Braden


    “| can’t say that I’m shocked. A bit dismayed, of course, that my granddaughter sis facing the fallout of my actions.


    e knew that killing Orion would break the Treaty. | should have known the High Council would find a way to wrangle the situation


    for their own twisted needs.


    Mchi offered me a ss of warm crimson liquid.


    When | reached to take it, he snagged my wrist and pulled me closer in a half-embrace. “You’ve been gone too long. | wanted


    you back here ages ago.”


    | let myself breathe him in, that cool vampire scent so concentrated in him. Like crisp autumn leaves and cinn amon. Out there in


    the world, even when | came across another vampire, the smell was diluted, and Mchi... Well, as an Ancient he was always


    just so much more. It had been too long.


    We parted, and he made a show of looking me up and down until |ughed and shook my head,


    “It hasn’t been that long, Mchi. I’m sure | still look the same. You certainly do.” | lifted my ss toward him and took a long,


    slow sip. “Delicious.”


    “That beverage? Or me?” He grinned and winked, but the glee on his face faded nearly at once. “You’ve been sending a bounty


    of information back to us. We''re indebted to you.”


    “I came back as soon as the news broke about the Treaty. They’ve put a price on Lanie’s head, Mchi.


    Hers and the others. They’re not going to be safe in Stillwood.”


    | grimaced at the thought. I''d been hanging around with unsavories for too long, spying to et information to send back to


    Brightsky. Now that I’d returned, all | wanted was to drink a gallon of Mc and shower off the stink of humans and wolves.


    “They''re not in Stillwood. Charlotte and Lanie made a connection, and Charlotte brought


    Mchi drained his ss and lifted the bottle, one eyebrow arched.? N?velDrama.Org - All rights reserved.


    | followed suit and held out my ss for a refill. All of them?”


    “Yes. And their three pups, along with Xander’s mother. They arrived only a couple of days ago”


    “You should have sent word to me,” | said.


    e reserve


    Mchi shrugged, and | found it impossible to stay mad at him. Maybe that was his Ancient charm, or more likely, the handsome


    face. He’d appeared to be in histe forties for as long as I’d known him, and | suspected he’d continue looking that age for well,


    until he didn’t want to, anymore.


    “You''re here now. You know now,” he said. “But what is that going to mean for you?”


    “Why? Because i had to drink their Luna’s blood so | wouldn''t die?” |ughed. “They''re in Brightsky. They can hate me if they


    want to, but they’re in our territory. Anyway, they should thank me. taken her


    If | had 1/2


    have their Lanie back.


    Mchi


    lost you


    put his ss down and moved to me like quicksilver to touch my face. “I can’t believe | almost


    “Well,” | said gently, “you didn’t. And I’m back here now.”


    I''d been taking my orders from Mchi for years without dreaming that we’d be more to each other. Sometimes, | still


    couldn''t believe it, not even with his mouth and hands on me. Part of me was always waiting for him to change his mind and


    return us to where we''d been before the first time we kissed.


    His gaze traced my face before settling on my eyes.


    His lip quirked up on one side. “You put your things in your rooms before you came here. | thought you were going to consider


    moving into my quarters.”


    “| did think about it. But | wasn’t sure you’d still want me to,” | told him honestly.


    “And you''re not sure you want to give up your independence from me. | understand. Mchi’s expression shadowed, but he


    nodded and stepped back. “You''re afraid others will think you''ve gained special privilege by being with me.”


    “Haven''t I?” | set my ss on the table and moved forward to put my arms around his waist. “I mean, what’s the point, if | don’t


    get special treatment from the most Ancient of the masas dimas?”


    His hands slipped to my waist to anchor me against him. “If the world was not in mes right now, | would take you right here and


    remind you of how special that treatment can be.”


    |ughed h oars ely. “Hmm. | look forward to the reminder.”


    His lips brushed mine before he stepped back and said crisply, “Charlotte has informed Lanie and her mates that they are in


    exile and being med for Orion’s murder. She’s called them to the meeting room. We should go there now, ourselves. There’s


    much ground to cover.”