Page 17 of Blood of a Huntsman

"You're a bitch, you know that?" He meant to offend her, but she didn’t even bat an eyelash.

"Why, does it sound too much like the truth? I'm not going to baby you and tell you you're fine. You're not. You're a fucking mess. Admit it, then work through it. Simple."

Not one little bit of empathy, sympathy, pity.

And Bash didn’t dislike it. Maybe because he’d turned into some kind of masochist. Or just because he was so very tired of being treated like a porcelain doll.

"Anyway, I'm not here to discuss Sebastian's woes, entertaining as they may be. Levi has called a conclave. Everyone will be here within the hour."

Luke cursed under his breath, pulling out his phone as he walked out of the study. Bash heard him give catering instructions to the person on the other end of the phone in a tone that sounded a little too much like panic.

"What's a conclave?" Chloe asked, just when Bash was about to.

"A meeting. Back in the day, it meant a meeting of the seven families on the hill, but since the Eirikrsons were destroyed—"

"Most of them," Chloe piped in cheerfully.

"Well, yes. Since then, there hasn't been much cause for one. Few vampires live on the hill. Levi, Bash—"

"I live in the dorm."

Catherine snorted, like she knew his bedroom was collecting dust. He spent most of his time in this very study.

It wasn't his fault he couldn't sleep. Or didn't trust himself in the dorm, next to other students.

Moments ago, he would have felt just fine telling himself that. But Catherine's earlier remonstrance made him question it.

Sure, it wasn't his fault. But did that mean he was powerless in the matter?

"Anyway, Levi, Bash, Alexius Helsing, and Anika Beaufort are the only residents on the hill. But Levi includes every vampire of Oldcrest in his conclave—me, and the others in the dorm. He's even called the huntsmen to join us this time. It's big."

That explained why Luke was panicking about petit fours. Crisis or not, the De Villier house was known for its flawless reception.

"Right, I think we’d better move to one of the fancy halls, then," Chloe said confidently, leading the way out of the study and behind the grand staircase to a great open space with a high crystal ceiling. The chairs and tables, set up in groups of two or three, were covered with white sheets.

"Give me a hand," she told them, removing the first cover to reveal a dark cayenne loveseat.

Bash started to work on the armchairs across the room while Catherine found a broom and swept the floor. Humans might have taken hours, but speed was the best advantage of their new forms. They had the place sorted in no time.

The red and silver-gray formal hall uncannily resembled just about every throne room Bash had ever seen.

Most of the time, it was easy to think of Levi as a mentor, a friend of sorts. Not in this place. Here, what he was became only too clear.

Royalty.

"Ah. It's certainly been some time since I've entered the hall," Levi said, entering the hall with his hands in his pockets.

Chloe shrugged. "I thought we'd have more space here for your conclave thing."

"Good call, mate,” Levi replied. “And glad to see you're making yourself at home."

She snorted. “I’m still not moving in.”

"Of course not. That would be far too practical."

The man had a point. When they’d first started dating, Chloe had stayed at the dorm most nights, although she often ended up on the hill right after her classes were over, chilling with Bash in Levi’s study. As the weeks passed, she’d started to spend half of her nights here. Now, three months in, Bash didn’t think she spent more than a night per week in her dorm room.

Which was better than him. Since he’d moved his stuff from his old room near the rest of the huntsmen to the right wing, where the freaks slept, he hadn’t been back at all. Levi didn’t seem to mind that he’d claimed his sofa. A chest of drawers where he could keep his clothes had magically appeared, along with a toothbrush for the adjacent bathroom.

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