Vampire Debt - Supernatural Battle (Vampire Towers #2) - Kelly St. Clare Page 0,69

gaze and his hands settled on my hips.

“Uh, sir?”

We both glanced at a dark brunette woman located two seats from Kyros’s chair.

He replied, “Danielle.”

“This is an important day in the game, sir, as you said yourself. I worry that having Miss Le Spyre on your lap will impair our ability to yield the best result.”

The other seconds murmured their agreement.

I smirked at their interference.

“Noted.” Kyros’s hands slipped from my hips as he straightened. “Today, you’ll remain here.”

No one missed the slight emphasis he put on today. The air around me cooled as the vampire left to take his seat. Discontent thrummed through him hard and fast. More anger too. I hadn’t seen him since meeting his father. I’d assumed things would carry on almost the same.

Apparently not. That put a major stick in my plans.

First things first.

I cleared my throat, scanning the ten occupants of the table—excluding myself and their boss. “Would someone like to explain why you’re all scowling at me?”

Kyros’s head snapped up as he sat. His gaze whipped to each of the seconds’ faces in turn. Which, of course, were now smoothed of everything.

“Is there a problem?” Kyros asked them in a low voice.

Most shook their heads. Conrad answered.

“Old concerns rising again, Kyros,” he said. “You admitted that focusing around Miss Le Spyre is harder. We’re worried about the potential negative effect of having her in this room.”

I really hoped there was a negative effect. Then I’d fuck Clan Sundulus simply by sitting here. After meeting Julius, I wanted him to lose nearly as bad as Fyrlia.

Before Kyros could reply, I shot in. “You’re aware that King Julius requested I be here?”

Conrad nodded, lips pressed together.

Definitely not my biggest fan.

“Do you usually question King Julius’s wisdom?”

He paled, as did several around the table. Yeah, the king gave me the willies too.

I leaned back and crossed my legs. “Don’t worry your heads over the choices of your superiors. The main distraction so far to a solid strategy has been your unsought-after interference.”

The words hung heavy, made heavier by Kyros’s blatant admiration through our bond. It was all bravado. If his father was in the room, none of those words would have left my mouth.

“My true mate is right,” Kyros stated.

Enough with the fucking true mate!

His lips twitched, and he pushed a red button on the table. “Begin, Ilion.”

“Wait,” I said, pointing at the button. “What’s that?”

Kyros quirked a brow. “Vissimo have trouble hearing through a certain frequency. We use a frequency generator in this meeting and the meeting with my siblings and King Julius so Clan Fyrlia cannot hear our plans outside the tower.”

My brows climbed. So they were aware of the frequency thing, too, huh? That made sense. “I see.”

“Ilion,” he said, shifting attention from me.

Everyone clicked on their tablets and I did the same. There was a file labelled Seconds. Glancing to check the tablet of the vampire on my right, I clicked on the file and tuned into the male on my left.

Ilion pressed his lips together. “Fyrlia knows our position. They’ll throw everything they have at this. Absolutely everything. That means we must reciprocate. I suggest a higher budget for the day. 127 million.”

There was a murmur of dissent.

Danielle was nodding though. “We can recover from an overspend. We can’t recover if they’re allowed to secure more agricultural land. That will start the end cascade.”

I straightened. “What do you mean by end cascade?”

She cut a glance my way, her blue eyes a match for most around the table. “Have you played Monopoly before?”

Great, I was getting the stupid person explanation. “Yes,” I said patiently. Until Tommy refused to play with me anymore.

“You know the point where one person is clearly going to win and the question changes from will I win to how long before I lose?”

“I do.”

“That’s what I mean by the end cascade. At a certain point, statistically, one clan cannot win. The scales tip and with increasing speed, someone will lose. That’s how Ingenium will end for one side—just like in Monopoly or chess.”

I dipped my head. “Thanks for explaining.”

So Clan Sundulus wasn’t in a good position—even with the bluff at play.

That was good to know. And really bad. The clans had to remain locked in an even battle for years to come for me to have any chance at winning.

If Sundulus was at risk of losing, it was in my interest to help them.

The conversation resumed, and I focused on it entirely, trying to ignore the fear-filled reactions of their