“I learned from the best,” I said with a smile.
Soren watched us carefully, his muscles tensed to move if we exploded.
Caelan’s laugh is sharp and cutting. “I vote to strip Rowan of his Lordship.”
“Thank the gods,” Rowan said.
A surprised laugh bubbled from my throat. I glanced at him. He’s handsome and mussed and wearing an exasperated expression. “They can’t have the land even if they strip me of power. My family owns all 1,500 acres.”
Ethan’s eyes widened. Ben, who’s remained silent the entire time, bursts out laughing. Thorvin rubbed his hands over his face, and Soren grinned like the Cheshire cat.
Caelan looked like he was about to explode.
“No one knew?” I asked him.
“Nope.” To the others, he spread his hands out. “Please do it but know my people will rebel against anyone else you try to assign. You will not be allowed to reside anywhere on my property. Good luck being a Lord for a land you can’t enter.”
Ethan sighed and sat back down. “You won’t get off so easily, Rowan. We have no intention of stripping your titles away.” Then he looked at Caelan. “Your outbursts grow tiring. Evie hasmade some good points. If what she says is true, we are all in danger.”
“I’m not,” Rowan gloated.
“Keep rubbing it in,” Soren grumbled.
“Dario has the right to challenge you for the territory,” Caelan said to Rowan.
I rolled my eyes. “He has the right to challenge us both. The territory belongs to us both.”
Dario glanced at me. I smile and let a bit of the Chimera roll over my irises.
The wannabe Lord blanched and threw his hands up. “Yeah. I’m out.” Dario shoved his chair from behind and stalked out the door, muttering something to himself in Spanish that sounded vaguely like “un montón de hijos de puta locos.”
I didn’t know Spanish, but I was positive the words meant something like, “these people are too well-adjusted and normal for me to ever fit in here.”
No one said a word for a long moment after the door slammed. Ethan was the first to break. His long-suffering sigh almost made me laugh. The Lord sagged against his seat and muttered, “I owe you an apology.”
I blinked. Was I hallucinating? Why were the Lords being so reasonable today?
Ethan drew a long breath. “Things were as normal as they could be until we got involved in your life. We should have stayed out of things.” He shot a dark look at Caelan. “Allof us. Everything that happened afterward was the result of our meddling, and that led to both unforeseen and unfortunate consequences.” Our eyes met. “We threatened you and violated your privacy and brought our wrath down upon your head, and as such broke our own rules about staying out of a private citizen’s life.”
The other Lords watched him, surprise on their faces. Though Caelan still looked pissed off, which seemed his usual state these days.
“Though we do not know each other well, I now believe everything you did was caused by what we did to you first, and for that you have my sincere apology, for I spearheaded much of the antagonistic attitude toward you.”
“Are you alright?” I blurted.
Ethan snorted and rubbed his eyes. “I am tired of fighting, of this strife, of alienating people for no godsdamned reason. And now you are mated to one of our own. Or close to it. Our behavior has been egregious, but now, if everything you say is true, we require your help. You are well within your rights to deny us, though your presence and offer is a good show of faith since we all know you could easily strip our lands from us if you truly wanted. Not all of us are young. Some of us remember your ancestors and their claim on this world. We know who could hold our chains once more if we keep going the way we have been. I have treated you the worst, and all I can do now is apologize and tell you I will do my best to change my ways. I am not your enemy, nor do I want to be. I ask that you allow us to cast our vote to accept or deny your help, in private, and, in return, you allow this autonomy and do not try to take our property by force.”
I stared at him, stunned by his words, never expecting this mea culpa from Ethan of all people. Silence drew out. Caelan’s rage was palpable. Soren seems unaffected. Ben and Thorvin looked at Ethan with new respect. And Rowan seemed stoic, but I could feel a hint of the chaos of his emotions through our link.
There’s only one thing I could say. “Very well.” I rose and walked to the door. To my surprise, Rowan followed.
“I already voted.” He winked and held the door open for me.
We walked back to the lobby bar and reclaimed our table. “Do you think he’ll stab us in the back?” I blurted.
Rowan’s face is contemplative. “No. Ethan is an asshole a lot of the time, but he is a man of his word.” He scrubbed a hand over his cheek and chuckled. “I’m surprised by this turn of events. I thought things would go much worse.”
“Me too,” I admitted.
