Trent hid a smile, and I picked through my dinner to find a water chestnut. “I’m in jail because I choose to be. You don’t think that performance in Fountain Square was anything other than to get the media’s attention and you in front of me, do you? It’s safe here, and the food’s better than at Alcatraz.” I looked up, allowing a sliver of my irritation to show. “Ever try it, Ollie? It’s got this really tasty spice in the saturated fats.”

Oliver frowned, and Trent interrupted with a brusque “Listen to the woman, or this will take all day. She’ll make it quick, and then you can spout off all you want.”

Expression cross, the witch leaned back in his chair, and I eyed Trent, thoughts of his Pandora charm and the deal with Nick making me tense. His words about me being honorable had been a surprise, and I’d swear he hadn’t known about the bug before then. But lying was one of his skill sets. Bringing my conflicted gaze from Trent, I pointed my chopsticks at Oliver. “I want my shunning removed and the threats to my person stopped.”

He huffed, tugging his sleeves, making his cuff links twinkle. “That action requires a full quorum, which we won’t have until the next public meeting and we reestablish our number.”

Public meeting … the witches’ conference? Nice stall. “Give me something,” I said, “or my next conversation will be with the press and it will come out that not only does a schism exist in the coven, but that some of you are corrupt and summon demons.”

“We’re not corrupt!” Oliver exclaimed, making Trent wince. “No one will believe you!”

My eyebrows rose. “Talk to Brooke lately?”

Oliver’s bluster evaporated. Honestly, they needed to pick these people more carefully. He might be a crackerjack witch, but he was telegraphing his entire thought process, and my estimation of the coven dropped more.

“I didn’t know what she was doing,” Oliver said slowly. “And Vivian, as a minor coven member, had her hands somewhat tied. Brooke has been officially shunned, stripped of rank.”

I dug into my subgum, saying, “Good thing she’s in the ever-after, or you’d brick her in the ground alive, huh? Who’d ever think being a demon’s lackey would be a good thing?”

Looking up, I caught Oliver’s shocked look. “We will deny everything,” he said, and Trent sighed loudly. “The words of a shunned witch are unheard!”