2. Lucien

Elle squeezes my arm as we reach the corridor that branches off to Crai Vasile's office. "You don't need it, but good luck."

I nod. She squeezes my arm again before she leaves with a flick of her dark ponytail, and I know the touch is a reminder that I should find her and Adam once I am done with this meeting.

Meeting. If only it were as innocuous as all that.

I take a wholly unnecessary breath and square my shoulders. There is no need to be afraid. If Vasile intended to remove me from the clan, he would not have called me here at my leisure.

Besides, he would have done it months ago.

His guards stand on either side of the door to his office, unblinking eyes focused on the wall directly ahead. Ostensibly, they are vampires, but their all-black eyes and angular features tell a different story, though I am not certain what, precisely, they are.

I steel myself and knock. They do not acknowledge my presence, and I fight to control the shiver that wants to wrack my spine.

"Come in." Vasile's voice is low and smooth, and I turn the handle a little quicker than necessary in a sudden attempt to get away.

When I step inside, Vasile glances up from his laptop, a smile wiping some of the tiredness from his face.

He looks the same as ever, but that is the way of a vampire, after all. Dark hair curls around his ears and at his nape, and the smile reaches his eyes, reflecting some of the fondness I know he feels for me.

Still, there is something in his dark gaze when it meets mine. Vasile is far older than I am, and for a moment, I am certain I can feel it.

"It's good to see you, Lucien," he says. "Please, sit."

I take the seat opposite his desk, forcing myself to keep still.

"You seem nervous."

"I am—that is…"

Vasile smiles again. "No need for it. I have good news, I promise."

"Oh?"

"I spoke with Hunter Moreau early yesterday morning. Early for him, at least. We discussed what happened and we are both in agreement that you may return to your district whenever you feel ready."

I blink in surprise. Hunter Moreau is the current head of the Hunters' Council, and I am certain he does not like me. How could he, after what I have done? Of course I am even more surprised that the entire Council has agreed to this—they must have, for my confinement to be ending.

"There are some stipulations."

"Yes, of course."

Vasile sighs. "One is your feeding. Moreau is still… concerned, and with no liaison to the clan at present, he's leery of letting you near the donors. We will work on a timeline, but for now, you are still only to feed from bagged blood."

I nod. It is not the most pleasant way to exist, but it is an easy compromise. I do not want to risk any of our donors, either.

"That sounds agreeable."

"Good." Vasile frowns. "I think we should be able to work on that in a few months. But for now…"

"It is fine," I say, bowing my head slightly.

Vasile hums. "Another is your leadership of the district. I'm obviously well within my rights to do as I see fit. Hunter Moreau does not run our clan. But I think his suggestion has some merit for you both."

"Crai?"

"Hunter Moreau suggested that you should take back your position as chieftain of your district, but that Elle should remain and work alongside you."

Again, I am surprised, and pleasantly so. The trepidation about leaving the clan house and returning to my district is still there, but with Elle to smooth things over, some of my worries ease. She has done a fine job running the district in my absence, and having this experience leaves her better placed to run her own, in time.

"That is… We both appreciate it, I am certain."

"I don't know if Moreau saw the same prudence in it as I did," Vasile says. "He doesn't know Elle very well. But there will come a time when we need a new chieftain, and I would like her to be ready when that opportunity arises."

"Yes, crai."

Vasile is silent for a moment. When he meets my gaze again, his face is pained. "There is one more thing. We need to take another liaison to the Council. Moreau wants to be certain they will be safe here."

A metal band squeezes around my chest and my good mood evaporates. Vasile is around his desk in a flash, hands on my shoulders to ground me.

"We all know why you did what you did, Lucien," he murmurs. "Even Moreau. He simply has a duty to his people, as I do to mine."

It is more than that. A liaison to the clan is like a liaison to the packs—where there are humans, there must be hunters to protect them. Our liaison is supposed to care for our donors and workers, to escalate any issues they believe cannot be dealt with by our crai.

Nathan was never that. He never cared for anyone but himself.

I manage a nod, my whole body shaking. I do not think Moreau knows anything, not if he is asking if the liaison will be the safe one. What about the vampires? Will we be safe?

