ThirteenNights by Sabrina Garie

a rejection of Annie’s
outreached hand.
    “He’s also right, Marta. Let me show you.” She popped out of
bed and dug out Phoebe’s research. “Look at this, really look at it. The Elders
suppressed it, but the numbers don’t lie. If we don’t change, the warrior races
will die out.”
    Marta threw it away without a glance. “No, Antiope. I won’t
be swayed. The warriors do not need a new way forward, they need to recommit to
the old ways. We are at a fork, you must choose.”
    A fork in time. Sylla’s words. Her decision now might
decide the fate of the warriors. Tai’s love wrapped around her—a psychic
embrace. He was projecting, trusting her empathy to pick it up—loving and
accepting all that she was. “Yes, I must choose. I choose a new way forward. My
empathy will never allow me to give up my man…or my child.” There, it was out.
Now what did they do? By telling her sister, Annie threw the gauntlet, blew the
horn of battle. Instead of months to figure it out, they had hours, maybe a
day.
    Marta’s face hardened, her lips thinned she was clenching
them so tightly. “If you are indeed pregnant, I am duty-bound to bring you
home.”
    Before Annie could blink, Marta tried to grab her but Tai
was too fast. Off the bed, he had Marta pinned on the floor, face smashed to
the wood, her hands behind her back in a steel grip. “Get me some rope, twine,
anything to tie her up with. We can’t let her contact the Elders until we get a
head start.”
    “Bastard runt. You’ve corrupted my sister.” Marta cursed
into the floorboards and bucked but could not break Tai’s hold.
    In a flash, he had Marta tied up, mouth taped, and in the
corner with a TV on. They dressed as quickly and headed out. “We’ll have
someone get you as soon as we’re safe,” Annie promised. “For whatever it’s
worth, we truly believe we’re doing this for the good of our people.”
    Tai’s computer and Phoebe’s research in hand, they got in
Annie’s car. “What now, game-changer? How do the two of us take on the Elders?”
Annie asked, a smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. Homeless and at sea,
she’d never felt so alive. Choosing to be with Tai, to make an attempt to
create family, gave the warrior a personal war and a purpose. Bring it on,
Elders. She was ready for a fight.
    “We go to Neutral Ground.”
    * * * * *
    They entered the club, three hours before it was scheduled
to open. The aroma of freshly ground coffee, cinnamon scones and blueberry
muffins tantalized Annie’s senses. Sylla had dragged her pastry chef in early
that day and greeted them as if they’d been on her calendar for months.
    “Expecting us, old friend?” Annie asked after she chugged
several mouthfuls of coffee Sylla had shoved into her hand.
    “Of course. What I don’t know is what I need to do after you
eat breakfast.”
    Annie quickly explained the events of the past eleven days,
hoping Sylla had some insights as to what they could do. Her networks were
global, and given the unique role of Neutral Ground in the pantheon universe,
she’d cultivated an extraordinary knowledge of supernatural rules and
regulations. If anyone could help them plot a course of action, Sylla topped
the list.
    “You have one best option. Present your case to the Council
of Pantheons Tribunal—it is the only body that can overrule your Elders without
any avenue for appeal.”
    “That body passes judgment only when it crosses pantheon
lines. We’re both subject to the Greek gods.”
    “Tai hacked the database and allowed a breeding that was
forbidden by the Amazons because of your unique heritage, for which he is
subject to death. The Gargareans have no such problem with the coupling. Under
their law, Tai is a warrior so any male child he fathers is a warrior too. For
that alone a tribunal is justified.” Annie wrapped an arm around Tai. With him
by her side, she felt no fear for the future. Not like when she’d been brought
to an Elder tribunal by her