After the director’s speech, I stood, ready to look for Kendra, with Nash at my side, when someone poked her spindly fingers into the soft tissue of my upper arm. Instinctively, I jerked away and stared at the woman who had grabbed me, aghast. What the hell was a member of the council doing here?
Nash leaned in. “Hailey,” he said in a warning tone. When I shook him off, too, he gripped the opposite arm’s soft tissue and gave his own little squeeze. “That’s Gretchen.”
I shook my head and jerked away from him, too. “I don’t care who she is. The only person allowed to grab me like that is Jax.”
“Which”—even her voice was spindly—“brings me around to the question as to why the grabbing hasn’t already occurred?”
I chuckled but it was false. As fake as her eyelashes. “I assume you’re using grabbing as a euphemism for our mating bond?”
She smiled, but there was nothing jolly about it. More like the dead grin of a serial killer. “Might I have a word?”
I sighed. She was on the council. The woman wanted me dead. And she wasn’t asking to speak to me, whatever her words had been. She was demanding it.
I was as happy as she was to pretend it was my choice. “Sure,” I said in a sickly sweet voice.
This was my brother’s gallery, and I knew every square inch of it. And the only place we were going to be able to have this word without the wealthy and financially endowed in Philadelphia overhearing was Luke’s office. I led her there, Nash still close by my side. When Jax told him to stick close, Nash took it seriously. For once, I was glad.
I showed her to the office, opened the door and let her step in first.
Knowing Luke, the place was spotless, a show of white lines and angles, a piece of art in actual art’s absence. Luke took understatement literally. His desk, the focal point in the room, was white marble, as stark as an operating room and as clean, but there was a speck of black suit in Luke’s sleek, white leather chair.
Soran. Not a small man, but the chair was huge.
“Hailey Whitefield,” he drawled. “Is there a reason why you aren’t mate bonded to Jaxon as ordered by the council?” His voice dripped with accusation.
But Gretchen saved me from the deficiency of an answer. She stepped around me and crossed her arms, shooting a potent glare at Soren. “I thought we agreed you were going to wait outside.”
“We didn’t agree. You dictated. I am not subject to your edicts, Gretchen.” He chuffed out a breath. She walked forward and leaned down on her fingertips which were going to leave yucky fingerprint marks on Luke’s desk, and he wasn’t going to be one bit happy about it, but I wanted to see this through before I went for the cleaning wipes. Plus, I had Brangelina, er, Gretoren, or maybe Sortchen, to deal with, and no matter their argument, they were here for a purpose that apparently involved speaking directly to me. As soon as they worked out who was the Alpha dog in their relationship.
Soren looked at me again. “Miss Whitfield, you were given an order by the council, and I demand to know why you haven’t mate-bonded yet with Jaxon.”
I didn’t like his tone. And his council knew jack diddly about me. About what their demand meant to me. About anything other than that they saw themselves as almighty. And threatening my death sure as peanut butter loved jelly wasn’t the way to get me to carry out their orders.
Undoubtedly, Soren had been pinned in place by others, much more powerful, and I wasn’t likely much by comparison, but I glared defiantly anyway. And he stared back. So I advanced, and he stayed put. But I wasn’t deterred. “I appreciate that you’re prince of the platters or king of the cuckoos—”
“He’s the council leader.” Nash leaned in like I was really confused and not being flippant.
When I cocked a brow at him, Nash straightened and held up his surrender hands. I continued as if he hadn’t spoken because his words meant nothing. “…or whatever your official title is, but you aren’t going to kill me, and I think we all know it.” My tone was even. No malice or threat even though I was full of malice and wanted more than anything to issue a threat or two. But I didn’t have their strength or their speed, and I didn’t want Nash to have to step in. Today, I had to use my words.
Fortunately, I was up to that task. “Your deadline is meaningless.”
“No, no, of course it isn’t.” Nash leaned in again. “For hell’s sake, Hailey. Could you stop daring them to kill you so Jax doesn’t kill me? I like it here. I like life.”
“They aren’t going to kill you, Nash.” Gretchen opened her mouth but I refined my glare, and she snapped it closed. More out of shock than intimidation. “Just like they aren’t going to kill me. I am Jax’s fated mate.”
“I’m not his fated mate, so…” Nash shrugged at me.
I rolled my eyes. “I will bond with Jax when I want to, when it’s convenient for me. And if you don’t like it…kill me.” There. I’d finally gotten the dare out. I’d decided to call their bluffs.
Nash put his body between me and Soren. “She’s under so much stress. She helped with this party and that was huge…” He paused and if he breathed, this was the place where he would’ve sighed. “And she’s hunting bad guys to make money because… baby vampire.” He said it as if making money was reserved for those who didn’t have three hundred years of vampiracy behind them.
Soren lifted his hand to silence and if he thought Nash was just going to shut up, well, he was right. Nash clamped his lips together with an audible clack.
“Maybe you should all ask yourself why I would want to mate with Jax.” I looked at Gretchen. “And you especially. I’m surprised you would be willing to force this.” We were sisters in this fight for equality. “Why do you, of all people, expect me to tie myself to someone so much more powerful than I am? It will take hundreds of years before he and I are equals.”
