Page 36 of Choosing Jenny
“That’s nothing, really,” Jacaranda said, clearly unimpressed. “Tell us more.”
I leaned back against the sofa and shrugged. “Between Rex’s resurrection and this, I’m not sure what else there is to tell. His new councilmembers are Thunder Bateen—”
“Oh, fuck,” Deacon said, all decorum gone.
I laughed. “I didn’t know prissy boys like you knew that word.”
He chuckled derisively. “You would be surprised by what I know, but my comment was mostly for Jac.”
I had failed to notice Jacaranda’s fallen expression until I glanced at him.
His head was in his hands and he groaned. “This is not good.”
I frowned. “Why is that, specifically?”
Deacon shot his companion an amused look. “Jac and Thunder, they used to date.”
Jac glared at Deacon. “We used tofuck,” he corrected him. “Not date.”
“That’s not how she told it,” Deacon said to me.
“I thought she only dated women,” I mused.
Jacaranda shook his head, jaw tight. “We were fucking. She wanted more, and I didn’t. I was clear with her from the beginning, but that didn’t stop her from becoming…attached. We were friendly the last time I saw her, but now she’s a councilmember, on top of being governor of Yesanol? Ugh.”
I looked from Jacaranda, to Deacon, then back again. “What?” I still didn’t get it.
“She wants power. She always has,” Jacaranda explained. “Justice is playing with fire by putting her on the council.”
“Or, Justice did it to keep her happy,” Deacon countered. “To give her as much power as he’s willing to let her have, so if she makes a power play, it makes her look greedy. Bait her, set the trap, let her fall. He’d give her just enough rope to hang herself.”
“That sounds exactly like what he would do,” I agreed. “Aside from her, there’s Rasmine Vebber—”
Jacaranda swore beneath his breath, looking disgusted. “Because gods forbid Justice pick someone less brutal.”
“Exactly.” All a part of Justice’s strategy, and he always had one. “Then there’s Rex—”
“That’s the most brutal councilmember right there,” Deacon said grimly.
I nodded. “And then there’s me, Longshot, Noc Prisberd—”
“No surprise there,” Jacaranda cut in.
“And lastly, a giant creampuff by the name of Zavarion Saltino,” I finished.
Deacon’s jaw dropped in shock.
Jacaranda managed his reaction better. “Huh.”
“Do you two know him?” I asked. “I’d never met him before the council meeting.”
Deacon shook himself back to the moment. “I do. Zavi is…not right for the council. Not at all, actually. For the love of gods, I cannot imagine him doing anything for Justice.”
“Why not?”
“He’s too damn nice, for starters,” Jacaranda said, his expression baffled. “He flamed out of the academy for disobeying orders.”
That surprised me. “He couldn’t hack it?”
