“We have to do something quickly!” Michael Thomas of the Warehouse district intones. “The shadows rise every day, gaining a foothold for the masses. I don’t understand how they are wandering undetected aroundourcity!”
“I agree,” says his brother Kellan, from Algiers Point.
“We have to keep a more level head about this. We are the council and he is our Re.” I raise my voice above the growing panic. “We can’t be here yelling and frantic like school children. Whatever this is, we will get to the bottom of it. We will extinguish it and move on.” I plead with them to control themselves. “You are not in need of parenting, start acting as though we have thousands of years of military and strategic history between us and cut the hysterics down to a minimum. Honestly, I have never met more dramatic people than the lot of you.”
An outraged gasp escapes a few council members. I lookaround me and find the faces of those who still haven't spoken, trying to get a read on their thoughts.
Talia sits contemplatively, her hands steepled under her chin.
Victor and Darius, stoic, flank Marcus.
Mother watches everything unfold with a supernatural stillness, the kind of stillness that makes you nervous.
Celina Fallon of the Treme, and Domingo from Mid-City, are the only others who haven’t said anything. Their silence feels weighty.
“I will decide our course of action,” Marcus finally cuts through the quiet that has descended after my scolding. “Sebastien is right, of course. We need to keep a level head and do what is best for our city, and our lives.”
Talia mumbles under her breath.
“Something to add Talia, or are you disrespecting me for entertainment?” Marcus demands of her.
“No, Re, I was remarking to myself that of course theprincipeis right, he always is.” The disdain in her voice isn’t veiled, it is outright hostile. “It would have been helpful if he had added anything meaningful during the last couple of months, but we are all surely grateful he has graced us with his esteemed presence today.”
“Alright, that's enough. You’re all dismissed.” Marcus waves his hand. “Except you,nipote, you’ll stay,” he adds, as he levels me a look that brooks no argument. I keep my seat. I notice my mother has also kept hers.
“Bash, what the hell is happening with you. You’ve been absent from nearly every meeting since May. There have been multiple reports of you lying on beaches and hanging out in clubs with human women. You are permitted to do whatever you want, with whoever you want obviously,” he studies me, “but to completely disappear into the humanworld as soon as you arise is distinctly out of character for you. We gave you the summer to ‘sow your wild oats’ or whatever it is that you’re doing, but you are a member of theCasa del Corvo di Sangueand you have responsibilities to us. You can not continue to act as though you are not an important member of the leadership. You’re not human. Stop pretending to be.”
I glance over at my mother, expecting her to step in. She does not look pleased by the reprimand being leveled on me. I thought we had come to an understanding that Elina is my now, and if she is ever to be my future, I need to devote time to cultivating this relationship. It appears she has not passed that information along to Marcus.
I sit back in my chair, my posture relaxed. I’m not a threat but I am also not threatened.
“Uncle, I have found someone.” He looks at me incredulously, as though he knows what is coming but refuses to believe it. “A human woman. Mother knows all about her, has even met with her a few times in the last couple of months.”
He swings his head in mother’s direction and she has the good sense to stay quiet while looking sufficiently contrite.
“What do you mean you ‘have found someone’? Someone what? She’s a human? Her life is as easily snuffed out as a candle flame. She is growing old by the minute. What do you mean, Sebastien?” He questions me with the authority of his office, not as my uncle. “I am Re. Anyone you are considering as a partner, or to take thelegame, must be discussed with and approved by, me.”
Mother sits up. “Marcus, human emotions are different from ours. Less driven by instinctual need and slower to develop. He has been courting her since April, but only in the last month or so is he drawing her closer to being serious about their future. He means to spend the rest of her life by herside.” Mother tells him, doubt coloring her tone, like she can’t believe I am doing this either. “I didn’t tell you as there-”
“Stop, Vespera. I don’t want excuses why you didn’t tell me. I don’t want droning monologues about their love or whatever it is you are telling me. I should have been informed if there was anything going on besides you fucking and feeding on some human whore from the Quarter.”
I flinch, not only at his tone, but that he has reduced Elina to something she is not, and never will be.
“She isn’t a whore and it isn’t that simple. I’m in love with her. I am choosing her. Sheismy future, Marcus.”
“The hell you are! Not without my approval you’re not!” He roars at me, the glass trembling in the windows. “I make the rules, you don’t choose, I do! If you want her, you will present her to me. Friday night. You will bring her here and you will present her to the court. I will decide.” His voice rings with finality, fury, and I have no choice but to comply. “Get out.”