"I made clear the kinds of people we would accept. I said I would speak to you as well, but that you would also have to approve of the candidate taking the position."

I jerk my head up sharply, staring at Vasile with wide eyes.

Vasile smiles, backing up so he can perch on the edge of his desk. He runs a hand through his dark curls, pushing them back from his face. "Moreau is trying to keep the peace with his people. I will not compromise mine. If you are not happy with who they send here, Lucien, we will ask for someone else. We require a liaison to keep the treaty intact, but there is nothing in it that says we have to allow someone into our home who might be harmful to us."

I stare at my hands, mulling it over. That is the problem. None of us had known Nathan would be harmful. We had all seen what he wanted us to see—that he was confident, charming…

I push the words out, my throat tight. "Yes, crai."

Vasile nods and rounds his desk again. "Tell me, then. When do you plan to go back to your district? I know you—"

A knock at the door interrupts him, and by his frown, I can tell it is unexpected. "Enter."

A young vampire walks in, a blond woman who must have been in her thirties when she was turned. She smiles hesitantly at both of us. I vaguely recognise her, but I do not know her name.

What is most alarming is the glassiness of her eyes. She has been glamoured. The look Vasile and I exchange is one of concern.

"What is it?" he asks.

"Adelaide has called an all-clan meeting," she says. Her voice is flat and dull. "She has found a vampire killer."

The moment she finishes speaking, her gaze clears. Though she is standing, she almost stumbles, and a look of surprise, then embarrassment, crosses her face. "Crai Vasile, I—"

Vasile frowns. "Florence, who did you speak to last?"

Florence frowns. She stares off into the distance for a moment before the expression deepens into a scowl. "That bitch," she mutters. She flushes when she realises our attention is still on her. "Sorry, I mean, Adelaide. I saw her coming in with Tristan and a couple of other vampires. They had some human with them—I could smell his blood—and when I went to ask her about it, she grabbed me and told me to come get you."

Vasile lets out a low growl. "How presumptuous of her."

Florence shifts from foot to foot. "Crai Vasile—"

"We should go and see what she thinks she's found," Vasile says.

I stand when he does and wait while he shrugs on his mulberry suit jacket, fastening it quickly. Florence steps aside and follows us both out of Vasile's office, though she drops behind his guards as they start walking.

"Has there been much trouble?" I ask. I have not heard of any during my confinement, but then I suspect I have been left in the dark on many matters. Elle has done her best to apprise me of urgent issues in my district, but the day-to-day running of the clan has been out of my reach.

Still, I am certain I would have heard of this.

A vampire killer. Not a hunter, I note, though I am unsure what that means. A hunter who has not been officially sanctioned, or something else entirely?

"Not that I'd heard of," Vasile murmurs. The corridors are empty. All-clan meetings are incredibly rare; I can hardly remember the last time one was necessary.

"There was a vampire who was killed," Vasile continues. "But we investigated. We didn't discover the culprit, but all the evidence spoke to the kill being justified, and when I told Moreau, he agreed."

"Who were they?" I do not remember hearing about this, which suggests it happened early on in my… containment.

"William. Like Adelaide and Tristan, he is under Chieftain Njáll's purview. I believe he and Tristan were especially close." Vasile shakes his head.

Tristan and Adelaide… Are they out for some kind of revenge? But if William was killed months ago, I do not understand why this is happening now.

We enter the hall, and the room falls silent. Donors and our human staff line the walls, vampires between them and the circle of space in the centre. The chieftains have clustered together, awaiting Vasile's entrance, and I see Njáll already has his head lowered, a flush colouring his neck and the tips of his pale ears.

Adelaide and Tristan stand under the chandelier in the centre of the room, along with two other vampires who wear the same glassy-eyed look Florence did earlier. Anton and Leo. They also live in Njáll's district, I believe.

The human kneels at their feet.

He is facing us, though he surely cannot tell because there is a bag over his head. His arms are fastened behind his back and my eyes roam over him for a moment too long, taking in the breadth of his shoulders and the strong muscles in his thighs.

