Hold Me Closer, Necromancer - Lish McBride [29]
“What are you going to school for?” Brannoc asked. The girl turned to him, visibly relieved. Her shaking slowed a little.
“I want to be an art teacher.”
“What age range?” Brannoc gave her a reassuring smile and rested his chin in his hand. He glanced at Douglas and his smile grew slightly larger.
The girl eased some more, obviously more comfortable with this subject.
“Young,” she said. “Pre-K to second or third grade if I can.”
“That’s a good age,” Brannoc said.
Douglas cleared his throat, attempting to bring the attention back to himself. He wasn’t going to let Brannoc take over the meeting. Yes, Brannoc would have to deal with her more than Douglas would. Yes, she was weak and so Douglas had no real worry about whether or not her family moved into the city. But he refused to give Brannoc any opening. He did a quick scan around the room. He could tell by their faces how they all were going to vote, and could see no gain in exercising his dominance in this particular case. But if he made it seem like accepting the girl’s petition was his idea, well, that he might be able to use. Especially since another weak wolf in the area would stretch Brannoc’s resources even more. And Douglas wanted Brannoc to be spread as thin as possible, spending most of his time rebuilding the pack. What did he care if some were from Jersey moved into a loft in Belltown?
Douglas pursed his lips and pretended to be thinking about it. “Well,” he said slowly, “I don’t know how the rest of the Council feels, but I see no reason why we wouldn’t approve your petition.”
The girl blinked at him with surprise. She turned toward the rest of the Council, who nodded at her. Brannoc stood up and grinned, extending his hand. The girl let out a short sob before falling to her knees in front of Brannoc and grabbing his fist in both of her hands. She bowed and placed her forehead against his knuckles. He pulled her up and whispered something to her. Then he handed her off to Aengus, who escorted her to the door.
“Have Zeke get you something from behind the bar, miss,” Aengus said as he slipped an arm around the girl. “You must be wanting to celebrate. And to calm your nerves, of course.” He turned the grateful-looking girl over to the bodyguard.
The meeting went normally after that. A few skirmishes to settle, and a petition or two to move into the territory that Douglas vetoed unless the applicant was weak. He couldn’t do much about the few strong ones who were here already, but he could keep any more from coming. No one argued against him much, beyond Brannoc. That was normal as well. As it was, today Douglas only half argued, concerned more about watching Brannoc for effects of Bridin’s disappearance than anything else.
He couldn’t find any clue that told him something was wrong. Brannoc must know by now. At the break—Pello had to “drain the lizard”—Douglas couldn’t help approaching Brannoc. He needed to know how much the pack suspected. Were they missing her yet? “When are you going to bring in that successor of yours?” Douglas asked, sidling up to Brannoc at the bar.
Brannoc accepted a beer from Aengus and took a drink before he answered. “I can’t see how that’s any of your business, Douglas.”
“I assume she will take your place on the Council someday. Isn’t it natural for me to be curious?”
“Nothing about you is natural.” The man returned to his beer, the conversation clearly over in his opinion.
He couldn’t help himself. “Surely you won’t keep that lovely girl secreted away forever?” Brannoc stared at him, his fingers tapping slowly on the pint glass, but Douglas pretended not to notice as he paid Aengus for a bottle of water.
“I didn’t realize you were so interested in my daughter,” Brannoc said slowly.
“Like I said, the path of the Council and this territory concerns me deeply.”
“I see. Well, then, you should know that my Council seat will be in very capable hands, because