Florian was pink-haired and wearing a floral suit tonight, and Sabine had gone conservative with a severe black pantsuit and white blouse. The effect was ruined only by the rhinestone peacock pin and green glittery heels.
Jean arrived with a flourish, wearing the suit he’d donned on our only official dinner date. Buttery fawn trousers with a cobalt-blue waistcoat that matched his eyes. He was smiling and greeting the fae contingent until his gaze fell on me and immediately dropped to my hands, cuffed in my lap. His face lost its animation and his eyes sparked with the blue fire of fury. That man could shift emotions faster than anyone I’d ever seen.
I made a face at him, bobbing my head to try and get him to come close enough for me to tell him it was okay. He leaned over and spoke to Rand, who apparently appeased him enough that he took a seat. He did not look happy, however.
“Hey, sunshine. We have matching jewelry.”
I looked up and my heart broke a little at the sight of Jake. His blond hair had been brushed back, and his face had already healed of its cuts and bruises. “Sit down, we have to talk fast,” I said through my grin.
He slumped on the seat and waved a cuffed hand at his guard, a grim-faced shifter I’d never seen before. Speaking of which … I looked around the room and saw that, once again, there was no shifter representative. Toussaint Delachaise had arrived. In fact, the only missing council member was Mace Banyan.
What in God’s name had Rand done?
“What’s up?” Jake leaned his head against the wall with his eyes closed and whispered out the side of his mouth.
“We have proof that you didn’t kill Hoffman.” I tried to talk without moving my mouth, but I’d never make a decent ventriloquist. “Mace told everyone about the loup-garou incident so there’s no getting around that, though. Stay on alert. Rene and Jean will bust you out. There’s a transport right behind the museum so you can go to Barataria.”
“What about you? DJ, you can’t stay here.”
I sighed. I didn’t want to run away because I didn’t think I’d done anything wrong. Surely once Mace was exposed, the new First Elder would see that.
Zrakovi called the meeting to order. “If the council doesn’t mind, I’d like to wait a few more minutes to allow time for the head of the Elven Synod to arrive. He has obviously encountered a delay.”
“No, he hasn’t.” Rand stood up. “Mr. Banyan will not be attending tonight’s meeting. If I might address the council?”
From at least twelve feet away, I could feel Zrakovi’s blood pressure starting to spike again. If the council had many more meetings, he was going to stroke out and Lennox would get his shot at First Elder without having to work for it.
“Mr. Randolph, I don’t feel it’s appropriate for you to address the council, given your involvement in tonight’s agenda. So if you don’t mind…” Zrakovi lifted a brow.
Rand gave him the sunny elf grin. “No problem. I can wait.”
Christof stood and cleared his throat, and I swore Zrakovi dropped an f-bomb under his breath. “Elder Zrakovi, I have something that was delivered to me anonymously this afternoon which might explain Mr. Banyan’s absence.”
Zrakovi’s brows lowered in confusion, and, I was pleased to note, so did Rand’s. He knew about Mace’s plot, but not the proof. Jean maintained a pleasantly blank expression, and I bit my lip to avoid giggling. One should never giggle in handcuffs unless one were naked. I was sure I’d read that rule somewhere.
Of course, naked reminded me of Alex, which made me look at him, and the tense look on his face wiped out my amusement.
“You know what this is about?” Jake whispered, leaning slightly toward me.
“Just watch. It’s good.”
Christof walked to the front of the room with a laptop, which he set next to Zrakovi’s chair. He held out a disk in a plain white envelope. “Shall I?”
Zrakovi nodded, a sour look frozen on his face, and watched while Christof slid the disk into the computer and adjusted the sound.
A jittery picture fuzzed in and out until it finally focused on Adrian Hoffman. There was mumbling in the room until Adrian began talking. Alex moved to the side to see better.
“Most of you know me,” Adrian said in his oh-so-proper British accent. “My name is Adrian Hoffman, and for many years I was employed by the Congress of Elders.” He went on to explain briefly what happened to him, and his father’s role in having him turned vampire. He also took responsibility for his part in what happened to me.
“I was weak, and Sentinel Jaco paid for that weakness, as did Captain Lafitte, and Enforcer Warin.”
There were a few others he owed apologies to, but that was a good start.
“I apologize for delivering this testimony by video rather than in person, but I believe you’ll understand why I now fear for my life. I recently overheard conversations between two individuals who were planning the death of my father, Geoffrey Hoffman, as well as the bombing of the Interspecies Council proceedings.”