He ignored me. Again. “I’m sorry I blindsided you. But when Dru came to me late last night, she said you were concerned that my child could be used to manipulate me and asked if I could think of a way to keep that from happening. I thought—we both thought—that if the fae, in particular, saw wizards and elves united, it would make them less likely to take any kind of action against Eugenie or my child.”
Zrakovi’s anger didn’t drain away but it leveled off. And damn if the elf hadn’t given me a partial loophole to slide through; he never said I’d revealed Zrakovi’s desire to destroy the baby, but only his concern that it would be used as a pawn. Maybe it was enough of a loophole to save my job.
“Thank you, Mr. Randolph. I don’t think we’ll need to speak further. Again, congratulations on your pending fatherhood.”
Rand nodded and squeezed my shoulder on his way out the door. I’ll wait for you, Dru.
No, go home, I need to talk to Alex after this. I had no idea what we’d say, but Alex and I had worked too hard to let politics pull us apart.
Zrakovi closed the door and returned to his seat. I pulled a chair to the other side of the table, facing him.
“Is what Quince Randolph said the whole truth, DJ?” Zrakovi leaned back in his seat and rolled his neck around, popping stiff tendons.
I took a deep breath. I’d keep Rand’s loophole, at least for now. But I had to try and explain the rest of it. “Not exactly, but I’d like the chance to tell you why I disobeyed a direct order. It wasn’t something I did lightly.”
“Very well.” Zrakovi loosened his tie and unbuttoned the top button of his dress shirt. Trying to relax, but not successfully. “I realize Eugella is your friend.”
“Eugenie is a very good friend,” I said. “But I doubt I would have done anything differently had she been only a casual acquaintance.”
He frowned. “You have that little respect for me, for your position, for your own people?”
“This isn’t about respect, or power, or politics, but about right and wrong.”
“So it was a moral issue, or a religious issue?”
I leaned forward, propping my elbows on the table. “Look, it’s not about whether I think ending a pregnancy is right or wrong. I’ll admit I’m all over the map on that topic. If it were me, if I were carrying a child with this much preternatural baggage? I don’t know. I might choose not to have the baby. I don’t know without actually being in that position.” Which would, hopefully, be never.
I took a deep breath and chose my words carefully. “The point is, it needs to be Eugenie’s choice. I will absolutely tell her your feelings about it, and why you strongly believe that ending the pregnancy is the best solution. I’ll tell her you believe this baby has the potential to cause a lot of strife in the prete world and that it might endanger both her and the baby. But I can’t use my magic to take the decision away from her. I won’t. It’s wrong.”
Zrakovi didn’t respond, just leaned back in his chair, crossed his arms, and frowned.
Plus, it wasn’t just Eugenie involved. “I have my issues with Quince Randolph,” I said, my voice softer. “You know our bond was a business deal and not a marriage. But this is his child; he can already tell it’s a boy. Preemptive strikes are all well and good, but not when it’s a strike against a threat that might not even exist. Sure, this baby might cause chaos. But he also could help broker peace.”
Zrakovi steepled his fingers in front of his face and stared at the floor a long time. When he looked back up at me, I realized he’d been shielding a lot better than I’d thought. He was still furious.
Well, screw him. I was right, damn it.
“Let me clarify.” His voice was cold. Two days as interim First Elder and his political animal had taken over. “Did you understand my direct orders to go to Eugenie and talk to her, and to perform the procedure yourself if she would not agree?”
“Yes, you made that perfectly clear.”
“Was Alex Warin under the impression that you were going to follow my orders?”
He was going to try to implicate Alex in this, but that wasn’t happening. “I lied to him. I told him what he wanted to hear and then I went to find a solution I thought was fair. When I left his house, he thought I was going to Eugenie’s.”
“Did you talk to her at all?”
“No I did not.” I paused, taking a second to tamp down my own rising anger. “I was on my way to Eugenie’s house when it occurred to me that Rand knew the political landscape better than I. I thought he might have a way to neutralize any threat his child might pose.” I didn’t admit to selling Zrakovi straight down the Mississippi.
“I see. And do you still stand by your testimony regarding Jean Lafitte’s involvement in the burning of Etienne Boulard’s club—or his lack of involvement?”
On that matter, I’d developed clarity. Selling Jean out would hurt a lot of people and accomplish nothing. No one had been hurt, and telling Zrakovi that Christof was hanging out with Jean and manipulating the weather to torture the elves? That would just make the future First Elder more paranoid.