The Shattered Tower by Jenn Stark

Author:Jenn Stark [Stark, Jenn]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781943768844
Publisher: Elewyn Publishing

16

The birthing centers were shut down worldwide within the next twelve hours. The Archangel diverted the efforts of the Syx to the cause, and Sariah happily joined them once she’d finished processing the orderlies with Brody.

That had proven instructional as well. Now the Devil, Simon, the Magician, Brody, Sariah, and I stood in the Arcana Council’s conference room, which had been updated for the occasion with several additional screens. The images on the screens were sobering. Rows upon rows of hospital bays, the finest equipment, and the most up-to-date and sterile facilities. I almost preferred the back alley kidnappers I’d encountered so many times working the arcane black market. This level of…professionalism was so much worse.

“How did this go on unregulated for so long?” I asked as Simon spooled through the scenes.

“A long, long history of the authorities not interfering with religious organizations,” Simon said. “You wrap something in enough layers of tradition and belief and people stop asking questions.”

The Devil’s lip curled. “I have had the opportunity to interview a dozen directors of these facilities, and they truly believed the company line, that these women and children were blessed by a higher power, and that it was their duty to dedicate them and their children for a future far beyond our current understanding. That the wrong kind of people have ruled the world for too long, and it was time that we followed a different star.”

I winced, not missing his emphasis. “Where are we with identifying what else Dixie has been up to?”

“Closer than we thought,” Simon said. “Nikki kind of hit the Star jackpot over in Switzerland. The last stronghold she pierced had been given a couple of healthy sips of the Dixie Quinn Kool-Aid.”

“They defected to the Shadow Court?” Sariah asked, bristling, but Simon lifted a quelling hand.

“Remember, they didn’t know that other choices were out there. We take for granted that everybody knows about the Council, our work for humanity, blah blah blah, but the truth is, we’ve been pretty quiet about how we go about our business. Things happen, people are saved, but it’s all very hush-hush. Our pushback against the gods breaking through the veil hit some of these guys’ radars, but that whole scene got wrapped up and time got displaced so quickly at the climactic moment, that a lot of ’em were left wondering what’d actually happened. I mean, they vaguely recalled that something bad had gone down, but they had absolutely no data detailing the experience. These people have lives and businesses and battles of their own, and they moved on.”

I considered that. We’d worked so hard to keep the disruption to a minimum when we’d removed the threat of the gods from the world, and the Council had always sought to keep the Connected, well, disconnected. Safe and separate. Meanwhile, many of the Connected had tried to go the other direction by carefully integrating into society, hiding in plain sight. Plus, from what I understood about the werewolves Nikki was slowly contacting—their powers were dormant.

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