Page 99 of Sergi
He gave me a grin, appreciating my ability to still see the big picture. I hadn’t grown stupid over the last year, and I’d had a firsthand look at what House Trelane could accomplish. “We are placing a huge wager that Trelane can pull this off.”
“And keeping with your gambling analogy, we’re all in, but we still have to beat the house, where the odds are in their favor. The house being the Council, of course.”
His smile widened. “I forgot how well you assimilate strategy.”
I couldn’t help but return his smile. “I learned from the best.” I rubbed at a spot on the soft leather. “The raid on the lab. The search for evidence. This is information to take to the Council in hopes they’ll lean a particular direction.”
“It’s more than that. I won’t go into the details, you’ll have plenty of time to catch up, but there are centuries of rot beneath the Council. Lies they’ve told their society to benefit a few at the risk of their entire species. Trelane is building a mountain of evidence in the hopes it will bury the Council.”
We fell into silence as I thought back to lessons on the vampire Council. My uncle always preached to his Alphas that to beat your enemy, you had to know your enemy. The members of the Council were one of those lessons, and a couple of dots solidified in my head.
“Isn’t Trelane on the Council?”
This time he laughed. “You remember.”
I considered the events at the lab, the little details Sergi had shared about his House leader, and then watched and listened to Trelane in action. Not once had I remembered him being part of the Council. He didn’t seem the type.
“I hadn’t considered it before. Maybe because I was still coming down from the rush of the escape. I was surprised by how organized the rescue had been. The thought that a member of the Council did this never broached my thoughts.”
“Devon took over as leader of his House after the untimely deaths of his parents. Deaths he attributes to Venizi though he has no proof. He joined the Council according to legacy rules, but he was soon censured. It was one of the reasons he turned tothe shifters for business partnerships in addition to his human partnerships since he was cut off from doing business with other Houses.
“But his desire to bring peace among the species started with his father, Guildford, who I’d met a couple of times before his death. Devon, in preparation to someday become House leader, had spent years on his sojourn meeting with Houses and packs alike.”
“He sounds like a Renaissance vampire.”
“Quite true.”
“So, how can I get involved with this war?”
Silence grew as I waited for my uncle to respond. History told me the longer he took to respond, the less likely I was going to like the answer.
“You have a lot to learn from being gone this last year. You need time to reacclimate. After a couple of months, we can assess what role suits you.”
I held my breath and my tongue. Rash outbursts never worked with my uncle. It was best to wear him down before yelling. “I understand why you’d think that. But I’ve stared at four walls for far too long to just sit around now. I have skills that can help. I want a more active role in this.”
“There’s much you don’t understand. You’ve endured a long and dangerous mission. You kept your head. Cadfael was impressed with you from the start, but there are many things that can be done behind the scenes without putting yourself at risk. I can’t expend the wolves to follow you all over the place. It’s easier and safer if you remain on the estate, at least for a few weeks, then we can reassess.”
Remain on the estate. The words slammed into me as if I could hear the locks on my cell engage. Was this about my safety or about Sergi? My wolf howled. My uncle was, to continue the gambling theme, hedging his bet. I’d be tucked in safe andsound, and with Trelane’s lockdown, Sergi wouldn’t seek me out. Not under my uncle’s roof.
And I would slowly go mad.
It was one thing to know you were enslaved when you lived in a box and decisions were made for you. It was quite another to live on an estate with windows so you could see what was beyond the borders but were prevented from reaching it. Life in a gilded cage.
Not again. Not when I had the power to say no. He might be The Wolf, the Alpha to all the other Alphas, but he was still my uncle. And he was forcing me to play his niece and not a trained, highly skilled member of the pack.
I slowly stood and turned to him. He had to lean back to meet my eyes. His expression was blank, perhaps a bit curious, but there was deep concern in his gaze, and though it broke my heart to see it, I had to stand my ground now before he wore me down.
“You know I love you. That everything I am is because of you. It was a difficult year, but I survived. I heard your voice many times over that year, reminding me that I was wolf, and it gave me the strength I needed to persevere. But I’m not there anymore. I got out.”
I wiped at my eyes then pushed back my hair. “I don’t need protection, uncle. At least not the pup sitters who tracked me on my run, and I have no doubt will be positioned at the end of the hall, if not in front of my bedroom door.
“I’ve had too many eyes watching my every move for far too long. I need space. I need the freedom to choose. I know you’re trying to do what’s best for me, but you need to take a step back from being my uncle and instead look at me as the pack leader. I’m not a pup anymore. I have skills to help in this war, and they’re not sitting behind a desk, locked away in this estate.”
His face turned compassionate seconds before his Alpha persona took over. “I’ve made my decision.”
Without a word, because it would be pointless, I spun around and marched out of the room.
I was so angry, and it soon became a hot rage as the two guards who’d been stationed along the hallway turned and followed me. Pup sitters in the house for Christ’s sake. Would they pick my breakfast for me too?
