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While Raijin was a common sight as he’d visited Lanias many times when Sabina lived with her. The male who currently sat at the head of the table wasn’t Raijin, but the Ogre that everyone in Veil City feared. He’d stopped wearing his mask on a day-to-day basis, but he seemed to have decided to wear it for their meeting. His red eyes bore holes into them as they entered.
To his right Alek leaned against the wall, his long platinum hair loose. The vampire’s grey trench coat was open revealing his clean white shirt that was unbuttoned at the throat. His legs were crossed at the ankles, and his eyes were closed.
To his left crouched Malcolm, the werewolf; his muscular figure taking up as much space as his wild aura did. His head was covered in messy brown locks, and his green eyes shined ferally as he watched cracking his knuckles. A feral smile decorating his lips.
The one that drew Oye’s attention, was posted against the wall to the right. His brown hair thick and curly, the scruffy shadow on his jaw adding to his unkempt appearance. His fingers twitched; her eyes unwillingly were drawn to the metallic ball in his hand that morphed into a puzzle.
She drew her eyes back up, only to spot his eyes flicking away from her. For some unknown reason it annoyed her, how could he avoid her gaze as if she was the problem.
She averted her eyes in annoyance and joined Lanias who’d taken a seat at the other end of the table. Elegant as always, Lanias changed the simple chair into one fit for a queen with leather, and iron pinning. Her outfit melted into a sleek gown of black and red. She crossed her legs as she leaned back. “Now, what can Nerium do for you?”
Lanias was addressing Tiller who’d taken his stance at the head of the table with this question.
“Aren’t you asking the wrong question,” Alek interrupted. He opened his silvery eyes, and stared at Lanias intently. “Shouldn’t it be what it is we can do for you?”
Lanias’ smile turned mocking. “And what can an imprisoned leach do for me?”
One minute he was leaning back, and the next he was standing straight his head tilted right. The way he stared at Lanias, caused Oye to tighten her hand on the thin blade hidden there.
“I can do many things for you Madame,” Alek drawled.
“I believe we already know what it is we can do for each other,” Tiller’s voice cut in, drawing their attention. His gold eyes hard as he shot a warning glare at Alek. “Both of our groups have a vested interest in discovering the identity of this lord, learning the meaning behind the prophecy and finding those loose Unseelie.”
“My, my, that’s a long laundry list fox. We, the Shade, have only two things we’re after. One, is finding the witches who’ve been taken, and two; killing those involved,” Lanias said.
“We can’t kill everyone simply because you wish it,” Raijin said. “Just slaughtering them won’t provide us with any information. It’s better for us to try to capture them to discover who exactly this ‘lord’ is and his plans.”
“Who cares what his plans are, he should die for killing my people,” Lanias argued.
“You don’t have a people, you’re not a ruler of anyone here in Veil city.” Malcolm grumbled as he cut in. “Your title as one of the Four demons highlights exactly what you’re about, blackmail and extortion.”
“Is that all you have to say dog?” Lanias acted more amused than insulted. “As much as you seek the relief of my girls, one would think you’d know a little bit more about my dealings.”
“Shut up,” Malcolm stood his anger palpable, his iris elongating. “You’ve no right to be here.”
Lanias lifted her chin as her lips curled up at the corners with scorn. “I’m sure between the two of us I’m the person your friends need the most. And let’s not forget, at least I’m working for my people’s betterment. I’m not serving the council like a dog. Tell me, what’s it’s like to work for the very people who persecute your own kind.”
“Enough,” Castian said as he slammed his metallic puzzle onto the table. “We are here to figure out the best way to work with each other, so that both our needs are met. We are all in the same boat because if the Council finds out what we’re up to we’re all going to be in deep shit. And I for one, would much rather work with this witch demon than those who damned us to be imprisoned in the Bowels. Malcolm.”
Malcolm clamped his jaw together, his eyes squinting before he looked away from Lanias. “Fine, fuck it.”
“This Asher man is the Assistant to Renson, one of the heirs to the families apart of the Ring of Syed.” Tiller said it as if Lanias and Malcolm hadn’t been an insult away from throwing themselves at each other. “Asher was the male who gave the order to Gutierrez to make the underground prison. We had hoped to catch him the next time he’d traveled between Veil City, and the human realm but unfortunately our timing was off. Now, our only hope is to catch him and discover who gave him such orders. This requires us to go to the human world.”
“That group isn’t the most open to strangers,” Lanias said as her eyes became unfocused. She lifted her right hand and flicked her fingers left as if she was flipping through the pages of a book. “They keep their circle small, it’s very rare they will invite outsiders to anything.”
“Exactly, which is why we have to take advantage of their anniversary that’s coming up. All four families will be coming together this weekend. We’re using one of their relatives to gain entry.” Raijin said as he pointed to a picture on the table. “Torik Mortimer, he’s a cousin to the Shran family.”
Lanias reached out, the picture flew from the table to her hand, she made an impressive noise. Oye smirked, before she too released a whistle of appreciation.
“Torick Mortimer? He’s the prince charming of Veil City. How’d you get mister snobby to go along with you?” she asked genuinely curious.
“He’s not that impressive,” Castian muttered, drawing her attention. He glanced at her but quickly gazed away after their eyes met. “He has a heavy addiction to a few human opioids and he’s willing to do anything to keep daddy dearest from learning about it.”
“Still, impressive,” Lanias said, tossing the picture onto the table. “So, we’ve got the invitation, and Oye is supposed to play his girlfriend I assume.”
“Yes. Castian will be disguised as Torick and Oye will play his lover. Two spies are better than one, plus Castian has a cap on the amount of magic he can use,” Tiller said as he turned his gaze toward Oye. She didn’t particularly like the shrewd look in his eyes. “She’s back up if things get a bit rough.”
“Sounds easy enough to me,” Oye said. “We’re going to this party to kidnap Asher. That’s easy.”
