Page 51 of Invidia

“Of course. Maybe I’ll see you later?” I asked, embarrassed at how hopeful I sounded.

Evrin’s expression softened. “You will.”

He hesitated for a moment, like he wasn’t quite sure how to say goodbye, before leaning in to brush a light kiss to my temple. “Have a good day, Tallulah.”

“You too,” I managed to get out, fake swooning against Meera the moment he turned his back.

She shook with laughter—real, actual, genuine laughter—as she dragged me inside.

“Tallulah!” she whisper-shouted.

“I know, I know! But be cool because I’m trying to manage my expectations.”

“How is that going for you?”

I snorted. “Poorly. Do you know where we need to go?”

“I think so.” She led the way, though, we did have to stop and ask for help from a member of staff when the spiraling corridors that led into the center of the circular palace all started to look the same.

“I think this is it,” Meera said, moving to lean against the wall opposite a grand-looking door. “How are you feeling about this? Are you nervous? I’m nervous.”

I grabbed her hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze. Oddly, I didn’t feel nervous. But this meeting wasn’t about me, it was about the general relationship between Hunters and Shades, and creating a vision for our shared future.

It was a lot less nerve-racking to speak in abstracts rather than specifics.

“I feel okay. I’m not really expecting much to come from this,” I added wryly. “I used to work in HR. I know how this goes.”

“It does feel very corporate vision board.”

We fell silent as the door opened and Damen poked his head around the corner, his horns sticking out first. “Ready?”

I nodded, linking arms with Meera as we walked in together. The packed room was dominated by a large circular table, and Damen led us to the two empty seats next to his. I recognized most of the attendees—Allerick and Ophelia, Soren and Astrid, Damen, Sebastian and Lochan—but there were a lot of Shades I didn’t know, who I suspected made up the Council of Elders.

I did a double take as I noticed the one Shade lurking on his own in the corner, arms crossed and a scowl on his face directed squarely at Sebastian. Verity wasn’t here, but her mate had apparently decided to make a rare appearance at court.

“Shall I do the introductions?” Ophelia asked brightly, not waiting for a response before listing off every Shade in the room.

“Do you two want to introduce yourselves?” she suggested, giving us her most encouraging smile. She was so sweet and endearing, I could almost overlook the corporate retreat energy of this whole thing.

“Sure. I’m Tallulah. Ex-Hunter. Currently jobless, though I do sew from time to time. Embarrassment to my high-ranking family back in the human realm.” I gave an uncomfortable Lochan and Sebastian my most charming smile.

Meera was a little more reticent. “I’m Meera.”

She didn’t bother expanding on that, and I kind of loved her for it.

“Great,” Sebastian said weakly. “Well, Lochan and I are really interested in hearing about your experiences, and anything that you feel would improve relations between Hunters and Shades, and make for a more cooperative, collaborative relationship going forward.”

“I feel like not bombarding them with silver daggers the moment they materialize in the human realm would be a good start,” I suggested.

Lochan’s lips thinned while Ophelia hid a smile behind her hands.

“I think that goes without saying,” he clipped.

“Doesn’t hurt to make sure,” I replied sweetly. “Ultimately, things aren’t going to improve until some level of trust has been rebuilt, so this is all moot. The ideal situation for us—” I gestured at Meera and myself, then nodded at Ophelia to include her too “—is probably a world where we have the freedom to move between realms without punishment. Where we could go and get the things we need from the human world, and return home—here—at the end of the day. I know that’s probably an ambitious ask, but I figure we’re in the blue-sky-thinking phase, so I may as well go all out.”

Apparently, I’d stunned them into silence, though I failed to see why. Obviously, having the best of both worlds would be my ideal solution. Maybe no one had dared to dream of a setup where we weren’t kept rigidly separate.

“That wouldn’t work for Austin,” Lochan said eventually. “Not with the notoriety he has now.”

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