The room silently stood as all eyes watched me.
‘Next month I will be twenty,’ I said, smiling when I heard a few chuckles skitter through the room; some of the Grigori in the hall were well into their hundreds. ‘I’m still a child in many ways,’ I agreed. ‘But I have seen a lot in these past few years. I have learned much. I have been broken, have died and been revived and fought some truly horrific foes. And I have been lucky enough to have friends and family who have sacrificed greatly in order to stand by my side. New Orleans was a victory but the cost was terribly high, and there is not one of us in this room who has not felt a great loss. Thank you for honouring me in this way. It means so much, but please, honour those we have lost. And let us try to work together. Let us be brave, be flawed and yet always be strong. Let us be human and fight for our right to free will. I promise you that I will stand with you and fight by your side until my very last breath. But it is I who will serve you.’
Before the great hall of my Grigori peers, I knelt and bowed my head while all around me, Grigori raised their daggers to the sky in salute.
‘Violet Eden,’ Josephine said, ‘you have been elected the new head of the World Assembly. The vote was unanimous.’
I stood and turned to Lincoln who, in typical Lincoln fashion, seemed to be taking all of this in his stride. ‘Whatever you decide is the right choice for us,’ he said, simply.
I closed my eyes briefly, considering this choice. ‘If I am the head of the Assembly, do I choose the remaining Assembly members?’
Resigned to what this might mean, Josephine nodded. ‘It will be left to your discretion as your first act. Grigori law states that you may nominate your Assembly at the commencement of your leadership, however, following that, any amendments would be by a vote of your peers.’
I nodded.
‘Then,’ I said, looking over the room, ‘I nominate that Seth’s and Decima’s chairs be filled by the Rogues. We have had division among the Grigori for too long now and there is no reason for it. Both Rogues and Academy Grigori bring skills to our everlasting wars. We must learn to work together or we are no better than the exiles. If they will accept, I nominate Carter and Taxi, two Rogues whom I know and trust with my life.’
The Rogues began to whistle and cheer as Carter and Taxi stepped forward looking dumbfounded.
‘Is this a paying gig?’ Carter asked when he reached me.
I laughed. ‘I’m sure you’ll be well provided for.’
He nodded uncertainly. ‘You sure you want to do this, purple? There’s probably a few other people who might be better suited to this than us,’ he said as Taxi nodded.
I smiled. ‘That’s exactly why you two are perfect.’ I gestured to Seth’s and Decima’s seats. ‘They were great warriors. Like you.’ It was bittersweet to not see Gray take one of those chairs, but I knew he would agree with my choice, and he would smile if he could see the way Carter and Taxi stood tall as they took their places on the Assembly.
I settled my attention on Rainer and Wilhelm as well as Valerie and Hakon. ‘Your seats are yours for as long as you choose to keep them, but know that things will not go on the way they did under Drenson.’
All four nodded and took their seats, reassuming their places as Assembly members.
My eyes met Josephine’s. ‘You have been running things from the sideline for too long,’ I said.
She remained silent, like a prisoner waiting to hear her sentence.
‘You wanted me here. You brought me back to Lincoln. Why?’ The question had been bugging me since she arrived in New Orleans.
‘I hoped that you really were what my instinct whispered.’ And in our world of interfering angels manipulating and creating choices of both light and dark, only to then dangle free will over us all, I understood what she was saying.
‘Do you regret your choices, knowing that I now hold this power over your future?’
Josephine took a deep breath and let it out. ‘All I care about is the cause. So, while there are many things in my life that I regret, this is not, nor will it ever be, one of them.’
I watched her closely, but I also turned to Griffin for confirmation that she was giving nothing but truth. On his small nod, I turned back to her. ‘You are a good Vice, Josephine. But you will have to accept your place if you are to maintain your seat. The days of your rule are over.’
‘You would still allow me to hold my seat?’ she asked tentatively.
‘If you can mind your place, then yes. You are a warrior who believes in Grigori more than any other person I know.’
‘Then I would humbly maintain my position,’ she responded, sitting down, and I noticed Carter roll his eyes as she did. They would make an interesting team.