“That’s...”
“Genius, I know.” A rush of excitement goes through me, especially as we flick to the next set of images and I find the perfect one.
“What happens if he turns up at the same meeting as you do?” Seb asks.
I scoff. “I’m not worried about that. I’ll just have to persuade him not to.”
Seb raises an eyebrow. “Are you planning on threatening this guy? He looks like he could be my great-grandpa, Ro.” He clicks about a bit and then sighs. “Although it sounds like he doesn’t turn up to most meetings, so you might be good there.”
“Cosmo Maverick,” I read the guy’s name. Sounds pretentious enough for an Archarcan. He’s got a twirly mustache and a long beard down to his belly along with a twinkle in his eye.
Yeah, I think his face will suit me very well.
Later that week, I’m sitting round a conference room table, staring down at my belly in the midnight blue robes I’m dressed in. My fingers thread through my silky beard and I fight the urge to braid it to give me something to do.
Twenty minutes into my first attempt to infiltrate an Archarcan council meeting and I’mbored.They keep twaddling on about permits and other stuff my brain can’t even process because it’s so damn dull.
There are twelve of them sitting around the table. There’s also a woman in the corner, making notes on a laptop with asurly look on her face. Around the table are a mixture of mages and witches, and—to my surprise—a vampire.
Not just any vamp, either. It’s someone I recognize—Zeph’s stepfather. The creep who we try to have as little to do with as possible.
Imayhave blundered slightly when I first spotted him.
“What are you doing here?” I croaked in my best impersonation of what Cosmo Maverick might sound like, considering I’ve never met the guy.
Ididgo all the way to his house to do my research, but once I was at the door—illusioned up as another vaguely fancy looking mage and not as myself—the butler informed me that Cosmo Maverick wasn’t in the city and had gone on vacation for the rest of the month. Probably somewhere to soothe his old bones because the guy is positivelyancient.Something that’s working in my favor. I could probably fall asleep during this meeting and they’d not think it weird.
But I’ll hold strong. I’m here with a purpose, after all.
“Our vampire liaison, Mr. Malcolm Volkov,” the mage opposite me says.
The witch beside me leans in close, speaking directly into my ear. “We’ve remained with our current liaison. The alternatives were judged to be inappropriate and changing the liaison at this time is untenable.”
She smells vaguely like mothballs and I try not to cringe away, instead shooting her a grin and a wink, which causes her to suck in a surprised breath.
Shit. Better tone down my natural magnetism and general sexiness, or I’ll blow my cover.
I realize I’ve tuned out of the conversation and when I focus once again; I find they’ve shifted topic. To what, I’m not exactly sure.
“I told you all, didn't I? If we give the dogs enough of a leash, they’ll hang themselves eventually,” a crusty-looking mage sputters. “The events of the Solstice and the subsequent chaos inthatparticular part of the city are evidence of that. A few more weeks and the entire district will fall. You mark my words.”
“And then the entire city will fall under our jurisdiction once again. Now that we no longer have Felix Hawkshead meddling in our affairs, things will be much simpler.”
“The events of the Solstice,” I repeat in my best old man's voice. “The fires in the Nexus District, you mean?”
The crusty mage frowns at me. “And, of course, theotherevents of that night.”
“Events we agreed not to refer to again,” an equally crusty witch replies snippily.
It takes me a moment for their meaning to sink in. “You think that people from Nexus released the zombies?”
There’s a general chastising hiss and a dozen recriminating frowns are sent my way.
“Lord Maverick, if you please. We agreed after the first meeting following the events ofthat nightthat the Solstice was not to be discussed, along with the balderdash theory thatzombieswere roaming the city. Disinformation is a dangerous thing,” the crusty mage says.
Huh, turns out I’m a Lord, which seems fitting. Maybe I should get everyone to call me Lord Roscoe from now on.
It also sounds like the Archarcans have gaslit themselves into believing that Nexus is to blame for the zombies.
