Seamus smiled with a subtle little pride. “That would be my new sireling and son, Zackery, the Blade in the Night.”
An epithet? Already? Though Zack could think at a quicker speed, the idea of it caught him off guard, and he failed to hide his surprise from the others. He loved the sound of the Blade in the Night. He felt dangerous with the moniker. But crests and epithets had to be earned, didn’t they? Yet Seamus was just dumping prestige onto him.Because if he’s going to claim me as his son, then I have to be special. Otherwise, he looks weak.
While the others were older, not all of them had perfectly schooled reactions. Zack saw flickers of surprise and anger flash across their faces.
A glint of pride shimmered in Seamus’s mottled red and blue eyes before he turned his attention back to the monitors before him. Xenofon schooled his features into an unreadable mask. Except for Marcus, no one else seemed to care that Zack was now in the room.
Marcus was a pasty vampire who was clearly trying too hard to look like a badass since he was dressed in black leathers. Everyone else at the meeting was dressed in more casual business fashion, including Anton. Marcus’s shoulder-length brown hair was styled a lot like Roger’s, though the color wasn’t nearly as interesting, and while his hazel eyes had a range of color, they seemed the most boring shade of green Zack had ever seen.
Focusing on him made finding his pop-ups in the mess recurring in Zack’s mind a little easier, but figuring outwhathe was reading from the other vampire was still a struggle. But then Marcus locked eyes with him, and it became clear.
He wants me dead. Zack lifted an eyebrow. Marcus was the vampire who ran Steward’s Garden, where he placed mind-controlling gray bands onto innocent mortals’ arms. Zack slid his hands into his pockets and imagined using his new abilities to rip Marcus into tiny pieces. And the reassuring thing was that he possessed that kind of power. Winning a fight wasn’t as theoretical as it had been.Blade in the Night. I can live up to that.
“Zackery is correct,” Seamus said with an authoritative note. “The Decatur Pack does not spread its lycanthropy. Furthermore, I’m inclined to believe that you’ve suggested to the Champaign wolves that they invade the territory.”
“Master, I haven’t?—”
“Dempsey?” Seamus said.
Dempsey, a vampire with deep brown skin and who looked absolutely bored in the proceedings, lifted a folder. His suit was a pale purple that reminded Zack of the fading sunlight just before twilight claimed the sky. “The Ardent Circle of Southern Illinois performed a divination for us on one of the newly turned wolves. A member of the Champaign Pack of the Woods was responsible.”
“That doesn’t mean thatI—” Penelope began.
“You either have control of your wolves, or you’re letting them run wild. If they are wild, rein them in,” Seamus snapped. “We cannot afford for them to jeopardize other allegiances. Is that understood, Penelope?”
“Yes, master.”
“We have confirmation of four new wolves. You will pay Mathias four million dollars.”
“Master!”
Seamus slammed his hand on the table. “Complain again and I will grant Jordan’s request for consolidation and absolve you of your responsibilities. Potentially relieve you of more than that.”
Penelope looked down.
“Penelope will pay four million to Mathias. Mathias, you are to use that money to make amends with the Whetstone Pride. If I discover you’ve built another donor house with it, I will have it burnt to the ground.”
“I understand, master,” Mathias said.
“Let’s take a ten-minute break,” Seamus said. “At that point, we’ll begin with Benedict and Leopold. If the two of you are bickering over whether or not Indiana 39 is a terrible boundary again, I will take those beautiful twins from you.”
“I assure you, master, that’s not our concern,” one of the vamps on a monitor said.
“Good.” Seamus hit a button, and the screens went dark. He gestured at the archway. “Refreshments are across the hall, as usual.”
The others rose and bowed their head toward Seamus before moving toward the exit. Zack took a step out of their way, then realized that Seamus probably meant him to leave, too, and started to go after Candide.
“Not you, Zackery. We need to have a word,” Seamus said.
A sinking feeling dropped Zack’s confidence into his toes. Too many times in the past, he’d thought he’d given a right answer only for one of his elders to get upset that he’d interrupted them. Cal had been extremely dismissive of Zack’s knowledge.You don’t know what you’re doing, Zack. You haven’t been out in the field.
Takashi flashed Zack a quick, warm smile before leaving with the others.
Alone with his sire once more, Zack fought to keep his expression neutral.I have every right to be pissed at him. He fucking murdered me. He put his hands behind his back and clasped one with the other so he didn’t make a fist in plain sight.
“Was he a pleasant surprise?” Seamus asked without looking at Zack. Instead, he seemed more interested in his tablet.
Zack glanced at the archway. Voices carried in this tomb of a home, and he didn’t need anyone else learning his secrets and manipulating him. He closed the distance and sat in Anton’s seat so that he could drop his voice to its softest volume. “Fuck. You.”
