Page 72 of Flock This

Roger cursed softly, then walked out.

I chased him, his longer legs meaning he moved much quicker than my stubby ones could carry me. He passed the living room and went into another room, a desk in there.

He sat at the desk without hesitation, then pulled open a drawer and took out a leather-bound planner. “There’s been a disagreement rumbling over the past decade or so. Many vampires feel as though they’ve been held back by the council.”

I tried to recall what little history I’d retained of the Spirit world. Most of it, even when Ruben or Galen tried to teach it to me, I’d let roll right off me. My brain needed important facts like when Pumpkin Spice Latte season starts or how many frogs it was legal to own in California. I didn’t want to waste precious space with useless knowledge like the long and bloody history of the Spirit factions. Still, some had stuck no matter how much I wish it hadn’t. “The council was created after the last great war, about a thousand years ago, right? It was formed when the Justices were first made to prevent another war.”

Roger nodded as he flipped open the planner, his words coming out even as his attention remained focused on the pages before him. “That’s right. See, the Spirits were causing too much chaos here. They aren’t native to this realm, and if nothing happened, they’d destroy the humans and this world. So the Justices were created and the council formed to prevent that from happening. The idea was that the council—empowered by the Justices—could keep peace between the clans and keep another war from breaking out. However, the vampires are prideful. The older ones recall the great wars, but the younger ones? They’ve forgotten why the council was formed to start with and they hunger for the old days of glory.”

“I haven’t heard about that.”

“It’s been kept quiet. Such rumors, if they reached the ears of the other clans or the Justices, might cause a reaction, so they’ve been whispers, just factions and meetings in backrooms. William knew, of course, had plenty of those people meeting with him to try and whisper into his ear.”

“Could he have agreed with them?”

“No. William remembered the old days, the horror of them. He was one of the oldest vampires, so he had lived through the pain of that violence. He knew that the only reason the vampires have become as strong as they have has been because of the tense peace they hold with the other clans. He would never agree with anyone pushing for war.”

“So someone killed him to get him out of the way?”

“It would explain why he was so nervous recently. If he was threatened, if he realized that the fringes were rising up and targeting him, it would explain why he sent us away, to protect us.” He pushed the planner across the desk toward me.

I looked down at the open page to find an agenda for the week of his death. I almost expected to see “get killed” written into the day where he died.

Except, what I found was even more suspicious.

Every day beforehand was carefully planned out, full of appointments and meetings and notes. However, the day of his murder had nothing, and neither did any of the days afterward.

The blank areas on the page mocked me.

“He knew he was going to die,” I whispered.

“He had to have,” Roger said, pain in his voice.

I didn’t have to even ask why, not with his expression. No doubt he thought about the fact that William must have known he wouldn’t live, but he never said goodbye to Roger. He knew it would kill Roger as well, that he’d follow him, but he didn’t feel the need to go see Roger one last time, to spend those precious last days together.

And nothing I could say would take that sting away, so I kept my mouth shut on the topic, leaving Roger to his anguish in privacy.

Roger took a breath, then looked up at me as though he’d put aside that for a moment, like he filed it away in a tiny spot in his head to deal with later—assuming his short life had the time for it. I had to admit, that kind of strength impressed me.

“So he knew what was going to happen and when. If he let it happen, he must have realized there was no way around it. Otherwise, he’d never just accept that.”

“It also explains how someone got close enough to him—he let them.”

Roger slammed his hand on the desk as he rose, the action making me jump backward. A crack from the wood showed his impressive strength. It reminded me that thralls weren’t quite human anymore.

As soon as he did it, he seemed to pull himself back under control. “Sorry.” His voice came out soft, embarrassed. “It was just easier to think I didn’t get to say goodbye to him because of bad luck, because of how unfair life is. What use is anger to the dead, though? No matter how mad I am, how hurt, it doesn’t matter anymore. I still owe it to him to help you and trust that he had his reasons.”

“How can you blindly trust someone like that?”

Roger looked at me, a line between his eyebrows. “You’re a thrall, so you should understand that bond. It’s intoxicating to feel something as powerful as a vampire bound to you. When he fed from me, I could feel just how badly he needed me. We had a lot of years together, so I knew him. The truth is that vampires are difficult to understand because they are so different. Not just because they live differently, but their very being is changed, the way their brain and body functions. They view the world in a different way, in a timeframe we can’t understand.”

“So we’re supposed to just accept whatever they say?”

“Of course not. If you think I was a slave to William, you don’t understand, not yet. I remember when he decided to wear a cape for a while about twenty years ago. I think it was a holdover from centuries ago, a style trend he’d missed out on. I told him he looked foolish in it, that I refused to be seen in public while he wore that thing. The silent treatment for a week and he burned the stupid cape.”

The gentle smile on William’s face said so much more about his feelings than anything else would have. It proved just how much he cared for William, that their bond was far more equal than I’d expected.

Was that possible, then? I thought about Kelvin, and a stupid part of me wondered if we could have that. Could I ever have that sort of equal relationship with him? If something happened to him, would I be able to be as strong as Roger was?

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