Her First Mistake

Chapter Forty-Six: Should be Easy to Get Past You, Right?

   Finding the City Hall wasn't hard. It was one of the oldest buildings in the square and the words city hall were etched into the stone above the big doors. Tate caught my arm before I could march up the steps. He pointed at the two people chatting beside it and whispered in my ear, "Those are Enforcers. The woman is an elf. She's got about ten knives hidden across her person. The man is a shifter. I think he's a species shifter. Likely some sort of feline. But they're surveying every person that goes in there. The moment you walk past, every Enforcer in Anchorage will know you're in town, if they don't already."

   In other words, if I was going to cause a scene, it was going to be pretty hard to after this point. I looked both Enforcers up and down. "Think they're a threat?"

   "Not yet, because they can both hear us whispering. They can hear your words, but not mine. They didn't respond to your question, so they clearly don't think you're going to do anything."

   Oh, right. Neutrals got screwed over when it came to good senses. Practically everyone else had incredible hearing and sense of smell. I grunted. "Right. Thanks." Tate nodded and leaned away. I resumed my walk and moved up the steps. I outright glanced at the two as I walked in. If Tate hadn't said anything, I wouldn't have guessed they were Enforcers. Their postures were relaxed. As my eyes grazed over them, the male's spine straightened somewhat.

   Tate held open the door. As his arm moved, there was a glint of metal from the chain around his neck. The elf clearly saw it because her eyes narrowed a little. As the doors closed, Tate smiled and murmured, "She saw my trainee tag. She'll know I'm honorable. By looking directly at them, your body language screamed that you don't consider them a threat and that you wanted them to see you. Hopefully showing my trainee tag will have relaxed them a bit."

   "Nice move." I surveyed the room. Our voices echoed somewhat. The floors were marble and two marble columns held up the ceiling on either side of the door. The room opened further into two hallways on either side of a large desk. Someone sat behind the desk, their head bowed down. 

   I walked right up and tapped the bell. The girl had bright blue and green hair. Candy Crush was open on her phone. She looked up and all color drained from her face. "Holy shit. You're the girl from the newspaper."

   Well, that was fast. I arched an eyebrow. She scrambled to sit upright and straightened her tag. It said her name was Lila. Tate whispered in my ear, "Bird shifter." I nodded to acknowledge that I'd heard him. Though I didn't know why it was relevant. Lila cleared her throat and turned off Candy Crush. "What are you here for?"

   "I want to talk to the Council."

   Lila reached over and grabbed a clipboard. "Here are the only openings. The first is in three days. Can I sign you up for the first?"

   "No. I'm not waiting that long. I'm going to see them today."

   She looked up at me, her eyes narrowing. "That's not possible. You should have set up a hearing a few weeks ago if you wanted to get in today. Their schedules get booked up months in advance."

   My lips twisted into a bland smile. "You'll have to make an exception."

   "I can't do that."

   "Not even for me?" 

   Tate seemed to sense how my innocent tone was borderline malevolent. His fingers brushed my arm in a warning. I ignored it. Lila leaned back in her chair and her hand rested on the desk. Her entire posture had become wary. "Not even for you. Just because you're famous doesn't mean I can let you in. Sign up for a hearing in three days, or don't sign up at all. But I don't get to let you in because you want to."