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the real world then Jaclyn, Grayson or I can
easily make sure he never tortures anyone else again."
    Alec
had been serious about compartmentalizing his plans, but so far I
seemed to be one of the few exceptions. I appreciated that fact
because it gave us one more reason to spend time together, one more
thing to talk about, but it created a potential problem that we were
going to have to talk about.
    I
told myself that I wasn't bringing that issue up because there was
something else more important that I needed to ask Alec, but even as
I asked my other question I knew I was mostly just waiting because I
was scared of what his reaction might be.
    "You
don't seem as confident in our ability to defeat the Coun'hij as I
expected you to be. I thought it has always just been an issue of us
not knowing where they are located."
    "That's
the main thing, the only thing that I can point to as being a
concrete problem, but there are a lot of unknowns. For decades there
have been rumors that there are other members of the Coun'hij who
keep their identities hidden, hybrids every bit as powerful as Agony
or Dream Stealer or Puppeteer."
    "Why
would they do that? Wouldn't it make sense to present the scariest
front possible in order to make sure that the packs are too
intimidated to rise up against the Coun'hij?"
    "Your
guess is as good as mine. There is a lot to be said for making sure
everyone knows exactly how big a stick you're wielding, but there is
also something to the idea of keeping your enemies guessing. The less
they know about your true capabilities the less they can do to
neutralize your advantages through superior planning. You could argue
that between Puppeteer, Agony and Dream Stealer the Coun'hij had a
plenty big enough stick to threaten the packs with."
    "You're
not convinced that's the reason though."
    "Not
entirely. There are rumors that some of the Coun'hij hide their names
and abilities because their gifts are so terrible that if the packs
knew about them they'd rise up in a united group and try to overthrow
the Coun'hij despite the blood bath that would almost certainly
result."
    "And
if those rumors are true, then the mere fact that you're being so
successful puts us in more danger, because that's the kind of thing
that would cause the really scary members of the Coun'hij to finally
get involved."
    Alec
nodded gravely. "Exactly. It's one of those things I can't plan
around because I don't have enough information, but it's there in the
back of my mind with every decision I make. It's like my own personal
boogeyman."
    I'd
already wrapped my arms around Alec after turning to face him, but
now I squeezed him harder. "It's going to be okay, Alec. You're
going to find a way through this. We don't know what's coming or who
else we might be up against, but we do know that it's possible for us
to win."
    "You're
putting an awful lot of trust in Shawn's gift, and he never said we
could win, just that it wasn't guaranteed that we were going to
lose."
    "No,
I'm putting an awful lot of trust in you. Shawn's gift was just a
nice confirmation of what I already knew. If you really put your mind
to it there isn't anything you can't do. Your gift has fully
manifested and we have an impressive list of allies that include
Jaclyn and Grayson. You can do this, Alec, and I love that you've
chosen to stand up to the Coun'hij. You're not doing it because you
want the power; you're doing it because it's the right thing to do,
the thing that will give your people a chance to be free for the
first time since the monarchy fell."
    He
looked at me in amazement and this time the smile that was tugging at
the corner of his mouth was a happy one. "You do realize that
most people don't consider living under a monarchy to be a shining
example of freedom, right?"
    "Most
people don't have to deal with the complexity of shape shifter
existence. You were right all of those months ago when you told me
that shape shifters can't live by the same rules that humans