Read Hear Me When the Sun Goes Down for Free Online

objected.  “ We should include Macallister James, don’t you think?  If we’re going to have a true meeting of all the Houses, he deserves to be here.  He’s the leader of his people same as we are.  It’s time we acknowledged him as such.”
    It didn’t hurt that I had Jakob by my side as I made the declaration, and not a peep was made to the contrary, not even by Jennike, though the look in her eyes could hardly be described as soft and fluffy. 
    “Very well,” Aubrey said when no one spoke to the contrary, and in a few minutes time, Mac strolled in, his grin a mile wide as he took a seat at the big boy’s table. At least he had the common sense not to gloat beyond the smile.
    “Right then, if we may continue on to business.  I believe we should address the elephant in the room,” Aubrey forged on, gesturing to me and I froze, not expecting him to call me out like that.  Sure, I expected to be the topic of the day, but not at the official meeting. 
    I sat very still, my back straight as I waited for the disapproval, the recriminations, but the first thing any one said was, “Yes, we need to address this attack on one of our own.”  I had Rein Faust to thank for that, but the conversation that followed made one thing abundantly clear.
    They weren’t mad at me at all. 
    They were far more outraged at how I’d been treated.  If there were any noses bent out of shape over my lies, it didn’t make it to the table.  The topic was broader than my ordeal though, the main concern seemed to be what it could mean for all of them. 
    “The Order has too much power, that’s clear.  It’s time to talk about limiting it,” Faust added, with mixed results.  
    “But how can we go against the Order?” Felippo asked, looking like he’d rather jump into a pit of poisonous snakes.  “The laws are clear.”
    “And who writes the laws?” I posed, warming to the subject.  “Who decides what the penalties are for breaking the laws?”  My questions were met with a stunned silence, as though they’d never once thought about it.  “Come on, guys, it’s the twenty-first century.  Isn’t it time for a little change?” 
    Erik Erlendur’s meaty fist pounded on the table, his eyes as wild as his unkempt hair.  “I say we hunt the Order down and eradicate them!”  That brought a new wave of murmurs to the crowd.
    “Go up against the Order?” Khalid scowled.  “That’s madness!”
    “Madness is thinking you stand a chance against them,” the delegate from Thyssa muttered.
    “No one said it had to be a frontal assault,” Jennike’s lips curved into a speculative smile.  “There are other ways to take down one’s enemies.”
    “I never said they were the enemy.”  I jumped back into the conversation before it descended into further thoughts of bloodshed.  How had this steamrollered out of control so quickly?
    Faust raised his hands in a calming gesture.  “No one’s talking about attacking the Order, we’re talking about being strong enough to bring them under our control, as it should be.”
    “Right,” I agreed.  “We need the Order to, well… keep order.  At their core they provide a valuable service to our community.  They deter vamps from exposing us, and keep breeding under control.  Those are still good things.  But we should be able to dictate how much power they have in our own lands.  They shouldn’t be the only stop between a lawbreaker and the final death.  Everybody deserves a fair trial, or at least the opportunity to speak in their defense instead of this I am the Law crap.” 
    Jennike’s eyes narrowed, unconvinced.  “You’re talking about another branch of government entirely.  Who will pay for this all?”
    I took a deep breath.  Somehow or other, it always boiled down to money.  “That’s where you have to decide if it’s worth it to you to take control of your own lands.  Are you willing to share some of the wealth?  ‘Cause I can