The Council (Darkness #5)(12)

“Pity party, huh?” Ann asked, flicking me in the head. “What’s up with your hunk of man? How is he fairing?”

“I don’t know.” I rubbed my eyes, remembered I’d put makeup on, and then froze. “Did I just smear my makeup all over my face?”

Ann stopped in the middle of making fun of me and leaned forward to look. She shook her head and continued, “He hasn’t had to save you yet, huh?”

“They won’t let him save her. Not here,” Tim said softly, gaze still on my face. “As a leader, he has to stand on his own. As a mage, she does as well. They have to each earn their respective positions.”

“What do you know about it, mongrel?” Jonas growled.

Tim spared him a glance. Then looked back at me. He didn’t plan to comment.

I helped him out. “Obviously what he just said, Jonas. He just told you what he knows about it. Comments like that make you sound dumb.”

“Look who’s talking.” Jonas wandered away toward the window.

A smile curved Ann’s lips as she watched him. “Since when does Jonas use a Charles-ism…?”

Jonas stiffened as an indignant expression crossed Charles’ face.

“Focus.” Tim’s firm voice, even though still soft, had every shifter shutting their mouths in a click. To me, he said “They’re going to call me in. We don’t know when yet, though. They wouldn’t say more than ‘follow me’. From what I understand from Dominicous, however, is that the Council wants to welcome me and mine into the fold. Make a pact with me. I want you to come, as a friend of the pack. I want us shown as one entity. I think that will look better for you now; and down the road, better for us.”

“You’re a marketing ploy,” Jonas said as he glanced out at the starless night. “You don’t matter any more than humans do. You’re animals in this place. That’s it.”

Tim’s body stiffened. Heat crept into his gaze. He turned toward Jonas.

I leaned forward and put a restraining hand on his leg. “He’s not being a dick this time. Well, I mean, not on purpose. He knows what he’s talking about with this stuff.”

Jonas half-turned. To the wall he said, “You are numbers for their army, that’s all. You can help them go against the European Council who’s talking about asserting themselves back into human society. Who are also just waiting for an in to extend their reach back into this council. They used to control this place, and if they try to retake it with force, the Council needs someone for the front line.

“And we have Andris now. With torture, Andris will give up secrets—he’s worked with the European Council, this Council—he’s well connected in the underbelly. Trek, too. That guy’s an idiot, but he’ll know a bunch. You are soldiers. You think you got a partnership, and that you’re dying for a cause… but it won’t be your cause. And probably not an important cause. You’re expendable, and with the façade of unity, you’re easy to control.”

“So you’re saying we shouldn’t waste our time?” Tim shot back, his hand braced on his knee.

“I’m saying you should go in with your eyes open. They don’t care about your best interests. You’d be even stupider than you look if you trusted what they told you.”

“But yet, you’re asking me to trust you. What makes you different?”

Jonas turned back to the window. “I’d just as soon have you f**k off. I don’t need you trusting me. But you have a good plan as it concerns Sasha. She needs some power in her corner. You can provide it. I don’t want you screwing it up with your head in your ass.”

I raised my eyebrows. It was a fair point.

Tim must’ve thought so too, because his gaze traveled to the floor in contemplation.

“So, I got challenged,” I announced. I figured I might as well get it out there. As expected, all shifter eyes found me immediately. I started the story without delay. If they were in my boat, they had to be warned.

Chapter 4

“I’m sorry, but I just can’t take the chance so early in the game,” said Kallias, Dominicous’ backer and the fourth-most influential Council member. He spread his hands in front of him apologetically. “You are not mated, and even if you were, what does that mean? The connection with you can be easily broken.”

Kallias, Dominicous, and Stefan all sat at the end of an absurdly large conference room table in an even bigger room. Apparently this was Kallias’ personal meeting room where he held important tête-à-têtes. Today, though, Stefan had every belief the aging Council member was trying to make a statement of his rank and importance. A statement that he probably hoped would gall when he withheld his help for Stefan and Sasha.

Dominicous leaned forward. He insisted on this meeting in the hope that Kallias would see reason. While that would certainly be great, Stefan had never been, nor was he now, under any false pretenses. Power players wanted to know their assets before they put their neck out. Stefan was an unknown and Sasha was a human. Dominicous was just being hopeful. “She is my daughter. She has chosen Stefan as her mate. She is his mage. She is marked by him, has marked him, and has a blood link with him. How much more connected can two people be? That kind of connection will not be broken. They are a power team, and the best move would be to snatch them up now before someone else does.”