by Holly Hook
Silvia, too, has taken off her shoes. She's in this with me. Shit, I hope that's not guilt working on her because I don’t want to get her in trouble.
I stop just two feet from the door, heart hammering.
“Jeremy is just parroting everything his father says,” Beatrice is saying to someone. “That's normal, isn't it? I mean, Benjamin Haywood turned him, so Jeremy is of course going to stick with his politics. We can change him.”
Someone sets something down, and then Warrington speaks with that razorblade voice.
“You overestimate your chance to change Jeremy, I'm afraid,” she says. “He is solidly Spade Party, and perhaps more.”
Beatrice raises her voice. “What do you mean, perhaps more?”
“Beatrice, I know that you're young and idealistic. That's normal. But unfortunately, some new vampires will have to go.”
“You're saying he dodged his kill? That's impossible.” Genuine horror fills Beatrice's words.
Warrington clears her throat. “I'm not sure, but he showed weakness before a human the other day, right before you and the Silvia girl walked into my office.”
I don't dare to take a breath.
She noticed Jeremy defending me.
“Jeremy wouldn't do that.” Beatrice sounds sure. “I know he didn't. It's impossible. He probably just misspoke or something.”
Huh? Beatrice isn't trying to destroy Jeremy?
It almost sounds as if...as if she wants him.
A foul taste rises in my throat, and I know why she's been trying to cling to him since this whole thing started. And why she turns up her nose at me and Silvia.
“I hope you are right, Beatrice. Organizing an assassination and working with those I'd rather not work with is not on my bucket list, but if it must happen, you know the rules. Thank you for talking to me. Your input is valuable, and I'm glad you could sneak a bit of time away from your meetings. And by the way, you are doing well. The other lawmakers have said so, too.”
Of course Beatrice is doing well. She's heartless.
“Thank you.”
“Just be sure that you do not appear to be grabbing for power, because others will notice you, especially when you are so young. It is always best to do so quietly and when you are older. Look too desperate, and you'll appear to be mining gold.”
“But if anyone is mining god, it's that Ember girl. She's too big for her own good.”
My heart flutters and almost makes me cough. Silvia hangs close behind me, and I hear her intake of breath.
“It could be. We'll monitor the situation. Beatrice, you may be too invested for the job, so I will have Davis here do the monitoring from now on. If Jeremy doesn't show the correct responses, we will need to take action.”
“But--” Beatrice starts.
“Now, I must get on with business for tonight. I have a meeting in ten minutes.”
I whirl as panic surges into my chest, and I know we have to get out of dodge before she exits. Silvia nods, getting it, and we rush back into the bathroom just as the door to Warrington's office creaks back open and Beatrice leaves.
We listen as her heels click against the polished floor and fade back in the elevator's direction. I don't breathe out until the sound has stopped.
“At least we're supposed to be wandering around for lunch,” Silvia whispers. “Ember. I'm amazed we pulled that off. Good catch.”
“Beatrice is defending Jeremy?” I ask.
Silvia looks at me as if I've missed something, and I have. “Well, she's been throwing herself at him and trying to impress him since this program started. That makes sense.”
“I have to tell him about this, but he can't talk to me like an equal in public.” Maybe I can catch him at lunch in the cafeteria, but that won't be easy.
Jeremy's in the big cafeteria, seated at a table with his two trusted guards on standby, and he looks at me like he's asking where the hell I went and why I left his sight. I nod to him, hoping that I get it across that something went down.
He blinks slowly three times and then looks away as William and Wendy sit down beside him.
* * * * *
But Jeremy doesn't stop by my apartment until the following evening.
I wake to a gentle knock on the door and I rise, remembering what happened last night. Beatrice. Warrington. One's out for Jeremy and one's out for me. And them teaming up is dangerous for us both.
“Hold on,” I say, realizing that I'm in my pajamas, complete with Jeremy's favorite T-shirt. Making sure I'm decent, I rush to the door to find Jeremy standing there, already dressed in a black suit that makes him look ready to sweep me off my feet and take me to a ballroom.
