Chapter 7

"We need to notify the council immediately and send them copies of the surveillance video to absolve you of any accusation of wrongdoing," Desmond announced, interrupting my moment with Eric. "I'm assuming that's the real reason you held the meeting out here instead of in your office."

Eric nodded, sending Pam to make a copy of the video files.

"Are you planning to take over as king now?" Desmond inquired, eyebrows drawn.

Eric raised his eyebrow and scoffed, "Can you imagine the size of the targets that would be on our backs if we took control of 4 states? I didn't live this long by being stupid."

"Couldn't we set up some type of representational government system that would allow all the supes a voice and would divide up the power enough that no one individual is a target? Something like the council, so that you'd have to take out all of them for it to fail? And people who get voted in and out of power, so you could sign a petition or back a different candidate, instead of resorting to bloodshed, if you're not happy with the current regime?" I suggested. "Each of the four states would have its own governor, with a term of 10 years, and some type of state Congress, then a separate council over all four states that links them all together. We could serve on that council and retain veto power, so we have some control, but could avoid most of the crazy cutthroat melodrama that seems to surround the current feudal system. It's time to embrace the 21st century."

Eric tilted his head to the side while he considered my ideas, working out the logistics and fine tuning the plans based on his considerable knowledge and experience.

You need to tell him you can read vampires now, Desmond warned, before he learns it from the council. The Ancient Pythoness has likely already seen something about it in a vision.

I nodded, worrying how Eric would react. I thought about the other deep, dark secret I was hiding from everyone - Hunter's telepathy. Claude was the only other one who knew, and Niall had taken him back to Faery.

I caught a huge wave of concern from Desmond, We need to go take care of that tonight! Why didn't you tell me sooner? I will set up a block in his mind that will filter the telepathy to his subconscious, so he will be able to sense who to trust and who means him harm, but he will not hear the actual thoughts in his conscious mind until he approaches adulthood. I would have done the same for you if I had seen you as a baby or young child. It's what I do for all my kin. That's why you thought Barry's telepathy wasn't as strong as yours, because he'd only had access to it for a few years.

My eyes widened in shock. What a difference it would have made in my life if I could have gone through my formative years without hearing the thoughts of everyone around me!

"I think your idea could work," Eric offered, watching Desmond and me carefully, having guessed I was reacting to something I heard in the lawyer's mind. Pam had joined us and offered Desmond a thumb drive with the videos on it.

Desmond took it and carefully put it in his briefcase, his voice serious as he said, "We have something else we need to take care of first." We're going to need Eric to glamor the boy's father to forget about the telepathy in case anybody else decides to investigate your family tree.

"Something more important than notifying the council?" Eric asked, incredulous.

Desmond shook his head. "No, you can do that on the way, but this must be handled tonight while I'm here."

I checked the time. It was only 7pm, so still early enough. "Eric, I'm going to need your help. Pam, will you be okay without us for a few hours?"

She glanced over at Eric, who slowly nodded. "Sure, no problem. We'll just close the bar for tonight," she agreed, hands on her hips. I knew she hated feeling left out and would be demanding a full explanation upon our return.

I gave Eric the address in Red Ditch as we all climbed into an SUV he kept at the bar as a company car. As soon as we were on the road, I took a deep breath, preparing to make my confession. Eric was monitoring my emotions through the bond and was steeling himself for whatever I was about to share.

"Eric, there's a couple things I haven't told you yet, things you need to know," I began. He nodded, his eyes darted to the lawyer in the backseat, then over to me, sending me some caution. I bit my lip. "Desmond already knows."

Eric's eyebrows shot up, and I felt a pang of displeasure from him, that his wife had shared secrets with another man before him, then he thought about the contract and realized I'd been in touch with Desmond earlier today, while he was dead to the world, and he relaxed a bit.

Desmond had made it clear I wasn't allowed to reveal his own telepathy, as it was a closely guarded secret among demons, so I'd thought about how best to explain it to Eric.

"It seems my wish on the cluviel dor has allowed my telepathy powers to expand as well, which makes it much easier for me to shield myself from others. However, it also means I can read vampires and other supes that were previously blank to me," I confessed. "I don't automatically hear them - they don't broadcast the way humans and Twoeys do. I have to intentionally listen."

I felt a spike in worry and fear come from Eric, before he closed down his side of the bond. At the loss of emotional contact with him, I instinctively reached out for his mind. I'll never be able to protect her if this gets out. What has she heard from me? What did she hear from Felipe and Freyda? I knew she was reading the lawyer earlier! I didn't think she could read demons before! Why did she tell him this? "Why did you admit this to the demon?" he demanded, opening up the bond between us again.

"I didn't tell Desmond. He was able to sense it when I used my telepathy on him, and could tell my gift was much stronger than it had been previously," I admitted.

Eric nodded, narrowing his eyes at Desmond through the rearview mirror.

"I will not tell anyone," Desmond quickly assured him. "Just as I will not reveal any other confidential information my clients have shared with me."

He knows you changed the contract, Eric thought, giving my hand a squeeze to make sure I was listening. I nodded once in affirmation. Do you trust him? I nodded again and gave his hand a squeeze in return, sending confidence through the bond.

"Why are we going to Red Ditch?" Eric asked, remembering I had said I had a couple of secrets.

"Hadley had a son. He's 5 years old," I shared. "I've been helping him." I sent my deep worry and concern through the bond, and he instantly made the connection.

