Page 12 of Ever Dark Academy: Volume 6

“Yes!” They all answered.

“If anyone is unable to consent due to drink, drugs, whatever it might be, we back off, right?” Ryder asked.

“Yes!” Came the repeated answer.

“We want the students to understand what our Bloodline is like. Really like.” He met everyone’s gaze around the room. “We don’t want to give a false impression.”

“So glamping, shifting, orgies, but what about group songs?” Harlan chuckled. “Hey, if we’re going to be honest about what we do, singing is a part of it.”

Ryder inclined his head. “Yes, especially songs off-key with plenty of howling.”

Laughter raced around the room.

“What about hunting?” Natasha asked quietly.

Everyone went silent. They all knew about Legion’s Last Hunt. And they all knew that Natasha had been Lawson’s mate. He and Natasha hadn’t talked since Lawson’s death yet she’d come tonight.

No, his execution. But she’s here. I wonder if I should have Balthazar take a look in her mind.

Part of him wanted to know if there was any treachery in Natasha. She’d truly loved Lawson. He’d been different with her than the rest of them. But she’d sat by while he’d been that way with the rest of them. Still, he was allowing back the others so Natasha should have a chance as well, he supposed.

I think I need to speak with her myself. After this is settled.

“Yes, Natasha is correct.” He nodded and added smoothly, “A controlled hunt would be appropriate. We’ll need patrols as well though I don’t anticipate going too far from Nightvallen so the monsters should mostly keep away.”

“What about the Marlsea Forest? The Lourmouth Grove,” Amaris suggested. “That used to be one of your favorites, Weryn.”

“We used to do First Shifts there,” Ryder said with a snap of his fingers as the memory flooded back. “You shifted there for the first time, didn’t you?”

She smiled and nodded. “Yes, many of us did. It would be a good place to begin.”

“It would be. All right. We have our plan.” He brought his hands together. “Leaders, please arrange tasks among yourselves and our people to make this happen.”

The leaders in his Bloodline were currently Demos, Siban, Kayne and Amaris. He would need to appoint more. But these four worked well together and were highly respected by everyone else. People began to file out of the room. Many were headed off to the Acolytes’ quarters. Others still for nights on the town. His gaze met Natasha’s and he indicated that she should follow him. She inclined her head in response.

He headed to the study where he had spoken to Amaris and Kayne last. The fire was going and the room was cozy. He leaned back in a large leather chair behind the vast expanse of desk. A bottle of blood wine and two glasses were at hand. He grunted in amazement and approval. The Ever Dark always provided.

“Please sit,” he said as he poured blood wine for both of them.

She gracefully lowered her into the chair. Her eyes flickered around the room. She hadn’t gone much beyond the “public’ rooms of the Weryn Palace, he knew, staying with her House in the mansion where they’d been assigned originally.

“The palace is beautiful,” she said as she sipped her wine. She looked down into the cup after the first taste, her eyes widening with pleasure, and quickly took another sip.

“Most everything I made,” he said, feeling a bit like he was bragging, but really meaning that this was his home, the home of the Weryn. “Natasha, I’m surprised you came tonight, let alone spoke up.”

She nodded, not meeting his eyes, but staring still down into the wine glass. “I told myself that my House would leave after Lawson’s death, but…”

“But you did not,” he said, stating the obvious.

Another nod. “Did you always hate him?”

“No,” he answered. “But you already know that. You want to believe something different.”

Her brows drew together. “You didn’t just defeat him. You destroyed him.”

“Yes,” he agreed. “But he gave me no other choice.”

Her head lifted sharply, lips parted to claim otherwise, but then she pressed them together and said nothing.