Chapter Eight
“Lords of the Council,” Calissa called, as she appeared at the top of the stairway. Her heart fluttered nervously in her chest, especially now that Lee was not beside her. Four pairs of eyes stared up at her, showing various stages of irritation and boredom.
As she descended the stairs, Viktor moved toward her and met her at the bottom, a smile on his lips. “Lady Calissa, your recent ascension into ruling monarch of the house suits you well.”
“Enough with the pleasantries, Viktor. We didn’t come here for small talk,” Arjin grumbled, as he approached the pair. “Well, Calissa? What do you have to say about these alleged human attacks?”
“Ah. I appreciate…” Calissa paused, swallowing hard. Viktor met her gaze and nodded slightly, encouraging her to continue. “I appreciate your willingness to get started, b-but I feel the need to call an ambassa—”
“You don’t need an ambassador, woman!” Arjin cut in, irritation plain in his eyes. “This is nonsense! Why have we even come out here if we aren’t going to speak about the matter at hand?”
“Peace, Arjin, my dear friend,” Viktor soothed. “Lady Calissa has rights to an ambassador just the same as any monarch of any coven,” he reminded, before turning his attention back onto Calissa with a smile. “Please, dear lady, call your ambassador,”
Calissa smiled gratefully at him and nodded. At least Viktor was on her side. “I’d like to call Lee Dameron as my ambassador so that he might hear and scribe our conversation.” And, just like that, Lee was at her side again, a lazy, easygoing smirk on his pale face.
“Hello boys, and Angulic,” he grinned, waving a hand as a form of greeting. “Long time, no see. Has it really been but a day?”
Arjin advanced on Lee as if to strike him, but Calissa stepped in front of him before things could get out of hand.
“Please don’t fight in my house,” she said, eyeing Arjin first, and then Lee, before returning her attention to the Council as a whole.
“Follow me to the study, where we can talk a bit more comfortably,” she said. Despite how calmly she spoke, she reached out for Lee and grasped his hand tightly when he took hers in his own. Her heart hammered so harshly in her chest that she was almost positive she’d pass out.
Yet the walk to the study was uneventful, and thankfully without incident or accident of any kind. She ushered them all into her office and pulled chairs around her desk for each of the Council members to sit in while Lee stood at her side.
“Look,” she began, choosing to be both blunt and upfront with them. “Our people are dying,” she stated, shocked by the utter lack of compassion her words were received with.
“And?” Arjin questioned, an irritated look on his face. “What do you expect us to do about your lack of control and protection?”
Calissa had to grit her teeth to keep from retorting, and Lee shifted beside her angrily. Was Arjin intentionally trying to rile them up?
“I expect you to do your jobs,” she stated bluntly, as she looked between the four of them. “The purpose of the vampire Council is to protect all of us when we can’t protect ourselves, is it not?”
“How dare you accu—”
“I said, is it not?” Calissa demanded, her confidence in their case returning now that she was in her own territory, so to speak. Her office was the most familiar place in the world, and no one was going to try to speak over her.
Arjin looked taken aback by being talked over, and for once the angry, old vampire cracked a sideways smile. “Alright, alright. You’ve made your point.”
“When we created the Council centuries ago, that’s exactly what we intended,” Viktor agreed, smiling genuinely as Calissa took full control of the conversation.
Satisfied she had everyone’s attention, Calissa sat up a little straighter in her chair, cleared her throat and looked at them all. “OK. We need your help. Human hunters have built a village in the middle of our territory. Just this week alone, sixteen of us have turned up staked by human hands. There isn’t much we can do to stop them without a proper fighting force.”
“What exactly do you intend for our Council Guard to do?” Arjin asked, as he exchanged a look with his mate before looking back towards Calissa again.
“Well,” she said, biting her lip thoughtfully. She looked toward Lee for some form of guidance, but the former prince merely shook his head. This was her decision and her decision alone. This was the part that was important to get right.
“We don’t want them to actively attack the humans. They are our food source, and without them we’d all die. But we do need to defend our people. If that means having them turn the human hunters into the hunted and killing them before they have a chance to kill any more of my coven, then so be it.”
At this, all four of the Council nodded their head slowly and exchanged glances with each other. Hope fluttered in Calissa’s heart. Would they finally agree to deploy the Council Guards after the coven had been being hunted for so long? After so long of being denied the help they so desperately needed?
“Give us a moment to speak alone,” Arjin said, as he looked around at the other three. “There are… logistics that need to be discussed before a final verdict can officially be reached.”
With that, Arjin, Angulic, David and Viktor all marched out of the office one by one and disappeared behind the door into the hallway.