Chapter 183

Charles

I headed down the stairs, shaking out the nerves and finding a bit of peace.

“There should be an Eva coming to Silverlight. She’ll want to see Ryon. Let her through, but do your best to figure out who she is.”

The lead Enforcer nodded. I walked to the meeting hall to meet Lucian. I stopped at the door and turned back to him.

“Let me borrow a set of your enchanted cuffs.”

He frowned but handed them over. Just as I was prepared to enter, my phone rang. I answered it, knowing that it was most likely Grace.

“You could have said,” she sounded like she was outright pouting.

“Said what?”

“That no one would work on a Noir-designed system.” She growled. “I can’t imagine why my mother would even think that this was a good idea for Mooncrest. If she’d known what they were up to…”

My lips twitched. “Something tells me that even if your mother knew about it, she also knew enough about witch politics to know there was nowhere else to go.”

“… you oddly don’t sound smug.”

I shook my head. “I have no reason to gloat.”

She huffed. “Right. Well, I still stand by what I said. I can’t, in good conscience, do business with the Noir Coven… not until this is done.”

“I can understand your perspective. It’s your prerogative. What are you considering as an alternative?"

I waited. I could practically hear her grinding her teeth. Maybe I did. I could imagine her scrunching up her nose in frustration, wondering why I wasn't offering any sort of solution.

“I don’t know yet.” She sighed.

I nodded. “That’s understandable.”

“I could reach out to the humans…”

“You could.”

“You don’t sound like that’s a good idea.”

“Do I sound like it’s a bad one?”

“No.” I smiled, shaking my head, hoping that she’d just ask. She huffed again. “Are you going to make me do this?”

“I have no intention of making you do anything professionally.”

“Now you’re just playing dirty.”

“No, I’m being realistic. Whatever we get up to in private is completely separate from our professional lives.”

“… this is you being a mentor.”

“Yes.”

“You suck.” I laughed. “You remind me of Margaret.”

“I’ll take that as the highest compliment. You did call her in your darkest hour, after all, and you aren't asking my opinion, remember?”

She huffed. “You've already given me your opinion, and I disagree. Fine. Kid gloves are off. I got the picture…. What are you doing right now? Do you have time? I do want your opinion on what to do with Ethan and Duncan.”

“I’m about to head into a meeting, actually. I can call you back when I’m on my way back, or we can talk about it when I get back.”

She sighed. “Right… I don’t think I like this split much. I almost feel like I can't ask you anything without… getting a mentor.”

I chuckled. “It wouldn’t be fair to either of us to have it any other way, and you can, but you aren't asking my opinion, now are you?”

It also wouldn’t be any different than what she’d allowed Devin to do, and that wasn’t the goal. Besides, she was asking for a plan, and while that could be help in some avenues, it wasn't in this one.

The way I would run Mooncrest or deal with Noir could never be the way Grace would. We're totally different people.

“Right… I guess I’ll… put together an RFP for an expansion of our current system or something.”

When we ended the call, I couldn’t help but smile. At least, she wasn’t fighting me on the separation. It would have been nice if she would have asked for an explanation, but all in due time, I guessed. I walked into the hall with the cuffs in hand. Lucian looked between the cuffs and my face warily. I sat across the table from him and put one of the cuffs on my wrist. His eyes widened as I lengthened the chain and placed the other cuff between us.

“Once… You entered Council with my father this way, bound to truth,” I met his gaze. “I’m asking… for the sake of both of our people for you to do the same with me.”

I met Lucian’s gaze, waiting for the moment he made a decision. He worked his jaw for a moment before flicking his eyes to the members of his retinue posted nearby.

“Leave us for now.”

They seemed to hesitate before nodding sharply and leaving us alone. He looked down at the cuff.

“You are… really your father’s son.” My stomach flipped at the way his gaze softened. “You’ve got your mother’s sense of patience though…”

His lips twitched. “I’m sure it’s served your enemies more than it’s served you.”

He picked up the cuff with a sigh and snapped it around his wrist. It was easier than I expected.

“What are your intentions with this Council?”

“To get you to trust me,” I said, meeting his gaze. “And to reach an agreement about how to move forward.”

“Did you know about this attack prior to? Suspect?”

“No,” I said. “Quite honestly, I expected a very different attack against me, not against you and your people.”

“Do you have a plan to eradicate vampires?”

“No.”

He took a deep breath. “I was hoping for a reason to hate you.”

That was a lie. Lucian knew that the Heart of Dracula wasn’t where they attacked. His anger was feigned for the most part. He wanted something, but I was a long way away from figuring out what exactly he wanted.

“Do you share the same goals?”

“For the most part.”

I nodded. “Do you intend to eradicate lycans?”

He smiled viciously. “Only those who deserve it.”

I grinned. “Seems like we’re in agreement on that… Is there a chance we could be allies?”

He looked stunned. “Not come to terms.”

“Coming to terms would do nothing for what I suspect is behind Ryon’s resistance to the very lethal compulsion on him…. And the age of simply operating in treaty-bound peace is coming to an end.”

His eyes narrowed. “You sound like there’s a great change on the horizon.”

I smiled, thinking of Grace and all the potential she had if she just got out of her own way.

“I think there will be. In fact, I’m planning on it.” My lips twitched. “Well, planning for it, rather.”

“There is… a possibility.”

“On condition of…?”

“I want an oath,” he said. “A binding, lethal oath.”

I narrowed my eyes. Vampire oaths were complicated, ones made in blood, but they didn’t affect vampires the way they affected anyone else. It would kill me if I violated it, but it wouldn’t necessarily kill him or anyone of his lineage due to a vampire’s magical makeup.

It would also be an oath that would carry into any child I may ever have, and I had no doubt that if I made this oath, Lucian would require it of any non-related successor I may have. The line of Blackwood would always have this tie to Lucian and his descendants.

Lucian wouldn't have asked this of me unless he felt it absolutely necessary, so what was he offering?

“What would I get out of it?” I asked. “You would… to some extent, have a greater advantage if I swore any sort of oath, wouldn’t you?”

“The allegiance and support of the entire Vampyric Nation.”

My eyes widened. He regarded me carefully. “Which would include the allegiance and support of all of our allies.”

That was a hell of an offer. Vampires had a large reach into the witch world, the human world, and even as far as the elves, I was pretty sure. It would be more than a smart move for the Clans to have that sort of connection.

“We’re… convening soon about what to do with the current Alpha President.”

“Do about him?”

His eyes narrowed. “His… infractions have more than irritated us all. There isn’t a single person that hasn’t been affected by his reign, and we’ve speculated that he has been in his position for far longer than any would think.”

He met my gaze. “The current options are war or assassination. Alliance may be a possibility if someone else sat in that seat.”

I had a feeling that Astarte, Set, and their daughter's experience with Sean had just been the final straw in all of this, but maybe it was the perfect chance to get Sean under control… and get Astarte to seek another path in time to get Grace on the same page with me.

It was a gamble and would take a hell of a lot of planning to pull off, but better, a dangerous and sure path than trying to figure out a safer, longer way through.

“I’ll make this oath.” He went still. “But first… what do you know about Set’s state?”