*Sorry, midterms are getting in the way of my life. I promise the chapters will get better. I guess school just has me depressed.*

Lucas showed up just after the sun set. He looked like he hadn't slept at all since talking to us. He stood exactly where he had the night before with his hands clasped behind his back, his chest out and chin up. I stared at him, the rest of the Council behind me. "You came in person?"

He nodded. "I took what you said into consideration but decided that the best way to gain your confidence was to show up in the flesh." He smiled cautiously at the Council. "This way your psychics can pick my brain and ensure that I mean no harm."

Jordan stepped forward. "I'll be the judge of that." He, an elder named Caltha and a powerful fledgling named Gia stepped forward and sniffed around the bemused vampyre.

Gia inhaled, which she said brought a person's essence into her senses and allowed her to see their life paths. She tilted her head from side to side, sifting through whatever she'd absorbed from Lucas. "I don't see him betraying us anytime soon. Although these things can always change." She opened her eyes and gave Lucas a menacing glare. "But I'll be keeping my eye on you. Make one mistake and you won't have time to regret it," she warned, glaring up at him. Gia was barely five feet tall and built like a pixie so it was hard to take her threats seriously. Lucas, however, had the decency to act as though he did.

Jordan stared Lucas down, searching his intentions. "He doesn't intend to betray us. In fact, he seems pretty focused on our merger working out." He leaned in and whispered something to Lucas who lifted an eyebrow.

"I'll keep that in mind," he replied to Jordan.

Jordan patted his shoulder, but not in a friendly way. More in an aggressive way. "Then we're not gonna have a problem." He turned to me and nodded. If Jordan was willing to approve then I had a good feeling about it.

Next Caltha stepped forward and put her hand to Lucas's chest. Lucas gave me a concerned look but I just smiled back. I loved Caltha, she was so old that she actually looked fairly old. Her long silver hair fell elegantly down her back and she had wrinkles in only happy places, you know around her mouth and eyes from smiling. She was a vision and older than I could even imagine. We were lucky to have her. "Your past is something of a blur," she sighed, as she read the young vampyre's life line. "Even before being Marked you had an…active life." I could see him lock eyes with her. This meant she was showing him a memory of his that she was currently reviewing. "You might want to bring this up at some point gorgeous." Lucas smiled and looked down at his feet. Caltha turned to me. "He is a fine young man and a worthy warrior. I have no objections, lady." She bowed deeply to me and returned to her place near the other elders. She insisted on treating me with this respect because I was a warrior human who, in her time, would have been a revered leader. I didn't entirely object. Aldo however did.

I glanced over my shoulder to the Son of Erebus beside our high priestess, pretending he wasn't staring at her. "Jason," I called out, "what about you?"

"What about me?" he scoffed.

Erol took over for me. "You're psychic, take a look at him." Jason rolled his eyes. "Look, she respects your opinion more than most people here. So give your opinion." Despite the fact that he growled this, Erol was buttering Jason up. It was the best way to get him to do something. He was pretty vain. Which doesn't make what Erol said a lie by any means.

Jason looked over at me. "I can only see his energy. So, I know that he can, obviously, astral project, he has an affinity for the earth and can communicate with the dead." Jason stared at Lucas and his eyebrows shot up his forehead. "Good on you." He turned back to me. "Among other things. But that doesn't tell you much about him."

I smiled. "It tells me more than I knew. Thank you Jason." Kimmy smiled up at Jason who simply stared at her in return. He had no idea what to do with the feelings he was suddenly developing for her. I could find it amusing later. Now I turned to the rest of the Counsel. "Are we satisfied then? Can we not kill me over my decision?" I was met with no verbal objections, although Aldo seemed less than pleased to be silent. "Good," I sighed and turned to Lucas. "When can your troops be here?"

Lucas smiled, relieved. "Tomorrow night, just before dawn."

I nodded. "Be here. And don't make me regret this." He smiled again, an intimate smile that said, You know you won't. "Well, get gone. Tell your people to bring only what they need. We don't have enough room for a million soldiers plus a lifetime worth of crap." Lucas nodded, obediently. "Also let them know that they, as well as everyone else, will be required to swear their allegiance before Nyx. I'm not half assing this!"

"You have my word, ma'am," Lucas replied, placing his fist over his heart. He gave me a sweet smile.

Jordan growled. "What did I say?"

"I wasn't…I was just," Lucas stuttered. "I was being respectful." Jordan glared at the vamp, pursing his lips. "I'm going to go now. Thank you, all of you. I hope that you find this move advantageous in the days to come." He bowed once more and then was off.

"I still don't like this," Aldo complained to David, under his breath.

Everyone groaned. Even those initially opposed to the plan had grown tired of listening to Aldo whine. This time, I wasn't going to bother arguing with him. I just turned to Desmond. "Inform the troops of what's going on. Then take them out to train, we'll only do a half day of training today so we can start moving things around." Desmond nodded, obediently, and nodded to Jason to come with him. They left at a brisk pace, followed slowly by the elders.

Gia put a confident hand on my shoulder. I glanced down at her. "Don't worry, chief, this is going to be a very good thing. I promise." I smiled and nodded, appreciatively. She gave me a hopeful look. "Please don't dwell on this. Okay?"

I patted the hand she'd placed on my shoulder. "Thank you sweety." With that, Gia grinned and went skipping off, leading the other fledglings.

Daydream giggled and whispered in my ear, "Gia has such a little crush on you."

I rolled my eyes. "I just hope she doesn't die because of me." I looked over at Daydream. "She's so little. Someone could easily…" I refused to finish that sentence. Daydream hugged me and, I noticed over her shoulder, Aldo stared at me with a strange look on his face. I had forgotten he was there. "Aldo, I'd like it if you trained today too." I said it kindly but he took it offensively and stomped away, his crappy shoes slapping the ground the whole way. I turned to David, who was watching Aldo go. "I didn't mean to upset him."

David shook his head. "He's just in a mood because of this whole thing." He turned to me and smiled. "He'll get over it." I noticed something in my friend's eye. He'd really taken a shine to Aldo.

"Well, please tell him later that I meant nothing by it." David nodded then looked at me expectantly. I suddenly noticed that everyone else seemed to be waiting for orders. Oh right, I was the leader. I really needed to get used to that. It had been months. "Alright, I'm going to need supplies quadruple checked and a list made of what we need. Also, someone needs to call Marv and tell him that we're going to be swinging out his way in need of more mattresses, we only have about half of what we're going to need. Do we have enough money?"

David lifted a brow. "Well, Marv does kind of owe us. We took his daughter in."

"Doesn't mean we need to take all of his goods," I sighed, but then quickly added, "although it wouldn't hurt to remind him. Ugh, I'm a terrible person."

"You're just doing what needs to be done to take care of your troops," Kimmy reminded me.

I nodded and sent all of them on their way, staying behind to look out on the training grounds as the troops slowly made their way out. I took a deep breath, trying not to imagine all of them dying. Then I felt a hand on my shoulder. He didn't have to speak. I knew it was Erol.

"I think you're doing fine," he whispered into my ear. "Just so you know."

He quickly walked away with those comforting words. I waited until I was sure that he had gone back inside to allow myself to cry. I sat down on the ground, wrapping my arms around my body as if someone else was holding me and let my sobs shake my body violently. In his attempt to reassure me, Erol had made me feel even worse. I felt so alone.