Jeremy made it back just in time, sliding into his seat moments before the President strolled in. He didn't have time to answer Maddie's hissed question, but he gave them a reassuring glance before they all rose to greet the President—except Cinza, of course.

  "Well," said President Stafford, "where were we?"

  "We're shifting gears, sir," said Ioannis, "to address something that's seen increasing pressure from the public."

  "Oh?" The President glanced across the table, but Cinza seemed equally surprised.

  "What do you wish to discuss?" she asked, and for once, she opened with something akin to a warm tone. Finally, we're tryin' to start on the right foot. Maybe this is what she meant earlier.

  Ioannis took a deep breath. "Hannah Newman."

  Cinza stood up from the table immediately. "I did not come here to discuss Ruby," she said, with considerable emphasis on the name. "That is off the table."

  "With respect, Cinza, it can't be." Ioannis gestured to an aide, who quickly distributed a new sheet of information. "Washington State law is quite clear on runaways and minors. Hannah—excuse me," he added quickly, as the tangible disgust from Cinza flooded the whole room. Jeremy half-believed she was doing something with magic to create the effect, so thoroughly did it permeate the place. "Ruby still has several court orders in place for her incarceration due to fleeing home."

  "An abusive home where she was driven to attempt suicide," Cinza snarled, still on her feet. The effect was a bit diminished, since she was so short, but the venom in her voice was anything but. Accentuated by the echo in her voice, she held the whole room's unblinking attention. "She was beaten by her scum of a father for being herself and daring to love whomever she loved."

  "None of that is on record," said Ioannis quietly. "Never reported, never claimed."

  "These are clearly extenuating circumstances," said President Stafford, glancing at Ioannis with a frown. "How old is she?"

  "Turned seventeen in September." Ioannis pointed to a part of the sheet he'd handed out. Cinza finally sat down to read it, examining the statistics and details carefully. "Washington State heavily favors short or moderate incarcerations to rehabilitate runaways, nearly three times as often as the next highest state, Kentucky. Over twenty-seven hundred cases in 2015 alone."

  "That actually happens?" asked the President, shifting his glare to Courtney.

  The governor nodded. "It's an option for judges when dealing with status offenses. I'm not exactly in favor of it, but it's a standard choice and often employed."

  "In a case where a minor ran away from home multiple times and joined a cult, missing school for more than a year and having no alternative education," said Ioannis, "I hope you can see the difficult position this puts everyone in."

  "Ain't this just a state-level thing?" asked Maddie. "Why do we even need to bring this up here?" Tryin' to keep it between us and Courtney. Smart.

  "Because Cinza and her people are no longer state-level," said Ioannis. "She's an international figure, and she's engaging in diplomacy on an international stage. Harboring such a scandal within her organization is… troublesome."

  "Ruby saved my life," said Cinza. "I gave her a home and a family which actually cares for her and raises her. She is far more intelligent than most of the people in this room. Tell me how any of this could possibly deserve punishment."

  "None of us believe you do," said Ioannis firmly. "I'm just trying to explain the public perception."

  "It's worse than that," added the deputy behind him. "I don't mean to sound blunt here—"

  "That certainly appears to be your job," said Cinza dryly, and quite a few people on the President's staff laughed. Even the deputy grinned sheepishly.

  "Like I said. This is going to be blunt, but… you're being accused of statutory rape."

  Deadly silence for a beat—and Cinza was on her feet again, Jeremy right along with her.

  "The hell?" Jeremy snapped, before even Cinza could get a word in.

  "Explain," said Cinza right afterward, and the glare she shot at the deputy could have killed the man all on its own.

  "Because she was only sixteen when she met you and the general estimate of your age is twenty-three," said the deputy. "Nobody can say it for sure, and the law requires proof of an abusive relationship since sixteen is the age of consent in Washington State, but—"

  "Your estimate of my age is incorrect," said Cinza, not relinquishing her deadly glare.

  "Let's lay off my deputy, please," said Ioannis firmly, matching Cinza's stare. "He's doing his job, not accusing you of anything."

