Page 51 of Blood Magic

It was my turn to sigh. I wanted to tell them I didn’t beg for anything, but I wasn’t entirely sure that was true.

“We would like you on our side,” Mr. Olson said. “The council can’t be everywhere, and as you’ve seen, some of the supernaturals in power take advantage of that fact. Some of the larger territories already have er…agents, if you will, in place. We would simply like to recruit you to be Jakeston’s.”

“Agent Silver,” Lilah coaxed. “Be our enforcer.” She leaned toward me. “We’ll even give you a badge. Hmmm?”

Like I was six years old and they were trying to bribe me with lollipops.

“We want the communities to know we’ve hired you,” Nash told me, after glaring at Lilah. “We will officially back you, and with each council protecting you, you can investigate freely the criminal activity of persons such as our own county master. Neither he nor his people will be able to keep you out of his coven, his clubs…” She almost cracked a smile. “Or even his bedroom.”

So they’d heard about me punching Axton in the face.

I narrowed my eyes. “Axton doesn’t care about his council’s rules. He flaunts his lawlessness, and your council isn’t doing shit to stop him.”

“We only interfere when something critical comes to our attention. Now that it has, the vampire council is investigating the county master’s risky and criminal activity.”

“How did it finally come to their attention?” I asked, curious.

“Because,” Mrs. Nash said, “they were investigating you as a potential agent.”

“You people need to be more active and aware of what’s going on with your own groups,” I said.

Each one of them gave me a pointed look. “Exactly what we’re trying to do, Ms. Silver.”

“But Mr. Axton is not for you to worry over right now,” Olson declared.

“Of course I’ll worry over him,” I snapped.

He held up a long finger. “Tomorrow night, you are invited to appear with the council when Mr. Axton is brought before them. It will erase your doubts and give you confidence in the council. We may move slowly, sometimes, Ms. Silver, but we eventually get there. A car will arrive for you at eleven p.m. and will bring you to us. It will be…fun.” His grin was unpracticed and more of a grimace than a smile, but he was trying.

They stood, as one.

“Think over what we’ve told you.” Olson handed me a card and a tiny leather envelope. “The man whose name is on the card will be your handler from the moment you accept the councils’ proposal for…” He shrugged. “For the rest of your life.”

“And the necklace inside the packet will get you into the council meeting,” Lilah said.

Mrs. Nash surprised me by patting my shoulder. “It is a lot to take in. Think about it, discuss it with whomever you please.”

I stared down at the card, slightly numb. “I’ll have to talk to my alpha,” I murmured.

“Ms. Silver,” she said, smiling slightly, “an alpha cannot have an alpha, now can she?”

I frowned. “What?”

Something quick and furtive flashed through her eyes, and she shrugged. “If you help us police the groups, there is certainly one alpha you will no longer need to fear.”

Fucking Adam Thorne.

It was that fact, more than anything, that might make me say yes to the councils’ offer. What better protection for my mother and me if I was the councils’ wolf?

The three of them trailed out of my house and left me staring after them, baffled and uncertain but with a tiny thrill of excitement curling through my body.

They were offering me power.

And I liked power.