She sighed, focusing on the wall again. “In general? It’s a universal law designed to help nations deal with those who are determined to have above-average lifespans. Section 105 specifically provides for such individuals over the age of a hundred to legally become recognized as a Sovereign Persons, so long as they have never been convicted of a felony at the time of request. And there’s also a section for adding other people related to the super.”
Shit, I sure as hell hoped they didn’t decide to try to stop this from happening by slapping a felony on me…because, I did technically kill someone and all. Although, assuming that didn’t happen, I fully intended to try to get Lexi and Heidi added underneath my Sovereign ID if I could, in addition to Freya, Lily, and my daughters.
The reason? For one, to give Lexi an extra safety net, via absolute legal immunity, in the event her actions while under duress were discovered and deemed something else. Not to mention, adding them wasn’t that big of a deal to begin with. I mean, it wasn’t like I was adding them to my family, just my figurative ‘country.’
“However,” Liz continued in a bored tone. “As you can imagine, they aren’t thrilled about handing that kind of legal status out to a ton of people.” She glanced at me again. “Even if there aren’t that many of us, allowing for powerful immortal supers to become sovereign can have some negative consequences in their perspective.”
I nodded in understanding, deciding not to ask for further details, since I suspected we’d be parting ways soon, and had other questions to ask. “So, is there a way I can meet the others?” I wondered. “Like your husband, for example?”
She shook her head. “Not at this time. Maybe one day.”
I nodded again, falling silent, only to glance at Winter. I really wanted to thank her too, but she had this ‘Don’t talk to me or I’ll rip your head off’ vibe going on right now. And while I certainly didn’t feel threatened by it, I also didn’t want to be disrespectful by ignoring the obvious nonverbal signals she was giving off.
I wouldn’t think that her telling them that she trusted me would be that big of a deal, but her expression made me wonder if she’d sacrificed more than she was willing to admit. But how? How in the world would her telling them she trusted me be a sacrifice?
Would she be held responsible for my actions because of it?
Or was it something else entirely?
Unexpectedly, she sighed heavily, rolling her pale green eyes. “Dammit, you’re ridiculous,” she mumbled, only to turn her head to focus on me. “The universe doesn’t revolve around you, Mr. Archer. Most of my focus during that conversation was on that man’s thoughts, not yours. I was barely even paying attention to you the whole time.”
“Oh.” Shit, she was totally right. I thought her facial expressions were in response to my own thoughts, but most likely every single look crossing her face was directly a result of whatever that guy was thinking, not me. “And who was that, anyway?” I asked seriously.
Liz spoke up immediately. “We can’t say,” she said firmly.
“He must be the real reason your ‘services’ were requested,” I assumed.
She pursed her lips. “Perhaps. I honestly didn’t realize he was going to be here until he showed up with the General. But most likely, you are correct. Then again, they might have ‘requested my services,’ as you put it, even if he didn’t show up.”
“I see.” I looked up at Winter, focusing briefly on her black lips pulled to the side slightly, like she was deep in thought again. “And you didn’t come here for them at all, did you? You came either because you wanted to, because your aunt asked you to, or because someone else wanted you to assess me.”
Liz answered in her stead. “My husband,” she agreed automatically, garnering my attention again. “He wanted to verify that we could trust you. That, and my niece did want to get out.”
Winter scoffed. “You better leave it at that,” she mumbled threateningly.
Liz smirked slightly, before taking a deep breath as she leaned back in her chair. “Well, Mr. Archer, I do believe the person coming down the hall is your ticket out of here, so I guess this is goodbye for now.”
I nodded, holding out my hand to shake hers. Damn, her hands were so small. “I appreciate everything. Honestly, you two seem like a lot of fun. Kind of wish you lived around here, so we could hang out or something.” Winter’s eyebrow twitched, but I ignored it. “Your husband kind of sounds like a cool guy too. And it’d be nice to know someone who could relate to being older than the average person. It’d also be nice to have friends who…you know, weren’t going to die within a century.”
Liz gave me a sympathetic look. “Perhaps one day. Not anytime soon though. We all have our separate roles to play for now.” She looked up when Lexi appeared in the doorway.
I stood up in greeting, surprised to see the confident look on her face. I mean, Lexi was at work now, so it only made sense she’d present herself as the self-assured powerful super that everyone knew her as.
Really, the vulnerability she showed to me in private was truly something only I was meant to see. Whereas this was the Lexi everyone else saw.
She smiled at me warmly. “I heard it went well,” she commented. “Which means I get to show you around now,” she added with a wink, her amethyst eyes practically sparkling.
Damn. Confident Lexi was hot Lexi.
I mean, she was hot either way, but this side of her would make any guy drool.
I considered briefly if introductions were appropriate, since I wasn’t sure if Lexi knew Liz and Winter, but Liz had swiveled around in her seat and Winter was staring at the wall again. Thus, I decided
