Chapter Twelve - Part Three

any of this…” Ethan replied with terribly feigned nonchalance. He scuffed a toe against the carpet, with his head down, looking up at me through thick lashes.

“Ugh. You are so low. Fine!” I said angrily, knocking his shoulder with my own as I marched past him. For all I knew, even the Elder could have had something to do with this. I couldn’t risk him finding out.

“But I swear to god, Ethan. If you cause a mess at the morgue, I will stick you in one of those freezers, and leave you. I mean it.”

“I’ll be a good boy, Mimi.” Ethan said with a gentleman’s smile. “Promise. Scout’s honor.”

“You aren’t a scout.”

He strode across the bedroom to the door, and held it open for me.

“Breakfast before we go?”

And with a final scowl for an answer, I grabbed my purse and he followed me out.

*  *  *

We were two minutes shy of being late to the Leadership meeting, and I was still chowing down on a muffin, as we scrambled from my house and across the lawn to Ethan’s car. He sped around corners and revved through yellow lights as I tried not to choke while I ate. But luckily we made it to the Maison in one piece, striding quickly through the hotel doors.

“Leader Noble, Champion Raines.”

As usual, Annie, the rude waitress gone nice, was there to greet us. She brought out a key and opened the familiar wooden door behind her small counter, closing it behind us after we entered. And there was the click of her key as she turned the lock.

She had left us in a small, but not cramped room, with a silver elevator and two small tables. They each held a vase with thin, purple flowers that had large cones protruding through their middles. Smaller purplish buds adorned the cone and as usual, I thought to myself how it was such a strange and ugly looking little flower to serve as decoration – even if it was vervain. They were the only splash of color to offset the white of the walls and floor.

“I hate that we have to be locked in here.” I said, still looking around. “I think Annie secretly enjoys it because she knows it bothers me.”

“Channeling your inner Adelle, are we?” Ethan said, and walked forward to press the white button on the panel beside the elevator. There was a soft clicking and whirring sound of motors and pulleys coming to life, and then a single ding as the elevator opened.

“After you,” Ethan said politely, holding the door for me. Sticking my tongue out at him, I obliged. And then, downwards we were going, descending through thousands of feet of the earth’s crust. There had only been one button to push – one floor to select – and like always my heart was hammering at the thought of it. I didn’t like the idea of going underneath the earth. The thought of it reminded me of coffins. It left my skin sweating. I bit my lip and shut my eyes, trying to quell my irrational fear along with the sudden impulse to freak out and run in wild circles, screaming.

“Are you ok?” Ethan whispered in the dim lighting of the two electric lamps on the ceiling.

“I admit, I could be better.” I said, without opening my eyes.

He laid a hand at my back, rubbing it in firm, but not un-gentle circles, as I bent over and placed my hands on my knees. I focused on my breathing, willing myself to remain calm and not panic. I was part wolf damnit.

Eventually the elevator slowed, the doors were sliding open again, and we were free. Embarrassed, I emerged into the brightness of the new room, inwardly cursing as I stumbled gracelessly.

Besides the long U-shaped table in the center of the room, upon first entrance you would probably notice the flat screen television hanging on the wall in plain view of the table. It was off at the moment, but it’s blank, glossy screen reflected the wooden paneled walls and the framed photographs of Noble Elders and past Alphas. Charles was framed, and so was my father, along with each of the other current Leaders. It was a room that was daunting in its banality, and lack of warmth. It left an invisible tension in the air that rested heavy about the shoulders, and was almost impossible to ignore.

The other members were all seated and making small conversation amongst one another, however the chatter ceased immediately when Ethan and I made our entrance. Charles sat in the middle of the table. To his right was Sofia and at his left was Mr. Newport – Addy’s father. Lucas was to the left of him, and Ethan’s dad was to Sophia’s right. Which meant that the only two seats left at the panel were the ones next to Mathew.

“Leader Noble, Champion Raines, you’re almost getting good at being on time.” Sofia remarked loudly. She watched us with her cat-like amusement, and I couldn’t help but immediately be annoyed. The fear from the elevator was rapidly dissipating and in its place was now a gently simmering resentment. But I chuckled loudly with her until she squirmed uncomfortably in her seat.

“You know, I will always cherish the original misconceptions that I had about you, Leader Devila.” I said pleasantly, scurrying to my seat next to Mathew, before she could work out exactly what it was that I had said.

Meanwhile, Charles was looking as aloof and commanding as usual, and Lucas was his regular, smoldering self. Mr. Newport smiled at us both with the kind of understanding and pity that made you feel guilty for not being more professional, and then there was Matthew Raines who was busy bypassing me (as usual) to exchange roguish looks with his son instead.

“Parley begins in fifteen minutes.” Charles said importantly, clearing his throat. “And now that all Leaders are present, we’ll begin.”

There were his customary, typed papers before him on the table – his notes, I knew. He shuffled through the first two of these, and Sofia handed him his square, black reading glasses. A smile of gratitude from him, and a touch to his shoulder from her was all it took to pique my interest. It had been going on far earlier than my arrival to Harbor, I knew. Always and with extra glee, was I willing to recognize what my fellow Leaders and Champion ignored, or were simply unconscious of.

“For a while now, I have been contemplating how best to broach this subject.” said the Elder. “It has come to my knowledge that a group of Hunters are in severe dispute with The Order – a Witch clan from Hasting. They ask for our assistance in dealing with these Witches. Apparently, there have been… killings.”

Looking around the table, I noticed that my fellow Leaders were doing little to hide the troubled looks that crossed their faces at our Elder’s update. Ethan and I alone remained at ease.

