"What, sweetheart?"
"When Claremont said his sire left him after two years, when did his sire tell him he didn't need to be registered with the Council? His making was long before the Council came into existence so his sire had to have contact with him after the Council was formed."
Merrill skidded the Range Rover to a stop on the side of the road. "Christ," he muttered. "Holy Christ," Merrill said before pulling onto the road again. Claremont had gotten around Merrill's compulsion. It was all in the wording of the questions and the carefully crafted answers. "Lissa," Merrill said after a while, "if you were making a guess, what would it be?"
"That some of Saxom's get might have known about each other, or found each other later and that Saxom may have been pulling all their strings, separately or together, to do collective harm." Merrill might have considered skidding to a second stop but he kept driving.
"Love, you have no way of knowing this," Gavin said over the back of his seat.
"No. I don't. All I have is a feeling." I couldn't tell him how my skin sometimes itched when I knew trouble was coming. The Council already had that information. They'd completely ignored it, too, as far as I could tell.
It was March in England and a light rain was falling when we got home. I could see swirling droplets in the glow of the headlights as we pulled into the garage. It was a little cold, too; my ears were freezing when we walked inside the house. Maybe I needed a woolly hat. It would keep my ears warmer and cover my baldness at the same time.
Franklin and Greg were still up and in the kitchen sharing a cup of tea. "I need a woolly hat," I said, sitting next to Greg at the kitchen island. "My ears are cold."
Greg reached out and touched one of my ears. "They are cold," he acknowledged. "But aren't you guys always cold?" He grinned when he said it.
"I may let you live," I teased him back. Franklin threw back his head and laughed.
"We're going into London tomorrow. I'll see what I can find," Franklin offered.
"Frank, you've already spent too much money on me. Let me see if I can pry some of my money away from dad over here," I nodded at Merrill. He was standing next to Gavin, watching the rest of us.
"Lissa, Franklin has one of my credit cards. He may use it for whatever you need," Merrill said.
"Fine," I mumbled, leaning on the island and burying my face in my arms.
"You don't like being dependent on anyone, do you?" Greg rubbed my back a little.
"No."
"Lissa, a child may be considered a dependent, legally, but a parent generally doesn't see it as an annoying obligation," Merrill said. I'd hurt his feelings, somehow. Gavin didn't look happy either. Where were they when I was getting the crap beat out of me? And that had happened because I'd disobeyed my vampire parent. Yeah, it didn't make a lick of sense to me.
"Then buy two woolly hats," I sat up and looked at Franklin. "And not those kind that have the weird tassels hanging down." Greg laughed this time.
What I received was a huge bag full of hats in all colors when I woke the following evening. They were mostly knit berets that could be pulled over the ears if I wanted. Some of them were cashmere and had a bit of embellishment, which was quite pretty. For my visit to the Council meeting, I picked out a nice pair of gray pinstriped slacks, a black crossover top and a black wool blazer. Winkler put paid to my leather one and I hadn't replaced it. Since the top was a knit, it hugged my body close enough but the pants were loose. I sighed, hunted down the thickest pair of black socks I could find and put my black slippers on. My toes were a little longer, thank goodness, so my hobbling wasn't quite so bad. My fingers were growing out as well but I still had no fingernails. I figured those would come last.
A black cashmere beret went on my head last of all, and if I'd had any suitable earrings I'd have worn them, but I didn't. I pulled the knit beret down to cover most of my ears and went out to find Merrill and Gavin. Gavin checked my fingers when I walked up to him and he kissed what I had. He hadn't asked to get in bed with me since I'd nearly died and I did and didn't appreciate that. I hadn't worn his ring, either, until now. I was worried it would just slide off or something. It was a little loose but I didn't think I'd lose it. Gavin fingered it while he held my hand.
"Honey, what's wrong?" He hadn't done much talking lately. Reaching up, I touched his face.
"Lissa, we need to have this conversation another night, I think," he said. "We have Council business tonight. Do not fear," he touched my face. "I love you so much it is painful. Your hat is quite becoming," he smiled and kissed me.
"I'm the one who can wish for longer hair for Christmas," I complained. "Yours is back to normal." I ran stubby fingers through the dark brown wealth.
"I had my doubts that you'd noticed." He was still smiling.
"I may be pissed at you sometimes, honey, but I always notice," I sniffed.
Brock came to drive us and Merrill asked him to take the Rolls. I sat in the back with Gavin, who pulled me close against his side. Once we arrived, we sat and waited near the park. I wasn't blindfolded this time and soon the vehicle that held the prisoner pulled up next to us. Brock, Gavin and I watched as Merrill placed compulsion on Claremont to answer all the Council's questions truthfully. Wow. Wlodek used Merrill more than I knew. We waited until the prisoner was escorted in ahead of us and then followed behind. My walking still wasn't up to par so Gavin carried me until we arrived at the cave entrance. He set me down there and he, Brock and Merrill walked slowly through the tunnel so I could keep up with them.
Claremont was already in the spotlight when we arrived, standing before the U-shaped table and chained head to foot. Wlodek, his face a bit grim, was waiting impatiently for us to arrive. He mentioned it to Merrill, chastising him for holding things up. Merrill nodded respectfully and we moved to a place at the left against the wall. Brock separated from us and took up a guarding position farther along the cave.
Wlodek and eight Council members, seated around the horseshoe-shaped granite table, had their faces of stone in place as they stared at Claremont. He knew he was going to die; I could see it in his eyes. I glanced up at Gavin. He, Merrill and I stood spaced apart, not touching one another. Somehow, I figured that touching would be frowned upon. Would they call on Gavin to deliver Claremont's death? I saw Sebastian standing on the other side of the cave. Perhaps he would do it and that made me wonder if he played with his kills first. Yeah, I didn't like him at all.