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He grew silent as during the elevator ride to the main floor of the house. Stefan directed us into a large conference room that was filled with a long, highly polished mahogany table with five empty leather chairs neatly placed behind it. A huge crystal chandelier in the middle of the room seemed highly extravagant and out of place such a sparsely furnished room.
There were four chairs facing the table. He made a sweeping gesture with his arm. "Sit. They will be here soon."
I sat down on one of the chairs as Stefan slouched into the chair on my right. Anna took her place to my left while Lukas gingerly sat down on the end. Stefan and Lukas had intentionally placed Anna and I in between them, buffering us from anything unexpected. Nikolaus stood behind Anna’s chair, his arms folded across his chest.
"Nothing is going to happen. I am simply being cautious." Stefan's mind voice answered my observation.
Twisting my hands nervously in my lap, I sighed heavily. "I just want this to be over."
His hand reached and stilled my nervous fingers. He took one of my hands in his, slowly tracing the veins with his fingertip. "As do I. Stay calm and say the very minimum to the questions they ask. Do not offer any information that they do not request."
I looked up from watching the graceful movements of his fingers against my hand and wrist. His blue eyes were gazing intently at me, filled with concern. His worry for me made him look older than usual. The tiny lines around his eyes were more pronounced, his normally smiling mouth solemn. The lines of his face were almost severe in the bright lighting of the conference room.
"How many times have you done this? Testified before the Council?"
His eyelids slid closed over his eyes. He inhaled slowly and unnecessarily before reopening them to meet mine once again. "Hundreds of times. I lost count 50 years ago."
"Hundreds?" My mouth gaped.
"This is more serious for me. I killed a Council member," Stefan admitted. Realizing he'd said too much, he rushed to reassure me. "It was to defend my mate. It will be fine."
"I won't lose you. I'll kill everyone of them if I have to, Stefan. I can't..." My eyes filled with hot tears, my throat tightening. One escaped and ran down my cheek, leaving a burning trail in its wake. Stefan lovingly wiped the tear away, his eyes widening as he stared at his fingertip.
"What?"
"Your tear. It is pink." He offered me his hand. The tip of his thumb was stained pink. My eyes skittered up to him fearfully. "You are changing. The few times I have cried, they are the same color."
"Stefan..."
Two heavy doors behind the table swung open dramatically, ceasing our non-verbal conversation. I watched as the five Council members filed into the room. The only one that looked our way was Sofia. Her dark eyes slid over Stefan greedily, staring at him like he was a tall glass of water after being parched from a trek through the desert. Her black eyes then moved to me, narrowing as they flickered over me critically. Her exotic features turned into granite as she took her seat along the other Council members and faced us.
"Welcome. You have all been summoned regarding the death of Derek Collier. I also see we have a new vampire amongst us," Nigel said. His hazel eyes glanced at Anna before returning to Stefan.
Stefan rose to his full impressive six-foot-four height. "Yes. This is Anna Wilson. She is my child and my responsibility. I changed her in result of Derek's attempt on my mate's life. Derek not only used her as a pawn in his scheme to kill my mate, he left Anna to die."
"Why change her?" Adolfo asked bluntly. “She means nothing to you.”
Anna stiffened beside me. My hand inched over and clasped hers tightly. Her fingers tightened around mine angrily.
“That is untrue, Adolfo. I enjoyed her company as a human and she has proven to be an exemplary vampire. She is Josephine’s closest friend and I could not let her life end when I could save her,” Stefan answered smoothly. He remained as still as a statue on the outside, but I could feel his anger simmering through the bond. He was working diligently to keep his temper in check.
"You saved the human for your mate? I would think you've gone soft of it wasn't for your thorough termination of Derek." Adolfo folded his hands on the polished wood of the conference table.
The termination of Derek?! He made it sound like Derek missed a deadline for his job and was fired. I wanted to snicker at the absurdity of this, but knew better than to make a sound. This was almost like watching one of those late night B rated horror movies. Only this time, instead of sitting back and watching, I was an active participant.
Stefan said nothing. He stoically stood in front of the Council, his hands at his side. His steady gaze never left Adolfo's face. This was the vampire bullshit he despised so much. And now, I finally understood why. He had to answer to a group of mostly corrupt vampires that were appointed to be the law of his kind. How many times had he gone through this same inane ritual?
"You have no comment, Stefan? No clever reply? How very unusual. Why is..."
Nigel cut in, ceasing Adolfo's speech. "Enough, Adolfo. We will get to the interview later. Nikolaus, why are you in attendance tonight? You were not summoned to appear."
"I'm here to support my sister," Nikolaus shot back. "I have the right to be here. She is my family."
"You need to leave, Nikolaus. Go home," Nigel admonished. He pointed to the door for emphasis. "Go and I do not want to hear any complaint from you. Are we clear?"
"Nigel, this is bullshit but I'll go." Nikolaus’ fingers grazed first my shoulder and then Anna's. I noticed his hand lingered on Anna's shoulder longer than mine.
Nigel waited until Nikolaus left the room before he began again. "We have appointed a new Council member. This is Amir Negasso." Nigel swept his hand in Amir's direction. Amir inclined his head at us in greeting. "He will be a valuable asset to the Council."
