Tension rippled through me as I sat with the Council yet again.

Another emergency session. Another day, another murder.

That wasn’t the only thing tying me up in knots right now. Nina was driving me absolutely insane, and yet at the same time providing me with a grounding force with which to think.

She challenged me in ways I’d never expected but deeply appreciated.

She also drove me wild with desire that I couldn’t act on because of the promise I’d made to her. I wouldn’t break it, not as long as I lived, but dear God did I wish she’d come to me and give me the permission I so dearly needed.

Every movement she made only made me want her more. Every look she sent me, partially hidden by her thick lashes, was like a bolt of energy sent straight through me.

I didn’t know what to do with her, which was why, at the moment, I wasn’t doing anything.

Other than my job.

God above, I needed to focus. A Council session was no time to be thinking about Nina.

“My Lord?”

I glanced up at the waiting Councilman, who had clearly just finished speaking. I’d missed whatever he’d said.

“Perhaps our King has too much on his mind to deal with this matter,” Isaiah said, his voice a gentle murmur, but his accusation was a knife that cut through the room.

I was reminded of what Nina had said the night before: that we shouldn’t waste so much time dancing around one another, talking in circles, trying to decipher what the other meant to say.

Our sessions would pass much faster if we behaved in the way that Nina saw the world. And yet, I knew that was never to be. It might be something I wished for now, but that was all it would ever be.

“I assure you, nothing is more important than securing the safety of my people,” I said softly.

“Not your little pet?” Isaiah asked.

Ah. At last, we were getting to the point.

“I have no idea what you mean.”

“Come now, My Lord.” He smiled slyly. “It’s no secret that you haven’t yet enthralled the young woman. Perhaps this is what’s distracting you from the matter at hand, the matter that is of utmost importance.”

“If I’m distracted, it’s only because I’m attempting to determine the identity of our killer. This, I promise you.” Liar. “Nothing is more important to me.”

Another lie.

When had Nina become so important? I couldn’t tell.

The session went on, everyone giving voice to their concerns, but no one else accused me outright of not doing my job. There were veiled comments, but that was all they were. No one but Isaiah dared to be so outspoken, and that was because he was the youngest on the Council. He had a lot to learn about the ways of our world. If we had been talking about any other issue, I would have corrected him.

Now wasn’t the time for that.

The session concluded, and everyone filed out of the room. Once they were gone, I bit out a curse.

Alone, I could admit that I had no idea how I was going to end this.

For the first time in my life, I wished that I’d found my mate. That I had someone I could confide in, could trust implicitly, instead of being surrounded by people playing political games.

Just one person I could bare my soul to and find some solace in.

I stalked from the room and made my way to my mother’s chambers. She was the closest I could get to a confidant. Even she played games, I could at least tell her more than I could anyone else.

She opened the door to my knock, a pleasant smile on her face.

“Darling! Do come in,” she said, stepping to one side to allow me entrance to the room.

As soon as I was inside and the door was shut, her face fell.

“Oh, sweetheart.” She wrapped her arms around me, and I allowed myself the boyish reaction of finding comfort in my mother’s arms.

How I yearned for the days when all I’d had to worry about was whether or not my mother was upset with me.

Simpler times.

She stepped back, and I took a seat in one of the overstuffed chairs. She sat on another, beside me.

She shook her head. “I’m so very worried for you, darling.”

I tried for a confident smile. “I have everything under control, Mother.”

“But you don’t! You have no mate, no heir, and now these killings. And what if whoever it is comes after you next?”

Leave it to my mother to be more concerned about my lack of a mate than anything else.

I would never tell her that I’d just been thinking about wanting a mate. She’d never let me hear the end of it, and she’d start planning the balls at which I’d meet eligible women.

We had no time for that.

The Council would have my head if I distracted everyone like that.

Actually, they probably wouldn’t. A distraction of that nature would help to soothe the nerves of my people and allow them a feeling of normality. Not to mention that everyone would be overjoyed to have a Queen. And with a mate would come an heir, a secure line.

They’d have less to worry about.

So, no, I didn’t think the Council would have a problem with that.

Which was exactly why I needed to keep those thoughts to myself. While they might be pleased, I didn’t dare waste my time that way when I needed to catch a killer.

“No one’s going to come after me,” I said.

“But if they do, what are we all to do then?” She shook her head. “You need a mate, Grayson. God forbid anything should happen to you. I don’t know what I’d do with myself, but...”

But if I died without an heir, the entire vampire line would end.

Maybe I was being selfish, but I couldn’t handle all of that right now. Having a mate would help me, but trying to find one now would not.

“We’ve been over this, Mother. Now is not the time.”

“And why not?”

“Because I have more important matters to attend to.”

“What could possibly be more important than securing the lives of your people?” she snapped, frowning fiercely at me.

She had me there. The safety of my people was paramount, and my having an heir did rank a tad higher than a few murders. Not to me, but to others.

It wasn’t like I could force a mating, though. That was out of my hands entirely.

“Mother, you know how I feel about this.”

“But do you understand how everyone else feels? Every day that goes by, we all feel the stress a little more. This is your duty. If things had gone the way they were supposed to, you would have mated before you took the throne, but alas, that didn’t happen.”

I grimaced. No, it hadn’t. And that again was my fault. I’d rebuked my mother again and again when she’d brought it up while I was young, and now there wasn’t time for it.

Not that I was overly eager for it to happen.

Yes, having a mate would mean having a confidant, but it would also mean stronger restrictions on my freedom. There would be no more late-night runs through the city.

No more nights with Alex, laughing in carefree abandon.

Everything would become about her, about my mate.

Everyone said it was because your mate was the most important thing in your life, but I didn’t see how your priorities could shift so suddenly after meeting someone.

It wasn’t in my nature; of that I was certain.

No, I didn’t want a mate. Not really. I just wanted to be myself.

“Darling...” My mother took in a deep breath. “Have you considered the alternative, if you don’t take a mate?”

I frowned. “What are you talking about?”

There was real concern in her eyes. “I know you’re doing everything you can to keep everyone safe, but we both know that isn’t how the Council sees it. We both know that they’re...that they want to...”

She couldn’t say it.

“They want to be rid of me,” I said, finishing the sentence for her.

She grimaced. “That. While you can’t ever be removed as King, they can take control. You wouldn’t really be in charge anymore. They would force you to take a mate, to produce an heir to continue the line. You would be nothing more than...than...”

A prize bull, used for breeding then tossed aside.

I’d be nothing, if that were to happen.

They would take Nina from me.

The ferocity that swept through me at that thought terrified me. That I might care more about that than the loss of my throne...

No, no, that couldn’t be. I squashed the thought and the feelings that came with it with an iron fist.

“I won’t let that happen,” I swore. “Never.”

She reached out and clasped my hand. “I don’t want to see that happen, son. I want what’s best for you—and what’s best for you is to take a mate as soon as you can.”

I dropped her hand and stood up, shaking my head. “Why don’t we sort this situation out first, then we can revisit this conversation?”

She smiled tightly, and I knew this wasn’t over. Not by a long shot.

“All right, dear.”

This hadn’t been the comforting conversation I’d come for.