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“Eilidh…” Galen didn’t threaten her, but his tone implied she should rein herself in. She was behaving like she was in charge here, but she wasn’t. This was his dog-and-pony show, and she obviously got away with speaking out of turn because she was Galen’s sister.
“Don’t Eilidh me,” she snapped.
Galen grabbed her wrist and squeezed. Though the expression on his face remained calm and pleasant, he had to be hurting her because she squeaked.
“I believe my sister was trying to ask why it has taken you two weeks to do what another could have accomplished in two days?”
I reached into my pocket and withdrew the crystal pendant, letting it catch the low light of the room, reflecting prisms onto the floor in a wide arc of rainbows.
“Your council was not entirely honest with me. I’d like you to start by admitting as much. ” I closed my hand into a fist and returned the pendant to my pocket. “You claimed the window was what interested you, but that wasn’t true, was it?”
“We did want the window,” Galen said. “But I suppose you have uncovered our reasons for wanting it. ”
“Maxime thought Eilidh wanted the window because she believed she’d be able to stand in the light it cast. But that wasn’t its power at all. The real power was in one of those thirteen crystals. ” I patted my pocket. “The one I now have. ”
“Are you trying to…barter with me?” Galen asked, sounding equal parts impressed and offended.
“I’d like to think of it more in terms of Let’s Make a Deal. ”
Arturo must have been the only one who watched game shows in the seventies because he chuckled while the siblings remained stony.
“Please, tell me what you want that would make you behave so recklessly,” Galen demanded.
“I want Sutherland Halliston remanded to my custody. Permanen
tly. ”
“You are asking us to give you ownership of your sire?” This time Galen did laugh. “Unheard of. ”
“No,” I said, cutting his laughter off abruptly. “You forget I’m here in Sig’s stead. I’m requesting you give his blood kin freedom to move to the East Coast council. I will make sure he arrives safely. ”
“Why?” Eilidh asked. I could understand her disbelief. To her, Sutherland was a crazy, useless baby vampire. Certainly not worth trading for what I had in my pocket.
“Because he figured out what you were after from the start, and instead of taking it for himself he spent God knows how long recreating that stupid window so he could bring it back to you without being discovered. But more importantly, I want him with me because you have a traitor here, and I won’t leave any of my people behind. ”
Eilidh’s mouth went slack while Galen and Arturo both shifted forward in their seats. “I beg your pardon, Secret, but do you know what kind of an accusation you’re making?”
“Yes. ” The truth was I believed we had a traitor in the council at home as well, but they didn’t need to know that. “Moreover I’m not making wild assumptions. I know you have a traitor. My people and I were followed while we were in San Francisco, and we were attacked. The same person who attacked us had already seized Sutherland, which was why he’d gone off the grid. Now I know who was responsible for attacking me, and I know Alexandre Peyton was involved somehow. But for Peyton to know we’d gone from Los Angeles to San Francisco, someone here had to alert him. That same someone would have known Sutherland was my father, otherwise there would have been no sense in him being taken ahead of time. ”
The Tribunal stared at me.
“Of course, I’m not suggesting any of you are responsible. But I am saying your Council Elders need to be looked at very seriously. ”
“And what of Maxime?” Eilidh asked. “I notice he is not with you now. He knew you were moving. He knew who Sutherland was to you. ”
“He knew after. And Maxime is dead. Don’t you ever suggest to me again he had anything to do with this. ”
She went silent. Galen sat back in his throne with a thoughtful expression. “Is that all?”
“I want a full written pardon clearing myself, Mr. Chancery and Mr. Halliston of any wrongdoing. ”
“Naturally. ”
“And I want your assurances that if the traitor in your midst isn’t brought to me within a month’s time…I will be back. And it won’t be for a friendly visit. ”
“Duly noted. Consider it done. ” Galen shot Eilidh a glare before she could protest, rendering her silent. “The pendant, please. ”
I pulled it out again and cleared the gap between us, placing it in his outstretched palm. “Does it really do what she thinks it does?” I asked as I withdrew.
