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"WHAT DO YOU MEAN we're leaving?" Magnolia stared at her father in disbelief. "We can't leave! There's a newborn army coming in three days, dad! Three days!"

Timothy pinched the bridge of his nose. "No need to shout, I understand," He sighed. "We will be back in time for the fight, it's just a quick trip."

"To London?" Magnolia scoffed. "What is in London that's so important?" She shook her head, beginning to pace around the living room. "What if Elton comes back and we're not here? What if Alice's vision changes and the army comes sooner? What if-"

"Enough!" Timothy shouted, causing Magnolia to jump. "This isn't up for debate. We've been summoned."

Magnolia paused. "Summoned? By who?"

Timothy sighed and shook his head lightly. "The High Council," He was angry, furious — the bottle in his hand now a crumbled piece of plastic. "It was going to happen sooner or later but the timing is..."

"Ironic?" Magnolia offered.

"Yes," Timothy nodded. "Ironic. And Grammy will be coming, as well. I'm sure she'll have lots to tell," He spat angrily. With his arms crossed he stood up. "Go pack. I don't want to hear any more complaining."

Magnolia stared at him for a moment before doing what she was told. She didn't complain or argue, but she sure made a show that she wasn't happy with this.

  The flight was nine and a half hours to London and back. "Even if we make it back in time we'll be too goddamn jet-lagged to fight," Magnolia grumbled next to her mother on the plane.

Ariana wanted to scold her but she knew she was right, but there was nothing any of them could do about being summoned by the High Council — if they didn't agree to comply, they would have been hunted down and taken in against their will — a nine-hour flight was a compromise. "We have to do this, sweetie. It was bound to happen soon. Young sorceress' and sorcerers meet the High Council once they turn eighteen."

"What is this? A cult?" Magnolia laughed in annoyance. She crossed her arms and turned to look out the small window, the sunlight causing her to squint. She sat like that for the rest of the flight.

The walk to the cab was tense. Her grandmother walked ahead of them, her body rigid and head held high. Her father sulked behind the group. He was forced to sit with his mother for the flight and clearly it was not an enjoyable experience. Magnolia hung back until she was walking next to him. "Are you okay?" She whispered.

"Uh-huh," Timothy grunted. In the cab, Magnolia was squeezed in between her mother and grandmother. Everyone stayed silent until they pulled up to an old cathedral.

Grammy was obviously angry. "Follow me. Don't get lost, Magnolia," She had never seen such hate in her grandmother's eyes. Magnolia did as she was told, following closely behind Grammy while Timothy and Ariana walked behind her. The cathedral may have looked old on the outside, but the inside was magnificent — the ceilings were covered in paintings that told the story of how sorcerers came to be and the walls were a sleek quartz, hints of pink and gold scattered throughout it. They stopped at a pair of solid gold doors, two guards stood at each side, their faces covered by smooth black masks that matched their black robes.

No one said a word. They waited for about five minutes until the large doors opened to reveal a large throne room, much different from the rest of the cathedral — just like the men guarding it, the room was overwhelmingly black, but somehow, it was still bright as the white quartz corridors. In the centre of the room were four thrones, at two sat a sorcerer and the other two, sorceresses.

They looked as ancient as how Magnolia imagined the Volturi to be — skin so pale it was almost translucent, their eyes a striking mix of red, gold, and varying degrees of green and blue. Her grandmother and parents dropped to one knee and bowed their heads. Panicked, Magnolia was about to join them, but a deep voice echoed out, "You may stand, child."

When they rose back to their feet, her grandmother stepped forward. "Your highnesses," She bowed to each of them. "May I present my granddaughter, Magnolia Siren," She grabbed hold of Magnolia's wrist and pulled her forward, presenting her to The High Council.

The Council looked between each other and nodded. "Bring her here," A shrill voice beckoned. Grammy nodded vigorously and pushed Magnolia towards them. Hesitantly, she allowed her to. The same sorceress who spoke rose from her seat and moved to examine the young girl. She was beautiful — bright red hair, gold, red, and blue eyes, and skin as white as snow. "Magnolia, yes?" She looked up at Magnolia expectantly.

Magnolia cleared her throat and nodded. "Y-Yes, ma'am."

She moved Magnolia's hair behind her ears and examined her face closely. "Lovely blue eyes," She commented quietly. She mumbled a few more things Magnolia couldn't quite hear as she examined the rest of her. When she finished, she had a satisfied smile on her face. "You will make a fine sorceress, my dear. Now, tell me, what do you plan on doing out of High School?"

