Out of the corner of Graydon’s eye, he noticed Constantine turning thoughtful. While Khalil held his Power in tight control, it was still evident in the nearly invisible shimmer surrounding his physical form that he held a great deal of it. If Khalil wouldn’t participate in any action against Malphas, it underscored just how dangerous an undertaking killing the Djinn was going to be.

“Khalil brings up a good point,” Graydon said, as he met the gaze of each person in the room. “Just because you’re here right now in this room doesn’t mean you’ve committed to doing anything – and going against this particular Djinn will be hard. He’s a first-generation pariah.” He paused a moment to let that sink in. “We have a lot of information to share. If anybody needs to see documentation, we’ve got it. Just remember, this is only a discussion, okay?”

“Let’s hear what you’ve got,” Julian said. He looked sharp and totally engaged. At his feet, Melly nodded to herself. Shifting, she reached up and back, and laced the fingers of one hand with his.

Graydon didn’t have to overhear any telepathic conversation they may have had. Her body language said it all – whatever Julian might choose to do, she would support him.

Graydon started talking. He used the kind of format that sentinels used in meetings.

Subject: Malphas, first generation pariah Djinn.

Issue: Trafficking and enslavement. Collusion, fraud. Suspected murder. Documented crimes against the Elder Races, along with crimes against humanity.

Danger level: Extreme.

After he had summarized, the silence in the room was so deep, he could hear each individual’s breathing. Then came the questions, and almost everybody had several.

With a nod to Luis and Claudia, Graydon gave the floor over to them, and instead of leading the conversation, he became an observer.

Khalil’s expression remained so studiously impassive, Graydon suspected he was cloaking strong emotion. The Djinn’s hand never left Grace’s shoulder. She had shifted so that she could lean against his hip.

Julian, Melly and Constantine had the most questions, while Rune asked a few and interspersed the conversation with his own observations.

Of the group, Carling and Bel remained silent. The quality of Carling’s stillness was entirely different from Khalil’s. She was like a river rock that had been worn smooth over time.

Bel’s attentiveness showed subtle engagement. The skin around her eyes tightened at some of the information, and her lips compressed, a quiet sign of inner turmoil.

He wanted to reach out and touch her, like so many of the couples who were present did with each other. Instead, he adopted a pose much like Constantine’s, leaning against a wall with arms crossed.

While he maintained a physical distance, he couldn’t stop himself from watching her profile. He felt like he could never get enough of simply looking at her and feeling a sense of her presence.

Eventually the questions over the details of the investigation slowed, and that was when the conversation turned challenging.

Graydon asked Carling, “You were a member of the Elder tribunal. What do you think of the case as we’ve presented it?”

She lifted a shoulder in a liquidly graceful movement. “It’s much more solid than many cases the tribunal approves. But the outcome of acting on this one will also be much more costly than many other cases. I believe you’ll get approval for taking some kind of action, but what this current tribunal will commit to doing itself is something I’m no longer qualified to answer.”

“Can you take a guess?” he asked.

“At the very least, I would guess you’ll get Peacekeeper troops to back up any independent action you may be prepared to take. It’s not sufficient, but it may be all they offer, although how they could justify that in light of what transpired with Senator Jackson’s son and the current unrest in the human Congress, I don’t know. At most…” She shook her head and shrugged again. “Personally, I will be very interested to hear what Soren is going to offer.”

Rune looked at Graydon. “I’ve been meaning to ask, what led you to investigate this?”

Graydon had been expecting that very question. He said simply, “I received an anonymous tip.”

“You’ve put in a significant investment in time and money over an anonymous tip,” Constantine observed. “Since you’ve been so careful to keep this separate from the Wyr demesne, I assume you’ve paid for the whole investigation out of your own pocket.”

Bel’s gaze widened and flew to meet his. He could tell by her disturbed expression she hadn’t thought of that before.

Small though her reaction had been, the room was full of smart, observant people, and her consternation did not go unnoted.

Constantine’s attention fixed on Bel. He said, “I find the compilation of this group fascinating. For example, I know I’m only here because I pestered you until you didn’t have any other choice. How did everyone else end up here, and why?”

At that, Rune spoke up. “Graydon came to us originally to have our agency handle the investigation. We put Luis and Claudia on the case, and we wanted to be part of the concluding consultation, which is why we’re here. Since we had some idea of what was going on, we brought in Khalil and Grace for their input.”

With that, everyone focused on Julian, Melly and Bel.

Melly said simply, “I’m here because Julian is. I had no idea any of this was going on.”

“I’m not going to lie, Graydon knew I’d have a dog in this fight,” said Julian. “Earlier in the year, I helped block Malphas from harming someone in my demesne. Since then, he has nurtured a grudge. He helped to trap me when Justine kidnapped Melly.”

Rune looked at Graydon. “Sounds like you can add another count of collusion to that list.”