My heart beat heavily in my ears, drowning out the sounds around me until it felt like a distant thought as I walked down the hall. I looked beside me to see Alaisdair's lips moving, the words forming in his mouth, but too distant from my conscious to register. We came to a stop in front of a dull silver door that looked to double in my height, and I blinked rabidly, shaking myself out of the haze I was in.
"She is not going in there alone. The King has assigned me to accompany her everywhere for her protection," Alaisdair growled, sounding like he had been arguing with her about this for longer than I had been mentally present for.
"I don't know how many ways I can put this, but you cannot go in with her. Unless the King has intervened to say otherwise, they conduct these interviews privately," Josie shot back curtly.
He stepped forward with a low growl, his face darkening into a frightening mask of hostility. I grabbed his arm and tried to pull him back out of reflex, afraid he would do something he would get in trouble for while trying to protect me.
"Alaisdair, stop," I whispered in haste.
His anger wavered and he stepped back, looking down at me with an odd expression I couldn't decipher.
"I'll be fine," I said, my voice assuring and confident despite the tight knot of nerves in my stomach.
He nodded stiffly and glared at the door. I squeezed his arm lightly and turned to Josie, preparing myself for the people who sat waiting in the next room.
She came to stand in front of me, her expression serious. "Walk in, sit down, and do not speak unless you are directly addressed. Be careful to be respectful and do not lie, they will know if you do."
"What if they start asking questions about what I am?" I asked.
"They won't, that's not what they're here for," she assured tightly.
"What if they do?"
"They won't. Now go, patience is not a strength they possess," she said, turning me towards the door.
I walked towards the door, only coming to a stop when I noticed the absence of the click of her heels.
I looked back, confused. "Aren't you coming?"
She shook her head. "I told you, it's only you and the Council. No one else is allowed in the room, not even their guards."
I swallowed roughly, nodding as I turned back. I straighten and pushed through the dread I felt as I opened the doors and walked through. Silence met me as I took the first step into the room, making the air feel somehow colder. My eyes immediately found where the council sat in the four chairs that were positioned atop a set of concrete stairs, the room otherwise empty aside from the single chair that sat in the middle of the room.
The door closed loudly behind me, making me jerk in surprise. Remembering I needed to move, I continued into the room. My footsteps reverberated in the room as approaching the back of the small chair, taking in each of them as I did.
A large man on the right sat confidently in his chair, his eyes pinning me in my spot. His blonde hair had grown out longer than I would've expected from someone on a council. I tore my eyes away from his and took in the woman next to him. Her hair curled close her scalp in a pixie cut, making the sharp features of her face stand out. I continued down the line, regretting it immediately when I met the cold eyes of a woman with a sharp black bob that cut off at the chin of her small round face. I jerked my eyes away from hers to meet a pair that almost physically took my breath away, and not in a pleasant way. The man, with his hair shaved close to his head and deep black eyes, felt a world away from the woman beside him. Where she was cold, he simply felt empty, emotionless.
I lowered my gaze, feeling off-put as I slowly lowered myself into the seat, the creak it made filling the room that remained uncomfortably silent. Moments passed in silence as I breathed through my nerves, waiting for something to happen.
"Name," the blonde man ordered sharply, his voice oddly soft.
I straighten in my seat. "Echo Wilde," I said, forcing my voice remaining strong.
"This isn't your birth name," stated the dark eyed man, jerking my attention to him before I quickly diverted my eyes to the floor for the second time.
"How'd-," I started.
"You were given this name," the least terrifying of the two men interrupted.
"Yes," I confirmed as I brought my eyes back up, recovering from the moment of waver.
"By whom?" The pixie haired woman asked gently.
"A nurse. I was found in the woods near a campsite, so she gave me the nickname wildling. When it came time, I decided to keep it," I explained.
A long pause as they looked at one another. I wasn't sure if I was imagining it, but it looked like they were almost having a silent conversation.
"What were you doing out in the woods the day you were bitten?"
"I-," I began, but cut myself off.
"Speak," she ordered, her voice hardened.
Her command hit me in the chest and the words tore from my throat forcefully. "I saw something odd and I followed it. I was curious."
She sat back in her chair and watched me, her gaze unwavering as she assessed me. "What was so odd about this thing?"
"It laughed, like a child would, but it wasn't a person. I didn't get a good look at it, only glimpses."
"Pixie," the large man to her left stated, his brow furrowed like he found it odd himself.
They paused in another moment of silent conversation and I watched intently, curious. They simultaneously turned to look at me, seemingly done with their conversation and I felt my eyebrows raise at the chilling visual it provided.
"Do you know the vampire who bit you?" The blonde man asked.
"No."
The woman who had been silent until now shot forward in her chair in outrage and hissed, "She lies."
A jolt of panic shot through me, sending my heart racing, before I locked it away deep inside myself.
"I have not," I said calmly, barely containing my anger.
