Meeting with the council had always been stressful for Penelope. They had always frayed her nerves and made her wring her hands: out of sight, of course. Before, she always felt out of sorts and not at her best. But now, she felt completely calm. Having the meeting at her house removed some of the stress. It was her own territory, and she felt like she was more in control here.

She set out a tray of fruit, cheese, and crackers. She arranged some drinks on the table. There was nothing left to do but sit and wait.

Han and Seraphina had helped her figure out what to tell the council when they arrived. In fact, they'd spent hours figuring out what to say and how to say it, and then another few hours rehearsing it. The only thing that kept her nerves at bay was the familiar surroundings of her house.

Of course, Lily was the first person to arrive and the last person she wanted to arrive, at all. She stepped inside, and scanned the room, looking around disapprovingly.

“We couldn’t have met at the country club or one of the restaurants?” she asked. Lily lowered herself, literally and figuratively, on to the seat in the living room.

Holding back her sigh, Seraphina shook her head. “No, there are sensitive matters to discuss.” Seraphina gave a broad gesture around the room. “Besides, this place is warded.”

Penelope smiled at her. She hadn’t even thought of telling the council they were meeting there because it had wards. She had just thought it would be a good place, since she was calling the meeting.

Lily shrugged and moved her seat to the table. Penelope thought she looked uncomfortable, but there wasn’t really anything she could do about it. Not that she would. Han offered her a drink like a good host and she seemed anxiously as they awaited the next arrival.

Slowly, they trickled in. The nymphs and dryads were absent. Tae, from the fae, Stefan from one wereclan, Walter from the other, and, for reasons Penelope couldn’t fathom Stefan had brought the wizard, Bernard.

Bernard called from the doorway. “I can’t get in.”

“Why can’t he get in?” Stefan asked alarmed.

“Because I’ve warded my home against other witches,” Penelope smiled. Her reasoning would be revealed once she told everyone what was going on, but right now it just made her look paranoid. She knew that. Actually, she wasn't sure that she cared that much.

She walked over to the door, drew some glyphs in the air just in front of the wizard, and whispered the incantation to remove just the ward in front of Bernard. He stepped through and she immediately put it back up.

“I thought this was a council meeting," Tao said. "Why are there so many people not on the council here?” He helped himself to the cheese and crackers and grabbed a glass of water.

“I needed Seraphina, because she can help me explain things more clearly. Han is my constant companion, thanks to Stefan.” Penelope shrugged with her explanation.

Stefan tossed Tao a look over his shoulder, as he poured his water. “I brought Bernard to have a magical advisor, since I’m not sure why the witch has called this meeting. I wasn't coming without someone to advise me on this."

“Alright then, we’ll bring the meeting to order.” Tao gestured towards Penelope to let her know she had the floor.

Penelope waited until everyone was at the table, and settled, with cheese, crackers, and drinks. She pulled her clothes straight and leaned forward to address everyone.

"So, as I discussed with Stefan I wanted to get to the bottom of who was poisoning our trees. What we’ve discovered is that the people responsible have control over what they poison. They only made one dryad sick and promised they’d make the rest of her family sick if she didn’t cooperate with them.”

“So, you found the dryads?” Tao leaned forward, still crunching on a cracker, the crumbs bouncing on the table.

“We did, but the bad guys already knew where they are, thanks to the little girl they infected. She was supposed to let them know when we showed up." Penelope looked at the people around the table, one at a time. “At least we think that’s the deal she’s struck because they attacked when we were there.”

“Okay, so who is this foe?” Tao said.

“We only know who one of them is. I’ll let Seraphina explain all of that to you.” Penelope motioned to Seraphina to take over the explanation.

Seraphina started, and, as she was known to do, she paced around the room. “When everything happened with Rytas, I turned against some of my people. One of them was treated especially badly.”

