As always, disclaimers are on the first chapter!

I'm sure you've all been waiting for it. It's the Interracial Council!! Also, this is the halfway point. Only 10 more chapters after this one.

Council

Nick rapped on the door of the meeting hall and stepped back to stand beside Jeremy. I was standing behind the both of them, feeling rather like a little sister hiding behind her big brothers. The door opened and a teen aged girl a few inches shorter than me peered up at Jeremy and Nick, a huge grin on her face. Fairly short black hair that has the look of trying to be grown out, large, bright blue eyes, and tall for a fourteen or fifteen year old. Savannah Levine.

"Jeremy! Nick! You're finally here! Wow, you look like shit."

The last comment was directed at Nick. After seeing him that morning, I had to agree even though he managed to make himself more presentable since earlier at the breakfast. As Savannah ushered us in, she turned to say something to Jeremy and stopped when she saw me. "Is that her? She's not much, is she?"

I snorted and rolled my eyes, spending a few moments asking myself why I had ever wanted to be a high school level teacher. Instead of responding to Savannah, I took a moment to see who else showed up to the meeting. I bit my lip when I noticed that I seemed to have brought out the whole of the Council.

Paige Winterbourne sat next to Adam Vasic, which didn't surprise me. They had grown up together, and were chatting just like the old friends that they were. Further around the circular table was auburn haired and green-eyed Cassandra and a tall man I didn't recognize right away. I searched my memory of the stories I had read and placed him as Aaron Darnell. The vampire was probably the only one in the room who would willingly sit anywhere near the apathetic high-class vampiress.

There was an empty chair next to Aaron. I didn't realize that Jeremy had stepped away from Nick and I until he stepped up behind it and pulled it out to take a seat. After he was comfortable, he leaned over and whispered something to a sultry red-head in the next chair over. Now that was another face I was sure to recognize. Jaime Vegas: spiritualist superstar by day, actual necromancer all the time. I smirked when I saw her cheeks color when Jeremy leaned in to talk to her.

Next to Jaime was another empty chair. I knew there was someone missing. Witch, half-demon, vampire, vampire, werewolf, necromancer...who was I forgetting? I glanced up to the snack table behind the empty chair and saw a man staring at me. No, not staring at me. Staring through me!

I bit down harder on my lip and inched closer to Nick. It was comforting that even though I was sure he was still mad at me, he didn't move away. The moments ticked by and I was frozen by the stare of the man as I searched my memory like an overloaded computer. Slow, too slow. Who the hell was he?

Kenneth Okalik, shaman. The name and race finally came to me just as quickly as I had lost it in my nervousness. I watched his eyes dart back and forth, as if he was looking at me, then someone else, then me again. I wondered if he was talking to his ayami, his spirit guide.

I knew the least about Kenneth and Taira, his ayami. He was nothing but a silent presence in the novels and a rather unsatisfactory story in one of the online collections that Kelley released. Because of that, he was the one in the room I feared the most. Vampires, Exustio half-demon, necromancer... I could handle all that. But a shaman? That had me quivering inside.

Paige sat up and called the delegates to order at the table. Nick grabbed a couple extra chairs and placed them between Jeremy and Aaron. I took the one next to Jeremy. I didn't care how much of a martyr Aaron was, he was still a vampire. Nick sat down next to me, his arm going around the back of my chair. He stopped himself, and I saw a faint frown at the corners of his mouth as his hand moved from behind me and into his lap. I promised myself then that I'd do everything I could to smooth things over with Nick.

As Jeremy told the council members about the message on the mirror, I worried over my earlier revelation. Nick and I stayed silent unless we were directly asked a question regarding the story. Once he had finished, I waited for Jeremy to start the part that was specifically about me. When he didn't, I watched him sit back down in his chair. The members of the council sat in silence. Each one knew that something was missing in the story. The one who broke the silence was the last one I expected to speak.

"I suppose the first question is, do you want to go back?"

Everyone turned to Kenneth, amazed that he had spoken when not spoken to. He was staring at me through half-closed eyes. I shivered, resisting the urge to lean back into Nick for protection. As if able to read my mind, I felt Nick put his hand on my shoulder.

"I... I, uh..." I stammered. I closed my eyes and thought about his question. I had been so focused on making sure I wasn't killed by the Pack that I didn't think about if going home was an option. Did I want to go back to mundania where I wasn't anything more than just me?

"Go back?" Paige reluctantly shifted her gaze from Kenneth to me. "What does he mean go back?"

"Uhm, well..."

And for the third time in two days, I told my story.

"I think we should take a brief recess," Kenneth said into the awkward silence as he pushed his chair back from the table. "I'm sure some of us would like to approach the matter on full stomachs."

No one protested the idea, and the table quickly disbanded. As I got up to follow Jeremy, Nick, and Jaime, I got the feeling of being watched.

"Not you. You, stay a moment."

I looked over my shoulder at Kenneth then over to Nick who stopped when I did. Nick wasn't looking at me, though. He was looking over my head at Kenneth.

"What do you need her for?"

"I want to talk to her, in private. That's all." Kenneth lowered his gaze from Nick to me.

I heard Nick start to growl behind me, but checked himself. "Fine. Nyx, I'm letting Jer know and I'll wait for you outside." He glared at Kenneth again over my head before turning away and going to find Jeremy.

Kenneth waited while I watched Nick leave, willing him in my mind to not leave me alone with the shaman. Finally I took a deep breath and turned to face Kenneth. He was watching me again, looking through me and silent. I knew he was talking to Taira, but I didn't know what about. "What do you wa—need? I didn't eat breakfast, and a cranky werewolf is a dangerous werewolf."

He hesitated a moment longer. "That message was for you, wasn't it?"

"It's possible." I frowned at Kenneth. "What do you know that you're not letting on?"

He smiled at me. "I can't really say for sure just yet, but you need to really think on whether or not you want to stay here."

After another moment of studying me, he left the meeting hall. I stood in place for a while longer, wondering what the shaman knew or, more likely, what Taira was telling him. Nick poked his head in when I didn't come out right away.

"Hey... Everyone's ready to go. We're waiting on you."

"I'm coming..." Lost in my own mind, I made my way on auto-pilot toward the hall exit. "Do you think anyone would mind if I skipped part deux of this meeting?"

Nick shrugged and held the door open for me. "Don't really know. Why don't we talk to Jeremy about it over lunch?"