“The team they’ve sent to Harbor is apparently in the company of a young, female Vampire.” the Elder continued. “And because of this, I question now whether the Hunters are to be trusted.”

“And why’s that?” I said, feigning ignorance. “Because the Vampires are actually willing to working with them?”

“Of course.” replied my grandfather, in his standard, superior tone. “That alone marks them untrustworthy. And frankly, I see it as ill-advised and unreasonable to offer them support or cooperation. It’s Witch business – and something other members of the clan should be encouraged to handle.”

With disbelief, I looked down the table for someone to disagree. I waited for anyone else to raise their arms or to at least make eye contact with me, but none of them did. Their mouths remained closed and their faces were purposefully empty. They all reminded me of walls –stupid and blank.

I turned to Ethan with wide, questioning eyes but all he could do was shrug and raise an eyebrow back. Obviously, this would be left up to me to handle.

“Pack are more close to being Human than most Supernaturals will ever get.” I said carefully. “So I think it’s only natural for the Hunters to seek our help.”

“And why should I care?” Charles replied icily, as every other pair of eyes in the room fastened on me.

“Because if the trouble with this clan is so bad that Hunters are seeking us out, then maybe it’s a problem worth our attention. This could be bigger than what we know… or bigger than what you’re not telling us –”

There was a loud cough from Ethan and a gasp from Sofia to let me know that I had finally crossed the line that previously I had only toed. But Charles kept his cool and didn’t interrupt, perfectly willing to allow me to finish. It gave him more time to simply sit and enjoy despising me.

“Grandfather, with all due disrespect,” I said, addressing him with a submissive tone but stony gaze.

There was no turning back now.

“How is it fair to ask your Leaders to side with you against the Hunters, when the rest of us haven’t even had a chance to speak with them? Not to mention, you’ve been a little vague about the details of how you came across all this information. ”

I sounded confident enough, but in all honesty, I was sweating by the end of my horrible, tiny speech.

“How dare you?” Sofia asked, her hawk-eyes boring through me with the force of a death ray. “He is our Elder, and yet you speak to him with such insolence!”

“Actually, she speaks to him like an impartial Leader should.” Lucas interjected.

Of course I was stunned (but grateful) to hear Lucas speak up, but Charles remained slightly less impressed. Colder still became my grandfather’s countenance and I realized that perhaps there could be someone else that Charles disliked even more than me.

“Naomi is doing what her job asks her to do. It’s why we have a Leadership, instead of just some Alpha carrying out the Elder’s orders. We’re here because one no longer decides the fate of us all.” Up until this point, Lucas continued speaking to the entire table, but now he shifted his stern gaze solely to the Elder.

“Elder, your own rules state that we handle Hunter business as a group, which means you shouldn’t have sat on this information. Your Leadership should have been notified earlier. And personally, I think the time is near when we won’t be able to just sit back and ignore what happens to the rest of the world. There’ll be consequences – there always are. And you shouldn’t condemn your granddaughter for helping to point that out. If it had been your son sitting in that seat, he would have been proud.”

It had taken me several meetings to realize it, but it was finally clear now – Lucas could transform into the backbone of the Leadership, when he saw fit to speak his mind. I was still a rookie compared to him, and my authority within the group was really nothing more than a trophy of forced respect on my grandfather’s behalf. And I would have to work hard if I wanted the same respect that Lucas had already earned from our peers.

“Well, Lucas, sadly we’ll never really know what my son would have thought because he’s dead.” Charles replied in an ugly sneer. “And I fail to see what ‘consequences’ we could ream from minding our own business. Do you honestly consider this to be a dispute worth the Leadership’s time?”

“Vampires almost wiped out the Witches once.” Lucas replied, with a deliverance that was quiet, but imposing. “We turned our backs on them all, and while we weren’t looking Witches switched their practices from harmless teachings to destructive magic. They created a weapon to fight their enemy. And it was just our rotten luck that that same magic happens to be useful against Werewolves too. So maybe it’s time we do get involved, because obviously looking the other way hasn’t been working for the Garou.”

Charles opened his mouth to again refute Lucas’s words of counsel, but Mr. Newport beat him to the punch.

“You’ll have to put it to a vote, Elder.” Adelle’s father said, gently. “It’s what happens anytime a Leader disagrees with the Elder’s motion. Those are the rules, sir.”

I could have kissed the man.

So the matter was quickly put to a vote that resulted in a stalemate of three to three. Charles voted in favor of rejecting the Hunters’ request, and he was backed by Sofia and Mathew. Meanwhile, I was the first to voice my ballot of opposition. I wanted to help the Hunters on their quest to aid the Humans. Lucas and Jonathan supported me.

Which led us to the logjam.

“Um, excuse me,” I said, devilishly pleased that I potentially held the solution to solve the problem. “Ethan hasn’t voted.”

I peeked at him with a delight that was very shoddily contained.  He looked daggers back at me – silent, but deadly. And my grin faltered entirely when I realized he still held the option to vote against me.

“I’m just the sidekick.” Ethan said through gritted teeth. “My vote won’t count.”

“Actually, Ethan, it does.” Jonathan replied. “Champions are allowed a vote – that’s in the rules too, son.”

I turned in my seat again and looked Ethan directly in his mischievous, hazel eyes. I willed him to vote with me. I begged him silently not to go against. But it all came down to who he held in a higher esteem – me, or his father, Mathew.

In a single, desperate move that I knew was unprincipled, I leaned over slightly in my chair and laid a hand on Ethan’s knee. Out of sight from the others, I let a few delicate fingers travel their way up the inside of his thigh…