  The room was more tense than it had been all week, and for once, Jeremy was entirely on Cinza's side. This was an absurd line to take. No one truly believed Cinza guilty of any such crime, and the state certainly wasn't going to pursue such a case—Courtney, the governor of Washington, sat only a few seats away, and she looked as shocked as he felt. Jeremy wasn't sitting down again until they backed off, and apologized on top of it.

  "Cinza," said President Stafford gently, in the typical charismatic tone he could summon in an instant, "it's their job to be worried about how we look. They intend no offense."

  "You would stand there and accuse me of the most horrendous crimes," said Cinza slowly, every syllable edged in icy contempt, "and expect me not to react in kind?"

  "I—"

  "Let's take a break," said Maddie quickly, standing up next to Jeremy. "Mr. President, you said you had a security briefing this afternoon, right?"

  "Yes. Thank you, Senator Ashe." President Stafford got to his feet, and again, everyone else followed suit—though Cinza's eyes still hadn't moved an inch from the deputy's face. "We'll reconvene later this afternoon. Back to whatever the hell it is you people do around here." He tried for levity, but the room wasn't ready to lighten up yet. They trooped out in silence, until finally, it was just the five of them—Courtney stayed behind as well, joining the rest of the group who called Washington home.

  "I can assure you, Cinza," she said immediately as the last door closed, "there has not been an iota of such an idea in the state prosecutor's office, and there never will be."

  Cinza nodded. "Thank you." She glanced over the rest of them. "I knew this would become an issue, but I did not expect them to pursue such a disgusting path."

  "I can't even imagine why," said Maddie, slouching in her chair. "The fuck do they gain from pissing you off?"

  "I think they felt Cinza was too strong a negotiator," said Courtney, raising eyebrows from the rest of them. "What? I can't recognize her talent?"

  "We're just not used to you bein' nice," said Jeremy.

  "Thought it must've just been on Dad's side," added Maddie.

  "Ha-ha," said Courtney sarcastically, rolling her eyes. "I meant what I said. Cinza has held her own against an intimidating bench. She's not what they're used to, and it's throwing them off balance. They must believe they've given up too much. I think they wanted to unsettle her, show her they still have power."

  "And did it work?" asked Makoto, glancing at Cinza.

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  "Yes," she answered, and the contempt hadn't diminished in her tone. "They will apologize, or they will hear no more negotiations."

  Jeremy sighed. "I can't blame you, but this is gonna get ugly."

  "It already is."

  Cinza turned and walked out of the room, Makoto fast on her heels. The door swung closed behind them, an eerie snap echoing through the suddenly quite empty room. With only three of them left, the place felt so much more massive than it had before, huge paintings adorning the walls and doors in every direction.

  Jeremy dropped into a chair, matching Maddie's slouch. "Jesus Christ…" he muttered.

  Courtney pulled out her phone. "This was quite a bit easier with Rachel," she said, almost to herself.

  Maddie chuckled. "Yeah, but we didn't actually do anythin'. That was all just planning."

  "True." Courtney sighed. "Oh, God…"

  "What now?" asked Jeremy, scrambling to sit upright. Don't be another fuckin' attack. No more shit right now.

  "Nate Price."

  "...Shit, I was expecting something bad," said Jeremy. He leaned back again. "What's the kid up to now?"

  "He won his case." Courtney was scrolling through an email. "The land belonging to the Price family and all remaining assets either on or seized from the properties are under his control once again."

  "Good luck gettin' back anythin' looted," said Jeremy, rolling his eyes.

  "That's not the real problem." Courtney set the phone down again. She looked back to Jeremy and Maddie. "It includes significant portions of Rallsburg and the surrounding forest which were never properly ceded to the state and remain privately owned land… including the Greywood."

  "...Fuck."

----------------------------------------

  "How did that even happen?" asked the President, glancing between the three of them. Courtney had decided it was probably best to let the President know privately before they mentioned it to Cinza, since he'd already promised it to her. "Did nobody actually check to make sure it was actually my damn land?"

