“Well, we'll table that discussion for the moment.” Dominic cleared his throat. “What are we going to do to keep the other cities safe? We cannot assume Skuld is not going to stop attacking. We stopped her this time, but the warning she gave Nanshe means she will return eventually. She just may be taking time to regroup. We have to be prepared and can't be caught unaware again.”
Kalinda took a sip of water from the glass in front of her and adjusted herself in her seat. “Agreed. I need to get the mages more prepared. More time with Silva and the other wolves so they can learn proper self-defense to use in conjunction with their magic will help with the Hollows. We did notice magic worked just fine against the golems, however, as well as the dragon.”
“I'm still in awe of the fact there was a damn dragon in Encantado,” Silva jumped in. “Like, how did I miss that? That was such a perfec SpellBook post. It would have been like ... hashtag, everything is cool but it’s not. Hashtag, this girl is on fi-yah. Hashtag, wings give stings. Hashtag, angel in the wind, and–”
“Cut it out, Silva. It wasn’t that awesome.” Dominic hid his laugh behind a cough.
“Chill out.”
Silva scrunched her face at Torin. “You're such a spoilsport stick in the mud.”
“Yes, I might be that, but I did save your ass.”
The tips of Silva’s ears turned red. “It wasn't my ass, exactly. You just sort of showed up at a good time to get those Hollows off my back. By the way, I was kind of busy trying to protect Zoey and Rosemary’s Baby. All you did was keep one measly Hollow from getting me from behind.”
“Try ten.”
“What?”
“There were ten of them behind you. You just didn't see me come in,” Torin added.
Silva gripped the arms of her seat, sitting forward, but Arturo lifted a hand to stop her from getting into any further argument. “That's enough. We need to focus on the matter at hand. So do we agree to create a group?” He looked to the others in attendance for the meeting.
The Alphas of each pack, Kalinda and her Mage Council, the Fae, and the Renegades all sat around the table.
“This is one of the most powerful rooms in Encantado right now. If we can't save the city, nothing can,” Adonis agreed.
“Fine. We're going to be some kind of protectors, is that what you're saying?” Romano raised a brow. “Because that's kind of cool. I mean, do we get a patch and some rings to go with it, so we call–”
Dominic growled deep in his chest. “Shut. Up. Romano.”
“It was just a question.”
“But I guess I like the word ‘protectors.’” Dominic shrugged.
“You would,” Arturo replied with a soft smile. “You have always been a shield for others.”
“But I could still kill just as easily.”
“Well, we all can,” Adonis added with a laugh. “That might be why we're the best. You know, sort of the anti-heroes of the story, so to speak. Yeah, we could do bad things. We like to kill people, and we make good money doing it. But when push comes to shove, we're not going to let anybody else pick on our city.”
Alexi clapped his hands with a chuckle. “I think I like how you described that. We will drink after this,da?”
“Absolutely.”
“So we're in agreement,” Arturo announced.
“I will obviously make sure the Guardians are in accord with you. If this is what we choose to do, the Guardians at the edge of Scorched Earth will be at your disposal as well.”
“Whoo! That's kind of nice. You think I can use you guys on a couple of runs when I'm sending my trucks out to other cities?”
Torin glared at Adonis. “Don't go too far, wolf.”
“Well, didn't hurt to ask,” Adonis finished, shrugging his shoulders. “I mean, none of us are going to stop our other work. You understand?”
“I don't want to hear about what else you do. What we discuss in this room will be the safety of Encantado. As long as we're all behind that, we’re good. Anything else you do that warrants you coming up on the Guardian watch list is on your own ass, not mine.”
“Ooh.” Silva shivered in her seat. “You sound like a big dog.”