The woman growled, baring her teeth. The pixie-like woman next to her held her hand up, cutting off the growl instantly. She slowly pushed off her chair and stepped down the stairs, each movement sending a shot of apprehension through me. She made her way to me, only diverting to circle me.
She tapped the back of my chair as she walked before stopping directly in front of me to stare into my eyes.
"How do you know Demetrius?" She asked, her voice deceptively calm.
"I don't," I responded in the calmest voice I could muster.
She stared at me, seemingly waiting for something I wasn't giving her until finally, she smiled. The smile itself looked to be friendly but her eyes narrowed into angry slits, telling me otherwise. She hummed, unconvinced, and continued circling me.
"Kieran very generously offered to claim you in the hopes of releasing you of your attackers hold, did he not?" She asked, clearly knowing the answer.
Not expecting the sharp turn she took in topics, I tensed, feeling completely unprepared for this line of questioning. "Uh, yes. That's one way of putting it."
Her nails scratched the back of my chair noisily as she passed, sending an uncomfortable shock down my spine. "And you declined in a rather violent manner, didn't you?"
"I didn't react particularly well to the way he chose to approach me, no. It was more aggressive than I was comfortable with and I let him know this. He didn't listen," I coolly explained, anger simmering in my stomach at the implied accusation in the statement.
"That may be, but surely a highly respected warrior of the Therian Court is a better option than the likes of a vampire who actively rebels against all four of the Courts," she said, her voice hard with a clear judgment.
"I will not be pushed into one bad situation just to get out of another," I shot back through clenched teeth.
She stopped and turned to face me, her gaze calculating in a silence that was worrying to say the least. I bit my tongue, reminding myself to be respectful as I met her eyes, unflinching.
"Do you know how common it is for a shifter be claimed by a vampire?" She asked, changing the direction of conversation once again as she took a step into my personal space.
"Not very, I'd imagine," I answered reluctantly.
"No, it's not," she said, grabbing my chin and tilting my face up roughly to watch my expression carefully. "So why is it, do you think, that a vampire of his notoriety would bite the likes of you? You're half human, a mortal. What would he want with you?" She questioned, her tone genuinely perplexed as she tapped the side of my face with her fingernail.
"Who says he has to want anything?"
She tilted her head in a purely condescending fashion, and continued in a tone that matched, "He wants something. Demetrius has never done anything simply because."
Her hand left my chin and followed my jawline to my neck. I clenched my jaw, refraining from saying something I'd regret, and stayed silent as she outlined my scar with her finger. "There is always a motive behind each thing he does, no matter how small, and this is no small thing."
Her eyes darted up to connect with mine and she gave me a smile that was anything but friendly. Her nails suddenly dug into my scar, pulling a sharp cry from me as I tried to pull back from the pain. Her other hand held me in my place in a surprising show of strength as memories flashed in my mind at such a fast pace I couldn't identify most of them as they went.
Her hand jerked from me sharply and I pushed myself against the chair in an attempt to distance myself from her as much as possible. I reached up to touch my neck lightly and made a noise of shock when my fingers came back wet with blood. I looked up and met the startled eyes of the woman in front of me. Her mouth shut and she straightened, pulling her face back into the controlled expression she wore when I first walked into the room.
I held my breath, my heart beating in my throat as I waited for her to expose what she knew. She saw what I was hiding, I know she did.
A knock sounded from behind me and I discretely let out a breath of relief. The doors opened and quick footsteps sounded around the room as a small woman made her way to the steps of the Council.
"Who authorized you to interrupt during Council business?" The tall man asked, the anger in his voice contradicting the soft quality it carried.
She bowed her head respectfully. "The King, sir."
He motioned her forward impatiently and she handed him a note, still not looking him in the eyes.
He opened it as the woman scurried off and growled, "It's a dismissal. He's relieved us of our duties here."
"We're not done," the black haired woman protested from her chair.
"It wasn't a suggestion, Addison. It was an order," he threw back in exasperation.
"Well, I'm not finished," she griped.
"Yes, you are," the woman who held all my secrets interrupted in a decisive tone. "She is free to leave."
"Faith, are you sure?" Addison asked, shock underlining in her voice.
Faith nodded once and started up the stairs to take her seat. Addison sat back in her chair, seemingly disappointed that I wasn't guilty. I looked back to Faith in confusion and she held my gaze head on, her eyes knowing.
"Leave," she ordered, her voice soft once again.
I numbly sat up from my chair, walking towards the door in shock. I pushed the door open and stopped in my place as soon as I stepped into the hallway.
"Echo?" Alaisdair worried voice pulled my gaze up to his.
He hesitantly reached towards me but stopped just short of touching my shoulders. I watched in a way that felt completely detached as he continued to fret over me.
"Echo, say something."
"I think I'm going to go sleep now," I said, my eyes connecting with his.
He nodded, still wearing a troubled expression. "Okay."