Chapter Ninety-eight

Claire handed Rosie’s pad back to her, her assistant returning to her seat so that they could get on with the day's program.
“Is there anyone on the appointment list that I’ve met before?” She asked curiously.
Rosie immediately had an odd look on her face that was a dead giveaway for when she had sketchy news to give, “Well yes, there’s two actually, and one of them is the first on the appointment list.”
Claire was surprised by this, she expected to be meeting new people. “Who are they?”
“Mr. Killian Reid, and Mrs. Blackwell from the Silverfall Book Club,”
Claire noticed how Rosie’s expression had soured at the mention of Killian’s name, frankly, she had all but forgotten about the Emissary with everything going on but it was really no surprise that he was still trying to reach out to her.
She sighed heavily, “I’ll see him, she said shortly, knowing that Rosie was waiting for her to do just that. She could see him now because she had nothing to hide anymore and she wanted him to know that, she also wanted him to stop pushing.
Rosie looked genuinely concerned at her response but she didn’t protest, swiping on her pad. “I’ll make the arrangements.”
Claire nodded, letting Rosie return to her cubicle so she could do her job. Mrs. Blackwell’s appointment was easy to handle, the sweet older lady probably just wanted to discuss the building of a new library.
At the unveiling of the last one, she had mentioned that she would like to involve Claire in their agenda, with her consent of course. Claire thought it didn’t hurt, after all, it was all formalities with her, it wasn’t like she would be required to do much. Mrs. Blackwell would be the one doing all of the work, while Claire just needed to show up, smile at the cameras and say all of the right things, she could do at least that much.
Killian on the other hand was a different headcase, she had totally forgotten that she had been avoiding the Emissary after the unfortunate incident, but she had to deal with this nonetheless.
Claire hadn’t been given more information about the Rogues than she already knew, and she didn’t ask because she wasn’t exactly sure she wanted to know, but she did know that it was something that needed to be kept from Killian so she would have to be extra careful when speaking with him.
Now that she had decided to attend to the appointments she had, Rosie would have to call up the individuals to fix a date that would work for everyone involved, she wouldn’t be surprised if she was unable to meet anyone till the next day or days after… or so she thought.
Rosie returned merely half an hour later with an update, “Luna Claire, Mr. Reid says he’ll be available to come today, when would you like to receive him?”
Claire was startled by this, “In an hour, please,” She replied, nearly stumbling over her words.
She supposed that this shouldn’t surprise her too much, for some reason she had caught Killian’s attention, not to mention that he had been trying to meet up with her for almost two weeks now, of course, he would show up as soon as possible.
“Of course,” Rosie accepted, “Mrs. Blackwell also asked if you could come over for dinner whenever works for you, she said that she understands if you’re unable to make it, and in that case, she would come over to the mansion in a few days.”
Claire smiled, “I can make it for dinner, tomorrow, tell her that I’ll call ahead.”
“Certainly, Luna Claire,” Rosie noted, returning to her cubicle.
Claire used the hour that she had before Killian would show up at the mansion to do some college work, putting her laptop away when Rosie came to inform her that Killian was currently at the mansion gates.
She half expected him to be turned away at the gates, knowing that he didn’t exactly have good standing with werewolves in general, and specifically Lukas. She knew that Lukas would be informed the moment Killian arrived, and she worried that he would drop in on them.
Rosie offered to be the one to bring him in and Claire gave her the go-ahead, this would be the first time that she would be having someone pay a visit to her in her new office, it was a little odd.
Claire looked up when there was a knock on her office door after some minutes, it had to be Rosie and Killian. She was right… Rosie gestured the Emissary in and she found herself straightening up in her seat.
She kept a stoic expression on, while she would prefer to have a congenial relationship with Killian, she wasn't about to give him a chance to try to use her against Lukas again.
"Hello Claire," He greeted politely after she offered him a seat.
"Killian," She murmured tunelessly, "Would you like something to drink?" She asked to be hospitable but there was clearly a distance in her voice that wasn't there before.
"I'm fine, thanks."
Claire brushed off the fact that he had turned down her offer to the side, "You wanted to see me?"
Killian sighed and pushed a hand through his hair, "Claire, I was wrong for asking you something as personal as that on our very first meeting, could we… could we maybe start over?" He said in a rush.
Claire was still suspicious of the Emissary, wondering if this was just a ploy to get her guard down. "Maybe," She said vaguely.
Killian decided to drop the bombshell to break the painfully awkward atmosphere between them, "I know about your kidnapping- you… you don't have to panic." He quickly added when Claire darted her eyes around in alarm.
Rosie had returned to her cubicle but there was no doubt that all she needed to get her assistant out here was to call for her.
"No one told me, I accidentally stumbled on the scene… a little too late though." He said regretfully.
Claire studied Killian, she didn't doubt him because she knew that save for happening to come across the crime scene, there was no other way he would have found out. She noticed that he was also very calm about it as well, she had expected that he would quickly use something like this to his advantage.
"Don't look at me like that," Killian suddenly said, interrupting her train of thought.
"Like how?" Claire asked, genuinely curious.
"Like I'm a sleazebag,"
Claire’s lips twitched slightly, at least he was perceptive. "It's very difficult not to," She said bluntly.
"I'm not going to use it against Lukas," He said steadily, holding her gaze.
"Are you just saying that to get on my good side?" Claire countered.
"I've known for days, if I wanted to do something with the information I had, I would have already."
Claire couldn't help but agree, now that she was no longer wary of losing herself around Killian and saying something that she should, she was more lax. "So, you're saying that you're on our side?"
Killian relaxed visibly when Claire’s tone became lighter, "Pretty much," He said in a straightforward manner.
This caught Claire off guard, she hadn't expected that Killian would do a full 180°. "Oh," She murmured, deflating. "That's… that's… I thought you didn't like werewolves?"
Killian thought back to the sight of Lukas and Claire back at the shed in the woods. He thought he held a flame for Claire but when it came down to it, he didn't think he could put his life on the line to save her like Lukas had done without hesitation.
That made him respect Lukas regardless of his race. Alec also wasn't terrible, he was a man passionate about his service to his King and country. Werewolves were just like humans, they had their good and bad bits just like humans did.
"I'm still learning," He said honestly, his eyes down. "It's a little difficult to accept something so different from what you're used to but you've convinced me to give it a shot."
He wasn't just buttering Claire up, the fact that she was willing to stay and fight for a werewolf even when it was evident that he didn't treat her well was astounding. It made Killian want to try and see what exactly it was that she saw in werewolves.
Claire beamed, all the tension in her shoulders slipping away. This was the very last path she had expected their meeting to take but it was a very welcome one nonetheless.
If they had managed to get the Emissary on their side, it was the very first step to fixing the strained relationship between werewolves and humans. It was looking more and more like a possible feat as time went on.
Killian reached across the table to take one of her hands and hold it in both of his, "I really want to apologize and as I said earlier, I really wish that we could start all ove-"
He didn't get all of his words out because the door was practically kicked in, a dark-eyed Lukas standing on the other side of the door.
Killian was quick to let go of Claire, putting his hands up in a gesture of surrender when Lukas glared at him. He slowly rose to his feet when Claire rose to her feet and immediately went to Lukas with the happiest expression on her face.
He remembered the way out so he just slipped past them when they got caught up in each other and let himself out. He wondered if he could find love like that for himself…
He noticed that for the first time, he didn't limit his choices to just humans - mayhem he was learning faster than he thought.