“Ember,” he says with a glare. “Why did you go off on your own yesterday? You're supposed to stay with the group. Even Becky keeps saying that. You should know better.”
“Get inside,” I say, aware that a bit of pink daylight is still filtering through my window. Jeremy squints as he steps in, Nathan and Carl right behind him. Nathan, without a word, strides over and closes the curtains at the expense of his own comfort. Darkness falls over my living room, making the carpet appear to be dark brown instead of tan. “And why should Becky care? She's a roper for this shit.”
“She has to be, or they kill her husband,” Jeremy says, stepping inside. “Did you know she goes and drinks after every meeting so she can cope?”
“They’ll what?” I ask.
“Business, sir,” Carl says. “We don't have long.”
So Becky is just the older sheep who takes the lambs to the slaughter. Maybe that'll be my fate if I piss off all the vampires and they want revenge. I could see Goodman wanting to put me there.
“I went off last night because Beatrice left with Warrington's staffer, and you didn't notice,” I say.
Jeremy paces around the room with his hands behind his back, and he works his jaw. “We noticed, but there was no way for me to follow without looking obvious. I warned you not to make me regret this.”
An invisible force hits me, and I stop my own pacing.
“Did I?” I ask, raising my voice. Is he just like what I left back home after all? My chin wobbles and I hate it. Maybe all love is conditional after all. Well, I'm glad we never got beyond a tiny kiss, then. “Did you just kiss me to attach some strings? Figures.” Mike would tell me to ditch this guy, and fast.
Jeremy shakes his head as his eyes narrow. “That's something abusers do. And please do not accuse me of being one. I might be an asshole, at least in front of the right people, but I am not an abuser.”
I let out a breath as the heat cools in my cheeks. I've insulted him. “Well, to be fair, you came in and gave me your world famous glare.”
Jeremy blinks as if trying to reboot. “When you play a role long enough, you become it. That's what's happening here, and I'm sorry. I was just concerned and thought something would happen to you when you left. There is unspeakable pressure on me, not just from the public but from my father. Did you hear anything interesting?”
“Yes.” We don't sit, but move to stand over my dining room table as I explain to Jeremy what I heard go down in her office with Beatrice.
He rubs his hand through his hair, making it stand up for a moment. Then he trains his eyes on me. “I'm not surprised. Beatrice has been trying to come after me like a dog with its tongue out since we got put on the housing panel together. She's trying to keep it subtle, but I know a real gold digger when I see one.” He gives me a knowing look, as if there's something else I've missed.
He's dealt with people like her before? I wonder what he looked like as a human, but before I can ask who he was before, he continues.
“She outed me to Warrington. And the Senator outed you to her.” I don't want to repeat the assassination part. Warrington must salivate at the possibility, even if she won't admit it.
Jeremy frowns. “This is normal here.”
“I got that idea. Yikes.”
“Ember, this is why I have so m
uch security. I...I could be the President someday. I probably will be. And Beatrice, I'm sure, wants to use me as a springboard. She's just the daughter of an agency director. Imagine how much that hurts to be the lowest ranking vampire in our group.” Jeremy flashes me a wicked grin. “But she can keep drooling on the floor.”
Holy shit.
My whole body lights on fire, and for once it's not in a bad way.
“And,” Jeremy says, drawing closer, “we might work on my father. Did you know he wants to gut the FHDA?”
No. I don't want to talk about politics now, not with Jeremy standing so close to me. Not with Nathan tapping Carl on the shoulder and motioning for him to back out of the kitchen and leave us alone. “He does? Of course. He's in the Spade Party and I bet he doesn't like Zara. That's great.”
Jeremy's circling the table, drawing the breath from my throat with his gaze. He's looking up and down my body, drawing out sensations with just his gaze. “Yes,” Jeremy says in that low, seductive tone. “He might support laws letting companies do what they want, but I know punishing the FHDA is your goal, Ember. You want revenge. And I'll help you get it to make up for how I’ve had to treat you. I know what that lust for revenge is like.”
