Atticus collapsed back in his chair looking like his entire world had been blown to pieces. In a way, it had. He, like everyone else, believed that dragonkin were simply too old, too powerful, too... alien... to mate with humans. But there was Rhia, a half-blood dragonkin. And if there was anything that was for certain in this world, was that if one interspecies couple were successful, there were always others.

Once Atticus was able to accept the existence of half-bloods, he had to deal with the knowledge that she had been living under his nose for two decades. L.A. was in his jurisdiction, and he had a spy injected into the Kincaid family for years. Neither he nor Nova had ever suspected she were anything more than human. They knew she was adopted. They knew she had been an unfortunate victim of the Heritage tests. Given the obvious hatred for the Ancients that Richard Kincaid had never been afraid to show in his personal and professional life, everyone who knew about the operation just assumed he wouldn't have allowed her to stay if she had any evidence of magical blood.

Which brought up even more questions; Did the heritage tests work on half blood dragonkin at all? Did the doctors lie to Richard? Did he know all along? With each potential answer came with its own concerning number of follow-up questions that couldn't be answered.

And then Nolan told him Dáithí's story. The dark realm, where Nova and Dáithí's magic had been disabled, while Rhia had been left untouched. The swarms of changeling demons within the realm. The dark elves.

More. Fucking. Dark elves.

Nolan looked down at his watch. He'd been away from Rhia a little over an hour. Every second that ticked by pushed him further and further to the edge. Rhia had been taken of the medicinal sedatives and was responding well. Her mother and brother were there, but Nolan desperately wanted to be there when she woke up. Maybe it was petty, but he didn't want Dáithí to be the first one she saw.

As he looked back, he noticed a file on the edge of the desk.

Foster, Nova

"I heard about Nova." He said softly.

Atticus blinked a few times and looked at Nolan as if he were surprised to see him there. He looked down at the file. "Right," he muttered before sitting up slowly. "Sorry. That is... a lot to take in." He propped his elbows on the desk, laced his fingers together, and slowly his eyes went back to the stony black of the politician that Nolan was used to. "She was a good person. An excellent agent. We have suffered a great loss with her death."

"Did she have family?"

"She just got engaged." Atticus's voice sounded distant again. He genuinely cared for his people. "Her fiancé... took it poorly."

"If there's anything I can do, please let me know."

The corner of Atticus's mouth twitched upwards in a subconscious smile before he schooled his features and focused back on the vampire. "Thank you, Nolan. Not just for the offer but coming to me directly with this information. It should help with the paperwork and sorting out this mess. I do have a property that I can air out for you and Rhia, but, I have to ask, what are you going to do about the dragons?"

"What do you mean? What would I need to do?"

"They're going to find out about Rhia. In fact, given their interest in the Kincaid case, I would suspect they already know."

Nolan felt a chill rush through his spine. "What did you tell them, Atticus?"

He shrugged. "Not much you don't already know. Richard Kincaid has a clear connection to Ashton Price, a doctor who is known for performing heritage tests on children. And even though he's lost his licence, he's getting funding from somewhere. Kincaid has the resources to keep Price comfortable. We suspected, then later confirmed, that Rhia had undergone the tests. Given what we know about Rhia now I would be very interested to see what the results were."

"As would I." Nolan growled.

"We knew the two of them, as well as the police captain Mark Landon, the godfather to the Kincaid children, had to be involved with a higher order. Landon has been far more vocal about his opinion of ancients and magic in general in his public position, so our plan was to bring him in first. It would have been a bit of a show to see what Kincaid and the rest of the organization would do."

"But he was killed last night as well."

"Exactly." Another pause. "You don't suppose the dragons..."

He trailed off, letting the unfinished question hang heavily in the air. "No." Nolan felt sure of his answer. "Quin doesn't work that way. And none of the others would do something like that in his territory."

"You're so sure? I know you have a good relationship with the dragons, Nolan, but..."

"I'm sure."

Atticus fixed him with a hard look. "Alright." he said slowly. "Then, if you don't mind me asking, why don't you trust them to take care of Rhia?"

Nolan wasn't able to poker-face his way out of this one. He looked away. Had he been that obvious? "I'm sure they will take care of her... physically."

"You're afraid they won't allow her to see you."

He'd hit the nail right on the head. Damn him. It had taken a day and a half for that seed of thought to take root in Nolan's head. While he would never admit it, Dáithí was right. Rhia was not the kind of person who would ever willingly bind to the dragons. She was too independent. Not to mention there was that whole human concept of slavery, especially in America. If Dáithí had told her anything about the bond, that was probably exactly where her mind went. And now it was all he could think of. Rhia as a slave to the dragons.

"Quin has no love for vampires." he said carefully. "Our respect for each other is based on the relationship we had before I was turned. He tolerates me because I am useful. I highly doubt he will consider that a good reason to allow us to continue seeing each other."

"What do you expect me to do about it? I am not in a position where I can challenge Quin on his own, not to mention if any of the others if they chose to back him."

