me with internet. It seems to be not working and I can’t figure it out,” she said. That was a complete lie. We were witches for f**k sake. If something wasn’t working, we had literal magic that could fix it. This was just another one of her poor attempts to get me over to her place so she could corner me.

“Uh, actually I have to meet with the council. I should head there now - time got away from me! Maybe you should ask Luke or Nix?” The words fell out of my mouth instantly as I jumped to my feet and scurried off, not even waiting for her response. I could only imagine what she would come up with next. In my rush back to the manor, I barely even realized I bumped right into Luke and Nix, my best friends.

“Hey, man. What’s up? Where are you rushing off to?” Nix asked and just as he glanced over my shoulder, a knowing grin spread across his face.

“Uh oh, looks like Kai boy has a girl problem! Want us to help? We can set you up with her, ya know. Be your wingmans,” Luke chimed in. These pricks were no help. They knew exactly how pathetic Ashtyn was.

“No, fellas, I don’t need your help. But I did point her in your direction!” I said slyly as I brushed past them clapping them on the back, and left them fuming. Neither Luke or Nix liked Ashtyn and dealing with her was exhausting. But I’m sure one of them would find something gratifying from her some way or another. They were both handsome men - just Ashtyn’s type - anyone that was attractive and had a d**k. Easy girl to impress.

Once I made it back to the manor, I went straight to the council room. Most of the time our four council members stayed there to work throughout the day. We had a council member that possessed power from each element - one from fire, one from earth, one from air and one from water. Over the years, we had found that was the only fair way for each elemental witch to feel they were being heard by the entire coven.

Marie Rist, our fire council member, was an older woman in her early 50s and she had been close friends with my parents before they had passed. She was like a second mother for Kali and me. Ryker James was our earth council member. He was in his 40s and a burly man, full of laughter. Lillith Abrams was one of the only air witches in our coven and she was the strongest, thus why she was the air council member. She was a stunning lady in her upper 70s, long silver hair that she always wore in waves. But even her good looks at her age couldn’t soften the blows she’d landed on me during discussions. She was the council member to question me most often. And last, Lorcan Plyth, our water council member. He was closer to my age and one of my greatest rivals, so naturally he sided with Lillith on absolutely everything.

“Hello, Master Kai, what can we do for you?” Ryker bellowed from across the room as I stepped inside, his smile beaming. At least someone seemed happy to see me. The council room was basically one gigantic library with a long table at the very front of the room. Huge windows overlooking the grounds sat just behind the table. The room itself looked as if it was in the wrong century - very castle-esque - but the council had made it clear they didn’t want any remodeling done to their chamber.

“I’ve come to let you all know I’ll be taking a short trip next week. I’ll be visiting Alpha Eli, Alpha Hunter and their Luna. Kali will be left in charge while I am gone. I’ll only be gone for a few days, but should anything urgent arise, I want you contacting me immediately. Otherwise, respect Kali just as you do me.”

Lorcan snorted from somewhere in the room. Damn him and his attitude. If he wasn’t such an outrageous, infuriating prick, I would consider pushing Kali into a relationship with him. He was strong and loyal, no matter our little competitive streak. Maybe I should mention it to him and see if he brightened up a bit - Kali was at the top of every unmated males list in our coven - she was after all my sister and extremely strong - one of the strongest in our coven.

“Business or pleasure, Master DeVerou?” Lillith came out from behind a book case, book in hand as she eyed me. Always so suspicious, this one.

“A little of both, Ms. Abrams. I’ll be checking their portals and protection spells that I placed along the borders of their packs, but as you know they are close friends of mine.”

“I’m well aware. Do you think it wise to leave your sister in charge of the entire coven? She barely has any experience and has yet to prove herself after her unfortunate kidnapping,” Lillith all but hissed.

“Lillith, you know as well as I do that Kai has the authority to leave whoever in charge he deems fit. He is the leader of this coven after all. Have a safe and enjoyable trip, Kai. The council will be here to guide Kali in any way she may need in your absence,” Marie popped her head out from another aisle, a smile already plastering her face. Thank god for this woman, always coming to my rescue.

“Thank you, Marie. I’ll leave in 5 days and be gone for 3. I’ll leave you all to your business,” I said with a brief nod and turned around heading back to my office.

That went better than I expected. I had thought Lillith and Lorcan would try to tell me no or at least fight me a little more on leaving Kali in charge. Now to pray to all the gods and goddesses that in fact nothing would go wrong in my absence.