“Fine. And it may have crossed my mind that you’d be a great person to talk to on how to handle those motherfuckers who did this. You’re politically astute, but you’re also about the hardline approach to threats.”
She flicked my cheek.
“Ow! What was that for?”
“No more stalkerish tendencies. Do you hear me? You want to know something, you ask me. Same goes for Vaxan and Winter. Ask, hellion.” She clasped my jaw in a death grip, using some of her sexy dragon strength, holding me captive.Mmm.“Understood?” she rumbled, snapping my attention back to her words, and pulling me from how much this from her was turning me on.
I smirked at her. “Understood.”
“Good boy.”
Damn,that was hot spilling from her gorgeous lips.
She released me, then gave a nod. “You’re right, I do favor a hardline approach to threats of this kind. Those that are prejudice wrapped up in the pursuit of power. When these groups lose sight of the humanity in others in favor of a desperate attempt to forcibly claim power, things become twisted beyond repair—it’s how fanatics are born.”
“That’s a more eloquent and nuanced version of what I basically told Vaxan.”
“I know. But Vaxan’s concerns about retaliation are also… nuanced. He’s in a difficult and complicated position. This attack against him can’t be known, but the attack also can’tgo unanswered. But if it’s reported, the reason for it would be noted, how he was taken down would be noted, and word would spread, further endangering him and his people. It would also undercut the Basilisk people trying so hard to acclimate to the supernatural world. It could even set them back, fear of more threats like this driving them underground fully again. It could also make Vaxan look weak, and Excetra Crown as a whole. People don’t always see the details, only that the High Lord Heir was decimated by two regular vampires—not even Ancients. You take the context out of it, and that’s all there is. It could even reinforce Vaxan’s feeling of being a victim, something that a proud being like him won’t handle well. Animal-based species like us never do.” She shook her head sadly. “His instinct will be to retaliate, like an unbearable itch under his skin. The fact he’s stopped himself… it says a lot, Zayn.”
“It says a lot of painful shit. The poor bastard is trapped.”
“Not entirely.”
I cocked an eyebrow. “You just said—”
“I laid out the complications and challenges.” She grinned. “Now come the solutions.”
She just stared at me then.
“What? Aren’t you gonna offer these solutions up?”
She laid her hand on my shoulder. “You already know what to do. You brought me in for bigger picture counsel, because you’re doubting yourself, not trusting your instincts due to all these changes you’re going through. You know, not being a complete asshole anymore?”
“Wow,” I breathed, slapping my hand to my chest.
She leaned in closer and brushed her lips over my cheek. “Just so you know, my instincts want me to hunt down those vampires and rip them to shreds. You’re not alone in that. Just… sometimes things need to be done with a little more—”
“Finesse?”
“Responsibility.”
“Right. Of course. Oops.”
“You’re doing really well.”
“You see it?”
“I do. And Winter does, too. Even with those walls up. He was asking about you before the start of our class today.”
I sucked in a breath as her words hit.He’d been asking about me?“Well,” I said, playing with her soft hair. “I’m gonna be really careful not to let things get to the point of you erecting walls against me next.”
“I don’t need walls.” She thumped her fist on her chest. “This is dragon hide, darling.”
I chuckled. Not exactly what I was getting at. But she knew that, and was kind of absolving me of my worry there in a way only she could. Honestly, she was out there and hilarious, while having all this depth to her too, and her vulnerable curiosity when it came to the sexual side of things. She was… amazing.
Before I could get a word out, she kissed me on the cheek again, then told me, “Reach out to them—or him. Call me later.”
She teleported out in the next second.
