“You can still eat?”
“It’s complicated.” Willow digs in with her fork. “I have to say, you’ve thrown us for quite a loop. We had no idea this was going on with Roanac, although Sol has been insisting for quite some time that we needed to tighten the reins on Donovan.”
She gives Sol a fond smile. Sol doesn’t even see it, because he’s busy in the middle of what seems to be a very serious debate with North while the dark-haired one, Jerrett, makes quips. In fact, I’m starting to get the sense that Sol can’t see at all—not with his eyes, anyway, although he must have some kind of other heightened senses that allow him to move through the world with total confidence. I’ve never seen him hesitate or lose his bearings.
“He’s going to be insufferable about this,” Willow adds fondly.
I’m not sure if I can trust her, but I don’t see any reason to be rude. I smile and nod along. When she talks about them with fondness, does that mean that she has a similar situation to the one I have? Or did she marry Malcolm for political reasons and now she’s banging one of his advisors on the side?
Malcolm seems unusually close with the other two as well, though. Close like my mates.
Hmm.
I can’t ask, in case I’m wrong, so I just keep my mouth shut. I’m not going to cause a diplomatic incident because I had the audacity to ask the queen of the vampires who she’s fucking.
“So, I try to keep up with fae news in spite of my current position,” Willow waves her hand at the assembled vampires, “but I’m afraid it’s difficult since we are so scattered and hidden after everything that’s happened. I haven’t heard your family name.”
“I’m not really a part of the supernatural community.” Keeping my answers short and simple feels like the way to go.
“That’s a pity,” Willow replies. “But I hope that you’ll be able to reach out to others. This seems to be an issue that affects everyone. Were you raised as a human?”
“No.”
“Many supernaturals are nowadays. It can be very confusing for them when they find out the truth. Not that there’s anything wrong with the human community, I love humans.” Willow laughs. “Not to eat, though.”
She seems to be someone who doesn’t take herself too seriously. I can appreciate that. I notice the other three vampires turn briefly to look at her when she laughs, warmth in their eyes. I don’t blame them. She’s a beautiful woman.
It only furthers my theory that she has a similar relationship to them that I do with my mates.
“Where did you grow up?” Willow asks me. She sounds genuinely interested.
“Here and there.”
“You’re very taciturn.” When she says it, she sounds fond rather than making it into a joke or a flaw. “I can appreciate that in a person. I used to be rather scared at times myself.”
I can’t really see that. Willow seems to be an extremely confident person. I wish I could be more like her. I feel like I’ve been tense and scared my whole life for one reason or another.
“You should have seen me when I was first turned into a vampire.” Willow shakes her head as if she’s laughing at her past self. “It was a mess, to say the least.”
I can only imagine. “You’re fae. And were turned into a vampire.”
Willow smiles. “Yes. It went about as well as you can imagine.”
I can’t even begin to imagine the kind of uproar that caused. I probably would have paid more attention to it if I’d been at all in touch with the supernatural world.
“I’m surprised you didn’t hear about it,” Willow goes on.
“Yeah.”
Willow’s smile only grows. “I’m not surprised you’re not trusting us. It’s perfectly understandable. But I hope that you’ll give us a chance. It’s been a long, hard road, and it’s far from over, but I believe in our ability to change things for the better between fae and vampires. Between vampires and the entire supernatural community, honestly. Centuries of ill-will can’t be undone in a short amount of time, but I’m determined to get us there.”
Her confidence astounds me. She sounds so certain, like she knows she’s going to accomplish this even if it takes some time. I wish I was that certain about my mission. I can’t stop worrying that this might all be gone in a few days when Roanac gets to his full strength.
“You have to be careful with Roanac,” I tell her. “We’ve gone up against him a few times and he’s nearly gotten us. I thought I died the last time. My mates and I still aren’t sure how I managed to heal myself.”
“You seem tenacious,” Willow replies. “And I’ve seen some pretty crazy things in my time. I’m sure that we can find a way to beat him. Especially when you have the people you love with you.”
I can feel my face heating up. “Um. Yeah. Well.”