“Do you have anything else to report?” She studied her manicured nails.
Brynleigh’s shadows thrummed, and she drew in a deep breath. “I had a thought. About the Representatives.”
When Brynleigh had first arrived, her Maker had launched into a tirade about the ruling class. Jelisette’s hatred of the Representatives seemed to be getting worse with each passing day.
Honestly, some of Jelisette’s points made sense, but Brynleigh would never admit to that. She’d think about them later when she was safe.
Her Maker bristled, dragging up her gaze.
Darkness gleamed in Jelisette’s eyes as she snarled, “What about them?”
Brynleigh’s heart thundered. Her neck ached in remembrance of the last time she stood in this office, andtears rushed to her eyes as she recalled the sensation of death coming for her, but she forced those emotions away.
Even though she hated this place, she couldn’t show that right now. Tears would be seen as weakness, and she couldn’t break down in front of Jelisette.
“I’m sure many Representatives will be at the Reunion. I know there were several mentions of planning an attack for next month, but if we,”—Brynleigh fucking hated using that word and associating herself with the rebels—“attack the Reunion, it would be devastating.”
“Oh? Do tell.”
In the same monotone tone she’d used when describing Josef’s death, Brynleigh laid out why this plan would work.
When she was done, she closed her mouth and waited. She ignored the creepy painting, ignored the sensation of death sweeping over her, ignored everything except her Maker.
Please let this work.
Brynleigh wanted to bring good news to her fae captain.
Ten excruciating minutes later, the older vampire nodded.
“That’s… not a bad idea. I’d have to speak with Dimitri…” The drumming picked up, and a faraway look came over Jelisette’s eyes. “Yes. I like this. Did you come up with this plan on your own?”
“Yes,” Brynleigh lied.
A raised brow. “Good girl.”
Shivers ran through Brynleigh at her Maker’s praise, and her stomach churned. The need to leave was stronger than ever.
Jelisette waved her hand in the air. “You may go. I have an appointment. I trust you can see yourself out?”
“Of course.” Thank Isvana, the first part of Brynleigh’s plan was over. “Before I leave, could I grab a book from my room? I left it here before the Choosing.”
“Go ahead.” Her sire gathered shadows around herself. “I’ll message you.”
Maybe Brynleigh’s luck was turning. Maybe the sensation of death was nothing but a cold breeze.
Maybe.
She didn’t want to wait and find out. Brynleigh left,hurrying through the safe house before Jelisette could decide there was another task she needed her to do.
Brynleigh’s room looked identical to the day she left for the Choosing, but even it had a sense of eeriness that had never been there before.
This space had never really felt like home, but now it was like it belonged to a stranger. The woman she had been before Ryker was gone.
Brynleigh shivered as she looked over the space, still holding those tears at bay.
She hadn’t lied to Jelisette. There was a book she wanted to grab—two, in fact. One was a guide to the history of vampires from the Rose Empire up to modern times. Jelisette had gifted Brynleigh the book upon her Making.
The second was a history of the fae’s Great Migration across the Indigo Ocean. They weren’t riveting reads likeThe Shadow and The Sparrow, but she’d read them many times over the past six years.