Only two sets of elders had census data listing human mates and half breed children: the wix, and the werewolves. Both live alongside humans and routinely take human mates to create full-breed offspring.

A few elders offered us partial datasets, listing all of the full blooded members their races. The data was hastily collected in the past twenty four hours in an attempt to discover anyone missing. Unfortunately, the vampire dataset is included there. We should have been keeping more up to date records. We all should have been keeping more up to date records.

The demons, elves, dwarves, and phoenixes don't often take human mates so the crossover there should be minimal if not zero. But the fey, the dragons, and many of the races represented by the demons mate almost exclusively with humans, just like the wix and the werewolves.

I gave her the census we had, and she ran a projection for the mingling of our populations. It does not look good. The data indicate that very few humans have purely human DNA. Almost everyone is at least one eighth magical, with the average being one quarter. Certain genetic traits, like blue eyes, come straight from the magical DNA.

Current overlap may allow for the separation of our full and half blooded brethren, but if we take the human mates along, we will have to stage accidents for them. Including the mate's siblings, parents, nieces, and nephews starts to get too complicated. Though I don't know why Elder Isis wanted me to run that particular analysis, the mates wouldn't survive in most of our boltholds. And the ones they could survive in are not designed for humans. I would be concerned about their mental health.

Remus comes into my laboratory with a large stack of paper written on in various colors of crayon. "Vulcan's full confession," he says dropping the papers on my desk, before turning around and leaning on it.

I eye the stack, "Does it say anything I don't already know?"

"If it does, it will be small, insignificant details."

I start sifting through the stack and mumble, almost automatically, "no detail is insignificant."

Remus scoffs, before turning to walk out the door. As he is reaching for the handle, it turns and bursts open. If they were humans, Remus and Isis would have collided. But they aren't humans, so instead they narrowly avoid each other, though despite their ages and usual grace, they still make the interaction super awkward.

After a round of greetings and awkward apologies, Elder Isis turns to me and says "do you both have a moment?" She clasps her hands together in front of her before shooting a pointed look at Hestia.

"I… I'll just keep running this analysis in my room, shall I?" Hestia closes two laptops, stacks them, and then stacks a third open one on top and slinks out the door. We all watch her go, and she does, despite me begging her to stay with my eyes. Traitor.

The door closes and Hestia is barely out of earshot before Remus asks, "Is everything alright? Has something happened?"

Elder Isis smiles slightly and shakes her head, "as far as I know there have been no new developments. No, I am here because the three of us need to have a very serious discussion about the future of our race."

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"The future of our race?" I ask. Oh no, did I miss something. A plague affecting vampires? Have we been called out to lose our position on the Elder's Council?

"Yes, the future of our race," Elder Isis nods. I have never seen her look as serious as she does right now. Even Remus is stiff beside me. "For, not only us, but all of our peoples to survive, it is imperative we have the correct people in charge."

"Okay, but—" Remus starts but Elder Isis holds up a hand to stop him.

"The right people are those that can correctly identify and protect us from threats. Do you not agree?"

Remus and I look at eachother and nod along in agreement. "You and Remus have protected us from threats for years, and you continue to do so now. Is this about former elder Vulcan?"

"It is not. It is about the fact that I have not identified any of the last five threats, and while I have contributed to their solutions, it was only after someone forced me into acknowledging the problem." She looks pointedly at me, "this latest debacle has made me understand that it is well past time for me to step down."

The silence is so thick, we can hear the buzzing of the lights and the current flowing on the outside of the habitat. Remus and I somehow get our brains switched back on at the same time and we both start denying her claims simultaneously.

She lets us clamor on for a moment before raising her hand again. We fall silent immediately. "For my last act as Elder before I step down, I have decided on your punishment, Loki."

I swallow. My punishments have gotten worse and worse as the years go by. I defied her. Again. This is the last punishment she is going to ever give me. It will be the worst one yet. I can't even imagine what she has in store for me. "Yes, Elder," I say hoping to lesson or delay whatever she has in store until after this crisis is averted.

She looks me in the eye, reaches her hands back, and unclasps the necklace containing her elder signet ring. She holds the ring in her hand and smiles at it longingly. "My father gave this to me, when I was not much older than you. He told me we were moving into a new age of peace and that I had the skills to guide us through it. His time, as a ruler of war was over." She looks me in the eye, "I am a peacetime ruler, but we have not truly been at piece for five hundred years. We are moving into a time of discovery, of exploration, and maybe even war. This is not my skillset. War is Remus's skill set, our second elder must be someone capable of doing hard things for the right reason and of exploring all possible options. That person is not me." She takes my hand and places the ring on my finger, "it is you. Your penance for all of your past actions is to lead us into the future."

I stare at the ring, dumbfounded.

"Are you sure?" Remus asks.

"Do you disagree?"

Remus thinks for a moment, "no. I don't disagree. In fact, I think it solves a lot of problems. Elders get more latitude in independent action. Loki has never made decisions out of malice, and I am physically strong enough to reign him in if it is absolutely necessary."

I look from one to the other, "I…" I look back at the ring on my hand. "I… uh… what?"

Remus smiles, "You've made him speechless," he reaches into his pocket and pulls out fifty dollars, then hands it to Isis, "I really didn't think you had it in you."

She takes the money with a smile, "I told you I would find a way to render him speechless before you."

"Tell me you didn't make him elder to win our little wager."

"Of course not, it was a happy accident."

Remus laughs.

"This is a bad idea," I finally manage to get out.

"Oh," Isis says, raising an eyebrow.

"The other elders don't like me. They will view this as reckless. It could destabilize the whole operation."

She shakes her head, "you had full control of that meeting without me or Remus needing to advocate for you. You have earned many of their respect. It is time for this change. You will make a great elder." She takes a step closer to me and puts one hand on my cheek. She stares straight into my eyes as she says, "I could not have asked for a better replacement. Not even if I had designed them myself. Congratulations, Loki."

Remus is absolutely beaming as he pats me hard on the back, "I look forward to working with you!"

Fuck.