His certainty put my mind at ease; well, as at ease as was possible with some kind of rogue terror group trying to kidnap me. "You've used the word 'council' a few times," I said, spotting another chance to sate my curiosity, "is that like the Alpha board or something? I've been trying to work out how you make your decisions."
His jaw tightened a fraction. "I'm not sure I should talk about that."
"Oh come on. They're already going to be super angry if they find out what you've told me so far, right? So how much worse can it get?"
He hesitated, but eventually gave a resigned smile. "I guess you have a point. Yeah, in a nutshell, the council runs things in this area; it's in control of the Asia Pacific region. Other regions are run by different groups."
"And you're on it?"
He nodded. "Almost everyone here is, except the muscle, drivers, and house staff."
"So that makes you kind of a big deal, then?" I asked with a grin.
He laughed. "Kind of."
It made sense. I struggled to picture Sebastian anywhere but the top of the ladder, regardless of what he was doing.
"So it's like a democracy? You all just vote on everything?"
"Yes and no. For most decisions, the whole council has a say, but ultimately there still needs to be a figurehead, to settle disputes and keep the group operating smoothly. The official title is Archon."
"Archon?" I said, raising an eyebrow.
He shrugged. "Blame the Greeks. We're stuck with it now."
I laughed. "And who is this Archon?"
His face took on a strange expression. "I don't know."
"You don't know?" I said slowly. "How can you not know?"
"It's a secret, even amongst the group. The heads of each cell have an immense amount of power. For example, they're the only people with access to the full list of Alpha personnel worldwide. If that sort of power fell into the wrong hands, the damage would be catastrophic. So they stay hidden, just in case."
I licked my lips as I tried to process this. "But how does that work?"
"Well, the council has sixteen members, one of whom is in charge. By all appearances, they are just a regular member of the group. Anything that requires their attention as the Archon is dealt with through the Alpha computer network. The commands come anonymously, so nobody but the Archon and their lieutenant know the source."
"Lieutenant?"
He nodded. "The Archon chooses a second in command, someone to take over if anything happens to them. They're like a backup. Otherwise, there would be no way to choose a new leader when the existing one dies. The lieutenant is the only other person that knows who runs the show. It's a little eccentric, I know, but it works."
"I was going to say paranoid, actually."
"Maybe that too. We didn't always do things this way, but about five hundred years ago, one of our enemies managed to infiltrate the group and, through the Archon, they learned everything. We lost hundreds of members and years of progress. So we devised a system to stop that happening again."
It all seemed incredibly mysterious, but then again, that was true of the entire situation. Besides, on some level, that just added to the coolness of it all. I was basically living in a conspiracy theory!
I couldn't help but smile as the full implication of what he'd said sank in. "So, when you said you didn't know, was that you telling the truth, or you toeing the company line?"
"That was me telling you I didn't know," he replied, a twinkle in his eye.
"Right. But if you were in charge, I'm guessing you probably wouldn't tell me anyway, right?"
There was a twinkle in his eye when he replied. "Perhaps not. I need to keep some secrets, Sophia."
I sighed dramatically. "I suppose that's fair. Well then, mister councilman, what do we do now?"
I'd intended us to talk a little more about the problems we faced, but apparently he had something else in mind. In response he gently rolled me away from him, then pulling me close until we were spooning. Although I still wore my top, I was naked from the waist down, and the position pressed my bare ass against the growing hardness between his legs. I felt my body stir again.
"Now, we make up for lost time," he replied, his voice growing husky.
And despite the weight of the discussion we'd just had, he quickly convinced me that that was exactly what I wanted to do.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Sophia
The next few days were a mixture of frustration and joy. By night, I had Sebastian back. We ate together, we talked, and we spent a great deal of time reacquainting ourselves with each other's bodies. Although it hadn't been that long since we'd been intimate, it felt like I was discovering him for the first time all over again.
However, while the sun was up, things were different. As much as we both wanted to just shut ourselves away and ignore everything, the fact was, Sebastian still had a job to do. The threat — whatever it was — wouldn't disappear on its own. If we wanted any hope for some kind of normality in the future, we had to take action.
Or should I say, he had to take action. Although he tried to keep me in the loop, my involvement was strictly second hand. There was no way for me to attend their meetings without putting us both at risk. He'd return to his room, which was now our room, and brief me on what had happened that day. They had a few leads, but so far they'd hit nothing but brick walls. Aside from that they apparently spent most of the time fighting about what the next step was.
I tried to amuse myself while he was gone, but it was hard. I wasn't used to being left to my own devices. I hadn't had more than a few days to myself since high school. It didn't help that I was confined to quarters. Until things were safe, Sebastian insisted I did not leave the building. I read a lot and watched more TV than I had in my entire life, but within a few days I felt dangerously close to breaking point. I began having visions of myself as one of those creepy old ladies in Victorian period dramas, who can be seen haunting the windows of ancient manor houses, but never venture out into open air.
Then there was the tension with the group members. Ewan and his cronies continued to make sure I was aware how unwelcome I was. It wasn't outright aggression, but the dark looks and biting remarks told me exactly how they felt.