Jesse hadn’t thought of it like that. “How long have they been here?”
Lys pulled her phone out and checked the time. “Almost two hours.”
He wanted to go and see what they were doing now. Being restricted to the fucking library made him want to hit something.
“Hey, calm the fuck down.” Lys gripped his jaw and forced him to look at her. “It’s not the end of the world. They’re probably in with Raph, checking our tracking against their list of crimes. With any luck, they’ll be gone soon. I don’t think anyone’s been stupid enough to break the agreement in the last six months.”
Great. That meant all Raph’s focus would be on him when they left.
“So what do we do in the meantime?”
Lys got up and walked over to the door. “We wait.” She opened the door wide, then mouthed, “And we listen.”
After taking her spot in the chair again, Lys picked up her book.
Jesse stared at her. “How can you just go back to reading?” He wouldn’t be able to concentrate on anything until this mess was sorted out.
She shrugged. “I can still hear what’s going on out there. If anyone mentions your name, or his, I’ll know. Besides,” she tapped the cover of the book. “This book is fascinating. In a disturbing and gross way. People call us monsters, but fuck me, some of the stuff in here is horrifying.”
“We literally eat people.”
“Not these days,” Lys muttered. “But even so, we just drink their blood. We don’t torture them or...” She stopped at Jesse’s raised eyebrow. “Well, Peter’s not everyone. Anyway, my point was that it’s disturbing, yet I can’t put it down.” She waved a hand at his book. “Go back to your boring history book. If anything happens out there, we’ll hear it. There’s nothing we can do until they’ve gone.”
Jesse stood and reluctantly went over to where he’d been sitting. He picked his book back up and tried to lose himself in the pages.
AN HOUR AND a half later, the VLCD finally left, and Raph called everyone back into the meeting room. Jesse and Lys were amongst the last to enter, and from the way most of the room turned to look at Jesse, it was fairly obvious Peter had told them.
Raph wouldn’t have breathed a word without talking to Jesse first.
“Thank you for your cooperation,” Raph began, only casting a fleeting glance at Jesse. “The VLCD found everything to their satisfaction and are happy to leave us be for another six months. There were some room inspections—which I supervised—and everything was left as they found it. Although I can’t do much about their scent. So for those affected, I’m sorry about that being all over you room.” A few chuckles met his words, but the tension in the room seemed to grow with each word.
Jesse stared resolutely forward, but he felt like the whole room was looking at him.
Lys pressed her thigh against his in a silent show of support, and he wanted to hug her tight. Covens could be ruthless, even with their own members, but Jesse’s coven had never been all that bad. At least not to his knowledge. And they might not have many, but there were some rules. As far as he was aware, he hadn’t broken any.
Raph seemed to steel himself before asking, “Are there any questions?”
Predictably it was Peter who spoke. Jesse felt his eyes on him like hot pokers burning into his skin.
“I have one.”
Raph’s expression remained neutral. “Go on.”
“How is it that the newest member of the VLCD is covered in the scent of the human Jesse is fucking?”
A couple of murmurs met his declaration, but pretty much no one in the room seemed surprised.
Awesome. Now the whole fucking coven knew his business.
Something like resignation passed over Raph’s face, and he turned his attention to Jesse. “That’s a very good question.” He paused, and Jesse fidgeted under his gaze. “Jesse, do you know Detective Sergeant Jones?”
“No.” Jesse shook his head. “I’d never seen him before tonight.”
Vampires could usually spot a lie. Some people and some vampires were skilled at hiding them, of course, but not Jesse. And Raph knew him far too well to be fooled.
Raph nodded. “It’s possible that this is just a coincid—”
“A coincidence? Really?” Peter was out of his seat. His raised voice directed at Raph caused low hisses around the room. “Apologies, Raphael. I’m just not inclined to brush off a threat to our coven as a coincidence.”
