“No what?”
“No. Desmond couldn’t defend himself against six vampires.”
“If you stay, it will mean his death. Desmond, Mercedes, Tyler, Nolan, Shane. The other wolves you care about. Anyone you’ve ever met is at risk. Do you want them to end up like Brigit?”
There were no harsher words he could have chosen. I didn’t need to be reminded of my blame in Brigit’s death. I knew perfectly well she’d been murdered because of me, and of course I didn’t want anyone else to suffer her fate.
It was a cruel way for him to make his point, but it worked. I sat down in the large wooden throne that served as my Tribunal seat and raked my hands through my wind-tangled curls. “Where do you want me to go?” I asked, conceding his victory.
“We can’t just spirit you away into the night without a reason. The elders would find it suspicious, as would Juan Carlos. And I can’t have you out in the wild without protection.”
“Send Holden with me.”
“A fine job he’s done thus far,” Sig scoffed.
“He would die to protect me, and you know it.”
“It isn’t his dedication I question. It’s his ability to protect you from yourself when necessary. Holden is far too willing to let you risk your own life when you think it’s appropriate. While I believe he’ll defend you against external forces, I don’t know if I can make him realize your greatest enemy is often yourself.”
“I think Holden is well aware of how poor my decision-making skills are.”
“If that’s meant to convince me, it is a poor argument.”
“Well, if you’d tell me where you want to send me, maybe I can make a better suggestion.”
“You’ll be going to Los Angeles under the guise of performing a personal request for me. The elders won’t ask questions, and though Juan Carlos will want to know, I’ll impress upon him the importance of having someone I trust look in on my children.”
“Your…children?”
“Yes. You’ll be going to the West Coast Council to ensure my offspring are all in good health. I’ve received reports one of my line has been proving…difficult for them, and you will act in my stead to put him right.”
“One of your kids is being bad, and you’re sending me to babysit?”
“Not one of my direct offspring. I haven’t sired a new vampire in some fifty years. No, this vampire is still new—he’s been with us less than a quarter century. An unfortunate situation, really. He went a little mad upon his turning, and he’s had trouble adjusting. I sired his maker, Theo, but it’s a decision I now regret I’m afraid to say. Such a mess.” Sig sat in the chair next to me and rubbed the bridge of his nose. “I’ve been meaning to look into it for years, but it seems to be coming to a head, and now there’s discussion of putting him down. Without his sire there, it falls to me to care for him, and now by extension it falls to you.”
“Great. So I get kicked out of my city to go keep your nutcase vampire grandson from getting killed by his own council? Is that about the gist of it?”
“I have a feeling you are the perfect person for the job.”
“I’m thrilled. Can’t wait.” I put mock enthusiasm into my words and pumped my fist in the air.
Sig was giving me a strange look, and I didn’t think it had anything to do with my reaction. His usual cool smile was gone, and there was something like concern on his face.
“What?” I dropped my hand back to my lap.
“I hope I’m not making a mistake,” he said.
“Have you ever made a mistake?”
“Two thousand years is an awfully long time, Secret. You’d be amazed how many mistakes one can make. You’ve been alive only twenty-three years, and look how many you’ve made.”
Burn.
“You’re so sweet to me.”
“I’m far sweeter than you deserve sometimes. Don’t you forget that.”
“Says the man who once offered to devour my humanity.” I leaned back in the throne, resting my head against the heavily carved wood. “I still want Holden with me. It will make me feel better, and it fits with the cover story. If I’m traveling for the council, it makes sense I’d have an envoy.”
“Very well. If we are to have a party travel with you and we want this to appear as real as possible, I will also select someone to go with you. Someone who will keep my interests for you at the forefront of her mind.”
Her? I didn’t like the sound of that one bit.
“Sig…not…”
“You’ve made your request, and I’ve agreed to let Holden go with you. In spite of knowing full well his emotional—and sexual—attachment to you blinds him to what is right.”
Hearing Sig say sexual made my stomach churn. Was there really nothing he didn’t know about me?
“But can’t you pick someone else?” I already knew who he was talking about, and the idea of her joining my travel party didn’t thrill me. He was right, though. She would keep his interests at heart.
“Ingrid will join you. That’s final.”
Ingrid was Sig’s daylight servant. She was bound to serve him for as long as she lived, and in return her lease on life was extended. In spite of how degrading their title was, daylight servants had a pretty sweet deal. They got to stay human, but borrowed the immortality of their master. Ingrid was over seven hundred years old but didn’t look a day over nineteen. Sure, she had to do everything her master commanded, but Sig didn’t seem like a slave driver.
My problem with Ingrid wasn’t her status as a daylight servant, although forced service did weird me out. No, my issue was that she seemed to genuinely loathe me, and I’d never been able to figure out why. A lot of people hated me, and I’d come to accept it, but most of them hated me for a good reason.
Or a bad reason. But at least a reason.
As far as I could tell with Ingrid, the only thing she disliked about me was Sig’s affection for me. It was an inverse relationship. The more Sig liked me, the more Ingrid grew to loathe me. He must be very attached to me by now because she was less fond of me than ever. Either that or hating me had become so habitual she couldn’t stop.
“Anyone but Ingrid,” I pleaded.
“I don’t trust anyone the way I trust Ingrid. If you’re concerned she’ll be acting as some kind of spy and reporting your every action to me, I should tell you not to be so paranoid.”
I scrunched my face up and gave him a don’t treat me like an idiot expression. “Of course she’s going to report my every move.”
“Perhaps she will, but that’s not why I’m sending her. I could just as easily have wardens trailing you the whole way, and the intelligence results would be the same. Ingrid isn’t going along to be your keeper.”
“Then why bother sending her?”
“If hard choices need to be made on my behalf, I want her with you. She’ll know where I stand on all matters. I’m trusting you, however, to be the best representative of our Tribunal when you’re there. You are, after all, one of the leaders on the East Coast, and what you do and say reflects on not only Juan Carlos and me, but the entire council as well. Please try to be respectful.”
“Don’t tiptoe around it. Just say what you want to say.”
“Don’t be yourself. Or, if it’s essential you be Secret McQueen while there, could you be the version of yourself that is appropriate for the audience? I know she’s in there.”
“Be Tribunal Secret, not real Secret. Understood.”
“Thank you.”
“Now I have a request for you.”
His response came in the form of one raised eyebrow, which I took as license to carry on.
“You’ve made it obvious enough you know people are out to get me, and those people will stop at nothing to see me dead. While I’m gone, I can’t protect my friends. Tyler, Mercedes and Nolan all belong to me, according to the laws of the council.” I’d declared the three of them mine, and much like licking a dessert, it marked them as my possessions. “Since I’m not going to be here to protect them, I’m giving temporary guardianship responsibilities to you.”