The doe-eyed Elder glided forward to stand next to Adante. “Were that true, I would be there beside you.”

Her voice had the rhythm of youth, but the way she carried herself was far more mature. Annoyingly so. I briefly, begrudgingly wondered if maybe they were only chasing out the immortals who acted like teenagers.

Adante tilted his head in a patronizing way. “While it is true that we are wary of the actions of immortals turned before they achieve emotional maturity, it is also true that we fiercely guard our own. Your penalty had everything to do with your actions and nothing at all to do with your age.”

“Bullsh—”

“Charlie!”

This time Reg’s hand was not on my shoulder but slapped over my mouth, protecting me from making a fatal mistake, even if that mistake meant he could spend more time with Poe, with the humans. I still suspected that’s what he wanted, deep down. But he was my brother, and he took my side even when it meant not taking his own. Lina was right. We were family, and human or vampire, we loved each other.

So, because—and only because—I loved my brother, I managed to shut my trap.

“We understand the treaty to be only another layer that protects vampires from exposure,” Reg said, his hands now pressed together instead of covering my mouth. “But I beseech the Elder Seat to consider whether it is possible that these new age limits have biased you unfairly against the actions of young immortals?”

“On the contrary. Age limits are for the benefit of the young, to protect children,” the Elder girl said.

“Protect,” Lina blurted out with a snort. She was scowling at the edge of the open circle, the nearest Elders still providing her an invisible buffer. “More like control.”

“Something to add, Adelina?” Adante asked.

He gestured to the platform, offering Lina a stage, but she held her ground. She did not need to look down on others to command their attention.

“Only that the Elder Seat has not changed. As always, you take the law and manipulate it to your advantage. The treaty protects mortal children from being turned before they are of age, but where is the law to protect the immortal children? Your alleged passion for the rights of children only extends to humans, while you turn your own kind mortal without a second thought.”

“They violated the treaty,” Adante demurred. “Surely you don’t suggest we allow young vampires to disregard our laws. If children were immune from repercussions, chaos would reign.”

“I’m suggesting only that the punishment does not fit the crime. What these two did was an accident. What was done to them in return was more than an injustice. It was a cruelty.”

My heart swelled with gratitude and— Damn it, here come the tears.

I quickly swiped at my eyes, nodding once at Lina in thanks before facing forward again.