the room. Their chairs were all slightly outside the solitary light in the room, which illuminated the place where Brigit and I came to stand.
In the middle of the semicircle were three larger, high-backed chairs, with six elders on either side. These chairs were reserved for the Tribunal, and one seat was vacant. Mine. In the middle of the room, commanding all the attention even in the minimal light, was Sig. He wore brown leather pants that hung low on his hips, and was slouched in his chair, his long, slender legs sprawled out in front of him. It always amazed me how relaxed he could look, no matter what the situation. I could count on one hand the number of times I’d seen him lose his temper.
I hoped to keep that number to a minimum because he scared the shit out of me.
To Sig’s left was Juan Carlos. His mouth curled in its usual sneer, enhanced in its menace by the scar where his upper lip had been cut open in his human life. The permanent leer showed off a formidable fang and an overabundance of loathing for me.
I blew him a kiss.
His lip curled even farther, and his dark Spanish features took on a harder edge. He could be as grouchy about this as he wanted. The fact of the matter was, if he had agreed to advance Brigit when I’d brought it up to the Tribunal, we wouldn’t have to be here.
If he wanted to be a stubborn ass, he had a thing or two to learn about how frustrating and inflexible I could be.
Brigit stood a step behind me when I came to a stop in the middle of the room. I cast a glance around the half-circle, pausing to look at each elder individually. There wasn’t a gender balance rule among the council, but for the time being there were an equal number of men and women sitting in mixed order on either side of the Tribunal thrones.
I nodded to each member, and they bowed their heads in return, showing the appropriate display of respect. It must have been hard for some of them, especially the very old ones. Not only was I not a full-blooded vampire, I still had a pulse. For me to outrank them must have ruffled a few feathers, but if that was the case, they hid it well. Ultimately, my succession to the Tribunal had been their decision, and they’d chosen to respect tradition.
I think most of them had assumed someone would challenge me and I’d be killed shortly after I took my seat. But it had been some nine months since I’d executed the former owner of my position, and I had yet to be called out. Maybe they thought I was doing a good job.
More likely, they were afraid of what Sig would do if they came forward.
The Tribunal leader crossed his leather-clad legs at the knee and gazed at me with his ice-blue eyes from under a blond fringe of bangs. He looked almost too casual. “Good evening, Tribunal Leader Secret.”
“To you as well, Tribunal Leader Sig. Tribunal Leader Juan Carlos.” I nodded to them both.
“Tribunal Leader Secret,” Juan Carlos growled.
“And welcome, Miss Stewart,” Sig continued, ignoring the venom in Juan Carlos’s tone. Brigit stooped into a low bow, not meeting Sig’s or Juan Carlos’s gaze as she greeted them both appropriately. When she rose, Sig addressed his next comment to me. “So, Secret, you stand in front of us today rather than sitting beside me. How does it feel to be back in your old place?”
A rustle of hushed responses fanned throughout the room. I tried to ignore how scandalized the elders were by his comment and chose to respond as I assumed Sig would want me to. “I don’t plan on getting used to it. Though I don’t miss the bad cushions.”
Sig smirked. “Very good. I think Juan Carlos would miss you terribly if you decided to leave us.”
The former conquistador and I locked gazes and shared a mutual exchange of loathing. Neither of us challenged Sig’s words, though.
“I will now turn everyone’s attention to Council Elder Hansel, who will lead today’s proceedings.” Sig nodded to a compact, dark-skinned man to the right-hand side of my vacant seat.
The man, who was bald and lean to the point of being skinny, rose to his feet and bowed to the two seated men before turning his attention to me. After a tense pause he bowed to me