Six Guardians of the Underworld

Chapter 32

It was a unanimous vote, the first I'd ever seen on the Council. Whoa. I was pretty sure we had just voted to start the biggest military offensive and defensive force that had ever been assembled in this planet's history. Double whoa. Which then made me wonder who was going to be the sucker in charge of all this craziness. My vote was for Niles.

"Who's going to be in charge?" I asked, wanting to get that cleared up before we started inviting people like the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom to the compound. I didn't want the fae to come off as a bunch of disorganized clowns.

Everyone on the Council looked at one another. Then all their eyes landed on me.

On. Me.

"No."

I shook my head.

They kept staring.

"Nope." I shook my head again, more emphatically this time.

Not a single one of them even so much as blinked.

"Not happening." My voice took on a kind of singsong tone. "Not in a million yeeeaaars…"

"Jayne…" Dardennes held his hands out toward me.

"No!" I yelled a little too loudly. Everyone out in the audience stopped talking to listen in.

I whispered loudly, leaning in toward my fellow Council members. "I'm not qualified!"

"Agreed," said Red.

"She's more qualified than you give her credit for," Niles grumbled at the old man witch. "She's been trained by the best. Been put through the toughest tests of any fae alive and lived to tell about it."

I smiled briefly at the dwarf. "Thank you, Niles. That was very kind."

"You'll probably be killed within the first five minutes, but you'll put up a hell of a fight." He nodded at me like he'd just complimented the heck out of me.

"Uh. Yeah. Okay. So." I smiled bitterly at Dardennes. "Do you have any questions? Because I think these two—I gestured at Red and Niles—just summed up the situation perfectly."

"Jayne, you, and only you, can speak to these leaders and get them to understand our connection to one another. Céline or I could show them the power of the wind, yes, and Red and C

eleste could show them the power of magic, and Valentine and Spike could show them the power contained in their s****l energy… And that is all well and good for creating fear, causing awe, for forcing the questioning of their long-held beliefs…but it's not what we need right now. None of us is as uniquely qualified as you are to show how we are all one…how their fate is tied to ours and vice versa."

My voice came out as a definite whine. "But I can't talk like you can, all grown-up and fancy and s**t. And I get nervous, and then my gums get dried out and then my upper lip sticks to my upper gums, and I look like a deranged clown smiling at people like I want to eat their faces off. And I might actually pee my pants, and I'm not sure how that is going to inspire confidence in anyone. They'll be like, 'Who wants to be one with that?' Honestly…anyone in this group would be better at this job than I would. Even Celeste." I pointed at the shriveled up old witch. "She's like ten thousand years old. She's way more experienced than I am. Let her do it.“

"Is she talking about me?" the old witch said, asking Red. "What did she say?"

He waved her off, too busy glaring at me to answer her.

"You won't be alone," said a tiny voice to my right.

I looked at my roomie who was staring at me with the most serious expression, I almost couldn't identify him as Tim. "What?"

"You won't be alone. My family and I will be at your side the entire time. We will never leave you." He put his hand on his heart and bowed in midair. He literally bowed, and not one wisecrack or pixie toot followed.

My heart felt like it was going to burst. He was so serious. So brave. So annoying. What was he trying to pull, guilting me into doing something I should never have been considered for? This was serious dirty pool. He'd never stooped so low. This cannot be my job! I'm going to fail and fail mightily!