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Jonas nodded. “What can we do? Who will they strike next?”
I glanced at Menolly. She nodded for me to answer.
“We don’t know,” I said, turning back to answer him. “The fact is that we have no idea who they’re going to target next. We’re following up leads to find them as quickly as we can. But until then, we have to band together. Check with your friends and neighbors. Make certain you don’t go out alone—go in a pack.”
“How is that going to stop them from blowing up someplace else? It just means more people might get hurt at once.” Another man stood. I placed him from the Olympic Wolf Pack but didn’t remember his name.
I wanted to reassure him. I wanted to offer some sort of guarantee, but the facts were that we couldn’t assure anyone of anything. “It’s not. But it may prevent these same sorcerers from dragging off lycanthropes again to make Wolf Briar, which they were doing before.”
A hush descended over the meeting, and then—after a moment—a lithe young woman stood. She was from the Puget Sound Harbor Seal Pod.
“This is the first time we’ve heard about the Wolf Briar. Why wasn’t this knowledge handed out to the community earlier—like when it happened?”
As I struggled to reassure people that we hadn’t deliberately tried to deceive them, a movement caught my eye and the next thing I knew, Frederick was standing beside me.
He motioned for me to move away. “People, calm yourselves. The vampires will stand with you. Even though we have a long history of distrust with our Were brethren, the fact remains we are all part of the Supe Community, and the Court of the Crimson Veil pledges its support in this matter.”
As the hush in the room died down, a tall, thin woman approached the front. I recognized her as one of Aeval’s right-hand women.
“I am Natassia, from the Court of Shadow and Darkness. I am authorized to pledge the support of the Court of the Three Queens. The Fae stand beside the Weres and the Vampires.” She politely inclined her head and stepped next to Frederick.
Breathing a sigh of relief, I turned back to the room. “We may not have the information we really need right now, but we have allies. The more of us on the lookout, the better.”
Menolly set up a couple large photographs—or the next best thing. We’d managed to come up with composites that were nearly as accurate as actual photos.
“These two are…sorcerers. They go by the names Van and Jaycee. They’ll be hanging out with a rough group—may look like bikers, but don’t underestimate them. They’re strong and they’re deadly. We’re going to pass out smaller photos for you to take with you. Show them to friends and family. Keep your eyes open and call us day or night if you see them. Do not take them on yourselves; these suckers can and will kill you.”
After we’d passed out the flyers, there wasn’t much more we could do. I fielded a few questions about sorcery, passing the more technical ones off to Camille. Menolly reiterated the info that sorcerer’s fire could seriously harm vampires, too.
As I was trying to think of some way to wind up the meeting on a positive note, the meeting hall door opened and three FBHs walked through. Two women and a man. They paused.
I turned to them. “May we help you?”
“I hope so…This is the Supe Community Council meeting, isn’t it?” The taller woman stepped forward. She was wearing a leather trench coat over a nice pair of gray trousers and a white turtleneck.>“I want to introduce you to my new assistant. This is Tobias. Toby, meet Delilah and Camille D’Artigo, Morio, and Shade.” He gave the other man a sly smile, and it was returned in kind. Right then, I knew. Carter had a boyfriend. Nothing about our prior interactions had told us anything about Carter’s love life, and we’d never asked.
We murmured hello, and Carter glanced at Toby. “We need some privacy. If you wouldn’t mind?”
“What would you like me to do?” Tobias started to stand. Carter reached out and stroked his hand. Toby ducked his head.
“If you could go organize the new photographs we got in, I’d appreciate it.” Carter watched as the lithe man excused himself and headed into the back room. After Toby was out of the room, he looked back at us and blushed. Seeing a demigod blush delighted me, for some reason. It meant that, as powerful as Carter was, he still had a spark of humanity to him, even though he’d never been anything remotely resembling human.
“When did Toby start working with you?” I was determined to needle him just a little about it. After all, that was what friends did. And Carter was our friend.
He glanced up at me, and a little smirk crossed his face. “About two months ago. He was working for a client of mine. We…the attraction was immediate. So he came to work for me. It won’t last. He’s one of the djinn, and they don’t make good long-term lovers. But it will be fun for the duration. And I needed the company. And the help.”
“Can you trust a djinn?” Camille frowned. I knew that look. It said she didn’t trust Toby any more than she trusted a skunk in heat.
“No, but that is why he is not allowed access to private information, and why he doesn’t have a key to my place. Do not trouble yourself, young witch, I will not compromise the integrity of my operations with a veil of sex haze. But it has been a long time since I’ve found someone to my liking, and I plan to enjoy myself in the meantime. And before you ask, I don’t ask what equipment my lovers have, merely if they want to play.”
That was the only time I’d ever seen Carter look lecherous in the least, but the look on his face told me that his mild manner and genteel ways masked a deeply passionate nature, and I found myself catching my breath, a little afraid. Good thing his tastes didn’t run to our direction. Demons like Vanzir and Rozurial were easier to identify with than someone who was the son of a Titan.
“Whatever the case. We need to tell you what’s been going on and see if you have any suggestions.” We laid out everything that had happened. Carter’s mood turned from flirtatious to somber.
“Does Wilbur have information on me in that book of his?”
I nodded. I’d flipped through it before hiding it at home when we headed out to interview Wilbur. “Yes. He knows who you are, he knows your background, and he knows about the Society. I have no clue how long it took Wilbur to amass this information, or where he got all of it, but he seems to know too many secrets about too many people.”
“Then we will need to take him under our wing. If he resists, we’ll have to take further action. In the meanwhile, I will search for information on the man with the spirit seal. If he’s connected with the Koyanni, it should not be difficult for me to ferret out his background. I’ll call you as soon as I learn anything. In the meantime, walk softly and keep your eyes open.”