Tao interrupted. “What does this have to do with the sick forest?” The history of their people was not something the fae liked to expose to everyone. Penelope had learned that over time and through becoming friends with Seraphina.

“It’s important my king,” Seraphina said, with more than a little annoyance> She turned and stared at him, stopping her pacing across from him. “Because Lucas is the one who is doing this.”

Lily shook her head, and sat back in her chair. “A fae doesn’t have that much magic.”

Penelope felt as if they were losing the council. There were too many dissenting and disinterested voices speaking out. She made the decision to take over.

“Listen. I’m the witch in the room." She stabbed the table with her finger. "The magic that the fae is using is not his own. There’s a gatekeeper. There’s someone who’s controlling this whole situation. He or she is channeling the little magic you fairies do have into something crazy powerful. It's threatening everything and everyone.”

Lily nearly jumped on to the table and on into Penelope's throat. “I don’t know that we should listen to a witch who basically killed one of our own.” Her tone was a pure accusation. “How do we know she’s not the one doing all of this?”

Penelope bit her lip and tried to calm the rage she felt before it exploded out of her. The screech she unintentionally let out to vent that frustration, caused every door in her house to open and close. The sounds of slamming all around them caused the council to fall silent. They all looked threatened and as though they were going to attack her.

Penelope was under control again, however. She pinned each with a glare. “Listen, I’ve made some mistakes, but I’m trying to tell you what’s happening, so we can fight it together. If you don’t want to listen, then fine! I just thought it might be a good idea to pool our resources and try to work on a solution.” She decided she didn't want to deal with these people anymore.

Penelope stood up and went to her room. There was no reason to try to talk to them anymore. They weren't going to listen, even if she made sense. And all because she'd made a few mistakes in her past. She didn't want to, no--she couldn’t face them for one more minute after her outburst.

As she closed her door she heard Han speak up. She could almost see him leaning on the table.

“You need to listen to her. I’ve been watching her and I was there when Lucas attacked us. He may have only had a vendetta against the fae, but it’s transformed into a vendetta against everyone. Each and every one of you is in serious, serious danger.”

Penelope dragged herself over to the bed. She lay on it, staring at the ceiling. Why did she care? It would be so easy just to leave. Just walk away and only care about her ... It would be so freeing. A defeated sigh passed her lips. She had stayed partly because she was attached to Blue Falls and partly because she wanted the redemption. There was no other reason for her to stay, but that redemption was so, so sweet and tempting.

A light knock on the door preceded Han's entry. “Hey.” He stood over her, his frame blocking her view of the door. He smelled like sandalwood and she wanted to stand up and hug him. “Are you okay?”

Oh. Yeah. There was another pretty damn compelling reason for her to stay. She was still working out what was going on between the two of them. Maybe it was all muddy and confused right now, but she knew she liked whatever it was that was happening. If he wanted to be with her, then she could get on board. The little saboteur in her head tried to tell her he’d just leave her. She squashed it down deep in her brain and told it to sit.

She let out another sigh. “I’m okay. I just can’t handle Lily and Stefan at the same time.” She sat up and he sat beside her.

Leaning over he put his hand on the side of her face, and how nice that felt. He kissed her gently. “You’re a good woman for wanting to help. After the way they treated you, I wouldn’t blame you if you just left.”

Penelope closed her eyes and pressed her forehead against his. “I was honestly just thinking about that now. I mean, what’s the point?”

“I’ll go run everyone off then, and we’ll sit on the couch and have coffee.”

She nodded her head slowly. “That sounds nice.”

Penelope stood up from the bed and started to get in the shower, while her guests saw their way out of her house.

“The ward, Penelope,” Bernard yelled from the front door. She chuckled at the disgust and exasperation in his voice and put her robe. She popped out of her room and quickly removed it for him. He stomped off through the door, and then she quickly reinstated the ward. With a little chuckle, she went back into the bathroom to finish her shower and spent the time thinking about Han and the coffee waiting for her.