Epilogue

I looked around the empty council room, my stomach somewhere in my throat. Even if I knew that wasn't physically possibly, it sure as fuck felt that way.

"We could have pushed this back another week." Ruben came to stand beside me, the bastard somehow looking entirely at ease here. Then again, this was home field advantage for him, wasn't it?

"I have no idea what you're talking about." I crossed my arms, more than willing to pretend that nothing was bothering me.

Of course, Ruben knew. The bastard seemed to know everything, so the events that happened that night, everything with Harrison and Ryder, Ruben somehow knew it all. He wasn't the type to come right out and talk to me about it, to ask me how I was feeling—neither of us were that type—so instead we pussy-footed around the truth.

Which was that even after almost a week, I'd yet to hear from Harrison. I'd been ghosted enough times in my life to see it coming.

So when I heard that the monthly council meeting had been called—and I was expected to attend—I said yes. Could I have had Ruben move it? Probably, but why?

I had a feeling that anything that bothered me now would bother me in another week as well. None of that would resolve, so why put it off?

"Is everyone coming?" I asked to change the topic.

Ruben sighed but nodded. "As far as I am aware, yes. This will be your first official meeting, but I don't expect anything will be too bothersome for you. You will most likely be able to simply sit there and remain silent."

"If you think I can do that, you clearly don't know me that well." I smirked as I sat in the chair in front of the blue crystal, the place set out for me.

Ruben opened his mouth to say something back, but the opening of the door shut him up before he could.

Galen walked in, his expression softening when he spotted me. I smiled back at him while he went to his seat. Next came Kelvin, who had the nerve to come over and steal a kiss before taking his seat, the show off.

But fuck if it didn't feel nice… We were just about at the point where I'd need him to bite me again, and I hadn't started to think about how to handle that. I had a feeling Harrison wasn't interested in helping out there again.

Next came Porter, making me realize it had been a while since I'd seen him. Then again, he behaved like a skittish deer, someone that lived his own life and cared little for being a part of others'. Even still, he nodded my way despite ignoring everyone else.

Which left just one person…

My stomach tightened when the door opened one last time, and I sat up, unsure what to say but certain I needed to say something. Except it wasn't Harrison who walked in. Instead, it was Beth, dressed up and looking every bit the part of Council Head.

A line appeared between Ruben's brows, telling me he hadn't known about this, either. "I was under the impression Harrison would be here."

Beth looked his way and gave one hell of a political smile. "Something came up and he was unable to attend. He sent me in his stead."

Ruben pressed his lips together, then gestured toward the Mind seat.

I guess Harrison can't even stand the idea of seeing me. I stared down at my lap, the pain greater than I would have expected. Somehow, I'd held out hope that he'd forgiven me, that if we could just see each other, just speak, we could get past this. That night had been hard on us both, but I wanted to move past it.

It seemed he didn't.

"Thank you all for coming," Ruben said, taking his spot, standing at the head of the table, his voice strong. I had to admit, he looked rather stunning the way he took control of a room full of powerful Spirits like that. He didn't so much as flinch when dealing with such strong personalities. He started to go over the list of issues they were dealing with, the new problems, the resolved issues.

I zoned out partway through because, fuck it, I really didn't care. The entire point of the council was to keep the peace between the clans, and given my position as a clan of one, none of it really had anything to do with me. They could fight out every little problem between them all on their own while I imagined what underwear each person was wearing. It was a good way to pass the time, at least.

Beth was probably in something cute and practical. Porter was likely in boxers, because I couldn't imagine him caring much about such things. Kelvin was probably not wearing anything, the kinky bastard. He looked my way, lifting his eyebrow and smirking as though he could tell I was thinking something filthy.

I rolled my eyes and kept going with my little game. Galen would be in boxer briefs, no question about that. Ruben? I dropped my gaze toward his waist, trying to picture what was beneath those shockingly tempting black slacks. I decided to imagine briefs, partly because it was fun to picture something snug and that didn't leave much to the imagination.

"Grey?" Ruben said, startling me.

"A thong!" I yelled back, then frowned as I realized how little that would mean to anyone else. Worse, no one seemed even startled about the weird statement, as though they all expected that nonsense from me.

"Anyway"—Ruben pushed forward—"what do you think?"

"Clearly, she thinks thong," Kelvin said. "You're as useful as ever, Grey."

Ruben shot Kelvin a sharp look, then went back to me. "We were talking about the influx of Weres—especially strays. Does your clan have any opinions on the matter?"

"Oh. Not really? I mean, do you want me to adopt a few or something?"

Galen choked, then patted his chest as though trying to fix his erratic breathing.

"So the Chaos clan stands mutes," Ruben said, which was probably a much more appropriate way of saying what I had. "Then we will leave the issue to the Weres for now—however, if you cannot bring this under control, if stray Weres continue to cause problems for the other clans and the humans, the Were Clan will be held responsible for it."

Galen nodded, but a tension in his face suggested this issue was far from over.

After that, the meeting wrapped up quickly.

At the end of the meeting, once Ruben had closed it, I rushed over to Beth. "Harrison didn't come?"

She said nothing back, her poker face impressive. After a moment, she shook her head. "No, as I said, something came up."

"Don't bullshit a bullshitter," I muttered softly. "He just didn't want to see me, right?"

She swallowed hard, the answer clear in that one tiny action. Still, she was a professional, and answered with the same careful expression as before. "As I said, he simply had other matters to attend to. If you'll excuse me." She nodded respectfully before walking out, leaving me there, staring at her back.

"Two vampires," Kelvin said.

"I doubt you were close with them," Galen snapped back.

I turned to find the two men speaking in the corner of their room, but their deep voices carried. Even more than their voices, the threat there.

"No fights in the council room," I said as I slid between them. "I just got a chair. Let's not ruin it, hmm?"

Galen offered me a bored look, then darted his gaze to Kelvin's. "The council room also isn't the place for such displays as earlier."

"What? Am I not allowed to offer my thrall a bit of affection? Perhaps you should find yourself a mate so you can enjoy such benefits?" Kelvin spoke with such false sweetness in his voice, he could have sent a diabetic into a coma.

"You're lucky she still needs you," Galen snapped.

"What are thralls good for if not shields?" He stayed behind me as though he'd ever actually let me protect him. "Well, I suppose they are good for a few other things."

At that, I threw my arms up. "Fine, you can both fuck off." I stepped out from between them and headed toward Ruben.

"Grey," they both said, their tones so similar I had to fight a laugh.

"Nope. I'm out. Maybe if you both fuck one another you'll get over this whole rivalry thing, because neither of you are fucking me until you work it out." I slid my arm through the crook of Ruben's, pulling him to get him going.

"What if they really do have sex? In my council room…"

I shrugged. "Well, I'm not cleaning up the mess."

And just like that, I felt like no matter how crazy my life got, how lost I felt, how unsure I was about my path, things would be okay.

If my biggest worry was cleaning up after a little sword-crossing fun?

I'll be just fine.