Something has caught my attention, and it takes a moment for me to realise that it is not only the spicy scent of his blood.

His heartbeat.

It is steady in a way I would never expect for a human thrown into a room full of vampires.

I follow Vasile through the crowd at a sedate pace, trying to temper my eagerness to get a better view of this stranger. Elle stands with the other chieftains, but when she sees me, she slips back into the crowd, no doubt going in search of Adam.

Vasile pauses when he reaches Chieftain Njáll, who raises his pale eyes for a second, takes in Vasile's arch expression, and lowers them again. Vasile moves on and I remain at Njáll's side.

He glances at me, and the storminess fades from his pale blue eyes. "Good to see you back, Lucien," he murmurs.

I incline my head in greeting. I am the last person to be in a position to judge his guilt. "I am not certain I have been reinstated yet."

Njáll snorts softly, and when he turns his head, the beads in his braids knock together. "Who knows. You might end up with two districts by the time this is over." He looks at Adelaide and Tristan. While they both live in his district, neither is his turn. He has a duty to them, but there is no bond he could have leveraged to discover what they were doing.

"Whatever they have done, they bear the weight on their own shoulders."

"Sure," Njáll mutters. "Though, I can't lie. It's nice to see a hunter on his knees for a change."

My eyes snap back to the stranger. Vasile raises his hand, and though the room was already quiet, it now falls silent. I look the stranger over again. He breathes evenly, and his heart thuds a strong, steady beat.

"Why have we been called here?" Vasile asks. He looks straight at Adelaide, and she stays steady under his glare.

She steps forward, and though Tristan watches her closely, he does not move with her. His attention shifts back to the stranger when she pauses and rage flits over his face.

"Many vampires have been killed of late," Adelaide says. "We found the culprit."

Of course I recognise her. She is only half a century younger than me but has been with the clan longer. She is powerful—that she has glamoured three vampires here tonight proves that—and yet has never been one to chase power, to try to climb the clan's ranks.

So why is she doing this now? She is risking everything, and for what?

"I have heard nothing of killings, sanctioned or not," Vasile replies.

"William was killed!" Tristan shouts, and all eyes turn to him. I look quickly back at Adelaide, whose jaw is clenched.

Vasile inclines his head. "So he was. We investigated at the time. We could not find the culprit, but we found evidence that he had been feeding from humans and that he had killed them."

The man on his knees snorts softly. Tristan makes a sharp movement towards him, but Vasile steps forward and he pauses.

"Tristan. Explain."

Adelaide speaks instead. "He's killed at least nine vampires, crai. One this evening. We saw it, all four of us."

"You did?" Vasile's tone is cold as ice, and his gaze moves from Anton to Leo. Nothing they say can be relied upon, not glamoured as they are.

"Yes," Tristan says when Adelaide does not speak further. His angular face is ruddy with anger. "He played with him before he killed him."

The stranger mutters something this time, and even with the supernatural hearing my vampirism has gifted me, I cannot make out the words.

I suspect they are derogatory.

"Who?"

"Excuse me, Crai Vasile?" Adelaide again. She has taken a careful step back, but her face is still flushed with rage.

"Who did this human kill?"

Adelaide and Tristan exchange a look. Anton and Leo have not moved; it is as though they cannot hear us at all.

"His name was Jasper," Tristan says.

"I recall we have one clan member with that name," Vasile says and turns to his chieftains. "Chieftain Savia. He is in your district, correct?"

Savia nods, already pulling her phone out of her pocket. "Yes, crai. Last I checked, he was well, but I'll call him now."

Vasile turns back to Tristan and Adelaide as Savia lifts the phone to her ear. "If Jasper answers the phone, then it would appear you are either both lying, or you have been turning humans without getting permission from the clan."

The silence is suddenly charged. Adelaide lifts her chin in defiance. Savia takes the phone from her ear and ends the call.

"He's fine."

"Thank you, chieftain," Vasile says. He puts his hands behind his back, looking between Tristan and Adelaide.

"All right," he says. "Let me indulge you both for a moment. Show me your vampire killer."