"I'm not asking you to take sides. I just want to give her a chance to consider her options without the dragons making that decision for her. All I'm asking for is a bit of breathing room."

Atticus went very quiet and very still. Behind those black eyes, the wheels were churning. There was a reason Atticus had excelled so quickly within his community. He was neither reckless nor dumb. He was a predator. His animal brethren lived in some of the harshest and most unforgiving landscapes on the planet. A wasted move could mean death. As a predator himself, Nolan was familiar with the calculative nature of the shifter in front of him. While it was expected, he very much did not like it.

"Are you asking as a fellow counsel member or as a friend, Nolan." Before he could answer Atticus said deliberately slowly. "Because I do not think a fellow counsel member would ask me this."

Nolan had been ready to ask as a counsel member, based on the good relationship they had built over the years. But now... There was so much meaning behind how Atticus had said it was making him reconsider. It was a test. He just didn't know how or why. "As a friend, of course." he said slowly, watching for any reaction.

Atticus visibly relaxed. "Good. Then, as a friend I will do my best to help you. On one condition." He hit Nolan with another hard look. "I want to know everything."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"I'm not playing, Nolan. There is a reason you're not going to Constantine for help, and I'm willing to bet my life it's because of Luna. If I'm going to stick my neck out in front of a dragon to help you, I want to know everything. None of the bullshit you feed to the Counsel. As your friend," he emphasized the word again. "I am not required to inform the other shifter representatives the details of our discussion. I can keep your secrets. But I will have them, Nolan, or I will do nothing to help you or Rhia. She is dragonkin, half-blood or otherwise. I am not responsible for her well-being."

Nolan felt a lump in his throat. "You don't want this truth, Atticus."

There was a tremble to his voice that he didn't recognize. Telling Rhia the truth had been one thing. He'd thought her human at the time. Who was she going to tell? Who would believe her? He had trusted her to keep quiet and it had brought them closer together. It had lit a determination in her to fight for what they had, and her acceptance only made him love her more. But Atticus was different.

"You're probably right." Atticus said gently. "But that doesn't change the fact that I need to know what I'm getting into."

Another long silence. It was broken by a soft chime of the intercom. "Lord Shaw," came a pleasant female voice. "Princess Shadowblade has arrived."

Atticus rested his hand on the intercom without pressing the button. "Nolan, you have the respect of the entire Counsel. Even the elves speak highly of you, in their own way. Arkil has far more ability as well as a greater desire to find reason to stand against the dragons, so I'm sure he would happily take you and Rhia in. I can't quite express how honored I am that you came to me for help over anyone else. I was barely more than a child when I was offered a seat. The politics were so strange and combative compared to the shifter meetings. Each species standing for the rights of their own people and little else. Yet when you spoke, they all listened. I looked up to you. You were what I aspired to be as a Counsel representative. I still do. I want to help you, Nolan, but you understand better than anyone I need more than what you're giving me."

Nolan smiled at the much younger male. The speech, from anyone else, would have sounded manipulative and petty. Atticus really meant it. "Once Rhia is out of the compound." He said quietly. "Once she's safe."

Their eyes met. A silent agreement was made. Atticus nodded and pressed down the button of the intercom. "Send her in, Kiya."

A moment later the door to the office opened, the males stood, and Zesstra walked in. Her glamour was far more stable this time, giving her skin a solid ashy tone, and her now had a defined pupil and cornea. She didn't bother hiding the point to her ears or even the colour of her eyes. In some circles, she could have passed for a Deepstone or one of the snow elves of one of the lesser families. "My lords," she smiled and bowed slightly.

Zesstra Shadowblade had been in Atticus's care since the disastrous Counsel meeting when Nolan had stormed out. From the summary he'd received the morning after, she was negotiating with the shifters for them to represent her people with her as their main go-between. Nothing was written, but Nolan assumed they would fall under Atticus's care simply based off geography. Her clan lived out at Lake Piru, smack in the middle of his territory.

Atticus had not hesitated when Nolan revealed that Rhia, Dáithí, Nova, and Church had been sucked into a dark realm controlled by the dark elves. If her people wanted the protection of the Counsel, their leader would have to answer for the actions of her people. All of them. And while the legitimacy of her claim to the Shadowblade bloodline was still being investigated, Zesstra was that leader.

"Thank you for coming princess." Atticus smiled. "Please, sit down."

Atticus's smile was more than diplomatic. Nolan could feel the shift in temperature in the room as they moved from the desk to the large couch and two comfortable chairs. He struggled to keep his own smile diplomatic. Atticus was still the youngest on the Counsel and his subconscious actions betrayed that youth. He was attracted to the elf. And judging by the way her glamour flickered, struggling to keep up with her blush, and the way she was chewing her lip he could tell that she was just as attracted to him. Geography his ass, Atticus was representing the dark elves so he had an excuse to be around her.

Who was he to judge? Had he not taken Maddox as a patient just for the chance to see Rhia?

"Lord Wes," Zesstra perched on the edge of the couch and looked up at him. "I was hoping for the chance to speak with you again."

