“The problems are now gone,” he drawled. “People were still on the fence and didn’t want to go after—they’re dead. The traitors on the council.”
“Yay.”
He snorted. “Unfortunately, several ancients want to rotate in on meetings. Not vote and be directly involved, but—seeing how many other councils came after you…”
“They have a conscience?” I didn’t mean to sound confused, but I was.
“You showed them something they never thought possible in Germany.Ididn’t even know we were that accepted and protected in Germany. It always sounded like along the same lines as in the US,” he explained. “And other councils were willing to risk that—destroy it spreading because you upset the wrong people or they were jealous.
“Over a dozenvery ancientvampires came out of the shadows and made it clear that your council pulled off a miracle by forming and now what they’ve learned in Germany. Also, to not mess with it or die painfully. It was quite the—statement isn’t a strong enough word.”
“Okay, cool, but you guys were already on our side. I’m missing the—”
He chuckled darkly. “You really think they only came toourcouncil? They care for no council authority. Why would that only apply to vampires?”
I slowly blinked at him for at least a full minute.
“Are you saying…”
“Yes, you made an impact, just not the one you wanted.”
“Then why are you so tense if that’s a good thing?”
He ran his tongue over his teeth and focused past me. “Because some things are better left buried. Some things you never want interested in you. I’m not saying it’s bad, I’m saying…”
“Be on guard. I’ve drawn attention even if it was needed to do something?” I offered.
His gaze snapped to mine. “Yes. I know you are extraordinary, and I adore that about you, but I hope you are less interesting for a while.”
“Are you telling this to Elijah?” I hedged.
“No, I was specifically told not to share it with your council. I’m telling Sloan,” he muttered.
Fair enough. “How worried are you?”
He didn’t respond for several minutes, which made me anxious, but then met my gaze. “Be less interesting, darling.”
So very, but he had nothing concrete. He was going off instinct and couldn’t justify it all.
“Message received, and thank you for making sure I did,” I told him, nodding when he seemed relieved. It was hard to involve yourself in this sort of thing.
I knew that well from the twins even. Nothing was ever easy.
But I didtrulyappreciate him making sure I was warned.
“How would you handle the situation?” I asked when he seemed like he wanted to wrap up.
“Ignore it.” He nodded when I couldn’t hide my shock. “You keep your focus where it needs to be and help all of us. Just know you’re probably always being watched and watch your back. Not everyone wants progress. That’s my fear.”
Not all of the good scary ass very powerful ancients were emerging to see what was going on.
No, some of the bad too. Yeah, made sense.
I thought about it a lot and even pushed my feelings into the work we were doing. I let out a lot of… Angst into the choreography I developed the next few days.
And I picked the songs that could help me to do that.
Halsey’s “Bad at Love.”
