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coat pocket, rolling it through my fingers.
    It was hard to mark time in an underground room, but it felt like we’d been waiting for over an hour when Nathanial leaned back, his gray eyes fixing on me. “Kita, sit.”
    “Sorry. I’m a cat. Not a dog. I don’t do tricks.”
    The edge of his lips twitched in an almost smile, and the small change lit his face, breaking the mask of indifference I was growing accustomed to seeing tonight. The change was small, subtle, but even the air in the room responded, seeming less thick, less dangerous.
    Okay, so we were waiting on the head of the vampire council, and yeah, Tatius had considered killing me once, but I hadn’t done anything wrong this time. I’d found a body.
    Hell, he’d been in the same room when I’d discovered it. He couldn’t have that many questions. I’d tell him what I knew and we’d leave. Simple as that.
    I sank onto the couch beside Nathanial, and his hand slipped around mine, entwining my fingers with his. The warmth of his palm pressed into mine, spiraling up my arm to gather in a burn across my cheeks. Or, at least, I hoped it was just his warmth that made my cheeks hot.
    “Uh… how much longer?” I asked, freeing my fingers and clamping my hands in my lap. “At this rate, it’ll be dawn before we’re dismissed.”
    The door banged open, and flames flickered to life on the wicks of the many candles scattered around the room. I jumped, squinting in the sudden glow of light.
    “You have rooms here,” Tatius said as he strolled through the door. “Dawn is not a concern.”
    He lowered himself onto the chair across from us in one smooth movement, then threw one leather-clad leg over the chair arm. Nuri followed. She sat perfectly straight in her chair, not leaning against the plush cushion.
    Silence, aside from the slight hiss of the candles, filled the room. I held my breath, willing my racing heart to slow, to not disturb the stillness or draw attention to itself. Nathanial leaned back. His arm stretched along the back of the couch, his elbow bent so his fingers rested lightly on my shoulder. He looked relaxed, but the blank mask consumed his features.
    “You summoned us?” he asked, the words as casual as if he’d mentioned a recent sport’s score or offhand current event.
    Tatius cocked his head to the side, making the pointed tips of his blue hair sway around his face. “I summoned her, Hermit. Just her. You’re here as a courtesy because you are her sire.”
    I flinched. I couldn’t help it. Tatius scared the crap out of me. I’d grown up in a society of predators, and no matter how often I was told I’d be Torin , clan leader, one day, it had been pounded into my small kitten body that the biggest predator made the decisions. Tatius was, by far, the supreme predator in the room.
    “You found a body,” he said, his tone deceptively cheerful.
    I nodded. He knew I did. He was there. Everyone was there.
    “Words, Kita. Unless a cat’s got your tongue.” He laughed at his own joke, and I gritted my teeth. “Why did you touch the body?”
    “I smelled the blood,” I said, and Nuri nodded.
    The pre-teen council member stared at me. She wasn’t just watching and listening, but studying me like she could read secrets under my skin. I readjusted my weight on the couch, uncrossing my legs and recrossing them.
    “So before you smelled the blood, did you notice anything unusual about her? Did you see anyone else near the body?”
    I shook my head.
    Tatius frowned at me. “I need your words. Speak.”
    Okay… because that isn’t weird or anything. I glanced from him to Nuri. She was still watching me with that same intensity as she perched perfectly straight at the edge of her seat.
    I cleared my throat. “I didn’t notice anything remarkable except that the couch was mostly free. I don’t remember anyone else close to her.”
    Tatius looked at Nuri and she nodded. “All truths,” she said.
    I frowned at her, but she