My mouth falls open.
“Seriously?” Just do it, Jeremy. I breathe out and let go of the back of my chair, focusing on those perfect lips.
He just widens his grin, teasing me in more ways than one.
Who are you?
“Yes. It's not a perfect plan, but it's a start. We need change. The Spade Party doesn't truly want humans and vampires to be equal. But I do.”
I can't breathe or believe the words I'm hearing. Never in a million years did I think the First Son would give even the slightest shit. But here he is, offering a gift I can't refuse. If I open it, and I fear I will, I'll shut another door behind me forever.
My parents will disown me for this.
But I can't hold back anymore. Jeremy waits like a wicked gentleman, dragging out the silence, putting the pressure on me to respond.
So be it. “Kiss me. Kiss me right now.”
He rushes me, taking my arms and pulling me into his beautiful darkness. Jeremy's lips brush mine, only at the corners at first, nibbling and teasing. But then I take the lead, tasting his lips with the tip of my tongue, and then we mold together, pressing our bodies against each other, relishing each other's shapes. Strength and grace move under Jeremy's suit, and he slides his hands down to my waist, steadying me as he curls his fingers into my soft flesh. He tastes my lips, and I run my tongue along his before diving in.
I gasp as we pull apart.
“For a human native to the swamps of Florida, you're a good kisser,” Jeremy says, licking his lips.
Holy shit.
What have I done?
“And for a bloodsucking politician with a pillow under his ass, you aren't bad, either.”
Jeremy nods as he straightens his tie. “Fair enough.” A laugh lives in his eyes.
“Sir,” Nathan says, re-appearing in the kitchen archway. “Full night is almost here, and we need to exit this apartment before any other vampires start their business.”
I put out my lower lip like I'm pouting. “This sucks.”
Jeremy finishes with his tie and tucks one hand in his pocket. “I know. Ember, just keep being a beast. No one else has attacked you so far, so you will survive this part of the trial and so will your brother. You've got too much fire to let them kill you.”
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Well, at least one person is confident that I'm going to make it, because with Goodman's and Warrington's staffers trailing us constantly over the next two weeks, I sure as hell don't feel that way. Thanks to my lack of control, I'm on Goodman's shit list, and thanks to Beatrice, I'm also on Warrington's.
A bitch and a gold digger. What's worse? Well, I suppose Option One isn't too bad, and maybe the vampires value that trait. Beatrice is a testament to that. But it's clear they don't want the latter. The vampires must fear having their power stolen twenty-four seven.
Of course, the staffers don't make it too obvious that they're watching our Housing Panel group, but during most of our meetings, mysterious people show up and hang near or outside the doors of our meeting rooms. Young human workers, mostly. A guy scrolling on his cell phone. Even a janitor who takes a convenient break outside the door. Nathan and Carl watch them all and whisper in Jeremy's ear when they can.
Over those two weeks, Jeremy continues to act like an ass to us in public. Well, I can't blame him. He's got to save his own skin, and if the other vamps eliminate him or force him to make an actual kill, I've got zero chance at staying alive. Jeremy doesn't dare to visit me at my apartment again, and I shove down my disappointment. It has to be this way. For now, I'll only be able to see him in my dreams.
Beatrice, however, seems happier than ever. She floats around with Wendy and Asha, her nose perpetually in the air. She thinks she's won. That could be a good thing, though. I'll no longer be a threat in her eyes.
So I try to focus on my work. That's all I can do. Stay alive and then figure out an escape when I'm off the hit list. That's the part I'm worried about, but Silvia reminds me to take it one breath at a time. Honestly, I don’t know what I’d do without her.
We make our rounds to individual lawmakers and sometimes foundations. The foundations aren't bad, since nobody from the Senate and House buildings seems to follow us out to the old brick buildings that look more like apartments than offices. Most of them are some distance from the Capitol, and the foundation people so far are all humans who want to fund causes like ours.
