Going Under Read Online Free Page B

do it, but they’ve not been
     unscathed.”
    They were sidetracking her, Molly realized. “They’re muddying her message.”
    “She needs a public relations whiz, clearly.” Her mother gave her the side eye.
    And then she sat back as Meriel Owen continued to be directed off the topic only to
     fruitlessly try to get back on track. “She totally does.”
    * * *
    GAGE stood off to the side, gaze flitting around the studio. Meriel had received a death
     threat just that morning. He’d advised against the appearance, but Meriel did what
     she wanted. Especially when she felt it was important.
    She’d finished her interview and he cleared the exit, checking in with the people
     posted outside to bring the car around.
    “You ready?” He took position in front of her, blocking anything that might come their
     way.
    “Dumbasses,” she muttered. “Yes, yes, let’s go.”
    Lark was there as well, and she got them all out to the newly armored car Meriel and
     Dominic now had to use.
    “I don’t think that guy likes you much.” Lark meant the interviewer who’d treated
     Meriel like she was overreacting, while simultaneously making her feel as if it was
     the fault of Others for remaining in the closet about their identities.
    They drove through a large protest of PURITY members, who banged on the car as they
     did.
Decent
of them.
    “He was photographed at a PURITY fund-raiser just a few days ago. So no, I doubt he
     likes me much. Which makes us even. Because I think he’s a scum-sucking pig.”
    Dominic Bright, Meriel’s husband, grunted, kissing his wife’s hand as he kept his
     gaze on the fracas outside.
    Lark gave him a look when Gage moved a hand to the window toggle. He really wouldn’t
     have rolled it down, but he wanted to.
    “Ignore them.” Meriel shook her head.
    “I’m ignoring my impulses, Boss.”
    Lark laughed a moment but quit on an intake of breath. She’d been shot multiple times
     just a few weeks before as they’d fought off the Magister and its minions. So had
     Gage. Lark had been in the hospital for several days and was still healing. She liked
     telling everyone she was too stubborn to die and too pressed to let anyone stop her
     from doing her job.
    Gage believed every word.
    There was a counter-protest just across the street, which gave him hope, even in such
     a dark time. Not all humans were bad and wanted to kill them. The humans out there
     protesting in support of Others could be the majority if they played it right. But
     it was hard to play anything when every single Other on the planet had lost someone
     when the Magister manifested itself. Hard to be smart and rational when they were
     getting firebombed and picketed and attacked.
    PURITY had picketed his uncle’s funeral. The thought of it still outraged him.
    Meriel spoke again, her voice strong and sure. “We need to continue a presence out
     there, keep going. Keep our message in the public eye. We’re going to get a few hits
     over it. But that interviewer in there can’t scare me.”
    Like so many others, Meriel had suffered a loss due to the Magister. Her mother, an
     incredibly powerful witch and the former Owen, had been assassinated just moments
     after Edwina had aided in shoving the Magister out of their world. Meriel had been
     trying to get her life back on track, but it’d been difficult when all this external
     stuff kept happening. When she had to go to funerals and meet with Clan members who’d
     been outed and faced problems keeping jobs and relationships.
    Gage had been giving self-defense courses, along with Lark, to their membership. First
     it had been to protect against the bands of mages who’d been bent on stealing their
     magick. But that had been before the Magister. Now it was also about protecting themselves
     from violence and intimidation from the humans like those in PURITY.
    And they’d grown more adept at using their power. All of them had. His powers seemed
     to have