The Immortal Compromise (The Mortal One Series Book 3) by Shannon Bell

arrived.
    The man who likely made the introduction walked around the corner. Nico and Olivier were right behind him. What was Olivier doing here? He should be in Paris, looking out for everything and it made me nervous that both of them came to wherever it was in Germany where I was just to try and bring me back home.
    “Nico!” I said to him, standing up to greet him.
    He came over and hugged me, wrapping his arms tight around me. “Shhh. We will get this straightened out and get you home as quickly as we can.”
    “Why is Olivier here?” I whispered. “Who is overseeing Paris?”
    “He was required to be here as well. Costin sent Violante to Paris to assist with keeping order until we can return.”
    I pulled out of his grasp. “Really?”
    He shook his head. “Please. Let’s not do this right now. We need to show a united front and return to Paris.”
    I rolled my eyes. “Fine.”
    “Have you been treated well?” He asked, looking around the dark surroundings.
    “No, as you can see.”
    “What is that horrible smell?” Nico said, his nose scrunching up.
    “They did not provide me with everything that a mortal needs,” I was unable to look at him as I spoke.
    “Where is Wenzel?” Nico said, turning to Dempsey.
    “He will be down in a moment to meet your acquaintance.”
    “I have a better idea. Why don’t you bring us all upstairs to wait for him? That way, we don’t have to be in this unpleasant room.”
    Dempsey stumbled over himself. “Well, my sovereign asked for you all to wait for him down here.”
    “We do not find these accommodations to be pleasing,” Olivier said, moving towards him with his shoulders squared.
    “Right, umm, this way then,” Dempsey said, all but running up the stairs.
    Olivier made a signal to us and Nico and I followed him up the stairs and out of that dungeon-like room I prayed I would never have to see again. The stairs were carved out of natural stone and there was a thin metal railing. It all looked foreign because they had dragged me down the stairs when I had arrived. Being able to walk up the stairs on my own accord was a nice change of pace, not to mention more lights.
    Dempsey brought us to a large room that was furnished with dark wood. A large bookcase lined the far wall and there were thick curtains hanging across the window that opened up to show off a stunning view of the river, along with a pedestrian bridge in the background. It was gorgeous and I would much rather be walking over it than sitting in here with a bunch of vampires.
    We sat, waiting for Wenzel to make his appearance. I wanted to tell Nico and Olivier about what I knew about the sovereign and how I suspected that he may be from a different bloodline than we were accustomed to knowing. I hoped they knew more than me, because I didn’t trust my thoughts and had no idea of any other vampires in the castle that could potentially hear me as well.
    No one spoke. Olivier looked around and I could tell he was reading through the titles of books in the bookshelf. Nico sat perfectly still. He had his serious face on and I could tell he was listening for any clues around the castle to let him know if there were any potential threats.
    “Are you okay?” Nico finally said, turning to me.
    I nodded.
    “You are very quiet,” he said.
    “Where are we?”
    “Wurzburg.”
    “I don’t know what to think about everything.”
    It was Nico’s turn to nod. He kept things as simple as possible to avoid me oversharing where there were others who could here. “We will talk on the way home.”
    “Okay. Is Gregorio okay?”
    “He is,” Olivier said, sitting forward on the couch. “Dempsey, is it?” He turned to the man standing in the corner of the room.
    Dempsey nodded. “Yes, sir?”
    “It has been a long night for us. Why don’t you get your sovereign in here to discuss whatever it is that he wants to discuss with us so we can return home,” Olivier said.
    Dempsey’s eyes grew large and he