us with the disappearance of Alec?” I asked the council members.
“He stated . . .” Christian shuffled a few papers until he found one he liked. “He stated that he knew how you and Kristoff were involved in engineering the disappearance of Alec, and where he was now. He refused to say any more when pressed.”
“Tortured!” Mattias shouted. “I was tortured.”
“You look just fine to me,” I told him. And he did; he was practically radiating health, whereas poor Kristoff had nearly wasted away. “I’m afraid you’ve been had. Mattias is either confused or lying.”
“Wife!” Mattias sputtered.
Kristoff glared at him.
“That eventuality crossed my mind, which is why we asked you here,” Christian answered smoothly.
Allie snorted but said nothing.
“You know . . .” I looked at Mattias with what I hoped appeared as innocent speculation. “If you were to release him to my custody, I’m sure I’d be able to get from him everything he knows.”
Both of Christian’s eyebrows went up at such a bold suggestion. Sebastian scowled and said in a voice rife with scorn, “Although we have not done so, despite what the reaper says, we are not above using force to extract the information we need. I doubt if you could bring yourself to do so.”
“Ah, but I have two points in my favor,” I said, smiling my most winning smile.
“And those are?” Sebastian asked.
I held up two fingers and ticked them off. “First, you guys may talk the talk, but I don’t seriously think you’re going to torture Mattias and Kristjana, although I don’t think I’d blame you where the latter is concerned. She definitely has more than one bat loose in her belfry. But cold-blooded torture?” I considered the vampires before me for a moment, shaking my head. “No. You guys aren’t that way, not really.”
“Brava,” Allie said, nodding.
Sebastian looked disgruntled for a moment before asking, “And the second point?”
I tossed a little more charm into my smile. “I am the Zorya. Mattias has to do exactly what I tell him. So if I tell him to spill everything, by the laws of the Brotherhood, he has to spill. But I’m not going to do that unless he’s in my custody.”
“Impossible,” Sebastian pronounced.
Christian, to my surprise, said nothing. He looked thoughtful, though, which gave me hope.
“To have you and the sacristan running free . . . it is impossible,” Sebastian repeated.
“What exactly are you holding Mattias for?” I asked, curious.
“Exactly what I have asked them myself, wife!” Mattias said, shooting an outraged look at Rowan. “I have done nothing wrong.”
“You are a sacristan,” Rowan answered.
“Yes, but he hasn’t actually committed any crime against you guys,” I pointed out. “He wasn’t even present at the ceremony where Frederic and the others tried to use me to hurt Kristoff and Alec. You guys had nabbed both him and Kristjana before that. So I really don’t see that you have any grounds to continue to hold them. And as I am willing to guarantee their good conduct, I don’t see a reason you shouldn’t turn them over to me.”
Sebastian sputtered and grumbled at the idea. Christian continued to look thoughtful, finally saying, “You seek to have them released. That is why you agreed to meet with the council.”
I slid a look at Kristoff. He was watching me with an impassive expression. “Well . . . yes. But not because I didn’t want to help Kristoff. I had no idea he was in this state, or I would have come weeks ago. But yes, I have been asked to facilitate the release of Mattias and Kristjana.”
“I knew it!” Mattias said gloatingly. He smiled at Kristoff. “I knew you truly wanted me and not that one there, the one you had carnal relations with right in front of me. I knew it must be a mistake.”
Allie’s eyebrows went up as she gave me a long look.
“It wasn’t at all like that,” I told her, my blasted genes kicking in with a blush that was hot enough to fry bacon. “Mattias wasn’t actually right there with Kristoff and me. We were locked in a cell. By ourselves. In the dark, actually. And Kristoff was handcuffed-”
“Pia,” Kristoff interrupted me, his lips twisting a little. “I don’t think anyone wishes to know about our time imprisoned in the Brotherhood house.”
“Sorry,” I said hastily, the blush cranking up another notch. “I just want to say right here and now that I’ve never had sex in front of an audience.”
“Well, then, there you go,” Allie said cheerfully.
“Er . . .” Christian looked a bit dazed. “Where were we? Ah, yes. I assume there is a reason other than altruism that you wish us to release the two reapers into your custody?”
“Yes. It’s a means to an end-mine. Or, rather, my career as a Zorya. If I can convince you to release Mattias and Kristjana, the Brotherhood will revoke my permit to be Zorya, or something along those lines. The end result would be that I would no longer have any special powers against vampires.”
“No!” Mattias gasped. “An execration? You cannot mean that! You cannot give up!”
Everyone ignored him.
“Sounds like a smart plan to me,” Allie said, nodding at me. “I approve.”
“Well, I do not!” Sebastian snapped. “Nor will any other member of the council tolerate such an idiotic idea. Is that not right, Rowan?”
Kristoff’s cousin shook his head slowly. “I do not think it would be wise for the Zorya and the sacristan to be together. We have no guarantee that the reapers will do as they have promised her.”
“Agreed. Andreas?” Sebastian looked to the man who’d been standing so silent, it was easy to overlook his presence.
Andreas roused himself from what appeared to be a deep meditation. His face gave none of his thoughts away. “I object to the release of reapers on general principles. There is no reason to believe they will not later harm our own people.”
Mattias sneered.
“You are not helping,” I told him. His sneer faded away to a pout.
“Christian?” Sebastian asked.
Christian was even slower to reply than Andreas. “We have held reapers before who have not been directly responsible for harm. Since Kristjana and the sacristan are both members of an active chapter, a chapter that we know has made several attacks against both Kristoff and Alec, we are within our right to continue to hold the two of them, regardless of whether or not they themselves participated in the attempts to harm Dark Ones.”
My heart sank. So much for doing this the easy way.
“There is also the possibility that they do, in fact, have information regarding Alec’s whereabouts,” he added.
“That, at least, I think we can clear up.” I turned my attention on Mattias. Beside me, Kristoff stiffened. “Mattias, you told me once that since I was a Zorya, you were obliged by Brotherhood laws to honor any demands I made of you. You will now answer me truthfully-do you know anything about Alec’s disappearance?”
Mattias’s normally sunny expression turned petulant. “It is not right for you to ask me such in front of the evil ones.”
“Do you know anything about Alec?” I repeated.
His expression was sullen for a good minute. “No.”
I relaxed. “Then why did you tell the vampires you knew Kristoff and I were responsible for Alec disappearing?”
I thought for a moment that he wasn’t going to answer, but he finally did. “The evil ones would not bring you to me as I asked!” he answered, waving his hands around in expressive unhappiness. “I knew that you would come to rescue me if they would allow you in. Therefore, I said what needed to be said in order for them to summon you to me.”
Kristoff muttered a rude word under his breath, exchanging glares with Mattias when the latter heard it.
I looked back at Christian. “I rest my case.”
“This proves nothing,” Sebastian said, waving away Mattias’s confession. “They are working together to confuse us.”
“I believe,” Christian said slowly, with deliberation, “the charges against you precipitated by the sacristan’s
