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I smiled at him. We had made finished dinner in verbal silence. We had continued talking to each other telepathically.
I can’t help it. I needed to deflect her attention. Sorry not sorry.
“So, no foreplay?” Rachel asked with fake innocence.
“Salad,” I said shoving a large serving dish into her hands.
“You should break out the white one,” Dawn decided to join the other two in their reindeer games. “I think Drake would love it.”
“Dressing,” I said a bit too loudly as I handed her two large containers of homemade dressing into her hands.
I had to stifle my own laughter as Drake turned a brighter shade of red.
“Was this your first time together?” Jemmy asked with her hands on her hips. “Who’s the best Blake?” She doubled over in laughter.
I gave her one of the pan of garlic toast. “That, my dear, is none of your business.”
At dinner we got to meet part of the Illinois council. The moment I met April, I knew immediately that she was just like me. She was a female nucleus to Brad and Warren. She was strong and carried herself with self-assurance. Brad seemed just as dominant and commanding, but being in their presence for mere moments, I could tell he adored her and treated her like a queen, just as she treated him the king. Both were equal.
Warren, on the other hand, seemed more laid back and reminded me of Jaxson and Noah. Nothing seemed to faze him, and he just seemed to go with the flow. He wasn’t there to cause waves, and I doubted he rarely did. The only attention he seemed to like getting was laughter.
Together, they were a stunning set. April looked like she was in her mid-thirties. She had shoulder length brown hair with blond highlights. Her eyes were a pretty blue accented by carefully applied makeup. She was dressed in a chic three-piece pant suit. The buttons to her blouse were undone, so her ample cleavage was on display. She looked sensual and not tasteless.
Brad was a tall, light-skinned black man that looked like he belonged on wall street as opposed to the confines of this conference room. He was lean, and his movements were graceful. His dark eyes didn’t seem to miss anything as he regarded me and my connections. His eyes seemed to be dissecting us.
Warren looked like he was of Irish decent with his fair skin and bright red hair. His hazel eyes were filled with mirth. They danced in merriment. He was the exact opposite of the other connection in his group. He was as tall as Brad but leaner and less muscular.
“How do you like it here?” April questioned me from across the table.
“Well I already told you—” Paul began.
“We know what you said.” Brad cut him off. “April would like to know from an actual gifted individual, hired by you, how their experience is working for you.” His tone was clipped, and it was clear that he didn’t like his connection to be disrespected.
April gave Paul a pacifying smile. “Everything that you, Megan, and Beth have shown us has been beyond our expectations. We’re just merely curious. Before I send you some of my best people, I want to make sure they will be content here. You need to understand the precarious position we are in. No one knows about us. We practically live off the grid. If Horatio…” She barely suppressed a shudder. “Hadn’t put us in this predicament, we could continue to live our life of anonymity. Until recently we tried to stay out of all the politics.” She looked back over at me expectantly.
I looked over at Jace then Remy. I didn’t know if this was a political game I was unaware of, or if I could speak freely. They both nodded at me. I hadn’t thought to reach out with my empath gift, but I’m sure Jace had.
I had quite a few tool
s at my disposal, and weeks of repressing them had made me lax. It was irresponsible of me to have not stayed on my toes. I shouldn’t have had Paul’s mandates hinder me from my growth. I was doing a disservice to myself and my connections. I could have continued using my gifts in our apartment.
“It has been an adjustment,” I answered taking a sip of my water. “I’m fairly new to the gifted community myself. There are some things I find unnecessary in training, but I also understand the importance of it all.” I looked over at Paul. “I think Paul is learning as he goes along, as we are.”
“Were you okay with not being able to use your gifts during training?” Brad asked his voice velvety smooth and deep. His voice reminded me of a cross between Morgan Freeman and James Earl Jones.
I looked over at the guys with an ironic smile. “It didn’t stop me from using them when I needed them. I could understand his reasoning behind it, initially. A lot of these people haven’t seen the magnitude of our abilities. It’s easy to fear the unknown. I could see where he wanted his operatives to get to know us before they knew our true potential.”
I looked over at Ford who was avidly watching the conversation. After Sierra did a background check on him, we decided that he was someone that would be open minded to our cause. His father and brother were both gifted. His brother was a high level and part of a community down south. We had a feeling the dinner would venture in this direction with the Illinois council here.
We knew how important is was to get others to join our cause. We had to make the other communities understand how dire the situation was. If Ford could witness our interactions with the other community, maybe he could influence his family to assist us in our endeavors against Horatio. Beth was making a lot of headway with communicating with the other communities, but some of them needed more swaying to be convinced.
“Did you think they would even attempt to get to know you when you’re…eighteen? From our research, the average age of the operatives currently here is twenty-six. How did that work for you?” April took a bite of her food. She even ate elegantly.
“I don’t think her age should be a factor,” Jace said coolly. “She’s had more life experience than the average person. As she stated, it has been an adjustment for all of us. The program here is sound. Does it need work? Yes. Changes don’t always happen overnight, but it’s headed in the right direction.”
I could see Paul and Will nod out of my peripheral. Jace always seemed to know what to say. He had a natural ability to make people listen to him and put things into perspective.
April laughed. “Don’t get me wrong, dear. I wasn’t questioning her maturity. I can see she seems to have her head on straight. My sister is four years older than her, and I wish she could carry herself in the same manner. I was asking because I didn’t want my people coming in here and feeling uncomfortable and struggling.”
