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He would find something more him, even if it did have the academy’s logo on it. Maybe he could rip the logos off...

“Balthazar does try his best to make people at ease by giving them what he thinks they want, or more like, what they think they want,” she said.

“I can assure you that I wouldn’t want to be a preppy school boy at an exclusive school,” he answered.

“Maybe not, but you’d like to belong, wouldn’t you? Fit in? Be a part of something?” She tilted her head to the side.

He opened and closed his mouth.

“You’ve not had a chance of doing that since your gift manifested, have you?” She made it a question, but it wasn’t one. She knew. “Even when you’ve been around people who have accepted you on some level, you’ve always known that it’s been a fragile acceptance. Likely to go away. Especially if they knew the real you.”

He swallowed and said nothing. But he did think back on watching the Vampires use their powers so openly. What had he felt when he’d seen it? Alarm? Yes. Fear for them being caught out? Yes. And then jealousy when he realized that they could do these things openly.

“So, Balthazar, in his way, was trying to make you understand that you do belong here. You fit in,” she said. “A real insider actually.”

“By putting me in clothes that no one else is wearing?” Grayson finally spoke.

“He’s not perfect, but he does try. In his way,” she said, her smile twinkling at him.

He slid his hands into his pockets and slowly approached her and Meffy. “I bet that an Immortal could leap up and grab Meffy out of that tree without my help.”

“Oh, yes, but Meffy would be frightened if I did that. But if you used your gift he wouldn’t be. And a happy Meffy means a happy Balthazar which means a happy Daemon so… won’t you?” She gestured towards the kitten again.

“I’m out of practice,” Grayson said as he stared at the ball of fluff that was holding on the tree limb with little claws, the desperation to get down to them huge in its round eyes. “I mean… I never really practice.”

“You should!” She smiled brightly at him.

“We’re trying to hide what I can do,” he reminded her. “Practicing would be a bad idea, wouldn’t it? More chances I might be seen.”

She shrugged as if hiding what he could do was a foregone conclusion. A chill went through him. She was the Immortal Seeyr. Maybe she did know that. He glanced around to make sure he hadn’t missed another person nearby.

“It’s just the three of us,” she assured him.

Grayson took in a deep breath and concentrated on the kitten. He imagined the light weight of the little one. He imagined the softness of his fur and the sharpness of his claws. Then he pulled. Gently. Meffy let out a murp! as he detached the kitten’s claws from the tree and slowly lowered him down into his arms. Meffy’s eyes were huge again, but they closed the moment that he was in Grayson’s hands. The kitten was as sweet as he looked. Grayson found himself smiling and leaning down to kiss the furry head.

“Oh, Meffy is very happy!” Seeyr grinned.

“So Balthazar will be happy?”

She looked up at him with those bound eyes. “And Daemon will be, too.”

“It’s good to have the Vampire King happy,” he guessed.

She put her arm lightly through his. “It is, Grayson. It most certainly is.”

“Does he know about the Sect then?” Grayson asked as she started to direct them out of the garden and towards the parade grounds.

“Of course,” she said.

“And you know?”

“You mean did I see the future and glimpse them?” Her smile didn’t dim.

“Ah, yeah, that’s what I do mean,” he said.

She laughed. “Asking a Seeyr about the future is like asking a mortal about their age once they hit a certain decade.”

“Meaning you don’t like to be asked?”