“I won’t say it doesn’t happen, but it is quickly and violently shut down. We Houses make the rules, and we take steps to see that those rules are followed.”
He was offering to take me and Grandma in, along with Quinten, to save my property, and to let us keep our property, which would let us keep House Brown connected and strong. And he would do it all without putting me under the knife to find out what stitched me together.
“What about House Brown’s voice?” I asked.
“One world-altering step at a time,” he said. “That is a longer battle. But I will sign contracts and begin programs and legislation to see that House Brown can gain recognition.”
Not exactly a yes.
“If I don’t accept?”
“I’ll do what I can for you. But the Houses are powerful. If enough of them join together against House Gray, they will make it . . . difficult to act in your favor, since galvanized don’t technically fall under human laws, and therefore don’t fall under my jurisdiction. I’m sorry,” he added. “It is the way of it.”
“I still don’t know what you get out of this.”
He smiled, lines pressing out from beneath his glasses. “You give me your allegiance and you give me your help.”
“Help for what?”
“Taking my brother out of the line of House Gray rulership.”
15
They were urban myth—the immortal creatures living among us. Killing machines that were sent to depose governments and dictators. But they were not a myth.—1990
—from the journal of L.U.C.
“You have gotten the wrong idea about me, Mr. Gray,” I said. “I am not an assassin.”
“I don’t think you’re an assassin,” he said calmly.
“I’m not going to kill your brother.”
“I don’t want you to kill my brother.”
“You just told me to take him out of the picture.”
“Wars aren’t always won with bullets, Miss Case.” He tipped his head, waiting to see if I’d ask the next question.
“All right,” I said. “How is your war won?”
“Through your allegiance to House Gray, and to me, in particular,” he said with a smile. “This unrest my brother has engineered is just enough to depose my position. I would rather serve out my years and pass the House into more stable hands than those of my brother.”
I pushed my hair back from my face. “I’m sorry,” I said, “I’m sure this all makes sense, but it’s late and I’ve had a long day. I still don’t understand what you want.”
“I want you to agree to ten years, signed to me. Not to House Gray, but to me, Oscar Gray, so long as I am head of House Gray.”
“You want me to become your personal slave?”
“Not at all. I want your allegiance.” He pressed his fingertips against his mouth, then lowered his hands and crossed his arms. “House rulership is a messy combination of in-house and out-of-house support and politicking. The perception of power is almost as important as power itself. If you claim me as House Gray, it will prove that I am powerful. It will also secure my position as the only House to discover a modern galvanized.
“I will be the only House besides House Blue to have more than one galvanized on my payroll. That will silence those who think me incompetent, end the lies my brother has been spreading, and prove—clearly—that I am the one who should remain in this position.”
“So, owning me solves your problems?”
He chuckled. “Not at all. My problems are endless. After all, I am the man in charge of managing the most difficult of resources: humans.” He tipped his head to glance over his glasses. “Also, I’d prefer if you didn’t think of it as ownership, because it won’t be.”
“Galvanized have no human rights,” I said. “How would you prefer I think of it?”
