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On his way out, Roark grabbed an Arisen Dawn soldier by the arm, nearly jerking him off his feet. “Get into the general’s office. He puked his guts onto the floor. Take a mop and polish for his boots.”
****
“Get Margo up here,” yelled Kole, a Scion Firebrand commander and animus demon, his booted feet planted on the floor of the conference room attached to his office.
The Blood Coven descendant who was Chay’s mate was his go-to girl for the Covenkirk stronghold remodeling projects. She sprinted into Kole’s office, her chest heaving with rapid breaths. “What do you need?”
The commander folded his arms across his chest. “A bunch of honchos are coming for a big meet. The room’s gotta hold them all but not insult anybody with the seating shit.”
With her brows scrunched, Margo tossed a strand of wild red hair over her shoulder. “That’s a job for a protocol officer. For the hundredth time, I’m a sculptor, not a construction supervisor, not a social director, not a meeting organizer.”
“Close enough.” Kole tuned out her complaints. “Ideas?”
Sighing but giving in, Margo nodded, walking around the room, touching walls, glancing at possibilities. “What’s on the other side of these sliding dividers?”
“Empty rooms,” said Kole.
“Okay. Do you have more tables?”
The commander pivoted toward Bounty. His vampire executive assistant was busy putting intel packets together for attendees.
“Yes,” she said, not bothering to look up.
Kole grinned. “Show my newly appointed protocol officer the list of bigwigs.”
Bounty snatched it from the desk, passed it off to Margo, and huddled with her to peruse the names.
Finished reading, Red announced, “Open the place up. Bring in eight more tables. Arrange them in a horseshoe.”
Bounty’s gaze landed on the carnal demon Brak and wolf shifter Thorn, who had the bad luck to be shooting the breeze in her office. “Firebrands, you heard the witchy human. Open the portable walls and tote in extra tables.” They got busy while she set out glasses for water.
Margo again studied the list of attendees along with their roles, finally waving Kole’s executive assistant over for another female-to-female confab.
When their impromptu huddle broke up, the redhead sidled up to Kole. “Here’s what I think. Justices, lawgivers, directors of ministries on this side of the horseshoe. Humans here.” She pointed to the other side of the set-up. “Firebrands at the head.”
“Sounds great. Make it happen. Don’t you love it when shit works out so well?” he yelled over his shoulder while he stomped toward his office to keep an eye on the activities but stay out of the way.
Margo and Bounty stared at his retreating back, probably wishing they had a few blades. He had that effect on people.
Rein drifted in, his cold blues taking in the conference room scurry. “What the fuck, Kole? I thought the meet was just for a few of us.”
“Yeah. That’s how it started. This led to that and so on. Everybody wants a say. We’ll listen. Real polite like. Then go off to do what’s gonna work. Get me?”
With military-cropped black hair and a scar through his brow from a tussle with a questing beast, Rein was most males’ nightmare, a mean sonofabitch in a fight. He was also Kole’s second in command. Mating Braelyn, a Blood Coven descendant, had calmed the vampire-warlock-incubus mix. Of course the I’m-cool-with-it was plastered on the outside. On the inside, he remained a cauldron of barely contained rage, one bloodthirsty kill from the edge.
Rein threw his six-foot-six frame into an oversized chair in front of the commander’s desk. “The humans coming?”
“Of course.”
“Should have Dax then. They love the mean bastard. Go figure. Who’s running the circus?” Rein pointed. “You?”
A flame sparked from Kole’s fingertips. He tapped them on his desktop to contain the fire. “Hell, no. Cadmon. This little get-together calls for a military strategist. Our Firebrand high commander is a skilled warrior and savvy politician. As a bene, the American army officers understand his lingo. Besides, he’s good at manipulation … um … persuasion.”
Rein relaxed into the chair, lacing his fingers behind his neck. “Do you ever wonder why us?”
“Why us what?” Kole was distracted, rifling through a desk drawer.
“Why us to save the three realms?”