I wonder if they know these panels are roping operations for strong activists. I doubt it. We meet young professionals who got lucky in life, and they're happy to see us. They don't have the stress lines around their eyes that Becky does.
And most of them are happy to give money to the Young Activists' program. At the end of each meeting, Becky shakes their hands and forces a smile while Jeremy says nothing.
And after those whirlwind two weeks, Becky announces that it's time to up our game.
I figure something's happening as Silvia and I walk into a first-floor meeting room that Monday. It's decked out with presentations and notepads, all lined up like this is a classroom. We sit, and Jeremy is sure to take the opposite end of the room.
Today, though, he has two different guards. Nathan and Carl have rotated out, probably to save them from burnout and fatigue. Two vampire men stand behind Jeremy as he taps his pen with his legs crossed. And Beatrice, in her usual fashion, sits beside him.
Shit. I doubt these two vampires also dodged their kills.
Becky strides into the room, and I notice the bags under her eyes. She goes to the projector and pops some ibuprofen, rubs her head, and starts the presentation.
“Okay. Debriefing time,” she announces. “The Senate has finally formed the Agency Reallocation Committee, who is going to review the Federal Agency Reallocation Act and make changes before it even reaches the floor. It’s a key time to help them decide where to put more focus, and where to take it away.” Becky looks at me and Silvia, winking. “All of you have done a wonderful job talking to those who matter so far. There are still obstacles, of course, but this is a time where most of the magic will happen.”
Becky thinks we can make them cut off the FHDA and, by extension, Dream Developers.
And then the President has to sign the whole thing, right?
Before I can stop myself, I look over to Jeremy, forgetting that he has new guards. Then I turn my stare into a scowl as one guard shifts his head ever so slightly to me.
Jeremy flashes me a nasty grin as Beatrice looks at him, and then at me.
Careful, Ember.
“We will visit the committee with the Environmental Panel and the College Tuition Panel,” Becky says. “Now, take notes. The meeting won't be until two A.M, so we'll need to review the Committee members and go over how to best approa
ch this.”
I laser-focus on the presentation. Goodman is on the Committee, of course. Just great. My heart thumps at the thought of facing that asshole again. Becky tells us to stick to our guns with him, and to mention the voters. I don't miss how she looks at me when she says that. “Remember, Goodman is a Spade. With cutting aid to certain corrupt programs, he may have to be more receptive in front of his fellow Spade politicians. And we can also use the same lever to convince the Heart Party people to put more strict rules on the FHDA and the Urban Development Agency until they learn how to behave.”
Beatrice bristles in her chair. Becky is getting too big for her britches here, and I can hear the frustration in her voice. How long have the vampires made her do this?
I swallow. Just maybe, I planted these ideas in her head, and she's going to pay.
Jeremy snorts. Beatrice whispers something to Wendy, and she sounds like an angry rattlesnake.
Becky finally finishes the presentation, and we take a break. This is the calm before the storm. Once in the cafeteria and under the TV, which is tuned to Space Party Network tonight, I set my binder down and grab a tray of food, keeping my gaze away from the stacks of blood bottles on the other side of the buffet. When I get back to my still-empty table, I find a surprise when I open my binder to go over my notes.
You are braver than you think.
The note stares up at me as I blink, and then I realize there is tiny, neat text at the bottom.
Kick them in the nuts, Ember.
I slam the binder shut, unable to stop myself from looking around me. The cafeteria is mostly other panelists from other groups eating in tight huddles, with only a few vampires scattered around tonight. Jeremy's nowhere. But I can't be too careful.
* * * * *
The meeting room is enormous, and there are three long tables, one for each activist group, inside. Senator Goodman sits with some others in the center of the raised platform we're facing, and he's got a notebook and a full blood bottle beside him. His blood bags haven’t showed up tonight, probably because ten other lawmakers have taken those seats.