  "The country's land, sir," Ioannis gently reminded him.

  "We still have options," said Courtney. "My people are working on it, sir. We can employ eminent domain, but it will be difficult, since we have already declared our intention to cede it back to private ownership."

  "So justifying its for public use doesn't really work…" the President agreed, nodding along. "I don't suppose we've got enough money to just buy the damn place off him? Does he even want it?"

  "He just spent months getting it back after losing it twice over," said Courtney. "I'm certain he wants it."

  "The estimated worth of the land is incalculable now," added Ioannis. "It's the primary site of magic and the suspected location of the largest concentration of potential book pieces. Beyond that, Rallsburg itself is an important historical site, and the whole region will be a massive tourist location."

  "It already is," added Courtney.

  "I'd hazard to say it might be the most valuable undeveloped property in the country. Mr. Price could command a fortune for mere pieces of it."

  "It's not even totally undeveloped," Jeremy pointed out. "Cinza spent years makin' the Greywood into a magic utopia. And some of the Rallsburg infrastructure is good. There's still train tracks most of the way there and back."

  "Anyone with half a brain could pull it together," said Maddie.

  Ioannis sighed. "And now that work has changed hands."

  "It's my fault," said Courtney. "Reclaiming the land when we declared them dead back in June already raised eyebrows. We could have done that better."

  "Careful, Madam Governor," said President Stafford, a twinkle in his eye. "A career politician should know better than to ever accept blame."

  "Only among friends," she replied, matching his smile.

  "Who's drawin' the short straw, then?" said Jeremy.

  "What do you mean?" asked Ioannis.

  "Informing Cinza that she just lost her home to the man who stole her diaries," said President Stafford. He shook his head. "This will be a nightmare no matter how you slice it."

  "Yes."

  They turned around. Cinza stood in the doorway, Makoto hovering just behind her looking a bit winded. Secret Service just let her waltz through two rooms to reach the President? Unless… Jesus, did she just—

  "I'm guessing my bodyguards couldn't see you," said the President, obviously curious.

  Cinza nodded. "I felt it prudent to know what was being said behind closed doors, especially after such a vicious attack on my person this afternoon."

  "Cinza—" started Ioannis, but President Stafford talked over him.

  "Well, you heard then: Nate Price won his lawsuit and controls Rallsburg, plus the land formerly belonging to his family, which includes where we outlined the Greywood territory."

  "As if a piece of paper could give him power," said Cinza, a vague smirk curling at her lips. The President grinned. "Regardless, I intend to return home tonight. Our negotiations will resume at a later date."

  "I'm sure my deputy will apologi—"

  "Greater men have said far worse to me, Ioannis," said Cinza, glancing briefly up at him. The star tattoo on her neck seemed to stand out again, as if emphasizing her history and her position. "I won't pretend it didn't offend, but I must return home. My family awaits while new challenges arise, and the crusaders continue to grow in numbers and strength. I've heard two awakened attended a meeting only three days ago and were nearly killed."

  "They just went to a meeting of people openly calling for genocide against them?" asked Ioannis, raising an eyebrow.

  Cinza shook her head. "Why they ended up there, I can't explain. I only know that Brian Hendricks was supposedly present, and the golems returned once again. The goddess saved our people this time, but she cannot always be there. Her work is too important for us to rely on her constant protection. We must provide our own."

  "I can—" started the President, but Cinza spoke over him. Ioannis drew a sharp breath as she did—no one interrupted the President, particularly not in the west wing of the White House.

  "We've seen the results of police intervention in the past," Cinza said dismissively. "I've no faith in it now. If you want to pursue Brian on your own terms, by all means, pursue. I will neither trust in your protection nor grant you any access to my home. We have been betrayed before; we shall not be again."

  "Well, at the very least, allow me to give you a ride home?" said President Stafford, with a rare show of exasperation.

  Cinza paused—she had seemed about to leave the room. Slowly, she nodded. "We'd gratefully accept fast transport home."

