The Sight Read Free Page B

bed with them.”
    â€œYou’re going to want to step back,” Liam said.
    Ezekiel ignored him, his eyes gleaming with purpose. The other protestors moved into formation behind him. “I’m not here to make you or anyone else comfortable. I’m here to testify, to protect what remains.”
    â€œWe don’t need protecting,” Liam gritted out.
    â€œI bet your sister’s opinion would differ. If she was still alive, that it. Pity we can’t ask her.”
    Before any of us could move, Liam’s fingers were tangled in Ezekiel’s shirt, and he hauled Ezekiel up to his toes. Liam’s eyes, vibrantly blue, shone with fire. “Tell me again what you bet my sister would do. My sister, who was innocent, and was killed because assholes like you who refuse to acknowledge the complexities of the real world.”
    Ezekiel’s gaze flicked back and forth across Liam’s. “They killed one of yours, and still you protect them. Why? Was your sister not enough reason for you to acknowledge the truth?”
    Where Liam’s eyes showed fury born of pain, Ezekiel’s showed satisfaction. He was out to make a point, and damn those he hurt in the meantime. And although it would have meant immediate imprisonment, I wanted to squeeze magic from the air and wring his neck with it.
    â€œClaire.” Tadji must have seen the intent in my eyes. Her voicewas quiet, her fingers strong around my arm, jolting me back to the street, to the crowd, to the fact that magic monitors—armed and ready—would be triggered if I so much as ruffled Ezekiel’s hair.
    I forced myself to relax. This wasn’t the time or place for my big, magical reveal.
    Ezekiel’s smile grew wider, more satisfied. “Are you going to hit me, Mr. Quinn, because I do tell the truth? Because you’re uncomfortable admitting you contributed to your sister’s death?”
    Ezekiel was still in Liam’s grip, sweat beading on his forehead, but his eyes utterly calm. He’d done exactly what he’d meant to—gotten attention for his particular brand of vitriol.
    â€œMy sister was murdered,” Liam said, every muscle taut and ready for action, a warrior ready for battle against the advancing enemy. “Would you like to feel even an iota of her pain?”
    â€œIs that a threat?” Ezekiel asked. “And in front of a Containment agent. Has magic made you a barbarian?”
    â€œIdiocy has made me a barbarian,” Liam said, baring his teeth.
    â€œLiam,” I said quietly, calling him back just as Tadji had called me.
    For reasons too simple and complicated to think about, that seemed to be enough.
    Liam opened his hands, so Ezekiel dropped back to the ground, stumbling before his followers reached out, helped him regain his balance.
    â€œYou deny the truth!” Ezekiel said, lifting his hands to conduct his protestors into another round of chanting.
    This time, I stepped forward. “Do you think this helps you prove some kind of point? Using a family’s tragedy, a young woman’s death, to get attention? Go back to the hole you crawled out of.”
    Before Ezekiel could respond, Gunnar took a step forward. “If you want to protest, go protest. No more harassing residents, or you’ll get an up close and personal view of the Cabildo.”
    Ezekiel’s jaw worked. “Another denier,” he said, then cast his glance around at those who’d gathered to watch. “The day of reckoning will come. A new Eden is planned for our world, and those who stand in the way of it will be cast aside. It will be our reawakening. We are Reveillon, and we will see it come to pass.”
    Ezekiel’s eyes went cold, and his smile was just as frigid. If he believed in damnation—and I’d bet that he did—he’d long ago decided he was on the right side of it.
    He walked back to the front of his line and began the march