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Chapter 1

Vaughn

Days such as today made me question why I’d joined the enforcers. No. Why I stayed with the enforcers. I, like so many others, had joined to help the council deal with other paranormals who tended to do unethical things.

The assignment in Italy had been good. It had been exciting and had given our team something to do. But now there was…nothing. We were sitting around, doing not much of anything, and it was boring. I came into work and sat at my desk, staring at the computer screen, doing…not much of anything. It was as if the assignments had suddenly stopped.

“I might have an assignment for us,” Frederick, our team lead, said as he came into the office.

“Yeah?” I asked, suddenly not quite as bored.

“It won’t start until next week though, sadly. And it will require us to head to Reno, but it’s an assignment.”

“What’s it involve?” Evan asked. “I’ve never been to Reno.” He laughed. “I’ve never really been anywhere, actually.”

“It’s still developing, but there’s an auction the council is trying to learn more about. The issue is that it keeps moving, and only key players know where it will be next, and only a few days before. They’re looking to send someone in undercover; unfortunately, we don’t have any omegas as enforcers that we could send.”

That sounded interesting. “There are carriers or sires though, right?” Evan asked. “Vampires and warlocks don’t present until they have met their mate, so they could possibly be used?”

Frederick shrugged. “It was mentioned in the meeting, but nothing else. Everything is still developing, but in the meantime, we are to be ready to go at a moment’s notice. All of us. They could pull any team at any time.”

My earlier excitement about the prospect of getting picked to go out evaporated. The chances of us getting to actually go out on assignment so soon after the last was slim. Even I knew the only reason we got to go to Italy was because of Frederick and his One. They both spoke the language, and Sebastian was on assignment elsewhere. That left us. It hadn’t been a terrible assignment, and despite the fact that we were helping a mafia family, I rather enjoyed spending time with them. They were people just like us; they simply happened to be from a different kind of family.

I pretty much checked out of whatever else Frederick was saying and stopped paying attention. It wasn’t that I had anything against him; he just didn’t have any news about upcoming assignments. Not really. This wasn’t exactly what I was expecting when I’d joined the council’s enforcers.

“We’re having a get-together this weekend,” Evan said. “Did you want to come?”

I looked around the office and realized he’d most likely been talking to me. “Are you inviting me?”

“Yeah. I know we don’t really celebrate human holidays or anything, but they’re having a holiday tomorrow, and we decided to do the Friendsgiving thing because it really sounded like fun. But there will be tons of food, and you might…you know…make a friend or two?”

I scowled. “Are you calling me unfriendly?”

“Not exactly. You come to work, then go home. That’s it. I don’t know what else you do besides that.”

I thought about it and shrugged. “Sure, I’ll come. I usually just go home, and if I feel like I need to go into stasis, I will. That’s basically my evenings though. I play on my island sometimes, or I’ll get on a game online with my brother and throw turtle shells at him, but that’s about it.”

“That sounds like fun too. Bring your handheld, and we can all get a game going after we eat.”

I nodded. I’d been with the council for months now, and never before had anyone other than Chief Daegal ever invited me over to hang out. The only other gargoyle enforcers were the twins, and they were both mated, and of course, they had families to occupy their free time. Not that I was upset about that. I was incredibly happy for them. My only brother had a mate, and he was immensely thrilled with her and their two children. But even around them, I often felt as if I was imposing. They had their routine, and it didn’t involve me.

It wasn’t until I moved away that they seemed to notice I wasn’t available any longer, and it was only recently that my brother reached out more often. I wasn’t upset with Wilder. He had his own life and family. But it could be frustrating when you were always the one putting in the effort to remain in contact and get together.

“Do you need me to bring anything? I don’t want to come without something.”

“Naw. You have to remember, we’re fae. We’re not actually going to cook anything, but there will be tons of food. Magic makes everything easy in that regard.”

I nodded, trying to think about something I could bring. I didn’t want to show up empty-handed, especially when I was being invited to something that I wouldn’t normally be. I could cook, and was actually good at it, so I would figure something out. Or maybe I could bring a bunch of drinks. I understood that they were going to use magic, but I couldn’t just show up without something.

“Did you hear me?”

I blinked and stared at Evan. “Sorry, no. What did you say?”

“I said we’re having it at Lukan’s, but most likely, we’ll end up spreading out after we eat. Not everyone likes to play video games, and some like to watch the sports thing.” Evan looked over at Leo. “What is it? With the brown ball that looks like an egg?”

“Football,” Leo said.

“Yeah, that.”