Sitting in the suite was doing me no good at all.

All I could think about was that confusing interaction with Grayson. It kept going round and round in my head, and I needed to do something to get rid of it.

Without a thought as to where I was headed, I left the suite.

Walking would be good enough to get my blood moving. It would give me at least something to do.

I tried not to think too much, but my mind kept straying back to him. To the way he’d looked at me, as if I was something precious.

I’d never been precious to anyone except my abuelita. She’d loved me so much, but that obviously wasn’t the same. Everyone thinks their granddaughter is precious, especially when she’s six.

Grayson looked at me as if I was his treasure, when I was so used to being a weapon of war.

Not for the first time, I felt a pang of regret that he didn’t know who or what I really was. If he ever found out, he’d never be able to reconcile the two thoughts.

I couldn’t be a treasure and a weapon at the same time.

Besides, he’d hate me.

That was so obvious…

As lost in my thoughts as I was, I almost didn’t notice the group of six vampires headed my way. At the last minute, I tried to skirt to the side. They hadn’t seemed to notice me, either, but one of them knocked into me regardless.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” I said immediately, keeping my head down. I was starting to get the hang of this ‘demure’ thing.

“No, no, I’m sorry,” the only woman in the group said, laughing. “I wasn’t watching where I was going.”

“Why would you?” one of the men snorted. “Everyone moves out of their way for you.”

“And the poor girl did try,” she said.

I looked up at her to find her staring inquisitively at me.

“What’s your name, dear?”

“Nina, ma’am.”

“I’m Liliana. Nina, you said?”

“Yes.”

“Oh. You must be the King’s little pet, then.” She beamed, clearly proud of herself for making the connection.

I forced a smile. “Yes, ma’am.”

I didn’t like being referred to as a pet, but it was clear that this woman outranked the rest of the vampires present, and beyond a shadow of a doubt she outranked me.

It would be best if I didn’t aggravate her.

“You could give us an interesting take on our current conversation.”

“She could?” another of the men asked in a rather affronted tone.

“Of course!”

I tried not to let my apprehension show. “What conversation?”

“We were discussing the position of thralls in the court. Since you’re are a thrall, and the thrall of the King, you can see why your perspective would be interesting.”

If I hadn’t been uncomfortable before, I was definitely uncomfortable now.

I wanted to excuse myself and go back to the suite where it was relatively safe, but I knew I couldn’t bow out of the conversation now that I’d been invited in.

Besides, this was clearly unprecedented. The other vampires looked rather uncertain whether or not they should be speaking with me, and even Alex had said that he never talked to thralls.

This Liliana woman had to be rather eccentric if she’d made such a decision, and she was clearly important enough that the others would defer to her.

“Well, what do you think, Nina?” she prodded me.

I realized she’d been waiting for me to speak this entire time.

“Ah, right.” I looked down at the floor. “You’ll have to forgive me, but I think thralls are an integral part of the court’s ecosystem, and they deserve more respect. Things wouldn’t go on as smoothly as they do without the thralls, and it’s important to recognize that.”

One of the men scoffed, the same one who’d been surprised when Liliana invited me into the conversation.

“Oh, don’t mind Aaron. He’s just a stuffy old Councilman.”

My nerves hit me then. Speaking with the nobility was one thing, but openly discussing politics with someone who was actually on the Council? That felt like a recipe for disaster. Especially when I considered my position.

I was Grayson’s thrall. In many ways, I represented him. I could get him into a lot of trouble, I realized with a sinking feeling.

“It doesn’t make sense to me,” Aaron said. “Thralls are little more than servants, if that. They’re just a food source, don’t you agree?”

He was looking right at me, clearly expecting me to defer to him.

Instead, I lifted an eyebrow. “Well, wouldn’t you agree that vampires have already recognized thralls as an intelligent species, given that you’ve developed a method of consent-based feeding?”

He frowned. “Yes...”

I smiled broadly at him. “Now that we’ve established that, we can all agree that an intelligent species deserves the same basic rights as any other—and respect should be one of those rights.”

Aaron’s lips twitched. I got the distinct impression that he wanted to smile, but his pride wouldn’t allow it.

Had I won him over? I hoped so. I didn’t want him to think poorly of Grayson because of what I’d said, but I felt that having a thrall who could hold her own in a political conversation was a pretty good reflection of Grayson.

Right?

“I do appreciate your candor, Nina,” Liliana said. “I was quite right—’your perspective was so enlightening. Now, I’m sorry, but we must be on our way.”

“Of course,” I said. I dipped into a low curtsy and then moved out of the way.

I hid a grin, looking down at the floor as I walked away.

I felt rather accomplished after that conversation.

Hopefully, I hadn’t messed up.