Magnolia wasn't sure she was serious at first, but as she inched forward, eager, she obliged. "Well, I'm very good at English. I've gotten into Washington State and a few schools in Vancouver. I want to major in either journalism or teaching."

The Council liked this answer very much. They all mumbled amongst each other and nodded approvingly. The sorceress smiled. "Wonderful. My name is Opal, in case you were wondering," Opal took hold of Magnolia's hand. Magnolia noticed how strangely cold they were. "These are my brothers and sister, Hamish," She pointed to the man on the far right, a big and bulky fellow with the same coloured eyes as she, a black beard and quaffed black hair. "Harry," The man next to Hamish. He was bald and instead of blue speckled in his eyes, there was green. "And Ophelia." The final woman, whose eyes matched Harry's but her long thick hair matched Hamish.

"Hello," Magnolia greeted them meekly. Every one of them her intimidatingly beautiful, yet, something was off. They were almost too perfect. "It is an honour to finally meet you, your highnesses." She bowed her head. She wasn't sure if that was the right thing to do, but they were practically royalty in the sorcerer world, so it felt right.

Opal had taken her seat next to her sister. "Your family is held in high regard by The Council," Hamish's deep voice echoed through the hall, but his mouth did not move. Magnolia tried her best not to act shocked, but she couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. "We expect great things from you, child."

"Oh, don't be so hard on her, Hamish," Ophelia finally spoke. "You're scaring the poor girl. Excuse him, my dear. I know you will be a wonderful sorceress."

"Thank you," Magnolia bowed once more.

"Come forward, Timothy, Ariana, Elizabeth," Once again, Hamish's deep brooding voice echoed in the hall, his hand ushering her family forward. Her mother and father stood on either side of her and her grandmother stood next to her son. "Have you trained her well?"

Timothy nodded. "Yes. Both my wife and I train her alongside the Quileute shapeshifters."

Magnolia could hear her grandmother tut disapprovingly next to him. "Do you not approve, Elizabeth?" Opal spoke up.

Her grandmother's face went pale. "Me? Of course I do. My son is doing a wonderful job!"

Opal raised her perfect eyebrows. "It is not wise to lie to us, Elizabeth. I suggest you explain to The Council what is troubling you or you can be sure there will be repercussions."

Magnolia felt her stomach drop as she looked over at her grandmother. Would she tell them about Jasper? She wondered. What would that mean for the family if The High Council knew that her soulmate was their sworn enemy? Her grandmother's eyes connected with hers and she visibly gulped. There was no getting out of it. "Your highnesses-"

A loud boom cut her off as the large golden doors slammed open and two caped women entered the throne room, two guards flanking them. "Leave us now," One of them spoke to the family as they passed them. Opal looked sadly at Magnolia but nodded — they were dismissed.

It was like a weight was lifted off her shoulders as soon as they exited the cathedral. "Would you have told them?" Timothy turned to his mother. His voice was quiet and shaky. Ariana came over and took Magnolia's hand softly, squeezing it for comfort.

Grammy paused and took a moment to breathe. "What other choice did I have? You can't lie to The High Council, son. I would have...yes," Her head dropped in shame. As much as she hated vampires, she knew telling The Council that would have ruined her granddaughter's life.

"Ugh, I can't believe you!" He cried out in frustration. "You know what telling them would've done to her?" He pointed angrily at Magnolia.

"Of course I do!" She screamed back. A few people on the street paused to look. "I...It would be the right thing to do."

Magnolia had enough. "You keep talking about this, about me, like I'm not standing right here!" Both Timothy and Grammy turned to her, shocked. "Tell me, grandmother, what is so bad that my soulmate is a vampire? As far as I know, having a soulmate is completely normal for sorcerers, expected, even."

Grammy took a deep breath and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Yes, you should have a soulmate. But the odds of that person being a vampire? It's never happened before. It's biologically impossible."

"Not anymore," Magnolia crossed her arms. She felt herself becoming defensive. "Because it's happened. He's my soulmate and I'm his mate." Her breath hitched. Saying that out loud was so definitive. She was his mate.

AUTHORS NOTE
a little shorter than I wanted but we finally got introduced to The High Council!! Sorry this took so long to update, I've been working on some of my other books but I wanted to get this out to y'all