Page 98 of Flock This

“What did you do?” Ruben asked, the arm wrapped around me, still supporting me, trembling. It was a strange reaction I never expected to see from the steadfast man, as though he felt fear for the first time. Then again, he’d dedicated everything he had to learning and adhering to the code, and here stood a man throwing that aside.

It would shake anyone.

The man laughed, then went over and pulled the chair out, looking my way. “As you can see, this crystal, this room, they recognize who and what I am. They made a spot here for my clan, and seeing as my clan holds only one person…” He tapped the back of the chair. “Come along, Little Crow, and take your seat.”

My feet moved without me thinking, probably because the situation seemed far too confusing to sort out all at once. I mean, I’d shown up expecting to get killed, and here I was being seated at the council table?

I wanted to say stranger things had happened, but that wasn’t true. This had to be at the top of that list, and it wasn’t like it was a small list.

There was turning into this. There was the dildo deliveries, the succubus vagina, the time someone was trying to sell me what was clearly a BDSM pet play cage as a dog kennel. In short? I’d had a shit ton of weird things happen in my life, but me getting a seat on the council was by far the most out there—even beating out my old personal best when I woke up after a bender in a hotel I’d never seen before holding a tiara I am still ninety-six-percent sure came from a museum in Paris.

Even knowing that, however, I took the seat the man still held, the crystal lighting up more as though it sensed me. Weird, but probably useful as a nightlight. My brain—unwilling to stay on track—pictured setting it in the bathroom so it would glow each time I had to go in the middle of the night.

Focus, you ADHD disaster!

I shook my head and peered out at the others as they all took their seats. Ruben remained on his feet, but he didn’t actually have a seat. I had a feeling he wouldn’t have sat even if he did, though, given the tension running through his body.

However, as unsettled as he looked, when he spoke, I had to admire his ability to get right back on track. “As a member of the council, you have standing to present any evidence you have, Grey.”

I reached into my pocket, the pebble still tucked there. I held it out, the image of William appeared at the center of the table.

No one spoke as the message played, no reaction even when William plunged the stake into his own chest. The bloody scene disappeared at the end, fading away until the pebble was the only proof that we’d all just witnessed the same thing.

My chest hurt, so tight I wondered how I could draw breath at all.

The silence pressed down on me, suffocating me, until Ruben’s voice broke through it all. “With the new information presented, it is clear that William took his own life.” He turned toward Kelvin. “As the head of the Grave Clan, do you have anything to add to this?”

Kelvin shook his head. “No. We accept the evidence as presented.”

“Very well. In that case, Grey Keystone, formerly clanless and now sitting council member, you are found innocent of the murder of William Garrison.”

“If there is another council seat,” Harrison said, “what clan does it belong to?”

With that, all their gazes swung not to me, but to the man still standing behind me. He smirked, then set his forearm on my head like an arm rest. “Let’s call it the Chaos Clan?”

And just like that, I had a feeling things might not be as over as I would have liked…

* * * *

An hour later and it seemed as if most of the mess had been somewhat cleaned up.

Meaning Ruben had officially recorded and announced the new council seat and my innocence. I didn’t have to worry about vampires or Justices trying to grab me, which lifted a huge weight off my shoulders.

I hadn’t had time to talk to anyone else, though. Porter and Harrison had taken off right after the close of the meeting. Galen had clearly wanted to speak with me, but I’d promised him I’d stop in tomorrow to see him. He hadn’t looked happy, but he hadn’t had a way to say no, either.

The entire day dragged on me, and after finishing the details with Ruben in the council room, it was finally set, all official.

Which left me in the room alone. I normally hated the quiet, hated isolation, but right now? I enjoyed it.

No one was asking me to be anything, to do anything. I wasn’t failing anyone.

So I leaned forward and let my head strike the front of the table with a dull, painful thud.

“Your face is far too pretty for you to damage it.”

I jerked upright at the sound of Kelvin’s voice. A few days ago I would have smiled and laughed, not thinking twice about his approach.

Now, though? I thought about the pain as he’d bitten into me, the far worse agony of his betrayal. It meant I couldn’t see him without raising my guard.

---