I hung up the phone with Viktor and leaned back into my chair, trapping Greyson's hands between me and the backrest. Rubbing my eyebrow, I let out a sigh. I didn't know what I should do.
A knock on the door had all four men turning to look at it. "Come in," I called out, knowing that it should be the knight that Viktor had instructed to come help me.
"Hey," said Sasha as he came strolling into my office. He was no longer dressed in his usual suit and tie, but in the same black security outfit that the rest of the knights walking around this place wore.
I blinked a couple of times as I stared at him. He chuckled, "Tired?" he asked and I nodded my head. "What do you need, Sweetness?" he asked as he walked over to where I was sitting down at my desk with Greyson right behind me. He looked Greyson up and down for a moment before turning his attention back to me.
"Don't know yet," I said with a sigh. "According to the Law of the Six, I need to have him killed," I continued as I tilted my head to the man who currently had two guns pointed at him. "But he isn't tainted, so I don't know what to do."
"You could bring him into your House, then it wouldn't go against the Laws," suggested Sasha as he sat on the edge of my desk. I scoffed at that idea. "I am not bringing anyone into my House that thought a bullet to my head was the answer to anything."
I mean, I wasn't the strictest Head that ever was. In fact, I was much more forgiving than any other Head that I knew. However, even I had to draw the line somewhere.
Sasha turned around and narrowed his eyes at Greyson, who was still massaging my neck, even though I didn't give him a lot of room to do it. "What do you think should happen?" he asked the other man.
Greyson looked at him in return. "And just who are you?" he asked in a monotone voice. I opened my mouth to answer, but Sasha spoke before I could.
"Sasha Hatmanu, you can consider me the same rank as one of you Major Generals, but I am the Commanding Officer of the New York House Troops," said Sasha with a smile. I was stunned. I had known him for all this time, and I thought that he was just Viktor's personal assistant.
Sasha turned to me with a smile. "My brother, who everyone just calls Hatmanu, ranks higher than me and only one below Viktor if we are going by standard US military rankings, but we are both his Betas. Because we have so many contracts with the US government, it is just easier to come up with a similar ranking system. People get less confused about who they can piss off or not."
"He is still a general," I said, tilting my head back to Greyson.
"So noted," Sasha replied with a smile. "But unless he is involved in the Houses and has a ranking, in these situations I outrank him."
I raised my eyebrow at the man stilling on my desk. "And I outrank you," I reminded him just as there was another knock on the door. "Come in," I said with a sigh. My office was becoming extremely crowded, and I didn't like it.
Stephanie poked her head in and looked around the room.
"I understand that this is not the best time, but there is a General Richards at the front gate demanding entrance," she said, her earpiece hanging from her neck like she was getting annoyed with everyone trying to contact her on that thin. I couldn't blame her in the least.
"If he is demanding, we really should let him in," I said with a tired sigh. "Might as well get this circus over and done with."
"I'll make sure to keep the clowns out," Stephanie replied with a smirk, and I rolled my eyes. Smiling, she replaced her earpiece and closed the door behind her.
"You have something against clowns?" asked Sasha with a smirk of his own. Everyone was apparently smirking at me today. Where was the respect I should get as Head of a House?!?
"Drop in," I fake growled at Sasha as I looked at the standoff in front of me. "Lower your guns," I instructed the two soldiers. They turned to look at Greyson for approval, and whatever he did, they slowly holstered their weapons.
"You are not tainted," I said to Jackson. "That means that you have not made any decisions or actions that you should not have. However, you are not purely clean either. You are at a crossroads, so your next decision might decide your fate."
"No one in the military is purely clean," sneered Jackson, and I didn't think that he truly understood his situation.
"He is clean," I said, pointing to the soldier on the right, Captain Zaitsev. "He is clean," I said as I pointed to the soldier to the left; I didn't know his name. "He is clean," I continued as I pointed to Greyson, "And he is clean," I added as I pointed to Sasha. "In fact, everyone in this room is clean but you. Do you understand what I am trying to say?"
"You are nothing more than a magic trick away from being disproved," sneered Jackson. The more he spoke, the more I wanted to end him. However, I knew that I couldn't have a hand in it. His death, coming from anyone else, would most likely be justified. However, it wouldn't be coming from me.
"Getting shot in the head and then coming back from the dead is nothing more than a magic trick? I should look into some magicians then if they can perform that trick," I said with a shrug. But I was serious. If there was a magician that was able to come back from the dead meant that he was one of us and needed to be looked into.
Add that to the list, too, I guess.