Quale pulled himself to his feet. “I was born into my role. I have never met the king nor worked for him. I don’t know if I agree with him rising. For now there is no chance it will happen. So let’s not worry ourselves.”

“Did Louis clue you in on how long we’re supposed to stay here?” Jacob asked. “We have responsibilities, we are to be the next council leaders. We cannot disappear indefinitely. What’s the long term plan?”

He was right, they were giving up an awful lot for me and I should encourage them to go home. My mouth opened but I couldn’t make the words exit.

Quale waved toward the door. “You are more than welcome to leave. None of you are in danger except for the twins. They need to stay for the next month, in case the king rises. I’m sure none of you want to see them self-destruct.”

Well, didn’t that just sound like an assface way to die.

Braxton joined in now. He’d been quietly observing until this point. “Jessa and Mischa go where we go, and right now our duties in Stratford don’t mean shit.” He leveled a glare at his fey brother. “Our focus is here.”

Jacob brushed Braxton’s glare aside. “You know I never meant we would leave without the girls. No responsibility trumps Jessa. But we still need to know the short to long term plan.”

“I admire and respect your loyalty,” Quale said as he started to move toward the doorway again. “It won’t be all bad here. You will learn about the marked and the abilities that your females will develop.” He gestured for us to proceed before him along the hall. “And you will all be safe. In here, you will only find others who have searched for security.”

Judging by the dirty looks we received as we entered, that wasn’t completely true. There were definitely some here who’d do anything to keep their sanctuary untainted by strangers.

The trip down in the elevator was as shittastic as going up. Two mystics were waiting for us outside, neither of them Gerard.

“How many of you are there?” I asked Quale.

He noticed the way I was eying the grays through the front glass. “There are twelve mystics. We spend our time in the different zones. There are about two thousand supernaturals in here.”

Wow, that was a lot, especially if most of them were dragon marked.

“We’ve recently added quite a few hundred to our ranks.”

My brain clicked on about the same time that Braxton spoke. “You mean those who were freed from the various prisons?”

The dragon shifter never missed a beat.