My lips twitch, but I don’t smile. Well, not as widely as I want to, anyway. I shake her hand, inclining my head in agreement. “Perhaps more than in years past.”
“Perhaps.” She squeezes my hand once and lets go, moving on to greet Afsaneh and the others. I greet each member of the Council in turn, glad that Naomi is the last of them. She, at least, I know a little better, and she was Moreau’s protégé, which means I suspect she knows more than most. He has not been seen in London since Vasile and Deacon’s mating, but I do not doubt he keeps abreast of all that is happening here.
“Still going with crai?” Naomi asks. Her dark hair is in braids, and she sweeps them over her shoulder as she glances around the room.
“Vasile was the first of us,” I say. “I will keep the title he provided.”
“Sentimental of you.”
“How are you finding the Council?”
“Around as riveting as you’re finding your new role, I think.” I look at her in surprise, and she grins. “You’ll do a great job, of course. Besides, we’ve just had all that excitement. I’m sure you’ve got a hundred years of calm waters ahead.”
Oh, I doubt that. Naomi’s grin widens as though she does, too, and then she moves on to speak with Elle, who she seems to know better than anyone else here.
The wolves arrive as the hunters drift into the crowd. Vasile meets Deacon by the door, and Deacon turns his attention to his mate for long enough that I know he knows they’re both safe here.
Of course they are. I might not particularly care for the wolves, and I might be saddened that Vasile has left us, but I would never allow them to be harmed.
Deacon approaches, but when I hold out my hand for him to shake, he rolls his eyes and pulls me into a tight hug. I make a surprised sound, and he laughs softly in my ear. “You know you’ll never be rid of him.”
I shake my head as he steps back. He’s scented me, the arsehole, whether he meant to or not. Vasile smiles beside him, acting as though he’s oblivious to anything that’s going on. “I’m sure you can keep him busy.”
Deacon’s gaze instantly heats, eyes sliding over to his mate again. “I have some ideas.”
“So do I, lupul meu,” Vasile murmurs. “But they all require us to remain at this party for at least two hours more.”
Deacon pulls a face—I’m not the only one planning on leaving early—but as my eyes skip over the alphas, their mates, and their seconds behind him, I linger on a stranger.
“Who’s that?”
Deacon doesn’t even glance back. Vasile looks… guilty.
“You didn’t tell him,” Deacon says. A note of glee enters his voice.
“We had enough to discuss today.”
“Moreau might not be here, but the Hunt is still sticking their noses in where they don’t belong,” Deacon says. He waves his hand and the man approaches. He’s human, as far as I can tell, though he holds himself like a hunter.
And if he is in the Wild Hunt… He’s faesomething. Fae-adjacent.
He’s Deacon’s height and build, but Deacon has never possessed the ability to be unremarkable that I think this man might. “Meet Asher,” Deacon says, “my new bodyguard, apparently.”
“Ournew bodyguard,” Vasile says. He sounds amused.
Asher says nothing. He drops his gaze when I look at him, but not in submission. His hands are clasped before him, dark tattoos staining his fingers. Perhaps he is not pleased about—
“Wait,” I say, looking at Vasile again. “Why would I—Where are Rook and Saide?”
Rook and Saide were Vasile’s guards, back before we knew for sure that Tamesis—Vasile’s sire—was out to win him back and destroy all the supernatural creatures in London. Both vampires. Both fae.
I haven’t seen them since the night Tamesis attacked the clan and took Elle, Adam, and me as his prisoners.
“No one has seen them since they left the clan,” Vasile says. “I suspect you’ll have someone else.”
“No, I—” I don’twantanyone watching over me. I don’t want anyone watching me, full stop. “I don’t want that.”
Deacon shakes his head, and Asher makes a sound I cannot interpret. I’m suddenly very aware that we’re holding things up, that the party cannot truly begin until Deacon has moved on and I’m greeting the other alphas.