"Please," he waved her off. "Just Nolan. The titles of the Counsel are an archaic practice used solely in meetings now."

"Perhaps everyone else. I'm afraid the elves live and die by the old ways. Especially Lord Serirnil and the rest of the Celestial clans."

"Arkil is the pinnacle of Celestial tradition." Atticus mused.

"He wasn't always." Nolan took a bottle of water from the center of the table and traced the cap with his fingers. "He was fascinating young elf. Idealistic and full of plans for the future. He wanted to make a change, not just for his people, but for all Ancients. It was politics that ruined him."

Zesstra tilted her head in confusion. "Lord Serirnil is nearing his one-thousand-five-hundredth year. If I'm not mistaken, vampires are considered elders at a mere eight hundred. How could you have known him before his time on the Counsel?"

Nolan smiled mysteriously. "We all have our secrets, princess."

She stared at him curiously before shaking her head and looking down at her hands. "Of course." Her tone turned demure and passive. "Anyway, I just wanted to thank you for stopping Lord Serirnil. I wasn't sure what he would do after I made my request to the Counsel."

"It was bold of you to try to deceive them like that. Out of curiosity, what did you tell them to convince them to bring you?"

"I told them I was asking for permission for my people to reclaim our ancestral homelands." Her eyes flickered with amusement. "He hoped to see me humiliated."

Nolan matched her smile. "Careful with this one, Atticus." He teased, looking over at the shifter. "We would be fools to underestimate her."

"Don't I know it." Atticus's voice was soft but intense.

Zesstra smiled brilliantly at the shifter. Nolan looked down at his watch again. He needed to finish and get back to Rhia, preferably before the two of them started doing more than just mentally undressing each other. He cleared his throat. "Zesstra, I was wondering if I could ask you about a situation that occurred last night."

The smile wiped from her face and panic rose in her eyes as she met Nolan's gaze again. "I don't know if I can help you." She said quickly. "My people were not involved. Our faction is peaceful, I swear it."

"I'm sure they are. The dark elves that were witnessed trapped several people in a dark realm. Their magic was neutralized, and they were attacked by changelings."

She bit down on her bottom lip in thought. "You're sure the witness saw dark elves?" she asked quietly, almost as if she were talking herself. "The dark realm magic is not singular to my kind."

"He was sure. One female, one male. He also said that the male was casting some kind of spell on one of the other people caught. He admits he wasn't in a position to analyze the situation, but he claims that the elf had..." Nolan had to force the anger and bile back down. "Bound them in glowing chains and attacked them with spears of light."

Zesstra went very still. Nolan could feel Atticus's eyes on him. Minutes passed in silence before she finally spoke again. "The person the elf was... attacking," she said carefully. "What species were they?"

Nolan couldn't stop his eyes from narrowing. "Dragonkin." He said, matching her cautious tone.

"A hatchling or fully realized?"

"Hatchling."

She went quiet again. She blinked several times before looking down at her hands. "You're looking for the other Shadowblade faction." she said in barely a whisper. "The other dark elves. The ones who still follow the... old ways."

"You didn't tell me there were others." Atticus couldn't hide the slight accusation in his voice.

"You didn't ask." Her voice shook. "And I wasn't expecting them to show up here. The last we heard they were in Italy when the Counsel was actively hunting them down, but we haven't associated with them for hundreds of years."

"Do you have any idea how to find them?" Nolan asked.

"I can ask the elders but," she shrugged and looked down at her hands. "They don't like to speak of them. They would rather pretend they didn't exist."

"Do you know their names? At least of the other Shadowblade's?"

She shook her head. "We do not speak of them." she said again. "Their names had been struck from the rosters before I was born. I would only know them by their magical signature."

"But you're familiar with the spell?"

"It's not so much a spell as it is an extension of our will. Exactly what we are capable of depends on exactly what we train to do."

"That sounds similar to the Dracula shade magic." Nolan said thoughtfully. "But, regarding the kin specifically, did you know it would have an effect on a hatchling?"

She went quiet again. The look in her eyes made Nolan feel like she was sizing him up. Trying to decide exactly how much to tell him. "We are an old species, Lord Wes. Our magic reacts in unique and identifiable ways to the dragons and their kin."

And with that, she slammed the door on the conversation. She sat back on the couch and stared blankly at her hands. Nolan stood up. "Thank you, princess." He tried not to sound too disappointed.

Atticus stood up as well. They stepped out of the office to the small space between his door and the secretary politely pretending she couldn't hear a thing. "I'm sorry, Nolan," Atticus said quietly. "I'll talk to her, see if she knows what they could have done to her."

"It's alright," Nolan shook his head. "We can't realistically expect her to tell us what her family is really capable of, even if they don't associate with the other factions. It's self-preservation. It's smart."

Atticus looked hesitant, but he relented. "When do you think Rhia will be getting out of the compound?"

"Another day or so. I hope. It's all kind of up in the air right now."

"Alright, I start taking the sheets off the furniture. Anything special I should be prepared for."

"Buy a couple fire extinguishers."

"Sure, sure, sounds... wait... what?"

~