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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.
“It is.” I paused, waiting. I knew the guards had searched them, so there shouldn’t be any danger, but given the events of the past few days, I was leery.
“My name is Amanda Flanders, and this is Neely Reed and Carlos Rodrigues. We’re from the United Worlds Church. I’m sorry we’re late, but we had another meeting to attend. We have a proposition for your members.” She pulled off her gloves and stuffed them in her pocket.
Everyone was leaning forward, listening. FBHs usually weren’t invited into our meetings, but I motioned for them to approach the microphone. Menolly cocked her head, giving me a quizzical look, but I just gestured for her to wait.
Amanda stepped up to the microphone and cleared her throat. “Hello. We are members of the United Worlds Church, and we’d like to bridge the gap between Supes and FBHs by forming an anti-hate organization called All Worlds United in Peace. It will be a secular group focused on working together to promote understanding between the races. Many of us come from families who suffered intolerance and prejudice. It’s time to turn Seattle back into what it once was—one of the most friendly cities in the nation.”
She passed me one of their pamphlets, and I glanced through it. The premise looked good, and they seemed sincere. I nodded for them to hand out their brochures to the audience.
As people flipped through the pages, I glanced at their mission statement.
The goal of AWUP is to promote harmony between the races sharing this world, whether human, Were, vampire, Fae, or otherwise unknown. We seek to create and implement a vision for the future that is inclusive, rather than exclusive. We seek to lobby for the rights of the entire Supe Community, and to act in unison. When one member of AWUP is harmed, all members come to harm.
As I looked up at the audience, I saw people nodding, and then, slowly, excited whispers began to fill the room. As people moved forward to chat with our guests, I moved back beside Menolly.
“You think they’re on the up-and-up?” I was surprised that the thought of duplicity even occurred to me. I was the optimist of the group. But I’d seen too much lately and realized I’d never be naïve again.
Menolly, the one usually quickest to jump to conclusions, paused, watching the interaction out on the main meeting floor. After a moment, she cocked her head.
“You know, I think they are. I have a good feeling about this. We’ve been needing something to pull everybody together, and the fact that FBHs are extending a peace offering may mean we pull some people off the fence. We aren’t out to win over the haters. We need to focus on those who haven’t made up their minds—the ones who don’t take part in the hate crimes but don’t do anything about it.”
“Good analysis.” I paused as Neely tapped me on the arm. She was a pretty black woman, short and curvy, with short curly hair.
“Excuse me, but the Regent told me I might want to talk to you.”
“What can I do for you?”
“May we speak in private?” She looked around, a little nervous.
I motioned for her to follow me into the hall. Once we were out of the hubbub, she sat down on the stairway leading up to the second floor. The steps were polished, the railing newly finished. The vamps had updated Sassy’s home and made it shine. It had always been pretty, but now it was exquisite.
“So, Neely, what do you want to talk about?” I sat down beside her, leaning back, resting my elbow on the step behind me.