  "Ioannis?" prompted the President, and his chief of staff immediately scurried off through the other door to set up the flight. Cinza followed him out. Stafford turned to Jeremy. "Special Agent Ashe, you'll be accompanying her back, of course."

  Jeremy sighed. "Yeah, I figured that was comin', sir."

  The President grinned. "Come on, you can't possibly have been enjoying all the political bullshit."

  He shrugged. "...Beats getting shot at."

  Stafford laughed. Well, he's still a damn politician, but he's better than most. "Good luck out there. Any reports you have can either be passed up straight to the director or to Wesley and the DTA."

  "Will you be deploying more elements to the area, sir?" asked Jeremy. "What with them bein' labeled a terrorist movement now."

  The President hesitated. Maddie jumped in to fill the silence. "Jeremy, they didn't get labeled terrorists yet."

  "...Why the fuck not?" snapped Jeremy, completely forgetting who he was standing next to. "What more do they gotta do before we recognize the threat they are?"

  "Optics," said Courtney. "Brian's followers look like ordinary American citizens, and he has too much grassroots support right now. The only visible attack which can be concretely attributed to him is the Lakewood battle, and the explosives there were used against him. As far as the public's concerned, nobody's proven anything. All we've got is Brian's people getting attacked themselves, by shady paramilitary forces or by supposed awakened assassins."

  "Bullshit."

  "We know it's bullshit," said Maddie exasperatedly, "but confidence in the government's been rock-bottom ever since we spent four damn months comin' up with jack shit to explain Rallsburg. All we'd do is provoke more damn protestors, drive even more people right to his side."

  "So what, then?" asked Jeremy, frustrated. "Do I wear a fuckin' bodycam and just wait to get attacked again? How you think Cinza's gonna feel about that?"

  "We've put through hate crime legislation," said Maddie. "It's working through Congress as fast as we can, full bipartisan support. Even the other side of the bench is backin' us right now, so let's not waste that chip while we've got it."

  "And in local resources, I have committed every non-essential resource I can toward handling Brian," added Courtney. "We're overwhelmed by the pilgrims and the crazies, but we've tripled patrols and authorized all the overtime they need. The national guard's come in, and we're rolling out staggered training for all our officers and enforcement on magic and awakened. The rainy day fund is digging deep here."

  "And we're here to get more help," said Maddie. "So suck it up and don't fuck it up, Jeremy. Get home, stay in touch, and try to keep Cinza from throwin' away all our current goodwill for her own agenda."

  "Like Cinza would do that before you fucks," grumbled Jeremy.

  "Well," said President Stafford sharply, surprising the three of them. Somehow, Jeremy had completely forgotten he was even in the room. "That seemed like a productive family meeting. I'd love for you to have me over again sometime."

  "...Sorry, Mr. President," said Courtney sheepishly, and Maddie echoed her a half-second later.

  Stafford smiled. "I've got a security briefing now and a whole lot of other business today, so I think I'll see myself out. Madam Governor, Senator Ashe, we're back for the legislation strategy meeting at four?"

  "Yes, sir," said Courtney.

  "Excellent." Stafford glanced at Jeremy. "I believe you've got a flight to catch."

  Jeremy nodded. "Good luck, sir."

  Stafford left. Maddie glanced at Jeremy sideways, looking worried. "Jere-bear, you gonna be okay?"

  "Huntin' terrorists is literally my job." He shrugged. "Besides, I'm Cinza's liaison now, not an investigator or a detective. She ain't a frontliner, neither am I."

  "I dunno, she seemed plenty gung-ho about runnin' out into the field in London."

  "I'm gonna be fine, Maddie." Jeremy hugged her. To his surprise, another hug came in and enveloped them both. "...Thanks, Courtney."

  "We're family," she said, and the uncharacteristically warm action was not reflected even slightly in her voice. "And since none of us seem to have any plans for children, we're all the family we're ever going to have. So Jeremy, as your eldest sister, I expressly forbid you from getting hurt. Understood?"

  "Shit, how am I supposed to hate you now?" said Maddie, her voice choking up slightly.

  "Give it an hour, I'm sure you'll find a way."