He's telepathic too? Eric asked. I nodded again in confirmation. How does the demon know?

"Desmond knew of Hunter's existence, having handled our family's business affairs," I explained. Eric nodded, knowing Desmond had been the one who escorted me to New Orleans to settle Hadley's estate. I continued, "He asked me if I'd met Hunter and my reaction made him realize there was a concern. Given the situation, he felt it best if we took care of everything tonight. I'll need you to glamor Hunter's dad into being unable to speak of or even think about his telepathy. Desmond is going to help me with the magic needed to lock Hunter's gift away until he reaches adulthood, so he can have a normal childhood. We also need to figure out who else knows or strongly suspects he has a gift, so we can glamor away their memories as well. It's a matter of public record that he is Hadley's son. I can't take the risk of someone coming to investigate and finding out about his gift. They need to think he didn't inherit it."

I know your gift goes deeper than mine. Can you find out if anyone has already investigated and then glamored Remy to hide their tracks? I thought to Desmond.

Yes. I will check with Hunter too, he agreed.

I gave Remy a quick phone call, letting him know I was stopping by and had something important to discuss with him. When we got there, I asked Eric to check around the perimeter to see if he picked up any supernatural scents nearby, while Desmond and I went to the front door. Remy answered with a smile, which fell off his face when he saw I wasn't alone.

"Hey, Remy," I greeted softly. "This is my lawyer, Desmond Cataliades. I wanted to set up a college fund for Hunter, and he needed some information for the paperwork."

"Oh! You don't have to," Remy grimaced, but I could hear the relief and pleasure in his thoughts. He shook Desmond's hand and started to invite us in, but was startled when Eric stepped out of the shadows and joined us on the porch.

There's a fairy's scent at least a week old, I heard in Eric's thoughts. That's the only supe scent in the immediate area.

"And this is my fiance, Eric Northman," I introduced. "Eric this is Hunter's dad, Remy Savoy."

"Pleased to meet you," Eric added politely.

"Cool! Does that mean you're going to be my uncle now, since you're marrying my aunt?" Hunter exclaimed, coming up beside his dad.

Eric's eyes softened and he squatted down to Hunter's level. "If you're Hunter, then I guess you're right. I'll be your Uncle Eric." He offered his hand to Hunter, who giddily grasped it and started to tug.

I could hear Hunter's excitement in his mind, as he squealed, "Come on in, Uncle Eric! We can play Mario Kart!" He was thinking of his friend Toby at school who had told him about playing video games with his own uncle.

Remy cleared his throat, and stepped back, shooting me a look and a mental question. I smiled and nodded, confirming, "Everything's fine. You and Hunter are perfectly safe with us, I promise."

He nodded and invited us inside, moving toward the living room.

Have you had time to read everything you need to? I asked Desmond. He nodded, sending, From both of them. Claude was outside about ten days ago, but didn't make contact. Hunter recognized him though.

Why would he come here? I wondered, worrying about his betrayal of Niall and Dermot and what that might mean for Hunter. I was glad the portals were closed.

For Desmond's sake, to continue hiding his telepathy from Eric, I took a few minutes to talk with Remy about whether or not anyone had been asking questions about Hunter. I explained about my own experiences with the government being overly interested in my abilities and expressed concern that they might investigate my family tree, looking for anyone else with talents. Remy was understandably concerned and eager to protect his son. I told him my own telepathy had been ratted out by someone I trusted and asked him to think about anyone and everyone who might know of Hunter's ability. Finally, I confided that I had found a way to help Hunter be normal from now on, to have a regular childhood without being tormented by everybody else's thoughts.

"Really?" he asked eagerly. "How?!"

"I can help him put up strong shields around that part of his mind, so he won't actually hear the thoughts anymore. The shields will last until he is older, until he's approaching adulthood, when he's better equipped to handle it," I explained.

"Can you make them last forever?" he wondered.

I shook my head, understanding the desire for normality. "Unfortunately not. His telepathy is part of him, so he will have to learn how to deal with it eventually, but at least he can relax at school and have a normal childhood. And you can relax and not worry about him seeing all kinds of things children should never be privy to in the minds of the adults around him."

Remy's eyes widened and he nodded enthusiastically.

"Hey, Hunter, have you gotten any cool new toys lately?" I asked, trying to get Hunter away from his dad, so Eric could glamor him. They had just finished a race, so Hunter thrust his controller to the side and hopped up to show me.

You got everything you needed? Eric asked. I nodded. Ready for me to glamor him now? I nodded again and smiled at him as Hunter led me out of the room.

I heard Desmond advise him not to erase the memories, but to make it so he couldn't speak of them or think of them until Hunter's 17th birthday, upon which he should contact me and ask for help with Hunter's gift. If anyone happened to overhear that conversation, they would naturally assume it was something for Hunter's birthday.

Desmond followed me to Hunter's room. I explained to Hunter what I was going to do, then Desmond took over and constructed a wall around Hunter's telepathy, having it bypass his conscious mind and filter directly into his subconscious. Then he corralled all the memories associated with the use of his telepathy previously and tucked them behind the wall. If anyone glamored him or read his mind, they would not see anything to do with his gift and would think he was normal. When he came of age and the shields around his gift dissolved, his memories would also be released, along with the instructions we just gave him to contact me when his gift became active again.

Once we were finished with Remy and Hunter, Desmond took off to report to the council, and Eric and I headed back to the house.