Page 13 of Call of the Blood

“If she had listened to her cousin, I wouldn’t have snapped, but she got curious when she should have been biting her tongue,” Alexius nearly growled in response. “She and the younger members of the youngest council are constantly out of line, and you know it.”

“They’re modern and bold,” Nancy retorted. “But you scared her in our home.”

“Good,” Alexius snarled. “Your founders were scared of me, and they were right for it. They’d never get an attitude because they would never try to get in my space or pants or bed.”

“This isn’t just that, though, is it?”

“Any reasoning I could possibly give you doesn’t matter. It’s a line. Make sure they know it’s been drawn,” Alexius fired back. “They want me to be polite and nice and not say things like that. They can remember that I am due all the respect I’ve earned over my thousands of years of being a warrior. I work directly for Tribunal members. They are playing minor politics and chasing a thrill. We’re not in the same league.”

“Fair enough,” Nancy said in a whisper. “You finally pulled the Tribunal card after all these years.”

“If that’s the way you want to see it,” Alexius grumbled. “Nothing needs to change. They need to remember the boundaries. I will not have my one guest disrespected because of some girl’s horny behavior. And make sure they understand that Everly is permanent. She’ll outlive all of them. They need to make a good impression not just for themselves, but for all future generations of your coven, Nancy.”

“I’ll make sure it’s very clear for them.”

There was a pause, and I imagined they were glaring at each other, but then it turned surprising.

“I’m sorry,” Alexius said with a sigh. “I haven’t entirely been myself, and I don’t have much patience tonight.”

“Apology accepted… and the need to re-educate the younger women is still noted as necessary,” Nancy said back, almost kindly, almost grandmother-y.

“Thank you.”

He sounded tired. In the middle of the night, when we were most awake, when it was almost impossible to sleep, he seemed so tired.

Nancy left.

I was still staring at the tree, having heard every word, keeping my thoughts in control. I didn’t move as I listened to him approach.

“We need space,” he whispered.

“My brother invited me to California. He wants to propose to a girl, and I have the ring our dad gave our mom… He wants me to bring it in person and meet her. He’s planning to propose in the summer. I’d fly out tomorrow night if I was allowed,” I said, huffing. “Because we do… need space. We’re both going a little crazy in the house. It happens. It’s been ten months of limited real-world contact and no space.”

“Was it an open invitation to just show up?”

“I think he wouldn’t care at all if I showed up on his doorstep, so long as I had a place to go when the sun came up… though he would probably let me sleep in a closet if I needed it.” I snorted. Declan absolutely would. He’d give me shit about it, but he would.

“Then let’s go to California,” he said, taking a deep breath. Unnecessary since we didn’t need to breathe, but I understood that the human urge still hit.

“Um, are you forgetting the Isaiah problem?” I said, going wide-eyed, finally looking away from the tree.

“No.” Alexius met my gaze. “I’m tired of dealing with him. You can’t go alone, not with how many enemies I have, but we’ll go together and explore different places, and you can go see your brother without me, and it will be… different enough, I hope. I’ll be close enough if something happens, but we won’t have to be… in each other’s space the entire time. We’ll do two weeks… no, we’ll go for a month.”

“You can’t just say fuck Isaiah, let’s not listen to him,” I hissed, trying not to yell and inform the witches of Alexius’ insanity.

“But I can,” he said, finally smiling a little, that turn of a corner of his mouth that so many others would miss. It made his face warm and human. “That’s the privilege of being older and more powerful than him and… well, just being me, actually. I believe I’m the only vampire in the world with the privilege.”

“You’re serious.”

“Yes. We’ll pack after this. I’ll call Rupert to start getting the plans in order, and he can finish it up tomorrow,” he said, pulling out his phone. Rupert answered before the first full ring finished. “Rupert, hello. Yes, the meeting with the coven is going well, but that's not why I'm calling. I need flights to California for tomorrow night. Everly and I will be visiting her brother to deliver something, and she needs to catch up. Los Angeles.”

“Oh, okay! I can do that. A little less than twenty-four hours notice. Fantastic!” Rupert’s excitement at the amount of time he had was unreadable. I had no idea if he was being sarcastic or if he was being serious.

I wonder how short that notice has been before…

“You’re welcome. And if Isaiah calls while we’re away, don’t pick up. Get in touch with Maria’s people. They’ll handle us on the other side. Maria will let us stay anywhere we need.”

“Oh, yes. Good people,” Rupert was certainly genuine that time. “Are you thinking of going to her or using one of her branching homes?”