Soren pulled his head back as if he no longer had command of the English language and needed a translator. Gretchen, on the other hand, laughed like I’d just told her that Jax slept in one of those sweet little bunny onesies.
After a couple of long seconds of listening to her cackle, I shot a sterner than any before it glare at her. “What?”
“He didn’t tell you.” She shook her head. “Bonding would bring you up to his level. You would have equal power. Equality in all you do.” She chortled again, and I wasn’t above waiting until I had my power then smacking a little of her arrogance right out of her. “That Jaxon is such a naughty boy.” More than her arrogance, I hated the way she said naughty. It was sexual and knowing.
But she was also the bringer of information he seemed to have neglected to tell me. “Equal?”
Gretchen nodded.
I was shocked to say the least. Now that I thought about the conversation on the plane where he’d explained the mailing stuff to me, he had told me, but in his defense, he’d explained it so badly. Maybe because he was nervous, too. I didn’t know why, more than that since he obviously wanted me to mate with him, so he wouldn’t have kept a fact like that from me on purpose. It was an oversight.
Still. “I’ll do it when I’m damned good and ready.”
“I’ll doubt good.”Soren made a joke. At my expense, granted, but a joke. I wouldn’t have thought it possible.
I shook my head, eyes still narrow. “When I’m ready. Have a problem with that?”
I stared at Gretchen. She sneered but Soren smiled.
“You are a fiery one.” He walked around the desk to hold out his hand. “Miss Whitfield, you might make a decent vampire yet.”
Then like they were never there, Soren and Gretchen disappeared out of the window in a blur of black.
“I didn’t even see them move.” When I turned to Nash, he scowled at me. “What?”
“You! Your mouth!” His nostrils flared and he threw his hands up, spun away then turned back. “You could’ve gotten one or both of us killed. And even if they only killed you, Jax would’ve then killed me.”
Oh, wow. He was gearing up for a right snit. “No one’s dead.”
I imagined the top of Nash’s head was going to pop off. “They’re the high council of all vampires.” He shook his head. “You’re unruly. That’s what you are. Unruly.”
He crossed his arms and tapped his foot. I shrugged. “I’ve been called worse.”
Poor Nash didn’t appreciate my humor.
“Aw, Nash, they wouldn’t have hurt you. Or me. The rest of the council would’ve killed them for acting without everyone’s vote. Something fishy is going on here.” I patted his back. “C’mon. Don’t be mad at me.”
I should’ve been somewhat contrite, but I wasn’t. The council couldn’t kill me because I was the solution to some long ago problem they hadn’t managed to fix back in the day and they weren’t likely to fix without me now. Why Jax’s mate mattered I didn’t know, but apparently, it did, and I’d seen it.
We were all safe and my contrition to Nash wouldn’t matter. I needed this win. This moment of glory.
He let me have eleven seconds before he took me by the arm again and pulled me out of the office and back to the party. I pulled away. “Look, Nash, I appreciate the security. I am capable of deciding where and when I walk anywhere without you doing anything to aid me.”
He flared his nostrils at me. “Could you just wait right here for ten seconds?” His frustration was palpable. One poke, and I probably could’ve made him explode, but I refrained because I had no reason to want one of Jax’s closest friends to explode. And Nash was really growing on me.
“Fine.” I was near the bar, and I happened to know that thanks to the sheer number of vampires in the building, we had some AB negative in the storage room right behind the bar.
I slipped behind the bar and into the backroom, opened one of the room temperature bottles and drank. It was a matter of safety. The last thing we needed was a picture of me on the front page, sipping from the neck of the Philadelphia Educational Director while the rest of the guests ran screaming from the building. Plus, Luke would never forgive me.
When I walked out, full and happy, Nash had murder in his eyes and Grim audibly sighed.
“Do you ever listen?” Nash asked. “I said stay right here!”
“And here I am.” I smiled. If he had a blood pressure, all of his veins would’ve been bulging. But he didn’t. He was still safe.
Paige came to stand beside me. “You’re with me, now. You’re driving them crazy. The boys will shadow.”
I nodded. “Fine with me.” She wouldn’t guide me like a child, at least.
We walked ahead. “So, are we worried about the sudden appearance of the council?” I assumed that was why they’d decided to close ranks around me.
Paige smiled. “You enjoy the evening. Leave all the worrying to me.”
Oh, sure. Because I had that kind of self-control. The High Council of Leeches had made their appearance. Whoever the kingpin was—nope, hadn’t forgotten the purpose of our being here—hadn’t made his. And Jax had accidentally kept a pretty vital piece of information from me that would’ve been useful when trying to make a decision. Sure. Paige could do all the worrying, and I would work on my moonwalk with Luke.
If I rolled my eyes any harder, I was going to see the inside of my own brain. But there was honestly not much reason I couldn’t work on my moonwalk.
I looked at Paige and opened my mouth to ask her to dance, and no sound came out. I tried again. Still nothing.
Well, this was just one more unexpected wrinkle I was going to have to deal with and fast.
Because there was a woman— one I’d never seen before—herding Paige and me back down the hallway to Luke’s office.