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“How the fuck do you know that?”
“I’m a Slayer.”
He sighed. “Marco told us we can’t threaten you.”
“And that pisses you off.”
“Yes.”
Etta put her hand on his leg, and he tensed.
“He’s a necessary evil,” she told him. “Marco and his people aren’t a danger to humans, and it’s in everyone’s best interest to let the slayer figure this out so he’ll leave us alone.”
He shook his head. “You know how South Carolina was run before the Swan Queen upended every-fucking-thing. We survived by keeping the local slayer out of our business.”
That wasn’t entirely true, so I told him, “The Slayers who worked South Carolina never let you know who they were. They stayed undercover.” I’d gone in with a different face for a while, but Vincent and Raul, the Eagle and Swan Kings, along with the lead vampires, were careful. They did nothing to draw attention to themselves, so the Concilio mostly left them alone, and the powerful supernatural groups had enslaved weaker supernaturals, so the Slayers didn’t engage with them. They’d done hideous things, but they’d worked within the edicts of the two major ruling bodies. Or, we thought they had. I now knew they’d enslaved humans and kept them underground, and they’d pulled it off by only taking the ones no one would miss.
Evan met my gaze in the rearview mirror a few seconds before looking back to the road, but he didn’t say anything.
“One of the five is likely to find a loophole to allow him to rape despite the order not to,” I told him. “If he rapes a human, I’ll hold you, Marco, and your king equally responsible. The same goes if any of them do, but one in particular is a concern.”
Again, he met my gaze in the mirror and looked back to the road without responding.
I suppressed a sigh and told him, “I’ve identified four more in your unit who are likely to be a problem. One in particular.”
“You don’t need my permission to kill any of my people.”
“He isn’t close yet. If you don’t fix it, and I think he’s close to slipping his leash, I’ll take him out.”
“Who are you concerned about?”
I shook my head. “If you don’t know, then you need to spend more time with the men in your charge.”
Etta turned to look at me, clearly annoyed. “And if you know, why won’t you tell him?”
I started to smart off to her, all on my high horse about bringing dangerous people into another territory without fully understanding the ramifications, but her irritation made me pause because I understood her point. I had my reasons, but I could also understand her argument.
I blew out a breath. “This is new. Abbott and the Amakhosi initiated this little experiment, and I worked with Kendra and Fawn to create a protocol, but it’s new. Usually, I should be sneaking around, going places ya’ll don’t expect me to be able to go, and only occasionally letting you know I got there. Now, I’m allowed to go with you, most places.”
“So why not tell him who’s at risk?”
“I have notes on the eagles from the territories they’ve come from. The Slayers in South Carolina and Florida provided detailed files. From there, I’ve personally verified the ones they flagged as a problem, but I haven’t had a chance to get to them all yet. What if the ones I’ve found aren’t the only problems? It’s usually best to let animal groups sort themselves.”
“And if I tell you the ones I’m worried about, and they weren’t on your radar before, now they are,” Evan said.
“Ya’ll are supposed to be on the same side,” Etta said. “And I know that isn’t quite the way it works, but still, we’re all trying to not break the rules, right? Abbott’s original experiment was supposed to keep more of everyone alive — humans, shifters, and vampires. We’re still working on that premise, correct?”
Evan’s voice was tight, as if his jaw was flexed and his vocal cords had just a touch of the eagle in them. “I’m most concerned about Zebra and Psycho.”
He’d given me two, the least I could do was give him the same. “Yes. Add Largo and Mojo.”
“Largo? Really?”
“All three from Virginia were sent because they were a problem.”
He sighed. “Thanks for the heads up. Truly. I was given a lot of men all at once, and I’ve rotated through so I’ve worked with everyone at least once, but it’s a big detail.”
“The four we named were once thugs for Vincent Avila,” I pointed out.
